Serene Silhouettes Sympathy Card

12/30/2015 Update: Serene Silhouettes won a Top Three position in AHSC #139.







This week I noticed that my stash of both Get Well and Sympathy cards was depleted so decided I needed to make a few to keep on hand.

The design for this card was inspired by the sketch at The Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #139.


I also entered these "Anything but Christmas" challenges:

Mod Squad Challenge

Inkspirational #98

All Sorts #342/343

Images were stamped in black on white cardstock, die cut, edges sponged with black ink and adhered to gray cardstock squares. A banner was cut from striped DSP. The three squares were adhered with foam tape to a panel of dotted vellum. This was adhered to a panel of pink cardstock and then adhered to the gray card base. The card base opens on the side, which I prefer for landscape
cards because the card stands up better than a card that opens at the bottom edge. The inside of the card was lined with a panel of white cardstock and stamped with a coordinating image and a sentiment. In keeping with the sketch, three pearls were added to the upper left side.

Deadline to join the challenge is Sunday evening, December 27, 2015, so stop by the AHSC blog!









The other challenges have varying deadline dates so drop by and visit Mod Squad, Inkspirational and All Sorts.
Techniques: Die cutting, sponging, stamping
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Serene Silhouettes stamp set
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock: Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Pink Pirouette
DSP: Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum, black & white stripe from stash
Dies: Banner Framelits & Simon Says Stamp Double Stitched Squares
Misc.: Martha Stewart stick-on pearls & CTMH foam tape

Scalloped Rainbow

12/23/2015 Update: This card was voted "Top Three" in the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!






Using the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #138 for
inspiration, I created the following birthday card. My aunt will be 89 in March so I think I will set this aside to mail to her in a few months. I wanted the card to be feminine and pretty and the sketch helped me achieve that.

Scrap pieces of watercolor paper were colored with watercolor paints in colors of red/pink, orange, yellow flecked with orange, green, blue and purple flecked with pink. The variegation on the scallops does not show up well in the photos. The pieces were then die cut into scallops, flowers and leaves and adhered to the card front panel. A strip of glimmer paper was adhered. The sentiment was stamped, punched and adhered to a die cut blue watercolored label. The label was backed with thin foam tape.

A panel of blue watercolored paper was adhered to the card base. The card panel was then adhered to the blue panel using craft foam.


The inside of the card was decorated with a few die cut flowers and a birthday stamp.

Please visit the AHSC blog and consider joining in the weekly challenge!
Techniques: Stamping, die cutting, water coloring, punching
Size: 5" x 6.5"
Materials:
Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy "Love Birds" (sentiment on card front); SU! "Flower Patch" (sentiment on inside)
Inks: Koh-I-Noor watercolor set, Memento Tuxedo Black 
Paper: SU! Whisper White cardstock, SU! water color paper, SU! Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs "Fanfare Scalloped Border" & "Perky Posies"; Spellbinders "Labels Twenty"
Punch: SU! Modern Label
Misc.: Craft foam, CTMH thin foam tape

Christmas 2015 Fun Fold

These are the cards I made for family and friends this year. They are all in the mail so that task is out of the way for another year!

First, I made wallets/money holders for my nephews. They will hold cash or checks perfectly. Instructions to make these can be found HERE. The only change I made to the original instructions was to add the indentation on the front with my envelope punchboard. The photos were taken with them standing open like a tent card. The materials used:
Envelope Punch Board, SU! Scalloped Tag Topper Punch
SU! cardstock: Shimmery White, Garden Green and Real Red
SU! ink: Real Red and Garden Green
DSP: Nordic Noel Collection (retired)
Stamps: MFT "Hand Lettered Holiday"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Measurements for making the following fold are at the bottom of this blog post.

All of the following cards were made with a fun fold but I used two different paper designs. The card base was cut and scored to create the fold. For each card, panels were cut from Basic Black to mat the design. Three panels per card were cut from "Silent Night" music paper and adhered to the black panels. One panel per card of Very Vanilla was cut for the inside, sponged with gold ink and stamped with the shepherd image. (I used the MISTI tool for all stamping to ensure a solid image.) Additional gold ink was sponged for a glow where the star would be placed. The panels were adhered to the corresponding black panels. The sentiment was stamped and the card sponged with gold then attached to the black panel.

Here is a photo showing one card folded and then another unfolded:












The DSP was cut, the edges sponged and then adhered to a black panel. All the pieces were adhered to the Old Olive card base. The star was die cut and adhered. On the cards with the Christmas tree, a star was punched and placed atop the tree. For the poinsettias, the centers were embellished with clear Wink of Stella. For additional writing space, a panel of Very Vanilla was placed along the back of the card.

This photo demonstrates how the card can be set standing up:

The final photo shows the front of each card. They are identical except for the change in the DSP:

Techniques: Stamping, sponging, die cutting, punching
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Materials are Stampin' Up! except for the inks:

Stamps: Every Blessing

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black & Tsukineko Delicata Golden Glitz

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Old Olive, Gold Glimmer

DSP: Home for Christmas Collection

Die: Stars Framelits (star inside)

Punch: Itty Bitty Accents (tiny star on tree)
Misc.: MISTI

There is a You Tube tutorial available HERE. I wanted the card to be a perfect A2 size so changed the measurements as follows:
I started with a piece of cardstock 4.25" x 11". On the long edge, one inch in from the bottom, I made a cut from 2.75" to 8.25". I scored at 2.75" from the top edge of the card base to the 1" cut. At 5.25" I scored from edge to edge to create the center fold. I scored again at 8.25" from the bottom edge up to the 1" cut. Fold and decorate. It is now the exact size for an A2 envelope.



May the Lord Bless You

12/16/2015 Update: This card placed in the Top Three at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #137.





Using the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #137 as inspiration, I made a card of encouragement. This is a tile card, where the card looks as if nine tiles are imprinted with one image. A tutorial for the technique can be found HERE. I used different dimensions than used in the tutorial.

To create the tiles, a square piece (3.75" x 3.75") of cardstock was scored into nine squares (each 1.25" x 1.25"). The stamp was inked and the cardstock pressed on the stamp, taking care to avoid stamping into the scored gaps. Using a mask of scrap paper, the card was sponged to give each tile an individual look. A very light pencil line was drawn in the four scored lines to give a shadow effect.


A panel of cardstock was texture embossed and a piece of twine was wrapped and tied. This was adhered to the card base. The tiled square was adhered to a panel of DSP and backed with foam to raise it for adhering to the panel on the card base. Three pearls were added and the sentiment was stamped directly onto the card. The inside was stamped with a butterfly, leaving sufficient space for a personal note.

Stop by the AHSC blog and join the challenge!

Techniques: Tile card, stamping, sponging, texture embossing

Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")






Materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: SU! Best Thoughts, Gina K Designs Bounty of Blessings (sentiment)
Inks: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Stazon Jet Black
Cardstock: Shimmery White, Crisp Cantaloupe
DSP: Pistachio Pudding DSP stack
Misc.: Pistachio Pudding thick twine, Dimensionals, MS pearls, Darice EF

It's Your Day

The Atlantic Heart Sketch Challenge #136 was the perfect
opportunity to make a birthday card for a friend. For landscape cards I prefer to make them open on the side so they will stand up more easily than if they open from the bottom.

 

Panels of cardstock and DSP were adhered to a card base. A panel of vellum
was added after sponging along the edges. The vellum offers contrast and mutes the bright DSP behind the strips of various papers. The strips were  sponged along the edges then adhered, in keeping with the sketch challenge. A strip of foil was die cut for the horizontal ribbon strip. The rose was also die cut from bronze foil and popped up with foam. The tag was stamped and popped up with foam. A little star was punched from foil and added to the tag. The inside of the card was lined with white cardstock and decorated with a strip of DSP.

Visit the AHSC blog for fun challenges!





Techniques: Stamping, sponging, die cutting, punching
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Crafty Secrets Grand Greetings (sentiment)
Inks: Melon Mambo, Old Olive (sponging), Memento Tuxedo Black (sentiment)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride, Mint Macaron, vellum, DCWV foiled cardstock in bronze and green
DSP: English Garden Collection
Punch: Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack (star)
Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Border, Lil' Inker Designs Quilted Flower

Misc.: Dimensionals