Nautical Materials Swap

Today I have a couple of "Materials Swap" cards.  This month's theme is "nautical" and can include anything ocean or beach related.  In the picture below you see the materials that I used.  

Printed materials are Debbi Moore freebies from the set called Shabby Chic Seaside.  The rest is card stock and fibers from my stash.  

Card I Made:

Mostly the card was created using the printed background and cutouts.  I used a Sharpie around the edge of the background and all the printed elements.  I created a border using black and white card stocks (I inked the white one to blend in), and one of the printed border pieces.  I also added 3 "pearls" using Liquid Pearls and a bow using blue ribbon and twine bow.  I may end up pulling the bow off because I'm not sure how well I like it.

Inside:

Inside are more cutouts and black card stock to create a border.  The stamped sentiment is from Crafter's Companion Compendium - Thinking of You sheet.

Materials from my swap partner:

And here's the card I made from them - unfortunately, there's a bit of a glare on the foiling - the fussy cut in the focal is a golden sea horse.

As you might be able to tell, I started by embossing the card front with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder - then inking it with some distress ink.  I added double-sided tape to the ribbon and attached it across the top, cutting it flush with the card.  The focal was created from several pieces.  Using a ruler and craft knife, I cut the "innards" from the frame - then backed it with a piece of the foiled paper and added it to the card front with foam tape.  I added some foam pads to the back of the sea horse before adding him.  I cut pieces of the "wooden boards" to serve as mats for the 3 sentiments that I added with foam tape on the right side of the card.  Then I added the little decorative pieces and a knotted piece of ribbon.  I decided it still needed something, so I wrote "Best Wishes" on a scrap cut from the focal background, notched each end, and added it with foam tape across the upper left corner.  I didn't take a picture of the inside.  I just added another scrap of that same paper to form a border.  I expect to stamp a sentiment, but will wait until I've decided the recipient before doing that.

EC Samples

I recently purchased some Elizabeth Craft dies that are so much fun!  They make all sorts of little characters, accessories, and even buildings! Most of the time the pieces are small enough that I can make them using scraps, so I can make a good dent in that stash, too!  

Whenever I purchase new dies, the first thing I do is use them to die cut a sample that I put in a book that has samples of my dies arranged by category along with where they are stored.  In the next picture, you'll see a sample page on which I have samples of accessory dies that are designed to work with the various die cut characters that I just purchased.  For some reason, I started with the accessories first!

As you can see, the Christmas baker does not have a head - the outfit is designed to work with one of the other characters.  It was specifically made to work with Mrs. Claus, and I don't have that die set.  However, it looks like it will work just fine with other people samples I have - the farmer, prince, princess or fairy (without her wings).  I really like that there are a variety of arms so I can have her doing different things and using all the various pieces that come with the Let's Bake set.  

The Igloo will be great for the penguin - and the polar bear if I get that one.  The Party Accessories set will help any of these characters dress up for a party, and the Fire Accessories set can handle a fire.  Then there are the accessories that come with specific characters but can be used with the other - like the Santa hat from Owl & the scarf from Penguin (and more that I didn't get added to this page before the picture).

I've been on a marathon of using these dies to make up samples of the characters and accessories to go in my sample book so I can get everything put away and focus on using one at a time to make cards. Some of them I inked - mostly using distress ink.  Some I left as it was cut.  Here are the rest of the Elizabeth Craft samples that I have made for my book:

Cat:

First up is the cat I showed a few days ago.  I had been so excited to start playing with my new dies that I had temporarily forgotten about the need for a sample book.  Since I hadn't yet used this one for a card - and since I wasn't real happy with it anyway (I need to give it more of a neck!), I decided it would be my sample.

Scarecrow:

 Next I made the Scarecrow.  I forgot to take a picture before I glued it to the sample page, but you can pretty much see it here.  The birds are a fun addition that can be used with a wide variety of cards & scrapbook pages.  I made this one more or less as shown on the sample - though with different colors, using scraps I had on hand.  I DO think it would work to cut the arms apart so they could be put at different angles, so I might try that sometime.

Fairy 1/Princess/Prince:

The Fairy 1 could easily be made without the wings - in which case she would make a really cute little girl.  The Princess and Prince both went together easily as well.  All of the hair styles could be mixed & matched, just like the accessories and clothes, so they can really be made up in a wide variety of ways.

Dog:

The dog can be made in various colors, either sitting or standing, with or without spots and collar, two different types of ears, the tail can be positioned in different ways, the head cocked at different angles, etc. This allows for quite a variety of dogs to be made from this same set.  As I was cutting out the collar and dog tag, I ended up with a partial medal cut out of the red.  I was getting ready to just throw it away when I realized it would make a great tongue for the dog - so I added it as you see on the 2nd dog.

Owl:

This owl goes together so easily, with dies for each piece. The Santa hat could fit on lots of these different characters.  

Penguin:

This penguin went together so quickly and easily.  One of the things I like about these dies is that they are made to score where elements of  the face go - so it is easy to get the eyes in the right place (for example).

Turkey:

As you can see, the turkey can be made either facing head on, or facing toward the side.  They are easy to put together, and I could easily see grabbing that hat and putting it on the scarecrow!

Honey Bear:

This is such a cute bear - and as you can see it can be made standing or sitting.  I LOVE the little bees that come with it!  They are SO easy to make and so cute.

Koala:

You can see a couple of different orientations for this bear.  Again, he's really easy to put together.  I love that it comes with it's on bit of eucalyptus tree!

Panda Bear:

Complete with his own little bamboo shoot, this panda is really cute.  I DID have a couple of problems putting him together, but that was totally my fault.  First problem was that I was trying to be efficient and cut the panda and tiger at the same time.  This should have worked great, except that I grabbed the tiger's mouth and tried to put it on the panda.  By the time I realized what I had done, it was pretty well glued in place.  I tried to cut it down to a more proper size for Mr. Panda, but ended up making a bit of a mess.  The other thing was that I cut the large ovals for his feet from black and his paws from white.  This meant I had to glue each little pad of his foot in place.  I'm sure the INTENT was to cut the large ovals for his feet from WHITE - then when the other dies were used to cut the feet from black, it would just easily glue in place with the white pads showing through the holes - much easier, though this way worked okay.

Lion/Tiger:

Lion and tiger are made from the same set of dies.  The bodies are basically identical.  There are separate pieces for the lion's mane, and the tiger's stripes.  There are also separate pieces for the different tails and the tiger has a tongue sticking out. I DO find that often, it works best to ink the edges of the pieces so that they stand out against each other.  I also like to plan ahead, so that if I need enough pieces so that I would need to use a die twice, I just grab two pieces of card stock (or whatever I'm cutting from), layer them on top of each other, and cut both at once!  It works great.

Elephant:

Honestyl, it's hard to imagine using the hearts with the elephant.  I think I'll probably use them more with other focals - like for a wedding or anniversary card.

Raccoon:

I made a mistake on this one - the tail should have been cut out of black and the stripes for it out of gray.  Oh well, live and learn.  I think he's still a cute little guy.

Fox:

I didn't have enough of any of my small scraps of red-brown to make this fox - so I used two different ones - not the best, but okay for a sample.

Beaver:

This beaver would look GREAT if I had used my embossing mat with him. It looks a bit better in real life, but still can't see the embossing on his tail & the logs as much as I'd like

Frog:

I think I'd like to play around a bit with the orientation of lily pad & "pond", but these guys are pretty cute anyway.  I DID get the eyes backwards on the 2nd frog (the larger circles should be black and the tiny ones white like in the first frog).

Bunny:

Cute little bunny.  Carrot would be better if more strongly embossed & then inked, but over all, this is another cute critter.

Barn & Barnyard Critters:

Once again, I didn't get individual pictures.  Pictured are elements from 4 different die sets.   

• Barn is quite cool as you can see. I love that the barn doors and hay loft windows both open up.  I can easily imagine having a sentiment or character hidden behind so you see them when you open the doors/windows.
• Farmer is cute, though seems more top-heavy than the other people, but the head appears to be the same size, so it would be interesting to mix and match some of these pieces with other people pieces.
• Donkey can be made up in two different ways - sitting face on, or standing.    
• Hen and Rooster is another cute set, Try making a hen out of browns rather than white for another look.  Obviously the eggs and nest could be used with them in some scene.

Make It Focals

One of the things that I realized as I worked on the accordion cards I showed yesterday, was that it would REALLY make life easier if I had ready made focals to use.  So, I decided to start working on that.  Today I have 4 different ones that could either be used as card focals or as scrapbook embellishments, and I hope to make more soon. 

Focal #1:

 

First up is a focal & sentiment made from a stamp and die set from Divinity Designs called He Watches Me / Sparrow.  I colored it using my Inktense pencils & a water brush.

Focal #2:

Next we have a focal & sentiment using a stamp & cut set from Hero Arts called Kit-Tea.  This one was again colored with Inktense pencils & a water brush.  You may notice that I added a couple of flowers (also from the stamp set) to add interest to the tea cup.

Focal #3:

I decided it would be nice to do some that were just die cuts so I didn't have to color them.  This one was pretty straight forward, and I didn't even add any shading.  It was made using a die from Spellbinders called Scruffy Panda. I find it works best when using this die, to cut it once from white and once from black - then take the main black piece and cover it with scotch tape facing up - then insert the white pieces through the holes in the main black piece and press them to stick to the tape.  The elements of the face - eyes/nose - need to be glued in place after that.  The bamboo die comes with the panda die & I die cut it from green as you see here.

Focal #4:

 

This final one was NOT straight forward and I DID do some shading as the assembly video I watched suggested.  It was made using a die set from Elizabeth Crafts called Cat. I don't really care for the way this one turned out, but their examples are cute, so I figure I just need to keep playing with them.  I added two more whiskers - which I like.  And I added a bit of white to the center of the cat's eyes.  They really don't look much like cat's eyes, and I like to figure out how to change that.  I also feel it's body is pretty short for it's head and I might be able to get a better look by using the small body piece to extend the head a bit.  What I DO like about these dies is that you're not stuck with the same configuration every time.  The tail can be put anywhere, the cat can be standing like this, or sitting with legs splayed.  The bow can go anywhere or be left off.  There are lots of options which makes this a fun die to play with once I get used to using it.

Storage:

The trick to having these make aheads be useful is proper storage so you can find them when needed.  I decided to store mine in a 3-ring binder using plastic protective sheets made for trading cards or for photos.  Here you can see one with these 4 focals and room for more.  As I get more of these made, I can organize them in these sheets so they're easy to find.

Accordion Cards

Today I have some Accordion die cut cards.  I have three different Accordion Dies from Elizabeth Crafts (Karen Burniston's dies) - an Oval Accordion die, a Fancy Label Accordion, and a Katie Label Accordion.  Here I have made several cards so that I could use all three dies & get a better feel for how these work.  I DID make one several years ago (see post here), but it was long enough ago that I forgot how I needed to use them!  

After the third card I post here, you'll see a listing of the basic instructions for how to create these cards.  Here are the pictures I used on the card you see above.

Card #1 - Katie Label Accordion Die set (see above):

This first card started out as a three page card, but became six pages when I made mistakes that caused me to end up decorating the back side as well. The 4 pages you see above are from the Hunkydory Little Book of Winter Time, and I used these to decorate the card.  I also used an old blue/purple patterned paper from HOTP as you'll see in the pictures below.

Here's what the card looks like when closed:

 

Here's the first side when opened out:

As you can see, for the center panel, I stamped a verse (Divinity Designs set called Our Savior's Birth) on a panel that I die cut from a piece of scrap card stock (same die set as the card base). 

 

And here's the back side:

This time for the center panel, I used a simple stamp from HOTP's  Christmas Labels & Trims.

 

Card #2 - Oval Accordion Die set:

 

 

Because I made so many mistakes on the first card, and I knew I would need to help my mother put her four page card together, I decided to play a bit with the accordion structure.  This is a 4 page card that really looks more like a 5 page card because the center oval is different when the card is closed (unlike the one above where the center oval when the card is closed is the same as the first one on the inside).  

 

I used materials from a paper pad my daughter gave me for Christmas (called Glitz & Glam - by Park Lane).  It had some papers that I was less fond of, so gave me an opportunity to play with the structure by using materials that I could live with throwing away if I needed to do so.  It also had the added benefit of being sturdier than the papers I used on the last one - which makes the card itself more sturdy and is less like to wrinkle when glued in place.

As you can see, I used a make-up paper for the background.  The focal is fussy cut from one of the cut out pieces that comes in the set.  I added a bit of Distress Ink to change the color a bit so it would blend better with the background.  I also inked the oval using a different color of the Distress Ink - then glued the cut out in place.

Opened:

Here you can see the card when opened.  The picture made it a bit hard to see the first page that says "Glam Girl".  The first three centers were die cut from cut outs in the set.  The last has a die cut piece of white card stock - to which I added a heart cut from another of the cut outs.

Card #3: Two-Page Oval Accordion

I really like the way this one turned out.  It was a pretty easy card to make - just two pages of the Oval Accordion.  In addition to the cardboard panels, I cut panels from a patterned paper to cover the entire card base front & back.  I don't know if the hinge would work well if one uses a heavier paper to cover, but I figured this light-weight paper would be fine - and it was! The focal is based on a stamp from Divinity Designs that I colored with Inktense pencils and water - then fussy cut around it. The sentiment on the front is from a Stampendous set called Bible Promises - again it's stamped on white card stock - then fussy cut near the sentiment.  The corner pieces are cut from white card stock using dies from the Katie Label Accordion die set.

Here's what the card looks like when it's opened up:

 

The inside sentiment is from another Divinity Designs stamp set called On Eagle's Wings.

 

So far I have learned the following about using these dies:

1) Choose your configuration - These cards can be constructed one of two ways.  Either you have a single edge to open (like the first card) or you have a folded edge to open (like the 2nd).  Put another way, as you put your card together, your frames will either start with a valley fold (like the 1st) or a mountain fold (like the 2nd) and then alternate for as many pages as your card has.2

2) Connect your outer frames (frames ONLY - we won't connect the inner parts until later) - Now that you know which way you want the folds to go, you can glue your outer frames together.  Before you start, make sure that all pages have the tabs (both frame and center tabs) facing to the right in front of you.  Fold your tabs the direction you want the fold to go (valley or mountain) starting from the left to "train" the fold before gluing the pieces together.  If your decorating will be covering the frames COMPLETELY (by using the main die and removing tabs & center) you can (if you wish) glue the tabs to the front where they will be covered with the decorative paper.  Otherwise, glue them behind each piece where they won't be visible from the front.  As you glue each piece, fold it as you want it to fold to ensure each page is lining up as you wish.  When you've glued all pages together, lay the connected strip out flat - face up with the little tabs facing to the right.

3) Decorating - Next, decorate these pages as you wish - but keep in mind that if you went with the "folded edge" configuration (mountain fold first) you will have an additional "center part" to decorate, and that additional center part will actually be seen as your card front. Similarly, if you went with the Valley fold first you will have an additional "frame" part to decorate (which will become part of your card front). If you wish, you can wait to decorate that additional part until later (optional step 5). For now, just decorate the frames and other center pieces as they lie in front of you - making sure the little inner tabs are facing to your right and your first fold (valley or mountain) is to your left.  NOTE: if your decorative pieces for the centers of your pages are all cut with the base die so you will be covering the centers completely, you CAN hide the little tabs if you wish - by assembling your center decorations like you might a card front - but WAITING to glue them in place until after step 4 (and gluing the tabs in front instead of in back).  This, of course, is totally optional - and only works if you will be covering the entire center section (not counting the hinges, of course).

4) Finish assembly - Once you've finished decorating the pages, you can begin to attach the center pieces.  You want your center pieces to fold opposite to the way the frames fold.  So, for example, if your first frame fold is a mountain fold, your first center fold will be a valley fold - and vice versa.  Once again train the little tab(s) to fold as you want them to fold and then glue them in place.  (You will have to have your frames folded a bit in order to bring them together close enough to glue in place.)  I recommend that as you glue each tab in place, that you fold the card to ensure it's aligning as it should - once again, making sure that the center sections fold the opposite way of the frame sections.  

5) Complete your decorating - Once your card is completely connected, you can finish any decorating that remains - gluing centers in place if you waited on that - and decorating the front (frame if first frame fold is valley, center if first frame fold is mountain) when the card is closed - making sure it is right side up! By waiting to decorate the card front until last, you will have the folded card in front of you and it will be easy to see what remains to be decorated!              

Now to use these dies to make even more interesting structures!

Card #4 - Mix of Accordion Oval & Katie Label Accordion - AND turned them horizontally!

I can't take credit for the techniques used here.  I saw them in a couple of videos from Karen Burniston the creator of these dies - I just combined the techniques.

Because of the way I did this, the structure is not at all flimsy!  I started by cutting the 3 main pieces out of white card stock.  I had already attempted a stacked structure that didn't work because I had measured incorrectly, so I used it for the new "hinges" I needed here - otherwise, I'd have had to cut 3 extra pieces in order to get the hinges I needed.  

Basically, the technique is: 

1) New Hinges: For each panel, cut loosely around the hinges of a second piece and glue to the new horizontal top & bottom structures.  

2) Remove old tabs & hinges: You can then cut all the other tabs & hinges off.  You have replaced the hinges in the previous step - next up you'll start replacing tabs.  

3) Replace the frame tabs & connect the frames:  Using lengths of narrow length-wise folded scrap, connect the sides (use the same color card stock that you used for the card bases - white in this case).  You connect the panels much the same as you would ordinarily do, but you have to glue it on both sides since you don't have a tab on one side - ensuring they fold as you want them to (valley/mountain/valley in this case).  NOTE: If you used different base pages like I did here, you may need to do some trimming on the frames so that they are all the same size

4) Decorate as desired: Using the base dies, cut the base panels out.  Cut out the centers and glue the frames in place - front and back (to cover the hinges & tabs - trimming if needed).  You can also decorate the centers on the front of your string of panels and glue them in place, but wait to glue the centers of the back until after you've connected the centers.  Add whatever embellishments you wish - though you can also add some at the end.

5) Replace the tabs for the centers & connect centers: You can fold a narrow length of card stock in half width-wise (at least double the size of the inner tabs that you cut off - I like to make them even a bit longer since they won't be seen).  Glue them to the sides of the centers to connect them - folding them opposite of the frames (mountain/valley/mountain in this case).  

6) Cover the centers on the back: Using the centers you cut out of your patterned paper/card stock earlier, glue them in place to cover the center tabs.  

7) Finish decorating as you wish.

Here's what this one looks like when opened up:

Using the dies that came with the sets to cut out white panels for the insides of the centers, I decorated with misc from my stash.  The greeting on the front (that folds to the left of the inside when opened) was hand printed.  The greeting on the inside was stamped with a sentiment stamp from Sweet Stamps.

Card #5 - Staggered Accordion!

 

Details regarding construction follow the pictures.  For this card I used a printed card stock to cover the base frames on the front of each panel - and an extra on the back of the first panel (which becomes the card front).  I also used 3 scenic verse stamps from Art Impressions - Shepherd Window (above), Be Joyful Window, and Eagles Window - stamped directly on the centers of each accordion panel.  I colored these with Inktense pencils.  I made two sentiment panels - one for the front and one for the inside.  These were cut using dies from the Katie Label Accordion set.  The sentiment stamps are from May May Made It.  The one on the card front is from Your Faith is Showing set - the one inside is from Blessed Inside and Out.  Here's what the card looks like when opened (except that you can see the first panel better in normal light!)

Here's a closeup of each accordion center panel:

This technique is outlined in a Karen Burniston video here.  This structure requires that the accordion centers have tabs top and bottom (center tabs like for the Oval Accordion die won't work!).  The hardest part of this is making sure you start with the correct card size so the tab will line up correctly.  

The basic technique for a staggered accordion is to start with 3 panels that are the designated size (see highlighted numbers below).  Then use the accordion die to cut each one - 2 panels with the die at the top, and one with the die at the bottom - making sure the tabs are always on the right.  The trick is that you have to carefully stagger your cutting plates before sending the die/card stock through the die cutting machine.  You want your top plate to be set such that it doesn't cover one card edge so it won't cut - lower edge when die is at the top, upper edge when die is at the bottom.

I have two dies that could work for this style of structure.  The one I used here is the same one Karen used in her video - the Fancy Label Accordion.  For that one, you need to start with 3 panels that are    5 1/8" x 6 7/8" (she uses 5" x 6 7/8" with a narrower tab, but I prefer to cut the full tab).  

If I were to use the other die - the Katie Label Accordion - I would cut 3 panels that are 4 3/4" x 8 1/8".  (I haven't actually tried this last one since I ran out of time, but measurements are based on the same principles as those for the Fancy Label Accordion so it SHOULD work!)  

In addition to making a staggered accordion from the Katie Label die, there are two other techniques I'd like to try sometime.  1) Combine the accordion die with a pivot die (video here) and 2) cut the card base from a fold-able acetate.  This makes elements look like they're floating in air (video here).

1st Birthday!

Today I have a quick card for an upcoming birthday party.  The background is Adoreable Scoreable card stock from my stash (Hunkydory), and the rest of it except for some balloon stickers are from a Whopper Topper book called Cute & Cuddly (also from Hunkydory).  I specifically wanted a background of sturdy HD card stock because I made the card into a card with a pop up as you open it.

Inside:

I made and decorated the pop up using dies from Tonic Studios - a set called Occasions Pop-up Sentiment die set.  The border at the bottom is from the whopper topper set.  The stamped sentiment is from Crafter's Companion Compendium - the stamp sheet called Celebrate.  I added a sentiment die cut to the top of the pop up (also from the whopper topper page), and added a few stickers to complete the decorations.  Here's a close up look at the pop up section: