TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

Sunday, March 26, 2017

More Easter Cards

Well I'll tell you I've been having way too much fun with Easter cards!  I wanted to make some elegant more Anna Griffin style which is really more me but I had so many supplies out for kid cards that I just kept going.  I think I still have at least 4 more bases ready to decorate.  I really don't need that many kid cards!  LOL  Here are 2 more of the fold out cards closed up.
Here they are opened.  Love the fence.

Then the next 2 I used a die from a friend of mine.  Its an OLD Sizzix card base die but I can't remember the name.  All the spaces diagonally are die cut out which I thought was pretty cool.  If you need the name of the die (after all anything is possible to find on eBay) let me know and I'll check into it better.  anyway here are the next 2: 

Kind of whimsical. That's all for now.  I'm probably going to go continue Easter cards and maybe finish a birthday card.  Grand kids are on spring break which means break for me!!  YAY.  So maybe I'll get alot of card time in!

LATER......................................................

HAPPY CARDING!!!












Friday, March 24, 2017

FOLD OUT EASTER CARDS

Well if you read my last 2 posts you'll see that I've been working on shaped cards by copying Heartfelt Creations fold out cards.  Though I love the beauty of their cards and the lovely papers they have I was going to instead use what I had on hand and turn them into a more fun type kids card.  I send out quite a few kids Easter cards and try to use a different shape every year but.....There are only so many shapes.  I believe I have used nearly all possible fun shapes for Easter Kids cards so when I saw that my friend had bought a bunch of different size card bases from Heartfelt Creations I jumped into copy mode.  You can read the previous 2 post on how I did this for today is just a reveal.
So with out further ado........................................
All of these are just variations of a Z-fold card.  Here's Closeups.........................



The embellishing on these are super super simple on purpose.  All of these are going to little ones Under the age of 5 so you know they will be a bit mishandled.  Which is OK with me...I want them to be able to open and close the cards and touch the bunnies and eggs.All of these cards folded measure 4.25 x 5.5.  I have a few more in progress that I will be posting later. 2 more that are similar to these and 2 from a different Sizzix card die.   

Off to finish the rest......in the mean time.............................

HAPPY CARDING!!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

UPDATE to Fold Out Planning

I just re-read my post and decided that while I was trying to describe the tracing and cutting of the bases it sounded pretty confusing so decided on a new visual.
First I needed a 12x24 inch piece of card stock.  This is from a pad I got years ago so it worked.  I then traced 2 of the fold out card styles on to the sheet.  1 on bottom and 1 on top.  With the middle piece I was able to obtain 2 more card bases by just drawing a straight line.  Note the two middle cards are NOT the same size as the traced ones.

The very center straight strip is scrap as is the small straight piece on lower right  I now have 4 different cards with which to work with.  

I'm still working on gathering supplies and Designer paper for the 4 cards I originally cut from the light green paper.  I have been taking care of sick grandkids so my time is limited but stay tune....I promise these cards will be done before the week is over.

Hope this better explained what I've been trying to do.

Later............................
HAPPY CARDING!



Fold out card Planning

Today has more to do with planning out a Fold out Card than an actual finished card.  I love the look of some of the Fold Out cards on the Heartfelt Creations Site.  You can see them   here.  I love the ease...you buy a pack of pre cut card bases which is $6.99 a pack, (see them below)

 which come 4 to a pack 1 of each style and you choose a pack of white, black or Kraft.  These are available in 3 different size packs too.   4.24 x 5.5 ...5 x 7 or 6 x 6.  If you were to buy a pack of each size in each color it would cost you $62.91 plus shipping for a total of 36 cards.  Then you need a border die. A basic one has 3 decorative and 3 plain for $29.99 and that will work with some of the card borders but you need another one called elegant basic for other cards.  Also 29.99.  Then to stay true to Heartfelt you need a paper pad which is also $29.99.  Now 3 sheets of 12x12 will decorate 1 card with scraps for a different project.  So that means to make 1 card you need to spend........🥁🥁🥁(drum roll please)  $66.64  Now that's just 1 card with buying just 1 set of bases and only 1 border die and 1 paper pack.  I"M TOO CHEAP!!!!  LOL  A friend of mine did buy alot of those items (lucky for me) and I just borrowed them to trace.  To trace I needed 12x 24 paper.  I had some old cardstock that I haven't used in years so I decided to use it.  I wanted to make a few Easter cards and this paper was pastel so what the heck.  You can get 2 traced cards from 1 sheet then a third can be figured out... though it will be a totally different size....from the middle.

Really hard to see I know but here's what I was able to cut from a similar sheet just a different color.
The first card and the third are from original template the second and forth were cut from the center part of the card stock with only cutting a straight line and using the shaped ends from previous cut.  If that makes sense.  Now to decorate..... I will be cutting smaller pieces of card by using my new base as a template instead of needing a die.  I sure hope this works.  Stay tuned for card reveals.

I must say this is alot more work than buying the precut packets but I'm always looking for more frugal ways of doing things.  If I can save a few bucks................lol!

Till next time................................................
HAPPY CARDING

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Easter Z box pop up card

Oh my goodness EASTER is almost here and I have cards to make!!  Decided my first one would be one that I C.A.S.E.D. from Splitcoast.  Original video can be seen here:                  SCS VIDEO.  My Bunny's are stickers of an unknown source since they were just leftovers in a drawer from another project a few years ago.  The grass was given to me from a friend.  My tulips are from a Martha Stewart punch.  Large eggs are a frame die but I'm not sure of manufacture.  medium eggs are from a medium(yellow) steel rule die from Sizzix and the small eggs are from a tonic punch.  Clouds are from a big(red) steel rule sizzix die.  All in all I think the card turned out fine for not having the exact supplies.
Oh forgot...butterfly is also a Martha Stewart punch.  All the eggs were cut from patterned paper.  Most was from the  Recollections from Michaels.  Fun cute card and Oh My no coloring!!!  Incredible!

Well until next time..................................

HAPPY CARDING!!!!!





Friday, March 3, 2017

SCRAPPY CHRISTMAS CARD TAG

Love using scraps and by golly I have quite a few of them.  One of the ladies in my group told me to come up with a Tag design for our upcoming gathering.  Everyone is designing a card and putting together kits for each of us and it was suggested that I do a tag since I love tags.  Problem is.........the lady who suggested it really doesn't like or use tags.  So I decided to be a little creative and combine a card with a tag.  Best part I can use all scraps for my demo card.  Though I will need to get regular sheets of DSP and Card stock for the packets since I need multiples.  Well here's what I did:
 First I decided to make it larger than the typical 4.25 x 5.5 card and made the base 5 x 6.5.    This is a flat card it does not open.  I cut (2) 3.5" circles of card stock and (2) 3" circles of DSP.  Some scrap lace, ribbon and a tag die and got to work.  Finished result?  Here it is:

For the packets I had to change up the papers so that I would have enough for everyone.  Just a little bit different look.  Honestly I like my scrap one better but I'm sure everyone will like this one too.

I think I'm going to try and turn out more scrappy type of cards.  I have sooo many scraps laying around that really need to be used.  I need to refill my Christmas card box for 2017 so Scrappy it will be.  Ok along with a few with new papers.  LOL

Until next time............

HAPPY CARDING!

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Edge Punch Tip

Here I go again...lol.  I wrote this a few weeks ago, forgot,, went on a little get-away, came home and said "OOPS".  Well instead of re-writing it I'm just going to post it.  So here's the weather from 2 weeks ago!

Hello.....it's mid February, the groundhog said there is 6 more weeks of winter but we have been having super mild temps here in Chicagoland. Windy????  Yes  Rainy??? Sometimes.  Freezing???
A day or two.  But mostly temps in the 30's which is mild for us and this weekend they are predicting 60!!  OMG...get out the bathing suits!!  LOL  No joke...some Chicagoans really do in 60 degree weather.
So yesterday I got my package from Anna Griffin.  I had ordered 2 sets of edger punches.  Each set came with 3 different punches.  As I sat there looking at them and wondering how they look punched I realized that I often wonder what all my edgers look like punched out and never remember the next time I want a fancy edge.  Soooo...I decided to make a little index.  I grabbed ALL my edger punches and separated them by company.  Then I took 1 company at a time and punched a strip from each punch.  Then on laminating pouches I wrote the name of the company on top, numbered each strip, numbered each punch with matching strip number.  I closed the pouch and ran it through my laminator.  Here's a start of what I got.
I had to actually lay these on paper so you could see since they are just plain clear pouches.  I still have to do EK border punches and Recollection.   
I'm going to punch a hole in the left corner and slide them onto a metal shower clip I got from the Dollar Tree.  Then it can hang right by the desk.  I thought it was a clever idea.  Now if any of my friends are looking for a particular design I don't have to load up all my punches they can just browse through my sheets!
Here's the finished project hanging.
Now when ever I want an edge I can see exactly what it will look like punched.  Of course this means that I am going to have to keep all my punches organized so I can find the right one...LOL  I should do this for more of my punches....Hmmmmmm.............

Til next time 
HAPPY CARDING!!