Friday, October 28, 2016

Halloween Pumpkin Card with a Glittered Background


Recently Els Van de Burgt (Elizabeth Craft Designs) featured a technique for a glittered background in her Friday YouTube video. I wanted to try it with Halloween colors and feature a pumpkin on the front. I thought about glittering the pumpkin but then decided to give the card some contrast by coloring it with my Copic markers. Since the pumpkin also comes with an outline, you could easily make this a glittered pumpkin with the technique from the Halloween tag card I made a couple years ago.

Making the Card

1. Cut black cardstock 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches; fold in half to form a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base.

2. Follow the instructions in the video to create the background. See the supply list for the Silk Microfine Glitter colors I used.


3. Die cut pumpkin base, leaf, stem, and vine from alcohol marker friendly white cardstock. Color each piece. I used the Copic markers listed in supplies. Shape using ball stylus on back of pumpkin, stem, and leaf. Flip leaf and use stylus from middle to stem.

4. Cut a strip of vellum 1 5/8 by about 7 inches. Temporarily place across glittered background such that there is extra hanging off both sides. Note approximately where you want the greeting and pumpkin (I suggest putting a small pencil mark under where the middle of the pumpkin will be and also just outside both sides).


5. Emboss the greeting with gold embossing powder. (Note: I carefully cut my greeting into three lines. If you don't want to do this, you will need to mask the first word.) You can leave it like this or add a layer of glitter, as I did. You will have to line up the stamp perfectly (I used a stamp placement tool) and emoboss with a sticky powder; once melted, it acts like glue. Add Light Gold Silk Microfine Glitter and polish with finger.

6. Adhere strip across card by wrapping around back: put a little adhesive under where pumpkin will go, attach one side then the other on the back. Adhere to card base.

7. Adhere pumpkin, leaf, and stem with dimensional tape. Glue on vine.


Supplies

ECD Supplies
Other Supplies
  • Cardstock: Black, Alcohol Marker Friendly White
  • Alcohol Markers: Copic Y17, YR16, YR18, YG03, YG17, YG67, G29
  • Vellum
  • Embossing Powder: Gold, Sticky (Optional) e.g. Ranger
  • VersaMark or Embossing Ink
  • Dimensional Tape
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Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Paper Smooches Color of the Season Card


I just love the colors of Fall. The trees look so beautiful at this time of year. I wanted the focus of the card to be on the colorful leaves so I made the background and tree the same color, just giving the tree a little dimension by stacking die cuts.

Making the Card

1. Cut kraft cardstock 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches; fold in half to form a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base.

2. Die cut 3 trees from kraft cardstock. Adhere these together to form a thick stack. Adhere to card base as shown.

3. Die cut a set of leaves from the following colors of cardstock: green, yellow, yellow/orange, orange, red. Ink edges with various colors of Distress Ink using an ink blending tool.

4. Shape each leaf over foam pad using ball stylus. Use pointy end of leaf tool or die pick to draw a line down the middle of each leaf.

5. Stamp sentiment in black (e.g. VersaFine Onyx Black). Adhere leaves to tree, a few at the base of the tree, and in a swirly pattern as shown.


Supplies
  • Paper Smooches Die: Fall Tree
  • Paper Smooches Stamps: Fall Sampler
  • Distress Inks: Walnut Stain, Aged Mahogany, Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, Fossilized Amber, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint
  • VersaFine Onyx Black Ink
  • Ink Blending Tool
  • Foam Pad (or Rubber Mouse Pad)
  • Ball Stylus, Die Pick or Leaf Tool
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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Colorfull Fall Leaf Grateful Card


These Paper Smooches stamp leaf outlines work beautifully with Imagine Crafts' Memento Luxe Inks. Create this colorful Fall background, perfect for Thanksgiving or as just a note to a loved one.

Making the Card

1. Cut red cardstock 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches; fold in half to form a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch cardbase. Cut brown cardstock 4 x 5 1/4 inches. Cut white cardstock 3 7/8 x 5 1/8 inches.

2, Die cut "Grateful" from red cardstock, one leaf (Leaves 2 dies) each from yellow, green and orange cardstock, and all three leaves from brown cardstock. Set aside for now.


3. Watch the following video for stamping:


4. Adhere "Grateful" and leaves as shown.



Supplies

  • Memento Luxe Inks: Pear Tart, Olive Grove, Pistachio, Peanut Brittle, Dandelion, Morocco, Love Letter, Rhubarb Stalk, Rich Cocoa
  • Paper Smooches Dies: Grateful, Leaves 2
  • Paper Smooches Stamps: Fall Sampler
  • Cardstock: White, Brown, Red, Yellow, Green, Orange

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Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Paper Smooches Fall Blessings Watercolor Card


I used the colors of Fall leaves for my watercolor background. The added veins (or branches) in gold are reminiscent of trees. I used the Paper Smooches new Leaf Frame die to inlay the pieces, while stacking copies from the Blessings die to pop up the word.

Making the Card

1. Cut white cardstock 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches; fold in half for a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base. Cut brown cardstock 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 inches. Adhere to card base.

2. Cut watercolor paper 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 (this is 1/4 inch larger than the final version, leaving 1/8 inch around for tape - if you need more room for tape, adjust paper size accordingly). Tape to craft mat or other surface.

3. Place Leaf Frame face down in the area it will be cut (mine is offset towards the bottom right corner). Pencil a line outside where you would like the watercolor to go - leaving about 1/8 inch or so room; you will need to erase the line but it will be difficult, if not impossible, to do so if you watercolor over it. Put the die aside.


4. Add water to the area you would like to watercolor. Work in layers - starting light, letting the paper dry some, add more color, dry more, brighter color. Finally add some FineTec mica in Inka-Gold with a medium brush; this may not show much. Dry completely then use a fine tipped brush to add FineTec mica Arabic-Gold: make the lines look like leaf veins or branches. Optional: Splatter with brown watercolor and Arabic-Gold, bang brush against your finger with some paint on the brush - but not too wet. I recommend trying on scrap paper first.

5. Once watercolor has fully dried, die cut using Leaf Frame being careful not to lose any pieces. Adhere outside frame to card base as shown, careful to center in brown layer. Die cut brown paper with Leaf Frame. Adhere brown Leaf Frame inside watercolored outside frame. Adhere leaf pieces.

6. Die cut "Blessings" in center of watercolored inside frame piece (you may want to use a little temporary tape to hold the die in place as you die cut). Be sure to keep all the pieces. Adhere big piece with Blessings cut out of it to the card as shown. Temporarily piece in the word Blessings (do not adhere). Adhere small inside pieces (l, e, and g).


7. Die cut 4 or 5 copies of "Blessings" from brown cardstock. Layer these on top of one another to form a thick stack. Hint: to glue the dot on the i stack, first stick it to some temporary tape. Adhere the watercolored version to the top of the stack. Adhere in Blessings place on card.

8. Take the small piece where the "to you and yours" will go and use water and paper towel to blot off some of the color. Dry. Stamp "to you and yours" in small piece as shown with Timber Brown StazOn ink. Adhere as shown.


I made the following quick card with the leftover frame from the above card and a test run scrap, from which I cut another "Blessings" sentiment. I also added a few enamel dots.


Supplies
  • Paper Smooches Dies: Blessings, Leaf Frame
  • Paper Smooches Stamps: Fall Sampler
  • Watercolor Paper: Arches Rough
  • Painter's Tape
  • Watercolor Paint: Winsor & Newton, FineTec Mica
  • Cardstock: Brown
  • StazOn Ink: Timber Brown
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Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Very Batty Halloween Card


When I saw the new Circle Background die from ECD, I thought of making a moon background with lots of bats flying in front, easy to do thanks to Karen's Bats Stencil. Midnight the Bat is featured wishing you "Spooky Halloween Greetings." (Didn't know bats could talk, did ya?)

Making the Card

1. Cut black cardstock 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches; fold in half to form a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card base.

2. Cut a piece of black cardstock (or paper) about 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 (it will be trimmed later). Adhere clear double sided adhesive. This is the base for the background. Using Circle Background die, cut purple spiderweb patterned cardstock. Adhere frame to adhesive (purple side up - not in adhesive). Using Circle Background die, cut yellow spiderweb patterned cardstock. Leave in die - carefully remove frame. Line up purple frame inside die, flip and stick yellow pieces in place. You may have to manually piece some in. Note: if you can't find this exact cardstock, just use purple and yellow plain cardstock. You could keep the yellow frame and purple circle/other pieces for another card.

3. Using the Bats stencil, stencil bats with Black Soot Distress Ink over the background (you will need to do one side then a few more on the other since the stencil isn't quite large enough to cover the whole background in landscape). Once dry, trim excess backing if necessary. Adhere background to card base.


4. Die cut Midnight the Bat: body - Silver Gray Soft Finish Cardstock, shadow - black cardstock, eyes - White Soft Finish Cardstock. Ink edges of bat's body with Black Soot Distress Ink. Add small amount of double sided adhesive to purple side of cardstock (same cardstock as step 2). Die cut bow tie. Peel off liner and dip into Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter; polish with finger. Optional: use Copic V06 to color over glitter. Assemble bat as shown on packaging.

5. Cut White Soft Finish Cardstock 5 1/16 x 2 inches. Cut with stitched edge Speech Bubble (pointing to left). Stencil bats as shown - I used a light layer of both Dusty Concord and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks to get it to match the purple. Either mask Halloween greeting stamp or cut apart the words (carefully!); stamp as shown with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink. Adhere to card as shown with dimensional tape.

6. Adhere bat to card using dimensional tape. Adhere enamel dots as shown.


Supplies

ECD Supplies
Other Supplies
  • Patterned Cardstock: Recollections Halloween 118665
  • Cardstock: Black
  • Enamel Dots: Black, Purple, Plum
  • Optional: Copic Marker V06
  • Distress Ink: Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves, Black Soot
  • VersaFine: Onyx Black
  • Dimensional Tape
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Friday, October 7, 2016

Echo Park/Imagine Crafts Blog Hop - Summer Card


I'm taking a little break from the Fall cards for this blog hop with Echo Park and Imagine Crafts. Actually we're still hovering around 80 degrees F here in North Carolina! (I'm not complaining!) These summer themed Echo Park papers are from Lori Whitlock; she created a fun 12x12 pack called I Love Sunshine. A full list of products is listed under Supplies, further in the post.

The Hop

Be sure to comment along the way for a chance to win some holiday prizes (more information on the Echo Park Paper and Imagine Crafts sites).

Echo Park Paper
Katharina Frei 
Jana Eubank
Mary Prasad   <- You are here!
Terre Fry
Kimberly Crawford
Alison Heikkila

Jennifer Vanderbeek
Wendy Sue Anderson

Roni Johnson
Nadine Carlier

Anya Lunchenko

Mark Melnick
Neva Cole
Becki Adams

Monica Edwards
Jowilna Nolte
Imagine Crafts


Making the Card

1. Cut light blue cardstock 7 x 10 inches; fold in half to form a 5 x 7 inch card base.

2. Cut blue cardstock 4 5/8 x 6 inches. Cut striped cardstock 4 1/2 x 5 7/8 inches. Adhere together. Adhere to card base.

3. Stamp Glasses background on white cardstock (about 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches) using Camellia VersaColor Ink. Add Ganache StazOn Studio Glaze to some of the lenses as shown, as well as to the glasses sticker. Let dry fully.

4. Cut blue cardstock 4 3/4 x 5 3/8 inches. Trim Glasses background to 4 5/8 x 5 1/4 inches. Adhere to blue piece. Adhere to card where shown.

5. Cut out sunny scene panel (sun, cloud, ocean, umbrella, and flip flops) from page. Cut the panel in two pieces, just under sun so that the rest will fit in the Polaroid frame sticker Catching Rays. Adhere the umbrella/flip flops part of panel behind frame. Adhere sun/cloud to card where shown using dimensional tape. Adhere frame with scene using dimensional tape.

6. Adhere sunglasses with dimensional tape where shown. Use irRESISTible Pico Embellishers as shown - on flowers at the corners of the glasses, in the top right corner of the card, and on the top right corner of the frame with scene. Adhere drink sticker as shown.


Supplies
  • Ink: VersaColor - 101 Camellia
  • Paper: Echo Park - I Love Sunshine #ILS86016
  • Background Stamp: Echo Park Glasses #EPSTAMP 51
  • StazOn Studio Glaze: Ganache
  • irRESISTible Pico Embellishers: Dandelion, Neon Electric Blue, Angel Pink
  • Cardstock: White, Light Blue, Blue
  • Dimensional Tape
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Next on the hop is Terre Fry!

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Paper Smooches Guest Designer - Halloween Card


I was chosen to be the Paper Smooches guest designer for October! Woo-hoo! This is my first project. I used the new Leaf Frame Die to make a crooked window (haunted hauses don't have your straight ordinary windows) looking out onto the full moon and creepy tree (Fall Tree Die) scene. The sentiment is from the new Fall Sampler stamps.

Making the Card

1. Cut black cardstock 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches; fold in half to form a 4/1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base.

2. Cut Tangerine Gingham Linen patterned paper 4 x 5 1/4 inches. Stamp web, spider, and "happy halloween" sentiment. You may want to heat set or let it dry for a while if you are using VersaFine - it takes a while to dry. Once dry, draw a line connecting the spider to the web using a black pen (e.g. Copic Multiliner).

3. Die cut black and dark gray cardstock with Leaf Frame. Use dark gray for inside of frame and black for the frame edge. Adhere at an angle to Tangerine patterned paper (step 2) as shown. Don't worry if part of the leaf hole is in the card area, the moon will cover it. Leave the overhang for now.

4. Die cut or punch 1 1/2 inch circle from yellow/orange cardstock. Stamp bat where shown (near one edge). Glue to window as shown.

5. Die cut Fall Tree from black cardstock. Line up in window and mark with pencil where it hits the edges; trim (you don't have to trim the left side as it will get trimmed with the other stuff). Adhere.

6. From the back side, cut along the edge to trim overhanging stuff. Adhere to card base. Add sequins where shown.


Supplies
  • Paper Smooches Dies: Leaf Frame, Fall Tree
  • Paper Smooches Stamps: Fall SamplerHalloweenies
  • 1 1/2" Circle Die or Circle Punch
  • Cardstock: Black, Dark Gray, Yellow/Orange
  • Patterned Paper: Doodlebug Design Tangerine Gingham Linen 5430
  • VersaFine Onyx Black Ink
  • Black Pen (e.g. Copic Multiliner)
  • Sequins: Doodlebug Designs - Tangerine, Bumblebee
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Sunday, October 2, 2016

Using Fireworks to Paint Images


Here's a Halloween card full of sparkle (and maybe a wee bit of magic!). I used Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz on the background paper with the potion bottles to give it a subtle shine. Rather than coloring the images with pencils or markers, I painted them using Fireworks! The result looks incredible in person - like molten metals.

Making the Card

1. Cut black cardstock 7 x 10 inches. Fold in half to form a 5 x 7 inch card base.

2. Cut black cardstock 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 inches. Cut orange striped patterned paper (Doodlebug Design 6x6 Paper Pad Boos & Brews) 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches. Stamp spider with VersaFine Onyx Black and draw line from edge to spider with black pen. Adhere to black cardstock.

3. Find potion bottle page in Doodlebug Design 6x6 Paper Pad Boos & Brews. Cut to 4 3/4 x 6 inches. Watch the following video.


4. Use different levels of dimensional tape to adhere the apothecary table, bottles, candelabra, and sentiment by doubling up on the apothecary, gluing the back bottles directly to the background, and using a single layer on everything else.


5. To make the bow, just go back and forth in a circular pattern then staple in the middle with a Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz). The spider charm will cover it. If you don't have one, use a strong dry adhesive such as Tear It Tape. Attach the "beware" charm using a jump ring. Adhere bow and charms to card as shown.


Supplies
  • Cardstock: White, Black
  • Fireworks: Tangelo, New Sprout, Grape Jelly, Cantaloupe, Dandelion, Rich Cocoa, Desert Sand, Tuxedo Black
  • Sheer Shimmer Spritz Sparkle
  • VersaFine Onyx Black Ink
  • StazOn Jet Black Ink
  • Vellum
  • Doodlebug Design 6x6 Paper Pad Boos & Brews 5407
  • Stamps & Dies: Taylored Expressions - Toil & Trouble, Apothecary Shelf
  • Black Pen (e.g. Copic Multiliner)
  • Seam Binding (e.g. Hug Snug)
  • Metal Embellishments (e.g. Tim Holtz)
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