New Cards and New Technique - Again!

You know by now that I love getting two cards out of one design, and I get excited when it works.  And this time it did.

The card stock is of course from Paper Temptress and combines the shimmery mica with the vibrant pop tones.   I totally forgot to get a picture of the negative until the card was made. As usual, I used the double sided adhesive to pull the left over (negative) pieces off the mat and filled in with iridescent glitter.

The colors used are similar of course but I think they have a different feel and stand on their one,  The card on the right uses the shimmery mica over an amethyst mica to pack a lot of soft glow.  The white flower is from my "need to use up" stash of Prima flowers with a purple rhinestone center.  The white Luster mat along with the flower and thin ribbon gives the card a touch of freshness.

But the part I am most excited about is the Happy Birthday on the ribbon.  It mimics a rub on, but it is actually a piece of laser transparency that was printed, run through the Foilmaster with purple foil, and then cut with the Silver Bullet Professional using the print and cut method.  I was terrifed the acetate would melt when it encountered the very hot temps of the Foilmaster, but it held up beautifully.  I was beyond thrilled as that opens up so many ideas that I cannot wait to try!

The second card with the glittered background was simple to put together. The multi-colored striped ribbon ties the colors together, and again - I used the Foilmaster and Silver Bullet Pro to do make the greeting overlay and pulled the background colors into the tag layers.  The white pearls hide (hopefully) the adhesive dots adhering the transparency!

If you have a Foilmaster, I hope you will try foiling a laser transparency. (I chose laser because I felt it had the best chance of holding up to the heat  of the Foilmaster -mine was set to 155 degrees for best results).


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October Birthday Cards... Positive and Negative

So here we are again with another installment of positive and negative cards.  I have to say, I just love when I can cut one file and create two cards from a single pattern.  It's like a two for one sale - who doesn't love that?!?

The mat was placed over a colored sheet of paper so the designs would be more visible. 

The positive is on the left, the negative pieces on the right.

This file is from Birds Cards.  She has some great files for anyone who loves to make cards.  And I was able to cut a square of double sided adhesive from All That Jazz to pull up the negative pieces for the glitter application.  But first things first...... the main image....is cut from Paper Temptress mica paper, dotted with Viva Decor pearls in the center of each flower (those are so easy to make and fun) and then I cheated and used a Prima flower that I had in my stash for the center.  I have so many flowers to use up that I am trying to make a concerted effort to use them .  I like the colors of the card - the patterned paper is from Echo Park (I think). I had several out and lost track when I finally settled on one. I need to pay more attention.

Here is the cut file again showing the frame on the right and the pieces on the left,

with the double sided adhesive placed on top.

And finally, the frame on the card base  on the left with the double sided adhesive covered in glitter with the negative on the right.

The negative card or reverse image was sprinkled with Ritz lilac glitter onto the double sided adhesive.  The center flowers are from the Calendar Series at Ducky's Designs and were cut out of two shades of the mica paper from Paper Temptress.  Yes I use that paper a lot. I love how it cuts and there is something about the subtle shimmer that glimmers on the card. It just makes me smile.

These are two of the upcoming birthday cards.  There will be more to come in the days ahead. I have a lot of family occasions hitting in October so hope my motivation doesn't run out before I finish.

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A Special Birthday!

All of a sudden, October had become a VERY busy month for family and friend greeting cards.  So you will be seeing a lot of sharing this month, and I will try to be more creative and try some new things.  I am definitely in the mood to stretch my wings - a little! :)

This first card is the "negative" of a tulip frame card that I featured here.  If you scroll down in that post to the red and gold tulip framed card , you will be reminded of that beautiful file from Monica - and that was the positive or main image.

Well guess what?  Yep  - I saved the negative image with double sided adhesive attached just waiting for the right person or occasion - and it happened!  I have a dear friend, who recently moved from our city to Las Vegas.  So now she is amid the bright lights and dazzle of that most interesting city!!  And I know I have not lost a friend, but gained a new place to travel!! I can hardly wait.

Here is where the project started - the positive and the negative.

The original image is on the left - the negative or remaining pieces are on the right.  That part

was covered in double sided adhesive.

I simply sprinkled the adhesive with  Ritz poppy orange glitter and voila - instant card front!

This is the image with the double sided adhesive covered in glitter.

 I layered a flower image in the center with foam adhesive and accented the center of the little flower with some glitter glue. The card base is Paper Temptress Mica card stock - I am addicted to the mica and lustre line!

A side view showing the dimension of the 3D flower

I will have another postive/negative card set in a few days. In the meantime, I just want to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR GAIL!

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Time Crunch - Three Cards in One Day!

I think this is a record for me!!!  I am usually lucky if I can make one card in a day because of how long it takes me to come up with an idea!!  Sad I know.... but under pressure, apparently I really CAN accomplish more.

So here are three cards - all very different and relatively "simple" for me (!) - that I put together in one afternoon thanks to my wonderful Silver Bullet Professional cutter that repeatedly comes to my rescue!

First on the list,  and most pressing on my mind, was a sympathy card for a dear friend who recently lost her father.  I used a file I had used before so it was already adjusted in size (I tend to make larger cards - 5x7 or half fold size or a square card) .  My go to paper for most sympathy cards is the luster line from Paper Temptress - I love the elegance and sophistication of it. I used the Viva Decor Pearl Pen in silver to make the pearls in the varying sizes.

The cut files........

I think you can see the beauty of the Paper Temptress vintage luster paper in this pic - it is my favorite paper to use!  It is the card base.

Next was a simple card for the granddaughters.  I had picked up a couple of really cute necklaces for them from Cookie Lee Jewelry that spelled out "DANCE" so wanted to get those off to them!  I decided just to wish them a happy summer!!  The file from Birds Cards was meant to be used with the cut out pieces, but I decided to use the negative image (as I have done many times) and create a card in their favorite colors.  One loves yellow and the other turquoise - so that is how this developed using the Pop Tones paper from Paper Temptress.

This is the part of the file that is meant to be used!  It will be featured in a card coming soon - no doubt!

But instead I used the "remains" (!) and cut another layer of yellow which I ran through an embossing folder to let the sunshine glow!!

The finished card with the little necklaces all wrapped up in "their" colors!

I had a stamp made years ago that goes on the back of the cards that I make for the grandkids! 

 It makes me smile every time  I use it!  

You can get a wide variety of personalized stamps from The Paper Angel.

And finally, I had a leftover negative image from the Rose birthday card that I posted a few days ago, so that was my inspiration for the last card.  I used the double sided adhesive from Tyler at All That Jazz Supplies to make a shadow layer and pull the pieces off the mat intact.  Then I took a slightly lighter Ritz glitter and covered the open areas.  Rather than pull the back layer of adhesive off, I left it on and just used pop dots to layer it on the card give it some dimension.

The negative rose image from the Rose card  (file by Dominic)

A closeup of this beautiful rose by Dominic

The rose on pop dots!!  Reaching new heights (that was bad!)

I printed the "Thinking of You" greeting on my laser printer and foiled it in black on my FoilMaster from That's Scrap Inc. It really isn't that obvious but there is a nice sheen to it when the light hits it!

You can really see the shimmer of the luster cardstock from Paper Temptress here.

I am going to try to work at not over obsessing over each card and each detail - it's a process!  No guarantees that I can do that, but I am going to try harder!!

All three cards went out in the mail the same day they were made  - yippee!  Success!!


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Passion for Purple Cards!!

I have had to really push myself lately to get some cards done. I wanted to be creative, but the ideas just were not coming and I was in a time crunch (ok - when am I NOT in a time crunch?!?)

So I needed to work on a get well card for a dear friend and a birthday card for my granddaughter first. Yes there are still other cards to make, but these come first!

The first one is from an SVG Cuts file - Woodland Fairies. I used Paper Temptress mica to cut the silhouette with my Silver Bullet Professional.  The cardstock is also from Paper Temptress and I used just a bit of washi tape (that is fun to  use!) and rhinetones to add as much bling as possible to brighten her day.  The inside talks about "wishing" her well......

I love the silhouette figure - I used double sided adhesive and glittered the wings with Ritz glitter - I love how that glitter doesn't fall off (except when I knock it over in my craft room!) and it feels like silk when it adheres to any adhesive - it is awesome.

For Haley, my youngest granddaughter, I found a fun file from Birds Cards called 3 Gift Box.  The Silver Bullet made it easy to put all of the pieces together.  Her favorite colors (this week!) are purple, and I was already on a purple kick so that fit right in!!  I used the amethyst mica from Paper Temptress to accent the gift boxes and ran the strips through the Provo Craft Swiss Dots embossing folder to tie it into the patterned paper and give it a little interest!   I printed out an Amazon gift card so she and her Mom can go shopping online and she can get the books (yes she loves them!) or toys that she wants!!  It is so hard to shop long distance when the wish list is vague!  I just hope she isn't disappointed......

Happy Birthday, my precious granddaughter Haley!

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An April Birthday

Life is getting busier, but cards still need to be made and they will always be a centering time for me and a great stress reliever, once I get an idea!  That is always my challenge and usually takes me forever to get a design in my head.  And there are still so many new things I want to learn - so it's no surprise that I am easily distracted and often go from no ideas to a dozen and then can't seem to settle on just one.  I have been asked many times why I don't sell my cards. The answer is simple -  it takes me too long to make one and I don't like making the same design more than once.  So it makes the cards a bit more labor intensive, but it's all part of the process for me.

For this card, I recently downloaded one of the free files from Birds Cards.  Her files cut nicely.  I decided I wanted to glitter the rose design, so I used the double sided adhesive sheet from Tyler's All That Jazz Supplies store.  He carries a lot of great products that cut beautifully on my Silver Bullet Pro.

I carefully peeled the leaf design off the top side of the adhesive sheet and sprinkled green Ritz glitter on top.

Look  at the fine detail of the cut.  I love that you can expect the Silver Bullet Pro do whatever you want it to do.

Next the rose pattern was covered in the poppy orange Ritz glitter. I love this glitter because it feels like silk once it adheres to the adhesive and doesn't rub off!

 Finally, a white iridescent was applied to the rest of the rose border frame.

I was a bit dismayed when I finished as it screamed "Christmas" to me - you know - the red and green theme --  and that was not the look I was going for in April!!  So I added the yellow sparkle paper from Paper Temptress to break it up a little.

Still  working on it  trying to figure out what else is needed...

I wasn't sure how it would all come together, but I like the final effect.

I will definitely be using the double sided adhesive more often - it is fun,  It is also a good exercise in patience, but the results make it worth it! (and I need to work on my raising my patience threshold!!)

And hopefully the card has arrived at its destination so I can be the first to say..................

Happy Birthday , Nance!!

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