Graduation cards

This year I have three cousins graduating from high school, so I needed to make a few graduation cards. With the exception of a sentiment set I bought not too long ago, I don’t really have any grad-specific stamps. That meant it was time to be creative!

For the first two cards, I chose a travel/adventure motif and focused on using some prints from an old pack of patterned paper from Stampin’ Up! For the card on the left I chose two Very Vanilla and Sahara Sand patterns. On one of the pieces I stamped images from the Traveler stamp set (Stampin’ Up!) using dark brown ink, cut it out with a deckle-edge die, and adhered it to an Early Espresso card base. I used a strip of the second pattern to stamp the sentiment, matted it with brown card stock, added some twine, and used foam tape to attach it to the card. I finished with a few metallic enamel dots.

For the card on the right, I didn’t stamp any images. Instead I arranged three pieces of patterned paper in a modified grid on a Sahara Sand card base. To break up the largest blue piece (which is printed with airplane schematics, though it’s hard to see in the picture), I added a small strip that looks like a city map. I stamped the sentiment on a fifth piece of patterned paper, matted it with black card stock, and added a blue card stock triangle at the upper left and lower right corners to look like photo corners. I finished the card with a light splatter of Distress Spritz in Antique Linen and a few enamel dots.

For the third card, I wanted to do something book- or reading-themed. I had the perfect stamp set from a My Monthly Hero kit (Hero Arts) from last year. I love this tree image, with all the books and other images worked into the leaves and branches, and I think it works well for a graduation.

I stamped the tree using Toffee ink on a panel of Toffee card stock (Taylored Expressions). I wanted to stamp the sentiment over the tree, but I had to play around a bit to figure out the best way to do that. I finally realized that embossing the sentiment gave it enough “oomph” to help it stand out. (I used VersaFine Onyx Black ink and clear embossing powder.) I did stamp the sentiment a little too far to the left, so to help the balance I added the image of the stacked books at the bottom.

I debated adding color to the tree but eventually decided I liked the neutral look. Instead I lightly splattered some Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleedproof White and added a few sequins. I rounded the corners of the Toffee panels and adhered it to a sheet of shimmery black paper. Finally I attached the whole piece to a white card base.

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April Christmas cards: Honk for the Holidays

I know we’re a few days into May, but I still need to share my April Christmas cards. (I finished making them over the weekend, but most of the work was done in April, so I’m still considering them my April cards.) This is a fun batch of cards featuring some festive geese from the Honk for the Holidays stamp set (Unity Stamps).

Aren’t they fun? I wanted this set (and the coordinating Halloween set) as soon as I saw it. I don’t buy a ton of Christmas products because I already have so much, but I didn’t have anything like this, and I’m a sucker for cute animal stamps.

Since I started making these cards at these cards at the end of the month, I didn’t have time for anything too elaborate. So I started by stamping each goose twice on white card stock and cutting them out with a stitched oval die. I did quick and easy coloring with alcohol markers and used a gel pen to add a little sparkle to each image (the Christmas lights, the star on the tree, Santa’s buttons and belt buckle, and the reindeer antlers).

I wanted to give the focal image a little more “oomph” so I matted the white ovals with scalloped black ovals. They still feel a little blah to me, though. Maybe I should have added a bit of shimmer mist or something.

For the card bases I used Toffee card stock (Taylored Expressions’s version of Kraft). I adhered a 2” x 4” piece of red patterned paper to the bottom of each card base. Above the patterned paper I repeatedly stamped a couple of the punny sentiments from the stamp set.(My favorite is “ Ho-ho-honk.”) I filled in the open spaces with a little snowflake stamp from my stash.

Using foam tape I attached each oval to a card base. I wrapped hemp twine twice around the card front (below the oval) and tied it off in a bow. Finally, I finished each card with a few gold sequins. 

I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the cards, but I added a white panel stamped with “Waddling in a winter wonderland.” 

Now that I’ve finally shared my April Christmas cards, I’d better get my act together and work on my May cards so they’re not late, too!

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Birthday cards for kids

I am in serious need of rebuilding my birthday card stash so I’ve been trying to make a few birthday cards whenever I don’t have another card project to work on. Today I’m sharing some birthday cards that would be great for kids (or kids at heart!).

Bright colors and fun patterned papers always make great birthday cards. On the left card I added a die-cut sentiment and a few punched balloons. On the right card, the focal image is from the pack of patterned paper; I just cut it out and matted it with black card stock. I added a strip of yellow polka dot ribbon to both cards.

Last Christmas I received my first House-Mouse Designs stamp set, and it’s sized perfectly for an easy birthday card. I stamped the image twice on white card stock and colored them with colored pencils and Gamsol. Then I die cut the images into panels for two cards — one more boyish (above), and one more girly (below).

The last two cards aren’t necessarily for kids, but the colors and style of these cards fit well in this post. And they’d be great cards for older kids, tweens or teens.

When I made these cards I wanted to use up some leftover paper from making valentines. For the card on the left I die cut the word “celebrate” and two shadow layers from two of the paper patterns. I embossed an aqua card base with the Bursting Dots embossing folder (Taylored Expressions) and added the layered sentiment with foam tape. I finished the card with a few pink pearls and a strip of silver glitter card stock along the bottom edge. For the right card I die cut several balloons out of the patterned and coordinating solid papers. I adhered them across a lime green panel and used a black marker to add the strings. I added a die-cut sentiment and several dew drops, matted the panel with back card stock, and attached it to a white card base.

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Cards to share

I’ve been getting back my crafting mojo little by little, but now I’m behind on my blog posts. I just can’t seem to get everything together. Oh, well. Today I’m going to share a bunch of cards I brought to work to share with my coworkers. I wanted to celebrate spring, so there are lots of flowers, and some rainbows and unicorns for good measure.

I used patterned paper for many of the cards to make the process a little faster (at least in theory; I still spent plenty of time deciding on just the right layout or paper combination). Then I just added a little embellishment — ribbon, twine, and/or sequins — and a stamped or die-cut sentiment.

I tried to use as much of each patterned paper as I could, so I made several cards with leftover strips or small shapes. Using packs of patterned paper makes it easy to coordinate colors and patterns.

This is a layout I’ve used before that I really like. It’s a great way to use different patterns and/or textures because the repeated shape ties everything together. You just want to use a shape that’s kind of “chunky” and not too detailed — hearts for Valentine’s Day, leaves for autumn, trees for Christmas. The colors on these cards are a little fall-ish, but they are still some of may favorite cards in the bunch.

I focused on making cards for a variety of occasions/needs, so I used lots of different word dies and greeting stamps. I also made some cards with no sentiment on the front so they could be used for anything. (I might make more of those next time.) All of the cards are blank inside.

A rainbow die is an easy way to get focal images for multiple cards — just cut the shape out of multiple colors of card stock and then mix and match the pieces. (The die I used is from Taylored Expressions.) I combined the rainbows with fun patterned papers and several “colorful” sentiments. And I have some fun unicorn sentiments, so I had to include a few of those, too.

These are actually the cards that started this project for me. I had an old card kit that had been my mom’s, and when I was struggling find some creativity I decided to work on the kit. I used the kit directions as a guide and changed up most of the designs at least a little, including using additional sentiments. I liked how the cards turned out, but they didn’t feel like they were quite my style, so instead I decided to share them at work.

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March Christmas cards: Postage collage

For my Christmas cards this year, I'm going to try to focus on using products that I haven't used before. That wasn't necessarily my intention at the beginning of the year, but as it happens my January and February cards fit that criteria, so I'll just keep going. This month I made eight postage-themed cards (four each of two colorways).

To make the postage images, I used the Postage Collage Christmas Stencils from Waffle Flower. The layering stencils, together with the coordinating die, create a panel of six "stamps." I used six ink colors: Sandstone, Cocoa, Robin's Egg, Lime Green and Forest from Hero Arts and Hollyhock from Close to My Heart. I also used gold paste to add a little sparkle and texture. After the ink blending was done, I stamped details, like postmarks and values, with the Postage Collage stamps.

With the ink colors I used, the postage images naturally divided themselves into two color groups. So I cut the stamps apart and created four cards with a blue card base and four with a green card base. I used a text background stamp on each card (A Little Christmas Carol (Unity) for the blue and Christmas Story (Penny Black) for the green), added a bit of white splatter, and stamped some of the detail images around the middle of the card base. Then I added the postage images with foam tape. I finished each card with a few clear droplets and a sentiment in the lower right corner.

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