More Celebra’tions

In my last post, I showcased some fun selections from Spellbinders’ Celebra’tions collection by Richard Garay.

Here are more:

This card features a piece of pretty patterned paper as well as a rosette made with the rosette die. (I added a dollop of Stickles Glitter Glue to the center). The stamp is from the # Sweet set and is colored using bright gel pens. The white dots were added to the green layer using a white dot pen from Faber-Castell (one of my must-have tools!). The patterned and purple pieces were cut using the Pierced Rectangles die (the green was a leftover!).

This pretty paper does all the hard work on this card, making it fast and easy to put together. The stamps are from # Sweet (the flower was heat embossed in black and fussy cut, then colored with Distress markers), Stickles gives sparkle on the flower, and I edged a strip of the patterned paper using a Stampin’ Up scallop edger. The gems are Dew Drops from the Robin’s Nest. (attached using Ranger’s Glossy Accents.

I made this a top folding card by cutting the patterned paper about a half inch longer than my base, then I scored the top of the patterned paper and attached that overlap to the back of the base card.

There are a few more coming!

Boxed In

As we know, I love boxes and I love this box die from Lifestyle Crafts (now owned by We R Memory Keepers).

The wood-look papers are from Kaisercraft, the rosettes were cut using a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die.

The papers here are from Basic Grey.

These were so fast and easy to make — I used them as gifts for my co-workers.

That was a quick posting, eh? Have a great week.

Pretty Boxes, Easily Made

I love boxes and I love this box making die from Lifestyle Crafts. It was fast and easy to create several boxes for holiday gifts.

This set features papers from Basic Grey.

Here’s another, using paper from KaiserCraft:

And check out the rosettes! (See, I promised I would do something with all those rosettes I showed in my last post!)

One other cool thing about this die is that you can also make an open lattice basket. Here’s an example of the basket:

Bling It Up Friday … Simply

I’ve already raved about the sheets of bling from the Buckle Boutique (here), but I couldn’t resist sharing three more simple cards, all jazzed up:

I ran a piece of white cardstock through my Cuttlebug Damask embossing folder then added a strip of Buckle Boutique’s gold bling and a flower (Imaginisce, Bazzill Basics collection), embellished with a pearl brad from K&Company.

A detailed view:

Same technique, different card:

The rosette was made from a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die and affixed using Glue Arts’ 3D Raisens; the rainbow bling is also from the Buckle Boutique. The embossing folder is a Cuttlebug folder. The cardstock is from Stampin’ Up!

One more:

Embossing folder is Tim Holtz/Sizzix; Stampin’ Up cardstock and image; Eyelet Outlet strip of pearls.

Thanks for coming by!

Crazy With Collage and PaperCraft Inspiration

As we all know by now, I am a scrap hoarder. I haven’t met a scrap I don’t like (or try to keep.) They sit on my desk, sometimes for what seems like decades, because I KNOW I will use them … eventually.

So imagine my joy in reading an article in the recent issue of PaperCrafts magazine talking about making a “messy collage.”
Well, THAT spoke to me!
The premise is that you just toss things together, and somehow, if the paper gods are smiling, you actually have a cute card.
Let’s see if it worked.

I started by dabbing two colors of Distress Ink onto my craft mat, misting, then picking up the ink with my water brush and splattering it on my cardstock. After drying with my heat tool I began adding paper bits. I finished with a rosette (see this blog entry for more on rosettes!), a sentiment (Hero Arts) stamped on a die cut piece (Sizzix Framelets set) and attached with my Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz). It still needed a little somethin’ somethin’, so I added Dew Drops from The Robin’s Nest (attached using Zots minis) and a leftover bit from a Stampin’ Up’s Mosaic Medly (previously stamped and embossed, discussed here.)

Here, the background was stamped using an old splatter stamp from Endless Creations, in ColorBox Butter and Hero Arts Wet Cement. Then I just grabbed pieces. (Recognize the happy birthday paper?) Gee, surprise, I found a use for a rosette. The special wishes image (Hero Arts) was one stamped a while ago for another project, but I never could find something else to use it on. The embellies are from the Robin’s Nest.

You’re So Special:
Splotches stamped using Marvy Matchables Terra Cotta and #12 grey. Pieces are from a Core’dinations sampler. Sentiment from Hero Arts.

Bird Cage:
Not crazy about this one. It started with the dry embossed piece (Tim Holtz embossing folder colored with sponged on Distress Inks) and the bird cage (Hero Arts?, embossed in Stampendous! PearLustre). But then I decided it needed a background. So I sprayed ColorBox’s Stephanie Barnard Blueberry and Chocolate inks). And it was truly awful. So I just kept adding things. Not sure it’s much better, but I decided to include it anyway. Thanks for not laughing.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Really Rosettes

It took me a while to get on the rosette bandwagon, but now that I am, I am crazy about them. Big ones, small ones, fancy ones, plain ones. Love me some rosettes!

I used to make them using my Stampin’ Up scoring board (a valuable tool and a Fabulous Find), which I thought was pretty easy. Well, it IS easy to use. But my wrists got tired after scoring too much.

Enter the rosette die from Tim Holtz/Sizzix . There are two versions of Tim’s rosette dies; I chose the one that made two smaller rosettes (perfect for the scale of cards I like to make.) The die not only cuts the shapes (and the round pieces to put on the top/bottom the rosettes) but also SCORES it! Ah, bliss! Take a look:

Well, I couldn’t just make rosettes all day, could I? Or could I …. hmmm…. It sure looks that way from this pic:

Anyway, I finally decided to put them to use.

This double-sided cardstock from K and Company made it easy to create a simple birthday card. I cut some strips to make the rosettes, then used the rest to make the card front (I chose the plain side so the rosettes wouldn’t have to compete with the pattern.
I thought of adding a sentiment, but I thought the piece cut from the other side of the cardstock was enough. Is it?

Now, of course, I want the bigger rosette die, too!!!

Here’s a quick tip: Tim has a great rosette tutorial on his website. He also notes that if your rosettes tear at the score line, simply add a piece of tissue tape to the back for added strength. I did not have a problem with the rosettes tearing, so didn’t do that, but it’s good to know, eh?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Easy Peasy Texture

While playing with fabric (to add soft texture to cards) I also came across a few fabric-like items that are perfect for cardmaking.

Again, I found a stamp that mimicked fabric … Crazy Quilt CG477 from BasicGrey/Hero Arts. The burlap ribbon is from Close To My Heart and the bowtie embellishment is from Basic Grey. The sentiment is from Hero Arts, the ink Cup O’ Joe.

This shabby chic paper (Close To My Heart) looks like it could be fabric, so I paired it with a canvas sticker (also from Close To My Heart).
The paper rosette (from the same paper collection) is topped with a fabric covered button (Close To My Heart) stamped in pigment ink.

Who says fabric is just for sewing?
Thanks for coming by.