Category Archives: Card Samples
What do you do when your Christmas die order shows up after Christmas?
Honey Bee stamps brought out a couple of dies in their Christmas release that I loved from the moment I saw them. Unfortunately, my order did not arrive until after Christmas. I did not want to store them away in my Christmas die box without ever having used them.
Jennifer McGuire had done a tutorial where she had used both of the dies I ordered on one card. I always get inspiration from Jennifer, but this time I also used the exact technique that she used on her cards, as I just loved it. Then, to top it all off, I also used part of her advice on how to continue to get JOY out of creating. Jennifer has always advised viewers to think of five different uses for a stamp or die set before purchasing either. That way, you are more likely to get good use of the product and less likely to have buyer’s remorse. It was a good time to put this advice into action, rather than just filing these dies away.
There is no doubt that the Layering Vintage Labels are meant to be a staple in one’s craft room, so that part was easy. Using the Winter Village set in different ways, was more of a challenge. I ended up with both a summer and a winter wedding card, a congrats on your new home card, a Christmas card, and Valentine’s card. Here is what I ended up making.
The background is stitched vellum and the back of most of the cards is open as shown below.
Christmas 2022
It feels to me like I just packed away the Christmas tree last week. You know what I am talking about. Yes, the task of putting a 6-foot wide and 7 feet tall tree in a 2-foot by 3-foot box. It is worse than folding fitted sheets and it is getting to be that time of year again. It also means though, that it is time to make Christmas cards and that is always a fun time.
This card uses a combination 3D embossing folder and a matching die that cuts out the birdhouse. The birds come from another embossing folder/die set and of course, go well together. It is brilliant ideas like this that keep us cardmakers continuing to buy new products.
There will be an upcoming flurry of activity on my blog, as the Coffeelovers Blog Hop is coming up in the next couple of weeks. The blog means that I post at least 10 cards in 10 days. Is it a coincidence that this bloghop comes up in the exact time period that my subscription for my blog is up for renewal? Every year I think I am not using the blog enough to justify the cost, but every year I renew.
Altenew Calming Cluster Stencil and Embossing Folder
It is true what they say. The toilet paper runs out faster at the end of the roll! The older I get, the faster time goes on by. I can’t believe it is over 6 months since I posted on this blog. The truth is, I have been making more cards than ever, but most of them are designated to be samples at the store where I work. Most days, I complete the sample card that I am taking to work in the hour before I leave for work. This makes it nearly impossible to have the time to create a note about it and get it posted on the blog. I have some ideas on how I could morph the blog a bit to keep it going without additional time crunches. In other words, I don’t want the blog to bog! We will see what happens.
One of the things I am thinking about is using the blog to post cards/pages that are made from my stash rather than from store products. I want to be able to use my stamps and dies multiple times and not for just one store sample. Craft products turn over quickly and something new is always on the horizon.
Today’s card is made with an embossing folder and matching stencils from Altenew. I struggled with the idea I had as the stencils are not the exact size of the flower clusters on the embossing folder. I guess the intended design was a loose artsy look, while I was going for a precise colouring look. I made it work OK. Now maybe I will look it up on the Altenew website to see if I can see what was intended.
What is this? A new post!
Here is a quick post so that I can share this card with the Hero Arts Kit Fanatics group. I had just received my May kit and add ons when I came across this lovely Brutus Monroe sparkly paper while tidying the craft room. It was a match made in heaven. The card was easy to put together with the aid of the Slimline Alignment Tool and turned out very well. I wanted a touch of something to decorate the outside margins a bit and it was Impression Obsession to the rescue with its sea images die. Overall, it is a beautiful dimensional slimline card that came together in under an hour. Yay!
The Fight Continues
I thought it was time to do a blogpost that wasn’t triggered by needing to make an entry to a Bloghop. This card is just for fun.
Even though we kicked 2020 out as fast as we could, the fight is not over with Covid 19. Anyone celebrating a birthday right now still has to dial it back a notch, as we race to get everyone vaccinated. I think this card speaks to the times, and yet offers a laugh for anyone celebrating a big milestone birthday right now.
Inside:
Pour Decisions
Wowser, it has been a long time since my last post. It isn’t that I haven’t been doing any crafting, it is simply that there didn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to actually do posts of my projects.
I think I probably made one hundred and fifty Christmas cards this year, between store samples and cards for personal use. Whew! Of course, I insist on making each one of them different, which makes it more time consuming.
Anyway, today I wanted to use a die set that had given me a touch of buyer’s remorse. I was looking at the die and thinking it was going to look quite bland simply cut out. It was clearly going to need some touches to bring it up a notch. Sometimes, when I am doubtful about a die, I just try harder and I think that is what happened with this one.
Helpful to the cause was when I found the “pour” sticker in my Rose All Day collection from Reminisce. It made me laugh as I have begun to hear rumors that people are drinking too much with all the shelter at home Covid restrictions. Might as well talk about it, I say!
Hope you like the card, and perhaps you can relate to it. LOL
Coffee Lovers Bloghop Fall/Winter 2020 day 8 Card # 2
This might be my last card due to time constraints. I do have another idea forming in my head so you never know.
Again a product was the inspiration for my card. The trifold background on the card is provided by a die called Anja’s Gate from Marianne Designs. I had already made four different sample cards for the Scrapendipity store with everything from a forest scene to a Christmas scene using this die, so I thought why not a Coffee scene.
One of the dies slipped a bit and is misaligned. Usually this is enough to send it to the big round file, but I have some things I have to get done and so I used it anyway.
Overall, it turned out well. The back of each of the screens is wide enough to hold a coffee card, so this might become someone’s Christmas present.
Enjoy!
Coffee Lovers Bloghop Fall/Winter 2020 Day 8 #1
Nothing gets card ideas flowing for me like getting a new stamp or die. I always like the challenge of figuring out how to make the new product work with what I already have in my stash. The trend toward slimline cards has opened up a whole new stream of possibilities.
I have gathered a mini collection of over-caffeinated critters from The Rabbit Hole Designs. What can be better than one of these critters on a coffee card? The answer is three on them on a card using the Slimline Basics die set from Mama Elephant. This time the patterned paper is from Stampin Up. and Reminisce’s Coffee and Tea. Stickles, Neon Amplify, Enamel Accents and Trinity stamps Unicorn sequins provided the embellishments.
Have a look:
T Shirt Time
T-Shirts in my closet come in different sizes. This comes in handy because with the “Stay at Home” thing going on and the constant access to food, I never know which one is going to fit on any given day. To my surprise, I have found out that Hero Arts Infinity T-Shirt die set is very handy for the same reason. You just never know what size you need and sometimes you need two sizes on the same card.
I paired these cute T-Shirts up with the Braided Circle Slimline die from Pinkfresh Studios and some Tie dye like paper from Brutus Monroe to create this card. I couldn’t find a sentiment in my stash that worked so I created one on my Cameo and printed it out. Take a look:
My Monthly Hero Kit June 2020
Just a quick post to show a card that I did with the Aurora Borealis stamp that was in the kit. I admit I had a fear of failure with this one and was afraid to start on it. In the end, it did turn out well and is much more beautiful in real life than in this picture as it is totally sparkly and has a glow that I can’t seem to capture in photography.
DebSelby
Maverick Muses 