Celebrate – Graduation Card

Posted in Cards, Other by lisababitz

Join us this fortnight for a new challenge over at Perfectly Rustics. The challenge is “Letters or Symbols” where you are to make the letters or symbols the hero of your project. For example, if you were making a card with the word love on it, make the letters big, emboss them, have them in patterned paper, etc. (http://perfectlyrustics.com/2015/06/01/prdc-no-49-letters-or-symbols/)

I created a graduation card featuring the word “celebrate” where I embossed and glittered my stamped image, cut it out, and adhered it to multiple layers to make it thick/3-dimensional.

(click on photo to see sparkle)

The stamps I used are from the Gina K Designs “Lots of Lines” set (retired?). I started by stamping a star on my white panel with versamark ink and Ranger “Rich Red” embossing powder. While the embossed image was still hot, I sprinkled on some Artsyfartsy Crafts “Sunrise Red” microfine glitter and applied a touch more heat (first from behind and then on top) to remelt the embossing a touch so the glitter would “stick” to the embossed image. (I did one star completely and then went back to do the other one.) To see a video on how to add glitter to your embossed image, click HERE.

I created a cut file with my Silhouette for the greeting stamp. On plain white card stock, I cut this multiple times (5-6) and glued each of these cuts together to make a thick version of the cut. I created one additional cut that I embossed and glittered to glue to the top.

The graduation cap and diploma/scroll are die cuts from the svg.cuts “Graduation Elements” SVG Collection. I added a bit of embroidery floss and ribbon to the cuts to spruce them up a bit.

For added color, I added a mat and strip across the center of 7 Gypsies “Antiquaries Postale Collection: Post” card stock as well as some black.

Clean and Simple has always been tough for me, and while there is more on my card than CAS allows, I was having a lot of trouble walking away from this project with all the plain white showing in the two corners. (Before the strip of color, there was even more!!) Baby steps towards CAS!!!

Now it’s your turn! Create a project where the letters or symbols on your card are the focus, and share it over at Perfectly Rustics. I can’t wait to see what you create!

I’m entering this card in the Mod Squad Challenge this week which is “Masculine” where we are encouraged to make a Masculine card/project. (Sadly, this site is no longer active.)

Thanks for checking out my card project!

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1Jun2015

WOW Graduation Shaker Card

Posted in Cards, Interactive, Other by lisababitz

WOW Graduation Shaker Card

Join us this fortnight for a new challenge over at Perfectly Rustics. The challenge is “Letters or Symbols” where you are to make a letter or symbol the hero of your project. For example, if you were making a card with the word love on it, make the letters big, emboss them, have them in patterned paper etc. (http://perfectlyrustics.com/2015/06/01/prdc-no-49-letters-or-symbols/)

I created a graduation card featuring the word WOW. Each of the letters is its own shaker window filled with small, glass beads. I added a small graduation cap and sentiment to show it is a graduation card, but the main focus of the card is the word WOW.

The first version I did was a clean and simple design with a plain gold front.

Here is another view of the individual shaker window letters:

I used a Silhouette file called “wow! word art cog wheel, star tail, stencil” (Design ID #53295), and used just the letters from the stencil image. I closed up the w’s so they would only have one part for their shaker windows.

To create my shaker windows, I cut the letters out of white card stock (centered on a rectangular panel) with my Silhouette – 10 times. I stacked (and glued) these 10 panels on top of each other, lining them up perfectly. This created a very thick panel. I glued a solid panel on the back, added the beads, and glued a piece of acetate over the letters. I cut one more panel with the letters cut out from a piece of black card stock and another (slightly smaller) from gold paper to create my card front and mat. Since the cardstock I stacked was white, I used a black Copic marker to color the edges black to match the black mat and the black card base I used.

Then I created the outline letters (using the Silhouette software and the same file) to place on the card front to further highlight the letters.

The graduation cap is from an svg file called Graduation Cards and Tags from svgcuts.com (HERE).

I purchased the stamp from Ebay; it is unmarked so I have no idea what company makes it. The stamp actually says, “Congratulations, You did it!” but I masked the “congratulations” part and just stamped the rest using versamark ink and black embossing powder.

I really like the clean and simple design of the first card, but I was curious to see how it would look if I embossed the front panel so I made this second version (pictured at the top of this post also).

The embossing folder I used is the Sizzix Stars & Swirls. I covered the WOW outline and graduation cap with black embossing powder to make them more vivid on this version. Since I embossed the panel before I added the stamped greeting (I was waiting for the stamp to arrive in the mail!), I needed to stamp it on a separate panel so I created the matted banner. I’m wondering how it would have looked if I had stamped it first directly on the card front and then embossed it since I am not crazy about the banner (I REALLY like the stamped image directly on the card on my first version!), but I like the stars and swirls.

Now it’s your turn! Create a project making the letters or symbols the star of your card and share it over at Perfectly Rustics. I can’t wait to see what you create!

Over at the Mod Squad Challenge Blog, the challenge this week is “Masculine” where we are encouraged to make a Masculine card/project. This card was made for my (male) neighbor who is graduating this year, so I decided to enter. (Sadly, this site is no longer active.)

Thanks for checking out my card project!

This content uses referral links as described in the disclosure policy on my sidebar.

20May2015

Autumn Tree Birthday Card (and other “Positively Negative” cards)

Posted in Birthday Cards, Cards, Get Well/Sympathy, Other, Thank You Cards, Wedding/Anniversary by lisababitz

Autumn Tree Birthday Card (and other “Positively Negative” cards)

I was asked to be the guest hostess for this week’s Mod Squad Challenge, and my challenge, called Positively Negative, is to create a project using the negative of a die (manual or electronically cut), punch, or hand-cut shape. (Sadly, this site is no longer active.)

This card was originally posted in my stamptv gallery (Sadly, this site is no longer active.), but I’m posting it here to show an example of a card where I did reverse masking (using the negative of a die) to create the sponged background for my tree image.

I used the Gina K Designs “The Giving Tree” set. Card stock used was gina k ivory and dark chocolate, and ink was gina k dark chocolate and memento desert sand. I used Flower Soft (autumn and nut brown) for the leaves. As mentioned above, a mat was made with the Spellbinders Wonky Squares die (discontinued?) to create the background for the tree. Yarn, a button and a gina k wood leaf finished it off.

Two more cards using the negative to sponge the background for my stamped images are below:

You can see the original post in my stamp tv gallery. (Sadly, this site is no longer active.)

The sentiment and floral image on this card are from the “With Love & Prayers” set by GKD. Gina K Wild Lilac and Moonlit Fog inks with a square mask were used to create the background. The image and sentiment were stamped with Gina K’s Edible Eggplant ink.

and

My card was originally posted in my stamp tv gallery. (Sadly, this site is no longer active.)

This is a card I CASED after watching Melanie Muenchinger’s tutorial (HERE). The stamp sets I used are Gina K Designs “A Year of Flowers 2” and “All Occasion Tags” (retired?) for the sentiment. I used the Spellbinders Wonky Square die for this reverse mask as well.

I also did a card a few weeks ago where I used the negative of a flower die cut to create the template for my image using the Confetti Cluster Stamping technique.

You can see my original post (HERE).

And finally, here is a sample of where I used the actual negative on my card of a heart I created and cut with my Silhouette.

You can see the original post in my stamptv gallery. (Sadly, this site is no longer active.)

I can’t wait to see your “Positively Negative” creations over at the Mod Squad Challenge Blog this week!

Thanks for checking out my post!

This content uses referral links as described in the disclosure policy on my sidebar.

20May2015

Positively Negative Thank You Note

Posted in Cards, I'm Honored, Thank You Cards by lisababitz

Positively Negative Thank You Note

I am so excited to have been asked to be the guest hostess for this week’s Mod Squad Challenge! (Sadly, this site is no longer active.)

My challenge, called Positively Negative, is to create a project using the negative of a die (manual or electronically cut), punch, or hand-cut shape. ~~(http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/2015/05/positively-negative.html~~

The negative is the piece of paper (or other medium) from which the shape or shapes were cut. There are many different ways you could use the negative. You could do Confetti Cluster Stamping using the negative as your template. You could do Reverse Masking to create a background for your images. You could use the actual negative on your project. Stencils are negatives, too! These are just a few examples of ways to use the negative on your project.

I needed to make a few thank you notes and wanted to create something that was easy to duplicate and wouldn’t require extra postage or a trip to the post office!

Using Gina K “Edible Eggplant” ink, I stamped my flourish (from Inkadinkado’s “Dot Flourishes“) and greeting (from Gina K Designs “Thank You Duo” – retired?) on a piece of Bazzill “Infatuation” card stock.

I wanted my flowers cut from this panel with the patterned paper showing through the “holes” left by the dies, and I also wanted a darker inner border showing around the inside border of each flower. The problem was that I don’t have smaller dies to make the borders , so I placed this panel on a slightly larger panel of Gina K “Edible Eggplant” card stock, lining them up in the lower right corner (as shown)

… and die cut the flowers (through both panels at once) using dies from the Momenta Flowers 2 (Lot 004798) die set. (I added a bit of repositional adhesive to keep the two panels in place temporarily.) Once the flowers were cut, removed (and saved for a later project!), I centered the lighter purple panel on the darker one. This caused the cut-outs to be slightly offset creating a partial “shadow” effect. It didn’t go around the flowers perfectly or completely, but it was enough to add a little contrast between the light panel and the patterned paper. This matted panel was adhered to the patterned panel (“Dark Plum Damask” – Sonnets by Sharon – Creative Imaginations) and then to an Edible Eggplant card base. Lavender Gem Stickers (Martha Stewart Crafts) were added to the centers of the flowers and on the flourish.

The Mod Squad Challenge prize (for a randomly drawn winner) is “stuff” from my stash [Spellbinders “Circles” Impressabilites (which can be used as a stencil if you don’t have a machine for embossing), two packs of metal embellishments, and silver foil tape.

Join us for the Mod Squad “Positively Negative” Challenge this week. (Details on the rules can be found ~~HERE.)~~ I can’t wait to see what you create! (Sadly, this site is no longer active.)

Thanks for checking out my card project and post!

This content uses referral links as described in the disclosure policy on my sidebar.

17May2015

Pop-Up Wedding Cake Card

Posted in Cards, Interactive, Wedding/Anniversary by lisababitz

Pop-Up Wedding Cake Card

Join us over at Perfectly Rustics for a new challenge. This fortnight, the challenge is to create a pop-up card. (http://perfectlyrustics.com/2015/05/18/prdc-no-48-pop-up/)

The pop-up portion of my card was created using the Sizzix “Cake, Three Tier, 3-D” Bigz Die and my Big Kick machine. The base pieces were cut from Gina K Innocent Pink heavy base weight card stock. The die provides the bases and supports for the three tiers, along with a bride and groom and a candle, as shown below. The sides are 1 inch strips (of whatever material you want the sides to be) cut with a trimmer.

It was suggested by the designer of the die (Karen Burniston) that the sides of the cake be cut from a material that is resistant to folding since these circular sides flatten somewhat when the card is closed, and you want these sides to become circular again once it is opened. Grunge paper and acetate are good choices. If you choose to use card stock, she suggests crimping the strips because it will hide any folds that may end up on these pieces when the card closes and opens.

With this in mind, I decided to go with crimped card stock, but I wanted them to be a little less likely to tear while still being flexible, so I covered my white card stock strips with crumpled tissue paper from Hallmark. (I had recently discovered the tissue paper technique and had posted a few projects using it HERE.) I covered my flat strips with decoupage, then placed the crumpled tissue paper on the strips, flattened them, trimmed off the excess tissue paper, and then sealed each of them with a top coat of the decoupage. Once the strips were dry, I ran each of them through my crimper.

Also at Karen Burniston’s suggestion, I cut a “plate” using one of the dies from the Spellbinders Stately Circles set, and assembled my cake on this piece before adhering it to my card base.

The bride and groom on the top of the cake were cut from Recollections glitter paper. The flowers on the top tier are by Offray which I found in the DIY Wedding aisle at the craft store. The leafy flourishes were cut from a die from the Heartfelt Creations (Spellbinders) “Cut Mat Create 2A Die” set and cut into smaller pieces. The hearts were cut using a Creative Memories Two Heart Punch.

The card base is two pieces of heavy chipboard covered with papers from the My Mind’s Eye Simply Delightful 12×12 paper pad and attached in the center with Washi tape. I needed to use the Washi tape to keep the center of the card base somewhat flexible to allow the card to open and close once the cake was glued to the inside. I think that building the cake on the “plate” panel was easier perhaps than building it directly on the card base, but I also think that this “plate” makes closing the card VERY difficult! I am definitely going to have to play around with this some more to see if the plate could be done differently or eliminated or if there is another way to make the base to better accommodate the plate.

My card is meant to be displayed opened with the cake popped-up. My card front is very simple with some of the same paper I used on the inside along with a couple of hearts. To keep the card closed until the recipient is ready to open it, I loosely tied a piece of white ribbon around the whole card. I left off a sentiment because this card could be used for a wedding or an anniversary. I don’t think a sentiment is needed, but it could always be added later if desired in the form of a small banner or tag, for example. Even though I chose to make my card front very simple, you can see that it is possible to display the card “closed” as shown, so you can make your card front as elaborate as you want.

Here are a few views of the card as it opens. The circular tops of each tier are folded when the card is closed and open flat when card is completely opened. Notice how the sides of each tier kind of fold together when the card is closed. You don’t want to see a sharp fold on the sides of the cake when it is opened. This is why using a fold resistant material or a crimped piece of card stock is recommended.