Christmas Slimlines & More

Today I have three more Christmas cards made with Hunkydory (HD) products at my Mom's place - 2 slimlines and a 5x7.

Card #1:

Here I combined a new die (Spellbinders Adoring Fleurette Card Builder) with a cut piece from an HD Little Book page.  The die is a really neat one with lots of options, but can be a little bit of a pain to work with.  After getting the main part of the card put together, I added a die cut sentiment (Moonstone Minis - Deck the Halls) with foam tape. I didn't really like the way the card turned out - needed white space between the lacy parts and the LB page.  And THEN a friend pointed out that I had actually glued the LB page piece in upside down!  So . . . I'm going to have to take some time to figure out what to do about that.  Hopefully, I can "kill 2 birds with one stone" and address both issues with my fix (I'll probably need to use a 2nd copy of that page and glue it on top).

Inside:

I love that these dies are so versatile that I could use them to get this decorative border for the inside of the card.  The stamped message is a Crafter's Companion Compendium (CCC) set of stamps (not sure of the name of the sheet of stamps because it is a set my mother bought).

Card #2:

This paper - from a Hunkydory magazine - was the PERFECT match for this HD Little Book page!  A narrow green border sets the focal off just right!

Inside:

More of the paper & the green mat create a border on the inside - along with another CCC stamp from my Mom's set.

Card #3:

Since I was at Mom's place, I had access to not only her stamps, but her embossing folders.  Here I use a LOVELY 3-D one that looks like quilting.  As you can see, I've added small Jewel Dazzles at each crossing point - gives such a lovely look!  I also added a glittery ribbon to form a bit of a lower border.  The focal was created using a small HD die cut against a circular gold circle frame & white background.  I matted this on the green - then a scrap of the patterned paper from the last card.  The sentiment was cut from a different HD Little Book set.

Inside:

More of the embossed/decorated green background forms borders top & bottom.  The stamp is again a CCC one of my Mom's.

September Swaps

Today I've got September swaps.  First, the swap card that I sent to my swap partner (see above).  The theme was FALL.

I knew I wanted to use the scarecrow dies that I got recently.  I cut the pieces for it from misc fall paper scraps - then wondered what I could use to go with it for a card front.  I found this "hay" paper in my stash and decided it would make a perfect backdrop for my scarecrow.  I also found some decorative pieces in my stash that I thought might go well with it - sentiments & pumpkin.  However, I soon saw that they faded into the background instead of standing out like I wanted them to.  So, I took a piece of white paper, inked it to blend in a bit, and glued it in place before adding all my decorative elements.

Inside:

Inside, I added a border of the straw paper with another embellishment from my stash.  The sentiments were stamped using stamps from Crafter's Companion Compenium (CCC) - sheets called Thank You and Thinking of You.

Materials Swap - My Materials:

The kit I sent was made up of white & green card stock, a printed wood grain (freebie from Debbi Moore - colored with distress ink so the color coordinated better, a piece of freezer paper prepared napkin, ribbons, and misc embellishments & sentiment from my stash.

My Card:

The focal is a piece of inked white paper - with leaves/acorns fussy cut from the prepared napkin and matted with green card stock.  I also matted the sentiment & embellishments.  I used double ribbon to create a border - and then a snippet of one to create an embellishment for the sentiment.

Inside:

Inside, is a border made from leftover wood grain paper, green card stock, matted embellishment, and fussy cut acorns from the prepared napkin.

Her Materials:

She included some gorgeous metallics as well as a die cut background, but I decided to save them for another card and focused on the die cuts and green piece. 

My Card:

She had sent an extra piece of white card stock which I used with inks to create a background piece for the pumpkin and the brown strip.  I also decided to flip the leaves and ink the back of them and use that side on my card.I embossed the background with my new Spellbinders 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" embossing folder called Scattered Fall.  The sentiment was die cut from a Spellbinders set called Merry Everything.

Inside:

As you can see, I used narrow leftover strips from the card front to form a border on the inside.  Then I stamped a greeting using stamps from May May Made It called Blessed Inside and Out.

HD Pearl Bouquet - Thanks a Bunch

Today's card is one of a set of five cards that I made using materials from Hunkydory's Pearl Bouquet Card Kit - from the set called Thanks a Bunch.  Here's what the set looked like - one die cut sheet, one AS (Adorable Scoreable card stock) sheet, and two "insert" sheets (which you'll see were only SOMETIMES used as inserts):

It's hard to photograph this set because the colors are soft and the pearlescent sheen creates a glare in the light.  Here's a closeup of the part in the lower right corner that has the glare on it:

And here are the 5 cards that I made with these materials (and a bit of stuff from my stash):

I made four 5x7 cards, and one slimline.  And now, a closeup of each

Card #1:

This was actually one of the last cards I made - using the last bit of the sheet of AS.  As you can see, I just had enough for a partial panel - but liked the look.  I combined it with the border strip (which I cut in half so it fit top and bottom) a focal die cut piece, and a sentiment piece - all from the set.

Inside:

Inside I simply glued a die cut frame from the set - and stamped a greeting from CCC (Crafter's Companion Compendium) sheet called Heartfelt.

Card #2:

When I was considering what to do with the focal oval you see on this card, I knew I wanted a white fancy die cut to surround it.  I looked for ovals but didn't have anything.  Then I looked at my 5x7 Spellbinders Card Creator dies - and this one (Heirloom Legacy) fit the oval shape PERFECTLY!  That is extremely uncommon for oval shapes, but I thought it looked so pretty with the AS background, the white die cut, and the oval focal from the set.  I added an oval sentiment from the set and my beautiful card front was done!

Inside:

While I could have gotten another card from the set if I had saved this for the outside of another card, I really liked it on the inside of this one.  The sentiment at the top, though it's hard to see in the picture, says "Lots of Love".

Card #3:

I'll admit that I'm not as happy with the way this one turned out - but I supposed it's not bad for using an "insert" paper to create the outside of my card.  I simply cut the paper a bit smaller than the card front & inked the edges.  Then added a circle border die cut from the set, an inked paper border from my stash, a greeting (made with my Mom's stamps & dies), and 3 flowers from my stash that were layered on top of each other.  I actually inked the center of the 3rd one, though it's hard to see in the picture.

Inside:

Another piece of the insert paper was cut to size for the inside - again with inked edges.  Then I stamped a message - again from CCC - this time the Birthday Female sheet.

Card #4:

I think this one is my favorite card - which is why you also see it at the top of this post.  This one started with a small embellishment die cut, but by the time I was done layering, it really works well for a focal.  The layers were all created using the same die set as card #2 - Heirloom Legacy 5 x 7 Card Creator by Spellbinders.  I had the oval pink AS which I had cut from the center of card #2 before gluing the white on top, but I wanted a pink background for the whole.  I went to my stash and found scraps from a HOTP paper that went great with it!  I actually had to piece the background because of the two pieces I had, neither was big enough - but you REALLY can't tell.  Obviously, most of the die cuts were from white card stock.  As a final touch to the card front, I added a ribbon and a stamped greeting (from my Mom's stamp and die greeting set).

Inside:

I used scraps from my stash to make borders top and bottom.  The die cut greeting I wanted to use on the inside really seemed to need white around it, so I die cut a piece from white card stock using a die from Spellbinders Tear Drop Circles dies.  The stamped message is again a stamp from CCC's Heartfelt.

Card #5:

The last card is actually the one I made first.  It started with a strip from the right-hand side of the AS.  It wasn't large enough to cover the whole thing, so I took part of the border of the same AS piece and glued it in place across the top - trimming a little off top and bottom so it fit the card front.  Then I took a piece of ribbon and used it to make it look like the die cut sentiment (from the set) was hanging from the top border.

Inside:

I used a portion of one of the insert papers, but a bit smaller than the card when opened.  I folded it in half lengthwise and glued just a narrow strip down the front right by the fold.  The rest of it is loose, but gluing it that way means the card opens well.  I plan to stamp a message on the inside when I know who it is going to and what I want it to say.

So, there you have it.  Five cards from this beautiful set.

The PLUS of Ugly Papers

These cards were made from scraps that I used WITH some "ugly paper" cards - though they don't contain ugly paper themselves.

Card #1 (above):

I liked this basic layout - a square focal, and a rectangular area below that for the greeting.  It's one of my "go to" layouts.  This time, I framed the square area, and added two small pieces for my "focal".  For the sentiment area, I cut up the gold inner frame (which came with the frame you see in the square) and rearranged the pieces to form an interesting base for my sentiment.  Focal/Sentiment & frames from Hunkydory Pop-a-Topper Ladies Choice.

Inside:

I will certainly stamp something on the inside of this card when I figure out what I want it to say, but for now I just used various of the papers/card stock to create a pretty place for it.

 

Card #2:

This template was also taken from a video (see ugly paper post).  I thought I would be making it with the ugly paper too - until I used one of the pieces I would have needed on the inside of the last card!  Anyway, this one is pretty straight forward.  Narrow bits create the inner angular borders.  The tan is actually a full panel to which the other pieces are glued.  I simply added my focal/frame with foam tape, and slipped the sentiment underneath (both also from a Pop-a-Topper sheet from the Ladies Choice book.  It might be nice to add a touch of ribbon to some of these - including this one.  Maybe I will?

Inside:

Again I use the triangular piece inside - with mats and an embellishment.