Use that Bookmark Card

A few months back I received a bookmark from a friend - and realized that it was made from paper that I had in my stash - in an old HOTP book called "Sweet Companions".  I've had the bookmark & paper sitting on my desk for far too long, and today I decided to use it for something.  I ended up making this slimline card with a pocket on the inside to hold the bookmark.

The card is pretty straight forward.  I sliced off a portion of the paper for the card front and glued a strip of grosgrain ribbon as a border - then matted it with black and glued it to the front of my card.  I took a smaller piece of the paper, once again matted it in black, and glued it in place overlapping the ribbon.  The sentiment was die cut from black suede paper (Card Making Magic - A5 Box Kit) and glued in place.  It still needed a little something, so I added the bow in the upper left corner.

Inside:

I cut another piece of black to mat everything, then cut strips from the papers for borders.  I only glued the bottom strip on 3 sides so it would form a pocket that would hold the bookmark.  I figure I can write my message either on the back of the bookmark, or on a piece of paper that I would glue behind the bookmark.

HD Perfect Planet - Go Wild

Today I have cards made from another Hunkydory set.  This is from the kit called Perfect Planet - the set called Go Wild.  As you can see from the above picture, I made 6 cards from this set - and misc from my stash.

Card #1:

I started by cutting the AS (printed adorable scoreable card stock) into 3 pieces that I thought would make nice cards.  This is the first card I put together.  I thought about using this waterfall for a background for a tiger, but instead, decided to focus on PINK.  I found a greeting in my HD little book of greetings (from 2016) and added ribbon from my stash - which I wrapped around the border piece that I adhered at an angle.  After adding a few pink flower die cuts (and a small one cut from the border), I added 3 little butterfly die cuts that I colored with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink before adding small gold Jewel Dazzles for the butterfly bodies.  I'm not sure where I got the die cuts - they were in my stash.

Inside:

There are similar elements inside - greeting from the set.

Card #2:

After saving the piece of AS that had a tiger on it (you'll see it on the next card), I cut the piece for the 1st card.  That left me with this piece.  I decided to use it for a slimline card - framed with gold poster board (used long rectangle die from Fun Stampers Journey to cut out the inside).  I decided if I used the butterfly border (from the set), I should also scatter a bunch of butterflies on the card itself. But it didn't really feel like it had a focal, so I added the unicorn sticker from my stash.

Inside:

The photo inside was taken on our trip to Thailand.

Card #3:

This card started with the last piece of AS from the set.  Once again, I made a gold frame for this card - this time using a Spellbinders 5 X 7 Mat Basics die. The frame & the sentiment (from the set) were adhered with foam tape for added dimension.

Inside:

The borders were created using scraps from the die cut sheets & a scrap of gold poster board.  The image in the bottom corner was die cut from a calendar - matted on black - then matted on a piece of gold poster board that was die cut with a Spellbinder's die called Tear Drop Circles.

Card #4:

Next, I looked at the die cuts.  I decided this piece would look good matted on gold poster board.  As you can see, I rounded a bunch of the corners on this card.

Inside:

For the inside, border of gold poster board is decorated with a piece from a calendar & die cuts from the set.

Card #5:

My 5th card was made into another slimline card.  The border pieces were left over from the AS.  Patterned paper from my stash forms the background for the tiger die cut (from the set).  The sentiment was from a HOTP set of die cuts - and old set called Instant Card Art. I matted that on gold, and then a piece of black paper that was die cut using a Spellbinders Labels Eight die.

Inside:

More of the patterned paper, gold poster board, and die cuts from the set finish off the inside.

Card #6:

The last card I made from the set was made with the main die cut with several die cut layers added with foam tape.  As you can see, it's made as a center step card.  The sentiment is added with foam tape.  Gold poster board strips & scraps of green paper complete this card front.

Inside:

A final die cut piece from the set combined with green and gold scraps finishes this last card.

HD Pearl Bouquet - The Perfect Day

As you can see from the picture above, I got 6 cards from this set.  In this post we'll look at each of them a bit more closely.

This time the Hunkydory set I'm using is a little different.  As you can see in the picture above, it has one sheet of toppers & greetings, one sheet of printed AS (adorable scoreable card stock), and two sheets of insert papers.  The kit is called Pearl Bouquet, and the specific set is The Perfect Day.  As always, I combine these with my stash on hand so I can create more cards from the one set.  

Card #1:

This first card just uses a tag from the set.  To that, I added ribbon, some "handmade" paper I got from Costco years ago, and a border I punched with an EK success punch called Medallion Chain.

Inside:

Inside is more of the same - with a greeting from a HD 2016 Little Book of Essential Greetings.

Card #2:

This card looks like it uses a topper, but it is actually the printed AS with a border around the flowers (from the kit).  I added a lavender frame for the whole card, a greeting from the set, and lavender Liquid Pearls accents.

Inside:

Inside I used the leftover AS from the strip cut for the card front - matted them with the lavender, and added another greeting from the set.

Card #3:

Here I used strips of the AS & some lavender from my stash to create the background. Then I wrapped two different kinds of ribbon around it before attaching it to my card front.  The focal is from the set & the jewel flowers from my stash.

Inside:

A piece of the insert paper makes a quick & easy "inside" to this card.

Card #4:

I decided to make a shaker card with this focal & frame from the set - with confetti, rhinestones, and plastic "diamonds".  The embossed background is from one of the insert pages - embossed with an m-bossability folder (Spellbinders' Venetian). I matted this with a dark purple.  The sentiment is from the set.

Inside:

Another piece of insert paper completes the inside.

Card #5:

I had a tag and label left, some AS, and some insert paper.  I had expected to do something quite different using the AS, but decided the insert paper was so pretty I HAD to use it on a card front.  To make the border, I added a strip of dark purple fiber paper - but it was so porous that the glue bled through it.  I tried to get rid of the "sticky" by adding baby powder.  It DID take care of the sticky, but I was left with spots of powder all over that REALLY detracted from the look.  After adding the strip of AS, I decided to had some border dazzles to hide the baby powder.  That worked pretty well, so I added the tag & label and called it good.

Inside:

Not having more of the insert paper left, I just used scraps of some of the colors on the card front & scraps of the border dazzles to finish the inside.

Card #6:

I really hadn't expected to make a 6th card, but had a pretty large piece of AS left over & figured I should use it.  I went through my stash of card fronts to up-cycle & came across these violets.  I really liked them & thought they went well with the background.  In the picture, don't like the light green border that came on the original card front, but for some reason I actually like it in real life. Drawing around the edges with a dark purple sharpie finished the background/focal. The sentiment is from a HD little book of sentiments from 2016.  I used the same dark purple porous fiber paper for the border as I did on the last one - but learned from my mistake and used my ATG to adhere it - then added the white ribbon from my stash. 

Inside:

Inside I used the rest of the AS - along with a green strip cut from the bottom of the up-cycled card front and the purple Sharpie.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I signed up for a St. Patrick's Day card swap on a paper crafting message board - mostly so I could use these materials that I've had in my stash for a VERY LONG TIME.  I almost never use cards for St. Patrick's Day, so it was a great excuse.  In fact, in addition to this card that I made especially for the swap, I added another made a few years back as a bonus - since I never had occasion to use it.

The materials are mostly from an old cardmaker's kit from HOTP.  I added black and green Jewel Dazzles (HOTP) along with a bit of ribbon & black card stock from my stash.

Here's what the inside looks like:

HD Paws For Thought - Just Fur You

Paws for Thought (from Hunkydory) is one of my favorite card kits of all time.   This set, Just Fur You, is no exception.   I got 6 cards from the set, though the last 3 do not have completed "insides".  All materials were from the set except as noted below.

Card #1 (above): I'm finally learning that I can cut up frames to add interest to the card.  Here's an example of that.  The frame would certainly not have fit on this slim-line card - and was too big for the focal anyway - but by cutting off part of it, I have an easy & interesting card.  I was careful the way I cut the adorable scoreable card stock (AS).  I got three card fronts from it.  For this one, I cut off the left side with this border - then also cut a narrow strip from the border and saved it for the inside. I double matted the background, using a pretty copper foil paper that picked up the color in the border, and then finishing with gold poster board.

Inside:

Inside I just have a few scraps of what was used on the outside of the card.

Card #2:

This card was made from the right side of the AS.  I didn't care for the plain white strip between the flowers and the dark blue, so I added a thin-line border Dazzle sticker (HOTP).  I cut a gold frame from poster board (using Fun Stampers Journey's Rectangles Long - though I cut it once & then moved the die & cut again since it wasn't long enough).  The greeting is from the set & added with foam tape.

Inside:

For the inside, I cut a border from the set in half & put it top & bottom.  I added a bit more of the same border Dazzle sticker to form a "hanger" and then added another sentiment from the set.

Card #3:

You may note the "hanger" on this one.  It is the left over piece of frame from the first card.   I thought it all came together very well with the middle part of the AS as background, another border piece from the set, and the focal.  The sentiment is from a HD Little Book of Essential Greetings from 2016, and is "held in place" by a Jewel Dazzle (HOTP).

Inside:

You can easily see that the border was created using pieces left over from the card front.  The sentiment is from a Fiskar's stamp set called Friends Furever.

Card #4:

Once again I cut 3 card fronts from the piece of AS.  I first cut off a piece from the right side that was a little less than 5" wide & saved it for the next card (#5).  From the remaining, I cut this card front, then added a blue card stock border & gold poster board frame (cut with Spellbinders' 5 x 7 Matting Basics). The sentiment is from the set.

Card #5:

To create this card front, I first cut off the bottom border from the nearly 5" wide strip of AS mentioned above.  Then I shortened it along that line so it would fit the card front & added a blue strip of paper from my stash before gluing the border I had removed in place on top of the blue strip.  I used the trick of cutting a piece of the frame to use as a "hanger", but also cut small pieces to put either side to form a "border strip".  Jewel Dazzles not only form the "fastener" but also add a bit of decoration to the left edge.  Using a piece of gold poster board for the die cut mat, I cut a sentiment from the blue card stock using dies from Rosa's Love Words die set.  

Card #6:

This final card was made using the strip of AS that was left over from card #4.  It was much more narrow than the cards I usually make - but not as long as I like for slimline cards.  I used the left over frame to highlight the focal and help it stand out even though it's small.  I used a strip cut from the punch out scraps to add to the border.  The sentiment was a print out from my stash that I matted with gold poster board - which I also used top & bottom of the card.  A blue piece of card stock adds a bit more of the blue color to the bottom border (and fills in the gap remaining from the strips of gold scraps that I had).

83rd Birthday!

I realized this morning that I needed a "from all of us" card (in addition to the one I'd already made for my Dad) to hold the gift card we'd purchased for him, so I made a quick one.

Card Base: This card is an "pop-up book" card, though the front just looks like a standard square card.  The card base is created from one 12" x 12" piece of tan card stock that is cut in half forming two pieces that are 6" x 12".  The card front is created by simply taking one of those pieces and scoring it down the center to form a 6" x 6" card.  The inside is made from the other 6" x 12" piece, but is more complicated & I'll show a drawing with dimensions when we get to the inside of the card.

Card Front:  The card front is decorated with various papers - most of them scraps.  The greeting/focal is die cut from 2 layers of brown card stock scraps, and one layer of white - all glued on top of each other.  The "83" is also cut from brown fun foam and glued to the bottom of the card stock pieces to add even more dimension to it. The white seemed too stark, so I added a bit of brown ink to the "happy" and "rd".  Decorating may be easiest before inside piece is added.  Dies used were: Script Greetings from HOTP and Ultimate Number & Overlay from Card Making Magic.

Inside:

For the picture, I used a card I happened to have handy rather than the Barnes & Noble gift card that would be in the finished card (since I didn't yet have the gift card - and no time for pics once I got it!).  Here's a scoring & cutting diagram for the inner card base: 

Score/Cut along lines indicated - and crease score lines in mountain or valley folds as indicated.  I strongly recommend decorating the inside BEFORE attaching to the inside of the card front (just glue where indicated in blue above).  As you can see, I drew lines along the edge of the "pop-up book" to indicate pages.  I also added a pocket for the gift card.

HD Paws for Thought - A Friend Like You

Today I finished up another set from HD Paws for Thought.  This set was called "A Friend Like You" and I had already created at least one card using it, so I'll call this first card #2!

Card #2: I decided to make this one a slimline card - I thought the focal looked nice against the border printed on the accompanying AS (adorable scoreable card stock).

Inside:

Card #2:

This card was made with a ridiculous amount of piecing - AS, frames, and borders - with a bit of Dazzle borders thrown in.

Inside:

I had some leftover AS & a border strip, but wanted a bit more inside, so found some stickers in my stash.

Card #3:

I didn't like this one as well, but I had a bunch of AS leftover with no toppers to go with it, so opted to make this card - another slimline - using misc I found in my stash.  I kind of get a kick out of the "King of the Jungle sticker with the cat under a houseplant. :)

Inside:

More scraps of AS, brown card stock, and stickers from my stash.