Holiday Cards 2014 - The Formal Line

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to recommit myself to this blog!  So let's just go ahead and get started and show you what I got up to for this season!  This year, I did 3 main Holiday Collections, plus some other custom orders, a formal line, using primarily Anna Griffin products, a more informal line, using a combination of Anna's lines, G45, and some Authentique.  Of course, there are always bits and pieces of other things - this year I used a lot of Ranger Ink Stickles Glitter, and HOTP Dazzles - I love my Dazzles!

I'll post each line separately, for organization's sake!

Here is the formal line:

 

Mother's Day Cards

How I Made My Mother's Day Cards

Dedicated to my Mom, who emailed me to say she was still trying to figure out how I made these cards!  Plus, she has also commented that I rarely post here - and she is right - so here goes...

I have been having fun playing around with a set from Hot Off the Press (HOTP).  I have to admit, HTOP is definitely a favorite.  Great papers, beautiful die-cuts, and my obsession - Dazzles!  I just love the many ways to use them, including the technique I used for the cards I made for my Mom and Gram for Mother's Day this year. 

Here's the supply list (for both cards):

From HOTP (I got these in a set):

• Fresh Cut Paper Pack
• Beauty & Blossoms Dazzles
• Foil Fresh Cut Tags & Labels

Scor-Tape, double-sided adhesive (I use 6"x6" sheets)
White cardstock
Crystal Glitter Ritz, transparent micro-fine glitter - Warm Highlight
Marvy Le Plume II markers and blender pens
Silver line stickers (I got mine as part of a card topper set from Flower Soft)
Foam squares
Permanent adhesive dot roller
Powder Puff Chalking Ink (I used Maraschino Cherry)
Card stock base

[NOTE: There are other marker and blender sets that will work with this technique - test it out first to be sure it will blend correctly.]

Here's how I did it:

The card base is basic, pastel cardstock; I used an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, scored and folded in half.  The fronts were then covered with some of the paper with a more muted pattern.   Then I layered a coordinating piece of more vivid paper; on one card horizontally with only top and bottom borders, and on the other a square with a border all around.  A third layer is added in a contrasting color with muted pattern, as shown in each.  I inked the edges of each layering piece lightly with the chalking ink before adhering.  The silver line tape was added as outline, as shown, on each.

The embellishments were the fun part for me; since I learned this technique, I have been using it everywhere!  Start by selecting the Dazzle image you want to use (or stamp, because you can also use this technique with stamps) and cut a piece of white cardstock large enough to accommodate the image with some border all around.  I cut out around my images in the end, but you don't have to.

The Scor-Tape sheets are double-sided tape - really sticky!  Cut the same size piece out of the sheet and, removing one side of the tape, stick it to the white cardstock.  [NOTE:  It will be easier if you get all your supplies ready for this next part BEFORE you remove the second side of the protective covering on the tape!]  I use a tray and old make-up brush as tools.

OK, remove the second side of the tape and then remove the Dazzle sticker from its backer sheet and CAREFULLY lay it down on the sticky tape.  Confession: I completely ruined the first one of these I tried; both things are sticky and so it is nearly impossible to lift and re-position without stretching the Dazzle out of shape.  Just GO SLOW!  Use the backing sheets that you removed from the tape to lay over the image and press down firmly to completely adhere the sticker. (It won't stick to the backing!)

Now place the sticky cardboard with the Dazzle image in the tray and pour the Glitter Ritz micro-fine glitter all over it.  Using your finger, rub the glitter into the paper until it is completely covered evenly.  Tap off the extra, then brush off the image with the brush.  Set the tray aside (you can pour the leftover glitter back in the jar - you really don't use much for this technique!), then go at it with your finger again, with pressure this time - as you burnish it, you'll notice the shine come up even more and no glitter flakes off.

Now you get to color it in!  I have been playing around with various shading techniques; with very tiny bits of color, the blending brush can then be used to make great shading effects.  [NOTE:  Use a tapping motion to color/blend the image to minimize the damage to the marker tip, instead of a sweeping or coloring motion, which leads to the glitter shredding the marker tip.]  When done, I fussy-cut the images and using foam squares, layered the images onto the card, on top of a foiled tag (from the HOTP set).

Oh, yes!  As I said, you can also use this technique with regular stamps.  Stamp the image on the white card stock BEFORE you add the double-sided tape sheet over it, add the glitter, etc.  The marker and blender pens I use work just fine to color in the image without too much bleeding, but you should test out your markers first.

Of course, I didn't invent this technique - I learned it from a YouTube video.  You would be amazed how much you can learn from people's YouTubes!  Here's the one I learned from originally (if you are impatient, the relevant part starts at about 23:17):

Scrap Made Simple Video

Stacy at ScrapMadeSimple also has a great video with variations:

Silk Glitter and Velvet Sheets

If you like this stuff , search YouTube for "Glitter Ritz" and check out all the different things people have done!

Our Crafting Spaces

Participating in an online community on the topic of organization, I answered a post about organizing craft spaces.  It was fun to hear about how other people store all their crafting supplies!  It seems we all have learned to adapt things from office supply stores, our kitchens, garages, basements, etc. to make creative craft spaces!

I have been blessed with having a separate craft room in my house, and I took probably a year or more to finally get it all organized.  I confess,  I think I enjoyed organizing it as much as I like using it!  I spent hours going through thrift stores and searching through my kitchen for possible solutions.  One of the great finds were 2 scrapbooking stores who were (unfortunately) going out of business.  I got some of my best stuff - and at almost no cost. 

I had been searching and searching for the perfect storage solution for all my gel pens - this display unit (turned on its side so the pens stayed level) has been perfect.  The pens are even organized by type!

One of my thrift store finds: someone had taken small glass pieces (as spacers) and graduating size plates - and glued them together into this stand - I love it!  I added a small bowl on the top tier...  It sits right on my desk and holds things for my current project:

I use a file storage system for my stickers, complete with hanging files, folders sorted by topic and color, and tabs to find things easier:

I raided the kitchen to find old muffin tins and spice and jelly jars; they hold brads, buttons, flowers, gemstones, ribbons - you name it!

I think we all agree - it is easier and more fun to craft when we can easily find the things we want to use!  Share your organization and storage tips!

Now - go embellish something!

Another Flower Soft Challenge!

If you are into paper crafting, and have gotten involved in any online craft communities, you have probably run into creative challenges.  I have only just begun to explore that world myself, but one of my favorite product lines, Flower Soft, runs regular ones and I have enjoyed entering!  Here's my entry for their latest one:

This is using one of their card toppers and FS product (Spring mix).  You should check out their newest holiday/winter lines!                   Visit Flower Soft Website

Now - go embellish something!

Fall Cards

Well, around here, it can be difficult to pinpoint just what "season" it is!  Yesterday it got to 90 degrees - and we are in day 49 with no measurable rain. It certainly has been beautiful!

I've been going through my stash - finding lots of stuff I have never even used - and having fun making new projects in fall colors.  Here's one of my favorites - made from foiled paper, 3-D, die-cuts.

The side flourish and corners on the sentiment tag are Dazzles; I added gems to the centers of the two 3-D embellishments, both made of foiled papers.  The papers are from Hot Off the Press' Chocolate Pack.  I'm pretty sure the foiled paper embellishments are also HOTP.

Here's another one with products from the same line:

Since this picture, I have added a sentiment "Thinking of You" from Anna Griffith's adhesive-backed sentiments line.  It turns the card to be horizontal...  Such beautiful colors!

Now - go embellish something!

Changing Seasons

Wow!  August seemed to go by QUICKLY!  Here in Seattle, we finally had our "heat wave" - getting up into the 90's - which, for here, is quite high.  Unfortunately, my craft room has no windows that open and - well, have you ever tried to use a fan around glitter?  <smile>   I tried spending time in there the first morning, but after about 10 minutes it was unbearable.  By the second day, the room had reached over 105 degrees and I had to shut down all the electrics for fear of a meltdown!

So - when the heat dissipated and I was able to resume crafting - what did I do?  I got out all my fall/winter/holiday stuff!  I happened to read a discussion thread on scrapbook.com, asking how often we clean our craft rooms.  What a great question!  I realized I had not really cleaned mine well since I had finished re-organizing it at the beginning of the year, so I got to work on that first.  As I put stuff away, I realized how much of it I wouldn't be using as I moved into the new season.  So, just like I do my clothes, I rotated!

I put away all the spring and summer papers, all the flower stamps and die cuts, the supply of butterflies I like to use on almost everything <smile>.  It was great to free up room on my immediate desk space!  Cleaning everything well felt good - and I freed up more space by putting away some things that didn't really need to be in that room at all.

Then, I got out all my fall/winter/holiday stuff:  all the snowflake punches, stamp sets, die  cuts, glitter papers (have you tried that stuff where the glitter does NOT come off?  Great!).  Found all the paper pads and loose sheets and organized those...  Then I inventoried my stashes; wow! Did I have a lot of stuff left over from last year!  I found more than a dozen kits I had never even opened, including every kind of supply you can think of: brads, ribbon, stickers, stamps, papers, die-cuts, alphas, journalling tags, glitter, distressing ink, embossing powders...<big grin>

How totally like a Christmas morning!

It was almost hard to know where to start, but I got it organized and decided to play with the beautiful fall papers and layered die-cuts I found.  I'll post more pics soon, but here is the first card I made for fall:

This was from a papercrafts kit - it got me inspired to work with fall leaves and their beautiful colors!

SO, now September is here and the pace always seems to quicken...  I hope to spend more time in my craft room over the upcoming weeks - like many of you, I am working on my stock for an upcoming holiday bazaar - they always sneak up on me!

Now, go embellish something!

Core Cards Creative Frenzy!

OK, so here is blogging motivation #2 - this card-creating challenge from Core'dinations - maker of Color-Core Cardstock.  They are looking for new card designers and asking for 3 creations, submitted via blog.  Seems they need some folks to help get out the word about their products and the great things that can be done with them.

Here are my 3 creations:

I really like this embossed look - adds great texture!  Such a simple, fun card to make; I do a set of 4 in different colors and give them away as gifts!

This card uses ribbon, die-cuts, and Flower Soft to add great dimension and texture.

One of my favorites - uses die-cuts, ribbon, and flowers made with Flower Soft.  I like the stamping and the fun "bling" dots made with Liquid Pearls.

Although I didn't have time to get a video shot for this post, I'm sure my acting, directing, and teaching background would make shooting instructional videos a blast - what  great way to share my love of creating cards, along with great tips & tricks I've picked up over the years!

Who knows?  Perhaps I'll be asked to join their creative team and get the chance to empower many others to make their own cards!

OK, everyone - now go embellish something!
<smile>

Flower Soft

I Love "Painting" with Flower Soft!

OK, so Another Confession.  I have wanted to start this blog for some time now, but, you know how it is - LIFE gets in the way!  Recently, two opportunities arose which pushed me to Just Do It.

The first of those is a contest that is currently being run by the makers of Flower Soft.  (Check it out here...)  I got started with this product more than a year ago and have become somewhat obsessed.  It is a texture medium (in regular and ultra fine) that very much resembles shaved, colored Styrofoam - but it is really soft - and it comes in a wide range of colors, both solid and mixed.  I have been playing around with making my own color mixtures, which is REALLY fun!

Since I love to stamp, and usually do nature and vintage themes, I have loved creating all kinds of flower baskets, gardens, vases of flowers (they have a great technique for 3-D flowers - I'll get to that in another post).  They also carry a line of card toppers and other pre-printed pieces that can really be a blast.  Here's one of the 3-D window scenes I have done as a card:

I am going to have to upgrade my photo skills to better show the detail on these!  The butterfly on the sentiment is my own addition - I love butterflies and try to find ways to put them in most of the cards I make.  I also love their Hedgehog Toppers - here's a card I made with one of those:

Aren't these precious?  His nut brown fur doesn't show as well here, though...  It is fuzzy and touchable!  That's one of the great things I love about this product - it stays on.

Welcome to Auntie D's World of Papercrafting!

OK, so, actually, my name is Deborah.  Last year I volunteered in my nephew Russell's kindergarten class, and he calls me Aunt Deborah - but one of his classmates started calling me "Aunt D" - I thought Auntie was a little less formal...  So, here I am!

I've been crafting since I was a child - and I started scrapbooking quite a while ago, but in recent years I have loved making cards.  The smaller size makes for interesting compositional challenges; besides, cards you buy in the stores these days are boring.  I especially like texture and color - and playing around with the seemingly endless selection of papers, embellishments, media, and tools. 

In this space, I hope to share what I am doing and see what you are doing - swapping tips and tricks, pushing each other along when one of us is stuck, answering questions for each other... and anything else that inspires us to be creative.  As I always say: "There are no stupid questions" - so ask!  It isn't always easy to be a beginner at something; I hope to avoid jargon and do a good job of explaining things as we go along.

One of the wonderful things about the Internet is the vast amount of information and community that is available.  When it comes to crafting - wow!  Every company has a site (plus Facebook, Twitter, and blogs), there are 1000's of videos on YouTube alone, and hundreds - if not 1000's - of other people with their own blogs like this one.  It can be overwhelming!

I hope to clear through some of this vast world and share some of my Favorite Things:  products, tools, sites, videos, blogs, Pinterest Boards, Facebook pages - whatever.  I hope you will share your favorites as well.  If you are like me - you love learning about a new technique, seeing the latest products, and getting new perspectives on being creative .

Let's Go!

Oh!  And One More Thing...   Comment Comment Comment!  Each post is meant to be a conversation thread that can continue as long as there is interest.  So check out older posts too - and keep the creative conversation going!

OK.... now I have to go embellish something.....

~ Auntie D

This is the first card I made with my new Cricut Expressions 2!  (Only the branch is hand-die-cut.)