Ribbon Framed Card

This is the first card I've made since 2010!  In the interim, I've worked a lot and spent a lot of time taking care of my mom, who is now in nursing care.  Because I've been away so long, I really wanted to have many layers and lots of glitter and stamping.  Then I got practical!  So, I started with something to challenge myself without getting too frustrated... and something I could send to my mom.  She loves mail! 

This card also answers a few challenges:
     365 Cards:  4-color challenge
     Cute Card Thursday:  Butterfly Kisses
     Flutter by Wednesdays:  butterfly or fairy
     Card Crafter's Circle:  die cut or dry embossing
     Card Mania:  punches or die cuts

After dusting off EVERYTHING and locating the cutting plates for my Grand Calibur, I started with the Spellbinders scalloped border.  I used tacky tape to keep the ribbon in place on the reverse side.

I used a reverse stenciling & embossing technique for the butterfly.  Dabbed on ink, taped the butterfly to the paper and embossed.  Then I positioned the image within the inside of the Spellbinders scalloped border and cut.

Close up after assembly, with pearls and bling.

Next up, a card for my father.  He's been complaining that he hasn't gotten any handmade cards in forever.  He's right, but that's gonna change!

Supplies:
Cardstock: The Paper Company
Stamps: Inkadinkadoo Personal Impressions - Expressions (sentiment)
Ink: Color Box pigment ink in Cyan
Dies: Spellbinders Butterflies Shapeabilities, Scalloped Edge Frame
Accessories: rhinestones, pearls, ribbon

Birthday Card for Cliffington

I have a great friend who deserves a great birthday card, and I was inspired by something I saw on the Spellbinders blog. I put this together and tore it apart three times before I was happy with it. You know how carpenters measure twice and cut once? Let's just say I'll try to dry fit a lot and glue just once next time!

I've been working on this on and off for a while, and I'm glad I'm finished! In addition to being a card for a special guy, the card actually answers a few challenges:

Creatalicious: 3D

Caardvarks: Birthday

Practical Scrappers: Use supplies you've had more than a year. Hmmm... I think only the broze ink is new!

The card is dimensional, with the medallion raised on pop dots. And it's actually part of the inside of the card. Here's the card open:

It's not a typical card , I'm going to write in atypical circles in the border. Here's a closeup of the medallion. The sentiment is from JustRite, and while hard to see here, I sprayed the Fleur de lis die cuts with gold glimmer mist.

Another angle shows some of the dimension. I used a geometric stamp and clear embossing powder to create more texture on the blue cardstock.

I used a lot of Spellbinders dies for this card. It didn't seem like this many when I was cutting things out! These cut the parts for the front and the window.

I used these dies for the inside.

Here's a look at stamp I used and the image it makes. Blurry, yes! It's not just the picture. I blurred the image when I stamped it, which is why I stamped it again for my project. But I really like the design to create background papers. This stamp is great on gold paper for elegant holiday projects.

Thanks for looking, and I'd appreciate a comment!

Supplies:

Cardstock: The Paper Company, DCWV

Stamps: Just Rite (Just a Note Set), Autumn Leaves (Block Stamps 2), Holly Berry House

Ink: Versamark, Colorbox bronze pigment, Colorbox French blue chalk ink

Dies: Spellbinders Doodle Parts, Scalloped Octagons large, Octagons large and small, Fleur de lis pendant, classic scalloped circles small

Accessories: clear embossing powder, 1/16" and 1/8" pop dots, gold glimmer mist, copper pearls (Queen & Co.), rhinestones, Zig glue

Easy elegance

Don'tcha just love it when a card comes together quickly and looks great?!?
This card is uses the center of the Spellbinders fleur de lis pendant and the Victorian embossing folder from Cuttlebug. Emboss, round corners, stamp sentiment and punch, die cut red metallic and cream cardstock, assemble... and done!

This answers several challenges:

Meljen Designs: silver and gold

Just Us Girls: dry embossing

Cute Card Thursday: no designer paper

Stampin for the Weekend: make someone smile

Crafty Creations: black, white and red

It was hard to photograph the metallic red paper. It is really a fire engine metallic red. I used pop dots to create some dimension.

Here's another closer look. This medallion is created with two white cardstock die cuts and one red metallic.

Supplies:

Cardstock: The Paper Company

Paper: Canford gold

Dies/embossing: Spellbinders fleur de lis, Cuttlebug Victorian embossing folder

Stamp: Studio G

Ink: Stazon black

Accessories: pop dots, corner rounder, 3/4 inch circle punch

Pink Birthday

UPDATE: I'm so proud that this card was chosen as one of the Top 5 in the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge at Hope Stamps Eternal. Click here to see the other fabulous creations!

Here's a fun card for my boyfriend's daughter. She went to prom last weekend and she's graduating from high school in June. She's getting ready for college in the fall, but first, she celebrates her 18th birthday in just a few days. She's a girly girl who loves pink and purple, so this is just her style.
To keep the tension, I tied the clips together with narrow ribbon behind the main image, which is colored with watercolor pencils. The colors were blended with damped cotton swabs.

This layered card answers several challenges:

Pile It On: photo inspiration
Secret Crafter: Metal
Stampin Moments: scallops
Hope Stamps Eternal: cupcake inspiration
Spoon Full of Sugar: Cute and girly
Stamp Something: Celebrate something
ABC: U is for Unused Stash (swirly stamp)
KL Stampin and Scrappin: Animals
Stampavie: pink
Gingersnap Creations: pencils
Practical Scrappers: patterned papers

My point of departure for the design comes from 2 Sketches 4 You.

Here's a better look at the layering and the embossing.

I have only recently started using clear embossing powder. Love it! Plus, there are fewer problems with stray specks, which can be an issue when using colored embossing powders.

Supplies:
Cardstock: The Paper Company

Paper: Tinted Medallions, reverse of Drooping Vines (Rose Colored Glasses Collections -GCD), Dennison sketchbook/watercolor paper, gold Canford
Stamp: Hearts Away (Penny Black), So Swirly Stampin’ Around Wheel (SU)
Ink: Stazon black, VersaMark
Accessories: Staedtler watercolor pencils, clear embossing powder (Stampendous), pop dots, curly paper clips, ribbon, rhinestones

Embossed and Fussy Cut

I got some new stamps in the last couple of weeks and I got to use them on this card! I picked up the medallion stamp on my way to see my mom for Mother's Day last week. It was stamped with VersaMark, heat embossed with clear embossing powder then fussy cut. The colors are the inks in the unembossed spaces. The backgrounds florals are from a clear stamp set I bought with a gift certificate I won in a blog hop a couple of weeks ago. YAY! I double stamped the images to create extra depth, which is (of course!) hard to see in the picture.

The card answers these challenges:

Card Positioning Systems: Sketch
ABC: U is for Unused Stash
Papertake: Shiny, Sparkly and Special
Pixie Dust: cut it out
Crafty Card Makers: Distressing
Your Next Stamp: cut it out and pop it up
Tuesday Taggers: Do something different (heat embossing for me!)
MelJen's Designs: Flowers and Blooms
The Secret Crafters Saturday Challenge: 3 embellishments, 2 papers, 1 image

The central image is raised on pop dots. Here's the medallion up close:

And another angle:

Thanks for visiting. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!


Supplies:
Cardstock: Michael's
Paper: Hot Off the Press (Purple Sponged), Basic Grey (Marrakech-Sencha)
Stamps: Starburst Lace (Hero Arts), Kind Deeds (Clear and Simple Stamps)
Ink: VersaMark, Color Box pigment ink (scarlet, orange, violet, cyan), Color Box chalk ink (Warm Violet), Stampin’ Up (Bordering Blue), Tim Holtz distress ink (antique linen)
Accessories: pop dots, corner rounder, ribbon, pearls, clear embossing powder

Birthday Blues

I'm never blue about my birthday because it means cake and presents. But this CARD features several shades of blue. The card is based on this Flourishes Timeless Tuesdays sketch, which I turned sideways:

The card also incorporates design challenges from some other sites:

Caardvarks: Monochromatic cards

Creative Belli Blog: Die cuts

Raise the Bar: Favorite color

Secret Crafter: distressing
A Spoonful of Sugar: birthday

I love blue, teal and purple. I guess you could say my favorite color depends on my mood.

Here are some closer looks.

HINT for bling word stickers: Cover the whole word with clear low tack tape then lift from the sticker backing. Then you can position the word as you like without losing the shape!

The numbers were embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and then sanded. I used Core'Dinations cardstock that has a lighter blue core. I think it's much easier to sand and expose a different color than to ink so much real estate on a card.

I created the medallion by cutting and embossing with Nestabilities circles then decorating the top and bottom with an EK Success border punch. Then I backed the punched area with coordinating cardstock.

Supplies:

Cardstock: DCWV, Core'Dinations, The Paper Company

Dies/Embossing: Spellbinders circles, Cuttlebug Numbers

Accessories: EK Success Scroll & Dots punch, emery boards for distressing, Studio 18 rhinestone word, pop dots

Spring Bling

Here's a spring card based on the bonus sketch for 2Sketches4You.

The card also incorporates several other challenges.

Pile It On: Spring is Here

ABC Challenge: S is for Sparkle

Little Red Wagon: Ruffles

Scrappy Frogs: Pick 3 (die cuts, embossing, sponging)

KL Stampin n Scrappin: Color challenge (browns, greens, and white)

Here's are closer looks at the bling, butterfly and ruffle. I inked the Cuttlebug folder with a sponge before I embossed, which created a softer look than inking after embossing.

It's easy to see the green on white on the butterfly when the pictures are bigger. Just click to enlarge.

If I had it to do over again, I would have sprayed the brown cardstock with gold glimmer mist... if the sprayer hadn't been clogged!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill, The Paper Company

Paper: The Paper Company, Paper Pizazz

Dies/embossing: Cuttlebug butterfly

Accessories: ribbon, rhinestones

Ink: Color Box ice jade chalk ink

Lavender Butterfly

This card is a combination of the plum/lavender/cream color challenge at The Play Date Cafe and this week's bonus sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You.

Here's a closer look at the embossing and the butterfly.

Supplies:

Cardstock: The Paper Company, ANW Crestwood

Paper: Paper Pizazz

Stamp: Studio G

Ink: Color Box Wisteria chalk ink

Dies/Embossing: Spellbinders Circles small, Spellbinders Butterflies, Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder

Accessories: EK Success Scroll & Dots punch, pop dots, pearls, Ink Elementz metallic gel pen