Rainbow Striped Hello

I am in the process of making 2 card sets for gifts for friends. This is one of the designs I came up with. I was inspired by this card that I had made some time ago, combined with the 2-Tier Eclipse technique that I used in this card.

To create the background, I first cut a panel of white cardstock to 5.5x4.25". I stamped the longest brushstroke from Avery Elle's "Brushed" stamp set across it, going in rainbow order. I used Altenew Ruby Red; Memento Morocco, Dandelion, Danube Blue, & Grape Jelly; and Hero Arts Lime Green inks to do my stamping. After I had finished, I didn't like the way the stripes simply stopped, kind of squared off at the right end of the panel. So I used a Hero Arts "Postage Stamps" die to cut the panel down.

I centered the "Big Hello" die from Simon Says Stamp on my panel, taped it in place, and ran it through my die cutting machine. I also cut a piece of black craft foam with the same die. After matting my stamped panel with an A2-size piece of black cardstock, I glued the craft foam die cut into the negative space in the panel. I also glued the inner pieces of the letters from my die cut hello, and finally used more liquid glue to adhere the hello that I'd die cut from my panel on top. To finish, I adhered my panel to a white A2 card base.

Merry & Bright

One final Christmas card for this year! I took my design & color inspiration from the current Fusion challenge:

I began by die cutting the "Poinsettia Border" from Memory Box out of a scrap of Canson XL Mixed Media paper. I took out the inner petal pieces of each flower, and watercolored them with a damp paintbrush & 2 blue shades of iridescent gelatos. I just scribbled the gelatos onto my non-stick craft mat, and picked up the color with my paintbrush. I did mix the two colors (a teal & kind of a warmer dark blue), to get a custom shade. After my petals dried, I went over them again with the same colors, let them dry, and repeated a third time to get the depth of color I wanted.

My initial idea had been to use Nuvo Silver Bullion gilding flakes on the outline of the die cut. So I ran the border through my Xyron Creative Station twice--once on each side--to coat it with adhesive. I had a really hard time getting the die cut to behave, though, so I could apply the flakes. So I finally gave up on that, die cut another piece, discarding the inner pieces this time into my recycling bag, and ran it through my Xyron only once to coat the back (so I could later adhere it to my card). Then I coated the top side with 2-way glue and let that dry so it was tacky. While the flakes did adhere for the most part, they also stuck in between the die cut portions, and made a huge mess of it that I just couldn't seem to clean up adequately. So I finally gave up on that idea, and die cut it a third time from silver glitter paper!

For my greeting, I used the "Merry & Bright" from Simon Says Stamp's "Christmas" mini stamp set. I stamped it onto a strip of dark teal cardstock with Versamark ink, and heat embossed with Recollections Snow embossing powder. I had a bit of trouble with that, too, since (despite using a powder bag) embossing powder stuck where I did not want it. In brushing that away, I brushed a couple of spots where I did want the powder. Thankfully, I was able to fix those spots with a white gel pen!

I adhered my greeting strip in place with a little ATG tape runner to a white card panel that I'd cut to 4.25x5.5". I applied small amounts of Perfect Paper Adhesive to the back of my die cut poinsettia "frame," using a fine-tip applicator bottle. Then, with the help of my tweezers, I adhered it over the greeting strip, running up the side of my panel. I had to use the negative of the die cut to help me maneuver the top flower into position, since it's so delicate. Finally, I glued the colored petal pieces into place.

I had a couple of small "boo-boos" (after all that) where the flower went over the greeting strip. So I decided to use that as an opportunity to embellish, and glued a clear 8mm gem to the flower center with Ranger Multi Medium Matte. I used the same adhesive to glue 2 smaller gems to the centers of the other 2 flowers. Finally, I filled in the centers of the little "accent" flowers in the die cut with Nuvo Grey Mist Crystal Drops. Finally, I adhered my card front to a white A2 card base. I had questioned my sanity in taking on this design a few times, but in the end, I like the results! :)

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Die Cut Divas: "Winter Time"
Creative Knockouts #224: "Christmas Delight"
613 Avenue Create #204: "Anything Goes w/Optional Twist of Christmas/Winter" (I am playing the twist.)
Pile It On #137: "Non-Traditional Holiday Colors and/or Snowpeople" (I assume blue, silver, & white are considered "non-traditional" for Christmas!)

Wish Big

Ellen Hutson is celebrating their 11th year in business! As part of the celebration, they have a challenge for people to choose their favorite Essentials by Ellen stamp or die set, and create a project with it. I couldn't narrow it down to just one, so I went with 2: "Bokeh Dots" & "Wish Big." The "Wish Big" set is such a great one for birthdays, with designer Julie Ebersole's signature humor to it! And "Bokeh Dots" is quite versatile. I used it here to create my patterned paper. My color scheme came from the mood board for this month's "Pin-sights" challenge, also at Ellen Hutson's CLASSroom.

I found this tutorial at Splitcoaststampers.com for a Triangle Trifold card. I decided this would be perfect for my cousin's upcoming birthday! I made mine a bit larger, starting with a 12x4" piece of coral-colored cardstock. After I scored & folded it following the instructions, I cut a piece of white cardstock to 3.75" square. I stamped it with 5 of the "Bokeh Dots" stamps, in Memento Teal Zeal, Grape Jelly, & Danube Blue inks. After I had stamped the entire square, I went back with a slightly smaller dot and Delicata Golden Glitz ink. I dried that with my heat tool, cut the paper diagonally, and adhered it to my card base.

Front panel with vellum overlay lifted

For the front image panel, I cut another square of white cardstock. I stamped the cake from "Wish Big," after wiping the ink off the top portion for some quick-and-dirty "masking." Then I stamped the candles, and drew in the rest of the top around those. I colored everything with my Prismacolor colored pencils, using Gamsol on a paper stump to blend the colors. I made 2 mats for that panel, by cutting gradually larger squares of white cardstock. I inked around the perimeter of the smaller mat with Danube Blue ink, and the larger with Golden Glitz. I also inked the back of the larger mat with Golden Glitz, since half of it would be visible when the card is opened.

Since I didn't have room on the front for a greeting, I decided to create a vellum overlay. So I cut a square of Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. vellum to the same size as my cake square, and stamped the greeting (also from "Wish Big") on that. I heat embossed with Ranger Super Fine Detail Gold embossing powder, then sewed it to the image panel with 2 lines of gold machine stitching.

Inside of card

For the inside, I cut another panel of white cardstock, and a slightly larger white mat. I inked the mat with Teal Zeal. I stamped one of the balloons & the "happy birthday" in Teal Zeal, and colored the balloon with a coordinating colored pencil. I blended that out with Gamsol as well, leaving a white highlight. Then, I matted the white panel, and adhered it to the inside center of my card base. I also adhered the front image panel to the front of my card.

Card with belly band

For the belly band, since this card design doesn't really stay closed on its own, I cut another strip of the same coral cardstock I'd used for the card base. I punched each long side with a Fiskars "Cupcake" border punch (apparently discontinued). I cut a strip of white cardstock to fit along the middle section, & colored it with Danube Blue ink. I adhered it to my belly band, folded the band around my card, & used Scor Tape to glue the ends together. This card only took about 2 hours to make, even with all the stamping, and I'm sure my cousin will love it! :)

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge: "Anything Goes"
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"