One Sheet Wonder #6

This is the sixth in my "one sheet wonder" set.  In general for this set of cards, in addition to that one sheet of paper (from HOTP "Artful Watercolor"), I used:

• Card stock cut & folded to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base.
• Printouts of an art & tag freebie download that was designed to go with the paper (and occasionally black or white card stock to stabilize them so I could pop them up with foam tape).
• Black paper - mostly for matting.  
• Black Sharpie - for faux matting
• Misc embellishments from my stash. 

If you look at the template on this page, you'll see that the pieces labeled #6 are the ones that were used for this card.

CARD FRONT:

• Background: I started with the large single panel & matted it on black paper.  Then I added a black 1/4" ribbon about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom before gluing this to the card.
• Focal & Finishing: The focal was a label from the printed freebie sheet.  I stamped (stamp from "Floral Greetings" set from HOTP) and embossed the greeting with fine black embossing powder. This was attached to white card stock & then fussy cut around the edge leaving a narrow white border all the way around.  I added it to the card with foam tape & tucked a few pieces cut from a gold doily underneath.  I added a bow made from 1/8" black satin ribbon & that completed the front of the card.

INSIDE:

• I faux matted the small rectangle using a black Sharpie around the edge.  Then I added a couple greeting pieces cut from the artwork freebie printout.

One Sheet Wonder #5

This is the fifth in my "one sheet wonder" set.  In general for this set of cards, in addition to that one sheet of paper (from HOTP "Artful Watercolor"), I used:

• Card stock cut & folded to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base.
• Printouts of an art & tag freebie download that was designed to go with the paper (and occasionally black or white card stock to stabilize them so I could pop them up with foam tape).
• Black paper - mostly for matting.  
• Black Sharpie - for faux matting
• Misc embellishments from my stash. 

If you look at the template on this page, you'll see that the pieces labeled #5 are the ones that were used for this card.

CARD FRONT:

• Background - I matted all 3 of the pieces for this card on black pieces of paper.  I set one aside for the inside of the card and attached the other two on either side of the card front.
• Focal - The focal started with the postcard printed freebie.  I stamped a portion of a stamp on this using a stamp from "Artful Affirmations" stamp set (HOTP). I glued it to a piece of cardstock & fussy cut around it leaving a narrow white margin. I printed a second copy & glued the flower portion to card stock & fussy cut around it before adding it with dimensional tape for a bit of a "paper tole" look.  I added another one of my dollar store dimensional butterflies to the upper right hand corner before attaching the whole thing to the front of the card with foam tape.

INSIDE:

• The inside is one again a piece of the patterned paper with a Sharpie-drawn faux mat.  I added a couple of sentiments stamped from a North Coast Creations stamp set called "Floral Sentiments 8".

One Sheet Wonder #4

This is the forth in my "one sheet wonder" set.  In general for this set of cards, in addition to that one sheet of paper (from HOTP "Artful Watercolor"), I used:

• Card stock cut & folded to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base.
• Printouts of an art & tag freebie download that was designed to go with the paper (and occasionally black or white card stock to stabilize them so I could pop them up with foam tape).
• Black paper - mostly for matting.  
• Black Sharpie - for faux matting
• Misc embellishments from my stash. 

If you look at the template on this page, you'll see that the pieces labeled #4 are the ones that were used for this card.  I used the largest of the HOTP Design Toolkit #1 templates to draw the shape before cutting along the line with my scissors (could also try using a border die!).  

CARD FRONT:

• Background: I matted both pieces on black paper, then glued the larger one to the top of the card front and the smaller one to the bottom inside of the card - leaving a narrow edge all the way around.  I then cut away the front of the card below the matted patterned paper, leaving the same size narrow edge.
• Focal/Greeting: The word "LOVE" was a piece of the printed freebie artwork.  I cut it out with a narrow white border, then matted it on black card stock leaving a 1/4" edge all the way around.  The word "You" was stamped on black paper and heat embossed with white powder.  The stamp used was actually a "Thank You" stamp that I masked to get just the "you".  It was from a JustRite set called "Grand Sentiments". I matted this on white paper cutting around it to create a narrow white edge - reminiscent of the letters in the word "love".  I attached them to the card front as shown - the word "love" was attached with foam tape for added dimension.

 INSIDE:

The inside is pretty simple - the patterned shape matted on black paper.

One Sheet Wonder #3

This is the third in my "one sheet wonder" set.  In general for this set of cards, in addition to that one sheet of paper (from HOTP "Artful Watercolor"), I used:

• Card stock cut & folded to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base.
• Printouts of an art & tag freebie download that was designed to go with the paper (and occasionally black or white card stock to stabilize them so I could pop them up with foam tape).
• Black paper - mostly for matting.  
• Black Sharpie - for faux matting
• Misc embellishments from my stash. 

If you look at the template on this page, you'll see that the pieces labeled #3 are the ones that were used for this card.

CARD FRONT:

• Background - This card doesn't really do the patterned paper pieces justice as the overlay hides most of it.  At any rate, the 4 same-sized pieces available for this card were all mounted onto ONE piece of black paper that was cut just smaller than the card front to give about 1/8" on all sides.  I alternated the patterns to get a really nice look - but you can't see it well.
• Focal - The focal message is stamped & heat embossed using a stamp from "Heartfelt Greetings" stamp set (HOTP).  The label it is stamped on is one of the printed art freebies.  I matted this on a piece of gold foil doily - carefully cut to fit the card.  I added a dimensional butterfly sticker (from a dollar store) and the card front was complete.

INSIDE:

The inside once again started with a piece of patterned paper.  I used a real paper mat this time so I could make it a bit bigger.  I added a small piece of the doily and another butterfly sticker (colored with a Sharpie so the original pastel color became one that looked better with the paper).  I added a "butterfly trail" by using "innies" from outline sticker borders.

One Sheet Wonder Card #2

This is the second in my "one sheet wonder" set.  In general for this set of cards, in addition to that one sheet of paper (from HOTP "Artful Watercolor"), I used:

• Card stock cut & folded to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base.
• Printouts of an art & tag freebie download that was designed to go with the paper (and occasionally black or white card stock to stabilize them so I could pop them up with foam tape).
• Black paper - mostly for matting.  
• Black Sharpie - for faux matting
• Misc embellishments from my stash. 

If you look at the template on this page, you'll see that the pieces labeled #2 are the ones that were used for this card.

CARD FRONT:

• Background - I matted the triangle of patterned paper on black paper and attached it to the card leaving a narrow edge around it.  I took a piece of lace and glued it over the edge with double-sided adhesive down the center.  I trimmed the corners & added Fray Check to all the ends to keep the lace from unraveling.
• Focal & Finishing - The basic piece was another piece from the sheet of printed artwork.  I cut it with a narrow white edge around it and then matted it on black card stock with a narrow edge.  I stamped & embossed the sentiment using a stamp from the "Heartfelt Greetings" stamp set from HOTP.  I added small black Jewel Dazzles near the base of the fans in the design.  I added larger black Jewel Dazzles (HOTP) in the bottom right corner of the card as well.  I finished the card front with two butterfly stickers.  I colored them with Sharpies to turn the pastel colors into something that went better with my card. The larger butterfly was mounted to card stock and then fussy cut around it.  Then I folded the wings up, and attached just the body to the card so the wings would float free.

INSIDE:

The inside of this one - like that of the last one - is pretty simple.  It's just a piece of the patterned paper with a Sharpie-drawn faux mat around it.

One Sheet Wonder Card #1

This is the first in a series of cards got their start from one sheet of double-sided patterned paper using a technique called "one sheet wonder".  In general for this set of cards, in addition to that one sheet of paper, I used:

• Card stock cut & folded to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base.
• Printouts of an art & tag freebie download that was designed to go with the paper (and occasionally black or white card stock to stabilize them so I could pop them up with foam tape).
• Black paper - mostly for matting.  
• Black Sharpie - for faux matting
• Misc embellishments from my stash. 

CARD FRONT:

• Background: This card started with a triangle of patterned paper.  I matted that on black paper and placed it in the upper left corner of my card front - wrapping gold thread for my tags around it before adhering it to the card front.
• Butterfly: The butterfly was really two butterflies stacked on top of each other.  The one on the bottom is a purple color and was on the sheet of printed artwork.  I fussy cut it, and folded the wings up along the body.  I applied double-sided adhesive to the body of the butterfly and added a couple bits of gold thread for "antennae" before attaching it to the card itself.  Then I added a dimensional blue butterfly sticker on top of that (purchased at a dollar store).
• Tags: The tags came from the sheet of printed artwork.  I wanted the edges to stand out more, so drew around the edge with a black Sharpie. I punched holes and threaded several strands of gold metallic embroidery floss through the holes - tying each in a bow before attaching the tag to the card.  The message on the tag is from the HOTP stamp set called "Just a Little Greeting".  The three words are actually all on the same line, but I masked them so that I could get one per line above each other as you see in the picture.  

INSIDE:

As you can see, the inside is pretty simple - just a piece of patterned paper that is faux matted by drawing around the edges with a black Sharpie.

One Sheet Wonder

Over on the Paper Wishes Message Board, they are doing a challenge using the "One Sheet Wonder" idea - where you take 1 sheet of patterned paper, cut it up in various ways, and use the pieces to make a bunch of cards.  I've seen a lot of examples of this on the web, and told myself I'd have to try it sometime - but never got around to doing so until now. 

I basically made my own template. Since I wanted to finish the insides of my cards as well as the outside, I ended up with the 7 cards you see in the picture above (could have had more like 14 cards if I didn't decorate the insides). 

Here's my template:

And this is how I decided how I wanted to cut it.  I started with a double-sided sheet of 12" x 12" paper from the "Artful Watercolor" set of papers from HOTP.  I wanted to make cards that were 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", so thought I'd start with rectangles that were 3 3/4" x 5" - a size that would allow for a mat around them & still fit on the card front:

• I first cut two strips from the paper that were 5" x 12".  This left a third strip that was 2" by 12".
• Next, I cut my 5" strips into three 3 3/4" sections - that gave me three pieces that were 5" x 3 3/4" from each 5" strip - with an additional piece that was 3/4" x 5". So in total from my two 5" strips I now had 6 pieces that were 3 3/4" x 5" and 2 pieces that were 3/4" x 5".
• I took my 6 matching pieces and set the others aside for now.  I saved one whole (#6 above) and cut the other 5 as you see in the picture.  One was cut from upper left to lower right corner giving me two triangles (#1 & #2 above).  The next was cut in half both ways (#3's).  The next was cut on one side using a template as a guide for an interesting shape (#4).  The next was cut in 3 pieces horizontally (#5), and the final one was cut in thirds vertically (#7).  
• I then turned my attention to my leftover pieces.  I left the 3/4" x 5" ones as they were (#3 & #7 on far right of picture).  From the 2" strip I cut two pieces that were 5 1/4" long (#1 & 2 on bottom of picture) which left me with a final piece that was 1 1/2" x 2" (#6 in bottom right corner).

Now, the colored numbers correspond to the pieces used to make my different cards.  Looking at the cards in the order they are in the picture at the top of this blog entry:

• Back Left - This card was made using the pieces labeled #5 in the template - two on the outside, one on the inside.
• Back Middle - This card used the pieces labeled #7 in the template - the narrow 3/4" one went on the inside.
• Back Right - I used pieces labeled #3 for this one - 4 matching rectangles on the front & the narrow 3/4" one on the inside
• Middle Left - uses pieces labeled #1 - rectangular one on the inside
• Middle Middle - used # 6's - the large rectangle on the front & the smaller one on the inside
• Middle Right - uses pieces labeled #2 - rectangular one on the inside
• Front - uses pieces labeled #4 - large piece on the front, small one on the inside.

This worked pretty well, but I learned something to consider for next time.  While the 5" x 3 3/4" worked great by itself, when I cut it in pieces, there was not as much room for matting as I would have liked.  I think next time I'd want to take that into account and make the pieces smaller depending on how many "cuts" there are if they are all going to go on the front of a card.  This will probably have the added benefit of giving me enough for another card.  I think next time I would make ONE strip that is 5" and use that for the diagonal cuts (#1&2), the whole (#6), and the fancy cut (#4).   Then I would have to re-think the others - the one cut in thirds vertically, the one cut in thirds horizontally, and the one cut in half both ways.  Each of these should be cut from a piece that is smaller than 5" x 3 3/4".  

In the next few days, I'll take a closer look at each of the 7 cards made from this template.

Puppy Get Well

Today's card is another one made from coordinating papers & artwork from the "Cardmaking Value Pack #2" (HOTP).  Once again, it looks nothing like their samples - though it uses their printed sentiments & patterned paper.  This one is a "get well" card for a friend who loves dogs. 

CARD FRONT:

• Background: I started by cutting a piece of patterned paper just a bit smaller than the cream-colored card base.  Then I cut about an inch off the bottom, trimming it a bit to fit as you see here.  I created the look of a black mat by drawing around the edge with a black Sharpie.
• Focal: I made the puppy pieces some time ago using the "Pop-Up Puppies" Stamp & Die sets from Stampendous.  You can see more about how I did it here.  For this card, I placed the body where I wanted it, then added the head with an "Action Wobble Spring" from Hampton Art. 
• Sentiments: The sentiment pieces were artwork from the kit - I just matted them on black paper and added them as you see here.

INSIDE:

• Background: I left most of the cream from the card blank showing - just added another piece of the patterned paper near the bottom (outlined the same way as I did for the card front).  
• Dog Bone: This was another piece I had created earlier using the Pop-Up Puppies stamp & die sets.  All I had to do today was glue it in place.
• Sentiment: This time I used their printed sentiment with lots of layers.  I first layered it on a piece of patterned paper, then black for a mat, then another piece of patterned paper where I ran a Sharpie around the edge.  (The bottom mat is actually pieced together from two narrow strips since I was almost out of this paper by now.)

Thank You Teacup

Back in March I purchased the "Cardmaking Value Pack #2" from HOTP.  I wasn't sure how much I'd like it because I always want to do my own thing and wasn't sure if there would be that much flexibility, but this value pack turned out to be a real bargain.  It basically had the printed papers & artwork and idea sheets from TEN "Card Makers Personal Shoppers"!  While it didn't contain any of the additional items that usually come with the personal shopper - like card bases & envelopes, buttons, ribbons, brads, chipboard shapes, specialty papers, dazzles, etc. - the coordinating papers & artwork give a great start to a quick and easy card.  The wide assortment of papers are designed with coordinating papers & embellishments, but done in such a way that you don't HAVE to create the same cards they designed with them. 

This card is an example of my using the papers for my own thing.  In fact, the paper I used as the main background paper for the card front was hardly even used in their examples (just used for a bit of trim)!  

I made this card for a friend who has a teacup collection.  It's a thank you card celebrating her hosting of a get-together for our dance group.

CARD FRONT:

• Background: I cut a piece of the background paper a bit smaller than the card base.  Using a ruler I drew around the outside with a Sharpie (this saves me from matting it on black, but gives a similar look). 
• Focal: Using my prepared teacup (see next bullet) as a guide to the size I wanted, I cut a piece from the coordinating border print paper and drew around the outside with the Sharpie (to fake a black mat).  I didn't feel this stood out from the background as well as I would have liked, so I matted it on white giving it a 1/8" or less border.  I decided I also needed to mat the teacup, so fussy-cut a similar mat for it.  Then I wanted a little more definition on the border area itself, so I cut two thin white strips of paper and glued them above & below.  
• Focal - Teacup: Using a stamp from the "You're Tea-riffic" small stamp set (from HOTP), I stamped the whole teacup twice - once on the lavender paper, and once on the peach.  While it would probably have worked to leave it at that, I went ahead & stamped the flower portion again on the lavender.  Then I fussy cut them - the whole thing from the lavender, the peach one so I had just the cup (without handle & saucer) & flower, and finally cut the flower portion I had stamped on the lavender.  After adding a bit more color for interest (using Sharpies!) I layered all the pieces. As a last touch for the teacup, I added a small peach paper flower and smaller lavender crystal-like flower from my stash - layering them on the larger stamped flower.
• Sentiment: The papers came with some printed artwork sentiment pieces.  I used the two lavender ones, and took advantage of the peach one that left room for my own sentiment.  I stamped the word "Dance!" on that using a portion of a stamp from HOT's "Thank You!" Stamp set.  Then I used another stamp from that set to stamp a sentiment above the teacup.  (I am so glad they include some blank elements so you can easily stamp your own thing and still have it coordinate!)
• Finishing: After layering the elements as you see here, I finished the outside of the card by adding a small piece of ribbon from my stash.

INSIDE:

• Background: I cut a piece of border paper just smaller than the inside of the card & again made a fake mat by drawing around the edge with a Sharpie. (I elected not to add white to the border this time.)
• Focal: This tag was included as part of the artwork.  I didn't have to use the Sharpie here as the border was already printed on the tag.  I DID add the message on the tag using another stamp from the "Thank You!" set.  The stamp has the message as one longer line, so I masked it and stamped twice to split the message to two lines as you see here.
• Finishing: I finished the inside of the card by adding another peach paper flower & lavender crystal-like flower to the top of the tag.