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.....

Born to be Wild - Scooter Card

Here is a project I had a lot of fun with. This is a Birthday card I made for a very special family member who just got a super scooter for her birthday. Being handicapped isn't easy and when I heard about the present she got, I thought I had to make a fun card for her....and this image just hit it home :-)

So first I had this lovely stamp from Art Impressions. I stamped it on some watercolor paper twice and colored it in with my watercolor pencils. I used the second image to cut out just the scooter with I placed with foam dots on top of the first image...oh and the little basket too. Next I created the step card base and here I decided to do steps on each side. But what can you put on the side panels? Well, the racing lady need some kind of background and street to race on...so again, back to my watercolor pencils. I added the gray street portion and some green for trees and a little blue sky. 

Then I found a set of tree stamps from Close to My Heart.  The great thing about the clear stamps is that they are so flexible. I bend the tree stamp on the bottom to make it look like it tilts to the right and stamped it on my right panel. The tree on the left panel was stamped like normal (straight ;-) )

For the second steps up front I simple made two smaller panel and also colored them in in gray. The sign is floating of the scooter and hanging on with a little string that is tucked under the back of the scooter. The cat looks so scared and guess what? The recipient has cats too....coincident?

I placed a piece of with cardstock on the back for some personal words and a few rhinestones finished of this card.... Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of this card?
I had a lot of fun making this card and I know it went to a very special Birthday Girl that loved it as much as I did :-) Now I wait for a real photo of her racing through the neighborhood!
 

A Year of Card Techniques ~ October Blog Hop ~ Black Magic or Joseph's Coat

Welcome to

It is month ten of our year long journey to explore different techniques.This month we are experimenting with some ink and embossing techniques called "Joseph's Coat" or "Black Magic Technique". Either way you called it, it is a simple but very effective technique. It is a bit messy at some time, but hey we love being messy once in a while right?

I haven't tried doing my own videos yet (which will be hilarious and chaotic I am sure ;-) and might happen one of these days) but for now, here are some really good examples to explain the technique:

Black Magic Technique
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeWSlk6gDeg&index=10&list=PLs5r50_JvYWia4z4ZUKGLUzXLr1CBiWe2

Joseph's Coat (two different ways)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufB0401pSgY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjSDg8lyo1A

Oh and remember, it's not to late to hop along and comment on each blog to be entered into out prize drawing. If you missed any of the previous months, you can click on the month to be taken directly to the start of that month's hop.

January February March April May June July August September

Now let's start with the projects and what I came up with. Having a very busy month and another one coming up, I thought I make a few simple cards this time. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing bad about simple. Sometimes less is more anyway, right?


I started with the "Black Magic" and I have to say this is really an awesome

technique. I used plain black cardstock and white pigment ink from Close to My Heart. I recently saw a comparison of different white pigment inks, sadly they didn't included our CTMH one. I have to say SU and CTMH both are of the same good and vibrant intensity while some of the other one the market don't show to good on black.

So why do you have to use pigment ink and what is the difference to regular ink? Pigment ink is a very thick ink that tends to dry very slow. The ink stays on the surface of your paper and doesn't "sink" in. This makes it ideal for stamping on darker papers. Due to the thickness of the ink, it is good to use stamps that are not too detailed, because they might not show as good as they do with regular inks.

I stamped a flower design in white ink on my black cardstock and let it dry over night. This way I was sure the ink would not smudge. The next day I grabbed some coloring pencils and started coloring in the leaves and flowers. I used different shades of green, yellow-orange and pink. It is amazing how these colors pop up. I didn't want to take away form the coloring, so I simply stamped my phrases with watermark ink and used white embossing powder to make it shine. A few sequins, pears and rhinestones and I called these two done. Really simple technique, but I think awesome results. What's your take on it?

Next I tried the "Joseph's Coat"....black inky fingers here I come... I cut two pieces of white cardstock to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

For the first one I used a couple of Ranger Distress inks in fall colors and sponged them on the cardstock. I wasn't to careful blending them, since most of the piece will be later covered in black anyway. For the second piece I used shimmer paint and water. I carefully placed three stripes of gold, green and red on my cardstock. I tried to blend the lines between each color just a bit and let it dry. 

Next I used some fall stamps, leaves, dots and acorns and watermark ink. I stamped the images randomly on the papers and covered them with clear embossing powder. Once heated and set, the areas with the clear embossed images will no longer take on ink! I started sponging brown in on the one piece, but it didn't make the leaves pop as much as

I wanted them to stand out....so I took my black ink pad and rubbed it all over both pieces. I then carefully removed some of the ink with a paper towel. 

The shimmer ink piece need a little longer to dry with the black ink on it due to the paint underneath. Once dry I was able to clean off the acorns and leaves. Don't these colors pop out? The only really hard part of these technique is to get the black ink of your fingers LOL...

Well, you can see the finished cards and I hope this will inspire you too to try something new with your inks and embossing powder. Have fun been messy and don't forget to leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

Up next are the wonderful creations of Debbie!

Keep on crafting and don't forget to comment!

Have a wonderful day

Claudia

Here's today's line-up in case you get lost along the way

Theresa ~ http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com

Claudia...Your are here!

Debbie ~ http://pawstoscrap.blogspot.com 

Lisa ~ http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com

Kim ~ http://katydidcards.com
Jearise ~ http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com

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...

A Year of Card Techniques ~ September Blog Hop ~ Mixed Media

Welcome to

It is month nine of our year long journey to explore different techniques and we're mixing things up this month with a few mixed media techniques and products. It's not to late to hop and comment to be entered into out prize drawing. If you missed any of the previous months, you can click on the month to be taken directly to the start of that month's hop.

January February March April May June July August 

So what is mixed media you might ask? It is as simple as it sounds: you take different techniques, materials and mix them up. Yes, that easy!

No matter if you use dry embossing, heat embossing, glitter glues, metal elements, wood pieces, ribbons and rhinestones and mix them up with card making, boxes, albums and any other display form ... any of these and more combined will be considered mixed media.

I have to admit, I was very short on time this month, but I didn't want to miss out on the hop, so pardon me for using some items that I created over the past year to show what you can do. Promised, next month will be back to new creations. 


Let's start with some card samples, shall we?



In this card for example I dry embossed vellum with some dots, added glitter papers and silver thread to the card.

The silver thread is meant to be used for sewing, but I think it is a great material for cards and other items too.

Did you know that paint can be a great mixed medium too? I mixed just a few drops of pearl shimmer paint with water and flicked them over my background paper. Not only does it create a wonderful shimmer, but it also makes for a super snow background. 
The foreground snow is made up with white pigment ink and white embossing glitter... 

 An even simpler way to create mixed media ... I used white embossing powder to create the flower background on watercolor paper and on the phrase flag.

Watercolors create the green and blue shading and little rhinestones add dimensions.

Yes, mixed media can be as simple as this! Combining two mediums...

Here are some 3-D displays for a change.

I created these wine bottle sleeves for a craft show. 

Beside the cardstock and design paper I added some wooden elements, ribbons, greens form a wreath and Christmas ornaments to decorate the sleeves. I also used some glitter glue to enhance the dots on the one design paper.

Last but not least a little decorate lantern for the season. Place a LED light inside and the stars shine.

Here I used a combination of embossed cardstock, vellum stamped with white pigment ink, glitter paper for stars (which I cut with different star dies), crochet ribbon and some linen string...





Again, sorry for the "old" examples, but mixed media really gives you a ton of opportunities to use any product you have in your stack. Create a card, a page, a photo frame, an album, boxes and on and on it goes. The possibilities and the items you can create are endless.

I hope you enjoyed our little excursion into the world of products and hopefully we could inspire you to be a little more experimental with the things you have on your desk. Enjoy crafting and as always we love to hear from you. So please leave a comment along the way and have a chance to win a gift certificate. 

Up next are the wonderful creations of Debbie!

Keep on crafting and don't forget to comment!

Have a wonderful day

Claudia

Here's today's line-up in case you get lost along the way

Theresa ~ http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com

Kim ~ http://katydidcards.com

Claudia...Your are here!

Debbie ~ http://pawstoscrap.blogspot.com 

Sharon ~ http://piece-ofheart.blogspot.com

Lisa ~ http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com

September Special - "Kindness changes everything"

National Stamping Month: Create Kindness

September Constant Campaign

Celebrate National Stamping Month this September with hand stamped cards designed to help create a little more kindness in the world. The Create Kindness card kit contains all of the supplies needed to create 24 beautiful handmade cards that you can use to brighten someone’s day! The kit can be yours for only $46.95—a 15% savings off the retail value!

Thanks to the pre-printed card bases, these cards come together in no time, leaving you more time to do something thoughtful for someone. Watch Close To My Heart’s blog,Instagram account, and Facebook page throughout the month of September to see what we’ve created with this card kit as well as the acts of kindness it has inspired! This exclusive kit will only be available in the month of September while supplies last, so make sure to get your order in early.

As a special bonus, the exclusive stamp sets and pre-printed card bases with envelopes are also available for separate purchase, but only in the month of September while supplies last!

The kit includes:

- Mini Stamp Organizer Box

- 8 Mini Stamps for outside and inside

- small black ink pad

- Acrylic block

- 24 printed card bases inclusive envelopes and decoration 

Don't miss out on this super cute special! CLICK HERE to order this set online!

Seasonal Expression Holiday Book ...It's Here!

The Close to My Heart "Seasonal Expression Holiday" book is finally here! Check out all the new and exciting paper packs, stamps and beautiful embellishments and so much more....

Click Here to see the new book online... or ...contact me for your personal copy!

For all of you that can't wait to get there hands on all the new goodies, I will place a collective order on September 2nd. If you life in the area and like to save on shipping, email me and I call you when it is ready to be picked up. Otherwise, simply go to my website ...CLICK HERE... and start shopping and all items will be send directly to your front door. Enjoy browsing and I see you soon :-)