Category Archives: Cards

Fractured Happy Birthday Balloons

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Fractured Happy Birthday Balloons

I’ve made fractured cards before just using a paper trimmer, but I was very excited to discover that Creek Bank Creations now has a Fractured Card Base Die set (#D24017) that cuts all the pieces in one pass and leaves stitch marks on all the pieces!

I used “Party Balloons” by The Paper Studio (no longer available?) and a few sheets from the Recollections “Nostalgia” pack. The greeting came with a shadow die, but I just used the word die for this card. (And I did trim the tail on the “y” a bit.) I added a little texture to the center square with my SU Subtle embossing folder. (Again – NO idea why they retired that amazing folder – lol!!)

I’m on a quest to find interesting ways to feature patterned paper on my cards as I have so much! This die makes it so easy!

Thanks for checking out my card project!

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Masculine Center Step Birthday Card

Posted in Birthday Cards, Cards by

Masculine Center Step Birthday Card

First, I need to vent…

I saw the 12×12 “Dalmuti” paper pad by The Paper Studio on Hobby Lobby’s website and thought it would be good for some of the masculine cards I needed to make. It showed a few patterns that I really liked and others that could still be useful. So I rushed over to the store to buy it, brought it home….. and hated it! The colors on the actual sheets were duller in real life than I thought they would be, and there were several patterns that were pictured (the ones that attracted me to the pad in the first place) that were not even included! Of course I did not realize this before I cut open the pad and started removing/cutting sheets. Even so, I am challenging myself to use this card stock. Luckily the sheets are one sided, so I can always use the white side if all else fails!!

Now that I got that off my chest – lol!

I cut all the card stock into 6×6 pieces so they’d be more manageable for card making. I used four pieces for this card – three of the prints and the (white) back of a fourth. (Yeah, 240 6×6 sheets to get through – ugh! LOL!!!)

For the center panel, I used this frame die to cut the *frame and it’s filler pieces. Because the frame was so thin, very little of those two prints showed. That’s one way to use paper that may be a bit busy or not to your liking!

As you can see, there is not a lot of color variation with these sheets, so I tried to make the card more interesting by adding embossed texture and a fun fold design. The embossing folder used was the Textured Hexagons 3D embossing folder from Altenew. (I suppose I could have brought in additional colors, but I was so intent on using paper from this pad that I kind of forgot!!)

The greeting was cut from a scrap of GKD Chocolate Truffle card stock and white using the greeting die from the Free Standing Tunnel Card Drawer Die set from Creek Bank Creations. The balloons are from the same set.

I often buy pretty paper and then have trouble cutting into it. I will say, it was quite enjoyable chopping up this paper!

(* Note, this die is about 5 1/2 x 4 inch – slightly off for an A2 size card. For this step card, I was going for a 5×7 inch card, but the frame is 1/2 inch too high, so I will make a custom envelope when ready to send.)

Thanks for checking out my card project!

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Holographic Hearts Valentine’s Day Card

Posted in Cards, Holiday Cards, Valentine's Day by

Holographic Hearts Valentine’s Day Card

(Inside: have a happy day!)

Yesterday, I shared a “cute” Valentine’s Day card. Here is a more “grown-up” design …

Holographic Hearts paper from The Paper Studio was used behind a pierced heart cover die. I offset the white greeting die cut with the black, adhered it to the card front, and this card was complete. (And I have a pile of little white hearts for another project!)

Thanks for checking out my card project!

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Teddy Bear Valentine

Posted in Cards, Holiday Cards, Valentine's Day by

Teddy Bear Valentine

(Inside: Happy Valentine’s Day!)

This cute little guy is ready to deliver Valentine’s Day wishes to my kadults (my adult children who are still young at heart)!

The pieces for the bear were cut from The Paper Studio’s Textured Leather, Sand Photo, and Holographic Hearts papers (along with a scrap of black). The balloon die was from the Balloons set (#FBD119) by Paper Smooches. The stitched background is unbranded.

This holographic paper looks quite different depending on how the light hits it:

This was a fun card to make!

Thanks for checking out my card project!

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Bitty Ball Pop-up Animals

Posted in Birthday Cards, Interactive, Paper Crafting Projects (other) by

Bitty Ball Pop-up Animals

It’s the beginning of February, so it’s time for a “triple” project for Kelly, Kevin and Keith’s birthday!

Karen Burniston has quite a few fun pop-up die sets, and I thought I’d use her “Bitty Balls” to make some cute pop-up elements for my kids. However, instead of attaching their favorite animals to the insides of their cards for a pop-up surprise, I just placed them inside so when the cards were opened, the animals jumped out at them. Fun!

These animals are designed to fit in an A2 size card, but these guys are a bit bulky, so I made a 1/4 inch spine gusset on the card base to give them a little more room when the card was closed. (Pictured is just the card base before the front was added.) The card base started at 5 1/2 x 8 3/4 and was scored at 4 1/4 and 4 1/2.

As I mentioned above, the bodies of these animals were all made with the “Bitty Ball Pop-up” die set by Karen Burniston. Additionally I used her “Animal Add-on 2” set for Kevin’s elephant and Kelly’s giraffe, and her “Mini Ball Add-ons 2 Monkey and Lion” set for Keith’s monkey. (The monkey was designed to be made with the slightly smaller Mini Ball, but the pieces also work with the Bitty Ball.) Soft Stretch #12 rubber bands were used inside. Here is a tutorial video for assembly.

Keith’s monkey…

For the monkey, card stock (3 colors) came from the Recollections Nostalgia pack. Scraps of yellow and black along with 10 mm google eyes were also used. All the edges of the add-on pieces were inked with Gina K Designs Dark Chocolate ink and were embossed with the Stampin’ Up Subtle embossing folder (retired).

Kevin’s elephant…

Recollections Grey Kraft card stock was used for the elephant’s body and the add-ons. The debossed side of the Darice Crackle embossing folder (retired?) was used for his skin texture, and GKD Stormy Sky ink was used on the edges to help the add-ons stand out against the body (since they were all the same color). I used a black marker and the leg die (as a stencil) to add the black spots.

Kelly’s giraffe…

Three sheets from the DCWV “Neutrals” textured card stock stack were used for the giraffe. The edges of the light pieces were inked with GKD “Warm Cocoa” ink. The add-on set comes with 3 individual dies for the spots (1 small, 1 medium, and 1 large) – which I cut over, and over, and over! Maybe I should find giraffe printed paper next time – lol??

There are quite a few other add-on sets and tons of creative variations using these pop-up balls. Fun, fun, fun!!

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