Merry Christmas Bookmark Card - 52 {C}CT Sept Embellishment Challenge

It's embellishment time over at 52 {C}CT and we'd like to see eyelets on your Christmas cards this week.  I have to admit I use eyelets so rarely these days - but I still have a fair few in the stash! I found my little craft hammer too, I still have it although I use my Crop-a-dile to set eyelets nowadays - for which I'm sure the neighbours are thankful! 

I knew I wanted to make a bookmark card, use my Fishtail Flag dies to make the bookmark and to have a pocket on the bottom of the card to hold the bookmark.  I set to work on the bookmark first and I had a mind to use some pretty patterned paper so I went rummaging through my pack of SU! Candlelight DSP.  I came across the gorgeously touchable flocked acetate sheet and wondered would I be able to cut it out with a Fishtail Flag die seeing as they are the thin metal dies?  As it turned out - no!  I used the metal adaptor plate as a shim but the die didn't cut the acetate at all, however, it did leave strong indented marks so I was easily able to cut out the shape with a craft knife and metal ruler.  I die cut a larger flag from Old Olive CS and used a jumbo eyelet to attach the acetate flag to the CS flag.    Then I threaded some Old Olive ribbon through the eyelet hole and tied some red satin ribbon around in a knot.  I decided not to embellish the bookmark any further and leave it just as it was.

So then onto the card and I realised I'd need a tall card to accommodate the bookmark so I made a DL sized card using Real Red CS.  I cut a Very Vanilla panel and randomly stamped a mistletoe spray all over it.  I used my new SU! Old Olive firm foam ink pad - yikes, the ink came out darker than I expected!  So I ended up stamping off once first before stamping each spray.  The fab thing about the new pads is that a light tapping is all that's needed to ink your stamp fully.  I added two jumbo eyelets to the top of the panel purely for decoration and attached it to the card front.  I thought the panel needed a little pizzazz so I added a few red domed glitter stickers.  For the pocket, I die cut a Top Note shape with a piece of CS plus a piece of Candlelight DSP.  I glued the paper to the CS, cut the shape in half and attached one half to the bottom of the card and trimmed off the excess from the sides.  I used thin foam tape to attach the pocket to the card, putting the tape at the bottom and sides only.  I stamped and die cut the sentiment flags, glued those to the pocket and then placed the bookmark inside the pocket.

This photo shows the inside, the bookmark and the envelope.  I kept things really simple by just stamping the Mistletoe wheel down the side of the front of the envelope.  For inside, I cut a vanilla panel, stamped a sentiment, added some patterned paper and some ribbon. The bookmark hasn't got a Christmassy motif on it so although it's attached to a Christmas card it can happily be used all year round.

I hope you'll join in with our embellishment challenge this week but I wonder just how deep will you have to dig in your stash to find those neglected eyelets?!  The rest of the DT have made some great cards so don't forget to check those out too.  I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs to see your cards!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Peaceful Wishes set, SU! Mistletoe wheel, Elzybells 'Merry Christmas', Hero Arts  'Wonderful Christmas' set
CS: SU! Real Red, Old Olive & Very Vanilla
Patterned paper:  SU! Candlelight DSP
Ink: SU! Old Olive & Real Red
Tools: MFT Fishtail Flag Stax dies, SU! Top Note die, Crop-a-dile
Embellishments & accessories: SU! jumbo eyelets, SU! Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Anita's Radiant Red satin ribbon, PaperMania red domed glitter stickers, 1mm foam tape

Bliss Butterfly Bookmark Card - June 2011 Card Group Project

We're getting together tomorrow afternoon for our June card group meeting and this is one of the cards I designed.  The Glitter Pot had a Spring Spectacular demo weekend and I went there on Saturday with my friend Jan.  We saw Lesley and Jean from card group there too.  Lesley pointed out a Hero Arts cling stamp set that she'd bought recently - Two Vine Scrolls.

She said she wasn't getting on with the set and if I liked the stamps I could have them.  When I saw the set I really liked it and immediately thought it would be perfect for bookmarks.  So I've used the set to make a bookmark card for us to make tomorrow at card group.  I started off with a Not Quite Navy A6 card blank and I stamped a background on the front in Not Quite navy ink.  I stamped the same background stamp in Old Olive ink on Old Olive CS and used the 'Brackets'  On the Edge die to cut out a pocket for the bookmark to slide into.  I fixed the pocket to the card by adding thin tape strips just at the bottom and sides of the olive piece.  I stamped the flower from the Bliss set three times, cut them out and popped them up over olive elements cut from the Swirls Scribbles die.  For the sentiment oval, I stamped the Bliss flourish as a background, stamped the wording, cut it out with an oval Nestie die and sponged the edges.

For the bookmark, I stamped the solid vine scroll image in Baja Breeze ink, trimmed it and stamped the Bliss flourish and flower in Broken China ink and the Bliss butterfly and bird in Peeled Paint.  I sponged the edges with Peeled Paint ink and matted it onto an Early Espresso layer, punched a hole, added an eyelet and Early Espresso ribbon.

Then I stamped part of the Bliss flourish on a white panel for the inside of the card and sponged the edges.  I then decorated the envelope front by stamping the outline vine scroll image and some butterflies.

I'm really happy how this turned out, I just hope the ladies at card group enjoy making it!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts Two Vine Scrolls cling set, Penny Black Delicate Pattern background stamp, SU! Bliss set, sentiment from SU! Yummy set
CS: SU! Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Early Espresso & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze & Early Espresso, Tim Holtz Peeled Paint & Broken China distress inks
Tools: Petite oval Nestabilities dies, Sizzix 'Brackets' On the Edge die, Sizziz 'Swirls Scribbles' Sizzlits die, Crop-A-Dile
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Early Espresso 1/8" taffeta ribbon, eyelet, 3d foam pads

Oval Flower Bookmark Card - WMSC34

When I saw the Waltzingmouse Stamps sketch WMSC34 this week I thought it would be fun to cut a slot in the card front and insert an oval bookmark.  Here's the sketch.

I started off with an A6 card made with SU! Not Quite Navy CS.  I cut two slits 3/4" apart as a slot for my bookmark to slide into.  For the bookmark I cut Petite Oval Nestie die shapes in Whisper White and Pacific Point CS and Blueberry Crisp patterned paper.  I used the WMS Say It With Style set, stamping the flowers and leaves in VersaMark on Pacific Point and Sahara Sand CS and heat embossing with white powder.  I also embossed the sentiment in white.

I put a contrasting piece of Blueberry Crisp paper on the bottom of the card.  I cut out the images and assembled them with glue dots.  I haven't popped anything up, I kept it flat so the oval will function well as a bookmark  To finish the card front, I added two Cuttlebug Vintage die cut shapes and silver nailheads to the flower centre and sentiment strip.

Then I decorated the envelope front and the inside of the card.  I love that patterned paper!  I used my Eyelet Lace border punch on the Pacific Point strip.  This card will be posted to a distant friend I keep in touch with solely by snail mail.

Supplies:

Stamps: WMS Say It With Style set

CS: SU! Not Quite Navy, Pacific Point, Sahara Sand & Whisper White

Patterned paper: SU! Blueberry Crisp Designer Series Paper pack

Ink: VersaMark, SU! Not Quite Navy

Tools: Petite Oval Nestabilities dies, Cuttlebug Vintage die, Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace border punch, Crop-A-Dile

Embellishments & accessories: white grosgrain ribbon, SU! Pewter Jumbo Eyelet, self adhesive silver nailheads

October 2009 Card Group Christmas Cards

These are the Christmas cards we will be making at my October card group meeting. Hmmm, you can tell I love snowflakes!

First up is a bookmark card - this is based on a card Joanne made at the August Stamper's Ten meeting. I was away so I couldn't make it there but I've made my own version - I couldn't use the same stamps as Joanne as I don't have the SU! set she used. My favourite My Cute Stamps clear 'Let it Snow!' set was used on this card, I adore the snowflakes in that set!

The card is a regular A6 size but 5 cms is trimmed off the front and then the back is perforated at 5 cms to form the tear off bookmark. I used a Fiskars Rotary Trimmer and a perforating blade. On the bookmark piece the snowflakes were stamped in VersaMark and then embossed with clear embossing powder. The bookmark topper was made using circle Nesties and the Crop-A-Dile easily punched the ribbon hole through the layers of CS. I've since added crystals to the snowflake centres and to the corners of the red square. This card will be sent to my friend Bev.



And here's the inside of the card:



Next up is a snowflakes window card. A circle Nestie was used to cut the window out of the front of the square card and for the blue circle inside the card. This card uses my newest snowflakes stamp - it's the Hero Arts Snowflakes Circle cling stamp - I LOVE it! The Bashful Blue snowflakes are punched and the Let it Snow is a Sizzix Sizzlits die cut.



Lastly is a clean and simple card with a tree shape made out of circles stamped with - surprise, surprise - snowflakes! I've CASEd a fab card I saw on Splitcoast Stampers made by Kristin Moore. Please click here to see her card - the page will open in a new window. I thought it would be a great card to mass produce for Christmas.

I've used a Nestability Labels Eight die for the patterned paper piece. I stamped all 6 stamps from the SU! Snow Flurries set in Always Artichoke ink and then punched the images out using the 3/4" circle punch. The star is popped up with a 3d foam pad.

Hope the ladies enjoy making them!



Supplies for bookmark card:
Stamps: My Cute Stamps 'Let it Snow!' set, sentiment by Penny Black, snowflakes on white panel inside card by Hero Arts
CS: SU! Real Red, Old Olive & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Daisy Bucket
Ink: VersaMark, SU! Real Red & Old Olive
Tools: Fiskars Rotary Trimmer and perforating blade, square & circle Nestabilities dies, SU! Ticket Corner punch, Crop-A-Dile
Embellishments: Clear EP, red grosgrain ribbon

Supplies for snowflakes window card:
Stamps: Hero Arts Snowflakes Circle cling stamp
CS: Craft Creations hemp textured square card, SU! Bashful Blue & Not Quite Navy
Ink: SU! Not Quite Navy
Tools: Circle Nestability die, Sizzix Sizzlits Phrase Let it Snow die, X Cut snowflake punch
Embellishments: Blue Offray ribbon

Supplies for Noel tree card:
Stamps: SU! Snow Flurries set, Noel by Hero Arts
CS: Craft Creations hemp textured A6 card, SU! Real Red
Patterned paper: SU! Wintergreen DSP pack
Ink: SU! Always Artichoke
Tools: Labels Eight Nestability die, SU! 3/4" circle punch, X Cut star punch
Embellishments: 3d foam pad

Glitter Pot Class Cards

Joanne ran two classes at the Glitter Pot on Saturday and I attended both. Joanne loves, and is excellent at, floral punch craft but I have to admit to not being quite so keen on the fiddly flower trimming and shaping. Joanne knows there is often grumbling from my side of the table during our SU! Stamper's Ten meetings when we're attempting floral punch craft! I really liked making these cards though - and there wasn't even any grumbling!

The first card we made was this Flower Pot Pocket Card. After I came home from the class, I added a stamped greeting to my insert card and blinged up my flower centres with some Swarovski crystals.

The flowers and leaves are all punched shapes and we used a DEET tool to add definition and veining and large ball embossing tools on molding mats to add shaping.

The CS piece for the pot measured approx. 21 x 10.5 cms and we scored at 8.5 cms, turned the CS around and scored again at 4 cms (for the pot rim). We used a scalloped border punch to give the rim a decorative edge - trust me it's there LOL! - I've just covered my rim with flowers! To get the pot shape, we trimmed 1.5 cms from both sides at an angle. Then the pot sides are glued together to form the pocket and the rim is glued down. Joanne actually embossed her pot with a Cuttlebug embossing folder which looked really nice but I forgot that step and had already glued my pot sides together when I realised! We had a 10 cm circle which we cut in half and the insert piece was glued between these two half circles and the flower/leaf clusters were glued onto the front half centre.

Edited to add: Joanne has put her flower pot card on her blog so click here to view it.




This pic shows the pot pocket and the insert separately.



The afternoon class had two cards but I'm a slow crafter, especially when I'm in a group, so I only finished one! It is this wonderful bookmark card.



To make the card we started with white CS measuring 25 cms and we scored at 10 cms to get the card fold and then used a perforating blade at 20 cms. The recipient can then tear off the bookmark from the card - what a great idea! Nestability circle dies, scored and folded in half, were used for the top of the bookmark. A hole was punched with a Crop-a-dile and ribbon threaded through.

We used a Hero Arts stamp (Flower & Leaf Branch) with a stamp positioner for the image placement. The leaves on the white CS panel were coloured with a Marvy marker pen and a wet paintbrush. On the white CS panel, we covered all the stamped flowers with three different sized punched and shaped flowers. White Opal Liquid Pearls were added to the centres. Three self adhesive pearls were added to the card front to finish.

What great cards, huge thanks to Joanne for a very enjoyable day!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts Flower & Leaf Branch, sentiment by Funstamps
CS: White CS, various Bazzill CS, patterned paper for the punched daisies on the flower pot card
Tools: DEET tool, embossing stylus, molding mat, various flower and leaf punches, scalloped border punch, corner detail punch, Nestie plain and scalloped circle dies, Crop-a-dile
Embellishments: Swarovski crystals, ribbon, liquid pearls