TWO OF A KIND

These two cards were made as a result of pressing the leaves between 2 panels of cardstock or watercolor paper, placing both panels in a folded  piece of typing paper and running it through the die cut machine. I then cut each panel using a stitched die.

Next, I added the greeting and glued the panel to some fun foam to keep the warping to a minimum.  The only embellishments I used for this card were the three tiny pearls.

You can do this with any green leaf that is still moist.  The chlorophyll in the leaf acts as a natural ink that is transferred to the paper "sandwich" giving you two prints at a time.   Try it--it's fun!

Shadow Box Card, NOT!

Somehow, every time I try to make a shadow box card, I get turned around and can't put it together.  I WILL get it eventually, but this card had to be cut apart and reassembled as a window card.  Maybe it's the heat and humidity...

HUMOROUS BIRTHDAY CARD

The sentiment here is from a set called "Piece of Cake" by My Favorite Things.  The set has several humorous sayings and a slice of cake.

I saved some of the gold foil paper by removing the center for another card.  Tricky, huh?

 

LAST CLASS

Today is the last class of this semester at Bible Study where we have been making some encouragement cards.  This involved a lot of die cutting, which I did here so I wouldn't have to bring my Big Shot.

The silver under the butterfly wings is from a pre-pasted sheet which apparently was too thin to be separated after die cutting it.  Here's a TIP on how to overcome that problem:

Cut a piece of the glitter paper, peel off the backing and apply it to a piece of scrap cardstock.  Then run it through the Big Shot with the die, add the wings on top and attach to the card with a dimensional.  Problem solved.

Another problem solved was how to use dryer sheets with the butterfly die so the little pieces would not have to be poked out. (Takes forever--ask me how I know!)  Simply die cut as usual, but then run the die, with the pieces still in it, through the machine face down over 4-6 layers of dryer sheets.  When you peel off the wings, the little pieces remain embedded in the dryer sheets.  No more mess!

LIVE, LOVE, GROW

The challenge with this card was to use acetate so that the terrarium looks like it's under a glass dome.  Cutting acetate to fit over the cover was next to impossible, especially since the adhesive would show.

The look was finally achieved by cutting the window square from a square frame die I got from My Favorite Things.  After die cutting the  window, I attached a square piece of acetate to the back with Score tape.  After gluing the terrarium to the card front,  I adhered the frame to the card over the terrarium.  Then I cut the card down to a square and added the bow to fnish it off.

I also used this stamp set for a birthday card.  Instead of the plants, I placed a birthday cake slice inside!

HOSTESS THANK-YOU NOTES

It seems I've been making a lot of card sets lately!  This one was for my friend, Gail, who had a garden tea last week.  Several people brought hostess gifts, so I made a batch of these for her to use.

I wanted to make something reflective of the rose garden setting, and the Painted Petals set from SU! was ideal.  The leaves are from a Penny Black set, Petal Power.  The tiny flowers and dots were from my peg stamp drawer.

After stamping the leaves onto a die cut stitched rectangle, I started adding the flowers.  Beginning with the largest, I stamped the roses in Watermelon Wonder to match the card base.  Then I added the yellow clusters, the purple blooms and the blue dots.

The sentiment was stamped on a piece of white scrap, sponged with Watermelon Wonder ink and mounted with a dimensional.  Inside, there is a white panel with a flower stamped in the left bottom corner.  To finish it off, I also decorated the envelopes.

These were fun to make and I had all six done in record time!

SIMPLE SATURDAY #45

SHAKER CARD FOR SHUT IN

One of the ladies from our Bible Study fell and broke her foot.  Actually, shattered would be closer to the truth.  She will be in rehab for several weeks, so I made this card to let her know she's not forgotten.

For the shaker portion, I used a piece of dsp from the Tribal Chic dsp set at Lil' Inkers.  The stitched square die also came from the same company.  The two pieces of cardstock are from scraps (again!) in my stash, and I like the way they work together.  I also had the same colors in my sequin collection.

Once the shaker was made, I attached it as shown and proceeded to add the flower.  I used two of the dies from the Botanical Blooms set and some -- you guessed it--scraps again.  I sponged the petals with Fired Brick Distress ink and added them to the corner of the shaker.  Using a Martha Stewart fern punch, I added a few of them underneath with glue dots.  The greeting was punched with the window word punch and reinserted on the right side to make it smaller.

I hope this card brightens the day of a lady whose fall has shaken up her regular routine.

THREE OF A KIND--Split Card Front

It's butterfly season again (soon!)  Have you seen any yet in your yard?
At least we can enjoy them on cards.

These three started with the one on the top left.  I started with dry embossing on the front, then cut the diagonal.  The trick here is to trim the 1/2" off the  bottom instead of the angle (much easier.)

Next, I stamped the message, cut it into two pieces and mounted them with tape as shown.  The dsp panel was then mounted on the back of the top flap and the smaller piece was mounted on the bottom of the dsp, leaving the 1/2" gap.  Finally, the butterfly was die cut from the same dsp and attached with glue dots.

On the second card, I started out with sponging on a triangle stencil using blue and green dye inks.  The greeting was stamped on a scrap of the dsp underlay with the butterfly attached last.

Finally, the third card was done by mounting the dsp on top of the cardfront, using a scrap of cardstock in a matching color for the butterfly.  The greeting was stamped on a scrap of dsp with a small metallic butterfly.

The dsp for all three cards were from the Lil Inkers pack of Tribal Chic patterns.

FOR A BLOGGER FRIEND

I have a stamp that says "I love my computer.cause all my friends live in there."  How true!  I'm glad I also have many other friends on this side of the screen, however. 

This card will be going to one of my computer friends who has some health issues and hasn't left a comment or corresponded lately.  The stamps, two of them, are from a new set that recently arrived in the mail (how did that happen???)  It will be going out tomorrow (Monday) with a note of encouragement.

The flower is from the SU Botanical Blooms die set.  The dsp is from Lil Inker and coordinates with their triangle dies and this stamp set.

Spring is finally here.  The leaves are popping on all the trees and bushes, and the Spring flowers are bursting forth in their pastel colors.  The flower beds have all been mulched and hostas are poking through.  When anyone asks how I have such a beautiful yard, I just tell them it's because I sleep with the gardener LOL...

VELLUM FLOWERS

Online Card Classes this week was all about using vellum and acetate.  One of the things I learned was to use vellum as a way to soften bright dsp.  These little flowers are layered over flowers die cut from scraps of the dsp, more to provide contrast than softening in this case.  However, before taking this class I would never have thought of using the vellum as I did here.

The dsp, triangle and green leaves are from Lil Inker, and the flowers are from the SU Botanical Blooms dies.

SKETCH CHALLENGE--PP292

Although the Paper Players sketch shows a circle in place of the triangle I used, I just couldn't resist using the new triangle dies from Lil Inkers again.

After cutting down a scrap of ldsp from a previous card, I chose the other colors and triangle pattern from that piece.  To brighten the card up a bit, I used some metallic silver embroidery thread and some Wink of Stella on the gray triangles.

This was a fun sketch to use!

FOR THE GRADUATE

Our assignment today at Online Card Class was to make a card using vellum.  Since I also needed a graduation card, this is what I came up with.  The trick with using vellum is in hiding the adhesives used.

First I glued the dsp to the card front.  Then I white embossed the saying on the vellum.  Next, I used the triangle dies I just got in the mail the other day from Lil Inker, choosing cardstock colors used in the designer paper.  No subtle colors here!

After adhering the triangles and sequins to the vellum, I turned it over and placed mini glue dots behind them.  Then I turned it over and pressed it onto the card.

For a final touch, I added some tiny red gems that matched the red in the dsp.