Last week I made a couple of cards using Spellbinders new Birthday Collection. My balloon animal was so cute, that I knew I wanted to use the die kit to make a card for a baby shower that I was attending. For this card, I went with a layered background to showcase my die cut focal element. I knew I wanted to add texture too so I used Spellbinder’s beautiful new 3D Embossing Folder: Origami Folds.
Hello! I am so excited to show you Spellbinders new product line from Cathe Holden called Flea Market Finds. Cathe is a well known fabric designer and collector of vintage miscellany and she just released a wonderful assortment of printed die-cuts, paper samplers, stamps and stencils in collaboration with Spellbinders. Cathe put so much thought into every product and they all work SO well together.
For the past week, I have been playing in my craft room and I’d like to show you what I created. Hold on, becuase I have seven cards to share with you today. The card above was so fun to make!
My Recipe For Card 1:
On this card, I used all the products “as is” with no distressing. I started with the background where I layered 2 different papers, one from the neutral palette and one from the Blue Green pack. Next, I started adding stickers and diecuts. The bird image is framed with a third paper from Cathe’s Neutral Sampler.
For my Shabby Chic card, I started by ink blending Tumbled Glass Distress Ink on my panel. I added Frayed Burlap Ink around the ages for a vintage feel. I let the panel dry and then added Grit Paste through stencil #1 of the Layered Vintage Floral Stencil. I really like how the background turned out. I wanted an even more vintage look so I ran my Tea Dye Distress Crayon around the edges of the background and die cut and then blended the pigment with my fingers. The card base was covered with paper from the Blue Green Paper Palette.
My third card is a collage style card pieced together with designer paper, printed die-cuts and stamps. I used 1.25″ squares of paper cut from the Neutrals and Blue Green Samplers for my background. I distressed my background panel and the die cuts with a Distress Crayon and then added lots of ephemera.
I started my grunged up card by making a background panel. I blended tumbled glass distress ink and then added a bit of frayed burlap. I then ink blended a second panel for my die cut circles. I used Antique Linen Distress Ink and then added a bit of frayed burlap. I let the panels dry and then added Distress Grit Paste through my bricked stencil. I wanted it to look rough and old so I didn’t cover the entire stencil. After the grit paste was dry, I rubbed a Distress Crayon around the edges and blended it out onto the panel with my finger. I also gently rubbed some on the top of the panel so you could really see the crackle finish. Next, I die cut my circles and rubbed distress crayon around the edges and then blended onto the top with my fingers. I added two stickers to two of the circles and then stamped over them. The middle circle is just the roughly stamped cute flower truck. The matting is from the blue green sampler.
This was the fastest and easiest card to make. I started with a page from the Neutral Sampler for my Background. I then layered on 3 Happy Thoughts and 2 Home Arts printed die cuts. I stamped a sentiment onto the flower basket and added a fun little paper clip from my stash.
Cathe Holden included a beautiful stencil in her collection and I used it for my background on this card. I added 2 stickers and 1 stamp to complete the card.
Happy 20th Birthday Spellbinders! I just love Spellbinders wonderful papercrafting products so I wanted to create a few projects using their new Birthday Collection to help them celebrate.
Spellbinders Stitched Fringe Cake
I started with the Stitched Fringe Cake die set, which I think makes such a festive confection! For both backgrounds, I used Spellbinders new 6×6″ paper pad (Cheerful Occcasions Paper Pad), which is full of beautiful designs! I added a bit of gold stitching to the cake to finish off the look.
Sugar Coated Sentiments (I think has been retired)
Spellbinders Balloon Party Animal
For my second card, I used light ink blending on my white die cuts to simulate the look of balloons. I think the balloon animal would also be adorable for a baby shower.
Hello and welcome! Don’t you just love bright summery colors? I recently posted about how to make your own glitter cardstock which I then turned into tags. I decided to take it a step further, and turned two of my tags into cards.
Just playing and experimenting today. I got the idea of making a bright colorful background inspired by crazy quilts.
My Process:
I started by painting a freehand grid using acrylic paints. No measuring, just eyeballing it. I was aiming to have each grid be about 1 1/4″ X 1 1/4″. Since I was playing, I custom mixed the colors.
Next, using Derwent Inktense pencils, I outlined each square in one or more colors. I also added some colored pencil squiggles, doodles and shapes.
A bit of stamping came next.
And I knew I wanted several colors of paint splatters.
To finish the card, I stamped this whimsical tree from Paper Artsy on the background and then again on white cardstock. I fussy cut the trees and used foam squares to add dimesion to the project.
The Educators at Altenew are hopping on Intstagram and the theme is “Background Check – it’s All About the Background“! I wanted to combine fun backgrounds with Majestic Bouquet, my favorite floral stamp layering set from the past year. I think it is just gorgeous done in blues!
For my background I used Altenew’s Cross Stitch Cover Die . I ran the cover die through my die-cutting machine and then cut out a tag using Altenew’s Terrific Tags die set. The little perferations add just the right amount of interest to showcase the beautiful floral bloom.
Other than the enamel dots, all that was needed was a bit of ribbon or twine.
If you would like to see my first post using Altenew’s Majestic Bouquet, click HERE. My Majestic Blooms Instagram post made my “Top 9” for 2021. 🙂
For my second card I went BOLD! I love the gorgeous red against the white textured background. I die cut the tag first and then embossed the tag so I wouldn’t loose the lovely detailed embossing. I got a great impression by embossing on 80# cardstock
Adding twine or ribbon is easy: Double the twine and poke the two ends through the hole. Next, slip the ends through the looped middle and then pull flat. Neat, easy and functional.
Hello, a little playtime in my art studio today. My friend Paul has been encouraging me to create some small art pieces in addition to the cards I typically make. He suggested that I give them as gifts to my girls, so here goes my first and second attempt!
Here I framed Project 1 and put it on display
I decided to custom mix acrylic paint for my backgrounds and found it very addicting! In fact, I made more panels than I originally intended. The swatches remind me of the colorful paint chips you find at the hardware store.
MY PROCESS:
I put acrylic paint dabs of each of the three primary colors + white on a paper plate. You can use any hue of red, yellow and blue.
I started with yellow and added a tiny bit of red and blended. When I liked the color, I painted a rectangle onto Mixed Media Paper. I used a silcone brush, which added a fun bit of extra texture.
Next, I added white to the first orangey color I mixed. I added a lot of white to many of the subsequent colors for a softer more muted color. Those muted shades were the colors I chose to use on today’s projects, but I have lots of color swatches left over for future projects. I kept mixing and painting until I’d filled up a page. I think I created 4 pages.
For Project #1, I tore two strips for the main background. For Project #2, I tore each color into an individual rectangle so there are a lot more white seams visible.
Next, I pieced together my background with other interesting scraps and fodder that I had in my studio. I love UHU glue sticks for mixed media gluing. For Project #2, I also added a strip of Altenew’s Painted Grid Washi Tape to ground the panel.
Using Derwent Watercolor Pencils, I shaded the lotus and then blended the color with a wet brush. When the flower was dry, I glued the bloom to my background.
Don’t you just love bright summery colors? I’ve been thinking about making a shimmery rainbow hued tag set and I thought now was the perfect time. Recently, I started making my own glitter cardstock, and I have been loving the subtle sparkle it adds to my projects!
I taped some watercolor paper to a hard board and brushed water over the surface with a #18 brush.
Next, I mixed Altenew Dye Inks with Iridescent Shimmer Spray (no water was added) and I painted the mixture on the wet watercolor paper. I wanted an intense color so I applied three layers but I didn’t bother to let it dry in between.
I let my shimmer panels dry overnight so that they would die-cut well, but you could speed up the drying with your heat tool.
Next, I die cut my tags using the largest finned die from Altenew’s Terrific Tags die set and worked on my layouts
To finish off the cards, I added an Enamel Dot to each flower center.
The background is so pretty in person but it’s hard to see the sparkle in the photos so I added a quick video below:
Adding twine or ribbon is easy: Double the twine and poke the two ends through the hole. Next, slip the ends through the looped middle and then pull flat. Neat, easy and functional.
I love how the tags turned out so I’ve included some closeup photos.
There is a detailed list of the inks, supplies and enamel dots used below.
The tags are so happy and cheerful together and I think they would make a great gift for a friend.
I am getting ready for Mother’s Day and am so excited about this whimsical yet elegant card. I used Altenew’s Bird of the Woods layering stamp and dies.
I used an assembly line method which I write about below. For my Mother’s Day card I used the following:
I wanted to make a bunch of cards so I set up an assembly line. I cut cardstock panels to fit in my Misti Stamping Tool and stamped one bird on the left, rotated the panel upside down, reinserted the panel and then stamped a second bird on the clean half.
I stamped my outlines with Pigment Ink for a nice dark outline and let them dry overnight so there was no risk of smearing. You could also heat set to speed up the process.
I then positioned the layering stamps in two Mistis. I was careful to line up the stamps so I could then stamp quickly. I put the first layering stamp on the left in Misti 1, the second layering stamp went on the right in Misti 1 and the third layer went in Misti #2. This way I was able to stamp all the cards in assembly line fashion.
I repeated this technique with the two layering stamps for the bird’s head.
7 ink color combinations
While I had my supplies out, I made a companion birthday card.
Colors used for stamping the birthday card: Peach Perfect, Orange Crush, Brown Paper Bag, Mountain Mist, Volcano Lake.
I made a sparkly custom background by mixing Volcano Lake ink with Shimmer Spray. I applied three layers to wet watercolor paper. You can’t see the shimmer in the photos but it is beautiful in person.
Don’t you just love Dragonflies? I really like how this sympathy card turned out. I heat embossed the dragonfly from Visible Images “Live in the Moment” stamp set on a gel press print and added a Rubbernecker Three Line Frame border.
My sister-in-law loves dragonflies too so I made this card for her birthday this month. I ink blended my background and then heat embossed the dragonflies and sentiment.
I had a strip of background left over so I made a third card…I love bonus cards!
kennyscards.com 