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This blog is for sharing a love of paper crafting. You can also check out my Pintrest pages. If you find the ideas here to be helpful, I'd love to hear from you. It is what helps make the time I put into this blog feel worthwhile, and always brightens my day. I love hearing your ideas too!

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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 17

This card starts with a lavender DCWV card and supplies from my pre-made kit.  The paper is from Hot Off the Press (patterned paper from Rosemary & Thyme 6X6 pack - deep purple is the back side of this two-sided paper!) The focal was another of my pre-made focals - JustRite stamps (With Sympathy) and dies (Nested Oval Medallions).  After creating the lavender for the focal background (using glossy cardstock and alcohol inks), I stamped with VersaMark and embossed with fine black embossing powder.

The borders were made using the purple and Spellbinders Edgeability dies.


I also got a picture of the inside - made with the same HOTP papers and Spellbinders Edgeabilities.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 16


Here's a "new home" card made from one of my card making kits using one of my pre-made focals. The paper came with my card making magazine and was used with a green card from a DCWV pastel card set. I cut a section of the paper, backed it with card stock and popped it up with foam tape. The little house was a piece I had gotten a scrapbooking kit - I colored it to coordinate with the paper, wrote the person's name on it and added it with foam tape.

The final piece was the pre-made focal greeting added with foam tape.  It was made the way the rest of the focals were made - using gold powder and stamps from JustRite sets Celebrations Labels One and Royal Antique Labels One and cut with a die from their matching Antique Labels One die set. I took a black fine-line permanent marker and drew around the embossed sections to help it coordinate better.  This piece was then added with foam tape to finish the card.

Friday, August 29, 2014

August Christmas Inspiration


I love the combination of JustRite stamps and Spellbinders dies!  Here's a simple two-color card:
  • Background - white glimmer paper embossed with M-Bossibility folder Imperial
  • Red Borders - Cut and embossed with dies from Spellbinders Edgeabilities line
  • Ornaments - Layered, stamped and heat embossed with JustRite stamps (Noel Christmas Ornaments), and cut with Spelbinders Heirloom Ornaments 2012 - "hung" with outline stickers

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 15


This card is another made with my card making kit and pre-made focal. This time I cut the patterned paper (from HOTP Rosemary & Thyme 6X6 paper pack) with a Cheery Lynn die called French Lattice and layered it over a piece of gold glimmer paper for the background.

The focal was made the same way the rest of them were - using gold embossing powder and JustRite stamps from their Enjoy the Day set and cut with a die from their Vintage Labels Four die set.  I added the focal with foam tape and finished the card off with a bow and 3-D butterfly sticker from the dollar store.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 14


This "Miss You" card was another made using one of my card kits made with a pre-made focal. The patterned paper was another I got with my card making magazine subscription.  I created a mat from black paper, embossing it using a die from Spellbinder's Resplendent Rectangles.  I cut the patterned paper with another die from that set and inked the edges with black ink.

The focal was made like all the others - this time using black embossing powder with JustRite stamps sets Thank You Labels 20 and Enjoy the Day.  It was cut with a Spellbinders' Labels Twenty die and added to the card with foam tape.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 13


Here's another card made from a card kit I made with one of my pre-made focals.  The background paper was from HOTP Rosemary & Thyme paper pack. I cut borders from gold glimmer paper using my paper cutter and fancy blade. I cut another strip to use as a ribbon running across the center of the card.

For the focal, I cut and embossed a white mat from a Spellbinder's die from their Resplendent Rectangles set. The focal itself was made the way they all were - this time using gold embossing powder with a border stamp from JustRite's Thank You Labels 20 and a sentiment from K & CO SeraSera set. It was cut with a die from Spellbinders Labels 20 set.


Monday, August 25, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 12


Here's another card made from one of my card kits and pre-made focals.  I'm not sure where I got the patterned paper.  I added interest by cutting purple glimmer paper with a Cheery Lynn die called French Lattice and layering it over the background paper.

The focal itself was made the way they all were - once again using JustRite dies (Antique Labels & Banner) and JustRite stamps (For All You Do, Vintage Pearl Labels) - heat embossed with fine white powder.  I added the focal with foam tape for dimension.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 11


This card started with my card kit, pre-fab focal, and a pink pastel card from DCWV.  The paper is another one I got with my card making magazine.  I matted it with teal card stock, but before gluing it in place I cut out a mat for the focal from the section that would be hidden by the patterned paper.

The focal itself was made like the others - this time using JustRite stamps For All You Do and Vintage Pearl Labels, embossed with gold powder.  I cut it with the JustRite matching die from their Vintage Label and Banner set.  After matting the focal, I popped it up with foam tape - another quick card completed.


Saturday, August 23, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 10

This is another card that started from my card kits and pre-made focals.  This time I once again decided against the paired patterned paper and just used a pale blue card (DCWV) that I embossed with an embossing folder (Doily Frame).

Stamps: JustRite - For All You Do, cat from a small Inkadinkadoo set.
Dies: Vintage Labels 3 (JustRite)
Embossing Folder: Doily Frame (Darice)

Friday, August 22, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 9


Another card kit & pre-made focal based card. The patterned paper was a piece that came with my card making magazine - I rounded the corners of it and the card and inked the edges of the paper.  The focal was another of those pre-made using JustRite Stamps (Good Friends Labels 29) & sentiment from a K&Company set. The cat was a small stamp set from Inkadinkadoo. Focal was cut with a Spellbinder's Labels 29 die.

I decided I wanted more color on the focal so colored it with Smooch inks.  Originally it had looked like this:


Not sure - maybe it would have been better to leave it uncolored???

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 8


I'm not sure if I'm actually done with this card, but wanted to note what I used before I forgot! :)  This is another card made using one of my card kits based on my pre-made card focals. The yellow paper came with my card making magazine.  The dancers were cut with my Silhouette.

The greeting was made using alcohol ink colored glossy card stock that was stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed with fine white poweder. The stamps were from JustRite (For All You Do, Enjoy the Day Vintage Labels Four), and the piece was cut with a matching die (Vintage Labels Four).  This was matted using pieces cut with Spellbinders Persian Motifs & Accents.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 7

Another Card Kit and Pre-made Focal card. For this card I realized the patterned card stock I had paired with the focal would work GREAT as the card base - so I cut and scored it to fit.  This is another paper I got with my card making magazine.

The focal was another that was glossy card stock colored with alcohol ink and then stamped and heat embossed and cut with a matching die.  The stamps are from JustRite sets: Your Special Day Medallion Labels and For All You Do.  The die is from their Nesting Medallion Labels set.  The focal is matted with a die cut white piece cut using Spellbinders Parisian Motifs.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 6

Based in another of my pre-made focals and card kits, here is another sympathy card I made recently.   It's a little hard to see, but the background paper has tiny white dots all over it. The paper came with my card making magazine and I thought it looked nice with this focal.

The focal (alcohol ink colored glossy cardstock) was stamped and heat embossed with stamps from JustRite (Your Special Day, With Sympathy) and cut with one of their dies (Nested Oval Medallions).  To finish the card I inked the edges of the patterned paper with a green pen & added ribbon borders and bow.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 5

Here's another card making use of my pre-made focals and hand-made cardmaking kits.  In this case, the paper was from HOTP Rosemary & Thyme 6X6 paper pack.  I used a card from a DCWV pastel card box, and it forms a great mat for the patterned paper.

The focal was created with stamps/dies from JustRite.  A Vintage Rose Medallion stamp forms the frame of the focal, and the words come from Sympathy Vintage Labels. I stamped and heat embossed the images on alcohol ink colored glossy card stock using VersaMark ink and gold embossing powder.  I cut the focal using a die from JustRite's Nested Oval Medallions set.  The decorative mat was created using a Spellbinders die from their Holly Motifs set.

On the inside I have another pre-made focal (JustRite stamps With Sympathy & Your Special Day), strips of the patterned paper, and "innies" from the Holly Motif mat cut for the card front.


Sunday, August 17, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 4


This quick card started with a pre-made focal created using stamps and dies from HOTP "Greetings and Labels Stamp & Dies" set. It was stamped on green paper with green ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  Once again, I had chosen a patterned paper to go with it, but changed my mind when I saw how nice it looked on this green pastel card (DCWV).  I simply embossed a border (Doily Lace - Darice) on the card and mounted my focal with foam tape - quick, easy, yet very nice!

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 3

Here's another quick and easy Sympathy card.  Though I had picked a patterned paper to put with this focal, when I actually made the card, I decided I'd rather just have a white background, so just embossed a piece of glimmer paper (a Spellbinder's M-Bossability folder) and glued it to the card front.  Then all I had to do was add my pre-made focal and I was done!

The focal started with a piece of glossy card stock that I colored with alcohol ink.  I then stamped the focal with VersaMark and embossed it with fine white embossing powder. The stamps used were JustRite (Good Friends Labels 29, With Sympathy) and the focal was cut with a die from Spellbinder's Labels 29 set.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Card Making Frenzy 2


Here's another card made using a card kit I made based on one of my pre-made focals.  The paper came with one of my card making magazines.  Before adding the paper to a pink card from a DCWV pastel card pack, I cut and embossed a piece from the center (where it would be hidden) using a die from Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles set and inked the edges with black ink.  The piece I cut from the patterned paper was layered on a black die cut piece cut with another die from the same set and then placed in the center of the background paper.  I matted the focal with a black die cut made from a die from Spellbinders Ornate Squares die set.

The focal itself was made as the others were using fine black embossing powder and stamps from JustRite's stamp sets Always and Forever Medallion Labels and Be Strong. It was cut with a die from JustRite's Nesting Oval Medallion die set.

Card Making Frenzy 1


Over the last several days I've been VERY busy!  In addition to my very heavy work load, I've been making cards.  Some time ago I wrote about making my own card kits.  Well, I've been busy using those kits.  This is the first example of many that I've made in the last several days by using my kits. 

I've made real good use of the DCWV pastel boxed cards I purchased awhile back.  I love them for the way they so often coordinate nicely with my papers and I've used them with most of the cards I made with my kits.

In this case (as in many of them) the card serves as a mat for my background paper.  This paper came with my cardmaking magazine.  The focal was one of my pre-made ones, which I colored with a bit of Smooch ink.  It makes use of JustRite stamps (Vintage Rose Medallions, Enjoy the Day) and dies (Nested Oval Medallions).  I also used a larger die from the same set to cut a mat from fiberous mulberry paper which I backed with white so it would show up better.  The finishing touch was a lovely 3-D butterfly sticker that I found at the dollar store.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

More Hunkydory Part 7


This is the last card in this "go-round" with Hunkydory supplies  (from Flutterbye Wishes kit) - though I STILL have more from that one kit that I'll use another time.  In addition to the Hunkydory paper & focal, and my pre-made sentiment tag, I used some glitter foam that I found at the dollar store.  It cuts with my dies really nicely.  I cut the border using a Spellbinders "Parisian Accents" die.  I used the little "innies" to decorate the focal and tag.

Sentiment was stamped with JustRite sentiment from "Grand Sentiments" and frame from "Royal Antique Labels One".  It was cut out with a matching "Antique Labels One die."

Saturday, August 9, 2014

More Hunkydory Part 6


This card uses a paper and border from the kit and one of my pre-made focals. The focal was made using JustRite stamps from the set "For All You Do", and cut with a die from their "Vintage Labels Three" set.

The border wasn't quite long enough, so I sliced it where it wouldn't show behind the sentiment and glued it in place.  The sentiment was added with foam tape.

Friday, August 8, 2014

More Hunkydory Part 5


This was another quick card.  The main elements are Hunkydory paper and focal, and one of my pre-made focal sentiments.

The sentiment was was created from a JustRite stamp from the set "For All You Do".  The frame was from the same stamp set.  It was cut using a die from their "Vintage Labels 3" set.

Mostly I just layered my elements and glued everything down, but there was one little trick I used.  I didn't want my ribbon to cover the large rose that was part of the background paper, so I used a craft knife to cut slits in the paper so I could thread the ribbon behind it.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

More Hunkydory Part 4


This card started with Hunkydory paper and coordinating pyramid-type focal that I put together with foam tape.  I matted it on white paper and hand-drew silver scallops with a pen.  I had a sheer pink ribbon in my stash that went well, so looked to see how I might use it.

I cut and embossed a tag out of white card stock using one of Spellbinders "Fancy Tags" dies.  I stamped a sentiment using a stamp from one of HOTP's small stamp sets called "Dragonfly", and stamped a little butterfly on a scrap of white card stock (stamp from their small stamp set "Pretty Butterfly").  I used a pink glitter gel pen to draw around the embossing on the tag to add a bit more interest.

Assembly was easy.  I threaded the ribbon through the tag and fastened it to the back of the paper, then attached the paper to the card.  Next I added the pyramid focal. Finally, I fussy cut around the little butterfly, folded it's wings up and glued just the body to the card.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

More Hunkydory Part 3


Here's another quick card - just Hunkydory paper and one of my pre-made focals!  The focal was made using JustRite stamps - sentiment from "Grand Sentiments" and frame from "Thank You Labels Twenty".   It was cut using a Spellbinders Labels 20 die.

As you can probably see, all I did was cut the paper to fit and glue it to the card front.  I then added the sentiment focal with foam tape.  That's it! Card finished!

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

More Hunkydory - Part 2


This card started with two coordinating papers from the Hunkydory kit and another of my pre-made focals. I DID have to fiddle with things a bit on this one, though.

For starters, the background paper wasn't quite large enough so I had to cut it in half (knowing I would hide the split with a ribbon).

Then, I had cut the flowered paper with a Spellbinders Labels 29 die, and cut a frame of white using two of the dies from their Resplendant Rectangles set.  However, the white didn't show as well as I wanted it to. So, I used my fancy-edged paper cutter to trim off a section from the sides of the flowered paper. That helped, but I still wasn't happy with it so I cut the white frame apart and moved the sides out a bit farther so the white lacy frame showed all the way around.

The swirl was cut from a PaperArtist die from Hot Off the Press. It is called, appropriately, "Viney Swirl"!

The focal was made with JustRite stamps (sentiment from "Enjoy the Day Vintage Labels 4" and frame from "Thank You Labels Twenty") and cut with a Spellbinders Labels 20 die.

I matted this on dark pink paper and used a matching gel pen to draw around the edges of both pink papers to help them stand out.  I finished it off with the ribbon across the center and glued everything together.

Monday, August 4, 2014

More Hunkydory - Part 1


Over the next several days I'll show several more cards that I made using papers and elements from a Hunkydory card kit that I got some time ago. The papers and elements are SO pretty!  I've been really amazed how many cards I've gotten from the one kit - and my pre-made elements work well with them too! 

This paper needed little else in the way of embellishments.  After cutting the paper to fit my cream-colored card, I ran a pink ribbon across the bottom and tacked one of my pre-made sentiment focals to it (this one was made using JustRite stamps & matching die - the sentiment from "Enjoy the Day" and the frame from "Royal Antique Labels One" set.

I added a couple of pink jewels on either side of the sentiment and 3 more in the top left corner.  The upper left corner still looked a bit empty, so I decided to draw a "butterfly path" curving around in that space.  That made a big difference.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Anniversary in Red and White


This card started with Spellbinders M-Bossabilities 5 X 7 embossing folder called "Framed Petite Labels".  After running it through the machine using white cardstock, I colored the frame with silver ink from Smooch.  I love the fact that their applicator tips are so tiny you can really control where the color goes.  I trimmed up the piece and edged it using a red pen & ruler.

Next I cut and embossed the smallest die from Spellbinders' 5X7 Elegant Labels Four out of red glimmer paper.  I ran a piece of silver edged red ribbon through this and fastened it in place.  

Sentiment: I used the die again, this time tracing the inside of it onto white cardstock and cutting it out by hand.  I inked the edges and stamped my sentiment on this using a stamp from JustRites "Royal Antique Labels One" stamp set.  I attached this to the red piece with foam tape. Then cut, embossed, and stenciled two hearts using a die from JustRite's "Vintage Label and Banner" die set, and added them with foam tape.

The large word "Love" was cut using a Paper Artist's die from HOTP from the set called "Love and 5 Hearts". 

I would have left it at that, but ended up scattering a few heart stickers across the card when I accidentally got some of the silver Smooch ink in the wrong place!  

For this card, I decorated the inside so much it could have been the outside of another card!  This is what the inside looks like.


I used the large die from Spellbinders' 5X7 Elegant Labels Four die set as a stencil to get the frame.  The holes are so tiny that I ended up having to go over it all with a pen as the ink just didn't do a clear enough job.  Ad you can see I inked all the way to the outer edges and also inked the inner edge.  

Next I cut a piece of red glimmer paper using the middle sized die in this set, and glued it to the center.

The message was stamped on a piece of white cardstock that was cut and embossed with a die from Spellbinders' Gold Labels Four.  Four little heart stickers at the corners tie it all together (though it's hard to tell that given the lighting in the photo!).

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Variations on a theme - #4


This card abandons the turquoise and uses this lovely orchid color instead.    For it I started with another Darice frame embossing folder.  After embossing the orchid paper and trimming it to size, I realized there was more of the base card showing than I cared for - it looked too plain.  So I embossed a background piece in white using a Darice 5X7 embossing folder - not sure the name of it.  Before gluing it down, I cut out the center with a die from Spellbinders' "Radiant Rectangles" die set and placed it in the center.

For the sentiment I used the smallest die from Spellbinders' "Resplendent Rectangles", inked it using the die as a stencil & stamped the sentiment using a stamp from HOTP "Tiny Words & Images" stamp set.  I mounted this with foam tape on a die-cut I had made using a die from Spellbinders' "Fancy Tags #2" set.

The butterflies were cut and embossed using a couple of dies from Spellbinders' "Les Papillions" die set.  As you can see I cut both out of white and then again out of orchid, then layered one white on orchid and the other orchid on white.  I attached them gluing only the body and antennae parts so the wings could flutter free.  I folded the wings up and separated them a bit for added dimension.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Variations on a theme - #3


For this card I went a bit more subtle with the turquoise, and added some lavender to the mix.  This time I started with a slightly larger card base - approximately 5" x 6 1/4". 

Lacy Mat: I started with the lacy mat.  Using a Darice embossing folder, I inked the edges of the folder with turquoise and then ran it through my machine with some white cardstock inside.  Then I fussy cut around the edges of the embossed frame.  I cut a piece for the center of the frame from a scrap of paper I had on hand that tied together the turquoise & lavender that I wanted to use.  I set this aside and prepared my background.

Background: For the background I found a scrap of turquoise paper.  It had stuff cut out of the center of it, but that was hidden by the lavender piece I put on top of it - a "hand-made" paper I bought at Costco several years ago. After gluing them both in place, I attached my lacy mat to this using foam tape for dimension.

Sentiment: I started with a piece of white card stock that had been cut and embossed with a die from Spellbinders Fancy Tags #2.  Then I added a turquoise piece cut and embossed with a die from Fancy Tags #1.  To get the center oval to match, I cut and embossed a scrap of white cardstock using the same die and then cut around the embossed edge.  I stamped my sentiment (from HOTP "Tiny Words & Images") with lavender ink and inked the edge before gluing them one on top of the other as shown here.  I attached this to the lacy mat with foam tape.

Butterfly: The butterfly is cut and embossed with two of the dies from Spellbinders Les Papillions - one created the lavender base, the other the lacy upper part in white.  I LOVE these dies!  They are designed so they can stand alone or be used together and I think they're quite lovely.  Anyway, I glued the lacy white part to the lavender part just along the body & antennae so the wings are free.  I folded up the wings a bit, then attached the butterfly to the card as shown - once again only attaching it along the body.

Tomorrow I'll show another Thank You card using the other two butterfly dies in the Les Papillions set.