Sympathy Card Kit Part 3

Today I made 4 more cards from the Sympathy set Mom gave me.  It looks like there will be a "part 4" of this before I'm done.

For this first card, I used a die to punch a hole through to see the greeting on the inside.  You can't read it in the picture but it says, "In Loving Memory".  I added ribbon from my stash & some punched dark green circles.

Inside:

The pink mat was die cut from the hidden part of the mat on the card front (cut with Spellbinders Decorative Labels Eight).  I inked the edges of the sentiment and added a couple of die cuts. (not sure where I got the dies - possibly Momenta)

Card #2:

Here I added card stock & ribbon from my stash.  Sentiment is matted on a piece that was die cut, embossed & stenciled using Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Rectangles die & silver ink.  A few Jewel Dazzles completes the card front.

Inside:

Here I've just added more card stock & Jewel Dazzles to the sentiment from the set.

Card #3:

This time I used silver poster board to frame and mat the elements of the card front.  The frame was cut using Spellbinders Fleur De Lis Rectangles die - and the center was used on the inside of the card. The sentiment says "Gone But Not Forgotten".

Inside: 

Card #4:

For this card I embossed the card front using Cuttlebug's Rosa embossing folder by Anna Griffin.  Then I just added the focal from the set, a sentiment from HD Essential book (says "Thinking of You: Our Hearts, Our Prayers, Our Love are with you").  A loosely tied bow completes this card front.

Inside:

For the inside, I simply paired a sentiment from the set (matted on a scrap of paper from the set) with a border from pink card stock & a strip of paper cut from one of the other focals from the set.

Sympathy Card Kit Part 2

Today I was back to crafting with Mom using her Sympathy Card Kit.  Once again, though, I'm not using all the materials for sympathy cards!

Card #1: First up is this card edged with orange & black (see above).  The orange is from a long-ago scrapbook kit in my stash - a frame that I commandeered to make this mat.  A smaller black mat is on top of that, and then the background paper from the kit - which also servers as focal.  The sentiment was stamped with a stamp from JustRite's Grand Sentiments set. The butterfly was from my stash - purchased from the dollar store.  The butterfly trail & 3 dots in the upper left were punched from black card stock.

Inside:

Inside is more of the same.  The sentiment says "We miss those we have lost every day, but we are ever thankful for every day we had with them.

Card #2:

This card started out to be another sympathy card, but partway through, it changed course.  My mom loves roses & I needed a Mother's day card, so . . . . Sentiment is heat embossed with white powder on dark green card stock (JustRite's  Vintage Rose Medallions - die cut with die from their Vintage Label and Banner set).  The mat is cut from dark green card stock using Spellbinders Renaissance Jubilee Ravenna.

Inside:

Inside is another dark green mat - cut from another die in the same set as the front mat.  The "you" is a die from a HOTP set called 9 Little Words.  It doesn't come with a shadow, so I drew around the die & fussy cut one from the dark green card stock. The stamp is also from HOTP from their set called You Greetings (stamped with green StazOn ink) onto a white piece of card stock that was also cut using a third die from the Spellbinder's set.  The roses were fussy cut from a sticker I had in my stash.

Card #3:

Here's another sympathy card.  I matted the focal piece onto die cut & embossed green card stock (Spellbinders 5x7 Matting Basics).  I used a white pen to draw along the embossing.  The sentiment was heat embossed (JustRite stamp from Sympathy Vintage Labels) onto a piece of green card stock that was die cut using a die from Spellbinders Renaissance Jubilee Ravenna. Once again I drew around the embossing with a white pen.  The three circles in the lower right corner were punched from green card stock and decorated using the white gel pen.

Inside:

Inside is a printed sentiment from the set, matted on a green piece of card stock that was embossed with a die from Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics.

HD Christmas Past - Classic Christmas

Hunkydory's Christmas Past Card Kit has a lot of sets within it.  I'm starting with those I find most challenging, so first up is the "Classic Christmas" set.  As usual, I add from my stash to complete the cards, so I'll list additions as I describe each card.

Card #1: First up in this set is a gate fold card.  I fussy cut the border off the AS (adorable scoreable card stock).  The background is a piece of green card stock from my stash.  I embossed it with a Darice embossing folder called Damask, and then hit it with two colors of Distress Oxide inks (Cracked Pistachio and Peeled Paint).

Inside:

Inside is more of the same, plus a focal piece created using green card stock, gold poster board, and a Spellbinder's die set called Adorning Squares.  I stamped the sentiment (from JustRite's Christmas Trimmings) in red on a small piece of white card stock and tucked it into the gold die cut piece.

Card #2:

This next card is on a cream colored A2 sized card base, folded as a gate-fold card.  I added gold linen card stock for a background, but before I did that, I wrapped ribbon around it at the bottom.  The focal (from the kit) is in two pieces and forms an interlocking element on this gate fold card.  The frame actually originally framed a different focal piece. I didn't care for the combination since the frame is red and the original focal was orange.  So, I used a cutting die to remove the original center focal (which I'll use elsewhere) and used the outer part as a frame for this other die cut piece that I thought went with it better.

Card #3:

This is the first of two or three cards with orange as a predominant color.  Unfortunately, the angle of this card doesn't really show it well.  It is actually a cut-away card.  The card base is AS from the kit - much of what remained after I fussy cut off the brown border off (see card #1 above).  So the front edge is rather jagged.  I lined it with a narrow edge of gold poster board to make it more visible.  On the very edge, it's cutaway so you see through to the side stripe from the inside of the card.

The focal is a die cut, matted on cream colored card stock (that was embossed & inked after being cut by Spellbinders Tile Works cutting die set.  This is matted on a piece of gold poster board that was die cut with another Spellbinders die (Labels Twenty-Eight).  I added two die cut pieces (Dec 25 & oranges) and the card front was complete.

Inside:

The striped edge is scraps from the die cut sheet.  Scraps from the AS form borders top and bottom.  The gold frame was cut and embossed using an Adorning Squares Spellbinders die and then cutting close to the edge with a paper trimmer.  A die cut of the oranges finishes the inside until I decide who it is going to and what message I want to put inside.

Card #4:

Here's another orange Christmas card from this set.  This card started with a kraft colored card blank and a piece of AS that was 4 3/4" wide.  I fussy cut the top border off & trimmed the card shorter before adding the border back on top.  Most of the embellishments are from the set, but the "Glad Tidings" in the bottom right corner was left over from a previous HD kit.  Brown Dazzles stickers complete the card front.

Inside:

For the inside, the background was created by inking the edges of a cream colored piece of card stock and glueing it in place.  The lacy border strip and die cut was from the kit.  The orange part of the border was a scrap of glittered card stock from my stash. 

Card # 5:

For this last card in this set, I started with the remaining piece of AS and scored it in half to form the base card.  I extended the focal beyond this, and embellished the card with other die cuts from the set.

Inside:

The inside is all from my stash.  A scrap of orange paper & a strip of gold poster board.  This is finished with a gold greeting (says "God Bless You") from my HD Essential Book of Christmas Greetings.

Tag:

I had just a few scraps left, so made this tag.  I thought to add orange to it, but decided against it since that's not a color that I frequently use.  I figured I could add more color if I choose to when I decide how I'll use it.

Sympathy Card Kit Part 1

I was needing to make some sympathy cards and didn't really have any ready-made supplies available, so my Mom decided to share a kit that she had.  I have no idea who made it or where she got it, but she was able to divide it so we both had the same supplies to work from.  Here are the first 3 cards I made using the supplies she gave me (though I'm not sure I'll use them all for sympathy cards).  For these first 3 cards, I added the same basic supplies from my stash - purple card stock and silver poster board.

Card #1: (above) Unfortunately the printed sentiments from the kit are a bit light colored to be seen in the pictures.  This one says "In Deepest Sympathy" and was narrowly matted with the purple card stock.  I also matted the background paper with purple and added a border of wide silver ribbon before gluing it to the card front.  Before doing that, however, I die cut the center of the purple mat since it wouldn't be seen.  I used a pierced rectangle die set called Journey Rectangles by Fun Stampers Journey.  I decided to use this to mat the focal, but it was a bit taller than I wanted.  So, I cut a slice out of the middle and pieced it back together. Unless you know that join is there, you can't see it.  I then very narrowly matted this with white before adding it to the card front.  For the finishing touches, I added a sprinkle of little hearts punched from the card stock scraps.

Inside:

The purple mat was cut using the same die as used on the card front (this time without slicing it to make it smaller).  The square white piece was die cut with a die from the Spellbinder's set called Captivating Squares.  I'll add a stamped sentiment when I know the card's recipient.

Card #2:

This card was actually the first of this set that I made.  You'll notice that both inside and outside it has a large purple mat.  In each case I die cut the center to use elsewhere.  One of these gave me the piece used as a mat on the inside of the previous card.  For this card I once again matted the sentiment (which says "I am here for you today and always") with purple card stock and added a sprinkle of punched hearts.

Inside:

The inside is similar - the sentiment says "May the Lord's Light be with You."  The die used to cut the inside of this mat (cut piece used on the next card) was the large one from Spellbinders A2 Tile Works.

Card #3:

While this card could be used as a sympathy card, it could also be used for other occasions.  The sentiment on the card front says "With All My Love".  For this card, the piece of card stock I cut previously (see inside of card #2) was what I wanted to use to mat the card front - but it was smaller than what I wanted it to mat!  I decided to use the next smaller die from the same set and cut a piece from the center (used inside).  I cut the remaining frame in half diagonally and arranged them so they showed behind the background/focal.  Before adding the background/focal, I used silver poster board to narrowly mat it.  For the sentiment, I cut two mats using the same die - one from purple, one from silver.  I cut the silver one in 4 pieces and overlapped the pieces to make a smaller mat to fit on the purple one.

Inside:

For the inside, I cut a large silver piece & cut a small one out of the center.  I also took the middle sized purple (cut from the inside of the mat on the card front) piece and cut a small one from the center.  I layered the small pieces and sentiment the same way I did for the card front.  (Sentiment says "Forever Thankful for All the Love & Happiness").  After layering the larger purple & silver pieces, I added the layered sentiment in the center (placing it back where it had been removed from).

Merry & Bright ACK Part 1

Today Mom & I started working on our Merry & Bright ACK (Artful Card Kit) from HOTP.  We first went through and divided the various elements into similar color schemes and then chose two of those for this first set of cards. 

Card #1:  First up is the turquoise snowflake set. For this card front the elements from the kit are the label, the frame, and the blue patterned paper.  I made a gate fold card - and used my score board to create an embossed pattern on the card fronts.  (This was to hide the fact that I made a mistake when scoring the gatefold card!)  The label is glued just to the left side of the card.  For the focal, I started with a piece of the background paper that had been glued to a different card front and then had this circle die cut out.  I stamped this deer (Small stamp from HOTP called Small Reindeer) twice - once on the background paper and once on white card stock.  After coloring in the harness elements, I fussy cut the reindeer & stars in her antlers and glued them to the background.  After adding the frame, I glued it just to the right side of the card.  To cover the fact that the frame and background paper were two separate pieces, I took a piece of card stock, glued it to the part that extended past the center of the card and fussy cut around it.

Inside:

I covered the inside with the background paper that was cut just a bit smaller so a frame of white shows around it.  Before gluing it down, I inked around the edges.  The rest of the elements are also directly from the kit - just punched or cut out and arranged as you see here.

Card #2:

Card number two is from the 2nd set of elements - this time the red and multi-colored snowflake patterns.  Unfortunately, today was a day of making mistakes and having to cover them up.  For this card, I wanted a few white snowflakes in the upper right corner.  I found some double stick Dazzles in snowflake shapes in my stash.  I covered these with white flocking.  However, the flocking didn't come out looking very white!  So I decided to add some whitish silver glitter paste on top of the flocking so they could be seen better.  This was fine until I somehow hit this with the envelope, smearing the paste all over the top of the card!  I added more of the paste to the top of the card to try to make it look intentional.  It still looked terrible, so I added red flower soft.  Of course, that now does not want to stay well.  At any rate, I did what I could, then added white snowflake confetti to finish the card.  Oh yes, I also have a little strip of the diagonal striped paper that I added near the top of the card front (cut from the paper that has stripes of most of the other papers on it).

Inside:

All elements on the inside are from the kit, except that the focal greeting was blank and I stamped the word "Celebrate" on it (from JustRite's Festive Poinsettia set).

Card #3:  

This card is back to the snowflake elements, though I added a few other items as well. As you can see, the background paper is more of the snowflake pattern used on the first card.  This card is the one I cut the circle from, intending to have an aperture card.  However, things didn't go as planned and I ended up covering the hole with this white glimmer paper circle that was cut and embossed using Spellbinder's Teardrop Circles die set.  I used more of the glimmer paper and the red and white striped paper (cut at an angle) to make the borders.  The rest of the elements are all die cuts or cut outs from the kit.

Inside:

Since I had decided to cover the center hole, I now had to cover it on the inside.  I used a Darice Snowflake Swirl embossing folder to emboss a piece which I inked before gluing it over the hole.  I wish I had just left the hole as it was initially, but . . . live & learn.  Anyway, I took the diagonal scrap I had cut off to get the strips for the front borders & placed it point down as you see here.  On top of that I added another cut out from the kit.  While I don't care for the embossed left side of the card that much, I DO like the sentiments that are on the front & inside of this card.  They bring a chuckle every time I look at them.

Card #4:

The last card I made using the mulit-colored snowflake pieces & more of the red border paper.  This time, after gluing the paper to the card front, I embossed it with the Cuttlebug Kitchen Weave embossing folder.  I added some dazzle borders to serve as strings that the ornaments are hanging from (and as you can see, I turned one of the snowflakes into an ornament.  The "Holly Jolly" is a cutout from the kit.

Inside:

For the inside, I used another strip cut from the all papers striped paper to get these borders.  A die cut and cut out from the kit complete the inside.  These elements were some of the ones I liked LEAST from the kit, so I'm really looking foward to seeing what I can make with the ones I like the most!

Perfect Planet - Penguin Paradise

I decided to put the Flight of the Butterflies away for a bit and work on something else.  For Christmas I got the Hunkydory set called Perfect Planet - a gorgeous deco kit!  Here are the cards I made using the Penguin Paradise set.  The Adorable Scoreable card stock (AS) that accompanied this set was SOOOO gorgeous!  I couldn't bear to cut the picture apart.  So I figured out a way to make it into a latch card using one of the die cuts as the latch.

Card #1: (see above) The sentiment was printed on my computer, then die cut and inked using a die from Spellbinders' Labels Twenty.  

Open:

Inside I added 3 little die cuts of penguins - two on ice floes and one in the water.

Card #2:

This card was made using a sketch challenge.  The patterned papers are from my stash.  I inked the lighter one at the bottom so the penguins had something to "sit on".  The rest of the materials are from the kit except for the snowflakes which are confetti pieces from my stash.

Inside:

I used misc left over pieces for a border & corners on the inside - then sprinkled a few more of the confetti pieces.

Card #3:

This card started with a solid blue card stock for the background.  I cut a piece of patterned paper from my stash to fit on the right side, leaving a narrow blue border.  I then took the die cut piece and trimmed the right side - adding it to the left side so that the large penguins were in the right corner.  I added a gold border & the sentiment (from the kit).  I finished the front by adding 3 punched gold circles to the bottom left.

Inside:

This little penguin was designed to layer & therefore was missing his foot - I just trimmed near the bottom and added him to scraps of the patterned paper & blue card stock.

Card #4:

It took me awhile, but I started thinking that it would be nice for it to be snowing for these penguins!  As I looked through my Christmas papers to find something that would work, I realized that several of these more generic cards would work as Christmas cards!  The paper I found in my stash was a sheet of Hunkydory printed paper.  As you can see, I cut a piece that I matted on gold poster board.  I liked the look of having the large penguins on the far right, so I chopped this circle - put the rest on the left as you can see.  I added a border that I cobbled together from gold poster board, white card stock, a border piece from the set, a fabric sticker, and the HD Essential book of Christmas Greetings.

Inside:

More of the same to finish the inside of the card.

Card #5:

This card used scraps of water-like patterned paper and mini hearts paper with blue glimmer paper.  For the focal, I matted just the ice floe with the blue glimmer.  The sentiment had gold edges that I trimmed off since they really didn't go with the card - instead I matted it with more of the glimmer paper.

Inside:

Card #6:

This card is a two-piece center step card.  Scraps of  water paper backs the focal.  The borders are made using white paper with 3 colors of Inktense pencils & water - then matted with gold.

Inside:

More of the same - the little penguins were cut off one of the layer pieces.