Cards - All Occasion - Block Print Paper

I found this Indian Block Print Handmade Paper at the ReUse Center recently and loved it.  I knew that it would work with Stampin Up cardstock colors wonderfully.  The piece was about 9x12 inches so just a few cards.

I chose Baja Breeze and Ruby Red for the card bases in the A2 quarter sheet size.

I cut the decorative paper to leave just a small border.  

I chose a strip of matching card stock to go across the card and then a white scallop circle, with a grey coordinating smooth circle, a bird accent made with the Stampin Up Bird Builder Punch. I added a bit of black which helps to ground the design. A bit stitching around the circle with a fine black marker.

Quarter sheet insert and a white envelope and it is ready to go.

The next layout I used a daisy flower punch which I did one in each color. Then a smaller one in black.  A large white sequin and a coordinating mini brad to hold things together.

I added a strip of white card stock across the landscape card and glued it to the decorative paper leaving the ends hang over. 

I used a push pin to create a hole in each of the layers and mounted the flower accent through to the decorative paper.  Then adhered the whole layer to the card front.

I added black stitching to the white strip with a fine tip marker.

Added a quarter sheet insert and a white envelope.

This card has a Ruby Red card base with a layer of decorative paper adhered with double sided tape.

I created the bird accent with the above mentioned punch in the 3 colors.

With a marker I added the eye and lines to the beak and the stitching around the grey circle.

The accent was then adhered to the card front with double sided tape. 

A white quarter sheet insert and white envelope to finish things off.

Another flower accent card with the alternate color combo from the first one.

The daisy punch accent was assembled the same way with a coordinating warm red mini brad.

A fine black marker for the stitching and the flower adhered to the decorative paper.

This entire layer was then adhered to the landscape card front.

White insert and envelope.  These are now pressing under books overnight to allowing the glue to take a good hold.

I am almost ready to liquidate my designer paper as I very rarely use it and I could use the space for something else. 

Simple Sentiments - Photo Set 3

Another set.

This card features a Barn Swallow taken at the Lois Hole Provincial Park. Check out those ruffled feathers.

I started with a Stampin Up True Thyme card base. I added 3 .75 inch wide card stock strips in Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, and Really Rust.  They were adhered then I cut flag ends on them.

The photo was adhered on top of them.  Just love these warm tones.

This features Grape Hyacinth taken at the St. Albert Botanic Park. 

Brilliant Blue textured card stock with three color coordinated strips of card stock with flagged ends.  

Soft Suede, Lavender Lace and Gable Green.  These were adhered to the card front, trimmed then the photo was adhered over top.

White quarter sheet insert and a white A2 envelope.

These are Grey Partridges which I found at Patricia Lake. My one and only time seeing these birds.

I chose a True Thyme card base with strips of Chocolate Chip, Dill and Dusty Durango.  The strips were adhered to the card front then cut with flag ends.

The photo was adhered over top.

A white quarter sheet insert with a white A2 envelope.

A  light pink rose softly tinted rose with hints of a darker shade. This is likely taken at the St. Albert Botanic Park.

I chose a Pixie Pink card base and card stock strips in Chocolate Chip, Lavender Lace and Gable Green.  The strip ends were given flag ends and then the photo was adhered over top.

These made great all occasion cards. Birthday, Thinking of You, Thank You or any other reason for expressing ourselves to others in a tangible way.

Quarter sheet insert and envelope.

Exchange Cards

I got my Exchange cards made for May.

I have decided to use my 4x4 photos from my past calendars.

This is a beautiful Red Poppy I think taken at the community garden.

I chose Tangerine Tango card base with a small piece of green card stock that I taped together on the back.

I stamped the green with Border Builder stamp set - script in Basic Black ink to just to knock down the plainness.

I wrapped a piece of Daffodil Delight ribbon around the element over the join and taped the ends to the back.

I then adhered the full layer to the card front with double sided tape.

This card features a warm rich orange rose taken at the Botanic Park.

I chose the same Tangerine Tango card base.

I added some complimentary strips of card stock behind the photo. Cameo Coral, Groove Guava and Peach Parfait.

I adhered the strips and trim the right hand end with scissors cutting at an angle.

Adhered photo with double sided tape.

HB Paper Strips Card - Stash Busting

I made this card for my brother that is celebrating a birthday next week.

Still stash busting paper strips of designer paper.  I chose colors to coordinate with the terracotta colored card. I just laid the first one starting in the top left corner the placed the others perpendicular to those.

The greeting is a Stampin Up Decorative label punchie with color printed words.  Adhered to card front with 3D foam tape.  I chalked the edges to match the card.

It will be on it's way today.

Mother's Day Card

I made my Mom a card for Mother's Day.

I used paper strips in blues because that is her favorite color. I glued them inside a black color printed frame on the card front. Most they were trimmed to 1" wide or less. I added a length of blue rick rack along the top adhered with Quick Dry Adhesive.

I added an oval greeting with 3D foam tape above a piece of floral designer paper in the bottom right hand corner.

Birthday Card - Paper Strips

With using a lot of 12x12 inch designer paper I generally end up with a strip at the end with about an inch and the credits.  I have a lot of paper strips in my scrap drawer.  I decided to try in find a design to use them in a card layer.


I pulled from my stash, paper that fit within a certain color scheme.  I then used my small paper cutter to cut the paper into strips about .75 inches wide.  I cut a piece of card stock just under the 4.00x 5.25 inches I need for the layer.
I started with the single strip that goes from top to bottom. The next strips I layed perpendicular to that first one on the left side and created 2 sections on the right hand side. I dontinued to add strips until the cardstock was completely covered. I turned it over and trimmed the strips to a bit away from the edge.  I reused bit I cut off to stay within the color scheme.

I chose a deep teal card base.  I adhered the stash busting background to the front.

I added a piece of large rick rack in white along the left hand side.  It was wrapped around the full card front and the ends were taped down which falls under the greeting.

To add the greeting I punched a scallop circle from one of the prominent designer card stocks.  I then added a dark grey 1 3/8 circle punchie then the color printed greeting at 1 1/4 inch.  These were layered and adhered then glued to the card front with 3D foam tape. 

Exchange Cards - Paper Strips

I have tons of strips of paper cut off from 12x12 designer paper.  I was looking for a way to use these so onto the internet to find solutions.

This is a technique I found.

I cut the designer paper strips to half inch and sorted them into similar colors schemes.  Selecting designer card stock that I am not inspired by I cut it into 4.25 x 5.5 pieces.

I applied glue stick to the quarter sheet and laid my first long strip.  I then applied the other piece perpendicular to the first one.  I continued till I had covered the whole piece of ugly card stock.

I trimmed the strips close to the card edge and pressed them under books to let the wet glue to set up and dry.   After several hours I trimmed this background to 4.00 x 5.25 inches.

I then chose a warm dark blue card base onto which I adhered my paper strip background.
Then I added a piece of white rick rack wrapped around the card front.   I taped the ends under the accent.  The accent is a scallop punchie, a 1 3/8 inch circle then a white color printed greeting.  These were adhered into an embellishment.  It was adhered over the join of the rick rack with 3D foam tape.

In the tiny gaps between strips I applied chalk to lessen their impact. I chalked the edges as well.

The pink background was adhered to a bright pink card base.  It also received a scallop greeting.

These are headed to my card exchange partners.

Share Your Cup - This Week

I made a proposal early in January in hopes of getting an order for my photo calendars.  I had been thinking about changing the first sheet and I took the opportunity to try it out.  I replaced the front photo with a small sheet of vellum with the pertinent details.  It goes over the dates of the calendar till it's time to start using the calendar.  This will help for customers to immediately recognize it as a calendar.


The photo on the right is the first sheet for the 2106 Garden calendar.  I know it says photo calendar but I think it's better to actually let me see the calendar part.  We'll see if it helps for the sale of the 2017 ones when they come out later this year.

Check out my feature post and you could win a 2016 Up Close calendar in my blog giveaway. 

This week, I was working on preparation for Card Club which I will teach on Monday.  I wanted to create a card which would work of Valentines, Wedding or Anniversary.  I decided to use paper heart doilies.  The designer papers I had selected were all in the warm tones so I wanted to warm up the white doilies. I pulled out my trusty Tim Holtz Distress Stain Antique Linen to just change the color a bit.  This is what I got! Green!!  Needless to say I had to change my strategy to one that would work with white hearts. 
After a search on line I found this post which identifies the same problem. The Tattered Rose has turned green as well.  Once I check all my bottles I guess a call to Ranger will be in my future.
UPDATE:  My replacement bottles of Tim Holtz Distress Stain arrived today, March 3, 2016.  Ranger provides great customer service and stands by their products.

I store my 12x12 designer paper in plastic drawer organizers.  One drawer holds my DSP scraps, in hopes that they will be used in another project.  This week I just had to clear out the paper scraps I was never going to use.  Some of these I have been looking at for at least 5 years and every time I would come and look for a scrap I would see them.  I was able to let go of them this week and put them in a bag headed to the ReUse Centre.  I'm sure some teacher looking for scraps for her grade 1 class will appreciate a nice collection of small pieces which can be cut up into a mosaic, a paper strip project or something else which I can't even conceive.  I can close the drawer with out doing the shuffle.  I can easily see what I have because this is much less of it, and I'm feeling lighter.
The next task in the de-stashing is gift wrap rolls.  More about that later.

Submitting to Share Your Cup hosted by Carol at Art and Sand.

R2G Card Kits - SU - Festival of Trees

Another Ready2Go Card kit for a kid's Christmas Party!

This kit has a Ruby Red card base.  I cut the greeting layer to 4.00W x 5.25T and created it with the Festival of Trees Stamp Set.  The tree outline is included on this layer.  I provided a white triangle tree cut to 2 7/8 W X 3 7/8 T onto which strips of Certainly Celery card stack was adhered.  Once I was happy with I just trimmed the green to the edge of the white triangle with scissors.  I adhered the strip tree onto the card front using the outline printed on it for alignment. The gold glitter stars were cut with the Sizzix Stars#2 die. I trimmed the pot with scissors leaving a small border all the way around. I adhered sequins on my tree then added the gold glitter star and the red pot with 3D foam tape.

I provided plenty of green strips and sequins to meet any kid's desire.

Card Club - Sept - DSP Strips

This is a great versatile design.  You need Doubl e Sided Designer paper where the both sides work well together.  Cut a piece to 4" x 5.25" then cut it down to seven .75 inch strips.  Decide which will be the center strip and reassemble the paper flipping every other one and tape together on the back. This can then be adhered to coordinating card stock.  Rip a strip of coordinating cardstock and glue across the bottom third.  Glue the centres on the flowers then place the flowers as you choose.

Craft Room - Clock - Paper Crafting Improvement

Here's the other find at the Thrift Store.  I've been looking for one for quite a while.  I've chosen black for my craft room and the clock I had was ivory. It's been following me around for decades but it was classic round with good size numbers. Classics last forever!  I digress.
This one was large and the numbers easy to see.  I did have to make some adjustments to it. The hands were not solid which made it harder to see them. So I just cut narrow stripes of black card stock, applied adhesive to both ends and applied them to the back of the hand.  Now I have 2 solid clock hands which make the clock are really easy to read. I'm a happy crafter!

DSP Strip Background - HB

Here's another try at the DSP Strip background. This time I cut the DSP to 4.00 x 5.25 inches then cut the strips at .75" wide.  This worked much better but it's not a scrap buster idea because you need a large piece to start.  You can see that having a centre strip the opposite color of the end ones works well.
Once the strips were cut I laid them side by side and taped them together on the back.  I rubbed the edges with an dark green ink pad to add definition. I wrapped a piece of moss green satin ribbon across the bottom half and taped the ends to the back. I then adhered this layer to an ivory card. I used a SU Decorative Label punchie with a greeting which I rubbed it's edges with a pink ink pad. I added a velvet hydrangea and smaller silk flower to the top left hand corner held in place with a green mini brad.

Card - Butterfly Birthdays

I made these cards for my monthly card exchange.  I was working on a concept for a background.  I cut stripes of double sided paper on my paper cutter then reverse every other one and reassembled the piece.  The math did not quite work out so I ended up with only 6 strips instead of 7 which is an odd number and would have worked better.  I will have to work on it some more.  I cut down the piece to get proportion I needed for the card.  Layered it onto a coordinating piece of card stock and then added to the orange card front.  I added a Martha Stewart butterfly punchie in the top left hand corner and a stamped greeting in the bottom right. I used a corner punch to add a bit of something to the rectangular greeting.

How To: Serendipity Paper with Paper Strips

This is a great way to use scraps of designer paper and make paper you can you in card making, scrap booking, mixed media projects.

Collect a bunch of scraps of designer paper. I chose similar colored pieces but just think about the result. Red, green and gold for Christmas. Easter paper with yellow, purple and green.  You get the idea. I cut my paper down to .75" strips.  Start by laying out the strips and making sure the same colored pieces are not too close together and your joins between strips are not too close. Once you are happy with your lay out start gluing the strips down.  I started in the top left hand corner and glued strips on the diagonal.  Let your strips fall off the edges of the card stock.  Once all well glued, press until good and dry.  Turn the paper over and you will see the jagged edges.  Trim the paper strips to edge of the card stock. Use as you will.  I made these cards with mine.

This is a great scrap buster technique.

Card Club - Sept - DSP Paper Strips

I started with a white card.  I selected several strips of designer paper in purple tones.  I trimmed as needed to go across the card nicely.  I flagged the ends but they could just be cut at an angle.  These were adhered to the card front aligning the tops as shown.  I added a strip of solid card stock in a coordinating purple color.  I added a color printed greeting on top of the solid.  I added a couple of silk flowers in purple and white held in place with a purple brad.  This is a great scrap buster technique but it's a bit time consuming as each card has different solids, flower, and brads.

Cards - Herald Angels

I made a bunch of these cards for a customer. I designed the card front with a heralding angel from Dover. I was fortunate that I could change the color of these images, so I coordinated the angel color with the strip of paper I added on the left hand side.  I selected foil paper in all cases.  I had the request not to have sticking out from the card front so brads, 3D foam, rhinestones were eliminated. It was a bit challenging but the design works.

Card - Challenge - HJ - Scrappy Christmas

 I made this card for the challenge at Holly Jolly which is Scrappy Christmas. Encouraging us to use our scraps of paper.
I started with a purple card onto which I adhered a white layer leaving a border.  I found left overs from these cards.  I cut them in various widths and trimmed the bottom ends to a slant.  I glued them to the white layer with the tops being at the same height.  I put a strip of gold glitter paper across the stripes.  I cut the greeting layer with one of the Apothecary Framelit then stamped the greeting in purple.  I then cut another label in card purple, cut it in half and layered those behind greeting. I punched .25 inch circle from the gold glitter and glued them into the bump on the greeting.

R2G - Christmas Paper Strips

This is the same sketch to the one I made for my last Card Club but with Christmas colors.  I wanted to make some with red card stock with green strips and green card stock with red strips.  I dug through my scraps tray and just pulled red and green in put them in piles.  Then I selected a few that went together well and cut them them giving me some variety in length and width of strips.  Then I laid them down on the card to decide how many I needed to go across.  I cut a strip of white to go cross then I cut a v shape in the ends.  I thought it was important to make sure the points were on the strips.  I glued the strips down then the horizontal white strip.  I punched card stock to match the card with the Stampin Up! Decorative Label punch.  I color printed the greeting then cut it with my Creative Memories oval cutter and glued it to the label.  I mounted the label with 3D foam tape.  I think they turned out really well. Check out my Christmas Card Kits page.