I (heart) U times two

Inspired by this weeks Card Positioning System sketch, I created 2 cards using the same materials and just a bit of a tweak. Here is where it began.

I uses my Cricut to cut the three bookplate letters and noticed immediately that the “inverse” image would make another great card. So I created two of them.

Here are measurements and instructions:

• Cut a 2-1/2″ strip off a 12×12″ patterned paper or cardstock. Lay the strip aside for another project.
• Cut the remaining rectangle into two 6×9-1/2″ rectangles. Fold each in half, placing the 6″ sides together.
• Using a 4-1/2″x6-1/2″ mat stack, choose a backing mat and cut the long side at 2-1/2″.
• Choose another piece from the mat stack and cut the letters in the Cricut, keeping all the pieces.

• To complete this card, use the larger piece from the mat, bordered on the top and bottom with S4-224 Snowflake Borderabilities Petite die template.
• Tie a bow through the open die cut border.
• Connect the three bookplate letters using brads and glue them to the mat.
• Add the mat to the card using dimensional adhesive.
• Round the corners of the top of the card.

• Trim around the cut-out so that all the borders are equal.
• Use the small mat, the bookplate remnants, the letter cut-outs  and a bow to finish this card.

Important Stuff
Papers La Paperie Yellow patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye), Linen Closet mat stack (Die Cuts with a View)
Embellishments Doodletype Cartridge (Cricut); Wizard, S4-224 Snowflake Borderabilities Petite (Spellbinders); Elements brown brads (American Crafts)
Adhesives Mini Glue Dots (Glue Dots), 3D Squares (Scrapbooking Adhesives by 3L)

Other Stuff Brown ribbon, PVA Glue

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Snowflake Coasters Tutorial

Christmas is on its way and many of us “creative-types” have been cutting, gluing, printing and wrapping for weeks in anticipation of the big season, focusing on red, green, red, green. With only a few variations.

Today, I thought outside the box for a gift that would endure beyond the season.

First, I wanted to focus on some other colors… I chose three rich, earthy colors from CutCardStock.com: Olive, Teal and Dark Purple. I added Classic Natural White to give it some punch. Second, I remembered a pack of paper coasters I recently bought at Michael’s for 90% off…yep, only $.10 a pack…I bought four of them. Here is the finished project.

Except for some drying time, this is a quick project. Here’s how:

• Gather your supplies (see list below)
  
• Sand the coasters
  
• Cut 8 pieces of Classic Natural White card stock 4×4″ and adhere to coasters.
  
• Trim excess paper by flipping the coaster over and trimming with a craft knife.
  
• Cut 8 pieces of the colored card stocks 3½x3½” {I cut 3 Olive, 3 Teal and 2 Dark Purple.}
• Punch corners of colored mats and adhere to the center.
  
• To smooth out the edges and corners, sand.
  
• Die cut/emboss a plethora of snowflakes from Classic Natural White {I used three or four flakes on each of the coasters.} and adhere them to the coasters.
• Add a nickel-size amount of Liquid Laminate onto the top of the coaster. Use a foam brush to spread the Laminate. To create a bit of texture, wipe horizontally and then vertically. Smooth, slow strokes will help reduce bubbles.
  
• Allow to dry. Apply another coat.
• When the coasters are completely dry, wrap and give to a loved one! 🙂

Here are all the coasters. The first one was taken before it was sealed with Liquid Laminate.  The second was taken after.

Important Stuff
Paper Neenah Classic Crest 80# Classic Natural White; Basis 80# Olive, Teal, Dark Purple (CutCardStock.com)
Die Cuts S4-224 Snowflake Borderabilities® Petite, S4-085 Snowflake Wonder, S4-222 Create a Flake One, Papercut snowflakes, Wizard (Spellbinders Paper Arts)
Adhesives Liquid Laminate (Beacon Adhesives)

Other Stuff Sandpaper, paper coasters and drinks, of course!!!

Gift Card Holder–Tutorial

‘Tis the Season…for giving!

Gift cards can be a wonderful way to treat a special someone to something they can choose. Make sure to add a personal touch by giving it in a lovely gift holder. This one reflects the classic colors of the season.

and the side view…

This may look complicated, but following the simple step-by-step instructions below, beginners and pros alike, can create this pretty little card.

First gather your favorite cardstocks–I love to use metallic, especially during the holidays. These Stardream colors, Mars, Emerald and Coral are all from CutCardStock.com. (Check them out for fantastic products, great prices and frequent sales)!–Then grab a trimmer, some adhesive, wintery die cuts/cutting system, ribbon, etc.

Instructions:

• Trim Coral Cardstock at 4½x9½”
• Score Coral rectangle to prepare it for “valley folds” at 2″, 4″, 6½” {To help me figure this out, I made a pattern from brown cardstock. Now I can tuck it away in my “patterns” folder to refer to later…}
  (To better see the score lines, click on the photo to enlarge)
  
  Turn over and score for “Mountain Folds” at 3 and 8¾”
  
  Fold along score lines as shown:
  
• Trim two mats from Emerald Cardstock: 2×3½ and 2½x3½ and punch the corners with a small radius punch
  
• Trim a strip of Emerald: 3/8×9″ and then cut in half to 4½” wide
• Cut/emboss S4-224 Snowflake Borderabilities® Petite die template from Emerald to get at least 3 snowflakes.
• Cut/emboss S4-224 Snowflake Borderabilities® Petite from Mars cardstock. Trim the border to 4½” long and 2½” wide. Keep the snowflakes and the scrap that came from the decorative edge.
• Adhere the trimmed border to the small flap at the end of the Coral strip.
  
• Flip the card over so that the large border is on the left and adhere the extra border piece near the fold on the right of the first panel.
  
• To make a pocket for the gift card, cut a slit in the fold so the gift card will slip into it, add super sticky tape (with thin width) near the fold below the card slit. Press the folds together.
• Embellish the card by adding the Emerald rectangles, strip and snowflakes along with red snowflakes.
  

Supplies
Papers Mars, Emerald, Coral Stardream Metallics (CutCardStock.com)
Tools S4-224 Snowflake Borderabilities® Petite, Wizard (Spellbinders Paper Arts), Guillotine Trimmer (Tonic), Corner Rounder Punch (EK Success)
Embellishments Organza ribbon (Michael’s), Teriffically Tacky Tape (Provo Craft)

Other Score tool, PVA glue,

Gift Card Holder (Caardvarks)

The challenge at Caardvarks right now is to create a gift or money card holder. I did some looking and found this fun “stand up” gift card holder. It’s pretty fun to make and surely, fun to receive.

Folded up and tied, the card looks like this…

“What’dja get?”

“What’dja get?”

Open it up and there seems to be a little gift card inside:

The paper I used is a gorgeous lot of shimmery papers from CutCardStock.com: Emerald (green), Mars (red) and Crystal (pale pink). In person, this is beautiful enough to hang on the tree. (Maybe I’ll get a small gift card for my daughter from Claires.)

Today, I’m just posting the art but by tomorrow I’ll add a tutorial that includes measurements for cutting and folding.

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UPDATE: Check out my Tutorial

Miss you SNOW much!

As the snow fell in Denver yesterday for the first time this season, I settled in to create a card. I had Thanksgiving in mind but the snow just wouldn’t get out of my head so here is what I created:

I wish you could see this in person…I used some beautiful metallics from CutCardStock.com: Cryogen White is a smooth cardstock in a creamy white with the most delicate shimmer. It was perfect for the snow-girl. The background, Lustre, is slightly textured and lusciously colored in metallic silver-gray.

The other part of the inspiration came from Card Positioning System’s sketch this week. The circle frames on the right reminded me of a snowman.

Instructions

• Using Classic Natural White, cut a card base to fit into a #10 envelope
• Using Curious Metallic Lustre, trim a mat to fit onto your card front. Adhere.
• Cut a rectangle of pink patterned paper. Tear it to suggest a snowy hill. Add it to the card. Add a bit of clear glitter glue to enhance the snowy feeling on the hill.
• Using Curious Metallic Cryogen White:
  Cut/emboss three graduated circles for the snow-girl
  Cut/emboss the boat from S4-261 Play Time (for snow-girl’s hat)
  Cut/emboss Labels Four (#5)
  Cut/emboss four snowflakes from the S4-224 Snowflake Borderabilities® Petite
• Leaving the Labels Four die cut in the die, airbrush using E04 Natural Lipstick Sketch Marker. Also airbrush the small snowflakes from the Borderabilities® Petite die template.
  
• Add stickers to the tag to spell out the sentiment.
  
• Bling up the hat using glitter glue on the embossed areas.
• Using a glitter pen, color over the pink on the small snowflakes.
• Assemble the card, using dimensional adhesive for the sentiment tag.
  

Important Stuff
Papers Curious Metallic Cryogen White—82#, Lustre—92#, Classic Natural White—80# cover (CutCardStock.com); Classic paper pad Pink paper (Crafty Secrets)
Die Cuts S4-116 Standard Circles, SM (#2, 3 when counting the center as 1),  S4-114 Standard Circles LG (#3),  S4-224 Snowflake Borderabilities® Petite, S4-190 Labels Four (#5), S4-261 Play Time (boat) (Spellbinders Paper Arts)
Colorants Sketch E04 Natural Lipstick marker, Atyou Spica Clear glitter pen, Airbrush System (Copic)
Embellishments Cotton Candy Stickles (Ranger)

Other Stuff Clear Glitter Glue, PVA Glue, Dimensional Adhesives, letter stickers

Holiday Planner

A few months ago, I was at one of my favorite local stores with concentric circles in red…OK… Target. I found some discounted notebooks that I wanted to alter. The first one I changed up, I turned into a holiday planner.

I took the book apart and embellished the front cover with metallic green paper and holiday images.

The planner is divided into three parts which I labeled: gifts and thanks, cards, and notes. Each tab has a small pocket on the bottom of the page that I covered with the red patterned paper.

Each of these dividers came with a small tab. I covered them with die cut circles on both sides of the page, then I added rub-ons for the titles.  One little trick I used was spraying the red cardstock with Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels (Iridescent Gold) so it shimmered like the yellow and green metallic papers.

In between the dividers are lined pages with plenty of room for journaling gifts to give, thanks to send, cards to make and send and anything else you need to know for the holiday plans.

I’ll be putting this up onto my Etsy shop: Frolicasions. So go check it out!

Important Stuff
Papers ColorMates red cardstock (WorldWin)
Die cuts/Tools S4-222 Create a Flake One (retired), S4-141 Petite Scalloped Ovals SM, S4-116 Standard Circles SM, S4-191 Dahlia, Wizard (Spellbinders Paper Arts)
Stamps/Inks Curls letter stamps (JustRite Stampers), Memento Rhubarb dye ink (Tsukineko)
Embellishments Letter rub-ons (), Stickles glitter glue (Ranger), Iridescent Gold glitter mist (Tattered Angels)
Adhesive Glue Dots, 3D Squares (Scrapbook Adhesive by 3L)

Other Stuff PVA Glue, Green and yellow metallic papers, White seed beads, Ribbons

Christmas Wishes Card

Another card challenge for me, yep another sketch. This time by Card Positioning System (affectionately known as CPS). You’ll see the sketch on the left side.

I have been creating up in my craft room while hearing happy voices of Hannah and her cousin downstairs playing computer games. I love Thanksgiving break…anyway…Here is my card, Christmas Wishes:

This was so much fun to make. I love seeing the combination of red and light blue for Christmas decorations. So I used these colors with my Spellbinders™ Holiday Cheer (S4-225) die template, cutting and embossing it. Then I delved into my supply of Flower Soft to create the “fur” on the stocking and hat.

I added the S4-224 Snowflake Border Petite for the top and bottom. The pink vellum mat was cut from S5-014 Deckled Mega Rectangles and the whole thing was inked up with Antique Linen Distress Ink which gave it a fun antique look.

Here is a close look at the side, showing the elements of dimension. Love that Flower Soft and 3-D Adhesive.

Important Stuff: Spellbinders™ Wizard™, S4-224 Snowflake Border Petite , S4-225 Holiday Cheer, S5-014 Deckled Mega Rectangles SM; Ivory Flower Soft, Christmas Wishes envelope cut out (Katy Sue Designs); Pastel Pink Vellum (WorldWin); Red and blue cardstock (Core’dinations); Antique Linen Distress Ink (Ranger); 3-D Adhesive Squares (SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVE by 3L)

Other Stuff: PVA Glue, Make-up sponge for inking

Thanks for stopping by for a visit. Hope you’ve had a relaxing and “full” weekend.

Cheers, Eli