Thursday, January 29, 2015

ECD Jewelry - Red Shimmer Pine Sprig Earrings


This is the first time that I'm trying out the new Jewelry dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs. I think the earrings came out pretty well! They sparkle much more than they appear in the image due to the beautiful Shimmer Sheetz. The Ice Resin dries clear, smooth, and shiny - the perfect substrate material.

Making the Earrings

1. Cut 4 pieces of craft foam large enough to accommodate your chosen jewelry die plus space around it. Cut one piece with the die from the front and one piece from the back (this mainly only matters if the foam has adhesive on it already, otherwise just flip one after cutting). Stick each of the cut pieces to the non cut pieces so one is flipped compared to the other; these will form 2 molds. Note: in my photo below, the foam I used on the bottom was yellow and the foam that I die cut was blue.

2. Seal the molds. I used a thin coat of Multi-Meduim but it came off when I removed the jewelry (which gave the backs a matte texture). You may want to try silicone or other sealer plus a release agent.

3. Cut red metallic Shimmer Sheetz, one from the front of the sheet and one from the back so one will be a flipped image of the other.

4. Emboss the cut pieces using the Sprig embossing folder by placing each as desired in the folder and temporarily taping before running through machine (this will keep the pieces from moving). I wanted the sprigs to pop up so I oriented them as such.


5. Sand the tops of the pieces (sprigs). Paint them with Patina paints as desired (acrylic will likely work as well). Let dry.

6. Mix Ice Resin as directed, enough to fill both molds. Spread a very small amount into the bottom of each mold - just enough to cover the very bottom. Pop the painted pieces (painted side up) into the bottom of the moulds. Pour more Ice Resin into the moulds, just enough to fill them and evenly cover the metallic pieces.

7. Let dry at least one day or so, until they are mostly dry but still slightly flexible. Remove from molds. Sand edges if necessary. If you would like a curve in them, place them face down into a large tape roll. Press them against the side to give them a curve. Tape to hold them in place against the roll.

8. Let them dry until completely cured, about two more days. Drill small holes in the tops (I used a Dremel tool with a very small drill bit placed on an old rubber mouse pad). Polish edges if desired. Mount on dangle earring wires.

9. To make the card, cut a piece of white cardstock large enough for the earrings to dangle plus room for the stamped sentiment above. Stamp, punch holes for the earrings, and thread the wires through.

Supplies

ECD Supplies
  • Jewelry Dies
  • SS0214 Shimmer Sheetz, Metallic Red
  • E127 Embossing Folder, Sprig
Other Supplies
  • Craft Foam (e.g. Fun Foam)
  • Sandpaper
  • Ice Resin
  • Studio Multi-Medium, Matte
  • Patina by Ranger: Emerald, Jade
  • Earring Bases, Gold Dangle
  • Cardstock, White
  • Close to My Heart, My Acrylix
  • Ink: Red, Black

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Peony and Hydrangea Thank You Card


 
Created for the Elizabeth Craft Designs DT

This is my first card as part of Susan Tierney Cockburn's design team! Her new ECD dies make beautiful flowers.

Making the Card

1. Cut blue cardstock 5.5 x 8.5 inches; fold in half to form a card base. Cut pink cardstock 4 x 5.25 inches.

2. Die cut black cardstock, light blue Shimmer Sheetz, and raspberry Shimmer Sheetz using the Garden Patch 1 1/2 Inch & Mini Petals main die. Die cut Thank You sentiment from raspberry Shimmer Sheetz (use Adaptor Plate). Die cut 2 more copies of Thank You from pink cardstock. Glue the Thank You words in a stack to form thick words, with the Shimmer Sheetz on top.

3. Adhere the black frame to the pink cardstock (step 1), centered at the top (long side) as shown.

4. Emboss square pieces of raspberry Shimmer Sheetz using Bouquet folder; emboss blue pieces using Dancing Leaves folder. Tap/rub StazOn Black ink across the tops to enhance the design. Adhere into black frame using strong tape or glue (I use Glossy Accents), alternating designs. Add blue ribbon around where shown. Adhere stacked Thank You to card over ribbon where shown.

5. Using Hydrangea and Peony dies, die cut stems and leaves from green cardstock, Peony petals from light pink cardstock (cut about 3 sets of the single petal sets), Hydrangea flowers from cream cardstock (2 sets of flowers), and Peony center (stamen) from yellow cardstock (cut 2 copies).


6. Lightly ink all edges of cream flowers with Salty Ocean Distress Ink using an ink blending tool. Watercolor petals of Peony with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink: get each petal wet with a brush and water, add a small amount of color most of the way up the petal, then intensify the color at the base. Watercolor the leaves using Mowed Lawn Distress Ink: darker green in shaded areas (base of leaves), let dry then use a small brush to add veins. Add green shadows to the stems as well, along one side.

7. Shape the leaves and petals: rub the middle of the Hydrangea flowers with a small round stylus. Run a stylus around the back edge of each Peony Petal (including the ones that form the base), flip and rub with a large stylus or end of a die pick from the base about half way towards the tips - choose about 6 petals to shape the opposite way to go around the center and on the Peony bud (one very small and one small for bud), i.e. these will curve inwards while the others will curve outwards.

8. Cut the yellow stamen stalks (filaments) down the middles maybe 2/3rds of the way down. Add glue along the bottom edge of one, roll tightly along the bottom edge. Add glue to the other and roll it around the first. Spread the filaments out a bit with your finger.

9. Add a small dot (e.g. with toothpick) of Baby Blue Liquid Pearls to the centers of each of the Hydrangea flowers. With a large stylus or end of die pick, rub the back of the round Hydrangea base (top of stem) to form a cup. Add something to the cup to give it support from behind - I used a large enamel dot but you could fill it with Glossy Accents, Silicone Glue, or even dimensional tape (cut in circle). Glue the flowers to the outside. You may have to adhere a few on opposite sides then let them dry before adding more so they won't shift on you.


10. For the Peony bud, find the base (one with embossed lines), glue the small sized then the very small sized petals you reserved, as shown in photo. For the main Peony, rub the petal base in the center to give it a bit of a cupped shape (e.g. with the end of a die pick). Glue the stamen to the center. Glue the petals reserved for the center around the stamen then fill in the other petals.

11. Assemble and adhere stems, leaves, and flowers as shown. Don't be afraid to trim a stem and/or move leaves to create the look you want. I cut an extra leaf for the Hydrangea (bottom) and glued it on top of its matching leaf, along the bottom edge, to make it pop out. Make a double bow with twine and adhere where stems meet.

I used the left-over pieces from the first card to create the background for this card.

Supplies

ECD Supplies
Second Card, Extra ECD Supplies

Other
  • Cardstock: Blue, Pink, Light Pink, Black, Green, Cream, Yellow
  • StazOn Ink: Black
  • Distress Ink: Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Picked Raspberry
  • Liquid Pearls: Baby Blue
  • Blue Ribbon
  • Blue/Brown Twine
  • Strong Adhesive (e.g. Glossy Accents)

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Purple Onion Snow Scene Christmas Stand-Up Card


Purple Onion's Stacey Yacula images are so adorable. I decided to color them with my Copic (alcohol) markers and give them a bit of furry/feathery texture (although it's a little difficult to see in the photo - click to enlarge). The beautiful Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter by Elizabeth Craft Designs makes the perfect snow for this scene.

Making the Card

1. Using the Sizzix Card, Regal Stand-Ups die, cut a piece of blue cardstock and fold according to instructions. Cut the snowflake patterned paper with included decorator dies. Adhere to front of card (see image near bottom showing both pieces in place).

2. Stamp images on alcohol ink friendly cream cardstock. Color with alcohol markers. I used the following Copic markers: Gift/Hat R29, R24, R22, G14, G12, G07, Shadows BV23, Bunny E55, E31, E30, W3, W2, W0, R32, R30, Puppy E47, E44, E43, E42, Birds N8, N6, N4, N2, N0, B29, B28, B24, B23, B21, Branch E49, E47, E43.

3. Fussy cut around images (use a craft knife where necessary). From the back, outline edges in black to help hid them. This gives them a nice finished look.

4. Apply Double Sided Adhesive to cream cardstock. Die cut embellishment that came with Sizzix Card, Regal Stand-Ups as well as Outdoor Edges: tree line and snow hills (be sure to leave enough space below each - see image). Peel off backing paper. Apply Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter; polish with finger.

5. Add a little white paint (acrylic) across top of branch; while wet, add Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter.

6. Adhere embellishment and tree line as shown. Use dimensional tape to adhere snow hills.


7. Die cut 3 or 4 copies of Merry Christmas sentiment (depending on how thick you would like the words to be). Glue the copies in a stack to make them thick (don't worry about the dot on the "i" in Christmas). I use Studio Multi-Medium (Matte) with a small brush. Adhere as shown.

8. Adhere branch and characters to card where shown, using dimensional tape for bunny.

9. Add rhinestones as shown. I dotted the "i" in Christmas with a small one as well.


Supplies
Sizzix Card, Regal Stand-Ups
Cardstock, Blue, Cream (Alcohol Ink Friendly - e.g. Curious Metallics, Cryogen White)
Patterned Paper: DCWV Christmas & Winter 180 Stack
ECD Double Sided Adhesive
ECD 642 Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter
ECD 914 Outdoor Edges
Paper Smooches Christmas Words OCD 087

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Sizzix and Stephanie Barnard Tree Triplits Card


I love Sizzix dies and Stephanie Barnard's stamps and dies... what could be better than using these beautiful Christmas Trees triplits dies created by Stephanie for Sizzix to create a fun flip card?

Making the Card

1. Cut the base card from green cardstock using the Regal Flip-its main die. Fold. If you need help folding the Flip-its card, check out the video (if it doesn't come up when you click the link, enter "flip it" in the video search area; it should be the first video Introducing Sizzix Framelits as Flip-its for Cardmaking).

2. Cut the light green patterned paper using the decorator pieces in the Regal Flip-its set, as well as one Regal label for the inside. Cut the red cardstock with the same Regal label die for the front. Cut the frame (Regal Flip-its set) from light green cardstock. Cut the smaller inside from light green patterned paper. Layer (red/lightgreen patterned/light green frame) then adhere the labels and frames both outside and inside as shown.


3. Cut 3 or 4 copies of Joyful and Holiday Cheer from green and red cardstock respectively. Glue them together in matching stacks to form thick words (you may want to skip the dots on the "i"s - they are a bit difficult).

4. Cut trees and stars in the colors shown using Christmas Trees triplits dies. Adhere as shown.

5. Adhere the words as shown - be sure to leave a little space above Joyful for the star. Optional: use Wink of Stella glitter brush pen on the star above Joyful and coat with Glossy Accents before adhering to card.

The word die cuts look delicate but are fairly easy to stack to make thick dimensional elements for a great look. Hint: use a glue that gives you a some open time to wiggle them in place before they dry. I use Studio Multi-Medium Matte applied with a small brush.

Supplies

Monday, January 5, 2015

SVG Cuts Wreath Shaped Card


This card was made with the SVG Cuts Silent Night wreath card files. Below I explain how I changed them slightly to fit a 5x5 envelope plus used the interior file for the decorator paper on the front. Once the initial changes are made, it is surprisingly easy to create multiple copies at the same time.

The Silent Night set also includes a beautiful 3D church, gift bag, ornament, and 3D light bulb. Although they look complicated, the sets are actually very easy to assemble. SVG Cuts offers free assembly videos with clear instructions, usually found at the bottom of each set's page.

Making the Card

1. I used Cricut Design Space and my Cricut Explore to cut the designs but you could easily use Cricut Craft Room with older Cricut machines, or Sure Cuts a Lot or other SVG compatible electronic cutting software with other machines. I followed the instructions at cricut.com for importing SVG files (you can click on help to see the list of videos; the one you want is titled "Cricut Design Space: Uploading Vector Images"). Upload the files: card_base_back.svg, card_base_front.svg, interior.svg, and wreath.svg.

2. Open files: card_base_back.svg and card_base_front.svg. Ungroup the card_base_front from the cut/dashed line. Change the cut line to a score line (Layers menu, click scissors and then choose score tool). Drag the card_base_back to the card_base_front so that the tab is covered and the score line is now the center of the card (you may want to move the score line off then move it back after welding). You may have to arrange the card pieces so the back is on top in order to line them up. Weld the two parts together. Move the score line to the center of the card and group. Use the Edit menu to change the height to 4.86 and width to 9.56 (they may be a tiny bit off but should be close). Cut kraft cardstock. Fold in center, aligning the wreath outlines. Note: the inside of the card was face up on the mat when cut.

3. Open the interior file. Edit the size to height 4.6 and width 4.5; you may check the size against the card file if you didn't get the sizes above, just turn off the eye on the card (or delete it) before cutting. Cut the patterned paper. Adhere to front of card. It should leave a nice kraft outline as shown.

4. Open the wealth file. Edit the size to height 4.19 and width 8.65. Change the cut lines of the leaves to score lines as you did the center line of the card. Cut light green cardstock. Using a blending tool, ink the edges with Bundled Sage Distress Ink. Slightly curve the holly leaf edges. You may use your fingers or something thin like the handle of a small paint brush. Adhere one wreath to the card as shown. Adhere the other wreath on top, offsetting them a bit. Adhere the extra leaves as shown.

5. Tie a bow using red and gold ribbon (I cut them the same length then tied them both as one). Glue half pearls as shown. I usually use Glossy Accents as glue for these; it holds really well.

Optional: You may cut the envelop for the card from paper, just check the size against the card for proper sizing - make the envelope center a bit bigger so the card will slide in easily. Remember it will be a bit bulky with the leaves, bow, and half pearls. I have a die that cuts 5x5 sized envelopes so I didn't use the file.

Notes: I actually keep all the card parts in one file; I turn off the eye icons for items I'm not cutting. This way I only have to open one file for each card project.

Supplies

  • SVG Cuts Set, Silent Night
  • Cardstock, Kraft, Light Green
  • Patterned Paper or Cardstock (I used Recollections Warm Wishes with Treatments)
  • Distress Ink, Bundled Sage
  • Ink Blending Tool
  • Ribbon, Red, Gold
  • Half Pearls, Red

Friday, January 2, 2015

Evergreen Tree Pivot Card


You wouldn't know it from looking at the front, but this is a gate fold card featuring the Evergreen Pivot Card dies (which are often used on the front of the card). This allows the trees to be a little more of a surprise when the card is opened. I used Shimmer Sheetz and Silk Microfine Glitter to give the card a lot of sparkle and shine!


Making the Card

1. Cut 5 1/2 x 12 inches from both the striped paper and cream cardstock. Adhere them back-to-back. Gatefold so first fold is about 4 1/8 inches from the left and the second fold is about 3 7/8 inches from the right (the last flap will be shorter to fit inside easily).


2. From the back, cut using the Evergreen Pivot Card die so the large tree is on the back of the shortest panel, aligning the die with the fold as usual, just from the back. Fold trees in as shown.

3. Cut turquoise cardstock 3 7/8 x 5 1/2 inches and a strip 3/8 x 5 1/2 inches. Glue the strip along the inside left side as shown. Emboss the other piece using Sprig Embossing Folder  Sand raised areas. Lightly ink randomly with Mowed Lawn using blending tool. Adhere to front panel as shown.

4. Cut 5 copies of Merry Christmas from black cardstock, glue each word together to form a thick stack, lining them up carefully. Cut one copy of Merry Christmas from Gold Metallic Shimmer Sheetz using the Metal Adaptor Plate. Glue to the top of the stacks.

5. Stick one side of Double Sided Adhesive to white cardstock, enough for all the lights, ornaments, gift bow, and sprigs (maybe 4x5 inches). Peel off the backing and sprinkle with Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter polish with finger. Die cut 2 sprigs from Candle die set, 5 or 6 strings of lights (from Holiday House set), present bow, and a set of ornaments. Color with alcohol inks as desired.

6. Cut Holly Border from Green Metalic Shimmer Sheetz using metal adapter plate. Adhere along edge as shown. Adhere sprigs and Merry Christmas as shown. Add Red Glitter Dots as shown.

7. Cut trees from Green Metallic Shimmer Sheetz. Decorate as shown. Cut present base from Red Metallic Shimmer Sheetz. Adhere bow. Cut stars from Gold Shimmer Sheetz. Assemble as shown using dimensional tape for some of the ornaments and stars (the large tree has a double star – small star adhered to large star using dimensional tape).


Supplies

Elizabeth Craft Designs

Other Supplies
  • Cardstock: Cream, Turquoise (12x12 Sheets, White Core), Black, White
  • Paper Pad with Treatments: My Mind’s Eye, Be Merry, Glittered Striped Cream/Turquoise
  • Sandpaper
  • Distress Ink: Mowed Lawn
  • Ink Blending Tool, Foam
  • Alcohol Inks (e.g. Copics)
  • Liquid Adhesive/Glue