(Video) "No Peeking" Panda Christmas card

Hello everyone, it’s Karen again from @Karens_Kardzz and I’ve got a “No Peeking Panda” Christmas card to share with you today that has a fun inside surprise element.

If you would like to see a video of how I made this card, you can see it in HD HERE.  Otherwise, the video can also be seen down below.

I started this card by cutting a card front that is 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” from white cardstock. The base is 4 1/4” x 11”.

I started working on the card front first so it would have time to dry. I white heat embossed a selection of snowflakes all over the front. I used the snowflakes from Simon Says Stamp “Lots of Snowflakes” set, but you could use whatever you have. Then I ink smooshed the card front with Distress Oxide inks in the colours Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac, and Blueprint Sketch. Once I had this looking the way I wanted it to, I spritzed the front with Tsukineko shimmer spray in Sparkle. I set this aside to dry.

Front of the card with snowflakes

I took my images from three Gerda Steiner stamp sets - Lovely Pandas, Peeking Friends, and Puppy Kisses for Santa.

I used all the pandas, but for the one holding the balloon, I used a baby wipe to remove any ink from the balloon or string. I wanted him to look like he was standing by Santa, waiting for his turn to give Santa a hug!  I coloured all these images with copic markers and I have listed the markers I used down below.

Since I don’t have the dies, I fussy cut out my images. For the Peeking panda and Santa that go on the card front, I didn’t want the copic markers to show through to the inside when you open the card. To get a matching cut, I used temporary tape to adhere another piece of cardstock to the back of my coloured image, and then cut through both pieces of cardstock together.

Cutting through two layers of cardstock

I creased the card base at 2 3/4” in from both ends and then used a bone folder to really crease the folds.

Crease card base at 2 3/4" from both ends

On the inside, I placed the word “Joy” from the Simon Says Stamp set “Stained Glass Greetings” and stamped this in Versafine black ink. I coloured this in with a red Tombow marker so it wouldn’t bleed through to the back. I used a red copic marker and coloured a scrap strip of cardstock. I stamped this with Versamark ink and white heat embossed the sentiment -“May your Christmas be filled with”.  I trimmed this down and adhered it across the word Joy with double sided tape.

I stamped a few more snowflakes on the inside front panels in Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink and then sprinkled them with some Hero Arts Sparkle embossing powder and heat set them.

Then I cut my snowflake card front in half at 2 3/4”. After making sure I had these with the snowflakes lined up the way they were stamped, I adhered these to the front folds of my card base. I placed 1/8” double sided tape along the coloured peeking panda’s paws and placed him on the card front near the top. I glued the matching blank back piece and adhered it to the back of the panda so he was white when you open the card.  I did the same with the peeking Santa, placing tape just on his mittens.

Adhering the back of the peeking Santa

On the inside, I placed my images where I wanted them to be and glued them down into place.   I was careful to keep the standing panda to the right of the front fold. The Santa with the puppy was just slightly on the fold and I had to work to make sure he was creased very well, using a bone folder and pinching the crease. I found I had to keep working at this crease, but it eventually works out.

Showing the crease line with images attached

For the sentiment on the front of the card, I stamped the “No Peeking” from the Peeking Friends stamp set in Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide ink onto white cardstock. I had a die in my stash that I used to partially die cut the ends into fishtails, but you could easily do this with scissors if you don’t have a die. I also cut one slightly longer out of silver foil cardstock and adhered these together. I then used double sided tape to adhere my sentiment to the card front.

I love that this card is still 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” and fits into a regular A2 sized envelope, yet it has such a fun surprise inside and lots of room to write a message. I hope you’ll give it a try!

Copic markers used:

Santa:  E000, E00, R20, R39, R25, R35, YR23, N6, N4, N2, C2, C0
Dog:  E35, E53, E51, R20, G99, G94, G82, YR23
Pandas:  N6, N4, N2, N0, R20, C2, C0

Carolling Pandas with Gerda Steiner’s Lovely Panda and Carol Kittens

Hello, it's Karen here (@karens_kardzz) and I have an interactive Carolling Panda Christmas card to share with you today.  I've used images from Gerda Steiner’s Lovely Pandas stamp set and the Carol Kittens as well. Here's a look at the card.

I love how when you pull out the tab, the panda is singing along with the kittens, but is instead singing "Beary Christmas".  And it looks like the one kitten on the left is really giving him the stink eye!

I think it’s easiest to see the construction of this card on HD video, and you can see it HERE. 

I started my card by making masks of the kittens and the panda as well as the envelope that the panda is holding.  I also made a mask of a snowbank using Lawn Fawn's Hillside border dies.  For the evergreen trees in the background I used Newton's Nook Evergreen stencil and I made a mask of this as well.

I stamped out the kittens on the front of my card, using the masks for the center kitten.  I left room below the kittens to add my sentiment. Then I masked all the kittens and positioned the snow drift mask over the kittens.  I positioned the evergreen stencil over the snowbank and used Distress Oxide Evergreen Bough ink to fill in the trees.  I then applied Nuvo Glimmer paste in Moonstone over the trees.  Once the glimmer paste was dry, I used Copic markers to colour in the kittens.  I have listed the markers I used down below.

To create the tab, I cut a piece of 110# cardstock into a rectangle measuring 2 1/8" x 4 1/2".  I corner rounded 2 of the edges to create the pull part of the tab.  You also need a stopper at the other end, and I made this from a strip of cardstock that was 1/2" x 2 1/2".  I adhered it to the back edge of the tab with 1/8" double sided adhesive. 

Showing the tab construction

I masked off the left, rounded edge of the tab where the word pull will go, approximately 3/8".  I then placed the tab in my stamp positioner and positioned the panda holding the envelope onto the left side of the tab. I used Gina K black amalgam ink to ink up my stamp and then used a baby wipe to remove the heart and inside lines of the envelope. I lightly stamped the image onto the tab and then placed the mask of the envelope over where it should be on the image on the tab.  I then stamped the image again to get a good impression.  I used a copic multiliner pen to go over the edges of the envelope where it hadn't transferred completely.  I then used the music sheet from one of the kittens to stamp onto the "envelope" the bear is holding so it would be a music sheet.  Again, I used a baby wipe to remove any unwanted lines or ink for this.

Showing removal of unwanted lines on the music sheet

 I stamped the word "Beary" from MFT's Polar Bear Pals stamp set, and the "Christmas" from Lawn Fawn's Here We Go A-Waddling set, just to the right of the bear.  I also used this Lawn Fawn set for the sentiment on the front of the card.  The next step was to mask off the bear and position the snowdrift mask.  Once they were in place I created the trees with the Evergreen stencil the same as was done on the front, and finally covered the trees with the Nuvo Glimmer paste. I coloured in the bear with copic markers, and they are listed below.

The last step for both the front of the card and the tab was to mask everything off, including the trees and then I ink blended the sky with Distress Oxide inks in the colours Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet and Chipped Sapphire.  I also ink blended these colours onto a scrap piece of cardstock that was big enough for my sentiment and to die cut the "Pull" letters from.  Once the sky was inked up, I applied Nuvo Shimmer pen to the snowbanks, and the trees.

I stamped "We wish you a merry Christmas" onto the piece of cardstock I had inked in the sky colours with Versafine ink and heat embossed it in white. I fussy cut this out and added fishtail edges to it.  I die cut the word "Pull" from Lawn Fawn's Picture Changer die set and adhered it to the tab, but you could easily stamp the word or place an arrow on the tab.

To assemble the card, you need to make a channel that the pull tab will run along so I positioned the tab where I wanted it to be seen on the front ( roughly parallel to the kittens) and marked this on the back in pencil.   I placed double sided foam adhesive along the top and bottom of the back of my card front, and another strip that would butt up to the stopper end of the pull tab.  I also placed foam tape along the stopper edge of the tab so it couldn't push through to the other side.  Finally, you need to place small pieces of foam tape on the left edge of the card so the tab cannot pull out of the card completely.  The picture below shows placement of the foam tape.

Placement of the foam tape - notice the stoppers at the front and back of the tab

Finally, I removed the backing on the foam tape and keeping the tab in position, turned it over and adhered it to the card front.

So here’s that list of copic markers that I used:

Panda - N6, N4, N2, N0, C2, C0, R00
Kitten on the left - E51, E53, E33, YR27 Scarf - G99, G94, G82
Middle kitten - N8, N6, N2, N0 Scarf - B04, B02, B00
Kitten on the right - N4, N2, N1, N0 Scarf - RV 25, RV 14, RV 21
Hats - R39, R29, R35
Music sheets - Y21
Sky “fill in” - V12

Whew!  I know that's a long post, but this is a fun card and I hope you’ll give it a try.  Truly, I think it's easiest to just watch the video for the best explanation of how to make this one.

Joy to the World with Create a Smile Stamps

Hello again!  I’ve got a very sparkly Christmas card today that I’ve made with a stamp set from Create A Smile stamps as well as one of their stencils.

I started by positioning the Wave of Snowflakes stencil on my card front. I inked it lightly with Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass ink and then applied Tonic Nuvo Glimmer paste in Moonstone over it and let it dry.   

Then I stamped the world image onto 110# cardstock with Gina K amalgam black ink and coloured it in with copic markers.  I placed it back in my stamp positioner and aligned the starry strands stamp around the globe. I stamped this on with Versamark ink and heat embossed with a silver embossing powder.  Then I fussy cut this out which was quite easy to do. I applied small star glitter with glossy accents to where there were already stars from the starry strands stamp and let this dry. 

I die cut the word Joy as well as a couple of snowflakes from dies I had in my collection from white cardstock. I used Distress Oxide in Mermaid Lagoon to ink up the J and Y of the word Joy. Then I applied Versamark ink to them and dipped them in Hero Arts Sparkle embossing powder and heat set them.  I did this 3 times to give a very shiny, thick look to the letters. 

For the snowflakes, I ink blended some Tumbled Glass ink onto the top snowflake and then applied some of the Moonstone Nuvo paste over it. The bottom snowflake I left white, but I applied Versamark ink over it and then dipped it into the Hero Arts Sparkle embossing powder and heat set it. 

I then foam mounted the letters and the world image and applied them to my now dry card front. I placed a small square of double sided foam to the center of the white snowflake and adhered that in place of the “O” in the word Joy. I used a little double sided adhesive tape to attach the second snowflake and then placed an Icy Sparkle crystal from Studio Katia in the center with glossy accents. I placed a few more of these crystals around the card where there seemed to be some gaps. 

Finally, I stamped the sentiment “to the world” onto scrap cardstock in Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide ink. I corner rounded the 2 bottom corners and trimmed it down. I attached it to the letter Y in Joy. I also added Nuvo shimmer pen to the land segments on the world image. 

This is just one of those cards that is so much prettier in real life. The camera just can’t get the colours right or capture the sparkle. Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! 

Penny Black’s Bauble Balance Elf Christmas Card

Hello everyone! I’m sorry I’ve been away such a long time but I was travelling with my husband.  Although we arrived home a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been busy putting together a photo book of our trip before I forgot everything. And now it’s November and I just can’t believe how the time has gone by so quickly! So I’m rushing to make Christmas cards of course.

I fell in love with this little elf from Penny Black’s new Bauble Balance stamp set. This stamp is the perfect size for a quick card because you really only need the stamp and sentiment. Those baubles are just the right size to decorate too. I’ve adhered glitter to mine on these cards but it would be easy to stamp and emboss a patterned stamp on them, colour and add glossy accents, use shimmer paints, doodle in them with a glitter pen, add foil ... so many possibilities!

So to begin my cards I stamped the elf image in the bottom right corner of my card front with Gina K black amalgam ink.  I stamped quite a few of these while I had my stamp in position, because I had so many pretty colours of micro glitter from the dollar store.  I then chose three copic colours to colour them in with. I tried to pick colours to coordinate with the glitter that I had.

For the baubles, I used some Couture Creations DieCut’N Bond double sided adhesive. This is new to me, but Jennifer McGuire did a video a short while ago using it with stencils and glitter and I wanted to try it out. Here's the link to her post: https://www.jennifermcguireink.com /2019/10/glitter-stenciling-technique-blog-hop-giveaway.html   The  DieCut’N Bond is really the same idea as Stick It double sided adhesive, but I think it has a stronger adhesive. This tape comes in a roll, so only one side of it has release paper. I adhered a piece of this tape to a scrap piece of release paper I had saved. Then I stamped the baubles on to the release paper and fussy cut them out. This was actually very quick and easy to do.

The large roll on the left is the DieCut' N Bond. 

Once I had the baubles cut out, I removed the backing from the unstamped side and applied the image to my card front. I used a bone folder to lightly press down the bauble so the adhesive would adhere to my card front. Once I had all the baubles in place, it was time for the glitter. Now this is where you should prepare yourself for a mess! Even though I cleared my desk and put scrap paper beneath my work area, and used a Swiffer cloth, I think I still have glitter everywhere!!  You've been warned. 😇

Add just a small amount of glitter

Use a bone folder to press the glitter into the adhesive.

I removed the release paper from one of the baubles at a time.  Add just a little glitter to the bauble and press it into the adhesive with a bone folder.  I used a brush and a piece of Swiffer dust cloth to remove the excess glitter before moving onto the next bauble.  Once I had all the baubles glittered up, I used the same 3 Copic markers to create a sentiment strip.  I used the sketch ends of the marker and just used the same pattern I had used to create the elves.  I then stamped the sentiment onto this in black Versamark ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I trimmed this down and adhered it with foam tape onto my card front.

Finally, I adhered the card front to my card base and added a few crystal drops.  These were very quick and easy cards to make and I had so much fun picking out different colours.  They are much more sparkly and attractive in real life too. I hope you will give these cards a try!

Gerda Steiner's Chicken Scratch card with a Singing Puppy!

Hello again everyone!  I'm back with another card using Gerda Steiner's "Chicken Scratch" stamp set and a very happy, singing puppy from her "Howl are You?" stamp set.  I am honoured to say I am also a guest designer again today on the Gerda Steiner blog! You can see her blog HERE.  I absolutely adore this little puppy and have found ways to use him on several cards.

I started by stamping all my images onto 110# cardstock using copic friendly ink (I used Gina K amalgam black ink).  I then used copic markers to colour in all the images and then fussy cut them out.  The markers I used are shown below and also at the end of this post in a list.  I also used a black glaze pen on all the eyes.

 

For the background, I used the Cloud stencil from My Favorite Things with Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass ink to make the sky.  I then used Lawn Fawn's Little Picket Fence border die to cut a fence from white cardstock.  I also cut the grass from green cardstock that I had in my stash, using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Hillside dies.  I embossed the grass using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Trails die to give the grass area some interest.

I then adhered the grass and fence onto my card front.  I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment (from MFT's Essential Sentiments stamp set) with Versafine Ink, and then heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I stamped the "To YOUUUUUUUU!!!" sentiment onto white cardstock using VersaFine onyx black ink, and then freestylye drew a speech box around it using a T ruler and rounding the corners.  I fussy cut this out and used a blending foam to ink the outside edges with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide Ink.

Then I adhered all my images to the card front.  I popped up the puppy and the "To YOUUUUUUUU!!!" sentiment on foam tape while all the other images were glued directly to the card front.  Finally, I adhered my card front to the card base.

Thanks again for joining me, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies used:

Gerda Steiner - Chicken Scratch, Howl are You? stamp sets
MFT's cloud stencil
Lawn Fawn dies - Little Picket Fence, Stitched Hillside, and Stitched Trails
Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass ink, Versamarkink, Versafine onyx black ink, Gina K amalgam black ink
Copic Markers:
Chickens - R24, Y17, E23, E35, E13, E11, C2, E40
Rooster - BG78, BG18, BG49, BG32, R24, Y17, E35, E13, E11
Pig - R22, R20, R43, N4
Dog - E79, E59, E51, E53, E34, E23, R39, R29, R35

Gerda Steiner's Chicken Scratch and Howl are You?

Hello Everyone!  I know I've been MIA from my blog but its been summer and there has been a fair bit going on here as well as a short holiday.  I’m super excited to tell you that I have also posted this card as a guest designer on the Gerda Steiner blog today!! You can check out her blog HERE. I’m just so grateful to Gerda for this opportunity. I've got a card today made with the adorable "Chicken Scratch" stamp set from Gerda Steiner and I had this idea to pair it up with some of the puppies from her "Howl are You?" stamp set.  I absolutely love the expressions on the faces of her animals - they tell a story without needing any words!

I stamped out all the chicken images with copic friendly ink ( I used Gina K black amalgam ink).  The pictures below show which copic markers I used, and I have them listed below also.

I had previously stamped and coloured in this dog from the "Howl are You" set several months ago.  I frequently do stamp more images and colour them all at the same time as it saves time trying to decide which markers to use and then getting them out.  Then I store them either with the stamps or in a plastic folder so I can quickly make a card as needed or when inspiration strikes!  So I'm not entirely sure which markers I used, but my best guess is N4, N6 for his paws, E79, E59, E57 for the darker brown areas, and YR23, E35 for his snout, and R20 for inside his ears.  I also used a black glaze pen for the eyes on both the chickens and the dog as well as the dog's nose.  I used glossy accents to fill in his teeth and give them a little shine.

After colouring in all my images, I fussy cut them out.

I die cut the frame from black cardstock using a Double Stitch Rectangle Frame die from Poppy Stamps.   I adhered black foam squares from Scrapbook Adhesives to the back of the frame to give it  some dimesion.

I also cut one of the frames from white cardstock and kept the middle inside piece for my card.  I embossed this inside piece with an embossing folder from Taylored Expressions called On the Spot. I liked how the circles give a rather whacky feel to the card which I thought was in keeping with the stacked chickens and long suffering dog.

Once everything was cut and embossed, I positioned my elements on my card and decided where I wanted my sentiment to go. I then positioned my card front in my stamp positioner, removed my elements leaving the stamp in place, and embossed the sentiment with Versafine black ink.

Then I adhered my frame above the sentiment, added in the inside embossed piece and then finally adhered my dog and chickens.  The final step was to adhere my card front to my card base.

Thank you so much for joining me for this fun little card.  Have a great day and happy crafting!

Supplies used:
Gerda Steiner stamps - Chicken Scratch, Howl are You?
Poppy Stamps - Double Stitch Rectangle Frames, model 1996
Taylored Expressions - On the Spot embossing folder
Copic markers - R24, R20, Y17, E23, E35, E13, E11, E40, C2, N4, N6, E79, E59, E57, YR23, E35.
Ink - Gina K black amalgam ink, Versafine Onyx black ink
110# cardstock

Little Panda Agenda Pop Up Card

Little Panda Agenda Pop Up Box Card

Hello again and welcome! I want to share this pop up box card with you. It’s made with Mama Elephant’s “Little Panda Agenda” stamps. These little guys are adorable and really, they’re already halfway coloured! If you’re unsure about your colouring, these are great stamps for you. 

If you would like to see a video of how I made this card in HD,  Click HERE. 

I started with the front of my card by creating a frame from the Wonky Rectangles dies from MFT out of green cardstock  I also cut the clouds from Hello Bluebirds Sunshine Scene die from white cardstock.  I ink blended these with Altenew Bamboo and Olive inks to make my "hills".  Finally, I die cut bamboo canes from white cardstock with a die from Memory Box called Bamboo Poles.  I coloured in the canes with Copic markers in YG03, YG17, and E53.  

Next, I used Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide ink and MFT's cloud stencil to make my background for the front of the card.  I used the largest wonky rectangle die to cut this out so it was the same size as my green frame.

I stamped my sentiment onto white cardstock using the Altenew Bamboo ink.  I added foam tape to the first row of hills and along the sides and top of my green frame.  Then I positioned all my elements where I wanted them to go on the front and adhered them with glue. I couldn't find a good spot for my sentiment as the front was quite busy, so I fussy cut it out and glued it to the bottom centre of the frame.

On the inside of my card, I die cut a pop up box from Lawn Fawn's Mini Pop Up Box die set out of green cardstock.  Lawn Fawn has a great video on how to assemble this box if you wish to see it HERE .  Instead of colouring on the outside of the box, I chose to emboss it with a bamboo embossing folder from Craft Concepts.  On the back of each of the pandas I had chosen to go on the inside of the box, I placed double sided tape.  Then I adhered scrap strips of acetate (saved from packaging) to the backs of all the pandas.   Next, I positioned all my pandas in the box, attaching them to either the back of the box or to the cross strips.  You need to be careful that you don't place the double sided tape below the cross strips or your box will stick together when the card is closed.  I like to position my element where I want it to go, and then feel with my left hand from the bottom up to where the cross strip ends.  I hold onto this point on the acetate and then pull the element down out the bottom of the box.  This is where I trim off the acetate and then I just put a little piece of double sided tape here.

I prefer to stamp my sentiment on the inside before I adhere the pop up box.  To do this, I place the pop up box with the long edge of the bottom triangular tabs running along the crease of my card and roughly centered.  Then I can see how far down to place my sentiment. All of my sentiments on this card are from MFT'S Birthday Bears stamp set.  

Once I had the inside of my box filled, I removed the double sided tape that was on the bottom triangular tabs and lined these tabs up along the fold of my card.  You want to be sure that you are also keeping the box along the vertical centre line.  I try to lightly position one tab at a time along the crease, and then bring the other tab up to its position along the fold line.  Then I press down on the tabs to be sure they are well adhered.  After this, I had to open and close the card several times, just coaxing and helping the box to fold along its crease lines.  It never feels like it will go down at first, but after several opening and closing movements, and creasing with a bone folder, it will go on its own. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope this helps you to be creative!

Pink Ink Designs Elephant Card

Hello again, and welcome to my blog!  I’ve got a new theme for this week of the Daily Marker challenge and it’s new and “rarely used” items. Today I’ve made an elephant birthday card from this beautiful stamp from Pink Ink Designs.

  

I started by applying an anti-static powder to a roughly 4.5” x 5.75” piece of Canson Montval watercolour paper.  Then I stamped my image on with Versafine black ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I brushed on a layer of clear water over the whole image and sprinkled on Nuvo shimmer powder in the colours Cherry Bomb, Violet Brocade, and Blue Blitz. I only sprinkled a little of each powder as a little goes a long way with this powder! In areas where the powder seemed dry and wasn’t moving well, I either lightly spritzed with water or used a wet paintbrush to apply a little more water to get it moving. I added more powder as needed and then let everything dry.

  Once it was dry, I went back in with a little gold metallic paint to a few areas to give it some highlights. Then I cut a strip of watercolour paper for the sentiment. I didn’t want to use white cardstock and I like the texture the watercolour paper gives. After applying the anti-static powder to this strip, I stamped my sentiment with Versafine black ink and again heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I then adhered this strip to my card front.  Finally, I trimmed down my card front and adhered it to my card base. 

Thank you so much for joining me and I hope you have a great day! 

Christmas Penguins 3D card

Hello everyone! I'm doing Christmas in July for this third week of the Daily Marker Challenge so here is a fun 3D style penguin card.

To see an HD video of how I made this card, click HERE.

I used several sets of stamps for this card.  The front of the card is made with an adorable stamp set from Your Next Stamp called "Santa's Helpers".  The sentiment on the front is from Lawn Fawn's "Here we go a Waddling".  I stamped the extra two penguins next to the chimney and then used a copic multiliner pen to draw an extension of the snow behind them to make it look like they were on the roof.  After colouring the images with copic markers I stamped the sentiment onto the front.  Unfortunately, my card front moved in my stamp positioner, so it stamped a double image and I had to resort to stamping the sentiment on a scrap piece of paper and fussy cutting it out.  I masked off the images and then ink blended on some Distress Oxide in Tumbled Glass and Blueprint Sketch. Then without removing the masks, I placed the Simon Says Stamp "Falling Snow" stencil over my card front and applied Nuvo Moonstone  glimmer paste over it.  I also added some Nuvo Shimmer pen to the snow on the roof to give it a nice shine. Lastly, I adhered my sentiment with foam tape.

The inside of the card uses stamps from Mama Elephant's "Cool Penguins" and "Little Agenda Trains", as well as a few from My Favourite Things "Santa's Elves". All of these were coloured with copic markers and cut out.

I had decided that I wanted the inside of the card to look like the inside of a house or possibly Santa's Workshop. I masked off the bottom third of the two sides and the central portion of my card base.  I ink blended these areas with a combination of Distress Oxide Dried Marigold and Tattered Rose. In the upper areas of the two sides, I stamped Simon Says Stamp's "Quilted Hearts" background stamp with Versafine ink, and then embossed with a pearl snow embossing powder.

I also cut 3 extra panels of cardstock to layer inside the card and give it a 3D effect. The first piece measured 6" x 4.25", the second was 5" x 3/4", and the third was 4" x 1.25".  Each of these pieces were scored at 1/4" from each end, and again in the middle of each piece. I ink blended each of these with the same Dried Marigold and Tattered Rose Distress Oxide inks.  I folded each crease so that the ink blended side faced outward.  On the largest piece (6" x 4.25"), I die cut the center out.  This die cut could be almost any symmetrical shape you like - a rectangle, circle oval etc..  I then adhered 1/8" double sided tape to each of the side tabs on all three pieces of cardstock.

I removed the backing paper from the left hand tab of the 6" x 4.25" piece of cardstock.  After making sure the center creases lined up, I adhered the left hand side down.  I then did the same with the 5" piece of cardstock and made sure that it was far enough down that the bottom edge was below my die cut opening of the larger piece. I also made sure that the centers were lined up.  Finally, I did the same with the 4" piece, again being sure the centers lined up.

Then I positioned my tree where I wanted it, which ended up being in the center of the card.  I had to make a crease along the center of my tree using my score board and bone folder.  I glued my tree in place, again making sure the centers lined up.  Then I removed the backing paper from the right hand side of each of my cardstock tabs and adhered them to the right side of my card base, again making sure the centers lined up.  I find I need to use my bone folder quite a bit to help "flatten" the layers, and that I need to open and close the card several times to get the tabs to move and crease in the correct way.

I then positioned all my images where I wanted them to be on my card and adhered them with glue to my card base.  Just be careful that when you adhere them, they are not too close to the edges of the tabs as sometimes they may catch when the card is closed.  Using temporary glue or tape may help with this.

Finally, I like to have a little more room to write a message, so I added an extra back to my card. I cut a piece of cardstock that measured 5.75" x 4.25" and made a crease at 1/4" from the 5.75" edge using my score board and bone folder.   I then stamped my sentiment (from the same YNS "Santa's Helpers" that I used on the front of my card) using Versafine ink onto this piece of cardstock.  I placed 1/8" double sided tape along the creased edge, removed the backing paper and lined it up with my card base so that the tab lined up with my card and adhered them together.  Then I adhered the front of my card to the card base with my ATG tape runner and my card was done!!

 Thank you so much for stopping by and please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or comments for me down below. 

Avery Elle - Hello Chum Underwater Card

Hi there!  I’m sharing my last beach themed card for this first week of the Daily Marker Challenge.

** If you would like to see an HD video on youtube of how I made this card CLICK HERE

 

I started by stamping out the sharks and fish onto 110 lb cardstock using copic friendly ink.  I coloured in the images with copic markers and then die cut them out.

To make the background, I started with white 110 lb cardstock.  I used a scrap piece of acetate packaging to first stamp my Distress Oxide inks onto.  Then I sprayed 2-3 spritzes of water onto the ink before applying it to the paper.  I used Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon, Shaded Lilac and a little Peacock Feathers. I worked with one colour at a time and just turned my acetate scrap over so I could see where I was applying it on my card base.  I heat set each colour after applying it. 

 When I was satisfied with the background, I stamped on the reef image from Kaisercraft, using Stormy Sky Distress Oxide ink.  I then lightly coloured in the image with copic markers, using muted shades to help give it the look of being underwater.

Then I temporarily positioned my die cuts where I wanted them to go on the front, and  placed my sentiment where it would fit.  I stamped the sentiment with Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide ink.  I had to stamp it several times to get it dark enough, so I was glad I had used my stamp positioner for this!  I then adhered my card front to my card with a tape runner, and used extra adhesive as the paper had warped slightly from the ink smooshing.

Finally, I arranged the shark and seaweed I had reserved for the inside of my card.  I then stamped the "birthday cake!" sentiment in black Versafine ink on the inside and glued down the diecuts on the inside.

All that was left to do was to glue down the die cuts on the front of my card, add black glaze pen to the fish eyes, and glossy accents for bubbles coming out of the fish mouths.

 Thank you so much for stopping by!