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Happy Friday!

I don't think I am alone when I say I have several boxes of cards that I've made over the past...wells forever years! Although I'm good at passing them on, maybe not so great at signing and mailing them out. I was going through some of my older cards looking for a few sympathy cards. My least favourite to make, especially when one is needed.

My card making style has changed over the years. I am still a CAS loving designer first, I love my white space, but some of my older cards look like they need a refresh! I pulled out a sympathy card I made a couple years ago and I gave it an update before sending it off.

Here is my original card, posted on April 4, 2018!

To give the card a more current feeling, I cut the front off of the card to make it into a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" panel. I die cut the panel with largest die from The Greetery's Nordic Frames dies. 

I added the cut panel on to a white top folding card base with foam tape for a bit of dimension. By cutting the original card front into a die cut panel and adding a bit of dimension, I took a card that was already beautiful and gave it a fresh new look.

Have a great weekend!

Spread Kindness this Easter

Time is zooming along again and here it is Easter! I have a fun slimline Easter card on the Birch Press Design blog to share today using some fun new products.

The faceted rectangle from the Crystal Lingo stamp set was white heat embossed on to a 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock. I ink blended over the panel in a rainbow using Distress Oxide inks. The colours are Kitsch Flamingo, Carved Pumpkin, and Twisted Citron Distress Oxide inks and Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass and Shaded Lilac Distress ink.

The panel was trimmed down to 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" and it was attached to an 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" white card base with foam tape to add a bit of dimension.

I wanted to use the pretty background along with the Petal Layers die set in a way that one wouldn't overpower the other. I cut all three layers from heavyweight white cardstock. I adhered the layers together with liquid adhesive and once dry. 

I decided to use pinks and oranges as my egg colour from the background. You can place your egg anywhere on the card depending on the colours that appeal to you or your recipient.  I chose to place the dimensional egg on a angle. I placed small pieces of foam tape behind the egg to pop it off the  background.

The sentiment from the Blooming Spring clear stamp set was heat embossed and trimmed down and added to he panel with foam tape.

I love the idea of sending someone a landscape, slimline card. So easy to be displayed without tipping over.

Thanks so much for stopping in today!

Do the Slimline with Crystal Lingo

 Happy Spring crafty friends! The snow has been melting here and we are seeing signs of an early spring. Fingers crossed!

Today I'm up on the Birch Press Design blog with creating two slimline cards using the Crystal Lingo Stamps EH|SSS.

The faceted rectangle stamp in the Crystal Lingo clear stamp set is the perfect size for 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" slimline cards.

For both of the my cards today I started off by white heat embossing the faceted rectangle from Crystal Lingo on to two panels of watercolour cardstock cut to 8 1/2" x 3 1/2".

I laid down a combination of Distress Ink and Distress Oxide inks on to my craft mat in a staggered rainbow. I used my new favourite colour Kitsch Flamingo EH|SSS, Carved Pumpkin, and Twisted Citron Distress Oxide inks and Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass and Shaded Lilac Distress ink.

I spritzed some water onto the mat and then put my panel facedown into the ink and picked it up right away. I did not smoosh the ink, just straight on and off. I dried the panel thoroughly and then went back to the mat and tapped the panel around putting on a second layer. I spritzed a bit of water on my panel where the Distress Inks were to disperse them a bit more.

Once again I dried the panel thoroughly and went back to the mat one more time but before tapping down I spritzed the craft mat a bit more to reactivate the ink and did one final layer by tapping the panel on the craft mat. I stamped and die cut the Big Lingo Type Thanks EH|SSS in white and black and attached it to the card with foam adhesive!

The second panel was actually the first panel but a little bit of Frayed Burlap was all it took to muddy up my rainbow.

Rather than toss it away I kind of liked the masculine vibe that the brown gave to the card. So I did the same as I did for the other card.

I dried it and added more ink until I had three layers! I die cut the Big Lingo Type Thanks using only the detailed die three times for the sentiment. I adhered the three layers together to give the die cut some stability. Trust me this takes some patience--lol! I adhered the die cut directly to the card front.

It's so much fun to take an image like this, emboss it and then have some fun with your inks. This technique can be done with most inks and of course a little bit of water.

Thanks so much for joining me today and we'll see you next time!

Shoot for the Moon

Happy Friday friends! I am so excited to share with you a card I made with the  Penguin Palace Stencils 360°™ tool. This is a new tool to me but I tell you it's a game changer with stenciling! I will be talking more about how to use it in the future but, I couldn't wait to show you the card I created with my first run using it!

I started with the Penguin Palace Floral Wreath stencil along with two new Catherine Pooler inks--Pucker Up and Serenade! Sentiment in the middle is from the Penguin Palace Words From the Heart (Chapter 1) stamp set.

I used the Stencils 360°™ in 22.5 degree intervals using only two colours of ink to easily create my wreath just by turning my stencil inside the Stencils 360°™. The options are endless with this game changing tool. It allows you to make new patterns with stencils and also to easily mask your stencils when you're using multiple colours! 

Thanks so much for stopping in today and keep an eye out for a video using the Penguin Palace Stencils 360°™ tool.

Have a great weekend!

Big Thanks

Hi crafty friends, hope you are all staying well and surviving this Covid winter. It seems that during lockdown/Stay at Home orders since Christmas there are more things to do than ever before. The world beyond card making--LOL! 

After taking a break from crafting I am back today to share some cards that I made using the some of the newest colours of Catherine Pooler inks! I used the Catherine Pooler Big Thanks stamp set and Catherine Pooler inks for all 6 of my cards. This is such a great set to have on hand. You can so easily put together the perfect sentiment depending on the type of thanks you are looking for.

I also used Catherine Pooler's new Party Collection color wheel. For each card I selected colours from the suggested colour combinations along with their complementary colour suggestions! You can find the color wheel download HERE.

For the first card in this group, I used Cummererbund, All That Jazz and complimentary colour Coral Cabana. On the second card I used Pucker Up, Flirty Fuchsia and complimentary colour Lime Rickey.

Group two actually uses the colours of Laurentian University where both of my graduated from. This was done by chance-lol! I used Serenade, Drive In and complimentary colour Catching Rays on both cards.

The third set didn't want to smile nice for the camera! One the first card I used In the Park, Drive In and complimentary colour Do-Si-Do. for the final card I used Do-Si-Do, Coral Cabana and complimentary colour Serenade.

These cards came together so easily with the help of my stamping platform. I used some striped and polka dot papers from my stash for my backgrounds and I popped up all the sentiment panels with foam tape. I have to say it was nice to take some time and just play with new product. Timely because I have a few of these heading out in the mail this week!

Thanks so much for stopping in. I have linked the stamp set and all the inks I used below ink pads and re-inkers are sold separately. Have a great day!

Anytime Layered Hearts

Hi there, it's Tracey here today with a couple square cards using the Layered Hearts dies. These began as cards for Valentines, but time got away from me. So they were finished after the 14th as cards that you can send any time of the year. Both of today's cards are 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" square and although the cards are different, they both use the same process.

The Kinsley Heart and the Petal Heart layer sets are beautiful whether you use all three layers together or just the top for a delicate look! I love this die set because even with all three layers you can still see the amazing stitched lines on the bottom layer!

To make the pink heart using all three layers of the Kinsley Heart layers dies. I began by blending a panel with Distress Oxide Inks--Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves. This will be the background for the layered heart and the bottom layer of the letter dies. It was cut with the largest heart in the Perfect Hearts die set. The layers of the Kinsley heart were cut from white cardstock and glued together. The 'xoxo' was cut using the Mod Alphabet die set. The bottom layer from the ink blended panel and the top from white cardstock.

Before attaching the layered heart and 'xoxo' to the card base it was spritzed with Distress Oxide Spray in Picked Raspberry. I sponged a bit a pink ink on the centre of the heart for interest.

The green card used the Petal Layers die set, but only Layer A for a more delicate design.

Just like with the pink card I blended a panel with Distress Oxide Inks, this time I used Tumble Glass, Cracked Pistachio and Peacock Feathers. I used the panel once again for the layered heart and the bottom layer of the letter dies. Layer A of the Petal Heart layer set was cut from white cardstock. The 'xoxo' was cut using the Mod Alphabet die set. The bottom layer from the ink blended panel and the top from white cardstock.

This time before attaching the heart and 'xoxo' to the card base it was spritzed with Cracked Pistachio and Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide Spray.

So quick and so fun to use similar supplies and the same basic techniques to make two cards to you can use to Share Handmade Kindness!

 

Interactive Pizza Box Card

February 9th was National Pizza Day. A while back I made an interactive cards with an opening pizza box on the front. with the fun MFT Stamps Pizza My Heart Stamp set MFT|EH and MFT Stamps Pizza My Heart die-namics MFT|EH--this is such a fun set!

I was hanging on to it so that I could make a video about how I created my box, and that might still happen, but right now I am taking a bit of a break from videos.

PIZZA BOX

• Cut a piece of kraft cardstock to 4" x 7 3/4".
• Score on the long side at 1/4", 3 1/2" and 3 3/4", then flip to the short side and scored at 1/4" and 3 3/4". 
• Fold and crease all of the score lines
• Snip a 1/4" into the four corners of the bottom panel to make tabs to put the box together. 
• Trim a 1/4" off both sides of the lid (you could leaves those on if you want the lid top tuck into the base).

NOTE: To create the little hole in the centre of the lid I used the smallest circle on my crop-a-dile.

The background was made using the MFT Stamps Tiny Check patterned paper MFT|EH matted with red cardstock. The happy birthday sentiment was white embossed on black cardstock.

I die cut all the things I needed to make my gourmet pizza--the crust, the sauce, the mozzarella and all of the toppings using coloured cardstock. I added a bit of  shading to all of the pieces.

Before gluing the pizza to the inside of the box I cut a small piece of parchment paper to put under the pizza just like when you get a take out pizza. Just a fun little detail!

Thanks so much for stopping in today. Enjoy the rest of the week. 

Stay safe!