score lines and border dies, a fun pair

One thing that I really like about crafting tools is the way that they can be used together to effect some fun looks. *ahem* Not to mention that this also helps justify buying more tools. :-)

I've been having fun recently by finding different ways to incorporate scoring into my card-making. My latest forays have involved my Scor-it and border punches.

Here's an example of what I mean....

For this card, which is the second half of the pair that I mentioned the other day, I used the Martha Stewart Iron Gate border punch on the red card stock layer. I then made the score lines using my Scor-it to add some visual interest. The stamped images are all by Hero Arts and stamped on decorative card stock using Memento inks. I added some glitz to the fleur-de-lis and the peacock with my clear Copic Atyou glitter pen and then added the tiny hot fix bling crystals to finish it off.

oh, those ProvoCraft Asian folders

For a while I was holding out, several months actually, not purchasing any more embossing folders from ProvoCraft. That ended up changing after I was given some of the Asian designs over the holidays.

Here are some of the cards that I've made with them....

This card was made using first the Kimiko folder on some Core'dinations card stock. I turned the folder over and debossed the image then sanded it to remove some of the black and bring out the color underneath, leaving the image nicely outlined. I then ran that through again, this time inside the Bamboo folder. I sanded that again to remove the black. The sentiment was cut out using my Slice.

For this card I again pulled out the Bamboo embossing folder. I then added a few of the lanterns from the Lanterns folder at the top. The stamped image is by Inkadinkado and accented using Spica glitter pens. The sentiment is by Verve.

For this last card I did some double 'bossing. I debossed my white card stock layer using the Plum Blossoms embossing folder and applied the Angel Pink Memento ink DTP. I then embossed that piece using the Kimiko folder and accented the embossing using Memento London Fog ink. I like the way that the kimono took on some of the blossoms. The sentiment is again by Verve. I embellished using Brides flowers that I also embossed using the Plum Blossoms folder.

smiling

Ugh. I think all of the gray days have been getting to me. Not much enthusiasm for crafting lately. The sun was out today though, and that put a bounce in my step. Got going early. Did a morning work out. Made a card! It was simple and quick, but maybe this will get me going.

The stamped sentiment and images are by Hero Arts and stamped using Memento ink. The embossing was made using the Japanese Scales folder by ProvoCraft. The "friends" punch is by EK Success. By the way, this punch was not with the other punches if you go looking for it. I found it at Michael's in the American Girl section near the kids' stuff. I added color to the owls with Spica glitter pens.

Happy New Year!

Belated holiday greetings to those of you who are still checking in here. :-) It's been a busy holiday season, but a fun one. I wanted to share one of the versions of my holiday cards for 2009. I made these in various colors, keeping the same general theme.


This one happens to be the light green. I used pre-folded, textured cards by DCWV, embossed the trees across the bottom, adding some sparkle to them with Copic Spica glitter pens. The sentiment is by Hero Arts. The die cuts were made using Martha Stewart punches.

Happy New Year, everyone!

punching around the page

I have a quick post with a couple of cards that I made using two of Martha Stewart's Punch Around the Page corner and edge punches. They were called continuous edge punches before. Different name now, but the same idea, and this time there were even instructions included! LOL! Progress!


This first card was made using the Scallop 3-Dot punches. Same deal as before. You still need to cut your card stock to specific sizes for the corner design to match up with the edge. The two white squares that I started with were 5 x 5 inches and 3.25 x 3.25 inches. The edges need to be cut in increments of 1.75" to work, so 6.75 inches and 8.5 inches, and so on, would work as well. That background stamp was by Hero Arts and the sunflower is by Inkadinkado and colored using Copic Spica glitter markers.


For this card I used the Fall Leaves punches on a 3.25 x 5 inch piece of orange card stock. The stamped images and sentiment are by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento inks. The embossed flourish was made using a Cuttlebug border embossing folder from the Organic Flourishes set.

That's it for now. We've been playing the guess if this is a cold vs the flu for the past week and a half. Been a bit of a challenge, but I think everyone is on the right track again and back in school so I had a bit of time to craft while also trying to catch up on errands. Fun stuff! :-)

stair step card

Okay, this is one of those card-making techniques that I'm late getting in on. It's a fun alternative to the regular A2 cards that I often make, and they fit inside the A2 size envelopes, so no extra fuss as far as that goes.

This is my first attempt at making one....


My apologies for the poor quality of the lighting. It was a gray day here, and even darker than usual because the ice and sleet were blocking my skylights.

I used the stair step base and added decorative wintry cardstock. The leaping deer was made using a Sizzix die. The snowflakes were made using Martha Stewart punches. The embossed dove is a Cuttlebug combo die. The label die cut and scalloped rectangle were made using Spellbinders dies. The Merry Christmas sentiment is by Cloud 9 Design. The remaining stamped images and sentiments are all by My Favorite Things and were stamped using Memento dye inks. The embellishments are Prima flowers, Flower Soft for the bath rug underneath the tub, clear Sakura Glaze pen for the bubbles and glass, Copic clear glitter pen for the mirror, and assorted sizes and colors of hot fix rhinestones.

The card looks rather busy in the photograph. It isn't so busy in real life where you get a better feel for the 3D effect and depth of the images.

This is a fun change from the usual and I'm looking forward to trying my hand at more of these.

white and splash of pink Christmas - DCM

It's been a long time since I've done a daring cardmakers challenge. This one sounded too fun to resist: we are dreaming of a WHITE (and splash of pink Christmas!) I would love you to design a card which includes white mostly (ie: snow, snowmen etc ) and also a little splash of pink somewhere on the card. :)

This is my mostly white with a splash of pink card....


The embossed background is an A2 Cuttlebug embossing folder that I ran through my machine twice since my card is extra long. The die cut is a Spellbinders Labels Two Nestabilities die and the stamped image and sentiment are by Making Memories. The pink ink is a Memento dye ink.


I added a few touches that were hard to appreciate in that first shot. Here's a close up that shows the clear Glaze pen coloring that I used to accent the ornaments. I used a Copic Spica clear glitter pen to accent the garland. I also used the Copic pen to accent the sentiment.

holiday cards Cuttlebug-style

I wanted to share a few more cards that I made using the Cuttlebug A2 embossing folders and the border folders. They were made in the winter holiday spirit. :-)


This first card was very simply embossed using one of the border folders on the top and bottom edges of the card. The bird image is by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento dye inks. The sentiment is by My Favorite Things. The faux snow is by Cornish Heritage Farms.


This card was made by using diagonal Cuttling with the Snowflakes embossing folder. I used another border folder to accent the space for the sentiment by Inkadinkado. The corner were punched using a Fiskars corner punch.


I partially Cuttled the front of this card using the Christmas ornaments embossing folder. The score lines were made using the Scor-It, and again I used a border folder to add interest to that bottom edge of the design. The stamped image is by Stampendous, stamped with Memento dye ink and colored with Copic Spica glitter pens.


This last card was partially embossed using the Snow Dots embossing folder. I used an embossing border folder to set off the sentiment by Martha Stewart. The snowflakes were made via a punch also by Martha Stewart. The inky accents on the snowflakes and the stamping were made using Memento dye inks.

These are just some quick and easy cards that showcase the some of the fun looks that you can get by using embossing folders in different ways and in different combinations.

A couple of quick cards

I just love stamping with the Inkadinkado clear Mini Sets. They're such fun!


This first card was stamped using one of the Inkadinkado sets and Memento dye ink and then colored with Prismacolor markers. These inks are great with markers--no smudging or bleeding, and I didn't heat set them. Love that! I embellished with Primas and Robin's Nest Dew Drops.


For this card I used the scraps from some cardstock that I'd cut using the Sizzix XL scalloped card die. The scraps make great waves, especially when layered. Again, the sentiments and images were stamped using Memento dye inks. I'm particularly fond of the London Fog, which I use when I plan on doing some coloring. It's just a bit more subtle than stamping an outline in black ink. This time I colored with my Copic Spica glitter pens. I then went back over that and simulated some fish scales with my Sakura Stardust pen which added most of the sparkle that you can see on the fish in the photo. I'd accented the smaller bubbles with my clear Sakura Glaze pen, and added dew drops on the others. The four toward the bottom of the card are all faux dew drops--the ones from Michael's. The one near the fish is a clear Robin's Nest Dew Drop. It's just a bit smaller and doesn't have as high as profile as the others.

Ahhh, it feels good to be stamping again, even if I'm multitasking and doing laundry, too. :-)

Wish Big!

I hadn't realized it, but that was an appropriate sentiment for not only my card, but for this post. :-)

I wanted to use the last of the new Sizzix Movers & Shapers dies that I'd bought. This is Kit #4, the Note Card Envelope. This came with an XL die that lets you cut out the envelope shape. It's scored and has the flaps so that all you have to do is fold it and glue it together. There is also an opening in the die similar to the card dies that allows you to place the add-on dies to cut out shapes, if you want to.

Here are some of the details. The finished envelope with the flap closed measures 3 1/2" by 5". The cutting surface of the die from cutting edge to cutting edge is 4 3/4" by 11 1/4", so again, you'll need to use cardstock or paper that's longer than the standard 8 1/2" by 11" to use this die. You'll also need the XL cutting plates. If you're a Cuttlebug user, these plates are currently too wide to fit through your machine. You can use your B plates and run the die through twice, but you'll get a bit of folding where the edge of the plate gets pressed into the cardstock or paper. You could get away with it if you make that happen at your fold.

This card envelope is designed to be used with the card kits that make the vertical and horizontal note cards, kits 2 and 3, respectively. I assume that those work the same way as the horizontal A2 card kit that I've described before (card kit 1), but just a smaller size. Personally, I'm not sure that I see the need for the note card dies. I don't think they have any special edges. They just have the advantage of being able to place the add-ons. You could cut your own note cards though and use the add-ons without the XL die.

This is probably a good time for me to mention that if you want to read more about my experiences with the Sizzix Movers & Shapers dies so far, including using them with the Cuttlebug and using add-ons without the card die, look at my sidebar and check out my drop-down menu for Tutorials and Info for the Big Shot and Cuttlebug.


The yellow envelope was made using the note card envelope card kit. I used the flower add-on to cut out the window. The Martha Stewart Simple Scallop border punch was used to embellish, then I added some bling. I'll mention here that the die worked nicely, but did cut through the cardstock at one of the crease lines, just a 1/2" at one spot, but that was a bit of a disappointment.

I cut the notecard myself to fit the envie. The stamped image is by the Memory Box Company and colored with Copic Spica pens and the Inkssentials opaque white pen. The sentiment is by Cornish Heritage Farms and stamped with Versafine ink. Again I embellished with the Martha Stewart border punch. I also used the die cut from my envelope and a Brides flower to embellish.

And here's the card envelope with the card placed inside....


I thought this was a fun and cute card die. I didn't have any card envelope dies in my arsenal, so I thought I'd invest in this one and try it out, particularly since it's a bigger size. Except for that issue with the crease line being cut, this worked nicely. I'm going to tinker a bit and see if using the crease pad might help as far as that problem goes. It'll be fun to use some of the other add-ons with this kit for even more effects.

a few more Cuttled cards

I seem to have a lot of Cuttled card fronts just waiting to have something done to them. I got around to doing some stamping, so I thought I'd post a few of those cards that I've finished.


This first card was made doing some diagonal Cuttling of a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The stamped flower image is by Imaginisce the sentiment is a Studio G stamp. Both were stamped using Memento dye ink and then colored with Prismacolor colored pencils blended with Goo Gone and accented with Copic Spica glitter pens. The orange border was made with the Fiskars Lacy Days of Summer border punch.


This next card was made with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. I'd partially Cuttled to leave spaces for stamping sentiments. The stamps were all by Inkadinkado and stamped with Memento ink. The scalloped circle was made using a Spellbinders petite scalloped circle Nestabilities die.


This last card was made by creative Cuttling using the Mini Mosaic Cuttlebug embossing folder. The stamped images and sentiments are by Inque Boutique, stamped using Memento dye inks, and colored with Prismacolor colored pencils. The blending was done using Goo Gone.

Ahhh, it's nice to do some crafting. :-)

Spotlight Cuttling

Okay, so maybe technically this should just be included with creative Cuttling, but I thought it was kind of neat and deserved a "spot" of its own. I can think of a number of ways to use this. Here's one example:


The stamp images are by Rhonna Farrer/Autumn Leaves and stamped with chalk inks that I colored and accented using Copic Spica glitter pens. The flowers are Brides flowers with Liquid Pearl centers.

Now for the spotlight part of this--I used the Cuttlebug A2 Swiss Dots folder in my Big Shot to make the three embossed "spotlights" in the border. I used the technique that I described in my creative Cuttling in detail post--take a peek there for photos and step-by-step instructions that you can adapt to your machine. For this look in particular I used some of those Bazzill Basics chipboard 1" circles that were popular a couple of years or so ago. I stacked them in pairs, which made them conveniently the same thickness as one of the two clear plates that I use to make my embossing sandwich for these folders. This meant that I simply eliminated the bottom plate, put my folder (with the cardfront inside and the rest of the card tucked behind it) directly on my platform. I put the chipboard circles on top of the folder where I wanted the dots to be embossed, covered that with my clear plate and ran it through my Big Shot. That was it! I accented with score lines using my Scor-It.

Now you could use just one pair and run it through several times, placing the chipboard circle pair wherever you want the embossing each time. Alternatively you could use several pairs and put them all on the folder at the same time, cover them with your clear plate, and emboss them all at once. I did glue my circle pairs together, by the way. I didn't want them slipping off each other as they went through the machine. I also did this using some of the Bazzill Basic chipboard squares. I'll post that card when I've finished it. I was having a tough time calling squares spotlights anyway. ;-)

Hot & Spicy - DCM

It's Friday, so it's time to tackle the daring cardmakers' challenge! Here are the specifics:

This week's Dare theme is a team effort rather than a challenge just thought up by just one of us. We'd like you to take the phrase "Hot and Spicy" and make of it what you will. It could be colour themed, food themed or maybe have just a hint of saucy spicy-ness

Hot and spicy, eh? I can give that a go. I'm going with color and theme for hot!

Doesn't get much hotter than the sun, and these colors always bring summer to mind for me. The images are all Imaginisce Snag 'em stamps colored with Prismacolor colored pencils. I used my new Megabilities dies from Spellbinders for the scalloped layers. I embossed the main layer with the Cuttlebug Perfectly Paisley embossing folder--see my post on creative Cuttling for the how-to's. I accented the embossing with score lines made with my Scor-It. Finally I added some sparkle to the popsicle with a Copic Spica glitter pen and then attached my Primas with a Robin's Nest Dew Drop at the center.

A little hand stitching - DCM

It's been a snowy day here so the midweek daring cardmakers challenge came just in time. The theme is "A little hand stitching" and is essentially a tutorial on putting hand stitching on cards. Here's a card that I made to go with this theme.

This is actually my first attempt at doing real hand stitching on a cardfront. Usually I do faux stitches with a piercer and gel pens, so this was a new experience for me. It was fun, too! And I don't usually like to sew. LOL! The stamped images are all by Hero Arts. I colored the birds with Copic Spica glitter pens. The embossing was all done with Cuttlebug embossing folders.

Thinking warm!

Well, it's turned very cold here again. It wouldn't be so bad if Mother Nature didn't keep teasing us into thinking that Spring is on the way. Tomorrow we're supposed to get sleet and snow! Oh joy. NOT! So, I'm thinking warm thoughts.


This is a card that I made using a set of clear stamps by Danelle Johnson/Art Warehouse. You can't really tell on this photo, but I accented the images with Copic Spica glitter pens. I did some scoring with my Scor-It to resemble the rays of the sun as well as to add a little something to the bottom part of the card. The sentiment is by Hero Arts.

Decorative scoring

A discussion of scoring boards started me thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of the different types out there. I have a Scor-It. I love the rubberized surface and the beautiful crisp score that the sort of tongue-in-groove method gives. It's different from just running a tool in a groove, but that may not be enough of a difference to really appreciate if you're glancing at scoring lines on a card front. A bigger difference, I think, is the fact that if you want to get the look of embossed lines, you score the front of the cardstock with the Scor-It, but the back of the cardstock with the scoring tools that work by running the tool in a groove, like the Scor-Pal or Aleene's boxmakers. I wish I could remember whose blog I was looking at a few nights ago when I saw some different ways of using score lines. This is a card that was inspired by what I saw on that blog.


This is just a very simple take on what I saw, but basically on that blog the score lines were used in very creative and very decorative fashion. I used Stampendous stamp images here, colored with Copic Spica glitter pens. I then added the score lines to give more visual impact. This would have been tricky to do from the back of the cardstock, eh? I'm looking forward to trying some other creative ways of using score lines with stamping.

Valentine's Day Double Cuttle

I don't usually make many cards for Valentine's Day, but I made one earlier using by combining folders and "double cuttling", as I did the other day. This time I used the Cuttlebug Script embossing folder then the Stylized Flowers to make the background, and I left the embossings untouched. The heart die cut is a Sizzix embosslit die. The sentiment is by Hero Arts. I added that small heart with a Copic Spica glitter pen. The embossed lines accenting the sentiment were made using my Scor-It.


Happy Valentine's Day! :-)