handmade cards

Expressions In Ink Card Sketch

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Here is today’s card sketch. I think I did pretty good on this one. Just a few additions, right? Naturally I had to add another layer….

I used Stampin’ Up!’s gorgeous Expressions in Ink Specialty Designer Series paper as the focal point for my card. This paper is so beautiful! The sentiment is from the Artistically Inked stamp set which also is part of the Expressions in Ink Suite of products that can be found on pages 96-97 of Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog. “thanks” is heated embossed with Gold Embossing Powder .

Did you notice how I used the “Rule of 3” with the gold? There is gold in the designer paper, the sentiment is embossed in gold and my added layer is gold. If you don’t remember what the Rule of 3 is it is this: when things are used in threes they are more pleasing to the eye. You may use this when creating your projects and not even realize that you’re using the “Rule of 3”.

Once again, I’m going to encourage you to try creating with card sketches. Whether you get your sketches from Freshly Made Sketches where I’ve been finding mine or some other source, card sketches are a great way to start the creative process.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

A Non-Traditional Halloween Card for Make It Mine Monday

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Nontraditional Halloween Card with Sparkle of the Season

Today I really changed things up with Make It Mine Monday!  Both cards are made using the fun and versatile Sparkle of the Season Bundle but after that…..well, you decide!  Ha!

There were two things on the original card that caught my eye and made me want to make it mine.  The first was my favorite checked ribbon and the second was the little bats on the card.  I love stamped, punched or die-cut bats but I’m pretty sure I’d be totally freaked out if I encountered a real bat.  After including the those two items on my card all bets were off and the card was my own.  I guess I did use the same pattern of the Cute Halloween designer paper.

The bundle used to create both the original card and my card is the Sparkle of the Season Bundle (page 58 in Stampin’ Up!’s Mini Catalog).  In the Seasonal Swirls dies that coordinate with the Sparkle of the Season stamp set there are three different swirled wreath dies.  One has Christmas greenery, one has leaves and the last one has stars.  On the card that inspired me the creator used the wreath with leaves and added pumpkins.  For a Halloween card I wanted to use the wreath with the stars and I wanted my stars to be yellow which is why my Halloween card is black and yellow instead of black and orange.  Now that I’m writing this I guess I could have used the traditional Halloween colors but…I didn’t.

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Fun Fold: Modified Z-Fold 2.0

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In my newsletter early this week I shared a card that was similar to this with a single leaf and the same color combination. I liked it so much that I wanted to use it again with a fun fold.

Today’s card is a modified Z-Fold. I’m actually calling it a Modified Z-Fold 2.0 because I’ve already shared one type of modified Z-Fold card with you. You really can do a lot with a Z-Fold.

Modified Z-Fold Fun Fold Card

As you can see in the photos above, the front and back of the card aren’t connected to each other at all. The inside Z-fold section connects the front and the back of the card. It’s a fun little modification to change things up a little.

Each of the outside panels are 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″. The inside Z-fold is a piece of cardstock that is 11″ long and 3 1/2″ wide. It is scored on the long side at 1 1/2″ and 6 1/4″. Fold the 1/2″ score mark into a mountain fold and the 6 1/4″ score mark into a valley fold.

The large outside section of the Z-Fold is adhered to a 5″ x 3 3/4″ piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock which is then adhered to the back section of the card. To adhere the front piece of the card to the small section of the Z-fold first close up the Z-fold and place adhesive on the small section. Now line up the front of the card with the back of the card and press down so the adhesive adheres. The card base should be complete and ready to decorate.

I love the way the Stitched With Whimsy die perfectly frames the leaf and sentiment on the card front. It also brings out the stitching on the Stitched Leaf die. The “hello” is from the Biggest Wish stamp set and the speckles behind the leaf are from the Gorgeous Leaves stamp set.

Below you will find a quick video on how I made the base of the card.

Modified Z-Fold Card

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Spot On With A Wintery Card Sketch

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I hope you agree with me that I hit the nail on the head with this card sketch. I didn’t add anything and I didn’t change anything. Can you believe it? With recreating projects I have a hard time leaving well enough alone.

How about you? When you are inspired by a project do you copy it verbatim or do you switch things up to follow your own personal style more? Even with step-by-step instructions right in front of me I change things up….mostly because I didn’t read the directions correctly or I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the video/instructor.

Whether you do follow something step-by-step or completely change things up, the important thing is that you are happy with the results. You need to enjoy what you do and that includes enjoying the finished product!

Go create and enjoy! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Celebrate With Sunflowers: Make It Mine

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This lovely card made with Stampin’ Up!’s Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set really caught my eye. My first thought was “nice card but sunflowers are yellow!”. Well, I had to look it up but apparently you can find sunflowers in colors other than yellow if they are crossbred. Who knew? I admire the creator of this card for stepping outside the box. I also admire them for doing such a nice job of coloring with their Stampin’ Blends Markers!

How do you switch up such a nice card? Well, you first make the sunflower yellow! Ha! I guess I’m a purist. Of course then I had to decide which of Stampin’ Up!’s yellows to use. As with many of the color decisions I make when creating a project I let my ribbon make the decision for me. After seeing the lovely original I knew that I wanted to add ribbon and thought that the Bumblebee Gingham Ribbon would work perfectly with a sunflower.

Celebrate Sunflowers

Lately, I’ve really been into using dies on my projects so that is what I chose to do with my sunflower. I’m not very good at coloring either.

I stamped both the flower image and the leaves before die-cutting the solid portions and then I die cut the intricate pieces after adding a piece of Adhesive Sheet to the back of the cardstock.

The more I thought about it, I guess I did change up quite a bit on the card. The only things that I didn’t change were the basic layout of the card and the stamp set I used. That’s the whole idea of Make It Mine Monday. Get inspired! Take a card that catches your eye and start from there.

Have a great day. Take care. Happy stamping. Be inspired!

Double Dutch Door Fun Fold Card

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Guess what? There is an actual Double Dutch Door! Just like the name suggests, it’s double! Both the top and bottom parts have two doors each! Who knew?!

Last week I shared the Dutch Door Fun Fold with you and today you get the Double Dutch Door Fun Fold.  These folds are similar, yet different.  The Dutch Door Fun Fold only had one piece that opened on the card and the Double Dutch Door Fun Fold actually has three!  OK…maybe it should be called the Triple Dutch Door Fun Fold but that name doesn’t have quite the same ring. Ha!

Double Dutch Door Fun Fold

In these two photos you can see the three different flaps on the card. The top flap will fold down and the two smaller flaps at the bottom will fold in. So fun!

Here is the closed card. You can easily see the three flaps. The circular focal point helps hold the flaps down.

When I saw the Nuts About Squirrels stamp set on page 49 of the new Mini Catalog I thought “here we go again…another cutesy stamp set and I don’t do cutesy”. Hmmm…as you can see, I changed my mind. These little squirrels are too stinkin’ cute and I really like the sentiments. There’s your basic “happy birthday” but the “hope you’re feeling bright-eyed & bushy-tailed” was the clincher for me.

As you can see, this stamp set makes a very cute card! Cinnamon Cider was just the right color for my squirrel and the In Good Taste Designer Series Paper completed my card perfectly!

Here is a template to help you make the card base. You need to start with a piece of cardstock that is 8 1/2″ wide by 9″ high. Then cut and score according to the template.

Have fun with this fold. I think you’ll like it! I’d love to see what your Double Dutch Door Card looks like! Leave a comment and share!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Ephemera Wreath Card Sketch

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I’m going to start today’s post with a definition of “ephemera”. At first I looked it up in the dictionary and the definition didn’t make any sense at all. Then I “googgled” it and had better luck. I typed in “ephemera in crafting” and got a more useful definition. “Ephemera is generally defined as collectible memorabilia that is was for a short term purpose. … Ephemera is almost always paper-based and is often written or printed items that were expected to have short term popularity or usefulness.” When I look in Stampin’ Up!’s catalog at the Expressions in Ink Ephemera Pack on page 141 of the Annual Catalog I would call it “pretty stuff to put on my latest project”. I wouldn’t call this the best description but it works for me. Ha!

The reason I went into all this detail for today’s card sketch is because the gold wreath on my card is part of the Expressions in Ink Ephemera Pack. Since I was using it I thought I should figure out what the word “ephemera” meant.

My take on today’s card sketch is pretty close. That is if you discount the extras I added. Ha! In my opinion the sketch needed another layer and I added the sentiment to finish it off.

Are you wondering how I got the gold ephemera wreath to adhere to the card front? I didn’t. I placed the wreath where I wanted and when I adhered the flowers and the sentiment they held the wreath in place. There was no way I would have been able to get glue on the back of that skinny wreath!

That would be my tip of the day….when trying to adhere something really thin and narrow to your project use another piece to actually anchor your thin item.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine With Daisy Garden

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Daisy Garden

You may have missed the Daisy Garden stamp on your first, second and maybe even third time through Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog. It’s a hidden gem on page 106. The colored samples on the page are what catch your eye and the image of the stamp is on the smaller size.

Daisy Garden is a single large stamp. It’s perfect for backgrounds but also works well as a focal point. Once I finally noticed it I knew I needed it on my stamp shelf. Who doesn’t like daisies? (wink, wink!)

When looking for a card to make with the fun Daisy Garden stamp I came across this striking black and white card. It’s simplicity caught my eye. There I go again with the simple cards. My tastes must be changing. Anyway, I liked this card so much I decided to Make It Mine.

The first thing I had to do was add another layer to the card. You know me and my layers. Then I decided it needed a little color so I added the layer of Bumblebee cardstock and colored the centers of the flowers with my Bumblebee Stampin’ Write Marker. Next was adding the Bumblebee Gingham Ribbon.

As you can see from the photo of my card I didn’t stop there. I liked the card but it looked a little flat. I had seen another card online where the creator had stamped the daisies a second time, cut out three of them and popped them on to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. So that’s what I did and it made the card just right! It gave the card a little dimension.

What you can’t see from the phot is that I also added a little Wink of Stella Glitter Brush to the centers of the flowers. Such a fun and summery card! I love the way it turned out!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Dutch Door Fun Fold Card

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What the heck is a Dutch Door and how can you make it into a fun fold card?

Dutch Door

In the first photo above you can see what a Dutch Door is. It’s one of those doors where the top and bottom of the door open separately. The second photo is the adorable card I’m sharing with you today.

I know, you’re looking at the photos thinking that the card doesn’t look anything like the Dutch Door. It looks like a regular card.

That’s what is so fun about this design. Check out the photo on the left. You can now see that only the bottom of this card opens! Sneaky, right?

The top section of the front of the card base is trimmed away. The focal point is then adhered to the bottom section of the card front so when it’s closed it looks like a normal card.

I lined up the short edge of the card front at the 2 3/4″ mark on my paper trimmer and cut down to the fold. Then I lined up the fold of the card on the cutting line and cut down to the edge of the paper. Easy Peasy. All that was left to do was decorate!

The adorable Penguin Place stamp set from the new Mini Catalog and the coordinating Penguin Playmates Designer Series Paper from the Sale-a-bration Brochure were the perfect choices for this card. Cheerful and fun!

The two pieces of designer paper as well as the Basic White insert for the card all measure 4″ x 2 1/2″. When adhering the focal point to the card base just remember to put your adhesive (I used Stampin’ Dimensionals) on the lower portion of the card.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Card Sketch: Summer Sunflowers

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How about some sweet sunflowers for today’s Card Sketch? I saw this card sketch and had to try and figure out what type of image to put in the two circles. After scouring my stamp shelf I decided on these small sunflowers. As you can tell though, I couldn’t stick to just two. You know….that rule of three….things are more eye catching/pleasing in three or odd numbers.

Once I decided on the images to use this sketch came together quite easily. Of course I had to add a few extra layers but that seems to be par for the course! The sunflowers are from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set. I colored them with my Stampin’ Blends markers. Coloring isn’t my favorite thing to do but it’s SO easy with Stampin’ Up!’s Stampin’ Blends markers. The sentiment is from the Tasteful Touches stamp set. I needed something large to fill the space.

I heat embossed all of the stamped images on my card. I like to do this when I used the Stampin’ Blend Markers. It makes it easier to stay in the lines (Ha!) and is especially nice when using the lighter colors. Just my preference but give it a try sometime.

If you haven’t tried playing with card sketches be sure to give it a try. It’s fun! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine Monday: Flowers of Friendship

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The Flowers of Friendship stamp set can be found in Stampin’ Up!’s current Annual Catalog.  I wasn’t going to purchase this set but finally gave in.  Once I saw this card by Tracy Bradley I was glad I did.  Tracy’s card is clean and fresh.  I like the red and white with just that little pop of green.  The sentiment is from one of my new favorite stamp sets, Biggest Wish, which I first shared with you last week.  Tracy also used the new Pretty Flowers Embossing Folder.

When you like an original card so much how do you change it up to make it your own?  I actually started with the embossing folder and used the side that Tracy didn’t use.  I love the fact that you can get two different looks when using an embossing folder.

The next thing I changed on Tracy’s card was to add a layer behind the scalloped rectangle.  Now the focal point really pops.  Did you notice that instead of adhering the scallop rectangle to the red rectangle and popping that up I adhered the red rectangle directly to the card front and popped up the scallop rectangle.  When I di it this way I feel it really makes that focal point pop. 

I only made two other small changes.  I added another leaf so that there would be an odd number and I stamped the sentiment in black instead of red.  I was going back and forth between black and red for the sentiment but black finally won out.

How would you have changed Tracy’s card? Leave a comment and let me know or better yet share a picture of your Make It Mine!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Fun Fold: Panel Card

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Panel Card Fun Fold

This Fun Fold card is so fun and easy!  Four score marks, gorgeous designer paper and some coordinating pieces of paper for the layers.  I used Stampin’ Up!’s absolutely stunning Peaceful Place Specialty Designer Series Paper that you will be able to find on page 37 of the new (Holiday) Mini Catalog.  The only colors in this package of papers are Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Basic Black and Silver.  Amazing!  You will definitely want to check out this paper.

For the card base of this fun fold card you start with a piece of cardstock that is 8 ½” x 5 ½”.  Score along the long side at 1 7/8”, 3”, 5 ½” and 6 5/8”.  When folding along the score lines the two outside score marks will be valley folds and the two inside score marks will be mountain folds.  When folded closed, the card measures 5 ½” x 4”.

The sheet of designer paper that I chose for this card has large snow-covered trees on the bottom portion and silver snowflakes falling from the sky on the top portion.  I used the top portion for my two outside panels and cut them 5 1/8” x 1 ½”.  Then I used one of the smaller trees and cut a panel that is 5 1/8” x 2 1/8”.  I cut the silver foil layers 5 ¼” x 1 5/8” (2x) and 5 ¼” x 2 ¼”.

I did add a piece of Basic White cardstock to the back of the large panel so I could add a sentiment.  Since I didn’t have the coordinating Peaceful Cabin stamp set (which is on my wish list!) yet I had to search my stash for a sentiment that would fit.  Most of the sentiments in the Peaceful Cabin stamp set should fit perfectly.  I guess I’m going to put that on my August shopping list so I can recreate this card!

After looking at the Peaceful Place Suite in the new Mini Catalog it dawned on me that I could maybe “close” my card with a belly band of the gorgeous White Glittered Organdy Ribbon.  Of course, as I was grabbing it off my ribbon shelf I noticed the Black Glittered Organdy Ribbon.  Oh, dear. Decisions, decisions!  Since I couldn’t decide, I cut a 20” piece of each of the ribbons and made two belly bands.  Now I need your help?  If you were going to recreate this card which ribbon would you use for your belly band?  White or Black?  Please let me a comment below and help me make this decision!  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Card Sketch: Blocked Christmas

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Card Sketch: Blocked Christmas

This week’s Card Sketch features designer paper again.  I wanted to get one last plug in for Stampin’ Up!’s Designer Series Paper Sale before it ends next Monday. So here’s my plug:  don’t forget about the sale!  Ha!  If you’re interested in getting 15% off of 9 of Stampin’ Up!’s fabulous designer series papers be sure to click here and check it out.

Now that that’s out of the way let’s get back to today’s card sketch!  I thought about trying this sketch with one of the papers that’s on sale but decided to try it with one of the brand new papers that you will be able to find in the Sale-a-bration Brochure next week.  This package of paper is called Peaceful Prints and is 12” X 12”.   There are lots of fun patterns in the package and it coordinates with the Peaceful Deer Bundle from the upcoming (Holiday) Mini Catalog!  Love that coordination!  😊

I did pretty well with this week’s sketch.  I only added one teeny tiny layer behind the designer paper to make it pop as well as adding the sentiment (from the Banner Year stamp set) to the small strip of paper.

When I work with papers that butt up against each other and need to be straight like on this sketch I like to start with a piece of cardstock the same size as my finished designer paper design will be.  On this card I started with a piece of Basic Black cardstock that was 3” x 4 ¼”.   I then cut two strips of designer paper that were 4 ¼” x 1 ½”.  I cut 1 ¼” off of each strip for the small section.  Then I adhered my papers to the Basic Black card stock piece. 

The layer of Basic White cardstock that I added is 4 3/8” x 3 1/8”.  Just enough of a border to make the designer paper pop.  The strip of Basic Black cardstock is 3 5/8” x 3/8”.  I heat embossed the sentiment with White Embossing Powder since it was on the black cardstock.  The sentiment strip is popped up with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals.

This Card Sketch is a great design to highlight those gorgeous papers you have in your craft room.  You’ll just want to remember to stick with smaller patterns.  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine: Make It Simple!

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Those of you who have followed me for a while know that simple and Cindy don’t usually go together.  I’m all about layers with ribbon.  Despite the fact that I don’t do simple there was something about this card by Sue Vine that caught my attention.  I loved it and knew I wanted to share it with you.  What better way to share it than change it up, right?

Well, if you look close at the two cards you will see that I didn’t change a whole lot about Sue’s card.  I did change the color of the card base as well as the color of one of the inks.  Sue used a white card base and I used a Bermuda Bay card base.  The only other thing I changed was the color of the lighter ink.  The original card has Coastal Cabana as the light ink and I used Pool Party.  The only reason I switched this color up was that my Coastal Cabana was stamping too dark and if I stamped it off first it stamped too light.  Pool Party to the rescue!  😊

Biggest Wish

Sue and I both used the Biggest Wish stamp set.  It’s really a fun set to use.  There are only five different words in the set but they all come in both a block font and a script font.  It makes it fun to combine them as you can see on our cards.

I do have to admit that I was itching to emboss the front of card but I resisted.  Keep it simple!  Simple stamping is difficult for me but I do need to try it more.  The results can be stunning.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Fun Fold: Tri-Fold Card

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Check out this fun birthday card that my friend Tena made for me.  It’s an easy tri-fold card decorated with the Sweet Symmetry Designer Series Paper and the coordinating In Symmetry stamp set.  And it’s PINK! Yes, I still love my pink!  😊

The base of this card is quick and easy.  Start with a piece of cardstock that is 5 ½” x 11”.  Score along the long edge at 3 ¾” and 8”.  This makes it so that a little of the folded in right panel shows and is especially pretty when decorated with a coordinating piece of designer paper.

Tena layered her two piece of designer paper on to Flirty Flamingo cardstock to make it pop.  She did have to fussy-cut all of the flowers and greenery though.  Thanks Tena for putting so much time and effort into this lovely card!  Not only did Tena make a lovely card for me but she also decorated the envelope with the same designer series paper!

Do you love designer paper as much as I do?  Don’t forget that Stampin’ Up! has 9 different packages of designer paper on sale this month.  Don’t miss out!  There’s only a few weeks left of the sale!   Check out what’s on sale right here!