I don't ALWAYS use leftovers to make cards - not ALWAYS!

For instance, for today's card I used TWO new stamp sets and another bird from the new set of chipboard diecuts mentioned yesterday. One of the new stamp sets is the greeting at the top of the plum panel and the other is the weedy branches at the bottom (one of Tim Holtz's sets). I stamped both in More Mustard Distress Ink and added Stickles to the weeds to match the bird which already had glitter. The plum panel WAS from the scrap bin, I must admit. But the embossed music panel was sent by a friend. I mounted the plum panel with foam tape and used a golden card base to match the bird and stamping.

Yes, only one card to share today as I don't have that many cards made with only NEW materials. LOL!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

I save old greeting cards.

No surprise there, eh?

Well, today will show you WHY!

This first card is made from an embossed 'thank you' note card (center panel) and an anniversary card (two embossed hearts). The hearts had the gold foiling already on them and matched the panel exactly. I just trimmed close around the hearts leaving a tiny bit of cream border. Then I mounted one flat on the background and popped one up on foam tape. I cut a piece of shiny metallic gold cardstock to back the panel and actually had a folded card base with the same irovy tone. It looked a little too matchy-matchy so I added tinted acrylic domed heart stickers to the corners and the hearts. AWESOME!

Not quite as impressive is this one made using the front of an old greeting card. I cut it down and rounded the corners to fit on a dusty rose folded card base. I had just bought a package of these diecut chipboard birds (Studio 112 - $1 bin at JoAnn Fabrics) and popped one onto the branch. The text is cardstock stickers.

And that, my friends, is why I save old greeting cards.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Thursday, 14 July 2011 9:42 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Yeah, we're up to 'N' in paper embroidery through the alphabet. I found a pattern for a narcissus in the one book I own on paper embroidery and decided this was 'the one' to do.

I selected a purple cardstock (Yes, it is purple - pay no attention to the blue in the photo) and stitched it up in orange, yellow and green. I followed instructions from a blog I follow on how to use a standard border punch to punch out a frame. Then I cut the stitched panel to fit inside and layered them together.

I mounted these over green folded card base and added an orange cardstock sticker. (the sticker says 'reflect')

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Another place I like to get illustrations for using on cards is from my junk mail.

This is a portion of a full-page photo that I cut down. I layered a vellum dictionary entry over it with green flower brads and added vellum flower stickers. This is layered on a blue cardstock and a green card base:

This illustration is from a magazine and I added a string of wooden charms down the right side. I rounded the left corners of both the illustration and the card base. I punched a small hole at the upper left and threaded the string of a printed tag through it. The tag was then glued along the left edge of the photo:

This illustration is also from a magazine and I cut it to the same size as the vellum panel andlocked them together with red star brads. I made a background of wood panel print and denim print, layered the velum panel over and punched through all the layers with a star punch. The dark blue from the folded card base shows through:

From a magazine I got a large illustration of tree branches and got two panels from it. For this first one I added a square vellum panel with brass brads, layered it over a brown panel and orange folded card base. The green text is a sticker:

The other half of the picture I used a horizontal band of vellum and just turned it to the back to adhere it. I mounted over a green patterned cardstock and a yellow folded card base:

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

I gathered up a bunch of illustrations from an old calendar to make cards for today.

I used the OWH sketch #74 for this first one. I used table scraps for the background strips and cut the illustration with a nestabilities die. The text is a clear sticker:

Most of the illustrations in this calendar are of birds. However, I did have one of squirrels that I thought was pretty cute. I cut it top and bottom with a new border punch and layered with some table scraps that had fancy cut edges. The text is a cardstock sticker:

I used a printed vellum panel over this illustration and attached it with brads right through the patterned background. The yellow text block is a cardstock sticker:

I treated this one with a velum panel as well - this one with a dictionary entry for 'happiness'. Patterned background cardstock and a cardstock text sticker finish it off:

It's a good thing I get a new calendar every year, as I really like the pictures they present.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Assignment: Make back to school cards

(Yes this is a belated posting)

I had some sets of stickers that fit the 'school' theme so that's what I started with.  This first one got a stamped background using my hand-carved crayon image. I placed two stickers on yellow cardstock and trimmed to leave a tiny border. These are popped up on foam dots. I added the word 'school' in rubon letters and cut out the word 'spirit' from a scrapbook paper. The pencil is a sticker and I turned it into an exclaimation point with the addition of a rhinestone. The yellow border all around is the folded card base:

I moved on to a set of stickers that depicts school notebooks. I framed each out in yellow cardstock. For the background I started with a navy blue card, layered a denim print paper, then ablue with script and swirls, then a strip of dictionary print card. Each of these was distressed with 'ole paper' ink before layering. I found someletter stickers with the notebook image and used these to write 'student' at the bottom. Round stickers spell out 'star' at the top and I added a star paperclip as well. This panel was mounted to a yellow card base and the three tags were popped up on foam dots:

Finally, I used OWH Sketch #75 to create this card on a blue card base with a light green panel over it. Strips of text and script papers run horizontally and a red accent strip makes the vertical. Three framed tags overlay the red strip with only the bottom one popped up on foam. The text at the upper left is from a sticker sheet:

These were sent to OWH.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

A tutorial on the OWH Stars and Stamps blog showed the layout for these sunburst cards. I made 18 of them using just table scraps, ribbons (mostly scraps) and some leftover elements from previous projects.

I first cut all the burst pieces and then divided them up into sets of papers that went together. These were glued down and then a bottom strip was selected and cut. These were glued to a base cardstock that matched or contrasted, ribbon was selected and attached with glue dots. Embellishments were added before the panel was attached to a folded card base.

The first three use silk flowers and brads over dircut circles for the embellishments:

And then there are a bunch of miscellaneous embellishments like stamped and colored images, stickers, printed images, die cuts, etc.:

And there you have it.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

For a ladies' retreat coming up I needed to make 60 little books for the ladies to take notes during the sessions. I've made these books before but they always used a cutout/insert of a triangle. We wanted a star on the cover because of our theme so I was going to use my new star punch (this is actually why I bought it).

I made a couple of models using different materials so I could see how the star would fit. It did NOT fit on the one made of denim print paper so I finished it up with a plain circle punch and glued a gold button in place. Then I did the front fold taller on the next sample so there would be room for the star and changed up the way the inside of the cover is finished to make it cleaner.

When I got the logistics sorted out I wrote out the steps and set up an assembly line for myself and completed the 60 books for the retreat. I cut up two large gold holographic bags from the dollar store for the inserts behind the star punch outs.

Each book has 6 sheets of paper which, when folded and stitched into the center, gives 24 writing surfaces.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

On the road to creating a paper embroidery card for every letter of the alphabet, today's assignment is the letter L. For this I used a free pattern from Joke de Vette to create this beaded lamp.

The colors are SO far off on this photo, though. The background is actually orange, the upper beads and threads are gold and the lower beads and threads are silver.

If you can turn off your 'color filter' while you look at this card, I think you'll like it.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

In the clearance bin at my local craft store they had piles of this one stamp.

I have no number stamps so I'm thinking I can butcher this set and use the digits separately. I mean, look at the price!

When I got it home I realized why there were so many. This actually is designed to clip on to some sort of a wheel and be used as a self-inking background.

So I set to with a pair of sharp mini-scissors and cut out the individual numbers.

They were pretty close together so it took some finesse to keep from snipping a part of the border away. It helped to bend the sheet to make the numbers bulge out when cutting where they were close.

As I snipped out each number I placed them in their new storage, the inside of a CD case.

When the whole set was cut I placed a few digits at a time on an acrylic block and stamped on scratch paper. Then I circled the bits I missed cutting off with red pen.

I pulled these off the acrylic block and did some additional surgery on them to clean them up and stamped again.

Perfect! Here is the whole set which I will be able to use for birthday, anniversary and holiday cards. Ooooh, I just thought of another project for these. I've been planning to make a set of countdown blocks and these will be perfect!

I even salvaged a couple of bits of the background 'noise.

What a great lot of use I will get out of my $1.97 investment.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

I acrually started this card as a scrap recovery but the focus ended up differently.

I began with a calendar picture of a field of yellow flowers and punched three times and rounded the corners. I chose a bright yellow background cardstock and lined up the punched blocks across the top. This was very bright and very stark so I pulled out a flower silhouette stamp and applied it four times across the left. I extended the stems to make them uneven.

I wanted to keep the casual feel this had so chose to stamp a greeting in a loose script.

Just to add a little interest in color I added red stickles dots to the centers of all the stamped flowers.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

I pulled these little cupcakes off an old birthday card years ago and have been waiting for the right opportunity to use them. Today is the day!

On a cream folded card base I created stripes using 6 pieces of table scraps - most of which are dotted. I lined up the little cupcakes and then added a gold peeloff text greeting and butterfly.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

As part of a swap of diecuts some time back I was given a butterfly cut from a folded base. It was the perfect size to make a card so that's what I did. I covered the entire surface with crumpled tissue with a rose imprint. Then I covered that with lots of scrolly gold peeloff stickers and some gold peeloff butterflies.

The back layer is slightly larger than the front leaving a border showing all around. You can't see it in the photo because of the way the card is standing, but the back layer has a gold border using a Krylon marker all around. This gives a gold border to the front when the card is closed.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

A group I belong to challenged us with a card sketch. I made mine from table scraps and a bit of bling all in blues, purples and silver. The text is a printed vellum panel.

I used a Dazzles sticker under the butterfly.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Time for another sketch challenge from Operation Write Home (actually completed in June). Here is the sketch we were to use:

Here are the nine cards I made from this sketch using table scraps:

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Challenge: Make cards using only Purple and Green

Well, I'm up for that. I pulled out a variety of supplies in the assigned colors and came up with three very different cards.

The first uses a square punch on printed medallions, background paper and two colors/widths of sheer ribbon. I used a clear sticker for the text in the center medallion.

Next up is a card made with a metallic printed vellum panel recovered from an old greeting card. I applied some floral stickers to the base paper and attached the vellum over the top, wrapping to the back to adhere. I gave it a green shimmer frame and mounted on violet cardstock. The finish was to adhere glittery floral acrylic stickers and dots to the flower centers.

Lastly, I used a large cardstock sticker and mounted it on a green frame of cardstock. I covered a green cardstock base with printed tissue paper and popped up the diamond piece on foam tape. The text panel is a cardstock sticker and two additional floral stickers were added as accents.

And that's the way you use Purple and Green.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Having just made an Iris Folded iris I decided to take this in a different direction. I used a Stampin' Up image and stamped it three times on watercolor paper. I used an aquabrush on the lead of watercolor pencils to pick up the color to paint on the image, including a background for the flowers.

I stitched a border onto pebbled glittery cardstock using yellow thread, then used a scalloped Nestabilities die to punch out an oval in the center. The colored image was mounted behind this.

The framed image was adhered to a yellow folded card base.

Well, I liked this treatment so much that I repeated it three more times! The rest use shimmer paper instead of pebbled/glittery. Here is one using green paper, yellow thread, and a purple folded card base:

For this one I changed to Rust cardstock (because of the coloring of the iris) and golden yellow thread. I added an orange patterned cardstock border and mounted on a green cardstock base:

For this last one I had stamped the flowers in a different arrangement which was too wide for the oval aperture. So I gave it a different stitched border and a different cut-out shape. Layers of green and purple make up the framing.

None of these cards are getting greetings as they can then be sent for any occasion - including the 'stitch through the alphabet' swap.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 20 September 2011 3:38 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Assignment: Make a card combining Paper Embroidery with Iris Folding

I made my own iris folding pattern for an iris several years ago and pulled it out for this card. I used a pebbled glittery cardstock for the main panel and completed the flower in folded tissue before pricking out the border. This border is actually bits and pieces from a template I got in a swap. I usedgreen threads on the top to echo the stem and leaves and used yellow on the bottom to echo the top of the iris.

I rounded the corners of the main panel as well as a dark purple shimmery paper as a backing. This is mounted onto a light purple folded card base. Both the purple layers match those in the flower.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Sometimes an idea just pops in my head and I have to go try it right away. Such is the case with today's project.

Question to myself: I see everyone making those cool pleated rosette flowers. I wonder if it would work to cut a strip of cardstock and punch it with edge trimmer, pleat on the bumps and valleys.

Answer: Yes it does work to some extent. The issue is really the 'spread' of the design in the border punch. The one I had at hand folded at just under 1/2 inch making for a very tall bloom.

Solution: Find another use for it instead of a card. So I added a rhinestone on a stem to the center, mounted the pleated flower on a big glue dot. To this was added three gold paper leaves (left over from cake decorating days), and two strips of ribbon. I backed this with another glue dot and backed it with a punched circle. Another punched circle got slots cut into it and a pin back fed through. Then glue dots hold whis circle to the rest of the pin.

Here is the result:

Cute, eh? But being paper it won't be durable. I wore it once and it looks nice, though. If I were to do another I might leave off the pin back and use it to decorate a gift box as a permanent 'bow'.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:00 AM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

As we continue down the Alphabetical Stitching challenge, I chose to do E is for Egg. I colored the Color Me paper forst with distress ink and stamped the text background on it. Then I pricked out the design (I left off some other foreground flowers inside the egg. After stitching I used Copic markers to color inside (yellow) and outside (grey) the egg.

I had the plaid printed cardstock on hand and mounted it over yellow folded card for the base. Then the main image is raised up on foam squares over that.

I had set aside the recently stitched koi to serve as F is for Fish so the next one up in this challenge will be G.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Monday, 30 May 2011 3:06 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink