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.

scoring late in the game ;-)

I wanted to share a few cards that I made over the holidays that I didn't post here. They were originally made for sharing in the Scor-It newsletter, but it looks like they've started up their own design team now so I'll go ahead and share these here.

I made these using the full-size Scor-It board and Scor-It ruler. I like finding unusual ways of using scoring on my cards and these are a couple of great tools for doing just that.

Starting simply, a grid pattern can be easily made using the new ruler and it can add visual interest to a card front as above. This is a card that came in a box of premade, prefolded, blank seasonal cards. I added the stamped sentiment, the punched bird, and the grid scoring, and just like that it became a more interesting and more unique card. Some touches with a glitter pen would add some fun sparkle, too. I may have to do that.

I also like stamping bolder images on designer cardstocks and papers for making a quick card.

Here I added the flourished bird design to the preprinted card stock.

For a special touch, I added some diagonal scores in a pattern that resembles a beam of light. Again, very easy to accomplish using the Scor-It board and ruler. I scored right over the top of the design, after making sure that the ink had dried, of course. :-) I've used this scoring pattern before, using stamped images at the upper and lower corners where the cardstock is unscored. I like the look of scoring over the images themselves, too.

And finally I have a card that took a little more time to make, but I thought that the effect was worth it. This was inspired by a card that I saw on Splitcoast Stampers but done a different way.

I started out with a piece of A2 size white cardstock and stamped a flourish image multiple times in a couple of colors to make a subtle background.

I then turned this face down onto my Scor-It board and proceeded to score a brick-like pattern. I started with horizontal scores 1/2" apart then added short vertical scores to make 1" wide bricks. I staggered the scores to make it look more realistic.

So now I've got that nice background pattern and the scored design.

Another thing that's fun about the Scor-It is that it makes such crisp, deep scores. I took advantage of that in this step where I stamped a flourished bird onto the front using black ink. The bird image helped bring out that brick pattern of scoring even more, and I really liked that effect. It's even more stunning with a more solid stamp design, as you might imagine.

This is my finished card. I trimmed some of the bricks away to give that central image more interest.

Here's a closer view....

It can be a lot of fun to using scoring in decorative ways. The Scor-It board and ruler can add more than just a professional hinge score to your cards, though that's definitely a great start. :-) Creating 3D projects and using scoring in creative ways on card fronts, layers, and die cuts with these tools opens up a world of creative possibilities.

BTW, it also looks like the Scor-It folks are coming up with more ideas for accessories. The latest newsletter shows pics of their new Position-It. It looks like a fancier version of a stamp positioner. I'll be interested to see what advantages it has to offer over my tried and true Stamp-a-ma-jig. They also have new pink Scor-It boards being released soon. As I recall, it'll be neat because the rulers will have both inches/metric measurements, plus there'll be another size board added to the arsenal, smaller than the original but larger than the mini--made to accommodate A4 size European cards. Oh, and the tool will be stainless steel rather than wood.

Oops, almost forgot to include credits--all of the above card images were by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento inks. The cardinal in the first card was made using a Martha Stewart punch. The snowflake embossing in the last card was made using a Sizzix textured impressions embossing folder.

I'm ba-a-a-ck! :-)

I took an unplanned hiatus from blogging for the past several weeks. Life got busy and unfortunately crafting and blogging tend to be the first to head to the bottom of the to-do list. Thanks to those who have written to ask how things are going or to mention that they've haven't seen any new posts lately. It's nice to be missed. :-) I did a lot of catching up this past week and made time to do some card-making today. Felt good to get all crafty! :-)

Here are some of the cards that I made....


This first card was made using a couple of the large QuicKutz border embossing folders. The sentiment was added using the Joy border punch by Martha Stewart. The cardinal was also made using a punch by Martha Stewart then set off with dimensional adhesive. I also added a score line at the top so that the ornaments wouldn't just be floating on the card front.


I got on a roll using the border punches by Martha. Here's another card using the Frosty Village punch. I scored and folded a small "card" to attach to that A2 size blue cardstock that I'd embossed using the QuicKutz snowflakes folder. I punched out the border (both layers at once, actually) then added the stamped snowflakes and sentiment by Inkadinkado before attaching it to the blue layer.


Here's a card that I made in similar fashion to the one I just described. For this one I used some Cuttlebug embossing folder designs instead of stamping. The background is Winter Trees and the other Season's Greetings. (These were RAK'd to me, btw.)

For this last card I decided to add a bit of a twist. Okay. To be honest, I was going to follow the same design as with the other cards but use the evergreen trees edge punch in the background instead. Well, the frosty village ended up looking backward to me because of the way I'd punched it. Looked good when I folded it the other way. Hm. So, I decided that I'd try to go with that. I think it worked out. I added the stamped sentiment by Studio G to the bottom corner and attached it to the front of a card that I'd embossed using a Sizzix textured impressions folder. It was a nice change from the typical A2 card and a fun departure from the other two cards that I'd designed earlier. I love it when "mistakes" like that work out. :-)

That's it for now. Again, thanks to those of you who've written, and thanks to those of you who are still visiting and reading here despite my absence. I'm hoping that the holidays won't become so busy that I won't have at least some time for crafting and for blogging. :-)

Feels like fall

And since it feels like fall, I made a couple of cards that have to do with fall.

Here they are....

This first card was very simple. I used an Inkadinkado image that I stamped on decorative card stock. I added the sentiment from TPC Studio. I layered it onto green card stock, but thought that it still needed a little something more to add interest, so I added some decorative scoring with my Scor-It before mounting it on the kraft card front.

This is another card that was fairly quick to make. I found another Martha Stewart punch around the page set of punches that I hadn't seen before. Since I'd gone into Michael's specifically looking for something that I could use my 40% off coupon on, I had to buy it. :-) So the punching above was made using the Deco Fan set. The sentiment is by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento dye inks.

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! :-)

three more cards using Thanks edge punch

I made an informal challenge to myself this weekend to come up with more ways to use the Martha Stewart Thanks edge punch. I came up with a few more ideas.

Here are three more cards....


For this card I punched along the edges of a strip of card stock and embossed Cuttlebug images between. I mounted that strip on a card front that I embossed using the C'bug Stylized Flowers A2 embossing folder. I accented the card with a bit of bling and some colorful hemp fibers.


This card was made from a base of gray Bazzill card stock that I embossed using the C'bug Thanks embossing folder. This time I used the Thanks edge punch by punching two different colors of card stock and then offsetting them just a bit to get sort of a drop shadow effect. I then embossed those two layers using one of the Sizzix thank you textured impressions embossing folders.


The photo above just shows what I meant by the drop shadow effect.


And finally, this is a flip card that I made using the Thanks edge punch and Taj Mahal decorative card stock by DCWV. The lantern image is by Inkadinkado and stamped using Brilliance Graphite Black ink.


That's the view from the front as the card is opened.


This is a view of the back as the center panel begins to flip around.


And this is a closer view of the back panel. The sentiment says, "You brighten my day" and is by Hero Arts.

So there you have three more cards that illustrate how this new Thanks edge punch by Martha Stewart can be used. :-) Have I enabled you enough yet? ;-)

just dropping you... a post and a card

This is a card that I made with one of the new 12" QuicKutz border embossing folders. It's called circles. I think it's a fun design. I added the scored lines along each edge with my Scor-It. The stamped sentiment and image are by Inkadinkado and stamped with Memento London Fog dye ink. I colored the fish with a couple of Copic markers and added the texture with the colorless blender.

scalloped frames with edge punches

A couple of posts ago, I showed the cards that I'd sent to Inkadinkado for their free stamp giveaway. MaggiLiz commented: Lovely cards. I have a question concerning the second card "Warm Wishes" I love the scalloped frame - but did you do that - was it a template or? It looks terrific.

It wasn't made with a template but with a border punch. Now I didn't come up with this idea. It's one that I'd seen while reading blogs, and I decided to see if I could do something similar. Naturally I hadn't taken note of any of the details, just the look. Oh well. More adventures. :-)

Here's what I started with....


That's a piece of scrap card stock, white card stock, and the Scalloped Scallops edge punch by EK Success.


I just wanted to show some of the measurements. When you punch, you're left with a 3/16" border.

The punched out area is 1 7/8" wide. I checked these to get an idea of what size to make my square because I don't remember how big I made the other one. Hey, it's been almost a month! LOL! But you need a square that's bigger than 2 1/4" on a side or you'll end up with a plain square frame because the inside scalloped part won't be connected at the corners.


This is a square that's 3" on each side. All I did was center the card stock in the punch using the silhouette on its base (I made the exposed design look symmetrical. That's what the arrows are pointing at.) and then I pressed the lever. I did that for each side.


This shows how squares of a couple of different sizes look. You can use any size that you want so long as you center your punch on the side that you're punching.


You can also use a corner puncher to add a little more interest to your frame as I did with the Fiskars scalloped corner punch up above.


You don't need to limit yourself to a square shape either. I made this rectangle frame by using a 3 1/4" by 5 1/4" piece of card stock. I punched the short sides as I described before. The long sides were punched twice.


And that's a quickie card that I made with a couple of the freebie Inkadinkado stamps and the rectangular scalloped frame. I stamped using Memento dye inks. The embellishments are Hero Arts bling and a Brides flower.

Don't forget--there's still time to get your cards in for the free stamp giveaway. They need to be postmarked with today's date, so just take 'em with you if you're procrastinating and mailing off your tax returns later tonight, too. :-)

Thanks for the comment and the question MaggiLiz! Hope that answers your question. :-)

Inkadinkado stamp freebies

I'm late with this info, but there's still time for those of you who haven't heard about this yet. Inkadinkado is giving away free stamps if you submit a card, or three, for their INKAfriends Gallery. Click HERE to read the details on their site.

Okay, the details used to be on that page, but they aren't now. So, here's a cut and paste (how appropriate--you'll see LOL!) of the instructions that used to be there:

Share your latest Inkadinkado creation with your fellow crafters, and
we'll thank you with a FREE stamp from our grab bag! With your
project, please provide the stamp item number(s) you used, along
with your name, address, phone number, e-mail, and name of your
favorite stamping supply store. Limit 3 free stamps per household.

Send your project to:
Inkadinkado Gallery
1801 N. 12th Street
Reading, PA 19604-1527

These are the three cards that I submitted about three weeks ago. Yes, I'm sorry. I should have shared this with all of you sooner. *sigh*




All of the stamped images and sentiments are by Inkadinkado, but you probably already figured that out. :-)

And these are the free stamps that I received two days ago. Pretty cool, eh? Now I know that many folks received email confirmation and had a really fast turn-around. I didn't, but it worked out fine.


There's still time if you want to make a card and send it in to receive a free stamp. It just needs to be postmarked by April 15. Hey, that's a much more fun deadline to think about than getting taxes finished, eh?

a case of CASE-ing

Okay, I'm not gonna weigh in on what CASE-ing necessarily stands for, but for my purposes it means copy and share everything. My daughter recently received a thank you card for participating in a show. When I saw the design, I knew that I had to give it a try.

Here's my version....


That's how it looks straight out of the envelope. It's A2 size.


And here it is with the sentiment pulled out. The stamped images are all by Inkadinkado and stamped with Memento dye inks. The pull tab is a Sizzix Sizzlit die cut. The decorative borders were made using EK Success edger punches.

still more textured impressions cards

Whew! It's been one of those weeks! I've been wanting so badly to make some cards, but most of what I made I didn't really like for one reason or another. Nothing seemed to work. I hate it when my muse deserts me! It came back today though--probably didn't care for the snow and sleet outside. LOL! Snow day here, so lots of uninterrupted time to craft--loved it!

Here are a couple of cards that I made using the Sizzix textured impressions folders....


This first card was made using the A2 embossing folder from one of the Happy Birthday sets. If you look at the design of this folder, it's actually supposed to be an invitation with Who, What, When Where etc embossed on the front. At this point, I can't see needing that sort of thing for my card-making, but I did like the rest of the design. I did a bit of creative altering and now have a nice blank space instead, where I stamped the large Inkadinkado sentiment. I added some Distress Stickle sparkles and some rhinestone bling and voila! A birthday card rather than an invite.


For this card I used the medium size textured impression folder from one of the Thank You sets on Core'dinations card stock which I'd cut using a scalloped rectangle Nestabilities die by Spellbinders. I sanded the embossing and accented it a bit with some Memento dye inks. The patterned card stock is by Die Cuts with a View and the decorative edges and corners were made using the Martha Stewart scallop dot edge punch. I then added some clear rhinestones as accents.

Okay. I'll save some of the other cards that I've made for some other posts. :-)

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.

textured Cuttling

I had to carve out some time from the busy-ness of real life to do some crafting. I have a fun announcement to make, but as much as I hate to tease, I don't want to say anything until tomorrow. In the meantime, I have a quickie tutorial using Cuttlebug embossing folders. I'm calling this particular look "textured Cuttling".

In keeping with the season, here's a card that shows off this technique.


I used the D'vine Swirls A2 Cuttlebug embossing folder on sheets of black and white cardstock. The skull and crossbones are a 3 X 3 Cuttlebug combo set. The extra texture that you see is from using mesh inside the Cuttlebug folder when embossing.


Here is a close up so that you can see the impression made by the mesh on the cardstock. The sentiment is by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento dye ink, and the decorative corners were punched using a Tonic fleur corner punch.

Here are the specifics on using the mesh to add texture.


Here I used a piece of fabric mesh. This is the sort of thing that you see used for bags for laundering lingerie, or gym bags are occasionally made from this stuff as well. Just place it between the cardstock and the front of the embossing folder and roll it on through the machine as you normally would.


And this is how it turned out. I like the D'vine Swirls pattern because it has a nice balance of design and empty space.


You can use other types of mesh as well, as you can see above. Drywall tape will give you a small tight regular pattern. The gold mesh is a wide ribbon that I bought last Christmas. The orange mesh is the type of netting that you sometimes see used to bag produce; some bath sponges are made of a softer version of this stuff, too. What I look for is something that is dense enough to stand up to pressure, but isn't so hard that it will mark up the folder--this lets out metal or wire mesh. No need to mess up a perfectly good folder! But I also like stuff that won't necessarily take the impression of the folder so that I can use it over and over again. That's why those forms of netting up above work so well--they meet all of my criteria. I'm sure that there are more items out there that would work great for textured Cuttling. Hopefully this will give you a few places to start. :-)