I had several papers that were predominantly pink and combined them in a variety of configurations while keeping the folded base cards all pink.

These first three all use a holly print and a village and I added a strip of multi-patterned stripe crosswise. On the first card I cut a night sky scene from an old card to place Santa above the village. This is popped up on foam tape and I added a clear sticker greeting.

On the next one I added a piece of the musical tissue tape and a color clip-art of Santa with kids. The lower greeting is a clear sticker. Then for the last one I added two strips of tissue tape and a 3D sticker wreath. There is a clear sticker greeting to the right of the wreath.

With a different paper combination (kept the holly and added a dark swirl paper) I cut out an image from the page-a-day calendar and backed it with a shimmery paper matching the blue in thepapers. This was popped up on foam tape and a clear sticker greeting was added. Then for the second card I cut an image from an old card, popped it up on foam tape and added Stickles glitter to the wings and tail fo the dove. The greeting on the lower right is a clear sticker.

For the next set I kept the dark swirl paper and added an ornament print. The ornament on the first card is from the page-a-day calendar and is mounted on foam tape over the backing square. I used a thin gold border sticker to create a hanging thread. The other card has two irridescent angel stickers and a clear sticker greeting.

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

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The swirling dots pattern and the tree print are actually reverse sides of the same piece of cardstock. Certainly ensures that the colors will match!

The first is embellished with an image cut from an old card with a Nestability die. I added a stripe of burgundy cardstock behind it for contrast. The second uses an image from the page-a-day calendar, bordered with a green paper and popped up on foam tape.

These both gor green card bases to echo some of the tree colors.

Ddd

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

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The hardest thing in using a multi-directional print is deciding which image you want to feature! That is surely the case with the deer print. On the other hand, they all have bows or wreaths around their necks so it was easy to decide on the embellishment!

For these two I used 3D wreath stickers and nothing else. The gold printed paper creates the message.

Choosing to feature the images in burgundy, I used that color of print for the alternate blocks. I chose the wreath from a clear sticker sheet and found that the round printed greeting from the same sheet was a perfect counterbalance.

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

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Combining some paper from the poinsettia print with these hexagon snowflakes was a matter of color choice. Even the dotted paper carries that same teal which I also echoed in the choice of card base.

The large image is a vellum sticker and ther greeting is a clear sticker.

Unusual?

Ddd

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

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Did you notice? This isn't scrap recovery! I actually used all new product for these (OK, most of them).

These cards are a mixture of layouts and some of the papers are different. The common element is they are using the light version, the green version, or the black version of a poinsettia print. (well, something has to tie them together).

This one uses the black version of the paper along with a diamond plaid and a strip of a light text print. I added a cardstock sticker tag and trimmed it with a fold of green ribbon and a thick acrylic text greeting.

This one uses stripes of the black and the light versions of the paper that were scrap after cutting other parts out. I layered some clear stickers to create the pinecone wreath and added a greeting sticker from the same set.

This card uses the green version of the poinsettia print and is combined with a light text print. From that same sticker sheet I used a tag with a poinsettia on it and then added another poinsettia sticker to the upper left. I gave it a thick acrylic greeting sticker.

Both of these use the black and light versions of the paper and also both use the same stickers. The tag, the extra poinsettia on the tag and the greeting at the upper left are all from the same clear sticker sheet. I used a black folded card base on both of these so they will require a liner to write the inside message on.

This is the one card I used a recovered scrap on. I used the green background and some of the light text print. I tore a silhouette photo from a magazine, added a clear text sticker to the upper right and wrote script text on the lower left.

Ddd

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

Updated: Thursday, 1 September 2011 7:16 PM PDT

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The patterns and colors on these papers are SO not Christmas-y so I selected a blatantly holiday image to get them in the spirit!

These gingerbread men are from the page-a-day calendar and were cut out to include their printed borders. I mounted them up on foam tape.

In case there was any confusion as to the intent, I added thick acrylic greeting sticker on the lower right block.

Ddd

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

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Some patterned paper packs contain a sheet or two that combine all the papers in a stripe. I cut these up in an even grid and mounted them abutted together with some of the gold-on-gold text.

That made a pretty lively background so I kept the embellishment simple. Each of these has an image from the page-a-day calendar which I bordered with colored paper. All except the triple ornaments are popped up on foam tape.

I also added a doodle line to the tree to coordinate with the black border on the image.

Ddd

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

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OK, technically the paper is red and the bitty snowflakes are white... I combined this paper with a vintage-look paper of kids playing in the snow.

From a page-a-day scrapbooking calendar I got these cute stocking images. There were two of them so I made use of both. They are trimmed close with a craft knife and mounted to a rectangle of golden-tone paper. I rounded the corners and drew doodle lines around the edge before mounting.

Since I had no more of the stockings I cut this greeting block from the front of an old card, rounded the corners and mounted it up on foam tape.

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I've had this printed text paper hanging around for years - gleaned from the inside of a large mailing envelope. It was a little too stark for the printed paper so I used Old Paper distress ink on it. Then in the country painting pattern book I found three snowman images to use, cut them out, colored with watercolor markers and applied with a golden border paper underneath for contrast.

You can see that, on these cards, the pieces were cut with the original grid measurements, but I sometimes arranged them differently.

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

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Yes, the Christmas Card Parade is starting already!

I really liked the recent Operation Write Home sketch (83) and thought it word work well for creating a variety of card bases out of all the scraps of Christmas cardstock I had left over from last year. These could be embellished in various ways - stickers, cutouts from old cards, stamped images, etc. Some of the pieces were even cut to different dimensions to create a symetrical grid instead of the original off-center one. I sometimes left space between the papers and sometimes butted them together. When I had used up the big pieces I combined the scraps to make more cards with different layouts. So, I think I have enough to show from now til Christmas - but I have to show several each day to fit them all in. I'll combine similar projects together to do this.

Let's begin!

I got 4 cards out of this combination of gold-on-gold print and blue stamped snowflakes. These were all cut with the grid pieces even and butted together. The first was decorated with a trio of holly leaves cut from an old card front. Then, from a pattern book on painting country decorating, I clipped and colored these mittens using watercolor markers. They did not have enough contrast from the background so I punched a square of colored paper and mounted it on angle behind.

From the same pattern book I gleaned these two angel images, colored with watercolor markers and affixed one to each of the remaining cards.

Because of the text print in the gold cardstock I did not add any greeting to these cards.

Ddd

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

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Up, Up and Away!

I had this wonderful piece of printed cardstock with swirls and shimmer and it just called out to me to be the sky backdrop for a hot air balloon. The shimmery thread is so close to the card color that it makes a very subtle image. I used a matching folded card base.

I ran across these awesome glittered letters in my stash and they just lent a touch of class to the card.

Ddd

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More of the stitching through the alphabet...

Today we're up to 'T' so I stitched up my Tool pattern. I used a dotted cardstock with a diecut edge. I roughed up the edges with adistressing tool and applied distress ink with a foam applicator to all the edges. The stitching is doen with re, brown and gray threads and a slate blue folded card base was added.

I used bubble letter stickers to spell out TOOL TIME.

Ddd

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Two totally different cards from the scrap bin today.

One of the Goodwill books I bought to cut up had oodles of clip art designed for re-use. I clipped out this bunny and set it on a printed tag that I trimmed down to look like a couch. Crumpled printed tissue over Xyron covered cardstock forms a center panel which is bordered with silver peel-off stickers to separate it from the lavender shimmery background paper. I also added a greeting in silver peel-off stickers.

A travel brochure netted me this lighthouse picture and I worked to echo its colors in borders and panels. I mounted a clear text sticker onto a dark red that was used in the photo border and trimmed it out for use.

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In a supplies swap I was sent these brightly colored vellum stickers. I ran across a scrap of super-shiny tissue paper and decided to pair the two. I started with a folded card base to match the stickers, crinkled the tissue and it pressed flat onto a cardstock piece covered with Xyron adhesive. This was trimmed up to fit the card base and glued in place. I added the stickers to make it look like they were haphazardly stacked. Each one has an added flower sticker in the bow. The gold peel-off greeting echoes the gold on the packages.

Ddd

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

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I can't remember how long ago I made these serendipity squares, but it may have been years. I ran across them recently and laid them out to work into cardmaking at some point. Today is the day!

I had four of the one-inch squares so I laid them out on a silver metallic cardstock to create a unified piece. Then I created a panel by layering printed tissue paper over a colored cardstock covered with Xyron adhesive. This was trimmed up and layered over a reddish panel and a lilac folded card base. I added silver peel-off bordera and greeting words to complete it.

I also had three serendipity squares about 1 3/4 inches across. I gave these a purple backing and layered with ColorMe papers I had spritzed with color. Two irridescent foil butterfly stickers and a clear text scripture are featured on the right and the whole is mounted to a purple folded card base.

Ddd

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I had some assignments for swaps and sat down to do them all at one time.

First swap was for a 'masculine' card. Though I know of no men specifically that yearn for boats or the ocean my tendency is to gravitate to these themes. I designed this lighthouse stitching many years ago and stitched it up on cardstock that was run through the Cuttlebug with a Happy Birthday folder. I kept the colors in the primary range and gave the card a blue folded base to match the lighthouse.

The next swap was for 'Autumn Flowers". Other than cattails I think this sunflower is the only pattern I have that suits the theme. This was a pattern drawn up by someone on one of the lists I belong to but I always stitch it up differently than the pattern indicates. I stitched it on a 'ledger print' cardstock and added a cardstock sticker text. I rounded the corners of the stitched panel and mounted on a chocolate brown card base.

And finally, for the assignment of "Ethnic" I went with this Eiffel Tower that I patterned after a string art pattern from a library book. It is simplified greatly from the string art but maintains the overall feel. I stitched on a shimmery printed cardstock with a copper thread and added a copper metal text plate.

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Yes, chopping, not shopping. I chopped up a jewelry catalog, cutting out really neat pins to feature on cards.

For this lovely I cut out a dragonfly with my craft knife and layered it on a ColorMe tag and a lively striped cardstock. The words are from a sticker sheet of mix and match phrases.

I selected a black cardstock backing for this and made Cuttlebug distressed stripes on it. A keyboard from the cover of a cardstock pad and a line of musical tissue tape form a backdrop for the flower from the jewelry catalog. The piece is mounted on foam tape. One petal and the center of the flower had rhinestone settings so I added some over the top of those in the picture. I used a deep red card base.

A dragonfly pin was my next inspiration. I set it on a square of printed card from the cover of a cardstock pad. Then, from table scraps, I compiled a collection of like-minded colored papers and cut stripes from them for a background. The feature panel is popped up on foam tape. I added golden stickles to all the rhinestones on the pin and a gold peel-off greeting.

The owl pin was added to a tag from my recent purchase of 'booklets' of tags, though I cut off the bottom for another use and re-rounded the corners with a punch. Because of the black eyes I selected a black accent strip and the black ribbon tied onto the tag. The burgundy printed background is a carker tone of the tag and the bright folded card base picks up the gold in the pin. I added stickles to all the rhinestone spots including black stickles for the eyes. The greeting is a gold peel-off.

I pulled another ColorMe tag as the background for this bird-of-paradise pin. Thr rich colors of the bird are echoed in the blue brocade background paper and the emerald green card base. I added a burgundy strip to anchor the tag and a gold peel-off greeting to the upper left. The rhinestones were again colored with stickles.

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

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Not ONE of the 5 cards I did fit the scketch exactly but they do all use the proper size blocks in the background plus at least one embellishment or focal element. Here is the sketch:

To start with I pulled out some patriotic papers and cut them into the right sizes for the blocks. Then the blocks looked too regimented so I added some other color strips to relax the design a little. For this one I actually used a circle like the design showed but added little ribbon tails and then a definition sticker to it. I also make red doodle lines around the circle to integrate the color better into the rest of the design.

Then I used the same base color blocks but added different accent strips. For this one I used a scarecrow from my parts and starts drawer as the focal element and added a sentiment sticker to the lower block.

I still had small pieces of the original blocks but not enough to make the whole card. So I tossed in some solid color blocks and added a new patterned paper into the mix. This uses a cardstock sticker that looks like a sewn patch.

And in trying to use up the last of those scraps I added in still more patterned papers from the scrap bin and cut an image from a scrapbooking page-a-day calendar for the focal.

With the pattern in my head I went looking for more papers to play with. From the scrap bin I pulled this shimmery printed cardstock and found that it was exactly the right size to create the assigned blocks. The challenge for this was finding matching papers for the backing card and the rest of the elements. I found these vellum butterflies and applied them... good, not great. So I pulled out the silver outline butterflies and placed them as well... getting better, not quite there. Aha! When all else fails, add Stickles! I filled in all the outline butterflies with this glitter glue and added three silver "Happy" greetings to the right edge. Perfect!

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

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When I was looking in the drawer for my metal foil tape for yesterday's projects I ran across a bunch of kits I had made up for a workshop. They were to make 1 1/2 x 2 inch sticky note pads into tiny books.

I pulled out a couple of them and threw them together to put in my box of "quick things to give to someone". They use thin chipboard for the front and back covers and the spine, pieces of giftwrap to wrap the covers, colored paper tape for the spine, and a lining of a different gift wrap. 

This picture shows them pretty close to life sized. I have instructions on making these over on my website.

Ddd

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

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So I was quilting the other day. Actually I had designed a quilted wall hanging and had to work out the assembly as I was going along. I must have been more absorbed in it than I realized because I ended up dreaming up other quilting projects in my sleep.

But the projects I dreamed about were not quilted and they were extremely tiny. In fact, they were made up of 1/4 inch squares of fabric. Some of these squares were even to be cut in two to make itty-bitty triangle pieces. As many of my 'dreamed up' projects do, these worked out exactly like I envisioned. Here are the three projects I ended up with:

A necklace: squares of fabric were backed with Steam-a-Seam 2 then cut into 1/4 inch squares. These were laid out on a backing fabric along with those that needed to be cut into triangles plus a stem piece. They were ironed into place and a brown thread was used to stitch a grid where a real quilt would have had seams. I used more Steam-a-Seam 2 to adhere a backing fabric and trimmed the block down to 1 1/4 inches. This was sandwiched between two pieces of microscope slide glass and the edges sealed with silver foil tape. I adhered a bail with E6000 glue and added a rhinestone on the back of the bail.

A Pin: I used the same technique to adhere the fabrics but started with 1/4 inch strips of color and arranged them in a reversing pattern. Then I turned the block 1/4 turn and cut strips of varying widths. These were arranged from the center out using equal widths on each side and moving them up or down one color block to create a baragello design. I covered the back of a Tim Holtz 2-inch fragment with Glossy Accents and pressed it onto the fabric. When the glue was dry I cut around the piece, attached a silver cardstock to the back and bound the entire thing with silver foil tape. I used E6000 glue to attach a pin back.

A Card: For the last one I just played with strips and tiny blocks to create a fabric block. I created a backing by gluing fabric to a square of cardstock and attached the quilt block to it. This was popped up on foam tape on a scrapbook paper over a folded card base. A sticker text greeting was the finishing touch.

Now back to quilting in real size.

Ddd

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

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