Wedding Fever: The Conclusion, I Think

 

THIS MIGHT BE IT - WEDDING CARD

I think I've done it!  I've put it into an envelope and am putting the fact it's mounted slightly crooked out of my mind because other than that, I love this card!  I think this will be the one I give to my friend for her wedding (unless my OCD and self-criticism rages out of control in the next month or so).

 

What do you think?  I am adoring its simplicity, yet dainty prettiness :)

The pretty cut out is a Shapeability die cutter and embosser that I ran through my Cuttlebug.  The background design was painstakingly hand-stamped and bejewelled :)  The "love" is heat embossed.

Yeah, I'm loving it!

Happy Weddings!

 

Dani :)

Whale Of A Time!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! :)

This year, my husband and I will have been married for 8 years - together over 10 years :)  We're celebrating this by taking a little whale watching cruise!  So in honour of that, I've themed the card I'm giving him.

I make the effort to annoy my husband and show him EVERY card I make.  He's patient but only glances at each card and says "Cool." - it's not his cup of tea.  So it's become tradition for me to make him cards - mostly because I like being annoying!

I quickly got over my phase of thinking he'll cherish these cards, so I never make much of an effort - and generally I like to make them super cheesy!  Strangely, they often end up being amongst my favourites, anyway.

This card was simple:

1. First I used publisher as a quick and easy way to find a  cute picture of a whale - I love this one because it was a good cut out that sits neatly at the bottom of the card.  I also created my greeting on publisher.
2. I fussy cut the whale and cut use a paper trimmer to cut your greeting strips.  When I fussy cut the whale, I trimmed off the spurt of water.
3. I cut white card 12cm x 24cm and then folded in half.
4. I cut a strip of blue card, about 3cm wide and slightly longer than the card.  I used a border punch to create the "waves".
5. I edged the blue card with dark blue (Versa Magic 'Night Sky') and stuck it onto the bottom edge of the card.  I trimmed the sides and reinked the side edges of the blue.  (I'll admit now, also, that I trimmed the entire card a little, which is why it looks a little more slender than square).
6. I stuck the whale onto the bottom edge of the card, over the blue card.
7. I created my own spurt out of sticker gems, stuck on the greeting strips and embellished the top left corner with a few more sticker gems

And that's all there is to it!  I plan to stick a folded up "keepsake" copy of the booking for the whale cruise inside the card :)

Now I'm off to stock up on Sea Legs!

Happy Anniversary! :)

Dani :)

 





Black & White

 

ROCKIN' THE MONOCHROME!

When making cards, there's no denying that the monochrome look can have a terrific impact - it can  be eyecatching, sexy, classy, modern, masculine (or feminine!), and fun!

And there's no reason you can't tie that into your stamp colouring as well.  If you're  fan of using copic markers, the impact is incredible.  I use watercolour markers, a little more subtle but still fantastic!

I went for cute and fun in this card :)  I think it would appeal to girls in the 10-13 age range :)

I started out by stamping my image and colouring it with various shades of black, grey and white.  To boost the impact I did colour the skin properly and added one element of red, in the cherry, to make the picture pop.

I used only THREE pens in this colouring:  black, red and skin tone.  Any actual black colouring, I used the black marker directly on the card.  Grey was achieved with the black pen, but painted on with an aqua brush (click here for instructions).  I used the pen-tip of the marker to add texture to her hair.

I finished her off with a little jewel on her bow :)

I got a piece of black card with a faint design to back my coloured image.  You could probably use flat black but I think a faint design adds something.  At the other end of the scale, anything with a clear pattern will be too busy and your picture will be lost.

I distressed the edges of the backing card to relax the style and add some definition to the edges (the other side of the card has a design on white so it worked well because when I distressed the edges, the white showed).  I then mounted my image onto the card with foam tape, to give her lift.

I then mounted my image and card onto patterned paper (black pattern on white) that is only a little smaller than the size of my overall card.  The patterned paper I chose is flocked and also has a little shine to it - gotta love textures!

I added black ribbon to break up the pattern a little.

And to finish it off, I stuck the patterned paper onto my base card and inked the edges of the card with black - again to continue the relaxed feel of the card, but it also helps add some definition since you have laid white paper on white card.

I made a little tag - this one I cut out with my cuttlebug, but you could always cut out a rectangle and snip the corners at an angle at the end with the punched hole to give it a tag look.  I used bright red ribbon to embellish the tag, continuing the theme but not overdoing the red.

I then gave it one final touch:  a black heart on the tag with a little red jewel in it!

Happy Monochroming!

Dani :)

Kids Keepsake

 

KIDS HANDPRINT KEEPSAKE CARD

Now THIS was a quick card to make!  I can't take credit for the design - I saw it on Pinterest and HAD to give it a go.

Brin helped me with it a little - I think this is a terrific project to share with a child.  You don't have to stamp the greetings, your child could write it.  And they can embellish it any way they want!

Fantastic for mother's day, birthdays, christmas.  I just decided to make them for no good reason other than I think Brin's grandparents and aunts and uncles will get a kick out of it :)

Using chipboard, trace around your little one's hand and cut out to create a template.  Really you could use anything, even newspaper, but I like the idea of using something as tough as chipboard so that it doesn't move around when you're tracing around it, plus it lasts and can be potentially kept as my OWN keepsake :)

Place the traced hand onto your chosen paper and cut out two hands.  If you're using paper that has a different colour on each side, make SURE that you appear to have a left hand and a right hand otherwise they won't go together!

Use a 30 x 5cm strip of cardstock as the middle of your card.  Consatina it, folding every 3cm.  You want the two ends to be folded in the same direction, per the picture above.

Stamp the greeting "I Love You" on the hand that will be the front of your card.  Stamp the greeting "this much" in the way you prefer, such as above, across one side of your folded cardstock. 

Alternatively, your child can write the greetings.  Brin "helped" me stamp, thus the very rustic look hehe!

Attach the folded cardstock to the "inside" of the hands, as shown above., with the "this" end of the card attached to the inside of the front hand.  If you want to put a greeting, you can do what I did and put it on the back of the card.  I had Brin write his name on the back

.

Embellish as you, or your child, want - this is what I threw together quickly!

Happy Clapping!

Dani :)

Dressed Up Window Card

 

 

HEART-SHAPED WINDOW CARD

It's Mum's Day so I treated myself to some time in peace and quiet, tinkering at my desk.  I am definitely feeling the love today so went for a lovey theme!

I really enjoyed making this card because it's a quick and simple card but so dimensional and sweet!  You could trade the little hearts for butterflies or whatever shape you want, likewise the window.

I have used a Nestabilities set, however there are all kinds of dies and punches you could use for this - I've got some cute leaf punches so I'm thinking an autumn themed card like this might be my next project :)

 

First of all you need two pieces of white card - one that is 20x10cm (which you fold in half to be the card) and another 10cm square, which will be the front of the card.

After you have folded the piece of card in half, open it up and lay it out on your cuttlebug, lay the square card on top, exactly how it will sit once it is stuck on.  Centre the Nestabilities heart shaped cutting die (I used the second largest) on top of the square and cards and carefully run through the cuttlebug.

This will cut through the main card and the square piece that will mount on the front.

Using some red card, use the snallest Nestability heart and cut out eight hearts.

Cut some nylon or cotton white thread - 3 lengths of about 15cm.  Turn your hearts upside down and on four of them place some double sided tape going up the centre of the hearts.  Place your thread along the centre of the heart (as above) and place another piece of double sided tape on top, going across the widest part of the heart - this will make sure the hearts stick together properly and hold the thread in place.

You want the hearts to be laid out per this photo.

2 of the threads will have the heart towards the top of the string (make sure there is a good inch or so of thread above the heart.  The other thread has two hearts on it, about halfway along with a centimetre or so between the hearts.

Turn over your square piece of card and lay down plenty of double sided tape.  Pull the threads taut as you position as above.  The threads needs tension so that the hearts are suspended properly.  Don't cut off the extra lengths of thread.

Lay lots more tape on top of the last lot - yes, I'm paranoid about threads pulling free - and then stick the excess thread back on top of that.  Trimming the threads short will just encourage them to eventually wiggle loose - this way, you're making TRIPLE sure that everything is secure!

Now carefully line up and stick together the square card and the main card, so that the large hearts match up neatly.

That's basically it!

As you can see, I have chosen to stamp a sentiment inside - I like the look of it, but you don't have to put a sentiment on it if you don't want.

I just close up the card and lay it flat and then mark with a pencil, between the two centre hearts, where I want the sentiment to be.  Then open her up and stamp!

Any additional greetings and writing, I think would be better on the back of the card so as to not ruin the visual effects.

Happy Cutting!!!

Dani :)