Mother's Day

In my previous post I showed the result of me playing around with Altenew layer rose 3d die. Now it's time to use some of the roses I've created on cards. And since it's Mother's Day today here in Ireland I've decided to use them on a card for this very occasion.

I've used light pink cardstock and yellow background die cut (I love the combination of pink and yellow - it's so girly and fresh). I heat embossed the die cut with clear powder twice, to add shine and dimension. This created a simple yet elegant background to showcase my 3d roses. I kept the sentiment simple but raised it by mounting it on a piece of fun foam to make sure it stands out enough.

I've been looking through Simon Says Stamp blog and came across their Wednesday challenge - Girl Power. I though this card goes perfectly with the the theme, not just because of the light and girly design, but also because of the celebration - after all being a mother is one of the greatest powers girls posses!
If you'd like to see more details and also check out some beautiful cards submitted for the challenge here's a link.

Layered Rose Die (Altenew)

When I first saw Aletenew Rose Flurries 3D dies I fell in love instantly! Unfortunately it has been sold out since and I couldn't get my hands on it.

Then I saw Simply Cards and Papercraft were adding a set of Layered Rose dies from Altenew to issue 174 and I ordered my copy straight away (I really do have to subscribe finally!). The order came quicker than I expected and luckily just before the big snow!

The die exceeded my expectations, even though it's only a small set (compared to a full set from Altenew). I spend all day experimenting! I didn't even let lack of coloured cardstock stop me (on that note SCaP have a digital paper ready to use with the dies - how handy is that!). I decided to use inks. I went for Distress Inks and blending tool.

1. Colour mix

Straight away, instead of using 3 shades of the same colour I thought I'd try to use 3 different colours. You can see the results below.

2. Negative

After I've asembled my roses I noticed all the negative space left behind I've worked so hard to ink up my paper and it was such a shame to just throw it out. So I started using the negatives as well. And since it is a layered die there were so many different ways to put these together and achieve all different results with colour and dimension.

I did the same with leaves. I changed around where the dark and light shade go and used negatives as well. I really like the variation.

3. Die cut inlay

I have cut out the base for the rose and covered it with two different colours of negative spaces using die cut inlay technique. It does not offer as much dimension or 3d effect, but it looks really cute.

4. Shades of the same colour
At the end I inked a strip of paper with the same colour of ink but changing intensity, so I ended up with 3 different shades of the same colour. I cut and asembled the roses as they were meant to be in the first place.

Overall the die set is amazing and I would love to get a full set (which can be wieved here  and also available in Peony Dream ). It is so versatile - you can use it with coloured cardstock, ink or as seen in examples in the magazine even with glitter card or vellum. Also check out this blog and video from Jennifer McGuire and her ideas.

At the end I've achived so many different reaults I couldn't decide which I liked most. What do you think?

Die cut inlay cards

I could not wait to share these!
Every crafter starts getting ready for Christmas early, and I’ve started gathering my materials and tools back in August. And as soon as I was ready I started making cards and trying new techniques.

I love this inlay technique I found on Jennifer Maguire YouTube channel. Jennifer is my card making guru, I just love her work and the way she presents it. You can learn huge variety of techniques using different crafty things and she always has loads of ideas how to use a technique even if you don’t have the specific supplies shown in the video. You can check the video out here (warning, it’s addictive!).

I didn’t use inking for this, I just die cut my designes out of different kinds of cardstock. I found this glittery paper in silver and gold in a random shop and I just love the shimmer on it. It’s not just glitter cardstock, it has this amazing shimmer and it reflects the light beautifully. I hope the photos show it. Unfortunately it is not easy to work with, as it does not die cut very well. I guess the shimmery side is covered with some sort of plastic or foil which stretches in the die cutting machine and does not cut, no matter what kind of shim I use. So I had to run my craft knife after I die cut it to separate the pieces. It was very tedious and it took hours! But I can be very stubborn when I want to and I got through it. It was worth it. I can only hope  it looks as nice on the photos as it does in real life.

I’m now really into making Christmas cards and there’s loads more to come, including shaker cards, so stay tuned!

Autumnal Birthday

For some reason it’s not easy for me to come up with card ideas for men. Maybe it’s because I’m quite a girly girl. But this time the season came in handy and I’ve decided to create this autumn inspired card for a special Birthday.

I embossed the craft cardstock with a tree pattern adding some ink (Distress inks in this case - Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade) to add a bit of colour and to highlight the pattern on the embossing. I just smeared a bit of ink on my embossing folder in a few places before adding the cardstock and running it through my Big Shot. I created a tag for the sentiment by cutting a small rectangle out of green cardstock and cutting the corners off with a very small circle die.

I did something special with the die cut sentiment - I used gold embossing powder and heat embossed it 3 times to make it look like it’s made out of metal. As the powder builds up and melts it adds some dimension and also covers the edges giving the die cut that metal look. Then I decided to make my faux metal sentiment look a bit tarnished. I took a random stamp with a lot of detail and no.t a lot of background covered, added embossing ink and stamped random areas. Then I added copper coloured embossing powder and heat set it to melt into the gold. I could have used a small brush to apply the ink as well but I found the stamp worked perfectly. I’m quite pedantic so if I had to apply the ink with a brush I’d probably make it look too perfect and symmetrical, which would ruin the look.

I also used the same embossing powder on the background cardstock - I only covered the edges as this is the only visible part of the backround. I repeated the embossing twice just to match that faux metal effect on the sentiment a bit.

Autumn leaves are the final touch on this simple card - I just die cut them out of yellow card stock and added some ink shading (I used Spiced Marmalade again). I used very nice die cuts from Die Cutting Essentials magazine (issue 14 featuring beautiful leafy embossing folder and a set of leaf dies with stitching details).

Overall it's a really simple card, but a couple of the techniques I used here really add to the look and the faux metal sentiment creates a focal point. And most importantly- the Birthday Guy loved it.

Special Birthday

What's better way to start a blog, than a special occasion. It's my sister's birthday today! I made a special effort making this card. She loves pink and sparkles, so I picked up some paper, glitter and rhinestones and let my imagination run wild! The result - bright, sparkly and delicate, just like the birthday girl herself ( btw her name is pronounced Asha).

It's what I call a wallet card. It does not open like e usual card, instead there is a slot at the top where a card for writing a message is placed. There's also a tag, so the card slides out easily. I find the front of cards I make gets a bit heavy with all the decorations, so I came up with more practical and quite unique solution (if I say so myself).