Month: October 2023

cardmaking · Die cutting · papercrafting

Spellbinders | All Occasion Bow | New and Unique Die Cut Card

Karen Brown1 Comment
Spellbinders All Occasion Bow die cut card.

I love versatile supplies in my craft room and Spellbinders just released a lovely All Occasion Bow etched die kit that is perfect for so many occasions. The bow is part of the beautiful Merry & Bright Collection but I will also be using it on Birthday, Wedding/Shower and Graduation cards.

Spellbinders Merry & Bright Die Cut Bow + Petite Blooms and Sentiments

My Card Process:

  • My first step is usually color selection. I have a Christmas paper sampler pack (see note below) that I thought would work beautifully for this project so I chose aqua, teal, pinks and greens from this pad.
  • I divided the All Occasion Bow dies into two piles. The bottom layers were all cut from teal and the top “highlight” die cuts were from aqua. Once I organized my dies between bottom (teal) and “highlights”, I didn’t need to think about which color paper to use and the die-cutting went very quickly.
  • I assembled my bow with foam adhessive squares, and then decided I wanted to anchor the bow with a focal point label. Spellbinders/Simon Hurley have a beautiful Playful Poinsettia Embossing Folder that I embossed and then die cut using a retired Ornamental Labels Die. This nesting die set has an interesting shape and I love the subtle interest this step adds to my card. I glued this die cut and embossed label (using craft foam and Bearly Glue) to a white A2 Top Folding Card Base.
  • Now that the basics were done, I wanted to embellish my bow with floral elements and a tag sentiment. I used Spellbinders Petite Blooms and Sentiments, which is also from the Merry & Bright Collection. I especially love the “For You” etched tag die! I like to die cut lots of elements and then I sit down and play around with different layouts. I added some enamel dots for flower centers. For the bow, I wanted to add pops of color but the bow is so beautiful I didn’t want to cover too much either. Its always a balance, isn’t it?
Spellbinders All Occasion die cut Bow + Petite Blooms and Sentiments

Products Used:

I am not an affiliate of Simon Says Stamp, but I bought the paper (Candy Christmas) I used there and I am providing a link HERE.

See ya next time!

Karen

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Spellbinders FransFormer Snowy Friends | Cute Quick Christmas Card | Easy Copic Coloring

Karen BrownLeave a comment
Spellbinders Fransfomers Snowy Friends cute with quick easy Copic coloring

Cute creatures + easy Copic coloring makes for an enjoyable afternoon! Spellbinders was kind enough to send me an advance copy of the new Fransformer Snowy Friends by Stupendous cling stamp set and I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed creating a card more. FransFormers are flexible clear stamps that you can squish, squeeze, shape and adjust plus they are just loads of fun!

My card is 5 1/2″ square which allowed me to add three snowmen. I used the same stamp for the left and right snowbabies, but you can see I was able to shape them so they each have their own personality. I did a little easy Copic coloring and I was done.

Three adorable snowmen in hats and scarves on a handmade Christmas card with easy Copic marker coloring.

Spellbinders Fransformer Snow Friends Flexible Cling Stamps STP-218

Copic Markers Used:,

  • Blues: B00, BG11, BG45, B24, B29
  • Pinks: BV00, BV11, RV21, RV23
  • Light Peach: E11, E21
  • Gray: N0, N1
  • Green: YG01
  • Orange: YR04

If you are interested in another easy stamped Copic colored card, check out my blog post HERE.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

Karen

Interested in more…You can also find me at these spots too:

@karens_mini on Instagram

Pinterest: @karenabrown

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cardmaking · Die cutting · papercrafting

Spellbinders New Simon’s Snow Globes | Colorful Christmas Card Ideas

Karen Brown1 Comment
Simon Hurley's Snow Globe Christmas Card ideas in bright tropical hues.

Christmas at the beach anyone? I am excited to share 2 cards featuring Simon Hurley’s new Snow Globe holiday collection from Spellbinders. I created 2 bright colorful little vignettes that I think are quite fun!

Bright Tropical Christmas Card

Bright colorful tropical Christmas Card with Palm Trees, Santa and Reindeer.

For my first card, I was simulating a tropical sunset (including palm trees!) with Santa and reindeer flying overhead. I used the Snow Globe etched dies and added the palm trees from the coordinating Nativity Scene. The entire die bundle is wonderful with snowmen, homes, deer and nativity….endless combinations

I love making backgrounds from colorful strips of paper. The background was so easy….I cut 1/4″ strips of colored paper and then adhered to a piece of cardstock. Funny story, I usually use a tape runner for this but halfway through, my tape runner ran out and I didn’t have a refill. No worries though, I just finished the panel with liquid glue, and you can’t tell a difference in the end result. If you’d like to see a quick video on how to create a rainbow striped background, click HERE. (I shot this as a reel for Instagram, but also posted it to YouTube, so the YouTube orientation is a little unusual.)

After my background was complete, I die cut all my components and then assembled my card with Bearly Glue and craft foam (for dimension).

PRO TIP: I like using a combination of liquid glue and craft foam as it allows me to micro-adjust the placement of my die-cuts. I slid the Globe around until it was centered, which is harder to do with Adhessive Foam Squares. I do use double-sided foam squares a lot when placing flowers.

CAS Die Cut Chritmas Card

Handmade silhoutte Christmas Card with Santa, Reindeer and Snowy village houses.

For card #2, I did a more traditional wintry Christmas scene using Teal Topaz and Brushed Gold Cardstocks. I love the contrast of the bright white against the teal sky. And, the gold adds a subtle elegance to the snow globe.

Spellbinders Simon's Snow Globe holiday card ideas in teal and pinks.

Products Used:

So there you have two bright colorful snow globes. As always, I am so pleased you stopped by!

Karen

Interested in more…You can also find me at these spots too:

@karens_mini on Instagram

Pinterest: @karenabrown

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cardmaking · Die cutting · papercrafting

Spellbinders New Serenade of Autumn | Colorful Die Cut Cards

Karen BrownLeave a comment
Colorful Die Cut Autumn Cards using Spellbinders Serenade of Autumn Collection

Hello papercrafters, I am back with some lovely seasonal die-cut cards for Fall! I chose some traditional autumn colors and then added beautiful pops of blue. Spellbinders just released this fun collection called Autumn Serenade and I used the Autumn Sealed Sprigs dies along with the coordinating Chipboard Stickers and pre-printed Die Cut Shapes for my cards. I found the stickers and shapes to be real time savers when assembling my cards.

I just got back from a trip to Colorado, and I found the changing folliage was so inspirational for these projects.

Using Pre-Printed Stickers and Die Cut Shapes for Quicker DIY Cards

For my first card I used the Sprigs die kit and then added a sentiment plus heart die-cuts to finish my card. This Die Cut Shapes Kit includes 138 pre-printed pieces with lots of sentiments, botanicals, pumpkins, butterflies etc.

Seasonal Thinking of You Card with die cut leaves, Wheat and flowers.

For card #2 I used this showy Chipboard Hello Banner Sticker to complete my fall bouquet. The Chipboard set includes 27 chipboard stickers pre-printed with a variety of sentiments, gold embellishments, butterflies, birds, pumpkins, leaves and flowers. I love this little package and will be using it on future projects.

This Sealed Sprigs Collection reminds me of one of my 2022 Favorite Die Sets called Floral Reflections and you can see that Blog Post HERE.

Using Pre-printed Chipboard stickers for Quick Seasonal die cut cards.

My Process:

  • I started by selecting colors for my two cards. I used colored paper from two different sampler packs (listed below).
  • Next, I die cut my leaves and botanicals. I played around with layouts and then used the Press and Seal Method to keep my arrangement in place as I flipped it over and added foam adhessive squares to the back.
  • I knew I wanted a banner across the “crossed stems” on each card. The HELLO is a lovely chipboard sticker and the “Thinking of You” is a preprinted die cut. The gold accents add a nice bit of shine to the cards.

Products Used:

Interested in more…You can also find me at these spots too:

@karens_mini on Instagram

Pinterest: @karenabrown

FaceBook: Karens_Mini

YouTube: Karen Brown