TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Valentine treat boxes

Need a little treat for a Co worker?  Or maybe a few friends just to say your glad to be friends?  Then this cute little box is just right.  Originally posted by Sam Hammond on her blog Pootles  She is such an inspiration for little boxes.  These she made to display the new spring line of papers and I turned them into Valentines.  

Here's how.
Score your 6x6 as above.  At the 3/4" score cut
You need double sided papers for these since you turn down the one score line to make the little boxes look more complicated but they're not.  I found grabbing some of the 6x6 paper pads give you a large number of choices but you can also use a 12 x 12 sheet as I did below and just reverse the bottoms.
Pinch the tops together and tie a ribbon around them to keep them closed.  Then embellish with little tags.  I love layers so I just kept layering on a label that I punched out of really heavy card stock.  The punch I used was the large Paper studio label punch from Hobby Lobby.  I used glue to adhere it to the box.  Inside the box is just big enough for a Ghirardelli chocolate square. YUM!
I'm meeting up with a couple of friends for dinner next month so I think I'll give them a little treat.








Monday, January 27, 2020

New Fancy fold Valentine

So cruising through Pinterest I saw this card.  Super cute and I know I've seen it before but I can't remember where.  


I was hoping the person who Pinned the above card would have instructions. Here is what I found.  CLICK   Unfortunately the blog is in German so I hit the translate button.  Skimmed through her post and NOPE no instructions.  I tried a Pinterest search but I have not found this card. Maybe I'd have better luck if I knew what the fold was called.

So through looking at her pictures I came up with a finished card size 3 x 6.
Lets start...........your base will need a piece of solid card stock 6 x 9" to which you will make the following score marks.  On long side score at 3" then on short side score at 3".  At top left corner score diagonally to 6" down on right side.  Then from top middle score line make another scoreline to 3" down on right side.  Photo shows where all your score marks should be.
Next fold all your scorelines.  Fiddle with closing so that it looks like this:
That top point I actually folded inward and glued it down but it can be left unglued which is what the original poster did.

Now for your layers you will need 4 squares measuring 2.75 x 2.75".  You will then cut each square in half diagonally.  You will also need 1 piece 2.75 x 5.75 for inside left part of card and then 2 2.75 x 5.75" for right inside and out side part.  These 2 pieces need to be trimmed to fit.
You also need a piece of card stock 1" x 7" to be used as a belly band.  A piece of patterned paper left over from what you had used for the card measuring 3/4th x 2.75" for the band layer is also needed.  No the original card did not have one but I found that the card does not stay closed.  If that is no big deal to you, it can be omitted.
Card on the left shows it closed with the belly band on and on the right the card shows how it doesn't stay closed.  The belly band for that one is in the front.  I think these turned out pretty cute and I may try playing with the size but you need to work in thirds so if I was to make this bigger than a 3" x 6" The paper would probably have to be 8x12 which would I think make a 4 x 8 card which is kind of awkward.
Another great advantage of this card is that it also fits in those Dollar Tree security envelopes! 

I hope you enjoyed this fold and until next time..................

HAPPY CARDING

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Super Simple Valentine

Yep it's another..............VALENTINE!  This time for you non fancy fold lovers I have a regular folded card.  Once again papers are from my stash but I did pull out a mason jar die I have had for about 2 years and never used it.  Its a "no name die" that I probably got off of Amazon.  I know I have another mason jar die that came with a stamp set of flowers but I'm not sure where that went.  Also in my drawer of wooden stamps I had this old "Conversation Hearts" stamp.  I must have used it in the past because it was ink stained but I have no recollection of when or for what type of card. This card base is 4.25" x 12" scored at 6".
The "You are Loved" is washi tape that I bought at Joanns.  I also jazzed up the canning jar by adding a little scallop skirt to the top.  It was just a scallop circle cut to fit.  The pink hearts are from an old hand punch.  Like I said super simple.

Hope you are all finding some sort of inspiration from these past few post on Valentines.

Til next time...................
HAPPY CARDING!

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Another Fancy fold Valentine

I'm really hooked on Valentine cards lately.  I'm not even sure what I'm going to do with the ones I have since I don't usually give out Valentines to anyone other than my Grandkids or my hubby.  But here I am making more.  Maybe it's the cute papers I keep finding in my stash.  I first saw this card by Connie Stewart HERE .  Super cute and as Connie says super easy.

I only changed up a little from hers.  I added the solid cream piece inside for a signature.  Do you need it?  No but because of the color that I used for the base I decided it needed something not so dark to sign.  Also on the front I had decided instead of stamping the right side I decided to just make a little homemade embellie instead.  If you want to make this card be sure to check out Connie's blog.  Her video is super simple to follow.

A few more Valentines are in my head so Til next time.....................

HAPPY CARDING!

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

An Easel Valentine

Ready for another Fancy fold Valentine?  I'm on a roll!  lol  This time a not so new Easel card except I made it to fit into regular envelopes you get from the dollar store.  I think the envelopes measure 6.5 x 3.5/8" .
80 envelopes for a buck!  Not bad.  I fancied mine up with some Washi tape and hearts.  While on some I just sponged a little red before adding some hearts.

  So I made my cards 3.5 x 6.  You can get 3 cards from a 12x12 sheet of paper.  In fact go ahead and make them 3x 6 cards instead if you wish.  Then you'll get 4 from a sheet.  It doesn't really matter much as long as your elements fit.  I cut a base measuring 3.5" x 12 for mine then scored on the long side at 3" and 6".  My top layer measured 3.25" x 5.75".  I had this truck stamp and die that was a Christmas set I got from Michael's.  The little rope trim on the truck was actually a string of lights but I punched out some tiny hearts and placed them over the little light bulbs.  Instead of adding the Christmas tree or presents that came with the stamp set I punched out 9 hearts from 3 different pattern paper and glued them in the back of the pick up truck.  You could also use scraps for the hearts if you save everything like I do.
My background looked a bit boring to me so I used a heart embossing folder a a few Blings to jazz it up a bit.  I'm thinking now that I'm looking at them that I might add a bit of stickles or maybe some Wink of Stella to those hearts too.

Until next time
HAPPY CARDING!






Saturday, January 18, 2020

To Gnome you

Well you got a little peek at my little Gnome guy the other day.  Isn't he adorable?  I just couldn't get enough of him or his little mate so I used them for a few more cards.  I still used fancy folds and just papers I had laying around.  But first I have one more Raccoon card.  I think this little guy is pretty cute too.
This card is a flip fold card where the left side flips over the fold on the right side.  I probably should have used a different color for the inside since there is not much difference between the inside color and the flip piece on the left.  But as I said I have been using papers from my stash and honestly I just wasn't really thinking.  lol

Now here come the Gnomes!
This card is really just your basic "W" fold card with some adjustments.  Card base is a top fold 4.25 x 5.5 card.  I then used an edge die to fancy up the right side of the card.  For the inside "W" I cut a piece of red card stock 2.5 x 10" and scored at 2.5, 5, 7.5.  Accordion folded it and added glue to top piece.  Laying the bottom back of the accordion in the inside right part of the card centering it.  I then closed the card so that the top portion of the accordion stuck to the inside left side of the card.  Opened it up, add glue to back side of accordion and closed the card again.  This assured that your "W" was perfectly centered inside.  Super simple.
Decorative layers were cut at 2.25 x 2.25 and small cut aparts were added on top.  I made my own grommets in order to re-enforce the holes for the ribbon to close.
I love this card.  Simple yet fancy looking.

Last Gnome card is a fancy Z fold.  Real skinny one.  You start with a piece of card 6.75 x 9.  On 9" side score 2.25, 4.5, 6.75.  Then on short end stair step down each section starting at top remove 1.75 and climb down.  I then cut a 8.5 x 7 piece of card stock scored in center at 4.25 for a 4.24 x 7 card.  The card was layered and then the Fancy Z fold was placed in the middle.
Look at these cute guys peeking out.
 

Well that's it for today.  I'm ahead of my game with all 6 Valentines ready for the Grandkids.  Hope you enjoyed my Gnomes

Til next time
HAPPY CARDING!

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Kids Fancy Fold Valentines

I can't believe I have the Valentine bug all ready.  As usual I want to use Fancy folds.  The kids really enjoy cards that are not just your regular 4.25 x 5.5 flat card.  One of my favorites to make are the Double Z fold cards.  They are easy, cute, and can be made in various sizes for totally different looks.  So since I need a total of 6 cards for the grandkids I thought I'd start with 3 of these.  The papers I used are from my stash.  I have no idea what line these are.  I do know you can find a few, not many 12x12 sheets at Hobby Lobby of a couple different Valentine themed papers.  My preference though is to go to Amazon and pick up something similar to these.  On Left is an Echo Park pack and next to it is Authentique Romance pack. 

                                               

I Love to collect these kinds of packs because I love using the stickers and Cut aparts to add to the cards or the envelopes I use.  But you don't have to use specific Valentine paper.  Just use Valentine colors of pinks and reds.  I also had these Gnome stamps.  Which I love though they did come in a Christmas set.  But HEY just color like its a Valentine Gnome.  Its should work right?  These Gnomes came in my Papercraft Magazine as a free gift so there is no name for the set.  They are super cute and had dies to cute them out.  YAY!   LOL  I also had these cute Raccoons from Stephanie Barnard.
I can see my coloring is not the greatest.  In fact that Raccoon was actually colored a very light grey but you can't see much of a difference.  I think I need to go heavier on the color next time.  lol  Heck the kids won't care though.  Heeheehee.

This next one I changed up the Z fold just a wee bit making it just a bit bigger.  Once again I used one of the Raccoon stamps from the same set as above.  Did I also mention that these had dies too?
Well that's 3 done and 3 to go.  Maybe I'll use a different fold.  Hmmmmmm.......not sure which one to use but I do want to use the Gnome at least 1 more time.  

Til next time
HAPPY CARDING!

Monday, January 13, 2020

Barn Door Card

So way before Christmas a friend of mine handed me a die set she had.  This die set was just in a baggie with a few sheets of directions.  Well let me tell you, I read through it and thought "Ha no way I'm taking the time to figure this out."Well my friend asked about it again in late fall and truth be told I said I hadn't even looked at it but I could return it to her.  To my dismay she said she could wait.  Well she sure had to wait a long time since I have just now gotten the bag out and started to re-read everything.  Directions were not easy to follow so I tried to re-write it as I went along.

First of all this is the Stampin up die called the Barn Door.  She did not provide me with any stamps that apparently came with the bundle.  I'm not even sure if she has the stamps.  So I grabbed some scrap cardstock and went through the steps.

My finished card is pretty shabby.  I put the washers on before embossing the layer so I sponged it instead due to the fact that I used the same color for the base of the card as the layer.  Then I adhered the door before putting sentiment layer on.  Then I put the rollers on top before I put the rail on.  Just 1 mistake after another.  In my defense the directions had you all over the place.
So with re-written directions I cut all the pieces needed and made packets for our ladies group to try out the card.
And here we go
The one on the left is my original screw up.  lol  The right one I had used my new re-written directions and those still used the same color base and 1st layer I at least embossed that layer.  The door is more centered too.  Response from the ladies?  Well I guess they are easy to please because altho I still didn't like the card they all did.  There's no accounting for taste...heeheehee Just kidding.  

All in all I do not like the card.  Washers are so heavy, using cardstock made washers didn't slide right and those little rollers and handles were so tiny I kept loosing them and had to keep re-cutting .  Too frustrating for me.  I mush prefer my fancy folds or some of my other card dies to this one but I gave it a try.  So often we only blog about the success of the cards we made.  The ease.  But this time I thought I'd let you know not all cards work out for you.  This one didn't for me.

Turns out she did not have the matching stamp set and did not get it from Stampin Up but instead got it online from China somewhere.  She is thrilled with the new directions I gave here as well as a demo during our regular card making session.  That's all that matters right?  She's happy so I'm happy.   Shhhhhhhh....I still don't like the card.

Til next time

HAPPY CARDING!

Saturday, January 11, 2020

New Year New Holidays

I don't know about you but for the past 2 months I have concentrated on nothing but Christmas.  Christmas cards, Christmas, crafts, Christmas gifts etc.  I have to say it is sure nice the the year has started back at the beginning so that I can now focus on Valentines and St Pattys day.  Then soon after Easter.  That's not to say I won't add a Christmas card or two in between but at least it won't be taking over my life lol.  

My ladies group will be meeting up very soon and I'm going to have them do a multi layered Valentine.  The card is a 6 x 6.  I tried to resize it so the mailing would be cheaper but the card just didn't look right if it wasn't a square.  This card would best be one you hand deliver due to all the embellies I have added.

The designer paper used here is from Graphic 45 called Love Notes. I used Bazzle dotted swiss in chocolate for the base of the card.  All layers are 1/8" smaller than the previous.  
So you have a 6 x 6 base and the first layer is 5 7/8 x 5 7/8 etc.  All pieces you will need are listed by size below.


Papers are from the Love Notes Collection
2    different but coordinating double-sided sheets 12 x 12 (ideal is 1 sheet red print on 1 side and black print on the other and second sheet red or black print on 1 side and cream print on the other
1    sheet of cut aparts
1    sheet 8.5 x 11 cream cardstock
1    12 x 12 sheet dk brown cardstock (for base)
Red ribbon

I only left 1/8th inch borders around each layer

Cut base from Brown cardstock at 6x12 scored at 6" (Sample used Chocolate Bazzil dotted swiss)  also cut 1 piece brown 4.5" x 4.5"
From cream cut 1 piece 5" 7/8  x  5" 7/8 and 1 piece 4" 3/8 x 4" 3/8
From the red and black sheet cut 1 piece 5.75" x 5.75" and 1 piece 4.25" x 4.25" also cut 1 piece at 1" x 4.25"
From the second sheet cut 1 piece 2" x 4.25" and 1 piece 1" x 5.75"

Make all your embellies from the scraps

Card on the left is my original and the card on the right is how it turns out if you flip the paper over to the other side.  Makes the card look a bit different yet with the same papers.  You can't really see all the sparkle but I just stickles around nearly everything.

Til next time
HAPPY CARDING

Monday, January 6, 2020

Challenge Ready

I found it!  I found the perfect stamp for my very first challenge of using 1 stamp for a card 12 times.  Way back in my stash was a stamp I have not used in years.  I have this cute little stamp store that carries very unique stamps.  Alot are from the owners own creation and then she also carries the Northwoods Line.  Oscar opened her store back in the late 70's I think and a childhood friend of hers just happens to be the owner of the Northwoods line of stamps.  These stamps are so detailed.  Some of the scenes look like paintings and require alot of coloring.  I for one am not a great colorer (is that a word?)  I don't shade well and never have great results but one stamp in particular does not require alot of detail coloring and that's the one I chose.  The stamp is called "Two Raccoons in a Can"  #M9035 and can be gotten HERE  



I decided on this one because I thought I could use it for many different themes plus not alot of coloring.  So lets start.  For this first month I decided to make a Birthday card for my friend.  I chose blues because I always think of January as being a blue month.  First because it's usually quite cold and I'm always sad Christmas decor returns to normal. 
So if any of you know me you know 3 definite things about my creative juices. One is I do not like to color which is why most of my cards are huge layered ones.  Two is I do not like to "fussy" cut.  If something has to be cut I sure hope there is a die for it otherwise I turn into a cranky pants.  Finally three..I love to embellish.  Choosing a stamp to use every month has multiple dislikes for me.  Coloring and fussy cutting.  Thank goodness I can still use embellies!  So I decided to make it look like these raccoons are digging through the Christmas garbage to find something usable for a birthday.  I even had the one little guys find a birthday card that he's holding lol.  So here it is.  Hope you like it.

I Heat embossed the image and then just added a hint of color with color pencils.  The background paper already looked like sky so I just sponged some brown on the bottom for ground.  The sentiment is a die cut.  Oh how I wanted to use a stamp instead lol.  The trash consists of chocolate foils, tissue paper and I cut little stuff out of the snack packages I give the grandkids.  Though this was fun I know the challenge will be to incorporate raccoons every month.  It will be an interesting adventure.  Hope you all stick around to see how this ends at Christmas 2020.

Can't wait to share February's card.

Thanks for stopping by

HAPPY CARDING!

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Challenge Considered

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  Can you believe it's 2020?  The "Roaring 20's" have returned.  lol  So it was time to ponder.  What do I want to work on during the New Year.  I have never had a plan and I'm sure most of my posts will never be pre-planned but..............some friends of mine (card makers as well) always do challenges.  I totally wonder how they ever have the time to do so many.  One that has been really intriguing is done yearly by a fellow friend and blogger.  She does a travel post where she looks up details of what ever her challenge is for the year.  For example one year she did the states.  I believe each week she chose a state, wrote some amazing facts and created a card that related to that state.  The info she would share was always so interesting.  Kept me coming back for more.  Last year it was different countries I believe she called Travel the world which she is continuing this year. She and another group of gals are also doing a 1 stamp 12 times.  You choose 1 stamp, only 1 and you it once a month on a card that you then post.  Got me thinking I should try at least 1 type of challenge.  I'm not good at being a joiner so I decided to do this on my own.  I too will pick 1 stamp and use it on a card once a month for the next 12 months.  So I have to get going and figure out what I want to use.  This will not be easy for me since I really don't like using the same thing twice yet alone 12 times. lol  Lets see if I can do it.  I think I'll use a posting date of the 2nd of each month except for this month since I have just decided to do it.  For this month the post date will be by the 7th.  So hang on.............very first challenge is in the works.  Wish me luck.  And if your a teenie weenie bit intrigued about Travels around the world here's a link to her blog. HERE  

Til Next time
HAPPY CARDING