A couple of people sent in a request for me to explain how I made the metal flower in my post on August 30th. The flower is actually a great way to use up some trash!! If you burn disposable tea light candles....then start saving them....because they have another use!
Start with a disposable candle that was burned down.
Empty out the wax that was left on the inside after the candle burned down. From experience...do not use your scissors as the metal is so thin it is easy to poke a hole through the bottom. On my second attempt, I used hot water to melt the wax and carefully wiped it dry.
(Added note: Fellow crafter informed me....you can also place the tealight holder in the freezer and the wax will pop right out!! Thanks Shelly for that tidbit!!)
Start clipping the "petals" with a pair of scissors...making sure each cut is done opposite of each other. You will have a better chance of all the petals even in size.
Press down gently in the center. Do not worry about getting it completely flat.
Place your flattened tea light holder into your cuttlebug folder and run it through your Wizard or Cuttlebug
Sponge on the alcohol inks that you chose to use until satisfied. Your flower will dry in just a couple of minutes and will be ready to put on your card.
Add a flower center and it becomes an easy and interesting embellishment for any card!
I hope you all had a wonderful 3 day holiday. I enjoyed the peace and the 3 day break from work!! It is always nice to have an extra day off. This weekend I worked with the image "Change the World" for my Nature Walk Weekend. This image reminds me of when I was a child...as a family we would go on picnics....dad always spent time fishing and always down by the river we would watch the dragonflys fluttering around.
Emboss image with clear detailed embossing powder and sponge on ink. That simple!!
The yahoo group I belong to had a sketch challenge in July and I am JUST getting around to making my card.
I realized over the weekend that there is ONLY about 90 days left to make my Christmas cards before I start labeling them to be mailed out. That means I have to make an average of one Christmas card a day!!! EEEKKKKK Where did the year go!!!
I decided I might as well turn this sketch into a Christmas Card
We have several of the cutest Christmas Mice Stamp sets at Stamping Palace.
The Mice Set I chose to use for this card is called Lighten Up Mouse Set. I stamped my card with Momento Tuxedo Black, which is a perfect dye ink that will not bleed when you color your image with an alcohol based marker like Copics. Each light bulb has a drop of stickle to make it sparkle a different color. The icicle is from a batch that I made last year and am still using up. Inside the card are words from the same set-"Rejoice in this season of light and love".
To make the icicle border requires only 3 items
Liquid Glue that will dry clear
Fine Glitter
Wax paper
Directions
Tilt your wax paper so your glue will slowly drip down to form icicles as you run a line of glue along the top of the wax paper about the length of your card. Do not put too much glue as your "icicle" will become too thick. You can always go back and add a bit more glue to an icicle to make it run a little longer. Remember-icicles are not the same size.
Now cover the icicles with fine glitter and shake off the extra. Let dry over night and then you will be able to slowly peal the glue icicle off the wax paper. I stored mine after they dried in a box. Last year I was able to make several lines of icicles on big sheet of wax paper and I am still using them up.
Ok...now I am off to go make the next Christmas card.....
I missed my Walk With Nature card last week due to hurricane Netta that hit my craft room......well....not a real hurricane.....it was lil ole Me....as I posted yesterday....I had decided to clean my craft room and I don't have to explain what happens when you decide to "straighten it up and organize".....not a pretty situation!
Anyway, this weekend my card is about a flower. No matter what nature walk I am on...I am always on the lookout for flowers. I can't tell you how many times I frustrated my hiking buddy as I would have to stop to take "the perfect" photo of some tiny flower I spotted.
Todays flower is made from the a disposable tealight candle holder. A very simple card to make.
For the flower center, I punched a hole in the big white brad with my crop-o-dile and inserted a flower brad through the hole. The big brad was attached to the center of the tealight candle flower and before it was tacked down.
I punched a square hole on my card front .
I used my Cuttlebug to get the green leaves and then cut them out. The leaves were glued down onto the card front and the tealight candle flower was glued down on top of the leaves.
Coordinating paper was glued to the inside of the card. With the card closed, I chose the stamp You've Got Mail from the set clear stamps called "Anytime Sentiments" and stamped it through the window so it would be lined up correctly when the card was closed.
That is it!! Very easy!! I made this card while talking on the phone.....that is how easy it is.
Thank you for joining me on my Nature Walk Weekend.........now your turn!!
As promised a few weeks ago...here is the tutorial on how to make the Stand Up card that I did on August 14th 2009 which you can re-visitHERE. I apologize for taking so long but I decided to clean out my craft room ....BIG mistake....HUGE mistake.....it took me forever to get it straighten back up so I could actually use my desk again!
(all photos-if clicked on-will enlarge for easy viewing)
CUTTING AND FOLDING THE BASE OF THE CARD
The finished Stand Up Card measures 6 inches wide x 4 1/2 inches high when folded flat for mailing.
Step 1- Cut one piece of Navy cardstock for the card front 6 inches wide x 4 1/2 inches high and another piece of Navy cardstock for the back 6 inches wide x 8 7/16 inches.
Step 2- Take the Card Back cardstock and measure in from one side and score at 2 inches and 4 inches. (Refer to photo below)
Step 3- Make a valley fold (Refer to photo below)
Step 4- Attach the Navy card front ONLY to the 2 inch fold section. I attached two different photo views.
This is how you fold the card down in order to slip the card into an envelope.
DECORATING AND FINISHING THE TOP OF THE CARD
I cut two pieces of white cardstock..each 5 3/4 inches wide X 4 1/4 inches high. One was for the top of the card and one for the bottom (inside when folded).
I wrapped drywall tape around my brayer...inked it up with navy blue ink and brayered one of the white cardstocks I had cut for the top of the card. It is a technique that I learned from Splitcoaststampers Site. The dark strip of blue was a major boo-boo. I was going to start over until I decided it looked kinda cool so I continued. I attached it to the top of the card.
Next I cut a red piece of cardstock 4 inches wide X 3 1/2 inches high. I wanted to keep with a beachy boat scene so I used my crop-o-dile to put holes on two sides of the red cardstock so that I could string white ribbon and in & out of the holes. I layered a navy blue cardstock on top of the red. For the last layer of red cardstock I ran it through the cuttlebug and then used a brayer of white ink over the top to catch the raised areas (to resemble waves). The Sailboat Martini Image was colored with markers and liquid glass applied only to the martini glass to resemble glass...the rope and sail was layered for a 3-D look and then glued down.
INSIDE/BOTTOM LAYER OF CARD
Take the last white 5 3/4 inches wide X 4 1/4 inches high cardstock.
Measure over from the edge 2 7/8 inches...make a light mark with a pencil. It should be the middle of the cardstock
Measure 2 1/2 inches down from the top to the center of the card so that it is in the middle.
It will be the spot where for a brad, a button, a bead, etc for holding the front of the card so that it stands up. Attach the cardstock to the bottom/inside of the card.
(Refer to photo)
Now finish decorating the bottom layer. The area that is just above the button or brad is where you can stamp your sentiment. After your receiver reads the card, they just have to hook the card front behind the button and display your work of art.
Hopefully this tutorial was easy to understand. If you have any questions...please leave me a message!!
(card folded for mailing)
If you make a card using this technique....I would love it if you shared it with me!!
A few people asked how I made my background to the Feathered Butterfly card so I made another background and took some photos of the steps I used. I kept in mind what an old metal container will look like when it has sat around for awhile...it tends to get a blueish weather look.
(all photos can be clicked on to enlarge and get a better view)
There are very few materials you need to make the weathered background.
Heat Gun
2 Colors of Embossing Powder (I used Gold and Light Blue)
Embossing Pad
Sponge
White Cardstock
Using a sponge to pick up glue from your embossing pad and pat where you want the first color to be on your cardstock. I used the gold first and put it over the entire cardstock but if you enlarge the photo you can see I was not fussy and there are some spots where the gold has not completely covered. It will be covered in the next step.
Heat the embossing powder. You can see by the photograph where I have heated as the embossing powder is melting and becoming shiny.
After your first color has cooled down for a few seconds, use your sponge again to dab the glue down where you want the 2nd color to go.
Pour your second color on top and knock off anything that does not stick. Heat your 2nd color until melted making sure you do not over heat or the first color will bubble up through. If you are not happy with your results, you can add more gold or blue until you get the result you are looking for.
The entire technique takes only minutes and it makes a very interesting background. It is the one time where you do not need an embossing buddy to stop stray particles ...if some stray particles are where you did not add glue, that is ok. (Enlarge photo to get a better look) It gives it an interesting affect. Now your Weathered Background is ready for you to use on your next card!!
I am a huge fan of Nature and Animals so I have decided every weekend I am going to make a card for my new theme called Nature Walk Weekend. I hope you join me every weekend!!
Here is my first card!
I made this card two weeks ago and am just getting around to sharing it with you all. I saw this type of shape on the top of a box and liked it. It took me a while to figure out how to make it! I like it so much that I am going to make a pattern and make more! It lies flat and fits into an envelope with no problem. When open, the top rest against a brad to hold it open. When you lift up the top, there is a verse underneath.
The image is a single Owl Stamp which I stamped in brown ink. I used my Nesties in my Cuttlebug to cut out and mat the image on. The "Forever Flowers" No 6 leaves came from the same company that makes the Prima flowers. I bought a jar years ago and still using the same jar. I thought they went well with the woodsy theme.
Do you all find it as difficult as I do when it comes to ideas on masculine cards?
My father-in-law is a "fix-it" man. There isn't anything he throws away...it can be taken apart, reused and rebuilt so this card was perfect for him.
To begin I needed paper that looked like leather and of course...out of my entire stash I did not have any. Easy to fix...I made my own. A bit time consuming but the result was just what I was looking for...
Wet Brown paperCrinkled wet paper into a tight ballOpened paper up and laid it as flat as I couldSwiped Brown Ink across the creasesIron the paper flat until it driedWiped versamark ink all over it
let dry and cut out my pieces.
Before I glued my pieces down...I used faux stitching along the tool belt pieces and I also inserted my larger and smaller brads to resemble the rivots. I was lucky to find some left over stickers of tools to slip into the pockets!
The only stamping was the word DAD on the tag.
He loved the card very much.
Happy Birthday Dad!
Sympathy card done the Michelle Zindorf way........sort of
The rubber stamps of flowers and the background grass that I used is a Stamping Up set called Inspire by Nature. I used Stamping Up markers to color the flowers-Yoyo Yellow and Chocolate Chip. After stamping the flowers on Stamping Up whisper white cardstock, I re-colored over the images with a VersaMarker and embossed them with clear fine detail embossing powder.
For the sunset..I tried once again to brayer the background. No matter what I do...I cannot get the brayering method that Michelle uses down correctly so I end up sponging all my colors on the cardstock for the sunset. Before I used the darker colors, I temporarily glued down a circle mask for the sun. After all the sunset colors were done, I stamped the grass with brown and wiped it off the flowers. I did not have cardstock to match the ink colors in the sunset so I used brayer on white cardstock in the two colors that I needed to mat the sunset on.
Sunset Ink colors: Stamping Up Apricot Appeal,Pumpkinie,Real Red, Barely Banana, Really Rust & Black
For the green background I had some left over green paper that I used up. The sentiment came from the set Sympathy Sentiments. I stamped another set of flowers and cut one out for an additional flower.
There are many cards being shared on the internet in the papercrafting world with this "new" type of fold. It is called the Tri Shutter Card and you can find out how to make this by going to Splitcoaststampers.com (or use the link to the right) and look up the tutorial. It is a lot of fun and not hard at all....just looks complicated. It folds up nice and small to fit into regular card envelope.
I wanted to share my version even though I made it about 2 months ago. Doc, my husband, needed a card for a co-worker who was moving away. He said everyone who signed the back of the card had to have an in-service on how to fold it LOL. All of the stamps on this card came from a challenge that I won. I really need to pull them out again.
Here is a quick post for tonight. The challenge in the yahoo group I belong to was to make something shiny. This image is called the Peacock Butterfly. Coloring it was easy...turquoise marker and a shiny gold was from a pen. The background, gold and turquoise, was not hard but just a lot of fun to make. I may do more! It also shines but the shine was hard to show up when I took the picture.
Trust me...it was NOT easy!! I kept thinking...all my hard work!!
At work, when someone has a birthday, we all bring in cards. One of my co-workers has a birthday on December 25th and her family has always celebrated it on July 25th so she did not get cheated. We decided to do the same. Someone came up with the idea...let's give her only 1/2 the card! We will save the other 1/2 for December. Great idea right?
Well easy for everyone else...they buy their cards.
So I had to come up with an idea that would be easy to cut so my card started with the idea of using the Stair Step folding technique. That way both pieces would stand up on their own. All my images, except for the lady in the middle section (she was RAK'd to me), came from the set "On the Beach Set" and were stamped on Georgia Pacific (GP) with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Blick Markers. GP along with Memento Dye Inks seems to work best with alcohol markers. No wait time, no bleeding or smudges at all!
For the scene in the background..
1st. I stamped where I wanted my images to be on the GP cardstock and did all the image coloring first.
2nd. I took a scrap paper, held it where I wanted the sand to end and used a marker to color in the sand making sure to color behind the girls a little darker to represent the shading from the sun.
3rd. I moved the scrap paper up to where the ocean and the sky would meet and colored in the water with a marker
4th. I punched out a circle to mask where the sun would be and used removable tape to hold the sun in place
5th. I used plastic piece cut to represent clouds and I used a sponge dabbed with blue ink to make the sky and clouds
6th. I removed my mask and colored the sun in with bright yellow
7th. I stamped Happy Birthday with black ink
The poem was created by my sister Faye and in case you can't read it..here is what it said..
Today we celebrate your birthday
but only half....I fear
Its not really your special day
until the end of the year
One half a card is all you'll get
Put it away where you'll remember
Cuz you don't get the other half
Until your birthday in December!!!
I took the fun one step further and actually cut the card while it was sealed in the envelope making sure the poem remained intact so she would get that 1/2 of the card first. She loved the whole 1/2 theme!!
She said she can't wait to see the rest of my card.
An online friend saw the card and suggested I decorate the 2nd 1/2 with a Christmas theme and I loved that idea!
Thanks Joyce...lots of ideas floating in my head so stay tuned!!
