Floral embellished Spellbinder Design

I recently have been going crazy using my various Spellbinders dies using only several colors of papers, several dies and just a couple of sticker embellishments.  Here is one of the first ones I did. 

I started by doing a lot of die-cutting.  Using Nestabilities Labels Ten (starting with the next to the largest) I die-cut antique gold paper from The Paper Company. Then using the next die down I cut some metallic white paper (also from The Paper Company). Next I die-cut the two corner designs from the Shapeabilities Pendant Renaissance Hearts set from some more antique gold paper.  Next came one of the Shapeabilities Fancy Tags from pastel green paper as well as two sets of leaves from the Shapeabilities Assorted Leaves set.  The assembly went fast from there.  I started with a metallic pastel orange card from The Paper Cut and ran a 1/2" wide strip of antique gold paper horizontally across the card.  Then came the gold medallion overlaid with the white medallion.  I added the two corner pieces on either end of the gold medallion and embellished each with just a single ruby red faux gem from Stampendous.   The pastel green label came next and was attached at an angle across the white medallion, with one set of leaves on each side.  The final touch was the addition of two glittered vellum daisy stickers from Jolee's Boutique/E. K. Success.



Home made window card.

Window cards usually come with either a rectangular or round opening ... but with Spellbinders you can make the window almost any shape you want.  I decided to experiment and came up with this card.
The first step was to die cut the window in the card blank and the overlay to insure that they matched in size and location.  To do this it helps to do the die cutting from the back and actually draw in some reference lines.

The second step was to create the insert.  I did this by making a smaller card in a complimentary color which will serve as both the window opening background and the text insert.  For the window opening I created a design using rub-on green flourishes from Heidi Grace/Fiskars and some 3D glittered flowers and a rub-on text from K & Company/E. K. Success.  It is critical that the design is visible when the card is closed but yet adds interest when opened.

The final card is (I think) beautiful and goes to show that windows can come in all shapes and sizes.

4th of July (part 3)

The American flag figures in many of my 4th of July cards (see my Face Book album for OWH) but one image I also love is the Statue of Liberty.  Here are my last three cards for the 4th using the Statue of Liberty as the theme.

The first uses a layered paper sticker from Jolee's Boutique/E.K. Success with a few glittered fireworks from Mrs. Grossman's.  The stickers are mounted on a simple light blue card with a deckle edged white panel.  The text is computer generated and printed on an Avery clear address label.

The next card was made using a photograph sticker from Pebbles Inc. on a simple strip of white paper mounted on dark blue card.  Again the text is computer generated and printed on an Avery clear address label.

The final card uses another photograph sticker from Pebbles, Inc.  This time I added texted paper from one of the military K&Company/E.K. Success for the background edged with a double line of blue from the Mrs. Grossman's Design Line series.  Again the text is computer generated and printed on an Avery clear address label.  This card uses a legal size white card for the background to mimic the panoramic photograph of the Statue of liberty framed on a sunset.

4th of July (part 2)

My favorite image and card: the bald eagle.  This card is so easy and yet packs such an impact that many people have asked for all the details.

The card itself is a standard A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") white card.  The blue inset is cut  using either the Spellbinders deckle edge rectangle die or a deckle edge Fiskar scissors.  For my card I used the Spellbinder die and embossed the edges of the panel to add additional detail.  The eagle is a paper sticker from Jolee's Boutique/E. K. Success (yes all the work is done for you).  The fireworks are glittered stickers from Mrs. Grossman's.  The text was computer generated on the computer and printed on a clear Avery address label.

4th of July (part 1)

With this years 4th of July I wanted to honor some true american icons and as an architect I decided to start with buildings. I wanted to use the Mrs. Grossman's Laser cut stickers from years past but could not find them, so instead I used a sticker package from Jolee's Boutique/E.K. Success that had the buildings I wanted.

The first building: the Lincold Memorial. The background is some left over paper from one of the military packs from K&Company/E.K. Success with a flag theme. The tag uses ivory and gold paper die cut and embossed with the Small Labels Spellbinders dies.

The second building: the Capitol. For the background I used a simple white card and some metallic foiled paper from Sandylion to create a banner of flags and stars. The tag is cut from some light blue paper from DCVW using the deckle edge Spellbinders dies.

The last building: the White House. Again I used left over paper from one of the military packs from K&Company/E.K. Success, this time with a texted and star theme.

To complete the last two cards I added some glittered fireworks from Mrs. Grossman's and in all cases the text is computer generated and printed on clear Avery address labels.

Breaking the mold.

Periodically I try something totally different in style and color just to try and break the mold. Here are two of my latest experiments.



The first is a kid's birthday card. The colors for the background were selected based on the 3D jewelled butterfly stickers from "Sandylion". The multi colored text is a sticker from "Stickoroni/Hallmark". The color scheme was totally different for me, as were the style of stickers.

The second card is also meant to be a birthday card but could be used as an invitation for any outdoor event. The inspiration for the card was the 3D glittered flowers stickers from "Sandylion" and the rub-on retro circle patterns from "American Traditional Designs". To continue with the retro feel I used a background paper from "Basic Grey" which I edged in red ink. To finish the look I used the "Martha Stewart/E.K. Success" rose leaf punch and made some leaves to scatter around the flowers and tie everything together. To add depth to the card I used thin raised adhesive dots on some of the leaves and overlaid them over some of the flowers. Again the color scheme and the style of stickers were totally different for me.

Something different!

This image of the "tree of life" from Anna Griffin has long been a favorite of mine and in the past I used the brass stencil to emboss paper using my Cuttlebug. This time I decided to use some Dreamweaver Embossing paste and the results were better than I expected.

I started by taping the brass stencil down to a piece of chocolate brown paper from Die Cut with a View and then using a spatula spreading a thin layer of the metallic gold embossing paste over the stencil. After femoving the stencil and letting the paste dry I trimmed the paper and edged it with a black ink pad. I mounted the stencilled panel to gold vellum from The Paper Company, trimmed that and mounted the panels on a square white card. The final touch is a die-cut banner from the Cricut Indie Art cartridge on ivory paper, colored with pencils and to which I added a gold sticker text from Starform.

The textured image adds a different look to the card and the embossing paste really enhances the fine details.

Seasonal Bookmarks

A few years ago one of the magazine challenges was to create bookmarks with a uniting theme. This was a simple and fun challenge and one that would be perfec for kids. At the time I chose the four seasons as my theme and created the following two sets of bookmarks.

The first set was made using four shades of metallic paper from the Paper Company and four foiled sticker seals from Fosslers. The metallic stripe is from Mrs. Grossman's, as are the alphabet letters.

The second set was made using solid color papers from Die Cut with a View for the background and paint chips for for the various contrasting blocks. The alphabet letters are from Provo Crafts and the images are all Laser cut stickers fom Mrs. Gossman's.

Borrowed images!

Over the years I've collected quite a few images on various themes and periodically I dig them out to simple but nostalgic looking cards. These two are free clip-art from Dover Press that were colored photocopied. To make these cards I matched the mating to the image and then used gold sticker text colored black using a large Sharpie marker.

Tole Flower Card

I recently received some "DufexTole" die-cut metallic paper roses. At first the metallic glossy finish turned me off but the more I studied them the more I became challenged at how I could use these foiled pieces of paper. I finally decided that the best way to deal with the glossy finish was to emphazise it rather than to ignore it.

To do this I started by using a metallic aloe green paper from "The Paper Company" for the card itself. I then used a multi-finish gold vinyl sticker frame from "Starform" on a scrap piece of texted paper from "K & Company/E.K. Success". Actually the paper was the backing from one of their sticker packs and these usually have a glossy finish as well. I trimmed the backing paper 1/8" larger than the frame sticker and then adhered the panel to the card. After assembling the multi-layered rose together using raised adhesive dots, I attached it to the lower portion of the frame leaving room for future text. The final touch was a silk bow from "Anna Griffin".

Quick and Easy Kids Birthday Cards!

Over the weekend I needed to catch up on my personal cards and make birthday cards for our neighbor's kids who will be seven on June 16th. Because they're twins I always try to make similar cards but gender appropriate and this year I opted for a princess and pirate theme.

The background for both was cut using the Sizzix Parchment die and then edged in appropriate colors. For the princess card I used Jolee's Boutique/E.K. Success glittered stickers for the images and a gold text from Stampendous. For the pirate card I used Sticko/E.K. Success foiled stickers for the images and a gold text from Stampendous which I colored black using a Sharpie marker. The glittered/foiled present are 3D stickers from Jolee's Boutique/E.K. Success.

More cards waiting for text!

Here are two more cards I made using all K&Company/E. K. Success products from various lines that than can be used for any occasion once I decide on the text.

The first card uses a dark background paper edged with gold lines from Starform. The frame is an embossed die-cut backed with an off-white damask scrap piece of paper. The bouquet is a combination of a couple of 3D glittered flowers and leaves.

The second card uses scripted polka dotted paper edged with ink as a background. The copper metal edged tag is from one of the newest lines. Again the bouquet is a combination of a couple of 3D glittered flowers and leaves.