Tag: Cardmaking

C4C 400 Make a Card to Cheer Up Someone

Well, coffee and anything chocolate always does the trick for me!

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Joset Designs for Elizabeth Craft Designs makes the cutest die sets.  I have collected them for a while now.  I used four of her sets for this card:

I always start most projects by cutting out a lot of stuff:

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The base card measures 5.5″ x 6.5″.

THE STEPS

  1. Cut a pc. of 8.5″ x 11″ pc. of white ECD Soft Finish Cardstock that measures 6.5″ x 11″.  Score on the long side of the 6.5″ x 11″ at 5.5″ and fold.
  2. Cut a pc. of designer paper 5.25″ x 6.25″.  I  chose this one by Reflections at Michael’s Craft store:2017-08-16 13.45.59
  3. Cut out of pink cardstock using the largest die in ECD 1120 – Stitched Rectangles.
  4. Cut out of light lavender cardstock using the largest die in ECD 1174 Dotted Rectangles.  Stamp sentiment in the upper left hand corner of the lavender mat.
  5. Cut the pieces for the “Ice Cream Cone”, “Tea Cup” “”Small Cupcake” and “Cake Stand” from white cardstock and the decorator pcs. from pink cardstock.  Color the “cupcakes”, “cupcake wrappers”, “chocolate layer” of cone and “drips” and the “coffee” with Copic Markers.  Assemble as shown.
  6. Using ECD Peel off Stickers, outline the designer paper layer with silver circle lines as shown.

That’s it!

Thank you so much for taking a look!  I love to read your comments!  Please follow me!

Other Products Used:

Elizabeth Craft Designs:  Clear Double Sided Adhesive 6mm & 10mm.  “The Best Things” clear stamps set from Susan Tierney Cockburn

White Gel Pen (cream swirl in coffee)

Sizzix Big Shot Plus

 

C4C398

2017-08-01 C4C398

A card for Jeanine

Over at Crazy 4 Challenges this week our theme is “Monochromatic” like shades of blue, green or in my case, shades of purple.  You can accent with white or black. This card was made for the other hairdresser in the salon we work at, Jeanine!  Last week, my premier week as a designer on the team over at the “Crazies”, I made a card for my sisters for their support.  This week, I need to thank my work partner Jeanine.  She has encouraged and supported me through a lot!  We’ve worked together going on 14yrs.!

The Steps:

  Believe it or not, I only used two die sets for this card by Elizabeth Craft Designs:      1064 – Fitted Frames 4 – Curvy Squares and 1020 – Susan’s Garden – Hydrangea

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This week’s commercial:  I just love this Fitted Frames series.  It doesn’t show well in the picture above on the left, but all the frames pictured in the set are cut with one pass through the die cutter!  These sets of frames come in Squares, Rectangles, Circles and Ovals.  I admit when I first saw these I thought “Well that seems like a waste of card stock when you only want one frame”.  However, if you cut them with a piece of white cardstock then you have a supply of frames that you can color any color you need.  You can stencil or do a cool ink Oxide on paper and then cut them out. Or, color each one a different color to go with a designer print paper.  The ways you can use these are endless.  But you also get some cute little shapes with them.  I used the heart that comes out of each cut to decorate the inside of the card.

Step 1:  I cut the frames out of 3 colors of purple and just set them aside.

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Step 2:  Cut all the pieces from the “Hydrangea” die set.  I cut two bases (the weird oval shapes in the same color as the frame in the upper left of the above picture).  I also cut the square pc. in the set, which is what cuts all the petals, 3 times in this same pale lavender cardstock.  I cut the 3 leaf pieces 3 times from this pale lavender and 3 times from white cardstock.

Step 3:  Decide what will be the components of the card:

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I want to draw your attention to the assembled Hydrangea in the above photo.  I started out with just larger leaves on either side of the flower but hated it.  So I decided to just put leaves all around the flower which I think turned out better.  (Just thought it would help to see sometimes things go wrong.  Don’t panic, most mistakes can be fixed without starting over!)

Step 4:  There is an assembly video by Susan Tierney Cockburn on YouTube on the Elizabeth Craft Designs channel under Susan’s Garden.  I always highly recommend watching an assemble video if available whenever you get a new die set.  It can save you so much frustration.  Shape all the pieces of the hydrangea and assemble per Susan’s video. But first cut a dark purple square the same size as the only “stitched square”.  Glue the “stitched square” over this purple square.  This sandwich is what you will build the “hydrangea” on.  After I veined all the leaves I added PanPastel Violet to all the leaves both light lavender and white.  After the whole flower/leaves were all glued in place I squeezed a drop of glue here and there and added some “Express-o Yourself” Prills.  I then took a soft paint brush, just as in the video and lightly added a little of the “bright green” PanPastel she mentions, that is actually called “Bright Yellow Green” by the brand.

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Step 5: The last step!  Cut a piece of 12 x 12″ White 100 lb. ECD Soft Finish cardstock in half.  Create the base by taking one of the 6 x 12 and scoring at 6″ on the long side.  Cut a printed designer cardstock square mat that measures 5 3/8″ square.  Adhere to the front of the base card.  Cut a pale lavender sq. that measures 5 1/8″.  Adhere to the previous “designer print” mat.  Now add the 3 “Wavy Frames” starting with the largest to the smallest.  Then adhere the “Stitched Flower”  square pc. to the center as shown.  I added a little tag sentiment.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I love comments and hope you’ll follow my blog.  I respond to all comments and any questions regarding crafting with paper, personally.

Other Products Used:

Cardstock from Michael’s:

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Elizabeth Craft Designs:  12 x12 White Soft Finish Cardstock, Clear Double Sided Adhesive 6mm  and “General Sentiments” Clear Stamp set.

Spellbinders:  The little “For You” sentiment.

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Beacon’s Kids Choice glue

Sizzix: Big Shot Plus

 

 

A Background scene made entirely with stencils!

Bridge 3

 

I was so inspired by one of Susan Tierney Cockburn’s own creations that I went right over to Elizabeth Craft Designs and bought all the stencils, (ones I didn’t have) that were on sale.  Which was a fab surprise!  The picture below is Susan’s card.

Inspire by Susan

Yes, I know mine is pitiful next to hers!  But, the point of this blog is the journey!  I loved hers so much but didn’t want to copy it exactly (like I could).  First that would be plagiarism if by some miracle I could pull that off, and second I wanted to try flipping the stencil (like Susan did for the tree reflection) but with the river.  Plus, I had new toys and wanted to try them all, of course.

Here are the stencils that I used:

The two on the left are: The Great Outdoors and Mountain and Split Rail Fence. The three on right are: Cloud and Grass,  Evergreen Grove and Shade Trees.

Here’s how I made this card:

As, I said, I had this idea to continue the “river” behind the covered bridge.

Step 1:  I trimmed a piece of white cardstock to a 5.75 x 5.75″ square.  Then I die cut Susan’s 1217 – Country Scapes – Olde Covered Bridge out of white cardstock and colored with Copic Markers.

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The covered bridge is the focal point so I needed it to even begin to start stenciling the background.

Step 2:  The above picture is the first thing I did.  Using the bridge die pc. as a guide, I used the Great Outdoors stencil  and PanPastels to stencil the water in front of the bridge and the stones.  Then I flipped the stencil over to stencil the water behind the bridge. Then, while I still had the bridge taped down with temporary tape,  I colored with PanPastels, the road “through the bridge”.

Step 3:  Above pictured, I added the  “Mountains” “Shade Tree”, head of the reindeer and one “evergreen tree” and the “grass” in the lower right corner.  Then I put the bridge over it to see where else I wanted trees.

2017-07-13 19.02.30Step 4:  In the above picture I just started filling in more “Evergreens” and the “Mountains”

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Step 5:  This photo is the finished scene.  I went over some of the images with more PanPastel color to darken up some of the images and added the “rail fence” and grass on the lower right side..

Step 6:  My original intention was to use one of Elizabeth Crafts Designs dies in the  1047 – Pop it Ups – Western Edges – 4 die set as part of my scene.  It is the one with the two horses. Pictured below:

edges-western

But the horses were to big to be at the foothills of the mountains.  But I had already cut and colored it.  By coincidently, it was laying by the bottom of the finished scene and I liked how it looked as if the horses had stopped to get a drink.  I really liked it lifted by dimension foam dots.

Step 7:  I cut a grass piece out of green cardstock using the 914 – Outdoor Edges -3 die set below and adhered it behind the “horse” piece.  I stenciled the horse pc. with the negative from the grass die pc. as a stencil.

Then I added some little grass dies from Obsession Impression on top of the horse layer on both ends, pictured below:

Step 8:  Attach the above “grass, horse, grass” stack with “Foam Dimension Dots” to the lower edge of your stenciled scene.

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Step 9:  To create the Easel base card, cut a piece of 12 x 12″ white cardstock in half.  Score one half on the 12″ side at 3″ and 6″.

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Next cut a pc. of cardstock 3 x 6″.  In my case, I used a scrap pc. of double sided designer paper that looks like old painted wood.  Then stamped a sentiment “The Best Things In Life” by Susan Tierney Cockburn for Elizabeth Craft Designs.

Next using the die set by ECD cut the two grass pieces using the same green cardstock your other grass was cut with.  Adhere these two grass helpers as shown below to the underside of your 3×6″ panel:

I added a rope die I cut with brown cardstock with ECD die set: 1125 – Ropes 1

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 and attached to the front of this panel as shown.

Now adhere this panel to the lower 3″ of your scored base card.  (the side that is 6″ sq. not scored.

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I colored a brown stripe with a Copic E71 because I didn’t like the white showing under the scene that I think was caused because of the additional pumped out layer.  Easy fix!

Now fold the scored half over the paneled half and adhere the scene pc. to the lower 3″ ONLY of the front of this card:

 That’s it!

A card that the recipient can display easily without an additional stand:

Thank so much for taking a look.  As you can see, I’ve got a ways to go before I’m stenciling like the great Susan but it sure is fun to keep trying.  Stencils are relatively inexpensive and their uses are nearly endless.

Other Products Used:

Elizabeth Craft Designs:  12×12″ 100lb. White Soft Finish Cardstock, Clear Double sided adhesive 10mm

PH NEUTRAL PVA glue

Copic Markers

Sizzix Big Shot Plus

Hampton Art brown ink pad

A Freshly Made Card Challenge 295

FMS Final 295-001

So the above is the sketch for this week’s challenge.  I had just colored up this adorable digital stamp from Dr. Digi called “Snow Fun”.

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So I decided to cut out the image using a die from Elizabeth Craft Designs “1116 – Stitched Circles”.  I added a border around the circle’s edge stopping at the “stitching” with a red Wink of Stella.

For the strip of cardstock under the circle I used a piece from one of Martha Stewart’s holiday packs and cut this strip 6 x 1.75″.

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The “Merry Christmas” sentiment is from Elizabeth Craft Designs 783 – Happy Birthday.  The snowflakes are decorator dies from 2 other Elizabeth Craft Designs die sets:  916 – Spiral Circle Pull Card and 781 – All Seasons Tree.

The inside sentiment is from a stamp set by Joset for Elizabeth Craft Designs called “Winter Sentiments”.

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Thanks so much for taking a look.

 

 

Make your own Designer paper with stencils.

This week I wanted to use some die sets I bought back in November at the Scrapbook Expo and hadn’t used yet!  I know you’re thinking “For the love of God girl, it’s almost the 4th of July!”  Well, I’ve been busy with holiday, birthday and specific commissioned cards.  I must say, I’ve really developed a love for everything Susan Tierney Cockburn for Elizabeth Craft Designs.  I’m crazy for her “Country Scapes” collection.   The die set I’ve been anxious to use is 1078 – CountryScapes – Backyard 3 – Apple Orchard pictured below:

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I also think it’s about time I sang the praises of stencils!  If I’m making a card with an outdoor scene for the front or inside of a card, I pull out two things first.  Susan’s Cloud and Grass stencil.  I use it so much I don’t why I even put it away.  And the other is my PanPastels.

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I used to look for designer paper of the sky and others for grass.  Sometimes you want the “cute” look rather than a realistic look and that’s what I think designer paper is great for.  But, if you’re trying to create a realistic look, this stencil is not only your best bet financially but you can get a pretty authentic look.  I haven’t used it yet for a sunset but I will soon or try to!  Susan has a tutorial on YouTube demonstrating this stencil.

The Steps:

  1.  Cut a piece of white cardstock to measure 5.5″ x 5.3/8″.  Using the above stencil create your sky and grass using PanPastels.

2.  Cut and prepare all the pieces that will create the components of your scene and glue to the stenciled cardstock.  I used these die sets for this scene.

From Elizabeth Craft Designs:

                              1078 – CountryScapes – Backyard 3 – Apple Orchard

1127 – CountryScapes Backyard 5 – Wash Day (quilt)

1131 – CountryScapes Garden Edges Daffodil

1133 – CountryScapes Garden Edges Tulip

1084 – CountryScapes – New England Stone Wall & Gate (little fence)

Additional die sets used:

From Frantic Stamper Inc.:

FRA-DIE-09921 Flying Gulls

FRA-DIE-09822 Gardening Pots (set of 4 dies)

3.  Cut a piece of blue cardstock 5.3/4″ x 5.5/8″.  Adhere the scene piece to this blue layer.

4.  Cut a piece of white cardstock 6″ x 12″ and score at 6″ on the long side.  Fold in half and adhere the completed step 3 to the front of you folded card.  My card’s fold is at the top but you could have a book open card as well.

That’s it.   Thank you so much for the taking a look.  I love comments and answer any questions personally.

 

This is my first entry on Art Impressions weekly challenge #175

Art Impressions Blog Challenge 175

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I’m branching out and trying to enter more challenges this year.  I have found that they are a great way to challenge yourself.  I work as a hairdresser for an upscale retirement community and have spent the last couple of weeks making birthday cards for the residents to give to one of their neighbors for their birthday.  I have collected a lot of Art Impression stamps especially in the groups they call “Golden Oldies” and “Girlfriends“.  This particular stamp is one I have had for many years.  I think it was the first one I bought.  It’s called “Fred and Millie Q1244“.  I just love this sweet scene of these two sitting on a bench.  We have a bench just like this one where I work and have often seen one or two of our residents sitting on it.  We’re in California, in the Bay Area, and we don’t see snow but it does get chilly.

This is how I made the card

Of course, I first stamped the image and then colored it with Copic Markers.  Since the couple are on a bench I knew I wanted the card to look as if the view was looking at them through a window.   The base of the card measures 5.5″ x 7″ and is white cardstock.  I made a double frame by using three Spellbinders Nested rectangles from their set called “Card Creater“.  It has eight dies in the set.  I use this set a lot.  I simply nested a smaller die inside of a larger die so that it created a frame when it was cut.  Then I repeated the same process for another frame.  I glued the smaller frame to the larger one so that it sort of looked like window molding.  I felt that my scene needed a winter tree so I used the “All Seasons Tree” by Karen Burniston for Elizabeth Craft Designs and didn’t add any leaves or flowers dies that come with this die set but I did use the die as a stencil to make the black lines on the tree.2016-01-18 17.33.272016-01-18 17.33.43

I used a gray cardstock to cut the tree.  I then positioned the tree inside the double frame where I liked it in my little scene and cut off some branches to fit.  Once I had my scene completed I felt it needed drapes to look more like a window instead of just a matted picture.  Luckily, I found a brown cardstock and a printed designer paper that worked together in my stash.  I cut a piece of the dotted designer paper 5″ x 12″ and then just scored it in quarter inch increments all across the 12″ piece of cut paper.  When you score the paper you need to flip the paper over at every other score so that you are able to pleat it easily.  I then cut two pieces of pleated paper the size I needed for my curtains.  My finished 2 pleated panels measure 5″ x 1″each.  The sentiment tag was made by first in Word on my computer and then cut with the smallest rectangle die in the same Spellbinder set.  Thanks for taking a look.

  • Materials List
  • White cardstock
  • Brown cardstock – Recollections Spice Market
  • Brown dotted designer paper – DCWV The Timeless Texure Stack
  • Spellbinders Cardmaker dies
  • All Seasons Tree – Elizabeth Craft Designs
  • Copic Markers:  B21, 23, 24  BG10,11,13,72 E00,30,71,74 RV10,25 Y8,13,15 N0
  • Art Impressions wood mounted stamp Fred and Millie

 

 

 

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