Birthday Shaker cards

Not what I had planned on making- I was intending to glitter some medallions- but a chance remark on Sarah Brennans blog yesterday, about a card front to cut an aperture out of sparked an idea.
 I bought a Phill Martin Birthday Collage background stamp a while ago, and thought it would work well for shaker cards.

I stamped up a few of them in an assortment of colours, and made 5 into shakers.



For all of them, I went over the whole stamp in a pale colour, then added some darker colours, particularly over the main Happy Birthday, but also in spots over the design, using those egg shaped sponges.

This first one I used Adirondacks for, and then switched to Versafine & Versafine Clairs.

Ive included the inkpads so you can see the colours used, and the old & new Versafines work perfectly together.

With a few, I ran the front through an embossing folder, and I found it's better to do this after die cutting the aperture, as if you do it the other way round, it tends to flatten the embossing.
 I cut the apertures with various shaped dies for a bit of a change.

 The die is a Nellie Snellen heart die, and the card base is 6" square. The embossing folder is by Creative Expressions, called Ocean Waves.

This star is a Stitched Star die bought from the Works, and the embossing folder is called Sunbeams, by Crafters Companion.

This embossing folder is an old Cuttlebug one, called Scrollwork Frame, and I used a plain Oval die for the centre.

These two weren't embossed, the top die was a Presscut one, Scalloped Edge Rectangle, and the bottom one is a Nestabilities, Petite Scalloped Ovals, Large.

I added seed beads and sequins in matching or toning colours, and a bit of table confetti too.

Christmas Card Club Challenge #24- All Wrapped up!

Sorry ladies, completely lost track of what week it was.  This fortnights challenge is set by Carol, and she chose the theme 'All Wrapped Up'. I've taken a bit of  a liberty with the interpretation here, as I think I'm overflowing with Christmas cards this year, so I've made a bunch of gift tags!

  I ended up making 7 designs, in a pretty random number for each. The tags are more or less 3" square. I used a lot of off cuts to make these, so there is a little variation.

 This one uses a Holly stamp from Lavinia Stamps, stamped in Versafine Clair Rainforest, then I added  Stampendous Crystal Embossing Powder over them and heat set. Then Liquid Pearls in Garnet for the berries.
 The sentiment comes from a Hobby Art set, Winter Wishes. That was stamped in the same green ink, but not heat embossed.

The Bells come from a Card-io set called Merrily on High.
 I stamped the first bell in Gold Encore Pigment ink, masked it, then stamped the second. Heat embossed both then with the same Crystal EP.

The sentiment is from a Crafters Companion set.

Afterwards I added the holly sprigs using an old Rubber Stamp Tapestry set.
 I used the Garnet Liquid Pearls for the berries again too.












 Quite a lot of Card-io stamps used for the tags, this one is called Christmas Greenery. Stamped in Versafine Spanish Moss, heat embossed with the Crystal EP, and then the sentiment stamped in Versafine Majestic Green. I added  White Opal Liquid Pearls to the Mistletoe Berries.

 Another Mistletoe design, this time using a Lavinia Stamps Mistletoe Branch. I stamped this one in Olympia Green, added the Crystal EP, then stamped the greeting in the same colour. The same Opal White Liquid Pearls used for the berries too.

 Christmas Trees next, and these are from a Visible Image set, and I used the medium one once, then the small one was stamped in both first & second generation images, using Versafine Olympia Green.
 For these I used a Stampendous EP called Rainbow Sparkle, and although it doesn't show in the photo's, it makes it look like the trees are covered in lights.
 I added a tiny acrylic star to the top of each tree. The sentiment here is from a Phill Martin set,Scribbled Christmas Petite.

This was the biggest batch I made. All Card-io/Majestix stamps, the branch is a partial stamping of a tree from the Christmas Breeze Collection. I stamped in Clair Rainforest, first and second generation images.  I added a mix of baubles from the two sets,Zendangles and Bells & Baubles, using Versafine Majestic Blue and Deep Lagoon. The strings were drawn in with a very fine Micron pen.Sentiment again from the Crafters Companion set.The branch and baubles were heat set with the Crystal EP.

Last set used two Card-io/Majestix snowflake sets, Winters Kiss and Winter Flurry.Stamped in Encore Metallic Blue, and heat set with WOW! EP in Glacier. Sentiment again from the Hobby Art set, and stamped in Versafine Majestic Blue.

Retiform Technique Cards

 I came across this technique on You Tube, and there were some really cool cards made with it. I ended up with 4 cards from it, I did make 5 backgrounds, but completely stuffed up the stamping on the first one!




It's very simple, you just need Post-its, dye inks and applicators, and a selection of stamps of a suitable size, and if definitely works best if you have a theme, as this unifies the whole piece.

 The idea is that you mask off a section using Post-its, then sponge ink into that section. Then you move the Post-it to cover the inked section and add another Post-it or two to create another section, and repeat the sponging. You carry on this way until you've created sections all down your cardstock.
 It works best if you vary the size and shape of your sections too, along with the depth of colour sponged on.

For the first one I used Card-io/Majestix stamps, which are great as they are the right sort of size to fill the spaces.. You can of course use partial images, which I've done with the others, and would also be a great way of making use of the smaller 'filler' stamps that are in many sets.
The sets used here are:
Greenery 1, Backyard Blooms( Spider web & spider, and some of the greenery), Pottery petites( the small flowers on the Wheelbarrow),Oriental Whispers( Branch Bottom Right),Perfect Patch( Wheelbarrow & Wellies),Seasonal Rose,Pleasant pastures( Toadstools), Dragonfly Garden, and Feathered Friends for the birds. The blank space has been left for a quote/ sentiment.
I used DI  Old Paper, and an assortment of Versafine inks for the stamping.

I went with a sea/boat theme for the blue one.
Some of these stamps came from a sheet bought from the USA many years ago, and I cannot remember where I got it. Others were 'bargain bin' stamps bought at a stamp show. I believe the quote was a magazine freebie again a few years ago.
 The ink was Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress ink, the stamping done with Archival Cobalt.

 I used Wilted Violet Distress Oxide for the sponging on this one, and Versafine Majestic Purple for the stamping.
 The stamps are: Visible Image, 'Music Speaks, Smiley Faces and Music on World off.
The 'Rock Star',Skull Border, Drum Kit,Winged Skull and Guitar lower right are from an Inkadinkado set called 'You Rock'.
Guitar top right is from a company called Dimension, who I think are no longer trading.
The angel & guitar is from a magazine freebie sheet, as were the music notes.


All 3 of these would make good masculine cards, I think, indeed the technique itself works well for them.

Final one used Distress Oxide Wild Honey for the sponging.
 There are two stamp sets used, the stylised cats are a set from a company called Inkwell Stamps, a UK company, as is the sentiment.
 The other cats, as well as the Fish bowl, wool ball, paw prints and mouse come from a  Hobby Art set called Catz. They were stamped in Versafine Vintage Sepia.

The four finished pieces.

All four were matted and layered with toning cardstock, then mounted onto card bases- 5x7- also in coloured cardstock.

The quote on the garden one is from a Tim Holtz clear stamp set, and is smaller than the rubber version.
 Not adding sentiments to the other 2, that way I have more latitude when I come to use them.
 The blue and the brown ones would be suitable for a Retirement card, as well as a Birthday, for instance.

Christmas Card Club #7- Animals.

I've put together 3 cards for this challenge, which has been set for us by Kate. They all use tags as the focal point, this one features a stamp by Indigo Blu, from a set called Winterland Wood. The small row of trees is from a Card-io set called Christmas Scenery 1, and the circular sentiment is from a Hobby Art set called Winter Wishes. Broken China and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks were brushed over torn paper to create the hills, and then Broken China and Stormy Sky brushed in for the sky. Snowflakes were added using Liquid Pearls in White Opal.
 The Embossing Folder used for the backing tag is by Crafts Too, and is called Happy Christmas. I brushed a little silver Gilding wax over that for some definition.
 The large tags are cut with a Tim Holtz Tag die.
Both of these first two cards are mounted onto A4 card, folded.

This one was made very similarly, with the same inks used to create the hills.  The larger  trees come from the same Indigo Blu set, stamped in Versafine Olympia Green. The deer is from a Card-io set called Dear Deer, the rabbits and cabin from one called  Christmas Scenery 2. Stickles in Icicle were added to the roof. The background tag is cut from a sheet I stamped out in silver on dark blue card and heat embossed. The stamp is called Merry Christmas Background, by Inca. Probably no longer available, as I bought this wood mounted many, many years ago. The sentiment is from a Card-io set called Winter Wishes 3.

This is an A5 card, topfolded, and uses a smaller tag.
 All Card-io stamps on here, apart from the sentiment.That is from the same Hobby Art set as before.
 The treeline from Christmas Scenery 1 again, along with a couple of individual trees also in the set.
 The larger foreground trees are from Mini Tall Trees, and the deer from Dear Deer.
 The broken fence is from Crystal Globe, and was extended slightly across the tag.
 The same background stamp was used for the backing tag, stamped and heat embossed in gold this time.
 These two stamped backing sheets I've used have been in my stash for way more years than I care to remember, as I recall stamping and heat embossing  a number of sheets of card with it when it was bought!
 A few fibres finished off these two tags, and some ribbon for the first one.

Quick & Easy Butterfly die cut cards

As promised yesterday, here is the blog post on the Butterfly cards.
 I saw a You Tube video a couple of nights ago making these cards, and I'm sorry but I forgot to make a note of the name of the crafter, and trying to search You Tube using key words brought up masses of similar cards!
 The lady used plain vellum behind the Butterfly, and added colour using markers.
But it reminded me I have some vellum sheets that are multicoloured, and thought I'd use up some scraps to do these.
 You could also use plain vellum and blend ink over it, or I reckon you could also use acetate and Alcohol inks, or Alcohol markers.
 The Butterfly die is a Tim Holtz/Sizzix Thinlets set:



















 You get the base Butterfly, and the Wings overlay, which is the part used to cut out the cards.
Base are the top pair, overlay is the bottom ones.

The card bases themselves are White Pearl cardstock,topfold, and made by cutting an A4 sheet in half lengthways. It's better to use white as a base, as darker card will not show the pattern on the vellum very well.

4 pieces of black cardstock for the fronts, I've used two Black Linen card, and two plain card so I can run them through an embossing folder. They are trimmed to leave around a 1/4" border all round.

 The two folders I chose are a Cuttlebug one, called Forest Branches, and the stone wall effect one was bought at a Craft fair, and I have no idea of the brand!

Both are slightly too small to fill the card front in one go- I think they made them based on the standard US card sizes, thank heaven they are getting larger these days!



Anyway, there is a way to resolve this without leaving a harsh line where you joined it.
I ran the Forest Branches through the 'Bug, and as you can see it doesn't quite extend all the way to the bottom.
 Now, for the fix.
 Line up your cardstock so it extends out of the bottom of the folder,and allowing the pattern to continue down.  Like so:

Now, lay your top plate in place, BUT line up the edge of the B plate with the very edge of the Embossing Folder, not past it. This looks odd in my picture, but that's because the B plate is a bit warped.😀
 Now run through the machine again.





Result- a completely embossed piece, with no lines.



After both were embossed I started cutting out the four butterflies.

Also, be careful where you place the cut out. You'll need to add DST/tape runner later to matt the panel onto the card, and if it  goes behind the vellum on the wings it will show. You can see bottom right I cut that one a bit close, so had to trim down a strip of tape for that bit.


Now for the vellum.



Having a look through my stash, I found these oddments.
Hard to believe how much vellum was a 'thing' back in the day. Rarely see it used now except for Parchment work.








 I cut the vellum down to fit behind the butterfly cut out.

Used a Stix2 tape runner to attach it to the back.
It's a good idea to mark the top of the vellum, so you get the pattern you wanted.

Vellum all stuck down, ready to add the butterfly bodies.


I also cut out the bodies of the butterflies using scraps of glitter paper/card. You can skip this, or add Stickles/Pearls to the bodies.









Trimmed them to shape, and added to the body with Glossy Accents.












 

 The next step was to fold up the wings slightly either side of the body, then attach to the respective panel with glue dots.

The panels added to the card base with DST.



Now for a sentiment. I chose some Text dies from Crealies.  
They are only small, so ideal for smaller cards. And not expensive either.













I went with Birthday, Sympathy and Get Well, and cut each sentiment 3 times, so I could layer them up for some dimension. I cut them from the same white pearl card as the bases.


I layered them up with Glossy Accents, and put an acrylic block on top to make sure they stuck well.
 While those were sticking, I stamped inserts for the card.
 The sentiments are from Phill Martin sets, Feel Better Soon and So Sorry for you loss from a set called Mini Baroque Occasions Sentiments, and Very Happy Birthday from the Butterfly Elegance set.
 I added some random small butterflies of unknown origin to the edges, all stamped In Versafine Majestic Blue.

 The sentiments were added using Glossy Accents again, and this was when I realised I hadn't actually kept the dot from the 'i' in Birthday.
Rectified that with a clear acrylic gem, from a pack of Anitas 2mm stones.