Tag Archives: card making

Craftapalooza

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I have a had a most crafty weekend! After cooking Thanksgiving for 12 people and working 5 hours of Black Friday at the yarn store mostly by myself, I told myself Saturday was my day to do whatever I damn well pleased.

Art Yarns Summer Flies - Unblocked, but done!

I started the morning finishing the Summer Flies Shawlette with the ArtYarns Rhapsody light and Beaded Silk. It is glorious. I am deeply, truly in love with it. The experience of knitting it was so satisfying because of the gossamer feel of the yarn that I am tempted to buy another two skeins. We’ll see. I think I’d like to make a lace scarf this time. I made the longer version of Summer Flies by adding on the pattern called “My Version of Summer Flies” that can be found on Ravelry. If you do this, know that you will need both skeins of Art Yarns, but you will have some of each left over. I did mine using the Beaded Silk for all sections named “Ridged Eyelet” except the first one, because it is so high up behind the neck no one will see it, so why waste the silk? Then I used the Beaded Silk for the very last 3 rows and the bind off. One more important thing – bind off using a needle two sizes larger than you used on the rest of the shawl – a 10 for me. Otherwise the bind off is a bit tight. I may have to take mine out and work it again.

That only took me to about noon on Saturday. So it was on to the elliptical (I had a lot of spice cake on Thanksgiving) and then lunch – turkey sandwich, what else? Then I went up to my studio and finished a set of greeting cards I am making to sell Sunday, Dec. 4 at a craft fair at Albany Middle School. My goal with all the cards I am making for this show is to use up what I have, dammit! So I had these little party hat buttons, and I chopped off the button shank, and here you are.

Birthday Cards

Then I started another set of cards with some K and Company butterfly stickers I have that match some of their Wild Saffron paper I also have. These were fun to make – a little corner punch and some letter tiles I had and – done. Three are blank on the inside and three say “Thinking of You” inside.

Wild Saffron Cards

Then I got out some glass tiles I bought at the BABE Show with Lisa and I slapped them on some washi paper I also bought there. The hope is that these will become earrings. I’ll attach some bails to the backs and wire-wrap some Swarovski crystal bi-cones that will dangle from the bottom. Think I’ll ask $10 per pair because they are so easy!

THEN I got really ambitious. When Ellen and I went to TNNA last June we were in the ladies’ room washing our hands when I noticed the bracelet on the woman at the next sink. It was a series of flat circles she had crocheted around and then connected in an asymmetrical fashion and adorned wit beads. It was green and purple – my favorite. t was really cool – looked like mod bubbles. Now, did I take a picture? NO! Because I am stupid. But I have remembered, and Ellen and I ordered some of the disks and I have picked up a few more of some different sizes since then.

Wouldn’t it be cool to use the Art Yarns Beaded Silk I had left over from the Summer Flies to make a bracelet?

YES IT WOULD!!!!! TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT I MADE LAST NIGHT:

Here’s what I did – I had three sizes of cabone rings – which are made by Boye and available at craft and sewing stores – 1 inch, 3/4 inch and 1/2 inch. I used a small crochet hook – it doesn’t matter too much what size – to crochet around them in small groups. I made two groups that consisted of three disks, one of each size. Then I made two groups of two, one of the 3/4 inch and one of the 1/2 inch. Then I crocheted around two single 1/2 inch rings. Then I laid them out on the table and monkeyed with them – I arranged them into several shapes, decided on this one, and then used the tails to close the crochet around the rings and to connect the groups. I sewed in all my tails. Then I used Fireline to sew on the beads – coin pearls and Swarovski crystals, some framed by size 8 silver seed beads to make them fit in the circle. Then I attached the clasp.

I FREAKING LOVE THIS. I am going through my stash to see what little schnibblets of silk and other nice yarn I have left from other projects to make some more. So if you wanna make this, get to K2Tog or Michaels or Joanns before I do and buy up all the Boye rings.

And that was just Saturday. Here it is Sunday morning! Check with me on the next post. Of course, meanwhile my house needs to be cleaned  . . . .

Dress Up Cards

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While my mom was here last week, she and I went to Scrapbook Territory in Berkeley and wandered their many aisles of fun things. I came away with a couple of fun stamps, including “Fancy Dress” made by Hero Arts. Mom and I rushed home and up to the craft room. Here are some cards we came up with.

Fancy Dress Cards

Mom and I had a great time doing this. We could use up my scraps of patterned paper and we didn’t have to break open any new packages of anything to complete them. They work in any color and would be great birthday cards, prom cards, maybe even wedding cards.

To make these cards, you will need:

8.5 x 11 inch colored cardstock, cut in half for cards

Stuff you will need

patterned paper cut to 5 x 1.5 inches

colored background panel to coordinate with the above

White panel cut to 2.75 x 3.75 inches

Fancy Dress stamp by Hero Arts

Sentiment stamps – I used “ohh la la!,” “birthday wishes,” and “I hope we’re never too old for ice cream and fancy dresses”

Colorbox black ink pad, clear embossing powder, embossing heat gun

Brush-tip markers to color dress

double-sided tape, scissors, bone folder

embellishments such as adhesive rhinestones, ribbons, buttons, flowers, glitter glue, etc.

More stuff you will need

1. Cut colored cardstock in half to make card. Attach patterned paper to front of card about .75 inches from fold of card.

2. Stamp Fancy Dress using Colorbox pad and emboss with clear embossing powder. When dry, attach to colored cardstock panel and attach panel to left side of card as shown below.

3. Color dress LIGHTLY with markers. Embellish as you like. I like glitter glue (Stickles brand) and rhinestones. Make sure to let dry thoroughly.

4. Stamp sentiment in lower right corner of card.

Fancy Dresses

detail

detail

Have fun with these. You can put ribbons around the waist, you can attach mini hangers to the straps, etc. Sass ‘em up.

Asian Cards

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I have made a bunch of cards recently, most of them over the weekend. At first, I was just cutting and taping away with cardstock and scrapbook paper, relying heavily on the beauty of the embellished papers to carry the impact of the card. I made a couple of sets, which I am selling in my Etsy store. Here are some pics:

Girlie Girl Cards

Girlie Girl Cards

To make these, you will need:

embellished 12×12 paper – something embossed, metallic or glittered

matching 8.5 x 11 cardstock and a few coordinating colored and white scraps

punches – one scalloped, one smaller oval

rubber stamps with sentiments and some ink

Blue Butterfly Cards

Blue Butterfly Cards

coordinating ribbon

embellishments – brads, sequins, etcs

adhesive (double-sided tape)

1. Cut cardstock in half width-wise. Fold each half in half again to form two cards, 4.25 x 5.5 inches. Set aside.

2. Cut embellished paper into pieces that measure 4 x 5.25 inches.

3. Decide where to place ribbon – in the corners, across the bottom or top or running down the sides. Cut ribbon to fit and adhere in place on back of paper. Adhere embellished paper to cardstock.

4. Cut a scalloped edged oval from a coordinating scrap. Cut a plain oval from a white scrap. Stamp sentiment on white scrap; mount scrap on scalloped oval. If desired, decorate oval with brads, sequins, or other embellishments. Mount sentiment onto card.

5. Further embellish the card with glitter, sequins, beads, etc in a manner keeping with the original design of the paper.

Girlie Girl detail

Girlie Girl detail

So I made a couple of sets of those. Okay – four different ones over the last week or so. Like I have nothing better to do. Sigh.

Then something inspired me to dig through my rather large collection of rubber stamps. I haven’t really done much rubber stamping lately – mostly, I have restricted my rubberstamping to the sentiments on the cards, as in the examples above. But once I began poking through my drawers of rubber stamps, I was reminded why I was attracted to the craft in the first place: the possibilities of color and design are almost limitless. But also overwhelming – which can stop you in your creative tracks, if you let it. I could kind of feel that coming on, so I decided to pick one stamp and do one fairly simple design. Here’s the finished product:

Medallion birthday card

Medallion birthday card

That got the juices going. So I dug through another drawer marked “Asian” and found a beautiful stamp I bought from Judikins years ago. More than a year ago, I made up some basic cards after I bought the “Far East” scrapbook pad at a craft store. Suddenly, the pieces came together. Here are the cards:

Purple Geisha Card

Purple Geisha Card

Very simple, yet full of impact, no? These cards measure 4.5 x 6 inches. For the medallion, I stamped the image with clear embossing ink and heat embossed it with a powder called “verdigris.” It’s a mix of teal and gold – like tarnished copper. For the Geisha, I stamped the image with Color Box black, heat embossed it with clear embossing powder and then decorated the image with lavender glitter glue. I mounted it on coordinating lavender cardstock, punched two holes at the bottom for two silver brads and mounted the whole thing on the base card with dimensional mounting tape. I love it! I’ll have these for sale in my individual card basket for $3.00 each when I do my next craft show in Oct.

Medallion detail

Medallion detail

Purple Geisha detail

Purple Geisha detail

Itty Bitty “Vintage” Gift Cards

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So, I can be a little compulsive. Just a little. The other day, I went to the craft store and came home with not one, but 4 (!!!!!) new pads of K & Company papers. I know they are not the only paper manufacturers out there. But for my $$ they make the prettiest paper of the highest quality. At least among the things I can get at my craft store.

Life's Journey

Life's Journey

One of the pads is called “Life’s Journey.” And the first pattern is a collage of miniature photos of collaged greetings inspired by vintage papers, photos and doodads. It looks like this, and there are three per pad:

Collage Page

Collage Page

What could I do with these? They are too small for me to make full-sized greeting cards. But gift cards! With a few doodads, printed paper and a tiny stamp, I could create one gift card per mini-collage that would in the end kinda look like the original mini-collage. And what a great way to use up my scraps and stuff! There are 42 mini-collages per page. Here’s what I came up with:

Buncha Gift Cards

Buncha Gift Cards

Below, I’ll show you some of them up close. To make these cards, you will need (in addition to the Life’s Journey paper)

cardstock cut to 6 inches x 3 inches, folded in half

lots of printed paper squares cut to 2.5 inches square

postage stamp-edged scissors

scraps of white or cream-colored paper or cardstock for insides

scraps of cardstock in different colors

small greeting stamp (like “for you”)

adhesive, brads, buttons, flowers – anything you might like to stick on the cards.

Black Gift Card

Black Gift Card

1. Adhere squares of printed paper to folded cardstock. Cut out white or cream-colored cardtsock or paper that measure 2.5 inches square and adhere to inside of card for greeting.

2. Cut out all the mini-collages using postage stamp-edged scissors. Adhere min-collages to small scraps of coordinated cardstock or paper and trim close to postage-stamp edge.

3. Adhere mini-collages to folded cards, off-center and slanted as

Gold Gift Card

Gold Gift Card

shown.

4. If you are using a stamped greeting on the outside, stamp it now, following placement shown at left.

5. Adhere all other doodads as shown in examples. If you are using flowers, glue down their petals so they fit in envelopes. Affix brads, buttons, glitter, etc.

Not so hard, huh. BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF THEM and it took more time

Maroon Gift Card

Maroon Gift Card

than I originally thought.

Now you have to make envelopes. This is easy if you have a template. Mine is from Stampin’ Up. Pick out some nice paper – not cardstock – that matches your gift cards, cut ‘em out, fold ‘em and glue ‘em. Only thing left to do is for me to get these up in my Etsy store in packages of six!

Here’s what you need for envelopes:

Envelopes

Envelopes

Okay, now every one get busy and send me what you come up with. This took me a good 4 days of working here and there – in odd moments – to complete.

Wedding Invitations and Cards

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My mom and dad are here visiting my husband and me for a few days so we can all go to the wedding of dear family friends. Earlier in the year – before I had this blog – the bride and groom (Allison and Tom) came over to my house and we all made their invitations. They designed them and I cut them out and we all pasted them together. Here’s a pic of what we all came up with.

Allison and Tom's invitations

Allison and Tom's invitations

Mom had this great idea that when she made a wedding card for the couple, she wanted to repeat their color scheme and layout. She brought some fuschia ribbon and borrowed some cardstock, stamps and ink from me. She designed the outside and then we asked Randall – her husband – to design the inside. So Allison and Tom will get a nice card inspired by their own design and created by both my parents!

While they were making their card (and bickering!!! Oh, the bickering! My tender ears! Almost had to separate them.) I made the card you see on the right, also using Allison and Tom’s scraps and design. EASY! The cards measure 4.75 inches by 3.5 inches.

Our wedding cards

Our wedding cards

Meanwhile, I went to my knitting group yesterday and all of us were pretty much in the middle of things, so not too many new and exciting things to report from there. It was probably because Sarah the over-achiever wasn’t there. Probably at home too busy SPINNING HER OWN YARN TO COME AND BE WITH US. But Barbara brought her in-the-works Great American Aran Afghan:

Barbara's Afghan

Barbara's Afghan

And Carolyn was working on a stole (because you know, Carolyn just doesn’t have enough stoles) that she adapted from a Fiber Trends washcloth pattern called “Bathing Beauties” by Evelyn Clark. If you’re interested, we have that pattern at K2Tog.

Carolyn's stole

Carolyn's stole

And I’ve been a bit busy with jewelry and other things – the next post will have pics. And I’ve been in knitting Limbo with a pattern for a tank top I’ve been working on from Classic Elite. UGH. Tell you more about that in the next post. And I can’t wait to tell you about the 96-year-old woman who came into K2Tog yesterday with a needlepoint canvas she had finished. When I grow up, I wanna be an old woman, just like Mrs. Barbara Carson. More on that later . . . .

Sheri’s Necklace

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My friend Sheri asked me, like, a million years ago if I would please make her a necklace like the wire-wrapped ones in my Etsy store, but more tailored to her. She went out and bought her own gorgeous sterling silver charm – a tree of life set in a circular frame, with the word “life” engraved around the sides. It is about the size of a quarter. She loves purple, so I said I would use some amethyst, and she really liked some dyed pearls I had. With a little sterling silver 24 guage wire and some size 8 purple seed beads, we were off.

Except I forgot all about doing it. Until she reminded me.

So I started it early this week and it is now done – with the exception of the clasp, which I will wait to attach until I can actually place the necklace around Sheri’s neck, thereby making sure it is a length she likes. I love what we came up with.

Sheri's Necklace

Sheri's Necklace

Detail

Detail

Other than that, I have been doing little knitting and lots of card making.

I bought a pad of K & Company‘s “Small Wonder” paper for a baby boy and a set of matching stamps from Inkadinkado and here’s my first set of cards:

Small Wonder Cards

Small Wonder Cards

They measure 4.5 inches by 6 inches. I’ll give instructions for making the “It’s a Boy” card with the rattle. Here’s a detail:

Detail

Detail

To make this card, you will need:

Blue Bazzill cardstock, cut to 6 inches by 9 inches, folded in half

White panel cut to 4.25 x 5.75

Small white panel

Patterned cardstock cut to 4.25 x 5.75 inches

Square scalloped punch

Oval scalloped punch

Scrap of blue organdy ribbon

Smoky blue ink pad

Rattle and “Its a Boy” stamps

2 small blue buttons

a 2 inch x 2 inch small square template

1. Punch scalloped square from upper half of patterned cardstock.    Adhere white panel to inside of Bazzill cardstock.

2. Open Bazzill cardstock to the inside and center patterned cardstock on inside of front panel.  Place template inside the punched-out scalloped square. Trace around template. Remove patterned cardstock and use scissors to cut out 2 x 2 inch square.

3. Close card. Adhere patterned cardstock to front, centering its scalloped square over the template square you have just cut out.

4. With front of card closed, stamp rattle with smoky blue ink in center of scalloped square onto white cardstock inside the card. Decorate rattle with glitter glue and organdy ribbon bow.

5. Punch scalloped oval from small white panel. Stamp “It’s a Boy” with smoky blue ink on scalloped panel. Adhere to card below scalloped square. Glue on buttons.

Does that all make sense? If not, leave me a comment and I will clarify.

Here’s a detail of the elephant card:

Elephant "baby" card

Elephant "baby" card

Bad Weather = Good Cards

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This rotten weather we are having here in “sunny” Northern California is getting me down. Not that that’s a hard thing to do lately. But when I feel this way I find it hard to sit still and write or otherwise work on my computer. So I tend to avert by making stuff.

Here’s what I did last night and during lunch today.

p4090113There’s a tutorial on how to make these cards in an earlier post. This time, I used a corner punch on the background panel. If you do this, you will likely have to make your triangles smaller. Just cut the background panel to your desired dimension, use the corner punch in the corners, and then measure the distance between two adjacent corner punches. Use that dimension for your squares of contrasting colored cardstock. Here’s another picture.p4090114

A friend of mine who owns a green toy store in the South Bay asked me if she might carry some of my cards in her store. That got me thinking – I don’t have any cards for kids. So I hot-footed it to the craft store this morning and bought a pad of little boy paper. Here’s my first card.

Boy Card

Boy Card

To make this card – or something similar – you need three coordinating pieces of paper and one piece of sold cardstock. I cut the cardstock to 9 inches by 6 inches and fold it in half. Then I cut one of the papers to 5.75 inches by 4.25 inches for the background. It is best to use one with the least contrast for the background. Then cut another one to 4.25 inches by 1.5 inches for the strip on the left. Use the third paper in a punch of some kind – I used a scalloped-edged one. Slap on a stamped panel – use mounting tape -  and a little coordinating ribbon and you have a nice card. Here’s a detailed picture – with rhinestone:

Boy Card - detail

Boy Card - detail

And as for my knitting, since finishing the Pebbles Tank, I cast on the CEY Cable and Lace Cami. Here’s what I have so far. I like it!p4090118

Little Tiny Squares

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p32400831I recently changed the containers in which I keep all my paper scraps (you save yours, too, right?) and was kind of embarrassed by the amount of stupid little pieces of paper I had accumulated. And stored. Like a rat.

So I resolved to do something about it. No, not throw the pile away. Instead, I am going to make a bunch of cards out of these scraps. Here’s the first project:

It was inspired by a picture in one of my favorite card inspiration books, Creating Vintage Cards by Jill Haglund. You know, tack the word “vintage” onto something and I get all hot and bothered. p3240082

So I ran off to the craft store and bought a punch that measures 3/4 inches square. Then I got out the scrap box and began grouping printed pieces of paper and cardstock and started punching away.

Here’s what I came up with:

p3310107

To make this card, you will need:

5 or more coordinating scraps that range in tonal value from light to dark

Plain 12 x 12 inch cardstock in neutral or coordinating color. Textured cardstock looks nice

Glue stick and glue

3/4 inch punch

small rubber stamp with message

buttons, charms, doo-dads, rhinestones, beads – whatever you like
Here’s another example:

p33101101. Cut 12 x 12 inch cardstock to 9 x 12 inches. Cut again to 9 by 6 inches. Fold each piece in half to make two cards, each measuring 6 x 4.5 inches.

2. Punch out 30 squares from scraps. Look for interesting bits in the paper to punch out. Consider punching things out so they are only partly framed by the punch.

3. Arrange squares on card fronts 5 across and 6 down. Use a lighter, plainer piece in the third or fourth row, close to the right side edge, so you have a good, clear background on which to stamp your message. Affix squares with glue stick, beginning with the four corners, moving through the perimeter of the card and finishing up the middle. Save the square that will have the stamped message for last.

4. Stamp message on last square. Affix to card. Use glue to decorate as you like.

p3310108

You may also want to decorate by punching out flowers, hearts or stars in some of the boxes, as I have done on the pink, blue and green card below. I’m gonna make a bunch of these and package ‘em together as a gift. Send me pictures of your versions for me to post here.

p3310109p3310113

p3310112

Folded Cards

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Several years ago, I took a class in which we made these great folded cards out of double-sided cardstock. I have probably made about 1,000 of these since, sending many and selling others. They feature an inside pocket perfect for a gift certificate or a check or a piece of paper with a personal message. Or a photo, too, I suppose! Their outsides can be decorated any way you like. Here’s how:

To makes these cards, you will need:

12 x 12 inch heavy-weight paper or regular cardstock, decorated on both sides
plain paper, white or cream, to match printed cardstock
double-sided tape
bone folder

For decoration (use as many or as few as you like):
scraps of solid and printed cardstock to coordinate with card
ribbon punch
ribbon
flower punch
brads or rhinestones
glitter glue and/or Liquid Pearls
rubber stamps with greetings

Okay, let’s get started:

Steps 1 and 2

Steps 1 and 2

1. Cut 12×12 paper or cardstock to measure 12 x 9 inches. Decide which side you want to be the primary focus and which you want to be the secondary focus.
2. Fold paper or cardstock in half lengthwise with your primary focus on the outside. Score with bone folder.

Steps 3 and 4

Steps 3 and 4

3. Open the folded paper or cardstock up. Bring the lower right and upper left corners into the center fold line and fold. Score with bone folder.
4. Fold paper or cardstock in half widthwise, bringing lower edge to meet upper edge. Score with bone folder.

Step 5

Step 5

5. Close card, making sure edges are flush. Use bone folder to score all folds and make edges meet. Put small pieces of tape inside pockets close to the edge of the card to keep things from slipping out.
6. Cut a piece of plain paper 1/4 inches smaller than measurements of inside pocket and slip inside for message.

And that’s your basic folded card. Now you get to do the fun stuff – decide how you want to decorate them. I have been making a lot of these and posting them in my Etsy store. To see how I eventually decorated the cards in the picture, go here. You can see other examples here and here.

To decorate them as I have, you will need one of those punches that makes two side-by-side slots and use it just above the diagonal fold on front. Put in a piece of ribbon and tie. Use greeting rubber stamps to make panels with colored or printed cardstock backs, and use flower punches to make flowers. You can decorate the center of the flowers with brads or rhinestones, and you can use glitter glue or Liquid Pearls to highlight some areas of the outside of the card.

Now, go get busy and send me some pictures, which I will post here.

Floral Cross-Cut Cards

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I have left this mess on my library floor all week.

Library Floor - MESS!

Library Floor - MESS!

See, I found this new pad of K & Company paper at the store and it got me all revved up to make cards. It’s called “Madeleine.” So I made this first set (see second picture), which is now on my Etsy site, where there are also four or five more pictures of them, including close-ups and inside shots.

But I could not stop there. I made another set, too, out of another K & Company paper designed by Brenda Walton (see photo after instructions). This time, I inserted the cross-cut cardstock into punched-out corner cuts. And I have more in the works. I think paper that resembles quilt fabric works best, and that the best combination is a light and dark decorated paper. I’ll share how I made them.

(TO SEE ANY PICTURE IN MORE DETAIL, CLICK ON IT TO ENLARGE)

Madeline cards

Madeline cards

To make one card, you will need:

A – 1 piece solid cardstock – 11.5 x 5.75 inches

B – 1 piece solid cardstock , 5.5 inches square

C – 2 pieces coordinating printed cardstock, 5 inches square

2 scalloped-edged square punches

1 corner punch

1 or 2 pieces of ribbon, each cut 6.5 inches long

double-sided tape

mounting tape

small hole punch

coordinating brads

1. Fold A in half to make base of card.

2. Use corner punch onall four corners of B.

3. Cut both pieces of C in half diagonally to make two triangles from each. Cut each triangle in half again by aligning longest side with top of paper cutter and point with path of cutting blade. Cut to create four triangles from each piece of C. Pull two triangles of each kind of C and set the rest aside.

4. Insert four pieces of C into corner punches of B. Tape down.

5. Affix ribbon(s) to backside of B at top and bottom as shown.

6. Adhere B to A.

7. Stamp sentiment on smaller of scalloped punchouts. Affix to larger scalloped punch out. Use holepunch to create holes for brads as show. Insert brads. Affix scalloped piece to card with mounting tape.

THAT’S IT!!!!!

Brenda Walton set

Brenda Walton set

You can also do a couple of options: If you don’t like the big border around B, you can trim it down to 5.25 inches square AFTER you have used the corner punch on it. You can also add a little bling to the corners with rhinestones or such. You can also use glitter glue or Liquid Pearls to add some dimension and interest to the printed cardstock.

Okay, now I’m going back to “work.” I have about four knitting projects on the needles calling my name. And I’m going to exercise. Really, I am.