Ornament Christmas Card

 Hi again, I'm still on a roll making Christmas cards, so here is today's card ...

 

Supplies Used:  Layering Ornate Bauble 1 Metal Cutting Die 30240,   Layering Ornate Bauble 2 Metal Cutting Die 30243 , Snowflake Set 4 Metal Cutting Die 26341, Crisp Christmas A5 12pc Sentiment Sheets 19772.  Other supplies: Ranger Alcohol inks, silver metallic paint, Minc Silver Reactive foil, silver metallic thread.

I started this card by die cutting the two ornaments from silver mirror cardstock.  I then put one of the bauble ornament outer layers under some acetate and added the alcohol ink to the top of the acetate.  The die cut is protected by the acetate, but it allows you to see where the ink needs to go to fill in the ornament.  I was going for a rainbow look between the two ornaments.  Once the ink was dry, I glued the silver ornament die cuts to the top of the inked acetate and placed some acrylic blocks over it to let it set up and dry.  Once the glue had dried, I fussy cut the acetate around the outer edge of the ornaments.

My card base is a 5 1/2" square and I corner rounded all 4 corners.  I then spattered on some silver metallic paint on the front and set it aside to dry.

The snowflake was cut from holographic silver cardstock and I left it as one layer thick.  I foiled the sentiment in my laminator, using the silver reactive foil, and then used a small circle die to cut it out.  I cut an outer circle for the sentiment by taping two circle dies together (one larger and one smaller), and then die cutting the foiled cardstock with this. I also cut the larger of the two circles from white cardstock so I could adhere the outer ring and inner sentiment to it. 

Once the card base was dry, I glued down my elements.  I used some scrap card stock to build up some dimension on the ornaments where I needed it so they would sit flat against the layers below (so on the left side of the blue/purple ornament and the right side of the multi-coloured one).  I also just used a white glue that drys clear to attach the ornaments. 

Finally, I added a little silver metallic thread to the tops of the two ornaments. 

Thank you once again for joining me today, and I hope you're having a happy, creative day!

Dancing Reindeer Card

 

 

 

Hello again, I've got an interactive card today inspired by the amazing Jennifer McGuire.  Hopefully, you can see it it action in the short video above. 

Paper Rose supplies used:  Starry Night 6x6" Stencil 19802, Jumping Reindeer Metal Cutting Die 17817, Merry Christmas Chunky Metal Die Set 19511. Other supplies:  Acetate, alcohol inks, beads, gold mirror cardstock, DecoFoil Metallix gel in Champagne, holographic glitter.

This card actually started from my stash of backgrounds that I keep in a box.  I had created the alcohol inked background, but wasn't sure what to do with it.  I added the Metallix gel over the Starry Night stencil to the inked background, and before I removed the stencil, I sprinkled on some of the holographic glitter. Then I removed the stencil and washed it.  Once the background had dried, I trimmed it down to be a 4 1/2" square. The glitter added a slight grainy texture to the card front, and since I wanted to try making the reindeer swing following Jennifer McGuire's instructions (here's a link to her video for pendulum cards), I decided to add an acetate cover.  I cut a piece of acetate that was 5 x 5" and scored it on all four edges 1/4" in from the outside edge.  Using a bone folder, I creased each of the fold lines, folding the edges under.  I attached the acetate to the back of the alcohol inked card with double sided adhesive tape.

Next, I cut the reindeer die twice from white cardstock and once from the gold mirror cardstock, and glued them together.  I also cut the outline reindeer die from a navy cardstock.  I glued the gold reindeer onto the outline die cut. 

To create the pendulum mechanism, I cut a piece of acetate that was approximately 2" long and 1/2" wide, and used a piece of double sided tape to attach a penny to the bottom end.  The penny gives the acetate weight and allows it to swing.  I decided where I wanted the reindeer to be positioned on the card front and marked where the center of his head would be on the acetate square.  I used my smallest circle die, about 3/4", and die cut over this mark.  I placed a small circle of doubled up foam tape at the top of the acetate pendulum and aligned the square front over this so the foam tape came through the die cut opening.  On the front, I removed the backing from the circle of foam tape and placed the head of the reindeer over the foam tape, securing it in place.  Then I added doubled up foam tape all around the back edges, making sure the pendulum could swing freely. 

Back of the pendulum piece

Next,  I created a card base that measured 6 1/4" x 4 3/4".  I attached a piece of gold mirror cardstock to the front.  The sentiment was cut from white cardstock twice and once more from the gold cardstock and adhered together.  I cut the outline from the same navy cardstock and glued the sentiment onto this.  I positioned the sentiment at the bottom of the card front and glued it in place.  Next I removed the backing from the double sided foam on my reindeer piece, and positioned this on the card front.  To stop the pendulum from swinging as I positioned it, I had temporarily taped the reindeer in place on the front with low tack tape.  Finally, I added some beads to the reindeer and had a play with it.  It really is fun to watch him swing back and forth!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you're having a great day!

 

Bee Happy Birthday Card

Hello and happy New Year to all of you!  Hopefully, 2021 will be a much more positive, happy year for all of us.  

I’ve got a birthday card today that I actually made for my mom who has just moved into a new retirement home at the beginning of December. With two weeks of quarantining and not being allowed to visit family over Christmas, it’s been a tough start for her. So I wanted a cheerful, happy card for her and I hope you’ll think this one fits the bill.

I made the background by using alcohol inks in a laminating folder (I originally had intended to do something else), but the alcohol ink on either acetate or Yupo paper would also work.  I used Ranger inks in Teakwood, Pearl Alchemy, and Butterscotch.  Once it was dry, I ran it through my laminator and cut it down to fit my frame size.  I used a hexagon die from Papertrey Ink for the background and diecut it from gold cardstock. I trimmed out just a few of the hexagons to use on my panel.  The frame was cut from a Double Stitch Rectangle Frame die from Poppy Stamps and I also cut it from the same gold cardstock.

The bee and flower images are all from a Gerda Steiner Design stamp set called Happy Bee Day, and I just stamped multiple flower images and chose the “Bee Happy” sentiment to put in the message area on the bee. I also stamped the bee’s hands and message a second time, fussy cut it out, and then mounted the message on foam tape to give it some dimension.  Isn’t that just the happiest bee?!  I added some dark blue beads to the flower centers and a sparkle pen on the bee’s wings.  

To assemble everything, I added some foam tape to the frame and then glued everything else in place.  Thanks so much for joining me today, and I hope you’re having a great day.