KCC2

Sometimes, like this month, I've already made several of the current KCC and decide to go back to some older ones for another set.  Here, I chose to use KCC #2.  As usual, this KCC created 15 cards.  Here's a picture of the whole set:

And here's a look at each individually.

2024 October Swaps

October swap card (above - Pumpkins/Turkeys/Cornucopia - one or two of those but not three) - This card is a fun start to my October swaps.  This time I started with a fun little turkey made with Karen Burniston's Feathered Animals die set - and a top hat from her Tiny Accessories 1 die set.  The car is from Spellbinders Gnome Drive Holiday.  The background patterned paper and sentiment cut out are both from a set of 6x6 Fall papers from HOTP called Autumn Garden.  

After cutting out the sentiment, I matted it on brown card stock cut with a die from Spellbinders Captivating Squares set.  Before attaching the background paper, I inked the edges and then added a border - white card stock, dark brown grosgrain ribbon, and tan satin decorative edged ribbon (taping the ribbon to the back of the background paper).  After attaching the background panel to the card front, I adhered the turkey-driven car.  Finally, I added the matted sentiment with foam squares on either side of the ribbon border.

Materials Swap - Fall Flowers - My Materials:

The materials I gathered were: white A2 sized card blank, white card stock from my stash, a piece of dark brown patterned card stock from my stash, a length of narrow brown ribbon, and a few pieces of double-sided patterned papers from a Carta Bella pack called Welcome Fall.  The last thing I added was a strip sentiment from Sassy's LLC.

Here is the card I made using these materials:

I started by turning my card blank into a center step card, using the dark brown patterned card stock for mats. Then, I used strips of the one paper to form the sides of the card, cutting them just smaller than the brown mats, and choosing where I cut the paper to give me a fairly symmetrical look.  

Next, I started to work on the focal piece.  This was created using a square of white card stock, fussy cutting flowers from the other patterned paper and arranging them as you see.   After gluing all those pieces in place and then gluing the focal piece to the card, I turned to the sentiment.  Here I narrowly matted a strip of patterned papers (other side of the sentiment pieces).  I added my sentiment strip to this, and then finished with a few small remaining cut out flowers.

Inside:

I finished the inside by adding a few scraps that had been left over.

Materials Swap - Fall Flowers - My Partner's Materials:

And here is the card I made using them:

I used the back side of the patterned paper to create a white strip.  Though I used a Sassy's greeting, I figured it was okay because I could just as easily have stamped a sentiment on a strip of the back of the patterned paper.

Inside:

K's Birthday Card

Too late, I realized my lighthouse was too small for the rest of the card - pretend it's a toy lighthouse! :)  At any rate, I created it knowing I could hand-deliver it, so I could add plenty of dimension.

It uses a variety of die cut pieces from two Spellbinder's die cut collections - Tunnel Scapes (Underwater Tunnel and Underwater Marine Life) and Fair Winds (Guiding Light, Oh Buoy, and Set Sail).  Most of the pieces were die cut from white card stock and then colored with Distress inks and Distress Oxides.

The greeting was die cut using a Creative Expressions die cut (Stacked Happy Birthday).

I created a 5 x 7 box to hold the card.

KCC16 - Set 2

Today I have a second set of 15 cards based on Kendra's Card Challenge (KCC) #16.  This time I finished up my half of the set of papers that I first used for KCC 14 (see them here).  It feels really good to get a set of papers that weren't favorites used up and have pretty cards to show for it!  Here's a picture of all 15 cards:

As you can see, I chose to accent these with turquoise and/or a dark teal for the mats.  Most sentiments are from Sassy's LLC - I'll note if they are not.  Here's a closer look at each:

New Pop-Up Dies

Today I have several cards with inside pop-ups using dies from Karen Burniston - and others.  I thought these might be really difficult to put together, but have been pleasantly surprised to find they're really not that difficult.  As you'll see, I've taken Karen's idea to make the outside of the card fairly simple so the inside is a real surprise.

Oven Pop-Up:

I find it works best for me to create the inside of these cards before doing anything to the outside.  That way I can coordinate with the inside once I know what it will be.  The patterned paper used here is the same as that used for the kitchen wallpaper on the inside of the card.  I used a die from Card Making Magic's Thinking of You word dies to create a matted sentiment - then used the same card stocks to form the three matted dots you see in the lower right corner.

Inside:

Here we have the inside pop-up - made using both the oven pop-up dies and the oven extras.  The "floor" was made using alcohol inks, and I created "tiles" with scoring.  The backsplash, carpet, and other misc was also cut from glossy card stock colored with alcohol inks.  The carpet was embossed using an embossing folder (3D Mediterranean Medallion (A2 size) - Spellbinders), then fussy cut from it.  The sentiment was stamped using a JustRite stamp from Royal Antiques Labels One - and then die cut from Spellbinders Fancy Tags.  You can't see it, but behind the window with the acetate, is a loaf of bread in a bread pan inside the oven.  It can be seen if one opens the oven door.

Fireplace Pop-up:

Once again, the colors used on the outside of the card, come from the inside.  This time, I added a little Karen Burniston cat (Cat and Dog set) - complete with food bowl & fish skeleton.  The sentiment is die cut using dies from the Octagon Box Kit from Card Making Magic. 

Inside:

Inside was created using both Karen Burniston's Fireplace Pop-up and the Fireplace Extras 2. The framed "pictures" on the wall use butterfly stickers from my stash.  I've added another cat from Karen Burniston's Cat and Dog set.  The carpet was cut with Karen Burniston's Ovals Cross-Hatch die set.  I cut two aqua pieces and one white one in different sizes, layering them to get what you see here.

House and Fence Pop-up:

This time I didn't use papers from the inside, but rather brought the pink flowers to the front using a digital floral print for the card front - with a matted Sassy's sentiment (white mat uses Spellbinders Teardrop Circles).

Inside:

The "grass" print was AS from my stash, and I used blue marble paper for the sky.  In addition to using the House and Fence Pop-up to create this scene, I used elements from some Spellbinders die sets (clouds from Set Sail, Sun and Cloud from Up in the Air, tree, bushes, flours, bird house/bath, birds, swing and squirrel from Backyard Haven). For the sentiment, I used Card Making Magic's Thinking of You word dies to create the matted sentiment. 

 

HD Perfect Days - Feeding Time

Today I bring you another set of cards made from a Hunkydory set (Feeding Time from kit called Perfect Days).  This is what the set looked like:

This was a "Deco" set - which means it comes with 1 1/2 sheets of punch outs, and 1 sheet of AS (Adoreable Scoreable printed card stock).  By adding some of my own materials, I was able to use this set to make 5 cards and a tag:

Here's a closer look at each one:

Card #1:

The outside of the first was REALLY easy to make.  I simply cut a piece of the AS to fit on a 5 x 7 card front with a narrow border, glued it in place, and added the sentiment with foam tape.  Easy peasy.  

Inside:

Inside was not quite as easy.  I actually waited until I was finished with all the other cards and then came back to it.  I decided to take a lavender piece and mat it with dark purple.  Then I added a bunch of little die cut pieces (some which had been cut off of other ones) to make the scene you see here.

Card #2:

This one took me awhile.  I got the idea of making a window with a cat pretending to not look at the birds.  I have a couple of window dies, but it turned out that neither worked the way I wanted them to.  So, I made my own with a square cutting die, a score board, and a piece of white card stock.  The background paper is one I printed from a digital - but first I changed the color from pink gingham to this lavender/blue print.  I'm not sure where the sentiment strip came from - found it in my stash - as I did with the cat die cut.  I DID add a border strip to the window sill (from the set).

Inside:

Inside, I added more of the patterned paper for borders and decorated them with some of the remaining die cut pieces.

Card #3:

This time I went really simple again.  I turned my card blank into a gate-fold by adding a couple of score lines and folding along them.  I embossed the card front with a Spellbinders 5.5 x 8.5 embossing folder called Scattered Fall.  I glued the focal to just the left side of the card front and added a ribbon bow.

Inside:

This time, though it's a bit hard to see, I cut a lavender piece just smaller than the inside of the card.  I decorated with the corner embellishments that came in the set.

Card #4:

Trying to make my AS stretch, I decided on A2 sized cards for these last two.  This one is a simple greeting card.  Matting of purple backs the AS that forms the backdrop for the focal element.  I DID add another layer on the birdhouse room, but just glued it down so there wouldn't be a lot of extra bulk.  I added a couple of sticker greetings from HOTP.

Inside:

Inside I again used a matted piece of the AS - this time adding one of the border pieces from the set.

Card #5:

Here in addition to the matted AS, I created a border using scrap from my die cut sheet.  The piece I used only had gold on one edge, so I cut another piece of scrap that was just a thin strip of the gold and glued it in place.  In addition to the focal element (with a second piece glued to the eaves), I added a sentiment from the set.

Inside:

This inside was created just like the previous one except that a different border strip was used.

Tag:

I had a pretty piece of AS left over - too small to do much with.  I decided to make it into a tag.  Simply cut it to the size I wanted, punched a hole and added ribbon, and finished with some little butterfly stickers from my stash.

Tunnel Scapes and Fair Winds

Today I'm playing with cutting dies from two Spellbinders collections.  The first is Tunnel Scapes. The second is Fair Winds. I made the card above using a couple sets from the Tunnel Scapes collection - see here for more information on how I made that card.  Pieces for the above came from two of the Tunnel Scapes sets (Cloud Scapes and Fly Away) shown below.  Today I'm not making cards - simply trying out the dies and making several pieces ahead for when I might want to use them.   I find that often if I have something ready made, I'll use it - but if not, I'll find something else rather than pulling out my dies.

Cloud Scapes:

Cloud Scapes consists of cloud tunnel pieces, extra cloud pieces, moon, stars, and sun.

Fly Away:

As you can see, Fly Away consists of pieces to make two things - a kite, and an airliner (seen from below).

Underwater Tunnel:

Here are the layers as usually used.

And here are the "innards" which can also be used as a backdrop for underwater scenes.

I experimented with different Metallic Sharpies colors for the anchors - starting with silver, the color most examples used.  I found, however, that I kind of like using bronze for the main part & silver for the little added piece. On one, I also added a bit of "patina" using a greenish metallic Bic marker and immediately trying to wipe it off to soften the effect.  I think it looks pretty interesting IRL.

The rocks are designed so they can be layered to create a different look, though I left these unlayered until I know how I'll be using them.  These are colored with Distress Inks.

The seaweed and corals are also colored with distress inks.

Underwater Marine Life:

We'll start with the sea turtles.  I used Distress and Distress Oxide inks except for the black which was a fine-line marker.  After trial and error, I discovered I like the look better if I wrinkled the neck (folding and smushing it a bit) before coloring it - added a bit more realistic look.

Once again, the fish are colored with Distress and Distress Oxide inks - with sharpie or paper for the black.

Perched Birds:

First the branches they can perch on (along with extra leaves).

And then the birds.  All colored with Distress and Distress Oxide inks (except for black which is marker).

That's all of the die sets in the Tunnel Scapes collection!

Next up is the Fair Winds Collection.  

Fair Winds Collection: There are 3 sets of die cuts in this collection - actually 4 given the Fair Winds Sentiments Stamp and Die set - but I'll focus on the other 3 sets.

Oh, Buoy!:

Here are 4 of the 5 objects that it makes - the last is the seagull (see below).  These pieces were all colored using Distress and Distress Oxide inks.

The gulls went together quickly and easily - again colored with Distress & Distress Oxide inks.

Set Sail:

In addition to the sail boats that you see above, the set comes with waves and clouds.  

The clouds can be layered or not as you choose.  

Surprisingly, the cloud shapes can also be colored green to serve as trees or bushes along the horizon when building a scene.

Guiding Light:

First up are the rocks that help create the scene for the lighthouse. Once again colored with distress inks.

There were also some small flying gulls, but somehow I didn't get pics of them.

That's it for both of the Spellbinders collections that I recently purchased.