I guess I’m over Winter. For when I started thinking about making these two cards, my mind immediately jumped to some yellows, florals, birds, bees and easter bunnies.
So, I’m inviting you to get started with me on some (very) early Easter or Spring cards, get some inspiration from my video or follow along with me to create these exact card designs.
The papers I used were by Craft and You Designs, from their Spring Garden collection.
Have fun crafting and I’d love to know: did you make these along with me, or at least feel inspired to get creating some spring projects of your own? Let me know in the comments down below!
And let’s start 2023 with a lovely vintage 1-sheet card, its browns & grayish blues so suitable for autumn and winter, and yet its pink roses remind us that Spring is coming (well, eventually it will).
There are many ways to fold beautiful cards with only one sheet of paper. You could also use cardstock and mat it (which would technically make it a 2-sheets card) but much easier is using a double-sided sheet of design paper.
I designed this particular card type myself, it takes a bit of folding, one cut with a paper trimmer and a little bit of glue, and it will turn into this very nice multi-faceted card with two pockets and a little doorlet on the front to tuck some extra niceties behind.
If you want to know the nitty-gritty of how to make this, there’s an excellent PDF tutorial in my Etsy shop, it’s Tutorial #9. (It’s very affordable btw).
I’ve made several of these over the years, and here’s my latest, using the beautiful vintage Time is an Illusion paper collectionby Stamperia.
Opening the front flap and finding a nice removable bookmark on the insideChecking out the center pocket, which holds a lovely tag, which I decorated with some stamps and a die cut image of a cup of teaOn the back of that same tag, I attached an actual bag of tea for my friendBack pocketThe back pocket contains a bookletThe inside of the booklet offers room to write a message on the left, and a nice stamped sentiment on the right
Have a blessed New Year every one! And thank you for your continued readership and support in 2022!
So, speaking of last year, apparently I forgot to post my 2022 Christmas cards here on my blog after uploading it to Youtube last December…. However, the tips are still useful, for they are for card making in general, not just Christmas cards.
So imagine any occasion you’re planning to celebrate with a card, sit back & relax and apply every tip to your own cards. I hope you find some inspiration, not only by way of card ideas but also to avoid the Chore Trap of crafting. Enjoy the video 🙂
A few weeks ago I discovered the beautiful Vintage Artistry Wedgewood collection by 49 and Market. Even though I loved the entire collection, I purchased only a single sheet to make it easier (for me) to immediately use it, and to save some money at the same time.
Now the challenge I gave myself was to create more than one project that all featured this paper. I came up with three cards and they all turned out lovely. Gosh that paper is so stunning.
Detailed walkthrough in the video!
Two kinds of embossing + stencilling and Distress embossing glaze.Showcasing the paper, stamping……and a box pocket (with some tea!)Using even the last bit of paper, stencilling, embossing, colorizing leaves and turning them grungy
In 2020 Tim Holtz started his so-called Colorize series of dies with Sizzix. These Colorize dies are meant for you to add layers of color to your diecut image, each layer being its own color.
It was quite the ingenious system, for each set of die parts comes with its own color code. For example, everything with code “1” should be dark brown, each “2” should be blue etc., helping you as a maker to put together the elaborately layered die-cut image designs.
I think the very first one of these was Arthur, the purple owl.
I have thus far crafted one owl-on-a-branch project, and I gave it my own twist of course: instead of using differently colored pieces of cardstock, I sprayed my own backgrounds on mixed media heavy stock and die-cut my pieces from those.
I actually made this project two years ago, in August 2020, but I just now realized I had never actually shared it on my blog! So, here we go, with a step-by-step semi-tutorial on how I made my card with Arthur, the purple marbled pink owl.
1. Made the building blocks: created enough inked/sprayed/painted backgrounds for the project, in the colors I wanted.
2. Embossed a wood pattern on the bark-colored one.
3.Die-cut the branches – which now also had some nice texture, thanks to the embossing.
4. Die-cut the owl pieces from the other papers, and sorted them according to the Sizzix color-coding. Although I made my own colors, the coding still helped me to know which pieces belonged together.
5. Chose some chipboard sentiment pieces and colored them.
6. Made a card background. It started as an abstract piece but then it became a moonlit landscape of sorts.
7. Following Sizzix’ color-coding, I glued each layer of the owl image to the background. Sizzix also has very clear video tutorial shorts on Youtube for each of their Colorize dies btw. I’ll embed the one for Arthur below these pictures.
8. Glued the piece to a black background, added the chipboard sentiment pieces and applied some liquid pearl along the edges.
Done!
I have to say it was a fun project, and the detail these dies provide by way of the ever-smaller layers is very cleverly designed. Look at those tiny claw pieces!
So yeah, I’ll have me some more of these Colorize dies by Tim Holtz for Sizzix and see what fun they’ll bring!
What about you, have you tried any of the Colorize die sets? Leave a comment and let me know!
Sometimes I feel like crafting, even crafting a mini album, but am no where near in the mood to do everything required. So as an alternative, I thought I’d try a pre-bound mini album. I chose Prima Marketing’s Tiny Journal, which is from their Memory Hardware collection by Frank Garcia.
I figured such a small album (it sports 4×4″ pages) would be perfect for my (rather enormous) stash of 6×6″ paper pads. I went for the Together paperpad by Mintay Papers, which I felt would suit the kraft-colored Tiny Journal pretty well.
Having tried my hand at it, I feel there are some pros and cons to these pre-bound albums. So in the video, after I show you the finished project, I’ll share some thoughts: what’s it like to work on a pre-bound album, which pluses & minuses did I encounter, and – most importantly – would I do it again?
Share your thoughts in the comment section! Have you ever tried one of these pre-bound minis?
Brands often put their best and most beautiful pattern designs on rice paper, instead of their regular design paper, it seems. Rice papers are usually used to alter hard surfaces, like boxes, furniture and the like.
So, can we papercrafters work with the ultra thin rice papers instead of regular-weighted design papers? In the Craft With Me video below I create two mini album inserts – but you can also use them as cards.
I use the most gorgeous sheet of rice papers, from the Clockwise collection by Stamperia.
In very busy times like these I don’t find much time to craft, let alone many hours continuously. Nevertheless, a girl still needs her cards to send to her friends & extended family! So, here’s six card ideas, all of which are very easy to make and which take up relatively little of your precious time.
Enjoy the video, and don’t forget to like this post and/or leave a comment! 😃
When your double-sided paper is beautiful on both sides and you cannot decide which one to mat on a card, it’s time to create a card without cardstock! This way, you can showcase both sides of your gorgeous design paper sheet.
For me it was a sheet from the Time is an Illusion collection by Stamperia. That design paper collection is truly a work of art!
Cut a 12″ inch strip of your sheet, at the height you want your card to be. Fold in two places to create a trifold – make sure one panel overlaps the other.
Use a strip of paper or a tag to create a closure. Watch the video on my latest steampunk mini album, which actually features this card and in which I go over the closure technique in more detail.
Decorate the front of your card.
Add a journalling spot on the inside. You don’t have to add anything else since your paper is already lovely in and of itself!
Add a decorative element on the back. I chose a cutapart with a sentiment. Done!
Have you made any cards without cardstock? Tell me about it in the comments, I’d love to hear about it!
I’ve worked many moons on this project, but I’m very proud to (finally!) present: my latest mini album!
This is a hefty girl, with 10 multi interactive page assemblies plus interactive inside covers. I needed four(!) 12×12” + one 8×8” design paper collections, OMG.
So this is a real stash eater, for all of you out there who’ve been hoarding collecting their design papers for quite some time…🤡
All of the gorgeous papers I worked with were by Stamperia. I used the following collections: Lady Vagabond, Sir Vagabond (8×8″), Time is an Illusion (2 packs), and Clockwise.
Anyway, here are the video and some pictures, feel free to leave a comment or ask any questions!
And here’s the second Easter card I made this year. Like I said in my last, I forgot to post them when it was actually Easter.
But April 27th is also a great day to post, for here in the Netherlands it’s King’s Day today, and the whole country celebrates in orange colours. So, here I am, with a – mostly – orange card! 😇
Paper used: Summer Breeze collection by Studiolight.
The card sports a little doorlet, held closed with a swivel tab closureDecorated with flowers, buttons and a die-cut in the lower right cornerHeat embossed sentiment in the top right cornerStamped bunny on the inside of the flapSurprise! A large top flap!Heat embossed a stamped imageUsed two sizes of butterfly punches to create beautiful 3D butterflies
I realize Easter is already over, but I forgot to post this – as well as my other Easter card, which I will post next. After all, it’s the thought that counts – and you can use these techniques of layering and adding a small booklet to the front, as inspiration for your own cards. For any occasion you can think of! 🙂
Papers used: Easter Greetings collection by Craft and You.
I found this very appropriate stamp for the season on AliExpress
