Da Font is Da Bomb!

I recently downloaded a font called Peony from the DaFont site. It is a free font and is really fun. Each letter is a different, seamless design.
Peony Letter B Washi Tape croppedUsing my Silhouette,  my Amy Chomas pen holder, and a black pen , I typed the letter B across the middle of the card front, which made the vine design.  I then added washi tape and a stamped embossed panel. This card was fast and has a  good amount of white space for those of you who want to keep things simple!

DaFont: Peony; Hero Arts: Art of the Card-Untitled Love

Peony Letter M Create croppedThe ginko pattern is the letter M from DaFont as well.  After drawing it with my silhouette I filled the image in with a black pen then added some machine stitching and thin black washi tape.  The flower was made using patterned paper and the Sizzix Flower 6 die.  I cut the sentiment out of white cardstock ,colored it with red pigment ink, and  then embossed it.

Silhouette: Create Title #4094

What other fun fonts do you use?  Let me know!

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Deconstructed DS 112 and 113 Challenge

You get 2 Deconstructed challenge cards this time because I didn’t get 112 done until after the deadline.  I’ll start with 113.

Deconstructed DS 113 croppedI came up with  a technique I hadn’t thought of before.  I decided to place a row of pearls at the bottom of the card and I wanted them evenly spaced.  Most of the time I just eyeball it but the more pearls there are to be placed, the more likely that they will go wonky.  I laid my row of pearls (still on their backing) where I wanted them on the card and then placed a sticky note directly below them.  I then made little tick marks to show where each pearl was to be placed and then put the pearls on  the card.  The sticky note ensured that not only were the pearls evenly spaced but that they were all the same height.  Wish I had have thought of that a long time ago!  Here is the picture with the sticky note in place:Deconstructed DS113 closeup of post a note '13 cropped

All of the papers are from American Crafts “Color Crush” 6×6 pad.

I white embossed both the turquoise hexagon and the sentiment and then used an embossing folder to add dimension to the sentiment hexagon.

Sentiment: unknown; Hexagons: Hero Arts Hexagon Stamp and Cut ;Martha Stewart edge punch: Lattice Arch; Cutttlebug embossing folder: Swiss Dot

Deconstructed DS112 croppedThis is DS112.  Love the colors of the striped paper! All of these papers were from the My MInd’s Eye 6×6 pad called “Memorable”.  I really liked this pad because the papers are two-sided.  There are lots more color options that way.

Sentiment: unknown; leaf die cut: Sizzix Little Leaf; Stickles

Kraft Cardstock Mania 3

kraft plus red  This red card uses the negative space left after cutting out the flower shape.  It always looks like this type of design is really hard and took a lot of fussy cutting or gluing, but the fact is it couldn’t be easier.  Cut the flower design out of Kraft cardstock, back with your favorite designer paper (or in this case marbled paper), add other embellishments and the card is done. Adding dimensional adhesive to the flower panel gave some extra interest to the card.

Silhouette: Flower Rectangle #33935; Cuttlebug: With Gratitude

kraft plus purpleDo any of you have a basket full of die cuts or stamped pieces that never quite make it to the front of a card?  Well I do, and this card is the result of determination on my part to use several pieces in my basket.  The paisley square, the background lace, and the sentiment were all lost pieces looking for a home.  I colored the lace with Distress Ink and then layered it over a gold metallic paper so that it pulled the background and the paisley square together. The glittery sentiment matched the green PearlEx paint on the square- yay!  I had had the purple ribbon for a very long time and hadn’t used it because the color never seemed to match anythingI was working on.  It was really a serendipitous thing that it was exactly the right color as well.

One more week of Kraft Mania left.   I would love to see what you have been doing with your Kraft cardstock!

Stampendous: Paisley Texture Cube; Silhouette: Floral Lace Background #3924; Cuttlebug: Friends Forever

 

Word Definition Stamp As A Background

I have really been enjoying the “ Stretch Your Stamps” online class.  One of the days focused on using word stamps different ways which got me inspired.  I used this ” Create ” definition stamp as a background for my card. I used black detail embossing powder since the font was so small.  The poppy embellishment was a Silhouette design which I backed with a green and red specialty cardstock and the red tape was a piece of fake Washi tape I made from unryu paper.

By the way, kudos to Silhouette for reducing the ID numbers to a managable size.  Sure makes my job easier!

rounded card flowers punch out: #27930; sentiment: Fiskars “Just Between Friends”

If you have never tried one of the online card classes you really should!  I have never been sorry with any of them I have purchased.  You can watch them as many times as you like and there is also a PDF you can print out.  Always good for the times I get stuck!

Happy cardmaking!

New card bases from Silhouette

I just purchased the new card bases and envies from the  Silhouette Store.  I thought I’d show you what you can do with them.  Since I don’t have the Cameo I couldn’t cut out the envelopes, but since the cards are a standard 4.25 x 5.5 inches I can just use rather boring but servicable white ones.  This first picture shows what the card bases look like when open.The only difference in all of the cards is the shape of the card front.  Now for the finished cards which, by the way, refused to stay in an upright position when placed in the frog, hence the thumb showing in each one.  Sorry about that.

Card base 1 has these fun scalloped edges.  I cut the overlay out of white cardstock and then used the internal offset to cut a slightly smaller overlay out of patterned paper.  The bird file is one of my favorites and the ability to cut out the ” beautiful you” so cleanly still amazes me.  Due to the size I did end up double cutting the phrase.  I found some yellow butterflies in my “yellow” box, so I put 2 of them together and added them as well.  I felt the yellow cardstock needed some help so I ran it through my Cuttlebug Polka Dots embossing folder.  Doesn’t the background now look like a giant yellow Lego?  Oops.

card_base_1_C01686_20509; bird_on_branch_C00648_19547; beautiful_you_phrase_C00987_20509;

I love the colors on this card.  They are all from then Tropical  AC Cardstock pack. Originally I had intended on using rhinestones to cover some of the black polka dots but I didn’t have the right colors so I just punched out several of each color of cardstock, added them to the card, and then covered each of them with Glossy Accents.  Easy cheap coordinating embellishments.

card_base_2_C01688_20509; paisley_C00413_31857; background stamp Stampabilities Polka Dot Background; sentiment Fiskars All Year Greetings

This next card is pretty busy for me, but I did get to used up several bits and pieces I had laying around.  I cut the fancy border in two parts and used them to border the top and bottom of the card front.  I used the Cuttlebug Forest Branched folder on the red cardstock and then turned the pattern sideways and cut a strip.  I  ran the black butterfly through my Xyron, front side down, and then pulled the backing off of just the butterfly wings and added glitter.  I learned a very important lesson about black cardstock and colored glitter. Yellow glitter appears green and orange apppears brown.  Tricky stuff, that glitter. I then removed the backing from the body and added black glitter.  I got the idea for the butterfly from yesterday’s A Cut Above online class.

I made the flower on the tiny label by cutting 3- 12 petal flowers, covering them withDistress Ink, and then curling the petals and layering on top of each other.  The flower almost looks like a small dried one.

card_base_3_C01690_20509; elegant_border_C00105; assorted_butterfly_filigree_C01438_20387; 12_petal_flowers_C00667; 5_petal_flowers_C01237_20509; leaves_C00027_23445; 5_labels_C01207

You know how often farm dogs are “outside dogs”?  Well this bird is an “outside bird”.  He hangs around the cage but never in it .  Just thought you’d want to know.

This is a pretty simple card, actually.  I really like the birdcage and sentiment. The set comes with 2 more birdcages, several birds and one more sentiment that is bird related.

card_base_4_C01629_20509; 3_bands_C00965_20509; TAC Studio Vintage Birdcages

This last card is probably my favorite.  I really like the teacup and the frilly edges of the card front go well with it.

The dotted background is from a blogsite called Mel Stamps. If you haven’t been to her site then you are in for some fun!  She has lots of free templates and background papers as well as cards she has made.  Prepare to spend some time there, though.

This is one of those cards that ended up being a “flub fixed” one.  I ran all of my letters throught my Xyron but found out that I had run  one of the T’s and O’s in backwards. I really didn’t want to have to recut just 2 letters, so I used the misglued letters for the word “two” and addeds glue to the front of the W.  I then added clear embossing powder to the word and heated it.  Now it looks like I intended that word to be glossy.  Take that, goof up monster.

card_base_5_C01694_20509; 4_flourished_tea_cup_set_C00656_19210: background stamp Hero Arts Word Pops

Six more cards to go.  See you next week!

25 Christmas Cards Part 2

Nontraditional Colors

The colors for this first card came from the Print and Cut wreath from Silhouette (the colors are off slightly, seems that this magenta color is a difficult one to get right). I printed out the wreath on white cardstock and then added Glossy Accents to the baubles for some extra dimension.

This card could be made without having the a Silhouette.  Pick out several fun colors of cardstock and go crazy punching out leaves or branches. Shape into a wreath, add circle punch-outs, layer on coordinating papers, and your card is finished.

I really like the Sizzix Dotted Flower Rings I used for the background , so prepare to see it several other places. Kinda reminds me of the texture of a sea creature.

mod_wreath_pnc_C00574_31857, Sizzix Dotted Flower Rings, Recollections Noel

The die cuts for this card were done with my Silhouette, but it could just as easily be done with snowflake stamps, white ink and white embossing powder. Stamp and emboss the snowflakes on dark cardstock, layer  onto  a white piece of cardstock,and cut the edges with a stamp-edged scissors. Tie a ribbon around the piece and mount it on a light color card .  Add a snowflake embellishment and some  pink brads.

snowflake_stamp_C00760_23067, Fiskars Winter Wonderland

Here is another snowflake card, this time in browns, pinks and mint green to match the paper I used.  I used a (nontraditional) ledger background stamp  and colored the snowflake shaped rhinestone in the middle of the embellishment with a brown Sharpie. I ran the green snowflake through my Xyron machine and added glitter to the sticky side. A much easier way to apply glitter!

4_snowflakes_C00810, classic_snowflake_set_C01124_20387, scalloped_border_set_C00318_31857,Inkadinkadoo Joy Peace Love Mini, Hero Arts Luscious Ledger

I really liked this brown Print and Cut wreath- I think because of all the funky colors.  I don’t think of brown as being a christmas color but it worked for me here.

wreath_with_ornaments_pnc_C00557_31857, border_strip_layered_C00253_20509 , Inkadinkadoo Christmas Sayings

That’s all for today. Next time I will show you the cards I made using a new stamp I purchased at Michael’s recently.

B&R (Black & Red)

I can’t help it, but black and red is my all-time favorite color combo. This is a journal of my color journey from the very beginning of my cardmaking days to the present.  I hope you enjoy it and learn a thing or two.

Made in 1998, this card was one that I assembled into kits (75 of them) and took to Haiti for a class I taught there.  It was crude, but I was new at this card making thing.  It used the newest toy at the time- a  crimper (how far we have come)!

 

In 2001 I acquired some shadow stamps, so I used them on this card.  Seeing some mesh background over-stamp on scratch paper gave me the idea of first stamping a mesh background and then stamping and embossing red flowers on top.

 I learned a bunch about PearlEx in 2003 .  PE brushed on an image inked with Versamark gave a lovely shimmer, and polymer clay and PE were made for each other.  Combining PE and embossing powder greatly extended my color repertoire.  The flowers above used this embossing powder.  Finding out that I could make watercolors out of the stuff really cranked my tractor!  I ended up making little pots of all the colors of PE there were.  I used black PE watercolor to fill in the centrs of the flowers.  

My 2005 “Black and White Series” included this red floral one as well black/green, black/yellow, black/purple and black/green cards.

In De3cember of 2009 I submitted an artricle in Polymer Cafe showcasing my cards that contained  polymer clay embellishments.  I decided not to put this one in the article, but I did love all the textures.

I just finished  this ATC for a Black White and Red challenge.  The card had to be mostly black &  white and the red had to fit in with the theme of the card.  Somehow a sunburned zebra seemed to fit the bill and the caption reminded me of a Far Side cartoon.

The card at the top of the page is my most recent endeavor, made for the MOJO Monday  challenge. I love the papers I used.  The black and white print which has a plastic covering was acquired from Paper Source .  I don’t remember  where I got the black paper with the shiny dots, which is a shame because there in not much of it left.

The winners of the Blog Candy from last week are Kim Machrer and Nicole Ewing.  Congrats, and have fun with them!