Category Archives: Birthday Cards

Chalkboard Easel Cards

Posted in Birthday Cards, Cards, Christmas, Holiday Cards, Uncategorized by

Chalkboard Easel Cards

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Pigment ink is not my favorite type of ink.  I think it’s messy and takes too long to dry, and I avoid it when I can!  However, I wanted to show my students that it is good for certain applications (heat embossing and stamping on dark card stock for example) and that it is good for certain techniques like the chalkboard technique I used here on this card (and for the bokeh technique that we also tried).  Now they can decide if they want to use it on their own – lol!!

I used the Stampin’ Up “Hardwood” background stamp (retired?) with Memento Rich Cocoa ink on the front of a Gina K Kraft A2 card base.  The stamp is taller than it is wide with vertical planks, but I wanted them to be horizontal so I turned the stamp sideways, stamped the top half of the card front, masked the stamped portion, and then stamped the bottom half.  In this way, I didn’t have to worry about overlap or lining up the pattern where I left off.

I wanted to come up with ways this card could be made with minimal supplies.  Here is another sample where I just used my score board and the ink pad (on Recollections kraft) to create the wood grained look:

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I created the legs with the EK Success Real Estate Punch (partially off the end).  Dies could also be used to create the legs as well as a trimmer (for straight legs), a craft knife, or scissors.

Black card stock matted on a scrap of patterned paper was used to create the chalk board on the easel.  The size could vary based on the stamp(s) you are using.

The pigment ink…UGH!!!  I initially used Craft Smart white pigment ink I purchased at Michaels.  (I needed inexpensive pads I could purchase for my students to use in class.)  The ink literally never dried!  I heat set it, and it smeared.  I let it sit for days (and days and days), and it still smeared.  I sprayed a sample with a fixative.  It smeared.  The only thing that seemed to work was heat embossing it, but the glossiness made it look less like chalk.  (And, by the way, Wow! Clear Matte Dull embossing powder is NOT matte!)  Hmmm…

So then I tried Gina K’s white pigment ink that I had on hand (same paper, same stamp, same technique, etc.)… soooo much better.  It was dry in a few minutes.  Heat setting was even quicker and dried it beautifully.  Not sure what the deal was with the first ink I tried.  I returned it and ordered a few Gina K ink cubes for class!  (I’ve used several other brands over the years, and they worked fine also; I just had trouble with the Craft Smart ink pad I purchased.)

As an afterthought, I pulled out my colored inks and played with those a bit.  Most of the colors I had in my stash were really dark and didn’t show up well on the black, but this “Patina” from inkit looks kind of cool!  (I’ll have to look around for some lighter colors to try.)  I also played around with a white gel pen and smeared it before it dried to make it look more like chalk.  Maybe I’m warming up to pigment inks after all!!

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The stamp set I used for the greetings was unbranded.  I used a few punches and some scraps for the embellishments.  The birthday images on the additional panels were from a set called “Happy Birthday Stamps” (ms. sparkle & co.) that I found in a $2 bin at Joann Fabrics a while back.

Here is a video tutorial for doing the chalkboard technique.

Thanks for checking out my card project!

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Faux Monoprinting

Posted in Birthday Cards, Cards by

Faux Monoprinting

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Jennifer McGuire shared this cool technique HERE , and I thought it would be fun to try.  Basically, you do some inking and emboss resist on one background panel, and then you wet it and press it against a clean panel to create a second background panel with ink from the first.

Here’s the card with the original panel:

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And here is the second panel made with this technique:

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I used Salty Ocean and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks and clear embossing powder with some flower stamps for the resist.  You can see how the clear embossing powder over the sponged ink gives you a darker image of the flowers on the original panel, but how the images come out looking white on the second panel because the ink trapped under the embossed images did not transfer there and the white paper showed through.

I love both looks, and I love how you get two background panels with this technique!

I topped my panels with some simple, layered die cuts, and the two cards were done!  The delicate Tulip Frame Die by My Creative Time is a great die for this technique since it allows you to still see a lot of the background.  The greeting die was unbranded.

Thanks for checking out my card project!

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Shaped Cards

Posted in Birthday Cards, Cards, Thank You Cards by

Shaped Cards

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I was playing with some dies and the Stampin’ Up “Waterfront” set and came up with a few cards that were not the typical rectangle shape.  (We ended up making “shape cards” in my class last week.)

Here’s another sample:

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This is a fun stamp set that has a bunch of elements to create different outdoor scenes.  The solid image stamps don’t need to be colored; the inks do all the work.

Once I was done stamping, I sponged a coordinating color onto the frame I created with two of the nesting dies from the same set used to cut the card base.

Thanks for checking out my card projects!

Faux Water Colored Flowers in Pink

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Faux Water Colored Flowers in Pink

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I love the look of water coloring, but sadly, I am not really very good at it.  So I fake it!

For my faux water coloring, I took a few solid image floral stamps (from a set of stamps I found in a “ms. sparkle & co.” bin at Joann Fabrics a while back), inked them up with Memento Lilac Posies ink, spritzed them with water, and then stamped them on water color paper.  (I didn’t use much water so the effect on my finished card is subtle.)

After the images dried, I stamped over them with some line art images (from “Sunshine Daisy Flowers” set by Forever in Time) which added definition without covering up the water colored effect.  These two sets do not really match up at all, but I was really pleased with the outcome when they were layered.

I didn’t have a stem stamp (this is a card/lesson I prepared for my class, and I was limited to the stamp sets I had available for class use), so I painted those by hand with Memento Bamboo Leaves ink, some water, and a brush.

The leaves were from a multi-step stamp set (unbranded?), and I chose to stamp just the “middle step” stamp.  No water was used to stamp the leaves, but I thought the sketchy look of that stamp seemed to fit with the rest of the card.

As I mentioned, I didn’t use much water for my sample above.  Here is a look at what the flower stamp looks like (without the layered scribble stamp) with water and without.

faux water color comparison sample

Thanks for checking out my card project!

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Diagonal Split Panel Wedding Card

Posted in Birthday Cards, Cards, Christmas, Holiday Cards, Wedding/Anniversary by

Diagonal Split Panel Wedding Card

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I came across this fun technique that features offset angles and some patterned paper to create an interesting, layered background panel.

Here is a video tutorial on how to do this technique, although I changed mine up a bit by matting my finished panel and changing the angle/measurements of my cuts.  I’ve also seen variations where the solid panels are popped up with foam tape and where the center portion is hand-stamped.

I used Bazzill “Whirlpool” along with black and heavy weight white card stock.  The patterned paper is called “B&W Wedding Words” by the Paper Studio.  I just love the dies from the “Shadow Box Collection – Mr. & Mrs.” set by Creative Expressions!

Here are two more cards I made using this technique:

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Thanks for checking out my card projects!