Two Happy Cards

On Day 4 of Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class, Kristina Werner had a lesson on "Word & Mini Dies Combined." I had 2 cards inspired by that lesson in this post. Today I did another two, more like her example.

I began by cutting a piece of pink cardstock to 4x5.25", and blended Worn Lipstick Distress ink from the bottom edge up to about the center, letting it fade out to the pink base. Then I used Fired Brick to darken about the lower third of the cardstock. Finally, I brought in Aged Mahogany, which is a burgundy color, to darken the very edge. This produced an ombre effect, without too much effort. I did finally discovered the secret to ink blending--use a light hand. I have always tended to push down on the ink blending tool, trying to get good ink coverage. But today I finally figured out if you just hold the tool lightly, and just keep going over the area, it will blend better and still get as dark or bold as you want. Go figure!

Once I'd finished inking the cardstock, I dried it with my heat tool. I then taped Simon Says Stamp's "Big Hello" die onto the panel, and ran it through my die cutting machine. As instructed, I made sure to keep the positive & negative pieces from that die cutting. Next, I die cut 3 different sizes of hearts from the background, using dies from a Project Life set, My Favorite Things' "Blueprints 15," and WPlus9's "Seasonal Sentiments." I made sure to keep all the hearts I cut out.

To create my first card, I created a white A2 card base. I taped the negative die cut piece to the front with Post-It tape, and used that as a "map" for placing my positive die cuts. Then I glued my "hello" & heart die cuts in place using liquid glue. Once I had everything glued down, I carefully removed the negative piece.

For my second card, all I had to do was apply LOTS of foam tape pieces to the back of the negative die cut piece, and adhere it to another white A2 card base. I also popped up the inner pieces of the letters with foam tape. (NOT easy with the tiny pieces in the "e" and "o"!) And that finished both cards.

Happy Mother's Day!

On Day 6 of Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class, Debby Hughes had a lesson on doing an "Inlaid Background." She used a border die to create a background pattern with the inlaid die cutting technique. I didn't have a suitable border die, so I used Spellbinders' "Labels Eighteen" dies instead.

I decided to do an ombre design, so I pulled out 5 shades of green cardstock. I die cut my smallest label from the lightest color first. Then I took my second lightest color, and laid the smallest and next largest die on that, lining them up to cut a frame. I repeated this until I had 5 die cut pieces.

For the background, I found a piece of a parchment-type cardstock in my stash, & die cut that with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Small Stitched Rectangles" dies. Then I die cut the largest label die in the center of that panel. I die cut another piece from scrap green cardstock using the Lawn Fawn die, and ran that through my Xyron Creative Station, to apply an even layer of adhesive on one side. Then I stuck that to the back side of the parchment panel, and adhered my green die cut frames in place. Finally I double-matted that panel with kraft & yellow cardstocks.

For the flower, I used the Simon Says Stamp "Summer Garden" stamps and coordinating dies. I stamped the flower and leaves on a scrap of 140 lb. watercolor paper, using Ranger Archival Watering Can ink, and colored them with watercolor pencils and a damp brush. After I die cut them, I glued the leaves directly to the panel, and popped the flower up on foam adhesive.

I die cut a piece of cream cardstock using one of the "Stitched Tags" dies by Pretty Pink Posh, and printed one of the "Mother's Day Sentiments" by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps on it. I adhered that with foam tape as well. Finally, I adhered the completed front panel to an A2-size card base.

Two Thank You Cards

Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class ends tomorrow. I've really been enjoying this class, and will be sorry to see it end. Their classes are always chock full of content, and I like the camaraderie and interactivity with the instructors & other students. I would highly recommend any of their classes!

I created 2 thank you cards, both based on lessons in "Stretch Your Dies." My first card is based on Debby Hughes' lesson on Day 1, "Inlay Design." She took the process of die cut inlay one step further, and had her inlaid word die cut span the seam between 2 patterned papers.

I first chose 2 patterned papers from my scrap stash. I wanted this to be a more "gender-neutral" card, so I didn't pick anything too frilly or flowery. After trimming the striped patterned paper, I positioned the "Thanks" die from Simon Says Stamp so it hung over the top edge, and ran it through my die cutting machine. I made sure to keep all the little pieces that go inside the letters. I also die cut the word from a piece of dark brown cardstock. I cut another piece of brown, and ran it through my Xyron Sticker Maker, to apply adhesive to one side. Then I stuck that to the back of the patterned paper piece, and adhered my die cut word in the negative space.

Next I adhered the striped patterned paper to a piece of brown grid paper. I cut off the bottom of the left over piece from my die cut word, and lined up the remaining top section with my die cut word. Then I placed the die in that space, taped it to the grid paper, and ran that through my die cutting machine. I adhered another piece of adhesive-covered brown cardstock behind that, and stuck the die cut word to that, making sure to line up the "thanks" in the negative space in the grid paper. Finally, I replaced all of the inner pieces in the letters.

For the rest of the greeting, I stamped one from Simon Says Stamp's "Thanks" stamp set onto a strip of brown cardstock, using Versamark ink. I heat embossed that with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder, trimmed the right end at an angle, and glued that in place on the card. Finally, I matted the patterned papers with kraft cardstock, and adhered that to an A2-size card base.

My second card was quite a bit easier. I based it on a lesson by Jennifer McGuire on "Heat Shrink Craft Foam," also from Day 1 of class. I die cut the "thanks" from blue fun foam, using one of My Favorite Things' "Many Thanks" dies. I also die cut several stars from yellow & orange fun foam using a Lifestyle Crafts' "Nesting Stars" die. I heated all those with my heat tool, which shrank the foam and made it more dense, kind of like shrink plastic. Really pretty neat! I did learn, though (the hard way), not to hold the heat tool too close, or it will melt & burn the foam. You can also control how much the die cuts shrink, at least to some degree, just by how long you heat them.

For the background, I die cut the "thanks" several times from light blue cardstock, using the same die. I then used my glue pen to glue them in place on another piece of the same blue cardstock. This gives it a nice, tone-on-tone, "faux-embossed" look. Once I'd glued them all down, I trimmed off the excess hanging over the edges, and glued my foam die cuts in place.

I'm entering my second card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Happy Mother's Day Bouquet

Laura Sterckx, one of the guest instructors for Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class, had a lesson on Day 5 on "Debossed Frame Stamping." I made this card, inspired by hers.

I first stamped the hedgehog from Penny Black's "Hugs" stamp set onto a piece of 110 lb. white cardstock, using Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink. Then I used a circle die to trace a circle around him. I placed 3 of the floral dies from WPlus9's "Spring Blooms" set on the circle, and ran it through my die cutting machine. Instead of die cutting, though, I used the embossing "sandwich" for my machine, to impress (or deboss) the dies into the cardstock. I repeated this process until the circle was pretty well full, making sure to erase my guideline before stamping. Then I stamped the flowers from the coordinating WPlus9 stamp set in the centers of the debossed areas. I filled in with some greenery & buds from the same stamp set, as well as some little leaves from Paper Smooches' "Botanicals 2" stamp set. For the flowers & leaves I used Memento dye inks in Cantaloupe, Desert Sand, Danube Blue, Dandelion, Bamboo Leaves, Rich Cocoa, and Grape Jelly.

After I'd finished stamping the images, I colored the little hedgehog in with colored pencils. Since it was such a small image, I didn't use Gamsol to blend this time. I then scanned the card front panel into my computer. I opened it and the "Mother's Day Sentiments" from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps in Photoshop, and (digitally) copied one of the greetings onto my card front. Finally, I printed the greeting directly onto the panel. All that was left was to glue a piece of fun foam, cut slightly smaller than the panel, to the back, and glue that to an A2-size cream card base.

Happy Mother's Day

I've been participating in Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class the past couple weeks. On Day 6 of class, Laura Bassen had a lesson on "DIY Stencils." She showed how you can create your own stencil using a border die. Her card inspired me to create this one.

I began by masking off 5/8" on all sides of a piece of white cardstock I'd die cut with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Small Stitched Rectangles" dies. I also die cut one edge of a piece of transparency with one of My Favorite Things' "Snow Drifts" dies, to use as my stencil.

I chose to do a rainbow pattern, with Distress inks in Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, and Seedless Preserves. I began by inking the top of my masked panel with Picked Raspberry, and worked my way down. I placed my stencil towards the bottom of each color "band" to mask it off as I blended on the next color. I made sure to keep changing the position of my stencil, so the lines didn't all go the same way.

After I'd finished inking the panel, I removed the masking tape. I matted my panel on a piece of black paper, with a 1/16" mat on all sides. I cut a piece of fun foam to slightly smaller than the panel, and glued it to the back, to help provide some dimension. Finally, I glued that to a white A2 card base.

For the greeting, I die cut a banner with the banner die from Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Journaling Card" set, once from white cardstock, and again from the black paper. I printed one of the greetings from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Mother's Day Sentiments" onto the white banner, and glued the black one to the back, slightly offset. This helps set it off from the background more. After I glued that in place on the card front, I used Ranger's Multi Medium Matte to glue down some clear gems. I am sending this card to Operation Write Home, for one of our overseas heroes to send home to his/her mom!

I'm entering my card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Two Birthday Cards

Kristina Werner's lesson on Day 4 of Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class involves die cutting from one card panel and adding those die cuts to a second card. Basically getting what my dad would have called a "two-fer"! So I created 2 birthday cards to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I began my first card by stamping the hot air balloon from Hero Arts' Operation Write Home "Happy Birthday" set on a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper, using Ranger Archival Watering Can ink. After applying masking fluid to the balloon (and waiting a LONG time for it to dry), I used my watercolors to create a blue ombre background. I wasn't happy with the look I ended up with though, so I went over it again with Distress inks in Chipped Sapphire, Peacock Feathers, & Broken China. Once I'd gotten the background like I wanted, I removed the masking fluid from the balloon, and colored it with Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to blend the colors out.

To die cut the stars, I used 3 different dies from My Favorite Things' "Blueprints 13" & "Blueprints 15" sets. I die cut the largest stars at the bottom, the mid-size around the middle of the panel, and the smallest ones towards the top. (Kristina had suggested this to give a sense of depth.) I made sure to save all the die cuts for my second card.

I stamped the "happy birthday" greeting from the same stamp set onto a piece of light tan cardstock, using Hero Arts' Pool mid-tone shadow ink. I cut that into a banner shape, and glued it towards the bottom of the card. Finally I applied foam tape to the back of that panel, and adhered it to a piece of yellow cardstock, which has the effect of "coloring" the stars. I double-matted that with 2 shades of green cardstock, and finally adhered it to a 4.5x7.25" card base.

For my second card, I began by die cutting the balloon from yellow cardstock, using the largest die from Simon Says Stamp's "Balloons" set. I cut the top and side off, both so it would fit on an A2-size card and sit at an angle. I glued my stars that I'd die cut from the first card, again placing the largest towards the bottom and working my way up. I glued a piece of fun foam, cut slightly smaller than the balloon, to the back, and then glued that to a piece of striped patterned paper from my scrap stash.

For the greeting, I used one from Lawn Fawn's "Grand Greetings" stamp set. I stamped it on a piece of white cardstock using Versamark, then heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I blended Chipped Sapphire Distress ink over that, and cut it into a banner. I glued it to the balloon, adding small pieces of fun foam where it stuck out beyond the sides of the balloon. Finally, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella glitter over the stars, and adhered the completed card front to a white A2 card base.

I'm entering my first card in a2z Scrapbooking's March "Color It In" challenge.

Sending Hugs

A person I know recently suffered a loss, so I decided to make her a sympathy card, just to let her know I'm thinking of her. On Day 5 of Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class, Dawn Woleslagle had a lesson on "Masking Stamped Images." Using a coordinating stamp & die set, you cut masks with the dies. After placing them on a piece of cardstock, you color the background, remove the masks, and then stamp the matching images in the masked areas. I used WPlus9's "Spring Blooms" stamps & die set for my card.

I began by die cutting several masks from Simon Says Stamp's masking paper, then arranged them on a piece of white cardstock that I'd cut to 4x5.25". After I had them positioned like I wanted, I removed the release papers and stuck the masks down. I made sure to burnish the edges of the masks, so they wouldn't peel up when I did the background. Dawn had used a Copic airbrush system on her cards, but since I have neither the airbrush system nor any Copic markers, I decided to use Distress inks instead. So I got Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Peacock Feathers and created an ombre background with those.

After removing the masks, I stamped the images in their respective positions, using Memento dye inks in Lilac Posies, Lulu Lavender, Dandelion, Tangelo, Rich Cocoa, Bamboo Leaves, & New Sprout. There was one stamp, though, that I just couldn't seem to get oriented correctly in its space. I finally discovered--after much frustration--that I'd die cut the mask upside down, so the masked section was reversed, which meant the stamp wouldn't work! I debated whether I could save the card, or if I would have to start all over, which was not my most desirable choice. I finally decided to die cut a scalloped circle, using a We R Memory Keepers Nesting Scallops die, from that area, and put part of my greeting in the cut-out.

For the greeting, I die cut the "sending" using this die from Simon Says Stamp. I'd found the "hugs" stamp, by Stampabilities, in my stash, and felt that would be perfect for the cut-out area. The die cut word kind of got lost on the bright background, though, so I ended up cutting a piece of vellum to 3.75x5", and hand-stitching that with embroidery floss to the background as an overlay. That muted the background enough to let the "sending" show up well. Finally, I adhered the card front to a white A2 card base, and stamped the "hugs" in Hero Arts' Cup o' Joe mid-tone shadow ink. And that finished this card.