Fun with foil, part 2

In my last post I explained how I used Transfer Gel Duo and Deco Foil sheets to make a variety of foiled backgrounds for cards. Today I'm sharing the second batch of cards I made with my foiled backgrounds.

I think a few rainbows are basically required when making foiled backgrounds. :) For the first card (left), I used rainbow foil and black card stock. I also used holographic card stock for the die-cut sentiment, and I added a matching sequin with each color in the foil. So much shine and sparkle! For the second card, I used a cloud stencil and iridescent foil to make a cloudy sky. (I discovered that this stencil was the hardest one for me to use with the gel because of the large open areas of the clouds. It was easier for me to get even gel coverage with stencils that had small designs.) I added a die-cut rainbow, a sentiment strip, and a few clear sequins to compete the card.

These two backgrounds -- little flowers and river rocks -- called for a nature theme. On the first card I added black die-cut butterflies with vellum behind them. I also placed pearls at the center of several of the gold flowers. For the second card I added a die-cut dragonfly and "happy birthday" sentiment. 

For the last two cards I wanted to use an ocean theme, and I ended up with two bottle-in-the-sea cards. For the first card I made a shaker, which I don't do very often. Since the bottle outline was thin, I didn't want to use foam to create the shaker; instead, I die-cut a whole bunch of the bottles (maybe eight, I can't remember for sure) and glued them together in a stack. I glued the stack to the card base and added some sequins, a few wooden seashells, and a little "note" inside. Then I added the window sheet and stamped bottle outline to the top. I added a piece of die-cut cork sheet for the cork in the bottle. It's not really a mailable card, but it's a fun one.

For the second card I used rainbow foil with a stencil that had a scale pattern. It reminded me of a mermaid, so I used this cute mermaid-in-a-bottle image. (I think this is the only foiled card I made with a stamped image; I prefer to use die-cut shapes instead.) I used a coupe of strips for the sentiments and finished the card with several clear droplets to mimic the look of water.

I'm looking forward to making more foiled cards -- I have a lot more stencils to try out! Thanks for stopping by!

Fun with foil, part 1

The last couple of weekends I've been having fun playing with Transfer Gel Duo and Deco Foil sheets from Therm O Web. I don't have any heat-based products for laminating (and I don't really want to buy any right now), so I was intrigued by the possibility of using the Transfer Gel Duo with my die-cutting machine to make foiled backgrounds.

I made 12 backgrounds (and turned them into 12 cards) over two foiling sessions. I'll share half of them today and half of them in my next post.

To use the Transfer Gel Duo, you use a palette knife to spread it over a stencil onto card stock (as you would with glitter gel, paste, etc.). Then you let the gel dry. The package says to wait one hour or until the gel is clear. I ended up letting my first batch sit overnight because that's just how it worked out, but the second batch I waited about four hours. The thickness of the gel and the pattern on the stencil will affect drying time (e.g., a stencil with large areas filled in with gel may take longer to dry than a pattern with narrow lines or a small-scale pattern).

Once the gel is dry, lay a foil sheet on top of the card stock (foil side up). Then you can either set the foil with heat or pressure. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't use any heat, so I can't speak to that process. To use pressure, I first placed the card stock and foil in a piece of folded printer paper. Then I placed it on my Big Shot platform, using the sandwich for wafer-thin dies. I also added a very thin embossing pad to make sure there was enough pressure. Then I ran everything through the Big Shot machine. When that's done, carefully peel the sheet to reveal the foiled design. Ta da!

Once the panels were foiled, I turned them all into cards by mounting them on card bases and adding die cuts, stamped sentiments, and embellishments. My favorite of the this first group are the first two cards, with the tea cups. The rainbow panels were the first two I made, and you can see little goof-ups -- like the bottom line on the left card got all wonky because my palette knife slipped under the stencil so there was too much gel. I decided to leave it because it's a bit of a wonky pattern anyway.

I didn't get into the specifics for these cards, so if you have any questions, just leave a comment and I'll respond as soon as I can. And stay tuned for the second batch of foiled cards later this week. Thanks for stopping by!

Plentiful Plants two ways

I have a short post today with a few cards showing two ways to use the Plentiful Plants stamp set from Stampin' Up! I started by stamping and die cutting a variety of the plant and pot images and gluing them together. Then I got to work with the layouts.

When I had the idea for these cards, I wasn't sure it would work. But I tried it out, and I think they look pretty good. I used the large bookshelf image from the Bookcase Peek-a-Boo Parts stamp set (Hero Arts) to create a tone-on-tone background for these cards. I glued a narrow strip of card stock along the bottom edge of the card bases to create a floor and then attached three plants to each card. I added a small sentiment strip to one of the cards and finished each with three small pearls that coordinated with the card base.

For the second layout style, I created two cards with a more neutral feel. I started each card with a piece of patterned paper that looked like worn, painted wood and matted it with black card stock. I stamped a sentiment on each panel and then added three plants. I glued the panels onto taupe card bases and added three metallic enamel dots.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wetlands birthday greetings

I've been trying to be a little more thrifty with my crafting budget recently. Sometimes it's a bummer not to be able to get the latest and greatest stamps or tools. But it also means that I can "rediscover" the stamp sets I already own. That's what I did last weekend with the Wetlands stamp set from Stampin' Up!.

I loved combining the stamps from this set with a bit of ink blending. For the card on the left, I stamped the goose first then masked it and stamped the reeds a few times. I let the mask in place and lightly blended blue ink for the sky and green ink for the grass. Then I removed the mask and added a tiny bit of kraft ink to the goose for some shading. I left the bottom portion of the panel white to stamp a sentiment and also added a few sequins. I matted the panel with black card stock and adhered it to a green card base. I wanted to add one more embellishment, so I stapled a folded piece of neutral ribbon in the upper right corner.

For the card on the right, I was inspired by a few samples I saw online, like this card by Alisa Tilsner. (When I'm stuck with a stamp set, I do an image search for the name of the stamp set and company to get ideas.) To make my card I tore a piece of masking paper in half, making sure it wasn't a straight tear. I placed the two halves of the masking paper on a piece of white card stock, leaving a few inches of space between them and off-setting the pieces so the torn edges didn't match up. In the opening on the white card stock I stamped the image of the birds in the middle and the reeds at either edge. Then I started ink blending: kraft on the bottom half (darker at the bottom, lighter toward the middle), light blue in the middle, and dark blue along the top. To make the horizon line, I used a piece of masking paper with a straight edge, placed it a little above the top of the "sand" and lightly blended over it with the dark blue ink. Then I removed all the masking paper, stamped the sentiment, and added a few sequins. I matted the panel with black card stock and adhered it to a kraft card base.

I was really pleased with how these cards turned out -- and it was fun inking up an old stamp set. Thanks for stopping by!

All-occasion cards with Everyday Doodles

One of the stamp sets I bought recently is Everyday Doodles from Ellen Hutson. I also got the matching dies and a set of sentiments that coordinate with the images, Everyday Punnies. (It's hard to pass up a good punny sentiment!) The Everyday Doodles set has outline images and also "filler" stamps you can use to add color. (Or you could just use the outlines or color the images by hand.) I had a lot of fun using those products with some patterned paper from my stash to make a few all-occasion cards.

For the first two cards I used the cute little bird image (outline and filler) and a couple of greetings from the coordinating sentiment set. To make the card on the right, I used two pieces of coordinating patterned paper -- the same color but different patterns -- and adhered one piece at the top of the white card base and one piece at the bottom. For the middle section I stamped four birds along a piece of white card stock. I added strips of scalloped black card stock above and below the focal images, stamped a sentiment, and finished the card with a few clear sequins.

For the card on the left, I first stamped and die cut a bird and a balloon. I knew this was going to be a very plain and simple card, so I decided to doodle a border around the card base. I made a wavy line with loops in it to mimic the string of the balloon. I placed a small strip of black polka-dot washi tape slightly below the center of the card front and used foam tape to adhere the die-cut images. I stamped the sentiment below the strip of washi tape and added a few sequins.

For the next two card I decided to try out a couple of the other images from the Everyday Doodles stamp set: the butterfly and the flower and leaves. The card on the left is a simple monochromatic design. I used two pieces of coordinating patterned paper, making sure that one was about twice as wide as the other. I glued the pieces to a white card base and attached the stamped and die-cut sentiment near the middle of the card with foam tape. I stamped the butterflies using one ink pad -- the outline images are stamped "full strength," and the wings were stamped on scratch paper then inside the outline to get the lighter color. I glued down just the middle of the butterflies so the wings provide a little dimension.

The last card again uses -- you guessed it -- two pieces of patterned paper. The background layout is very similar to the previous card; I just turned it on it's side and added a strip of black card stock across the seam in the papers. For the foal layer on this card I used a piece of white card stock stamped with a few flowers, leaves, and a sentiment and then layered it on a slightly larger piece of black card stock. I used foam tape to attach the focal piece near the bottom right corner of the card and added two black enamel dots in the upper left corner.

I have a few friends with birthdays coming up, and I think it would be so fun to gift them each a set of note cards using these images and sentiments. Add it to the project list!

Thanks for stopping by!

April Christmas cards: Quilt blocks

One of the projects I completed during my spring break was my April Christmas cards. (It feels good to get them done at the beginning of the month so I don't have to worry about it later.) I try to include a variety of styles and images in my Christmas cards, so this month I decided on a layout with a paper-pieced "quilt block" as the focal image.

I knew I wanted to use a group of retired Stampin' Up! products: Quilted Christmas Designer Series Paper (DSP), the Christmas Quilt stamp set, and the Quilt Builder Framelits dies. I pulled out the colors of card stock that coordinated with the DSP -- Real Red, Blushing Bride, Lemon Lime Twist, Pool Party, and Garden Green -- and die cut the quilt block from each color. I separated the frames/outlines from all the little pieces and then played around until I had five different arrangements that included each color of card stock. 

To assemble the focal images I die cut five white scalloped squares that were just slightly larger than the quilt blocks. I glued each frame to a scalloped square (doing my best not to distort the edges) and then glued in all the little pieces. It actually went quicker than I thought it would! 

For the card bases I used Crumb Cake card stock with a strip of DSP along the left side. (I chose DSP patterns that included all five of the colors I used.) I adhered a piece of red ribbon along the edge of the DSP on each card and then attached the quilt blocks using foam tape. Using white ink I stamped a greeting in the bottom right corner of each card and finished them off with a small bow in the center of the quilt block.

I ended up making ten cards with this layout, so I created two cards of each quilt block design. Another batch of Christmas cards done! Thanks for stopping by!

Varied Vases birthday blooms

Today I have a short post with a couple of birthday cards using the Varied Vases stamp set. These cards could easily be modified for a different occasion by just changing the sentiment.

I kept these cards really clean and simple by focusing on black and white for the stamped images -- I really like the look of the vases with just outlines -- and just adding color to the flowers. When the stamping was done, I matted the focal panels with black card stock and then added each one to a coordinating card base. I finished the cards with a few simple embellishments: pink pearls and a little flag for the card on the left and clear sequins for the card on the right. I think these layouts would be great for a card set -- just use a few different sentiments and color combos.

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday collection

This week was spring break for me, which I haven't had in about twenty-five years (one of the perks of working at a school). I didn't do any traveling, but I did enjoy time relaxing and card-making. I even was able to have a craft day with a friend -- something we haven't done in about three years. I have a bunch of cards to share from the week, but before I do that I want to share a little collection of birthday cards that I made several weeks ago.

This image is from a long-retired Stampin' Up! stamp set, but I love it and still go back to it. And once it's colored it makes a really fun, festive focal point, which means the rest of the card can be clean and simple. For the card base I used dark blue card stock and wrapped yellow-and-white twine around the card front three times. I tied the twine in a knot and used foam tape to adhere the focal image (matted with a layer of turquoise card stock) over the knot. I used a sentiment strip to add a greeting to the card and finished it off with three yellow enamel dots.

Candles are always a classic image for birthday cards, and I love the size of these candles. For this card, I stamped a row of candles on white card stock using bright colors. I stamped the flames in yellow ink, but it seemed like they needed "something," so I used a Viva Décor Pearl Pen to give the flames a little dimension. I layered the panel on black card stock so there was a thin border of black on the top and bottom and then used foam tape to add a sentiment strip.

To create the card base I stamped two different background images on yellow card stock using the same color ink; there are streamers at the top of the card and burst images near the bottom. I glued the focal panel about an inch or so above the bottom of the bottom of the card and finished it off with a few sequins.

These cards started out as quick cards, which naturally meant they took me forever to make. I started with a pack of patterned paper and the big, graphic "happy birthday" image. Easy, right? But then I couldn't decide which papers or colors to use, how to do the layouts, how to embellish them, etc., etc. So after a lot of hemming and hawing I finally put together these four cad designs. I'm still not crazy about them, so I may go back and redo them later, but for now they'll go in my card box.

Thanks for stopping by!

'Gnome' one like you

I usually gravitate toward clean and simple cards, but every once in awhile I like to make more elaborate cards. The three cards I have to share today definitely fit that bill -- and they're pretty cute, too, if I do say so myself.

OK, I'll admit it would be pretty hard to make cards that aren't cute with these gnome stamps and dies from Lawn Fawn. It definitely takes time to do all the coloring, die cutting, and layering, but it's worth it. 

I think these cards are pretty self-explanatory, but here are a few notes:

- I added clouds to the background with cloud stencils (Taylored Expressions), white ink, and blender brushes. I wish the clouds showed up a little better on the lighter blue card stock.

- For the large mushroom houses, I very lightly sponged Crumb Cake ink on the white bases to give them a little depth. I also used Glossy Accents on the white spots on the mushroom tops.

- I chose a few colors for the gnomes' clothes and mixed and matched them on the different figures. (I used the same colors for the presents, too.) That way they looked good together however I combined them on the different cards.

Inside the two birthday cards I added a stamped sentiment and a couple of mushrooms. For the third card, I left the panel blank (I wrote out my own thank-you message) and added a mushroom and a gnome holding a flower.

Thanks for stopping by!