Rainbows & Glitter: Tips on Making Your Own Glitter Cardstock

January 31, 2025January 30, 2025 Karen BrownLeave a comment

Tips and Tutorial on how to make a floral rainbow card with a custom tinted DIY glitter cardstock background.

Hi there! I’m so happy to share a card project that combines whimsical charm with vibrant color. If you love crafting as much as I do, you’ll want to stick around for all the dreamy details.

The Star of the Show: A Floral Rainbow

A handmade card featuring a colorful die-cut floral rainbow with fluffy white clouds, set against a sparkling custom glitter cardstock background and a bold scripty 'hello' sentiment

To me, Hero Arts Floral Rainbow and Clouds stamp and die bundle feels like a burst of happiness! I perched my rainbow and clouds on a custom background made of handmade glitter cardstock. By combining blue and green metallic shimmer sprays on watercolor paper, I created a sparkling, ethereal look that mimics a sunny sky. Now, let’s dive into the details of this colorful creation!

Key Products Used:

A colorful handmade card featuring Hero Arts Floral Rainbow stamp and die bundle.

At the heart of this design is a vibrant rainbow that I stamped and brought to life with Copic markers. The colors are rich yet soft, evoking a dreamy vibe that’s both uplifting and playful. After coloring, I used coordinating dies to cut out the floral arc, ensuring clean lines and perfect dimension. It’s not just a rainbow; it’s a celebration of color and joy!

Copic Colors Used: RV02, RV04, RV10, YR02, YR07, Y06, Y08, YG01, YG03, G43, BG11, BG45, B0000, B41, V01, V15

How To Make Your Own Custom Glitter Cardstock

Creative Process Photo: "An in-progress shot of painting blue and green shimmer sprays onto watercolor paper to create a custom glitter cardstock background."

Creating your own glitter cardstock is easier than you think and adds a personalized touch to your projects. Here is how I created my background:

I taped a panel of watercolor paper to a hard board and brushed water over the surface with a flat brush. I didn’t saturate the paper, but I did add a light coating of water.
Next, I mixed Blue + Shimmer Tone on Tone Metallic Spray with just a hint of Green + Shimmer Tone on Tone Metallic Spray in a paint palette and then painted the mixture on the wet watercolor paper with a damp flat brush. These sprays are very pigmented, so start with a little and add additional spray if you want more intense color, or more water if you want a more muted shade. I applied two layers but I didn’t bother to let it dry in between.
I let my shimmer panels dry overnight, but you could speed up the drying with your heat tool.

Experiment with different color combinations to make your custom glitter cardstock truly one-of-a-kind!

A shimmering custom-made glitter cardstock background in blue green hues, adding sparkle and dimension to the card design.

To finish my focal point, I heat embossed the beautiful scripty “hello” sentiment that is included in the bundle.

Glitter can be tricky to capture on camera, but I hope you can see shimmer and sparkle in this close-up photo.

Close up shot of DIY handmade glitter cardstock to use in cardmaking, papercrafting and scrapbooking.

Who wouldn’t love a little rainbow magic in their mailbox? Let’s keep spreading those handmade vibes, one card at a time! 🌈✨

cardmaking · hot foiling · papercrafting

Spellbinders | Its My Party Too Collection: 3 Colorful Rainbow Card Ideas

June 20, 2023June 21, 2023 Karen BrownLeave a comment

Clean and Simple Foil Glimmer Card

Today I am sharing some sentiment focused hot foil cards and the first one was so quick and easy! I wanted to spotlight the fun sentiment so I added some 1/4″ paper strips to the bottom right corner and then angled my sentiment. Done!

Products Used:

Paper Trimmer available at Amazon:

Tonic Studios paper trimmer

Spellbinders Glimmering Hooray Hot Foil Plate and Die Set + handmade card | GLP-388

Hot Foil Stamping + Texture + Rainbow Colors

For my second card, I wanted some texture on my background panel and I thought the Tiny Dots Embossing Folder would be perfect. To add fun pops of color, I added a 1″ rainbow accent strip to the bottom of my card. The width of each strip is 1/4″.

Products Used:

Spellbinders Glimmering All About You Hot Foil Plate and Dies Set GLP-389 + handmade card

Hot Foiling + White and Gold Floral Die Cuts

For card #3, I kept the rainbow color theme but I added lots of white and gold floral elements to emphasize the lovely gold foiled sentiment. I started with the star of the card, which is the gorgeous hot foiled sentiment. Next, I ink blended a rainbow panel that I die cut into an oval shape and then embossed with the Tiny Dots embosssing folder. At this point, I thought the card looked too plain so I die cut a bunch of my favorite flowers and added them around the perimeter of the center oval. I also embellished with some colorful enamel dots. I die cut the card base from an A2 top folding card. To keep the top fold, I positioned the top edge of the die just above the fold.

Spellbinders Glimmering All About You Hot Foil Plate and Dies Set GLP-389
Spellbinders Tiny Dots Embossing Folder SES-051
Spellbinders Glimmer Gold Foil GLF-014
Spellbinders Essential Stylish Ovals Nesting Dies S5-562
Spellbinders Be Bold Beautiful Blooms S5-502
Spellbinders Stylish Oval Hello You Floral Dies
Stitched Ornament Die – Greenery S4-1231
Spellbinders November 2022 Small Die of the Month Kit (sold out)
Spellbinders Brushed Gold Cardstock SCS-116
Spellbinders A2 Top Folding Cardbase
Spellbinders Foam Squares
Distress Inks
Blending Brushes

Spellbinders Glimmering All About You Hot Foil Plate and Dies Set GLP-389 + Tiny Dots Embossing Folder SES-051.

cardmaking · Mixed Media · papercrafting

Easy Gel Press Print Cards

March 22, 2022April 7, 2022 Karen Brown2 Comments

Mixed Media card made with Gel Press Prints and floral die cuts: WPlus9 Doodle Buds.

Hello! I recently spent a most enjoyable afternoon making acrylic gel press prints and then I turned four panels into cards. For my first card, I used Altenew’s Bubble Wrap Stencil to add varation to my background. I die cut my background using The Greetery’s Crimped Frame die, and then die cut blooms using WPlus9 Doodle Buds stamp and die bundle. I drew in stems with paint pens and assembled my card with foam squares.

Mixed Media Acrylic Rainbow print turned into a card.

For my second card, I put 7 dots of acrylic paint on my gel press and brayered one direction horizontally so the ink would gently blend but would also maintain the bands of color. I brayered the excess ink onto a second page. I added a die cut bloom, stem and Hello sentiment.

Gel Press Printing using Altenew's Leaves and Berries Stencil.

The background on Card #3 used Altenew’s Leaves and Berries stencil. My bottom layer was orange, yellow and green. Next, I placed the stencil on the wet paint and blotted most of the orange that showed through onto a piece of copy paper. I let the paint dry a minute and then gently brayered on light blue acrylic paint, removed the stencil and pulled the print. I think the background is so beautiful for a floral card. The sentiment is from Altenew’s Birthday Greetings.

Mixed Media Card featuring Hero Arts I Am Puffer For You stamped fish.

The background on card #4 started with yellow and green paint on layer 1. I placed Simons Says Stamp’s Ring Cluster Stencil on the wet paint and then blotted most of the paint that showed through the stencil with a sheet of copy paper. I then brayered on light blue paint, removed the stencil and pulled the print. It was bright and fun and reminded me of the ocean so I went with an aquatic theme. The cute little puffer fish (Hero Arts I am Puffer For You) were stamped and fussy cut and a Hello sentiment was stamped on the background.,

Supplies:

Acrylic Paint Kit

Brayer Set

Gel Press Printing Plate

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Uncategorized

Altenew Adventures Ahead Stamps/Dies/Stencils/More Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

June 4, 2021 Karen Brown33 Comments

Hello! I was so excited and inspired by Altenew\’s June Adventures Ahead Stamp and Die Collection that I created 8 cards! So many ideas!

Die Cutting With Scraps

Altenew\’s Color Bands dies are wonderful and at a great price point! If you like to die-cut there are endless possibilites….I found them so addiciting! For this first card, I used brightly colored scraps of gel press prints. My inspiration was gum drops and I die cut 14 rainbow hued \”gum drops\” and adhered them to my card with foam tape. I crafted my slimline card using the Nesting Slim Rectangles Die Set.

Die Cutting With Gel Press Prints

I wanted rainbow colors for my \”squiggles\” card also. I used the same Color Bands Dies as above.

$Die cutting with Altenew\'s Color Band die set.$

I selected an assortment of simple gel press prints and started die cutting. I took a quick photo (below) of the print assortment I started with. I wanted lots of beautiful white space so I again used Altenew\’s Nesting Slim Rectangle Dies to make another slimline card.

3D Embossing Gel Press Prints

I don\’t think I can ever have too many brick elements to craft with so I was very excited about Altenew\’s new Brick Wall 3D Embossing Folder. For this card I took a gel press print and ran it through my embossing machine. I think this panel makes a beautiful background for my two Cosmos Die Cut Flowers.

Vintage Feel Scene Card

I was captivated by the new Seas The Day stamp and die bundle. I love a good scene card and thought it would be fun to create a vignette of a girl watching a boat race. I went with an off-white vintage feel and made two of these…one for my daughter and one to go with a graduation gift. And, don\’t you just love those animated Pelicans!

Four Quick and Easy Cards

I came up with an idea for a quick and easy masculine card. The lines on the Seas The Day sailboat are just beautiful and I thought a \”blueprint look\” would be very striking. I stamped the boat with Saphire from the Glacier Caves mini ink cube set. I then hand inked an accent panel and sentiment strip with the same Saphire ink and Altenew\’s Large Blending Tool and set this behind the sailboat to frame the top panel. I like the coordinating saphire sentiment band (Altenew Essential Sentiment Strips). Very easy, very striking and very masculine…a winning combination.

$A quick and easy masculine card featuring the sail boat for Altenew\'s Seas The Day Stamp set.$

It is graduation season so my last three cards are for the graduate. The detail on the Feathered Friends dies is beautiful! I die cut three from cardstock and then popped them on a white Brick Wall 3D Embossing Folder panel and added a die-cut Essential Sentiment Strips sentiment.

These next two cards came together very quickly! The backgrounds are from the Rainbow Blots 6×6\” Paper Pack which is filled with gorgeous papers with highly saturated color. These packs are at a great price point and with 24 sheets, you can make loads of projects.

Using the Rainbow Blots paper pack, I trimmed down two panels and then die cut two sets of sentiments using Altenew\’s new Reach For The Stars die. This sentiment definitely makes a statement!

I am sending these two cards with graduation gifts.

Are You Ready For Some 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 06/09/2021 for a chance to win.

Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 06/11/2021.

You\’ve probably just seen Bridget Casey\’s lovely projects and you will love Laurie Willison\’s post.

BLOG HOP:

Altenew Card Blog

Are You Ready to Shop? Free Gift Oportunities:

Here are THREE ways to get a FREEBIE to kickstart your creativity! Free gift will be added to cart automatically.

· Get a FREE brand new Adventures Ahead Release Inspiration Guide (worth $5.99) with every order of high-value Exotic Garden release bundles. SHOP HERE! *Exclusions apply.

· Get a FREE brand new Creative Jump Start Class with every order from the new Adventures Ahead release collection from 6/04/2021 through 6/10/2021. SHOP HERE!

· Get a FREE brand new Adventures Ahead Release Mini Inspiration Guide with every order from 06/04/2021 through 06/06/2021. Shop HERE!

I am honored that you stopped by my blog…thank you! If you have another moment, I would love to hear which card you like best.

Karen

Uncategorized

Using Scraps for a Rainbow Inlay

November 8, 2019 Karen Brown1 Comment

I had a collection of colorful alcohol ink scraps on Yupo paper left over from a batch of cards I made this summer. I thought the scraps would be fun to inlay into Sunny Studio\’s Frilly Frame cover die.

$Using Scraps of Alcohol Ink on Yupo paper to inlay into Sunny Studio\'s Frilly Frame cover die.$

I first die cut my white panel and then cut the rainbow alcohol ink inlay pieces. After everything was die cut, I glued the cover panel to an A2 card. I put a line of Gina K Connect glue in each open space and then placed my alcohol ink scraps into each slat. I love how bright and glossy the strips are.

I black heat embossed the sentiment (Hello Bluebird Rainbow Script) on a die cut sentiment strip. Since my card used rainbow colored scraps, I thought the sentiment was very appropriate.

Easy, bright and eye-catching.

I am entering this card in:
Use Your Stuff\’s \”Use Your Scraps\” Challenge

I am so pleased that you stopped by!
Karen

Uncategorized

WWC239 – Helen\’s Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

September 18, 2019 Karen Brown10 Comments

Hello there and welcome! This week\’s challenge is all about cards for the men in our life and Helen is our hostess.

Rainbow Watercolor Card with Hello Bluebird Rainbow Script sentiment.

I wanted to do a Rainbow masculine card, so I got out my Kuretake watercolors and painted a Rainbow on watercolor paper. I then used the Sunny Studio Frilly Frames Stripes die to cut the card cover. The sentiment, which I\’ve been using a lot, is Rainbow Script from Hello Bluebird. This is a happy card that was fun but pretty quick to make.

Last week, I did a feminine card using Frilly frames.

I am entering this card in:
Dar and Diane Focus on the Sentiment Challenge

Die Cuttin Divas Just Because Challenge

Thanks for joining us this week at Watercooler Wednesday!

Karen

Uncategorized

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

Uncategorized

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:

Uncategorized

Celebrate

September 1, 2018 Karen Brown5 Comments

Aren\’t celebrations wonderful? I made two similar cards, one for graduation (purple and white are the school colors) and one for a friend who was promoted and being transferred. I loved ending with \”see you later\” at the bottom. I dug through all my sentiments and selected the ones I thought appropriate I decided a rainbow cascade of sentiments would be festive and fun so I started with purple and worked my way down.

To add a little extra interest, I used distress ink to make a purple accent strip along the right edge. I then added some sequins and gems to finish the card. I am happy with the way the cards turned out and think I will try something similar again in the future because it is always surprising how many graduation cards I need every year.