Christmas Inspriations: Golden Poinsettias

Today's is another poinsettia inspiration.  Materials used:

• Spellbinders Dies: Poinsettia, Decorative Labels 27, Splendid Circles
• JustRite: Festive Poinsettia, Noel Christmas Ornaments
• Embossing ink and embossing pen
• gold embossing powder
• rectangle of background paper
• red silk flower
• ribbon

 Method:

• Poinsettia is matted with a white piece cut with Splendid Circles die
• Poinsettia itself is layered using green leaves cut with die set, red silk flower, a couple of layers of stamped/gold embossed die cut poinsettias (see technique tip here), and the small piece from the decorative labels 27
• Background paper is edged with the embossing pen and then embossed with gold embossing powder
• Gold ribbon finishes the card off nicely.

Re-Makes

Once again I'm grateful for this blog, but I realize that lately I've gotten lax about posting a complete materials list (including inks used). While I mostly post in the hope of inspiring others with my creations, it also serves as a record for myself of what I've done and how I did it. This morning I needed to send out a card and found I wanted to exchange the greeting for a different one.  To do that, I needed to know exactly what color ink I used.  Fortunately the post in question listed the name of the ink, and I was able to quickly and easily switch out the greeting I originally had on the card for the one I actually needed.  So, there is value in a COMPLETE materials list! :)

I didn't get a picture of that "remake" before it went out in the mail, but in looking through my cards, I decided to remake another one.  You see the results of the re-make above.  This is what it originally looked like:

Frankly, while I enjoyed playing with the stamping technique used for the butterfly (same as described here), I never liked this card - so much so I never even posted it.  After it sat in my stash for nearly 2 years, I figured I better re-do it so I would actually make use of it.  One of the things I like about using my ATG is that it always holds the elements well, but they can often still be removed if one is careful.  That worked very well in this case.  After removing the butterfly & tag, here's how I did the re-do:

For the focal:

• Using a smaller scalloped rectangle die (Spelbinders), I re-cut the butterfly.
• Then I cut a piece of white cardstock the same size as the original blue (Spellbinder Fleur De Lis Rectangles).
• A larger blue mat (drawn with pencil around die and then cut by hand) forms the bottom layer of the focal.

For the sentiment:

• I got rid of the original hand-written sentiment - just didn't like it.  Instead, I cut a strip of white, stamped the sentiment on it, and chevron cut the ends.  Then I cut a similar larger piece of blue to mat it. 

For the card layout:

• While I would have preferred the border to be offset rather than across the center, it wouldn't lift easily and I didn't want to tear it or the background paper.  So, I decided to flip the card to make it a vertical rather than horizontal card.
• After arranging the elements, I decided I wanted to round the corners of the card to match the corners of the focal.

Voila!  A card I actually could stand to give someone! :)

Sympathy Stamp & Die Cut

I much prefer to have sympathy cards made ahead - gives me more time to make them nice.  But we don't always have that luxury.  Such was the case with this card.

In this case I started with a lovely green marbled paper from HOTP.   I wanted to use my new HOTP stamps (greetings & labels) & matching dies (6 layered labels), so chose these. 

As you can see, I inked the edges of the background paper.

For the sentiment, I first cut two labels using one of the HOTP label dies - one in white & one in the marbled green. I then stamped the frame and sentiment in green ink on the green marbled paper and embossed them with clear powder.  I then took the thin border from the white & substituted it in place of the thin border of the marbled green.  This went over a piece cut from green suede paper with a Spellbinder's Labels 4 die.  Before I layered them, however, I cut a layered flower piece from the center of the green suede where the missing part would not be seen.  

The "ribbon" is another strip of the suede.  The large white flower was cut and embossed using Spellbinder's Poinsettia die.  The next layer (dark green flower) is the one I cut from the suede paper.  The smallest is one I had in my stash.  The leaves were cut from glimmer paper (using the leaf die from Spellbinders Rose Creations) and rolled through a corrugator as described in this post.  It probably would have been better to use 3 leaves, but I already had these two prepared in my stash and didn't really have the time to make a third. 

I wanted a bit more white on the card, so pulled out some white Dazzles stickers to add a few embellishments.

Emboss & Cut Sympathy

Sympathy cards can be needed without warning, and it seems they are often needed when things are at their busiest.  Yet a hand-made card can mean a lot to the recipient.  Here's an example of a really quick card.

It started with a piece of green glimmer paper that was cut with one of Marianne's cut & emboss folders.  The greeting was stamped & embossed with fine white powder (JustRite - Sympathy Vinatge Labels).  The flower & leaves were cut and embossed with Spellbinder's Carnation Creations, then shaped more with a stylus.

If I were doing it again, I think I'd cut a lacy white frame to go around the green.

Butterfly Get Well

This Hunkydory focal went great with this piece of Hunkydory paper (Flutterbye Wishes kit). That's what kits are all about, I guess! :)  It also goes really well with the dark pink glitter fun foam and card stock I used, but somehow the picture doesn't show that as well as when you see it in person.

I used a scrap of glittered fun foam for a border across the bottom, accenting it with jewel stickers.   The Hunkydory focal butterfly fit beautifully with the "butterfly path" on the backround paper leading to it.  

The sentiment was made using Dazzles and the new cutting dies from HOTP that match their Greetings & Labels stamps.  I didn't use the stamps here, but can't wait until I have time to play with them, too!  Anyway, as you can see, I cut a couple of the Labels shapes using their dies (one from pink glitter card stock, one from white paper), and outlined them with silver Thin Line Dazzles.  I added an outline sticker sentiment and some jewel stickers to accent it.  A metallic-edged bow set it off nicely.

Hunkydory Butterflies

Hunkydory paper once again  (Flutterbye Wishes kit) - Love the butterflies!  Since I had run out of the die cuts, I once again made my own focal.  I had a scrap of silver foil paper that was cut in this scalloped oval shape.  I decided to cut a smaller piece of the dark pink and add the silver outline sticker sentiment.  It didn't have enough "pop" so I went looking through my stash and found this piece of glittered fun foam I had purchased at the dollar store.  It made the perfect mat!  

I liked the pink glittery affect on the mat, so decided to cut a border of the same glitter foam - adding it on top of a piece of scrap lace.  

The focal still looked a little blah.  What I really wanted was a butterfly, but most of my butterfly dies were too large.  Then I spotted my butterfly "Pop-Ups" dies (Spellbinders/Flowersoft).  The butterfly was the right size, but I didn't want a popup.  I used the die on a scrap of the glitter foam and then finished cutting out the body and antennae by hand.  I added a couple of jewel stickers at the tips of the antennae, and some more down the length of the body.  Then I decided to finish the card by adding a few more jewel stickers to the backround paper - on the butterflies and the center of the bow.

Thinking of you Hunkydory

This card started with a piece of gorgeous Hunkydory paper (Flutterbye Wishes kit).  The focal was one of my pre-made ones made using Justright Stamps (For All You Do, Grand Sentiments) and dies (Vintage Labels 3).  I added a few self-adhesive gems from my stash to brighten up the border, the focal, and the package at the bottom of the card. 

I found I really wanted a pink border around the background paper, but couldn't find paper that I liked with it.  Then I remembered Dazzles.  This time I grabbed the pink jeweled flowers and sliced the edges off with my paper cutter so I could add the pieces to make the border.  It worked GREAT!  A pink metallic-edged bow finished this card nicely.

Spelbinding Hunkydory Thanks

This card uses more Hunkydory paper and die cut elements (Flutterbye Wishes kit), but I decided to dress the focal up a bit with Spellbinder's dies.  These decorative pieces are all cut using the small label die from the Morrocan Accents set.  I just cut off the fancy cut pieces, leaving the inner circle for something else (actually I used one of these circles to create the greeting on the card I showed yesterday!).  As you can see I arranged them around my focal. The two little "hooks" on either side at the top were some of the "innies". 

The card looks a little top weighted right now, but I figure when I decide on the specific occasion, I can add some words in the space below the focal.  For instance, it might say "for your thoughtful gift" or "your kindness meant a lot" or whatever is appropriate to the specific occasion.

All Occasion Dazzling Hunkydory

I LOVE this Hunkydory paper (Flutterbye Wishes kit), but had used all the die cuts that went with it.  So, I made a quick little greeting using Spellbinders dies and gold Dazzles and a scrap of pink foil paper from my stash. I decided "for you" made a lovely generic sentiment that I could add to later if I wished.  For example, I could add the words "on your birthday" down the left side of the paper in the blank area if I wanted to use it as a birthday card.

 I made a ribbon border but didn't want it covering up the butterfly so cut on either side of the wing with my craft knife so I could slip the ribbon behind the butterfly.  I also added a few extra touches to the paper.  I took some of the pink flower Dazzles and added them to the center of the smaller flowers.  I also added small Dazzles dots from this same sheet to accent the butterfly wings and the smallest of the flowers.

Dazzling Hunkydory Birthday

This card is again made from a Hunkydory kit (Flutterbye Wishes) - all the paper and die cuts came in the kit. A couple things came together for me in this card.  First, I had run out of my card blanks.  Second, I wanted a card that was large enough to showcase the full width of the Hunkydory paper so I got all of the pattern and the shading along the edges.  

As I was thinking about these two things, I realized something!  The Hunkydory kits are made in the U.K. so are only 8 1/4" wide.  That makes them perfect for card bases that are made from one of our standard letter-sized pieces of card stock!  So, the next few "Dazzling Hunkydory" cards I showcase will be 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" in size, just like this one is.

The background paper had the shading in place, but I inked the edge with a dark pink to help it stand out a bit more.  For the border I cut strips from a couple other Hunkydory papers and inked their edges with the same ink.  Then I added Dazzles borders & birthday greeting to the border.

I decided I wanted the little tag to look like it was hanging from the border, so used a thin Dazzles border to "hang" it.  The line by itself looked a little bare, but I realized the Dazzles were so thin I could shape them and create a fake "bow" to finish off this card.

Hunkydory Love & Best Wishes

For this card I used a couple more "tricks".  

The background was created by cutting both the yellow and the pink paper (Hunkydory - Flutterbye Wishes) with the largest of Spellbinder's Labels 29 Die.  I embossed the yellow piece before taping it in place within the pink frame.  I thought this set off the die cuts nicely.  However . . . the pink was shorter than I wanted for the card.

I had to think about it a bit before figuring out what to do.  I was looking at some of the pieces left over after the Hunkydory die cuts had been punched out and suddenly realized a piece of that would be perfect for the bottom of the card - and even had foiling on it to dress things up.

Then, some Dazzles borders around the outer perimeter of the background and voilà - another "Dazzling Hunkydory" card! 

More Dazzeling HunkyDory

Once I realized how well Dazzles complimented the Hunkydory kits, I was good to go.  On this card, the pink background paper, the border, and the focal element are Hunkydory (Flutterbye Wishes kit).  The Aqua embossed piece is glimmer paper cut and embossed with one of Marianne's cut & emboss folders (love those!!!).  The outlines around the card and the aqua embossed piece are Dazzles, as is the message on the focal element.  Another quick & easy card!

Dazzling Hunkydory

The materials in this card are mostly from a Hunkydory card kit (Flutterbye Wishes kit)- the background, focal element, and sentiment tag all came from there.  I love the foiling in the Hunkydory card kits, but didn't have silver paper to match it for matting elements & such.  Then I thought of Dazzles!  Those silver outline stickers from Hot Off the Press are perfect!  I especially like the "63 Thin Line Border Stickers".  I used them here to frame the background.  The silver edged ribbon I had in my stash was a perfect match, making it all come together quickly and easily. 

Quick Tropical Birthday

I must admit that this is not my favorite card.  I really don't care for orange and pink together most of the time and this paper is no exception.  However, it has a tropical feel and I figured it would make a nice birthday card with that sort of theme to it.  It came together very quickly thanks to my card kit with pre-made focals.  The focal was made using alcohol inks on glossy cardstock, stamped and embossed with JustRite stamps (Enjoy the Day, Celebration Labels One) and white embossing powder, and cut with JustRite matching Die (Vintage Labels Four). Here's the inside:

The focal on the inside was made the same way using JustRite Stamps (Enjoy the Day, Circle of Love) and die (Vintage Labels Four). 

Purple Birthday

I needed to make a quick birthday card for someone who loves purple, so I started with one of my pre-made focals and put this together quickly. The border stamps (Grateful Heart) and dies (Vintage Labels Two) for the focal were from JustRite and the Rose was a small stamp from HOTP.  I colored the roses with gel pens.  I've gotten several sets of papers free with a card making magazine and wanted to use them up - so that's where the background paper came from.

The sentiment was made using a new set from HOTP - dies (6 Layered Labels and 2 Swirls) and matching stamps (Greetings and Labels).  NICE!  I cut and embossed the tag in the purple and then stamped the sentiment with embossing ink and heat embossed in black. 

The inside could be the front of another card!  It too started with one of my pre-made focals - once again using dies & stamps from JustRite.  I cut and embossed a white mat for it and then colored the outer edge with a black sharpie!

The border is cut and embossed with the border from Spellbinders "Fleur De Lis Accents" set.  I backed it with black paper and fussy cut the top edge.