Spellbinders | December 2022 Club Kits

December 1, 2022February 16, 2023 Karen Brown3 Comments

Die Cut Rainbow Heart Valentine Card using Spellbinders December 2022 Large Die of the Month Club Kit.

Rainbow Heart Die-Cut Valentine

Who is ready for Valentine’s Day? The Spellbinders December Club Kits are live and there are so many fresh ideas for Valentines Day and beyond. I am excited to show you the cards I made. I started with the Large Die of the Month called “Blooming Heart”.

I made this colorful card for my husband and I am so pleased with it! I started by cutting 20 1/4″ strips from leftover card stock scraps. The only color I repeated is the green that shows on both edges. Using a dot-liner glue runner, I added adhessive to cardstock and then I adhered each strip. This goes much more quickly than you think. Next, I die cut the heart from a 5 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ panel. Using foam tape, I attached the heart to the background panel. For me, the most difficult part was selecting a sentiment. I tried a bunch but eventually decided on this simple hot foiled sentiment from Spellbinders Mini Everday Sentiments set: GLP-260. It expresses my feelings without drawing the eye away from the rainbow heart.

Using 1/4" strips of paper to make a rainbow colored die cut heart valentine card,

December 2022 Large Die of the Month: “Blooming Heart”.

Spellbinders December 2022 Large Die of the Month Kit: Blooming Heart.

The December Large Die of Month kit (Blooming Heart) is stunning and oh so fun! I die cut all my pieces using an additional metal shim for precise cutting. I then assembled the heart with liquid glue. Using foam tape, I attached the heart to a mushroom colored background and then adhered it to an A2 card base. The sentiment is again hot foiled using Spellbinders Mini Everday Sentiments set: GLP-260.

Embossing Folder of the Month: Heart Blooms

Don’t you just love the texture on this gorgeous embossing folder? It is called Heart Blooms and I wanted it to be the star of this card. I embossed a panel of mushroom colored cardstock. I then added a hot foiled sentiment to a 2″ strip of cardstock and then embellished with die-cut flowers from this month’s Large Die of the Month and greenery from a previous release.

Supplies Used:

Spellbinders December 2022 Embossing Folder of the Month: Heart Blooms
Spellbinders December 2022 Large Die of the Month Club Kit: Blooming Heart
Spellbinders Stitched Ornament S4-1231 (Greenery)
Spellbinders Mini Everday Sentiments set: GLP-260
Gold Glimmer Hot Foil Roll

Handmade valentine using Spellbinders December 2022 Club Kits.

Small Die of the Month: Stitched Heart Card Front

This stitched valentine kit is so pretty….the card just glows in person! I started by die cutting the diamond backdrop in salmon and brushed gold cardstock and then I stacked them. You don’t really notice the bottom layer but it adds nice dimension. I glued the two delicate pieces together with E6000 spray glue, which is perfect for this type of die cut.

The background is lovely but simple and I know I’ll be using it a lot on future cards. I cut one white panel and two from brushed gold. I assembled by scooting one of the gold panels slightly above the white and one slightly below so there is a pretty band of gold at the top and bottom. The sentiment is included in the kit.

I die cut the heart from white cardstock and then did my stitching in front of a fire in our hearth. I used DMC gold floss. I added some white enamel dots for embellishment and attached to an A2 Top Fold Card Base. I made this card for my mom.

Products Used:

Spellbinders Small Die of the Month: Stitched Heart Card Front
Brushed Gold Cardstock
DMC Gold Thread
Enamel Dots
E6000 glue
A2 Top Folding Card Base

"Stitched" Valentine in gold thread using Spellbinders December 2022 Small Die of the Month: Stitched Heart Card Front

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Spellbinders | November 2022 Club Kits

November 1, 2022December 19, 2022 Karen Brown3 Comments

Spellbinders November 2022 Small Die of the Month Kit: Layered Floral Card Creator handmade card.

Spellbinders Small Die of the Month Kit: November 2022

The November Spellbinders kits are GORGEOUS and I am excited to show you the cards that I made! I used the Small Die of the Month Club Kit called Layered Floral Card Creator on my first two cards.

Spellbinders Small Die of the Month: November 2022 Club kit (Layered Floral Card Creator) handmade card.

For Card #1, I used the leafy background plus flowers to make a high contrast showy birthday card. I started by cutting the background twice from dark green cardstock. I found that if I started at the bottom stem and then worked my way up, the two panels glued together seemlessly.

The die cuts are quite bold so I wanted the sentiment to be large too. I stamped my sentiment on a Top Folding A2 cardbase and then glued my die cuts to the panel with liquid glue. This card has a definite “wow” factor but it came together very quickly.

Layered Floral Card Creator: Spellbinders November 2022 Small Die Club Kit handmade card.

Spellbinders Embossing Folder of the Month: November 2022

Spellbinders November 2022 Club Kit Cards.

For my second card I used the Small Die of the Month along with the Embossing Folder of the Month (Fan Motif). I die cut a circle from a panel of Waterfall cardstock and then ran it through my embossing machine along with the Fan Motif embossing folder. The embossing looks great…very crisp and textured.

I then die-cut and assembled my flowers (Small Die of the Month) and added some greenery from Stitched Ornament (S4-1231), which was released earlier this year. I used the same bold sentiment as in card 1. I wanted lots of dimension on this card, so I adhered the embossed panel to the A2 card base with foam tape.

Spellbinders November 2022 Embossing Folder of the Month: Fan Motif handmade card.

Spellbinders Large Die of the Month: November 2022

Spellbinders November 2022 Large Die of the Month Club Kit (Sylized Floral Kaleidoscope Slimline) handmade card.

Stylized Floral Kaleidoscope Slimline

The Large Die of the Month, Stylized Floral Kaleidoscope Slimline, is a real beauty! I started by die cutting the background trellis, sentiment, flowers (APG Petite Floral Potpourri) and greenery (leaf included in this kit + Stitched Ornament (S4-1231), from white cardstock. Then, using Spellbinders paper, I chose three shades for each medallion: saffron, terra cotta, poppy; peridot, fern and deep green; and waterfall, teal topaz and lagoon. I assembled my card and added some coordinating enamel dots.

Clean and Simple die cut masculine card using Spellbinders November 2022 Large Die of the Month club kit.

I also wanted to make some masculine cards, and I thought clean and simple window cards would be perfect. Using Stylized Floral Kaleidoscope Slimline, I made one card in blue (window only) and one in green (with a trellis backdrop). These were quick and easy to make but they are so eye-catching! I really like the sentiment that is included with this kit…I used it on all three cards.

Masculine die cut hexagon birthday card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

cardmaking · Mixed Media · papercrafting

Altenew July 2022 Summer Love Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

July 22, 2022July 24, 2022 Karen Brown43 Comments

Altenew Fantasy Emblem 3D Embossing Folder

Altenew's Fantasy Emblem 3D Embossing Folder done in faux metallic using an Antique Bronze Distress Crayon.

Hello and thanks for stopping by! Altenew just released a lovely collection of 3D Embossing Folders as part of their Summer Love Collection, and I made 3 very different projects. I started by making a very masculine card using the Fantasy Emblem 3D Embossing Folder. My inspiration was an antique metal medallion.

My Process:

I started by embossing a piece of black cardstock with the Fantasy Emblem 3D Embossing Folder.
Next I tinted white pigment ink with Ocean Waves Crisp Dye Ink. On my craft mat, I dabbed the pigment ink and then Ocean Waves Crisp Dye Ink next to the white and then I mixed the two together. I blended this all over the embossed panel to “age” the cardstock.
I colored Antique Bronze Distress Crayon on the raised areas and then blended with my finger.
I die cut my sentiment (Script Words Die) from kraft card stock and then attached my panel to a kraft base.

This card was quick and easy to make but looks so rich in person.

Masculine Faux Metallic Medallion handmade card + 3D embossing folder

Altenew Playful Circles 3D Embossing Folder

This embossing folder is definitely a new favorite that will work with so many papercrafting projects! Today, I combined Altenew’s Craft-A-Flower: Garden Rose with the very versatile Playful Circles 3D Embossing Folder. The embossing folder adds loads of texture and interest to the card. The embossed panel is very pretty on both sides….depressed and impressed.

Products Used:

Altenew Playful Circles 3 D Embossing Folder + Enchanting Washes designer paper pack.

Altenew Flower Vines 3D Embossing Folder

A "Shabby Chic" handmade card + Altenew's Flower Vines 3D Embossing Folder.

For my last card I went for a whimsical Shabby Chic look.

I started by ink blending my panel with Altenew’s Ocean Waves Crisp Dye Ink.
After the ink dried, I embossed the panel with the Flower Vines 3D Embossing Folder.
Using a Mini Ink Blending Brush, I very lightly inked the raised floral elements with Dusk Dye Ink.
I gently applied clear pigment ink to portions of the panel and then sprinkled on Golden Peach Embossing Powder. I brushed most of the embossing powder off but left the powder in and around the embossed crevices. I heat set the powder.
I inked the sides of the panel with clear pigment ink, applied Golden Peach Embossing Powder and then heat set.
I die cut my sentiment, Altenew’s Thanks Die, and gently inked the die cut with Ocean Waves Crisp Dye Ink to “age” it a bit so it wasn’t so white. I popped it on a card base and was done.

Altenew's Flower Vines 3D Embossing Folder handmade card.

Special Offer!

Receive a FREE Ultra Sticky Double Sided Tape ($11.99 value) on orders over $79 from 07/22/2022 at 12:01 am EDT until 07/24/2022 at 11:59 pm EDT. The free gift will be added to cart automatically. Find more details on the Promotions page.

Giveaway Prizes

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 07/28/2022 for a chance to win.

Altenew will draw 10 winners randomly from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 07/29/2022.

Blog Hop Order

Reiko Tsuchida ***Note: Due to strict regulations in Japan, you might not be able to leave a comment on her blog post.

Annemarie Caister

Linda Westfall

Karen Brown You made it to the end!

I love all three projects! Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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WWC279 – Helen\’s Challenge: All About Occasions

July 8, 2020 Karen Brown3 Comments

Hello and welcome. This week we are creating occasion cards at The Watercooler Challenge and we would love to see your card in the gallery. I chose to make a watercolor Get Well card as I need to replenish my stash.

Supplies Used:

Technique Tuesday Bowl Bouquet

Sizzix Wood Planks Embossing Folder.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Altenew Academy Level 1 Final Project

July 1, 2020 Karen Brown5 Comments

I\’ve been working my way through Level 1 at The Altenew Academy and just completed my Final Project which was to create a set of \”feminine\” and \”masculine\” gifts sets. I have to say I learned so much and had loads of ideas but I would like to show you the cards I created for my final project. I incorporated lessons I learned in:

Let It Shine where we discovered how to add just the right amount of sparkle and shine to a card. I used metallic heat embossing and metallic watercolors on my feminine cards.
Easy Die Cutting where we learned to use die-cutting to up the \”Wow\” factor. I used die-cuts on each of my cards as I think they add loads of impact and felt this unified both card sets.
Easy Ink Blending – I used several ink blending techniques on my masculine card set. My two favorites were the soft blue background on the Healing Wishes card and the die-cut spotlight circles on the Get Well Soon card.

For my \”feminine\” cards I wanted subtle metallic touches combined with watercoloring. I kept the set cohesive by using cream card stock/watercolor paper, floral images, a pink and green watercolor palette and navy die-cut sentiments.

For this first card, I created a metallic watercolor background which is so pretty in person. I then stamped, heat embossed and watercolored the floral images. After the flowers dried I added a pearlescent white gold watercolor wash over the top which gave the flowers a beautiful sheen. I die cut the images and attached with foam tape. The next photo shows the first three card in process.

Here are the cards that round out the gift set. On each card I used big bold die-cut occasion sentiments cut from navy cardstock.

I really like this feminine spray and think the navy die-cut sentiments are beautiful and anchor the look of this set.

The painted Lotus die-cut is so pretty in person.

I did want to share this process photo as well.

The Feminine Set

For my \”masculine\” cards I chose to use an overall blue theme with ink blending techniques and Altenew\’s Garden Grow as the unifying elements. For my first card, I ink blended a background and used peek-a-boo die cut windows to spotlight my images. During quarantine, I\’ve been sending so many encouragement cards that I wanted to include one in this set.

I made a companion card using the die-cut circles from the card above. I ink blended the spotlight circle, added die-cut images and anchored with a strip of masculine brown paper.

The next two cards have a soft ink blended background to draw the eye to the die cut.

I thought a birthday and recovery card would round out the gift set.

Here is an in-progress photo. The die cut elements were attached to each card with foam tape.

PRO TIP: I blended one background on Neenah (Birthday) and the second on Bristol (Healing Wishes) to see which provided a smoother look. The Neenah panel (below left panel that is now the Birthday Card) is whiter but the Bristol (right panel that is now the Healing Wishes card) is far easier to blend on and resulted in a smoother background. In the future, I will remember to blend my backgrounds on Bristol cardstock.

And here is the masculine set.

We were challenged to use a recycled element in each set. For the feminine set I recycled a small Kraft gift bag and for the masculine set I re-used an elegant chocolate brown box. I heat embossed some tags to top each set.

Altenew Products Used:

Altenew Weekend Doodles stamp and die bundle

Altenew Best Mom stamp and die bundle

Altenew Inked Lotus stamp and die bundle

Altenew Garden Grow stamp and die bundle

Altenew Mini Branch stamp

Altenew Jet Black Crisp Die Ink

I am so glad you stopped by. I\’d love to hear what you think about these card sets. Thanks!

Karen

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WWC222 – Helen\’s "All About Occasions" Challenge

May 22, 2019 Karen Brown15 Comments

Hello and Happy Wednesday! This week is \”All About Occasions\” on the Watercooler Wednesday Website where Helen is our hostess.

I\’ve created a card I really like, in fact I did a series of four of them. I came up with the idea of watercoloring each of the giraffe\’s \”spots\” with two colors and then letting them organically blend. I knew that giraffes spots are all unique like human fingerprints, so I thought a vibrant rainbow giraffe would be fun to create.

On this card, I started by embossing (Impression Obsession Baby Giraffe) in black on Bristol paper and then selected bright Tombow watercolor hues. For my series, I changed the look by using gold, black and brown embossing and using watercolors and Tombow markers. It is impossible to create identical cards. It reminds me of working with alcohol inks. On this card I also fussy cut the giraffe and made a spotlight background using distress inks (mustard seed, squeezed lemonade and shimmer spray).

You can see my Clean and Simple Rainbow Giraffe card here.

I am pleased to enter this card in the following:
Craft Stamper\’s Take It Make It May \”Anything Goes\” Challenge

Update: I was so pleased to learn I was selected as Craft Stampers Design Winner!

This is the cover of the August magazine where my card is featured:

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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WWC220 – Kath\’s "All About Occasions" Challenge

May 8, 2019 Karen Brown1 Comment

Happy Wednesday and thank you for stopping by. It is All About Occasions on the Watercooler Website and Kath is our hostess this week.

$Simon Says Stamp Create A Smile In Bloom floral Mother\'s Day Card.$

This is the Mother\’s Day card I made for my mother-in-law. I embossed the blooms and leaves from Create a Smile\’s In Bloom. I love these large bold flowers! Then I used distress ink (wilted violet, salty ocean, twisted citron, squeezed lemonade, carved pumpkin) on an ink blender to color each image. I buffed and let dry. Finally, I fussy cut each image. I really need to order the die cuts for this much used set.

Next, I stamped a background using SSS\’s Brush Stroke Messages. I adhered the flowers and leaves using foam tape for dimension. Last I popped on the sentiment and added SSS sequins and Pretty Pink Posh jewels.

I am joining Simon Says Stamp\’s Wednesday \”For a Special Lady\” Challenge

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen
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Impression Obsession Rainbow Giraffe

April 24, 2019 Karen Brown14 Comments

Hello and thank you for stopping by! I am very excited about this bright fun card!

One of my most used and loved stamps is Impression Obsession Baby Giraffe. I came up with the idea of watercoloring each \”spot\” with two colors and then letting them organically blend. I knew that giraffes spots are all unique like human fingerprints, so I thought a vibrant rainbow giraffe would be fun to create.

I started by embossing in brown on watercolor paper and then selected bright watercolor hues. I made four cards changing the look with gold and black embossing and whats fun is that it is impossible to create identical cards. It reminds me of working with alcohol inks. I wanted to keep the design clean and simple so that the focus was on the giraffe with rainbow colors. I matted on a neutral card base and it is ready to send.

Casology\’s Africa Challenge – Giraffes are definitely my favorite African animal and I have to say that I LOVE hand feeding giraffes lettuce leaves.+

Happy Little Stampers \”Bright\” Watercolor Challenge

Karen

UPDATE:My card was selected:

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WWC216 – Dawn\’s "All About Occasions" Challenge

April 10, 2019 Karen Brown4 Comments

Hello and welcome to Watercooler Wednesday\’s All About Occasions Challenge. Dawn is our hostess this week.

$Lawn Fawn\'s Perfectly Plaid designer paper.$

I needed an Easter card so I challenged myself to use patterned paper with limited stamping. I chose bright cheery Lawn Fawn \”Perfectly Plaid\”. I used one pattern to cover an A2 card and then selected a second pattern to die-cut SSS\’s Plush Carrot. The carrot top is die cut from green embossed paper for some added texture. I think this would make a darling stuffed ornament, but I needed a card. Next, I embossed Rubbernecker\’s Three Line Frame on sherbet colored card stock. I assembled the card using craft foam and Gina K connect glue and then added Lily of the Valley Jewels from Little Things from Lucy.

I am entering this card in: The Paper Players Plaid or Checks Challenge

Thanks for stopping by?
Karen
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Handcrafted Easel Card

April 5, 2019 Karen Brown4 Comments

I came up with an idea to combine two of my favorite Hero Arts sets: My Monthly Hero January 2019 kit and Hero Arts Fun in the Rain.

The pup from this set looks like my mini-Aussie so I colored her with markings like my \”Scout\”. I think it is so cute that she has a raincoat on and I thought this would be perfect for a Spring card.

Since this is an easel card, I die cut some thick leathery textured paper from The Paper Company. I used black paper to simulate a blackboard and then heat embossed with a bold birthday sentiment to get that chalkboard look.

I am really pleased with the way this card came together.

I am entering this card in:

A Blog Named Hero Embossing Challenge

Cardz4Guyz \”Let\’s Get Messy\” – For me, I always make the biggest mess with embossing powder. No matter how neat I try to be, little bits of powder wind up all over my work surface!
Cardz 4 Guyz Logo
The Male Room \”Spring\” Challenge – This cute pup is sporting her raincoat for the spring showers.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen