'One Layout, Four Cards' Glitter Pot Class Cards

Sadly, Saturday was my last day running classes at the Glitter Pot.  I ran an all day 'One Layout, Four Cards' class.  What a great day, we managed to enjoy ourselves and not get TOO sad!

This is the layout I used - I based it on a birthday card I received from Carol, a friend from card group.  Carol said it's a familiar design she uses in her patchwork and quilting and told me the recommended sizing is a background square of 5", an 'on the point' square forming the diamond measuring 3 1/2" and the foreground square measures 3" .  Based on those measurements I made each card base 5 1/4" square.  

This first card uses a Marianne Design 'Typewriter' stamps and dies set.  I don't know why but I found this typewriter irresistible and I love that there's a slot in the die cut so you can feed the sheet of paper through the slot - a sweet little design feature!  I kept things fairly simple with just three colours, some inked edges and silver Candi Dot embellishments.  I popped up the plain blue square and the typewriter.  This makes a good masculine card I think.

Usually for my layout classes I try to make rectangular and square cards using the same sketch to show how layouts can be versatile.  This layout definitely works best with squares so I kept to all square cards this time.  I still wanted to change things up a little though and I decided to make one of the cards on the class an easel card.  I dry embossed the pink panel with an embossing folder and scuffed the embossing with sandpaper before gluing it to the blue square panel.  The stamp I used (Woodware 'Happy Tiles') isn't suitable for a square card if used 'as is' as it's a long rectangular stamp.  I stamped the image onto watercolour paper using VersaFine Onyx Black ink, sprinkled on clear embossing powder and heat embossed the image.  I then coloured and cut out just three elements from the stamped image and arranged them on the foreground square.  You've got to love versatility in crafty items!  I coloured the images with Distress Inks and a water brush and popped each element up.  The sentiment panel is popped up and acts as the stop for the easel.  I cut out two black squares with a punch and cut each square in half to form the corner accents.  Pretty pink punched butterflies completed the card. 

This layout is great for using with patterned paper and I loved this cheery Doodlebug design when I saw it with the flowers on one side and the yellow dotty pattern on the reverse.  I used the flowery side for the diamond shape and die cut three flowers using the yellow dotty side.  I kept the points on the diamond shape but softened the other two squares by rounding each corner with a punch.  I inked the edge of each petal with Wild Honey Distress Ink, shaped each flower and stacked them together.  I popped up the green square, die cut a white flourish, glued it in place and added the flower.  I punched several red circles, stacked them together, glued them on top of a larger green circle and added Glossy Accents to the top red circle.  I punched two 1/4" red circles to go on opposite sides of the green square and added a gem to each circle.  

For the last card I decided to change things up again and I made an ivory  gatefold card plus I reversed the order of the layout elements, opting for a diamond, square and another diamond. I've gone for a fave combo of bright pink, green and black.  I love the bold, vibrant, contempo vibe going on here - a very sassy little number!  I stacked three different sized die cut flowers together and glued that in place over the leaves.  Before popping up the green square I added the three strips of narrow ribbon.  I cut a sliver of green CS, threaded that through the button holes (I can very, very, rarely leave buttons naked!) and adhered the button to the flower centre with a glue dot.  I finished off the card with a sprinkling of gems.

Hmmmm, it's not just the layout that all four cards have in common - look at all those dots!  I honestly didn't realise I'd chosen dots for every card until I got out the supplies and started creating - so a 'Going Dotty With Ruth' day as well as a 'One Layout, Four Cards' class!  I know some of my class regulars would say 'no change there then!'

Supplies for typewriter card:
Stamps: Marianne Designs 'Typewriter' stamps & dies combo set
CS: Glitter Pot thick & medium white CS, black CS, Bazzill Bling 'Black Tie', silver mirri CS
Patterned paper: Bo Bunny 'Ocean' Double Dot
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black & London Fog
Tools: Marianne Designs 'Typewriter' die & stamps combo set, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: Craftwork Cards Regal Silver Candi Dots, 3D foam tape & pads 

Supplies for easel card:
Stamps: Woodware 'Happy Tiles'
CS: Glitter Pot thick white CS, black CS, Tumbled Glass & Worn Lipstick Tim Holtz Distressed CS
Patterned paper: Simple Stories Color Vibe 'Peacock'
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers & Worn Lipstick Distress Inks
Tools: X Cut Foliage Pattern embossing folder, Woodware Regular 'Butterfly 2' punch, Woodware Big 'Square' punch, water brush
Embellishments & accessories: ultrafine sandpaper, 3D foam tape 

Supplies for yellow flower card:
Stamps: none
CS: Glitter Pot thick & medium white CS, Bazzill Dotted Swiss 'Phoenix' & 'Irish Eyes'
Patterned paper: Doodlebug Sunkissed 'Pretty Petunias'
Ink: Tim Holtz Wild Honey Distress Ink
Tools: Spellbinders Shapeabilities 'Flower Play' die set, MFT Die-Namics 'Fancy Flourish' die, circle punches, X Cut corner rounder punch, sponge dauber, flower shaper & moulding mat
Embellishments & accessories: Ranger Glossy Accents, PaperMania silver stones, 3D foam tape

Supplies for pink flower gatefold card:
Stamps: none
CS: Glitter Pot Natural Ivory CS, black CS, Bazzill 'Limeade', Core'dinations 'Amazon'
Patterned paper: Core'dinations Core Basics 'Dark Pink Large Dot'
Ink: none
Tools: Spellbinders Shapeabilities 'Flower Play' die set, flower shaper & moulding mat
Embellishments & accessories: narrow black satin ribbon, black button, PaperMania silver stones, 3D foam tape, glue dot 

Three Shaped Cards For Glitter Pot Class

I love using dies to make shaped card bases and on Thursday afternoon I ran a 'Better Shape Up' shaped cards class at the Glitter Pot.  I have a class next week but I'm very sad and extremely disappointed that I won't be running any more classes there as the retail shop is closing down and the Glitter Pot will become an online store only.  Ahh well, it was wonderful while it lasted!

You can use any shaped dies to create shaped cards - you make a regular single fold card base, keep that closed and die cut the fancy shape ensuring that the spine of the card is below the cutting edge of the die.   Because you are cutting through two layers of CS to create a card base you can only use a medium weight CS and if the die has an intricate design you may need to add a shim or two when die cutting.  Another way to make shaped card bases is to cut two separate shapes, score a line on the shape that will go on the back to create a spine and glue the front shape to the spine.

This first card uses the gorgeous Sue Wilson 'Ornate Pierced Designs' die set from the Noble Collection.  I've written a tutorial on how to create this shaped card, here's the LINK TO THE TUTORIAL if you'd like to view it.  I decorated my card with die cut flowers, a sentiment and two punched butterflies.  I die cut two lots of words and offset the white ones over the top of the purple ones in order to get a shadow effect.  A sprinkling of gems completed the card.

The next card was also made using the 'Ornate Pierced Designs' die set.  I covered the entire card front with the pretty blue paper, glued the yellow mat layer down and popped up the pierced blue label.  I stamped the butterfly onto the yellow paper in blue ink, fussy cut it, popped the wings up and applied Star Dust Stickles all over the wings.  I added some white and yellow pearls to finish. 

The last card is a flower shaped card made using the X Cut 'Bloom' Nesting Die set and some pretty Echo Park papers.  I adhered the green paper flower flat to the front of the card base but with the three other flower layers I snipped between each petal and shaped each flower so that the card had some dimension.  I punched a few white 1/2" circles plus a green paper circle, glued the stack together and applied Glossy Accents over the top followed by a gem.  I also applied gems to the aqua flower petals.  

Supplies for 'Best Wishes card:
Stamps: None
CS: Glitter Pot Medium White CS, Bazzill 'Peacock', 'Pansy' & 'Parakeet'
Patterned paper: Core'dinations Core Basics 'Purple Swirl'
Ink: None
Tools: Sue Wilson Creative Expressions 'Ornate Pierced Designs' die set from the 'Noble' collection, Spellbinders 'Flower Play' die set, Spellbinders D-Lites 'Sentiments 1' die set, Crafts Too 7" x 5" 'Lattice' embossing folder, Woodware Large 'Butterfly 2' punch
Embellishments & accessories: white satin stripe organza ribbon, Marianne Designs Light Blue & Blue adhesive gems, PaperMania 3mm Silver adhesive stones, 3D foam tape

Supplies for butterfly card:
Stamps: Penny Black 'Social Butterfly' set
CS: Glitter Pot Medium White CS
Patterned paper: Echo Park - I Love Sunshine 'Splish Splash' & 'Yellow/Blue'
Ink: Memento Nautical Blue
Tools: Sue Wilson Creative Expressions 'Ornate Pierced Designs' die set from the 'Noble' collection
Embellishments & accessories: Star Dust Stickles, white & yellow pearls, 3D foam tape 

Supplies for flower shaped card:
Stamps: None
CS: Glitter Pot Medium White CS
Patterned paper: Echo Park - I Love Sunshine '3" x 4" Journaling Cards', 'Sun Beams' & 'Sunny Days'
Ink: None
Tools: X Cut 'Bloom' Nesting Dies set, flower shaping tool & moulding mat
Embellishments & accessories: Ranger Glossy Accents, PaperMania 5mm Silver adhesive stones

Glitter Pot Distress Ink Class Cards

Last Saturday I ran an all day Distress Inks class at the Glitter Pot.  Originally, I was going to be using the new Cosmic Shimmer Colour Cloud blending inks but due to a delay with their release the class became all about Distress Inks instead.

This first card combines some simple stencilling and stamping using Black Soot ink.  I used a Smoothie ink blending sponge to apply the ink through the 'Gradient' stencil onto white CS, I cut the panel to size, stamped the 'Daisy Striplet' image, cut that panel to size and mounted both panels onto a mat layer of black CS.   I punched five white daisies, inked the edges of the petals with Spun Sugar ink and stacked the layers together.  Using sponge daubers I applied some Mustard Seed, Wild Honey and Brushed Corduroy inks to a piece of white CS and I then punched out a 1/2" circle for the daisy centre.  I popped up the daisy onto a square of black CS to finish.

There's more stencilling on this card, but this time I applied two colours of ink (Wild Honey and Picked Raspberry) through the 'Scribbles' stencil with Smoothie ink blending sponges.  I just love how easy it is to stencil with the Smoothie egg sponges!  I think 'Scribbles' as a name for this stencil really doesn't do it justice - it looks just like an art deco rose design to me!  I cut the stencilled panel apart, stamped the sentiment and popped up the stencilled panels.  I completed the card with three paper roses and a gingham ribbon bow.

The wax paper resist technique is such fun so I just had to include that on the class!  I have a tutorial for this technique on my Tutorials page which can be found HERE.  One of the fab things about this technique is that you get two panels to play with so I made two cards to the same design but used different colours and sentiments.  The background of the 'just a note card' was made with Squeezed Lemonade and Tumbled Glass inks.  The background for the 'hello' card was made using Worn Lipstick and Spiced Marmalade inks.  The butterflies and the sentiments were cut using dies.

This next card combines another resist technique, emboss resist, with watercolouring.  I stamped the 'Daisy Striplet' image onto watercolour paper using VersaMark ink and embossed with white embossing powder.  I patted Broken China, Seedless Preserves and Dusty Concord inks onto a ceramic tile, spritzed the watercolour paper panel with water and using a waterbrush applied the inks as a wash over the panel.  I  patted the panel dry with a piece of kitchen roll - I didn't want to dry the piece with a heat tool as that would have melted the embossing powder I'd applied earlier.  I cut the panel apart, mounted the two pieces onto Dusty Concord Distress CS mat layers, stamped the sentiment and popped up the two panels.  Hmmm, I'm obviously liking popping up cut apart panels - I also did that on the stencilled Best Wishes card!  I punched two larger and two smaller daisies, stacked them together, popped the flower up and added an aqua pearl to the centre.  To complete the card I rounded the two right hand corners of the card.  

This last card with its vibrant colours and wrinkle distressing technique guaranteed very inky fingers!  I cut a panel of watercolour paper, patted Evergreen Bough ink all over a rectangular acrylic block, spritzed the block with water (liberally, but not so the block was dripping wet) and pressed the block firmly onto the watercolour paper panel.  The ink squidges out around the edges of the block so you get a lovely deckle edged effect.  I dried the panel with a heat tool, cut it to size and stamped a honeycomb background over the green panel with Iced Spruce ink.  I popped up the panel onto an A6 sized card base that I made from watercolour paper and stamped the sentiment.  I punched the flower from watercolour paper, spritzed it with water, scrunched it up a good few times, patted Festive Berries ink over the flower and spritzed it with water so that the ink wicked out and coloured the flower.  I dried the flower with a heat tool and popped it up over the black die cut flourish.  I added a large black gem to the centre of the flower to finish.

Here's a closer look at the wrinkle distressed flower.  I really like how the bright red pops against the bold green background!   

I had a great time making these cards for the class, it made me think I don't play with my Distress Inks enough!  They are so versatile and are really fun to experiment with.  I know you can achieve really grungy and vintage effects with the inks but that style isn't really my thing.  I hoped I showed that you can enjoy using these inks in various ways and that although your fingers end up very inky you can still make cards that have a clean design!  

Supplies for square daisy card:
Stamps: John Lockwood Creative Expressions 'Daisy Striplet' cling stamp
CS: Glitter Pot thick white, thin white & black CS
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Black Soot, Spun Sugar, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey & Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks
Tools: That Special Touch 'Gradient' 6" x 6" mask, Woodware Big 'Daisy' & 1/2" circle punches, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: 3D foam pads

Supplies for stencilled Best Wishes card:
Stamps: Woodware 'Best Wishes' set
CS: Glitter Pot thick white CS
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, Ranger Tim Holtz Wild Honey & Picked Raspberry Distress Inks
Tools: Tim Holtz 'Scribbles' Layering Stencil
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania Petal Elegance, Petal Posy rose flowers, Woodware black & white gingham ribbon, 3D foam tape

Supplies for wax paper resist just a note & hello cards:
Stamps: none
CS: Glitter Pot thick white & black CS, Core'dinations 'Montego Bay', Bazzill 'Flamingo', Ranger Glossy CS, Reynolds Cut-Rite wax paper
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Squeezed Lemonade, Tumbled Glass, Worn Lipstick & Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks
Tools: Spellbinders D-Lites 'Sentiments Five' die set, Memory Box 'Vivienne Butterfly' die, travel iron & ironing mat

Supplies for daisies Happy Birthday card:
Stamps: John Lockwood Creative Expressions 'Daisy Striplet' cling stamp, Woodware 'Happy Birthday' set
CS: Glitter Pot thick white CS & watercolour paper, Tim Holtz 'Dusty Concord' Distressed CS
Ink: VersaMark, Ranger Tim Holtz Broken China, Seedless Preserves & Dusty Concord Distress Inks
Tools: Woodware Big & Large 'Daisy' punches, Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, heat tool, Ranger Mini Mister sprayer bottle, Zig Waterbrush
Embellishments & accessories: white embossing powder, aqua pearl, 3D foam tape 

Supplies for flower & flourish Thinking of You card:
Stamps: Personal Impressions 'Medium Everyday Messages' set, Kaisercraft Texture 'Honeycomb'
CS: Glitter Pot watercolour paper & black CS
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, Ranger Tim Holtz Evergreen Bough, Iced Spruce & Festive Berries Distress Inks
Tools: MFT Die-Namics 'Fancy Flourish' die, Woodware Super 'Flower' punch, heat tool, Ranger Mini Mister sprayer bottle
Embellishments & accessories: Doodlebug Beetle Black Jewels Assortment, 3D foam pads 

Five Glitter Pot Class Cards

On Thursday I ran two classes at the Glitter Pot - the morning class was Beautiful Backgrounds and the afternoon class was Pop Out Cards.  What a lovely way to spend a day!

Distress Inks were used for all the Beautiful Backgrounds cards - everyone went home with very inky fingers!  This first card uses the fab water stamping technique which creates  soft, subtle background interest.  I applied Broken China and Dusty Concord inks to a panel of white CS using Smoothies ink blending sponges, keeping the coverage fairly light.  I spritzed the Penny Black 'Peacock Feathers' background stamp with water from a Mini Mister bottle - about 8 to 10 spritzes - stamped onto the panel and dried it with a heat tool.  Distress Inks react with water so the water lifts off the ink where the rubber touches the CS.  You'll get different results depending on how lightly or heavily you've water spritzed and depending on the colours and amount of inks applied.  It really is a wonderful background technique and is well worth experimenting with.  I stamped a sentiment and images from the Woodware 'Grass Stems' set and inked the edges of the panel with Black Soot Distress ink.  I attached a strip of gingham ribbon, a separate bow, layered the panel onto a mat of Broken China CS and adhered the mat to the front of a white A6 card base.  I used a black Gelly Roll Glaze Pen to add gloss highlights to the dandelion heads.

Here's a closer look at the very pretty water stamped background.

For the second card I switched to Mini Ink Blending Tools to apply Distress Inks to a white CS panel.  I punched a 1 1/2" circle of thin white card and attached the circle to the panel with removable adhesive to act as a moon mask.  I applied Faded Jeans and Seedless Preserves inks, opting for a deeper colour coverage than the previous card, and  removed the circle mask.  I didn't want the moon to remain stark white so I lightly sponged some of both inks over the moon before I stamped the Woodware 'Wheat' image.  Using the non brush end of a paintbrush I took a little bit of Perfect Pearls 'Pearl' powder from a pot, placed it on a tile and spritzed the powder with water to get a pearly white paint.  I mixed the powder and water with a brush and then flicked the brush over the panel to add the lovely shimmery speckles - a great tip I got from a Jennifer McGuire video!  I then cut my panel into five pieces, inked the edges of each piece with Black Soot ink and adhered the panels to the front of a white A6 card, popping up the top right and bottom left panels.

Here's a closer look at the inking and pearly speckles.

For the third background card I used a stencil and Shabby Shutters and Evergreen Bough inks.  I returned to my much loved 'egg sponges' (the Smoothies ink blending sponges) as they are SO easy to use with stencils.  I taped the 'Eastern' stencil down over a panel of ivory card and applied the inks by dabbing with the sponges.  I think 'pouncing' is the correct arty term but one of the ladies said I was 'bouncing' the sponges and I like that description much better!  I don't rub with the sponges when I'm stencilling, I just bounce and I still end up with a nice blend of colours even though I've not rubbed.  I stamped the sentiment and a couple of Geometric Leaves images using Walnut Stain ink, inked the edges of the panel with Walnut Stain ink and glued the panel to the front of a cream A6 card base to finish.

Here's a closer look at the sponged ink stencilling.  

For the afternoon class I made two gatefold pop out cards.  These look quite daunting at first but the fancy pop out inserts only require six folds - they're easy when you know how!  This first card is kept closed by a belly band that slides on and off.  The balloon and stars were cut using punches and the wording was cut from patterned paper.

Here's the card open.

This pic is from a different angle so you can see the reverse of the patterned paper is visible when the card is open.

I took this pic from the top.  That's how the card should be displayed, you don't open the gatefold pieces all the way back.

Here's the next gatefold pop out card - this one is kept closed by ribbon.  Punches were used to make the flower and I added a white Candi Dot to the centre.

Here's the card open.  I covered the two end triangles with pink paper, added punched flowers and leaves and used a Craftwork Cards Mini Message for a sentiment.  The three small flowers were blinged with gem centres.

Another pic from a different angle.

I used a 10" x 5" piece of paper to make the pop out inserts.  Because the piece has to fold up inside and so is a tad bulky, you need 'clearance room' so that the insert fits inside nicely.  I made the gatefold card 5 1/8" tall and made sure to score my gatefold pieces at 2 5/8" from both ends so that the 5" wide insert piece fits inside the score lines and the card closes neatly.  Things I learned with my first couple of attempts making these pop out cards!

Supplies for Just a Note card:
Stamps: Woodware 'Grass Stems' set, Penny Black 'Peacock Feathers' background stamp
CS: Glitter Pot thick & medium white card, Broken China Distressed CS
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, Ranger Tim Holtz Broken China, Dusty Concord & Black Soot Distress Inks, black Gelly Roll Glaze Pen
Tools: Smoothies ink blending sponges, Ranger Mini Mister bottle, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: black & white gingham ribbon

Supplies for wheat card:
Stamps: Woodware 'Wheat' set
CS: Glitter Pot thick & medium white card
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, Ranger Tim Holtz Faded Jeans, Seedless Preserves & Black Soot Distress Inks
Tools: 1 1/2" circle punch, Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tools, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: Perfect Pearls 'Pearl' powder & paintbrush, 3D foam pads

Supplies for leaves Thinking of You card:
Stamps: Woodware 'Geometric Leaves' set, Personal Impressions 'Large Everyday Messages' set
CS: cream A6 card blank, Glitter Pot Natural Ivory CS
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Shabby Shutters, Evergreen Bough & Walnut Stain Distress Inks
Tools: That Special Touch 'Eastern' 6" x 6" mask, Smoothies ink blending sponges, sponge dauber 

Supplies for balloons pop out card:
Stamps: none
CS: Glitter Pot thick white CS, Bazzill 'Typhoon' & 'Kisses', silver mirri card 
Patterned paper: Pebbles Birthday Wishes 'Confetti' & 'Birthday Wish'
Ink: white gel pen
Tools: Woodware Super & Large Balloon punches, Regular Star punch
Embellishments & accessories: 3D foam pads

Supplies for flowers pop out card:
Stamps: none
CS: Glitter Pot thick white card, Broken China Distressed CS
Patterned paper: Doodlebug Sugar Shoppe 'Birthday Bouquet', Echo Park Birthday Wishes 'Girl - Pink/Light Pink', Bo Bunny Mellow Yellow Double Dot
Ink: none
Tools: Woodware Super & Regular Flower punches, Large Plum & Grass punches, flower shaper & moulding mat
Embellishments & accessories: 15mm Baby Pink organza ribbon, Craftwork Cards Tiny Sentiments Black die cut messages & Icing Sugar Card Candi, PaperMania clear gems, 3D foam pads 

One Layout, Four Cards Glitter Pot Class Cards

On Saturday I ran a second 'One Layout, Four Cards' class at the Glitter Pot.  I was so embarrassed at the start as I'd left a plastic folder containing the class cards and other bits and pieces at home!  My sweet friend Wendy drove me home to get it and we were back in the classroom in about ten minutes.  I think that was a valuable experience, I'm willing to bet I won't ever forget class cards again!  I opted for a very simple layout but as a card sketch is just a starting point there are plenty of opportunities for some creative adapting!

This first card follows the sketch layout faithfully, with six square tiles of patterned paper arranged on a 7" x 5" card base.  Such an easy and quick card to make - and a great way to use up patterned paper scraps from the stash!  I inked the edges of each square with Festive Berries Distress Ink, glued all the squares flat apart from the 'hello' square which I popped up.  I die cut and shaped two red flowers, added silver Candi dots and popped both flowers up.  I added some tiny silver pearls to the flowers on the 'hello' square to complete the card.

For this next card I switched to an A6 landscape orientated card and swapped two of the squares in the layout for a rectangle.  What I really like about designing for these 'One Layout, Four Cards' classes is that I can make the cards look so different even though I'm using the same sketch layout.  For this card I chose a white on white design.  I think dimension and mixing textures and finishes is a good way to go when it comes to white on white cards.  I made the card base from matt white card but used Bazzill Bling 'Diamond' CS for the panels, the pearly sheen gives such a lovely contrast.  The embossed squares add all important texture and I added some ribbon and pearls for interest and extra contrast. I used two embossing folders for the square panels, left the rectangle plain but embossed the solid butterfly shape.  Originally I glued the rectangle panel and embossed squares flat to the card but that looked - well, flat!  Popping up those panels made a big difference!  I glued the butterfly body flat to the panel but placed 3D foam pads under the wings, leaving the backing paper on to make sure the wings stay popped up.

For this card, rather than staying with squares I switched to hexagons.  I cut a rectangular panel of white CS and applied Wild Honey and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks to the panel with Smoothie ink blending sponges.  I stamped the Woodware 'Grasses Background' image onto the panel and then cut out six hexagons using a Nestie die.  I punched a flower out from each shape and popped all the hexagons up.  I highlighted some of the stamping with a glossy black Gelly Roll Glaze pen and placed gems in each flower centre to finish.   

Here's a closer look at some glossy highlighting.

Versatility is important I think when creating with sketch layouts.  I always like to see if the design works with both rectangular and square shaped cards.  It has to be said that this particular layout definitely lends itself to rectangular cards!  However, just one simple addition - a strip down the side  of the card - and the layout works on a square card.  

This time I switched from squares to circles and added stamped and shaped flowers.  We have so many primroses in both our front and back gardens this year so they inspired me to make my flowers yellow.  I used a new fave stamp set, 'Blossom', a clear set from Leane Creatief which makes easy work of two step stamping flowers. I used it on my last Glitter Pot class too, I love it!  I covered a 5 1/4" square white card base with yellow paper, layered a kraft dotty paper panel onto a brown CS mat and glued that to the card front.  The reverse side of the kraft dotty paper is the colourful, pretty flower lattice design and I glued a matted strip of that to the side of the card.  I stamped the solid flowers in Memento Dandelion ink, stamped the dotty outlines in Rich Cocoa ink, fussy cut the flowers and popped them up onto 1 1/2" white punched circles.  I stamped the sentiment onto white card, cut it out with the circle punch and popped that up.  I added a brown gem to each flower centre to finish.

Thank you SO much to all the ladies that came along, it truly means a lot to me that you're supporting me and enjoying the 'One Layout, Four Cards' classes.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps: none
CS: Glitter Pot Thick White Card, Core'dinations 'Cardinal'
Patterned paper: Pebbles Garden Party - 'Petunia' & 'Poppy', Simple Stories Colour Vibe Lights - 'Mint'
Ink: Tim Holtz Festive Berries Distress Ink
Tools: Nellie's Shape Dies 'Flower 2' set, DEET & moulding mat, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: Craftwork Cards Regal Silver Card Candi, silver pearls, 3D foam tape & pads

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps: none 
CS: Glitter Pot Thick White Card, Bazzill Bling 'Diamond'
Ink: none
Tools: Cuttlebug 'Birds & Swirls' embossing folder, Crafts Too 'Lattice' & 'Garden Flowers' embossing folders, Memory Box 'Isabella Butterfly' die
Embellishments & accessories: white stripe organza ribbon, large & small pearls, 3D foam tape & pads 

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps: Woodware 'Grasses Background'
CS: Glitter Pot Thick & Medium White Card & Black Card
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Wild Honey & Picked Raspberry Distress Inks, Black Gelly Roll Glaze Pen
Tools: Hexagon Nestabilities die, Smoothies ink blending sponges, Woodware Regular Flower punch
Embellishments & accessories: clear gems, 3D foam pads

Supplies for card 4:
Stamps: Leane Creatief 'Blossom' clear set, sentiment from Hobby Art 'Anna's Collection Just For You' clear set
CS: Glitter Pot Thick White Card, Core'dinations 'Chocolate Mocha'
Patterned paper: Bo Bunny 'Mellow Yellow' Double Dot paper, Doodlebug 'Hello Sunshine - Garden Trellis'
Ink: Memento Dandelion & Rich Cocoa
Tools: Woodware 1 1/2" circle punch, flower shaping tool & moulding mat
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania Bronze gems, 3D foam pads 

One Sheet Wonder Glitter Pot Class Projects

Last Friday I ran a 'One Sheet Wonder' all day class at the Glitter Pot.  A One Sheet Wonder is a template you design using one sheet of paper and cut it in such a way that every piece of the paper is used to make a number of projects.  I used a 12" x 12" sheet of 'Simple Stories - Colour Vibe Lights - Celery' double sided patterned paper, drew my designed template on the chevron printed side of the paper in pencil and carefully cut out the pieces with a craft knife and metal ruler.   On the day of the class everyone first had to draw the template on their 12" x 12" sheet and cut it out into seven pieces.  Then three of those pieces were divided further so that everyone ended up with a total of fourteen pieces of patterned paper.  Those fourteen pieces were used to make nine projects - six cards, two tags and a gift bag. Some additional card and paper along with the 12" x 12" patterned paper sheet were needed to make the projects - white card, black card and some pink patterned paper were added.

Here are all the items shown together.  They'd make a lovely gift set I think!

A 5" square piece of paper was cut in half diagonally to make the background for the 5 3/4" square Happy Birthday card.  A 7" x 2" strip of paper was used to make the tag.  On the card I glued the diagonal pieces of paper so they butted up exactly next to each other onto a layer of black CS.  I wanted to add some definition so I drew a line with a black marker between the diagonal panels.  A small touch but it makes a lot of difference!  I stamped the butterfly onto the white panel for the card, stamped two butterflies onto the chevron paper of the tag, stamped the butterflies again onto a separate piece of white card, coloured them with ProMarkers and fussy cut the wings.  I glued the bodies flat but placed 3D foam pads under the wings, leaving the backing paper on so that the butterflies remain popped up.  The sentiment panel on the card and the white 'Especially For You' circle on the tag are both popped up.

Three 3" squares of paper were used for panels for these three 5 1/4" square butterflies cards.  I stamped the butterflies onto pink patterned paper, added some colour with a Cerise ProMarker, fussy cut the butterflies and glued them the same way as I did on the above card and tag.  I added black CS dots as embellishments - these were cut out from a handheld 1/4" circle punch.  

  

Six 2" squares were used for these two DL sized cards.  The flowers were made with the fab 'Blossom' clear stamp set from Leane Creatief.  Two step stamping made easy with clear stamps - no stamp positioner needed!  I stamped the solid flower first in Angel Pink Memento ink and stamped the dotty outline over the top in Tuxedo Black Memento ink.  To help make sure the solid and outline stamped flower images would line up correctly I placed a permanent marker dot on one petal on both stamps.  As long as both images are stamped in the same orientation (I chose to stamp with the dotted petal being positioned at the bottom) the flowers line up perfectly.  I fussy cut each flower, added some Rose Bud ink with a sponge dauber, added dimension to the flowers with a shaping tool and moulding mat and popped the flowers up.  The sentiment circle was also edged with Rose Bud ink and popped up.  The leaves and flower centres were cut out with punches.  

Finally, there is this 'Blossom' gift bag and tag,  I used the We R Memory Keepers Gift Bag Punch Board to make the gift bag.  The board makes a gusseted bag usually but I omitted certain score lines so that the gift bag wasn't gusseted.  A 10" x 4" piece of paper was used for the gift bag and a 7" x 2" strip of paper was used for the tag.  

During the day I stamped lots of two step blossoms and punched lots of leaves and circles.  I thought it was unlikely that everyone would complete all nine projects on the day of the class but at least the ladies went away with their remaining patterned paper pieces and some punched and stamped shapes so they could finish things off at home!  I also gave everyone a copy of the One Sheet Wonder template with cutting instructions and basic sketches of the projects.  I reckoned it would be useful to have a resource to refer to later on if the ladies wanted to use the One Sheet Wonder template again.  

What a lovely bunch of ladies, it was great fun sharing the One Sheet Wonder technique with them and we all enjoyed a happy, relaxed day!  

Supplies:
Stamps: Personal Impressions 'Butterflies are Propelled Flowers' clear set, Leane Creatief 'Blossom' clear set, 'Especially For You' sentiment from Woodware 'Going To Seed' clear set
CS: Glitter Pot Thick and Medium White Card, Glitter Pot Black Card
Patterned paper: Simple Stories 'Colour Vibe Lights - Celery', Doodlebug 'Kraft In Colour - Cupcake Flowers/Ledger'
Ink: Tuxedo Black, Angel Pink & Rose Bud Memento inks, Meadow Green, Apple & Cerise ProMarkers
Tools: Woodware 'Grass 1' Big Punch, various circle punches, Crop-A-Dile, WRMK Gift Bag Punch Board, flower shaping tool, moulding mat, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: Woodware 10mm black stripe organza ribbon, PaperMania clear gems, 3D foam pads

Two Starry Cards For Glitter Pot Class

Last Saturday morning I ran a 'Starry Birthday Wish' class at the Glitter Pot featuring die cutting, stencilling, stamping and dry embossing.  I designed two cards, a pop up card plus a twisted easel card.

Here's the front of the pop up card.  I loved these bright cheery papers and couldn't decide which one to use so I opted for a split diagonal design so I could incorporate both papers!  The card base measures 5 1/4" square and I matted the diagonal paper panels on a Bazzill 'Bahama' CS layer.  I stacked three stars together into one element and popped that up.

Here's the inside of the card with the surprise pop up star element.  I stencilled the red star background onto a panel of white card by dabbing Festive Berries Distress Ink through the stencil using a Creative Expressions Smoothie sponge.  I layered the stencilled panel onto a blue CS mat, glued that in place and added some small punched blue stars.  The pop up support was made using a strip of red CS that was scored three times so that the strip had four equal size sections and then the strip was glued into place.  The three stars were adhered together and then glued to the pop up support.  The pop up element folds flat when the card is closed - a fab feature!  I added a strip of dotty paper, some punched stars and a popped up sentiment to complete the card.   

Here's the A6 sized twisted easel card.  It's so easy to make a twisted easel card, it requires just one half of an A4 piece of CS (cut lengthways) and two score lines, one at the halfway point and then a diagonal score line.  I dry embossed a panel of Tim Holtz Stormy Sky Distress CS with the X Cut 3D Stars folder, scuffed the embossing with a sanding block to bring out the detail and glued the panel into place.  I cut a piece of dotty paper diagonally to fit on the front of the twisted easel part, adhered that and added the popped up die cut and punched stars.  I stamped and popped up the sentiment element to act as a stop for the easel.  I coloured just a few of the stars around the sentiment with a red ProMarker.   

It was a really fun morning, there were a couple of  ladies new to the world of card making and I so enjoyed sharing the techniques of stamping, die cutting, punching and dry embossing with them and witnessing their excitement.  I've been card making for well over ten years now but still get a real buzz when I see that excitement and enthusiasm, it's just so infectious!  The ladies who come on the Glitter Pot classes are fabulous, I love that they're always willing to help each other out with supplies, advice, tips and techniques.  I think I've learned something new on each class!  All of us in the class room are always willing to help with the crafty shopping lists too of course!

Supplies for pop up card:
Stamps: Dovecraft 'Celebrate' clear stamp
CS: Glitter Pot Thick White Card, Bazzill 'Bahama' & 'Kisses', silver mirri card
Patterned paper: Echo Park Birthday Wishes - Boy Birthday 'Dots' & 'Hats', Simple Stories Color Vibe Lights - 'Mint'
Ink: Tim Holtz Festive Berries Distress Ink
Tools: Nestabilities 'Stars' die set, star punches, Imagination Crafts 'Random Stars' stencil, Creative Expressions Smoothie sponge
Embellishments & accessories: 3D foam tape & pads

Supplies for twisted easel card:
Stamps: Dovecraft 'Celebrate' clear stamp
CS: Bazzill 'Kisses', Tim Holtz 'Stormy Sky' Distressed CS, silver mirri card, Glitter Pot Thick White Card
Patterned paper: Simple Stories Color Vibe Lights - 'Mint'
Ink: Tim Holtz 'Stormy Sky' Distress Ink, 'Ruby' ProMarker
Tools: Nestabilities 'Stars' die set, X Cut 'Stars' 3D embossing folder, star punches, sanding block
Embellishments & accessories: 3D foam tape & pads 

Four Glitter Pot Class Cards

I've been so busy preparing for and running classes that I had to put blogging to one side for a while.  Recently I've been running classes at the Glitter Pot, at my home and I had my monthly card group last week also.  I think I've just about caught up with myself now but a bad back certainly isn't helping matters!

A week or so ago I ran two classes at the Glitter Pot, the morning class was 'In the Garden' and the afternoon class was 'Simply Stunning'.  The 'In the Garden' theme was to include tools for the men and flowers for the ladies.  For the tools card I designed a shed for the gardener, Bert, with garden tools propped up outside.  To get the wood effect I inked the inside of a woodgrain embossing folder with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and embossed a 6" square of kraft CS.  I cut the shed shape, door and eaves to size, inked all the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and assembled the shed.  I covered the front of the square card base with blue card and green paper and popped up the shed.  I punched a yellow circle, inked the edges with Wild Honey Distress Ink and glued the sun behind the shed.  I die cut and embossed the tools, glued the rake flat but popped up the spade and fork.  I cut a pot shape from white card and used ProMarkers to make a mossy terracotta plant pot.  I glued punched leaves behind and popped the pot up.  I punched a 1/4" dark brown circle, glued it to the door and added a silver nailhead as a door knob.

My idea for the flowers for the ladies card was to try and create a scene that looked like a lawn and herbaceous border.  I had to add a feminine touch with some pretty dotty ribbon and I thought a flower filled wheelbarrow would look good positioned on a perfectly smooth, lush, green lawn!  Lady Clutterbuck has just done some judicious pruning and has watered the flowers and Bert the gardener will be returning the secateurs and watering can to his tool shed presently!  I die cut the wheelbarrow from Tea Dye Distress Card, embossed the shape and then scuffed the embossing with fine sandpaper to bring out the detail.  I slotted the handles of the secateurs inside the watering can, added punched leaves and flowers to the wheelbarrow and popped both shapes up.  More punching for the leaves and flowers for the herbaceous border and then lots of fiddly arranging!   I used a silver Gelly Roll pen to add a silver dot to the centre of each flower and I placed a silver nailhead on the centre of the wheel and a smaller silver nailhead on the secateurs to complete the card.  There were 13 ladies on the class and there was a mad rush to get everything done - I think some ladies took some flowers home to arrange them at their leisure!   

In the afternoon things were much more relaxed as the two cards featured simple designs with straight forward stamping, die cutting and dry embossing.  No sheds to construct or flowers to arrange just so!  The dies are 'Surely Stitched Square' and 'Surely Stitched Circle' dies made by Memory Box.  For this first card I dry embossed a panel of white card with a dotty folder, glued it to the right hand side and drew a black line with a marker.  I stamped an image from the Penny Black '...Wishes' set in Memento Rose Bud ink, added a black stamped sentiment, cut it out with a circle punch, glued it into place and glued the black die cut shape over the top.  I drew pencil marks to help with getting those thin lines glued straight! Some bright pink gems finished off the card.

For the second card I used the 'Surely Stitched Square' die and gorgeous Bazzill Bling CS in 'Diamond' and 'Glitz' - such a beautiful blue colour!  I die cut three squares of Bazzill Bling 'Diamond' CS, embossed those with the dotty folder, glued them in place and glued the blue die cut shapes over the top.  Again, I used pencil marks to help with the placement of the thin lines of the die cut shapes!  I punched three blue hearts, popped them up and added pretty Marianne Designs Diamond Gems.  The 'heartfelt wishes' sentiment from the '...Wishes' set seemed the perfect choice for this card.  Some ladies chose a different sentiment and added punched flowers to their cards rather than hearts - that's the great thing about this design, it's very versatile and easily adapted!

Supplies for shed card:
Stamps: none
CS: Bazzill 'Sea Water', 'Brown', 'Ivy' & 'Sunshine', Craftwork Cards kraft, silver mirri card, Glitter Pot Thick White Card
Patterned paper: Bo Bunny 'Wasabi' Double Dot Textured Paper (plain side used)
Ink: Tim Holtz 'Gathered Twigs', 'Walnut Stain' & 'Wild Honey' Distress Inks, 'Terracotta' & 'Grass' ProMarkers
Tools: X Cut 'Woodgrain' 6" x 6" embossing folder, Leane Creatief  'Garden Tools' die set, Woodware 'Grass' large punch, Woodware 1 1/2" & 1/4" circle punches, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: silver nailhead, 3D foam pads

Supplies for wheelbarrow & watering can card:
Stamps: none
CS: Glitter Pot Thick White Card, Bazzill 'Blossom', 'Petunia', 'Ivy', 'Kisses' & 'Brown', Core'dinations 'Amazon', Tim Holtz 'Tea Dye' Distress CS
Ink: none
Tools: Leane Creatief  'Barrow & Watering Can' & 'Garden Tools' die sets, Woodware multi 'Christmas Flower' & 'Grass' large punches
Embellishments & accessories: pink dotty grosgrain ribbon, silver nailheads, 3D foam pads 

Supplies for wishing you well card:
Stamps: Penny Black '...Wishes' clear set
CS: Glitter Pot Thick White Card, Glitter Pot Black Card
Ink: Memento 'Rose Bud', VersaFine 'Onyx Black'
Tools: Memory Box 'Surely Stitched Circle' die, Crafts Too 5" x 5" 'Dots' embossing folder
Embellishments & accessories: pink gems

Supplies for heartfelt wishes card:
Stamps: Penny Black '...Wishes' clear set
CS: Glitter Pot Thick White Card, Bazzill Bling 'Diamond' & 'Glitz'
Ink: VersaFine 'Vintage Sepia'
Tools: Memory Box 'Surely Stitched Square' die, Crafts Too 5" x 5" 'Dots' embossing folder, Woodware large 'Heart' punch
Embellishments & accessories: Marianne Designs Diamond Gems, 3D foam pads