Card Making Class of 2016

Another year went by so fast. A big "Thank You" to all my lovely card making students. You ladies are wonderful and I am bless to be able to teach you every month some new techniques. 

All the fun and laughter we have, in good times and in bad times you are there for each other. 

It is an honor for me to be part of this group.

I wish all of you a 

Happy and Healthy New Year

and I am looking forward to some wonderful times together in 2017!

Thank You all from the bottom of my heart....

Carolyn, Debbie, Jackie, Jan, ...

 ... Karen, Lin, Linda, Margie, ...

 ... Marsha, Maureen, Nancy, Nikki,... 

... Pam, Ruth, Sandy, Shirley and Vicki!

If you would like to join our group, please contact me. We would love to have you join our fun Wednesdays.

Christmas Card in Red

Here is a wonderful example of a simple but so versatile stamp set. This set is called "Perfectly pine" (A1191) from Close to My Heart and I used it a lot this season. If you are interested in this set, make sure to order it before Dec 31st, otherwise it will be gone!

Now back to the project:

I started this card with a white card base and a piece of red cardstock about 1/8" smaller on each side than the base.

I used a piece of grey cardstock for my stamping. First I stamped the pine branches in white pigment ink onto the grey. I stamped around two edges of the rectangle and let it dry overnight. I also stamped a few snowflakes in second generation stamping over the entire piece.

After everything is dry (the white ink needs to be super dry otherwise your second color will smear) I took my "New England Ivy Ink" and stamped the branches on top of the white, slightly offset of the white one.

You want to offset the second color so the white shows through and it looks like there is snow on the branches and needles.

To enhance the impression of snow, I used a white gel pen and added a few strokes on the selected branch parts and needles.

I die-cut the ornament out of red metallic paper and added a little piece of silver thread to the top. I adhered the threat on the back with some tap and adhered the grey cardstock to the center of the red piece. I created a little bow from an extra piece of silver thread and added it to the top of the card.

All that is left it to stamp a sentiment on the inside and decorate the envelope and this Christmas Card is done.

Christmas Card - Oh Deer

"Oh Deer" is one of the seasonal paper packages of this years Close to My Heart Seasonal Holiday book..... the name is so funny and the paper is so cute. So here is a card I made with this special paper:

 For this card I pulled my Cricut machine out and tested the new Close to My Heart exclusive cartridge "Flower Market" plus one of the others.

I had the machine cut out the shape of the ornament (desert sand cardstock) and the pine branches (new england ivy).

The snowflake was cut with the new thincut dies (glacier).

I used a piece of "Oh Deer" design paper for the top of the card and a piece of glacier cardstock for the bottom. A piece of golden glitter paper brings both parts together.




I used a clear shimmer pen to add some sparkle to the snowflake and a glitter gel pen to add the detail to the top of the ornament.

The ornament is attached with some foam dots to the card. I decorated the pine branches and snowflake as seen in the picture and added a little bow from white-gold twine to the top. 

 Last but not least, a nice stamp was placed to the inside and this little gem is done.

Love to find out more about these and other techniques and products? Would you like to join on of my monthly classes and create cards and more on your own? Please contact me for more information and schedules. I would love to hear from you. 
You can also leave me a comment below.

Stay tuned for more to come.....

A Christmas Tree

A beautiful die cut doesn't need much embellishment since it speaks for itself, don't you agree?

This is a die-cut from Crafters Companion and I love the size and the detail of it. I cut a piece of my favorite cardstock color "desert sand" at 4" x 5 1/4" and ran it through my die-cutting machine. 

Next I used the matching ink to stamp a star background to the top of the card. I added a piece of gold glitter paper to the bottom part of the tree and punched a little star to go on top of the tree.

The die-cut piece was added with foam dots to a cream colored card base.

A little bow made from white-gold twine is added to the tree trunk.

The sentiment was stamped in cocoa ink on cream cardstock. I cut fins on each side and waved it with my bone folder. I used second generation stamping for the stars on the sentiment and added it with foam dots to the card.

Finally it is time to pay attention to the inside. I stamped the phrase to the inside and used again the stars and second generation stamping to decorate the inside.

Simple but elegant....love it...how about you? Let me know below what you think about this card.

Stay tuned for more....

Christmas Cards - Vellum Covered

Here are a few more samples of the card I showed here on Monday. I do like how the vellum tones down the colors and give the picture a cozy and mustery look. 

This close-up shows a little more how the vellum and the pictures are attached to the card base. Vellum is hard to adhere since the adhesive usually shows through. I added an extra 1/4" to the left side of the vellum, bend it to the back and adhered the 1/4" to the front of the card base. Now I place the picture right on top and the vellum is secured and I don't have to worry about adhesive showing through.

The vellum stays nice attached to the front and creates a peak-a-boo effect.

Stay tuned for more Christmas cards to come....

Christmas Cards - Sugar Candy

The last days of 2016 are rolling by and another year full of exciting projects comes to an end. Here are some of the Christmas cards we made in class. 

 I found these cute picture of delicious food and beverage items just perfect for the Holiday season. 

I didn't want to cut the pictures apart, but I felt they needed some tweaking...

First I cut a piece of vellum 4 1/2" x 5 1/2". I used white pigment ink and snowflake stamps to create the illusion of falling snow.

After letting it dry over night I folded 1/4" of the vellum over on the left side.

Next I took my card base and adhered the 1/4" of the vellum to the left side of the base, leaving the rest of the vellum loose. (check back here on the blog this week for more details)

 The picture is about the same size than the card base. So I adhere it directly to the base covering the tab on the left of the vellum behind it. Which means the vellum is now securely added to the base and moves like a page in a book.

I stamped my "Merry Christmas" greeting with VersaMark ink and added red glitter embossing powder to it. After heat setting the powder, I cut a little fin at one and and adhered it with foam dots to the vellum.

....and we can't forget the inside. So a nice greetings stamp and a few decorations and this card is done.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of this card. If you have questions about the technique or products, please contact me HERE!

Stay tuned for more to come....

Autumn Door - Thankful

Finally I am caught up with my class pictures. I don't know what has happened to this year, but it sure flew by in a lightning stroke. So, welcome to the first of two October classes. 

This card actually gives you a ton of other ideas to create a card. You can cut around the door and really have it open...you can cut out parts of it like a barn door, etc...well we went down a little simpler path.

I ran a trip of grey cardstock through my embossing machine with a brick embossing folder. The grey strip is placed on the bottom of the card front. A piece of brown cardstock is adhered directly to the front and overlapping the grey portion just a bit. Next I cut a second rectangle (about 1/4" shorter than the first on) and adhered it in the center of the first one. The door panels are cut from the same brown cardstock as the previous piece. I went around all the edges with a sponge and some chocolate ink. All panels are placed with foam dots to the card. The lower right panel also includes the door handle. I put a little brand in to create the door knob.


Two pieces of brown cardstock are cut in small strips and are adhered to the bottom of the door to create a little step. 

To decorate the card I cut both pumpkins and the leafs with my Cricut machine and placed them with adhesive to the card. A little phrase tag and the front of this card is done, well almost....

...I used colonial white cardstock as my base so the color contrast wouldn't be to harsh. But it still was a little to white for me. So I used a little sponge dauber tool to create the little speckles seen here above the pumpkin and inside the card.

I stamped my phrase on the inside and added a few more sprinkles to lighten up the inside. I hope you had fun exploring this card. Let me know if you need any help or with any other question that might occur.

Pets and a special Birthday Card

This was a super fun project to make in class. I had all these cute little images of dogs, cats, bunnies and even some guinea pigs.  

I picked a few different design papers to cover the front of each card. Each front piece is about 1/4" shorter than the base. I scored a square in the upper part of the paper and cut in a diagonal from one corner of the square to another creating an X-shape.

I curled back each tip to the outside and wrapped a piece of baker twine around it. I finished the string with a bow in the upper right corner.

Now I place the pet picture on the card base, lining it up with the square of the front cover. A few foam dots went on the back of the front cover to raise it up. A little stack of oval shapes and my little phrase "Well Hello" from the Sweet & Short set (A1189) are finishing of the front. A few hearts, bones or a roll of yarn as an embellishment and the front done.

 All embellishment parts are cut with one of our Close to My Heart exclusive Cricut cartridges. If you haven't heart of them yet....click here to see them all.

The newest cartridge is our "Flower Market" (Z3285) a must have for all card makers and page creators and for everyone in between. Awesome items are on this one and like with the others...700 images per cartridge!

 And like always, don't forget to decorate the inside of your card. I used a "Happy Birthday" stamp set and a little phrase to go along with is. A few more cricut cut embellishments and these little cuties are ready to be sent out.

So what do you think? Aren't they stinking cute or what? Stay tuned for more to come...

Thank You - Easel Card

This time we made an easel card in class and what better to use than a big thanks? To create an easel card you pretty much only need a regular card base of 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" scored in half so you base will be 5 1/2"x4 1/4".

Next I scored an extra line on the long side of the front, about 2" from the half fold. Fold the new score line over.

I used design paper to cover one panel on the front and the inside half. Both panels in the front are matted with some green cardstock. For the background of the "Thanks" I used plain daisy white cardstock and stamped some flourish in glacier blue ink on top. The "Thanks was adhered with foam dots to make it stand out even more. 

A little scalloped oval cut from green glitter paper and a white oval with a small phrase stamped on are adhered with foam dots to create the little catcher. 

This card folds flat to sent it out. The recipient has to fold the front panel down and place it behind the little catcher. This way the card will stand up like a display.

I hope you liked this little project and give it a try yourself. Happy crafting and stay tuned for more ideas to come...

Rose Card for a special Birthday

We don't do a try-fold card that often in class, but this pretty embossing was to good to be cut apart. I love these roses and they look so pretty all the way around the card. I used an Anna Griffin 6"x12" embossing folder and some of our Close to My Heart hollyhock cardstock paper.

First I run the paper strip through my embossing machine. The folder not only creates the embossing it also creates the folds for the try-fold with it.







Carefully fold the sides over and crease with a bone-folder. Be careful not to go over the embossed image. Next I used some white pigment ink and a sponge dauber to color over the embossed images. Depending on how often you go over the image or how much ink you use, your rose might be more or less white. Let the ink dry completely before you continue to embellish the card, otherwise you will smooch the white ink all over the place.



Next I created a few little tags that guide you along while opening the card. A piece of white cardstock with a little embellishment leaves enough room for some private notes. 

The embossing folder is really awesome and no matter what side you use for your project, they are both stunning. 

Well I hope you liked this wonderful project. Leave me a comment and tell me what you like about it. 

Stay tuned for more cute cards to come.....

Birthday Cake Side-Step-Card

This was the last of the three cards we did in Junes class. 

It is a little more time consuming, but worth it. We used the Close to My Heart stamp of the month which was perfect for this project. The stamp creates the different layers of the cake as well as the base and the candles. 





We stamped the cake pieces ones on cream and ones on yellow colored cardstock. We kept the cream color piece as our base and just cut around the outer lines. The yellow pieces were also cut on the outer lines and in the middle too. We took some of the yellow cake pieces and placed them on the cream piece which makes the cake look like 3-D.

The candles were colored in and cut out as well. For a side-step-card you have to cut your card base partially in the center and create multiple score lines to create the steps. If you need exact measurements, please feel free to contact me.

The difficult part is to place the individual layers correctly on each step so that they will look like a cake when you place the card open on a flat surface. As you can see in the picture on the left, I started with the top part of the cake and adhered it right on the top of the back step.
Next you dry fit the lower cake level with the stand so the cakes pieces will overlap when the card is closed, but they will just but up when the card is open. Decorate the rest of the card with design papers and some phrases.

I hope you enjoyed the cards from the "past"...now we will continue to catch up with our September projects.....so stay tuned...

Graduation Card

Graduation is coming again soon, so how about getting an early start?

Here is another card we did in our June card making class. What can you do with big and bold golden striped paper? Well, I thought it was perfect for a very special accomplishment, a graduation.

This time we went with a more simple card as well. The card base is cut at 4 1/4" x 11" and fold in half, so the fold will be on the left side.

We placed two strips of the golden paper on the top and bottom on the card. The middle portion was filled in with a piece of black cardstock. Next place the open card on a cutting mat and cut a small opening with your knife. The opening should be only as long as the tag is wide.

Decorate the front as desired. For the tag I used a strip of cream colored cardstock folded in half. A decorative punch was used on both ends of the strip. The strip is a little wider than a gift card. Punch the hole close to the card to keep it in place. Use a piece of ribbon to close it. Decorate the tag with a phrase or other embellishments.

A quick an easy card with a golden touch... stay tuned for more to come...

Thank You Card

Thank you so much my blog readers for your patience with me. It has been a busy summer and even so I wanted to get so much done, time was running out on me. Does anyone else have the same problem these days? I don't know, but it seems like June was just here.

Well, speaking of June, believe it or not, I owe you still our Card Making Class projects form June. Yes, seriously....so lets get back on track and catch up with things!

Before we went on our summer break we were working one a couple of really cute cards. This "Thank You" one is one of them. 

I like the simple elements and the summery colors the best.

We used four squares, two bigger and two smaller once. A perfect project to use up some of your scraps. I picked a nice blue background for the base card.It is cut about 1/8" smaller than the base on each side. I arranged the squares so they overlap each other by a little. The "Thank You" phrase was stamped in black ink and the square was edged with some glacier ink. I lifted some squares with foam dots while others are adhered directly to the paper.

Little flowers are punched out and five are placed on the front of the card, while one goes inside and the rest on the envelope. A little button with thread is used as an extra embellishment. A few pearls and your card is done!

Don't forget to stamp the inside and decorate the envelope if possible. 

Stay tuned for more catch up projects to come...