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Mistletoe Madness!

I've been making lots of cards to spread Christmas cheer! This batch features Making Memories paper (Mistletoe) and lots of QuicKutz shapes. I added texture with Stickles Rock Candy (snow) and shine with Glossy Accents (especially on die cut letters). I can't pick a favorite, so I'll just have to make several of each!

Don't you love the flourish die cuts as antlers for the reindeer!?

It doesn't show in the photo, but there's snow on that branch!

Here's an example of Glossy Accents over die cut letters.

Here I layered QK borders, buttons, and glittery snowflake foam stickers.

This one is 5x7 finished size. It looks like a lot of detail, but it's pretty simple!

I'm going to teach a class this month and you'll get to make all 5 cards, plus some bonus package tags! It's called QuicKards and it's only $20 at Scrapbooks from the Heart. Call the store if you're interested in signing up. The class is Saturday, November 21 at 11 am and your kit comes with all the paper and die cuts you need. You just bring your adhesives and paper trimmers!

Back2School Card

I discovered another paper line to adore: Jillibean Soup! I picked up some school print paper at Creative Escape and decided to put it to use! I love how it all just goes together so well! (OK, I know! That's why it's called a "collection.") Anyway, I added a few QuicKutz shapes to it just to complete the look!

The striped paper is actually from the Daily Grind collection that Fancy Pants released, the green alphabet stickers are American Crafts Thickers, and the red 2 is from the $1 bin at Target (I can love a bargain can't I?). I used 2 different 2x2 apple shapes and the 2x2 tab shape by QuicKutz. The little eye chart fits in a pocket and the school house is cut from patterned paper that was covered in school houses. The inside has blue notebook paper (from Jillibean Soup) and another apple. So fun! I'm sure to get some brownie points from one of the boys' teachers now! (J/k)

 

Delight in Die-cutting!

Ahh...Fridays! It's time for the weekend. Well, that doesn't usually stir emotions of relaxation in me because our weekends are far from relaxing. Between sports, classes, events, and church activities I'm usually ready for Monday to come back! All the same here's a lovely card to "delight" in:

Very simple, yet worthy of giving! I used Basic Grey Lemonade papers and Bazzill dotted swiss cardstock. I love that little bird! I have the 2x2, 4x4, and Silhouette version of that shape. Crazy, huh?! It actually comes with a birdhouse, too, and it's part of the pop-up collection of shapes. Anyway, I cut the bird twice; once with the pattern side up and again with the pattern side down so they could face each other. I put a teeny little foam dot under each bird's wing and I used adhesive pearls for the eyes. Like I said, it's just "delightful!"

Labor of Love: Handmade Cards

Happy Labor Day bloggers! Do you ever make a card and just keep pouring more and more details into it? You have to watch that though...too much effort and special touches and you will have trouble parting with it! Seriously, making cards and mini books for others is definitely a labor of love (at least for me). I enjoy the process of creating and being artful, but if I know to whom it's going to be given I'm usually thinking of that person and trying to pick out little touches that will be special for them!

Onto the project! Today I wanted to share another card using a QuicKutz shape! This one features one simple little scalloped circle from the Nesting Scalloped Circles. If you haven't picked up some of the Nesting Dies sets, you are missing out! I've used this set to make some really fun paper flowers in the past, plus you can nest a plain circle inside the scallped circle and create a scalloped ring. Lots of possiblities with these Nesting Dies! Anyway, this card may look laborous, but it's really not that bad! I just started with a 6x12 piece of cardstock folded in half. Then I took a piece of 5.5 x 5.5 scrap paper and tacked down strips of patterned paper in different widths. Once it was covered, I cut the whole patterned paper square into fourths and attached it to the center of the card so that the strips faced different directions. I added photo corners (REV-0092) and stamped the clock on my scallop before attaching it with a foam dot. Inside says "Time is a healer, a friend, and a maker of dreams." Very multi-purpose!

 
Solid cardstock: Bazzill; patterned: MME; stamp: Tim Holtz; digi frame: House of 3.

Thankful for THIS QK Shape!

I've been playing with the September release of QuicKutz dies - they are so fun!! I love the little caramel apple 2x2 - you can punch the stick from thin balsa wood sheets, too! The cranberry mold (shaped like the can) cracks me up! My favorite is probably the Give Thanks cookie cutter (CC-SHAPE-046-1) because I can also use just the Thanks portion to make thank you cards! I'm also pretty fond of the 4x4 pumpkin (REV-0246-S) especially when you put a foam dot between each layer (and ink the edges, of course). Here's a simple card using the last two shapes I mentioned:

 
Paper: MME Spider's Web; digi frame: House of 3; dimensional glue: Glossy Accents.

Speaking of thanks, I'm quite thankful that my 14-year-old son is doing better! He was in a car accident last night while riding with a friend. It was not a high speed impact, but the airbag did deploy and knock him out for a few minutes. He has a broken nose and his face is very swollen, plus the airbag caused burns and abrasions all over his poor little face! The frightening part was how confused he was. He didn't remember the President or what school he attended. He doesn't recall events from the day of the accident. He kept trying to quiz us and check himself - I think he's afraid it won't come back to him. This morning, however, he seems a bit more oriented and less fearful. He's just hurting and dreading how long it will take for his face to look normal. I think that last part is an indication that his personality is completely intact! :)

 

BG Lemonade Cards

I had fun playing with my Lemonade papers and creating these 5 cards! I created some accent paper with alcohol ink and glossy paper, then cut butterflies with a punch and the scroll with a QuicKutz border die. Some other techniques and tools I used are Fiskars border punches, QuicKutz dies, sewing, and stamping. I really like the Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock, too. It adds extra character to the cards (and any other projects, too!).

One of my favorite dies is the pop-up bird so I used that on the 5x5 square card. The "Loved" card is one I really like in this set. I took a scrap of graph paper and inked it with Mustard Seed Distress Ink and the Blending Tool to make it match the patterned paper better. I sewed around the corners a bit, too. The butterflies are actually shiny because I used Sunshine Yellow and Pearl Mixative alcohol inks. It's a really pretty marbelized pearl color that doesn't really capture well in the photo.

You can see close-ups of each individual card in the Card Gallery (shortcut to the right).

Alcohol Ink on Acrylic

I was playing with my alcohol inks and some transparency scraps and came up with this card idea! I used Wild Plum and Stream with the Alcohol Ink Tool. I punched the butterflies out after the ink dried. I attached the butterflies with Glossy Accents. The colors matched the Basic Grey Wisteria papers perfectly! The sentiment was stamped with Stampin' Up ink in Perfect Plum. The label was cut with QuicKutz' Nesting Label cookie cutter die set. I'm still playing so watch for more examples soon! What are your favorite color combos of alcohol ink? Leave a comment and let me know!

Card Giveaway

I think it's time for another giveaway! CHA is happening right now and I need to use up some old stuff so I can justify purchasing the new stuff. So I will draw a winner to receive a set of 5 cards (all different) made by me, featuring techniques I've tweaked during Jennifer McGuire's Thinking Inking videos. To be entered, just leave me a comment about your cardmaking habits. What size do you prefer? Do you stamp or diecut? Do you avoid cardmaking like the plague? I'm anxious to hear what you gals have to say! 

 

A Flaming Good Card!

Decided to play with some Crackle Paint and my QuicKutz dies (with a little prompting from recent Thinking Inking videos) so here's a fun card with both! I used an old paper collection by Crate Paper called Static. The woodgrain in the cardstock is from a stamp and Broken China Distress Ink. The drums and guitar are cut from the patterned paper.

 

For the flames, I painted Spiced Marmelade Crackle Paint on cardstock and let it airdry. Then I cut the 2 flames from the painted cardstock and inked the edges with a CatEye ink pad (Cranberry). I stamped the Rock Star expression with Broken China ink and cut it out by hand. This will make a good card for one of the boys or any of our musician friends!

1 Shape 3 Ways

Thought I'd do a post about one of the new Silhouette Digital Download Shapes! I picked the tattoo_1867 that was released last week, and I'm going to use it 3 ways. Hopefully it will get you Silhouette owners to go cut some shapes and play with your machines!

First, I used it on a card. I resized it to be the same height as my card base. For the mat, I trimmed some of the mat away to match the tattoo lines. For the pattern on the mat, I layed the diecut facedown on the mat and inked over it with Distress Ink. After adhering the mat and diecut to the card, I added some Stickles (Vintage Photo shade) along the curves of the diecut. I also inked around the edges of the card with Vintage Photo Distress Ink on an Ink Blending pad. The crown diecut is by Making Memories. The stamped sentiment is from Stampin' Up (stamped with Faded Jeans Distress Ink).

 

Next, I used the tattoo diecut on a layout. Other shapes featured in the layout are the QuicKutz tattoo art set and the Frankie alphabet. The tab is a Marvy punch. I spritzed the tattoo diecut with some Glimmer Mist, too, to help it shimmer and stand out more. I traced the outer edges of the diecut with black journal pen to make the edges stand out more over the busy graffiti background.

 

 

The last way I used the same tattoo shape was as a mask on a layout. I decided to use some old pictures from when we were stationed in Hawaii! The patterned paper is by Rusty Pickle but probably not available anywhere anymore. Other diecuts on the layout are the tropical flower by QuicKutz available as a 2x2 die and as a digital download. I cut the tattoo and attached it to the edge of the layout's page with repositionable adhesive. I spritzed it with Glimmer Mist and then removed the diecut. Once the mist dried, I just rubbed the adhesive away. I added some dots of Stickles and a few Basic Grey pearls amidst the curves of the void left by the diecut, then added my patterned paper and photos. The font on the journal strip is called Hawaii Killer and it's free at dafont.com.

 

 

 

It's actually a 2-page layout, so here's a close-up of the mask on the second page! Anyway, hope your Independence Day weekends have been a blast! Now go play with your diecuts and see what kind of fun techniques you can invent on your pages and cards!