Triple Layer Card

Hiya, Crafters! Thanks for visiting. I had meant to post this yesterday, but my day got away from me. I took the car in to get all new tires. I had driven over a few nails about 5 years ago and the patch finally gave. What was supposed to be a quick tire replacement turned into an all day ordeal with unforeseen expenses with loose ball joints, tire rods near to snapping, and needing control arms to take care of these things. Ugh! I did start working on my husband's birthday card, and I plan to finish it today - hopefully. But that will be posted after he becomes an old man. Needless to say I had ice cream last night. Anywho! Today's make is a triple layer card. You can find the tutorial I used here. It's a cool looking card and I'm excited to show you how to make one.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• Cardstock cut to 4 1/4 x 11" scored at 5 1/2" for your base.
• White cardstock and the rest of the base color. I'll give measurements later.
• Low tack tape
• Permanent tape
• Paper trimmer
• Stamping tools

Let's get started! With the left over paper from your colored base, you will need to cut out these pieces: 3 1/4 x 4 1/2" and 2 1/4 x 3 1/2". The base is your third colored layer.
With your white cardstock you will need to cut out these pieces: 4 x 5 1/4", 3 x 4 1/4", and 2 x 3 1/4".  Take all your white pieces and layer them on top of each other with the low tack tape so it can stay in place.

You'll want to stamp your main greeting now so you have something to go around.

Then take your stamps and stamp over the edges. Again, you'll want paper under your project because you will stamp off of the card. You'll have something that looks like this.

Don't worry about the white gaps that appear on the cardstock as it will be covered. Now you'll want to separate your layers. Next you can place the first layer on the card stock and then cover it with the colored piece of cardstock. All you need to do is line up the image of the next layer with the other layer that you've already glued onto your base.

Yay! Another amazing looking card that looks complicated, perhaps, yet simple to make. You rock! Have fun with this one! 

Thanks for popping over, Crafters! I'll be seeing you soon!

 

Braided Card

Hiya, Crafters! Thanks for visiting. Today I am going to show you how to make a braided,, or lattice edge, card. I've seen these pop up on Pinterest and they have caught my eye. And rightly so! There are two ways to get the braid on the edge. There's a template that you can download and print out. This template requires that you attach it to your card and cut through it. Or there is also a tutorial that I followed which gives you measurements, but you'll need a diagonal scoring plate. This is a fun technique!

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• cardstock cut to your preferred size for the base of your card. I used 6 1/2 x 10"
• Scoring board and diagonal plate with scoring tool
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Glue
• Paper trimmer
• Any stamps or machines needed to finish the card

Let's get started! Take your card base and fold it in half. With the crease against the edge of your scoreboard measure out the lines. First, let me explain that every other line will be of varied lengths every 3/8" along the way. Start at 1/8". You will score these marks 3/4" long and 1/2" long. I'm using the simply score board from stampin' up which only goes as high as an eighth of an inch. So on these boards count every three marks will be a score line. To get this desiered effect, you will want to start with the 3/4" length marks first. To ready your board, start at 1/8" and count out 6 marks and place another marker. Do this all along the edge of your cards. With your ruler butted against the 3/4" mark on the side, score from each marker down to the ruler.

Next, move your marker back three slots but remember to count the slot it was already in as one. Then move your ruler up to 1/2" mark on the side and score from your markers down to your rulers. I certainly did not have enough markers and used toothpicks instead. You'll have something that will look like this. Hopefully with not as many Oops as me, but it doesn't effect it much.

Now you will need your scissors and make slits along the score lines. You'll want to cut out the first "chevron" and set it aside, do not discard.

Here is where you fold back every other chevron. You can opt to either tuck the points into the other point, or leave it out. I tucked them in.

Now we need that bit you cut out and glue it into the gap - mine is at the bottom.

 This is where I noticed I had an extra bit up at the top. It was useless to the design and I didn't care the look of it, so I snipped it off. Depending on the size of your card base, you may or may not have one.

All that's left is to fold along your original score line in the middle and decorate! Here's what mine looks like plain.

The dies I used for this card are Spellbinders Ironworks Accents. To be honest, these are the first dies I got with my cuttlebug. I have an awesome family so they were all gifts. These dies intimidated me! I didn't know what to do with them because all the accents and flourishes were so skinny, I wasn't sure how to glue them down. Silly me. I'm glad I went back to them. They are really pretty. Do you have anything like that in your craft space? I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for popping over, Crafters! See ya soon!

Deepest Sympathy

Hiya, Crafters! Thanks for visiting. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was pretty low-key. My husband played Destiny Beta all weekend and I was able to write some more in my book. For today's make I had to make a sympathy card. In my opinion, these are the hardest to make. I wanted to do a northern lights technique that I've had success with in the past. It's a lot of fun if you don't mind having inky fingers for a day or two. You can follow a tutorial here, but it's really simple. Here is my take. I didn't want to go too over the top with embellishments. I am not sure if I am satisfied with this yet.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• Cardstock cut to 6 1/2 x 10"
• Outside and inside layer 4 3/4 x 6 1/4"
• Die cut in a shape you like.
• Ink ranging from light to dark
• StazOn Ink
• Sponges
• White gel pen
• Stamping and die cutting tools

Let's get started. Cut out your shape and put some plain paper on your desk because it could bleed through. Start with your lightest color first, in my case yellow and smudge a few shapes and squiggles randomly over your shape. 

Take your next darker color color and smudge next to the yellow. I used green, this time. I normally don't because blue and yellow make green. 

Next I took my blue and smudges along the other colors as well. I also lightly brushed over the yellow to get a different shade of green.

After that I took my purple and colored the remaining white that was left over. I also lightly brushed it over the yellow to get orange and blue for another shade of purple.

Looks a little crazy,. huh? This is where you need your black ink, not stazon. I normally use Night of Navy, but it just wasn't giving me the effect I was looking for. So with a sponge and black ink, I shimmied it over the area randomly. I did darker smudges over the blue.

Then just brush the black ink against the edges to make it pop more.

Now you need to ink up a stamp with StazOn. You can use anything you find appropriate. I had a long stamp of wild flowers. I don't have an acrylic block big enough so I had to improvise using a clear stamp case.

Lastly, I used my gel pen to simulate stars. You can put in as many or as little as you like.

I have to say this was a little frustrating because I was using Night of Navy and it just wasn't working right. I did three goes first before I came up with this one. Ben will have the final say. I might just do something all together.

I also do this type in stripes. Here's what that looks like using night of navy:

Here are the colors that I used lightest to darkest:

• Daffodil Delight
• Lucky Limeade
• Tempting Turquoise
• Rich Razzleberry
• Basic Black

Thanks for stopping by. Crafters. I'll see ya soon!

Building Block Card

Hiya, Crafters! Thanks for coming by. I hope everyone is doing well today. Sorry about the lack of a post for yesterday. I took the day off. ;) Today's card is for a 15 month old girl who is having surgery in Iowa City in September to re-plant her uterus higher on her bladder and I am sending her a get well card. This is a building block cad, not to be confused with the stair step card. I used this tutorial.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• Cardstock cut to 5 1/2 x 10 1/2" for the base of your card.
• Eight (8) pieces of coordinating cardstock cut to 7/8 x 1 3/8"
• Two (2) pieces of coordinating cardstock cut to 2 x 5/2"
• A piece of coordinating cardstock cut to 3 3/8 x 5 3/8"
• Paper trimmer
• Scoring tool
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Bone Folder
• Stamping and die cutting tools

Let's get started! Take your base cardstock and  score at 3 1/2" and 7".

You will mountain/valley fold your score lines. Next, we need to mark off on the back of the card where you are going to cut your lines for the blocks. Keep the card folded at the valley fold. Get out your ruler and your pencil. Mine has a bottle opener in it which came in handy when I was making tie blankets. Draw as straight as a line that you can starting at 3/8", 1 3/8", 1 5/8", 2 5/8", 2 7/8", 3 7/8", 4 1/8", and 5 1/8".

Once again I flipped my trimmer upside down so I could see what I was doing. With the card still folded I lined up my marks in the groove of my trimming mat. From the 1 1/2" mark on my cutting arm I cut down and through both sides of the cardstock.

This is what it will look like flattened when you're done cutting your 1 1/2" marks. I fluffed mine so you could see it better. (You'll also see that I had skipped a mark, but when I saw that I went back and marked it off then cut through it.)

Go back to your score board and flatten it out. You want to score along the 1" blocks so that it will fold. Those score marks line up at 5 1/2" and 8 1/2"

My camera decided to go wonky and not write any of the next few pictures to the memory card, but basically you just push the skinny cut lines to the back and the pop the blocks forward. Fold it flat and take your bone folder and burnish each side.
The blocks are 1 x 1 1/2", for layering, easier folding, you will want to cut them to 7/8" x 1 3/8". If you wish to layer another piece of cardstock on the far right panel, the measurements would be 1 7/8 x 5 3/8". For the blocks any 3 or 4 letter word will work. I used a 1" circle punch here.
Here's what my card looks like completed.

I hope you like my card. If you want to send Ella May, the little girl who is having the surgery on 09/18/2014, please leave a comment on how I can send you the address.

Thanks for stopping by, Crafters! See you on Monday!

Love Beyond Words

Hiya, Crafters! Thanks for visiting. I really enjoy making cards and I'm glad that I am able to share them and how I make them with you. Today I made a simple card using a new photo-polymer stamp set. It's beautifully magical, but I'm only using parts of the stamps! 

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• Cardstock cut to 6 1/2 x 10" scored at 5".
• Plain white cardstock cut to 4 3/4 x 6 1/4"
• Two (2) pieces in coordinating cardstock to 1 1/4 x 3 1/4"
• Two (2) pieces of white cardstock to 1 1/8 x 3 1/8"
• Circle punches or dies
• Sponges
• Paper trimmer
• Post-it Note or washi tape
• Stamping and die cutting tools

Let's get started! Stamp your greeting and cut it out with your circle die or punch. Take your sponge and coordinating ink and sponge along all of the edges of your white cardstock. On the smaller pieces, I lightly sponged for a contrast in the ink. 

Since this is a new stamp set, I stamped a few times on scrap paper to see how it stamps. I noticed that the greeting doesn't grab all the ink even though I pressed evenly down. What I did was rubbed an eraser over the stamp and then inked it again. It helped the stamp grab the ink better.

Next I took a flourish stamp included in my set. I inked it up and stamped off first onto my scrap paper and then along the edges. I only used a part of the stamp. On the 4 3/4 x 6 1/4" I used the same stamp but a different portion. I also did not stamp the ink off first.

After that I need to get those cute tendrils curling out from under the circle layers. I grabbed a piece of scrap paper, cut the same sized circle out, and adhere it to where I want the circle on the card with a post it note. You can use washi tape too, as long as it's low tack tape you'll be fine. Then I stamped over it. Since I used a humongous stamp, I only inked the part I needed.

Once you've done up it's just a matter of lining up your rectangles and circles how you like them and adhering them to your cardstock. I really like this layout. There's something about the rectangles under the circle that appeals to me. 

Thanks for popping over, Crafters! Don't forget to subscribe if you don't want to miss a post. Have a great day. See ya soon!

Fun with Squares Thank You Card

Hiya, Crafters! I hope today finds everyone in good spirits. Last night my husband Ben admitted that he loves Puppy Chow. (Not the dog kind.) I made him just a little more Midwestern. Puppy chow is a snack where you toss rice chex in melted chocolate and peanut butter, then toss again in powder sugar. I picked some up the other day and it brought me right back to my childhood on a summer day. Today's make is a simple thank you card using squares and circles. It's super easy, and the layout is real simple. I was inspired by a British magazine called Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 123. They come with free stamps. Or the stamps come with a free magazine. :) You can find them (maybe not this issue) at JoAnn Fabrics.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• Cardstock cut to 6 1/2 x 10" for the base scored at 5"
• Designer paper cut to 6 1/2 x 5"
• Paper trimmer
• Scrap paper!
• Square punch or dies
• Circle die
• Stamping and die cutting tools.

Let's get started! Take your card base and fold in half. I don't know if you can tell, but I rounded one corner. (I use my envelope punch board to do that!) Round the same corner with your designer paper. Stick it on the card base. I took a piece of black scrap paper and trimmed it down to 6 1/4 x 1 3/4" for my filmstrip. If you have a filmstrip die you are a lucky duck! I don't have one so I placed the square die on the paper and cut it out as many times as I could.

Using a square smaller, I cut out two squares each of red, green, blue, orange, and yellow. After that came my large circle. I just used the second largest circle die I had as it fit better to the card. Then I arranged the squares in a circle and left a gap for the modern label punch. Then I punched out two stars and put them in the squares. That's it. That's all I did.

Hope you lie today's make! Let me know what you think in the comments below. I love hearing from you. Thanks for stopping by, Crafters! See ya soon!

Pop Up Slider Card

Hiya, Crafters! How is everyone today? I hope you had a great weekend. Our was nice and relaxing and we enjoyed our last cool weekend in July before the heat wave that's hitting us now. My husband and I even took Oscar for a couple of walks. He really, really enjoys them. For today I made a simple pop up slider card. You can view the video tutorial here. It's a fun, quick card. 

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• Two (2) pieces of cardstock cut to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" for the base of your card. You will want one of those pieces to be white.
• Cardstock cut to 3 1/4 x 4 3/4" - you'll probably want that to be white too.
• Paper trimmer
• Scoring tool
• 3D foam (optional)
• Stamping tools

Let's get started! Take your colored piece of cardstock that is going to be the front of your card and your paper trimmer. Again, I flipped mine upside down so I could see what I was doing. Line your cardstock at the 3 1/2" line. Move your cutting blade to the 3/4" mark and cut to 4 3/4". Flip your card over and repeat.

Next turn your card 90 degrees and line the cardstock at the 4 3/4" line and then you want to connect the previous cut lines. Only do this once.

It will look something like this:

After that we need to score that panel. Slide the cardstock with the 5 1/2" side at top (or bottom depending on the way you're doing this) and score between the lines at 1 1/4", 3", and 4 3/4". 

Then you will mountain fold those score lines with the bottom flap down, middle up, and top down again.

Now it's time to attach the panel to the back of your top piece of cardstock. Just run some tape, or sticky strip, along the bottom part that isn't attached to the card. Line your panel up to the bottom edge and adhere. You should have some overhang on each side.

I then took a 1" circle punch and punched half of the top out. I took the other 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" panel and lined it up with the orange one. (I flipped the middle panel out so it would get out of the way) I just lined them up and punched another half circle.

After that I ran tape along the two sides and the bottom so I could adhere the back panel to the card. 

Then I stood both pieces up to make sure they were even and just stuck them together. I needed both my hands for that so I wasn't able to photograph it for you. But here is what it will look like when you've completed that.

Next I stamped the top of the card. I like the subtle look of similar colored ink on paper, but there is just enough contrast.

I pulled the top up and stamped my greeting on each side.

Here you can decide if you want the bit that pops to be on a dimensional. Only apply it to the lower half so that the card opens properly. Then take a bit of ribbon, fold it in half, and staple it to the piece of card that shows through your half circle to be pulled.

This is what your end result will look like closed and opened.

How cute is that? Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Don't forget to subscribe! Thanks for stopping by, Crafters! See ya soon!