Distressed Card by Deanna M

I received some new WOW! stamps and of course I had to try them out. The sets I bought were Everyday Sentiments, Funky Border Strips and French Music. This is what I came up with. This card style is a bit out of my comfort zone, I don't make a lot like this one. However, I had a lot of fun working on it.

My card base is a light tan card stock cut and folded to make a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" card base. I added a dark brown mat cut at 4" X 5 1/4" from the Tim Holtz Nostaglic Collection Core'dinations card stock. And another tan mat cut at 3 3/4" X 5".

For my final layer, I started with some white card stock cut at 4" X 5". I used some Tim Holtz distress ink in old paper, antique linen, tea dye, and vintage photo to ink up my paper. I started with my lightest color and worked my way to the darkest color layering the color as I went. I then lightly spritz the paper with some water and allowed it to dry. Next I took some of the Tim Holtz Distress Stain in tarnished brass and inked around outer edges of my paper. I allowed it to dry for a few minutes then turned the paper over and spritzed it with water until it was fairly damp and then crumbled it all up. I spritzed from the back so my ink on the front wouldn't react to the water. I carefully opened up the paper and dried it with my heat tool. Once it was dry I took my blending tool and some Vintage Photo and lightly went over the top of my paper to enhance the wrinkles I had created.

Using Vintage Photo and the French Music stamp I stamped the inked paper. Because of some of the creases, and wrinkles I got a very broken up image which was what I wanted. I then cut it down to 3 1/2" X 4 3/4" so it would fit the front of my card. I took my scissors and distressed the edges of the paper and the adhered all my layers together.

I wanted my sentiment to be the focal point of my card. So using my Cricut and the Elegant Edges cartridge and the Oblong creative feature I cut a scallop and shadow at 3". The shadow was cut out of the dark brown and the top layer was cut out of the light tan.

I inked the edges of the tan scallop with some Tea Dye Tim Holtz Distress Ink and used Vintage photo to stamp my sentiment. Because this ink lightens a bit when it dries, it was a perfect choice to use with the sentiment to carry my distressed theme.

I added some rhinestone flourishes to the front of my card. These were actually clear rhinestones that I colored with a Spectrum Noir marker GB10.


My flowers are a 3d Rose cut that I cut with my Silhouette Cameo. The paper is Core'dinations Gemstone card stock, but not sure of the name of the color but it is a light golden  yellow.

I rolled my flowers and adhered a gold pearl in the center of each flower. I didn't have enough small gold pearls to trim my scallop so I used some Gold Pearl Liquid pearls for that. I adhered the sentiment mat to my card using some foam tape.

I hope you like it. I had a lot of fun working on this one as it was a bit more of a challenge for me.

Birthday Card by Deanna M

I have for you today a birthday card I made for a friend to give to her Mom. My card base is a piece of green cardstock cut and scored to 4 1/4” X 5 1/2”. I added a mat from the Mod Squad Cut and Emboss paper pack cut to 4” X 5 1/4” and then a patterned paper mat from the Prima Botanical paper collection cut to 3 3/4” X 5. I then used Elegant Edges to cut a mat for my butterfly at 3”. I used the same paper as my first mat for the base layer of the mat for the butterfly. I then used a piece of paper from the Whitewashed Cut and Emboss paper pack for the top layer. I ran that layer through my Cuttlebug and embossed it with Sizzix Embossing folder called Dots and Flowers Embossing folder and sanded it so the colored green core showed through (and yes, Kim can order this for you. You get two folders in the package).
My butterfly on this card is once again one of the laser cut embellishments by Kaisercraft. I am so loving these embellishments. (And, yes Kim can order these for you too!) They are so easy to work with, are not too think and add a great dimension and elegance to a card. For the butterfly I started off by using my craft mat and rubbing some different colors of Distress Ink on my mat, spritzing with water and them placing the butterfly in the ink on my mat. I used Persimmon, Concord Grape and Broken China Distress Ink. I let it dry for a bit then spritzed it with similar colors of glimmer mist. Again I let that dry and then added some Glimmer Glam in Violet and a Copper color. Once again I allowed that layer to dry. I then added some Glimmer Glaze to the antenna’s and around the orange areas of the butterfly. I then went back with a bit more Persimmon distress ink. I let all that dry overnight (only because it was bedtime). The final layer I added some Pearl glimmer mist. This butterfly is so iridescent looking in person. I adhered my  the butterfly to my mat with some of the ASI Kool Tak tape clear gel foam tape.
The flower I added to the card is a Cutter’s Creek Gardenia. The flower was actually yellow but it just didn’t go with the card as well as I likes, so I spritzed it with some Honey Dew Mist glimmer mist, and problem solved. It softened the butter yellow of the flower and gave it a light green color which went much better with my card. I then stamped my sentiment with some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. Finally I added some Copper Pearl liquid pearls to the tip of each antenna. Sure hope you have enjoyed my project and that I have inspired you to get out your goodies and make a project.

Tuesday Tutorial

So the other night I couldn't sleep and got to thinking about how I have seen people make a marbleized looking paper with reinkers and photo paper. I got to wondering what I could come up with if I used the distress inks on photo paper, so I set out to find out. I started with several different Distress Inks. I used Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, and Seedless Preserves which was part of the Fall Limited Edition colors. I also used my Foam Ink Applicator. I randomly applied the ink to my photo paper. When I finished I spritzed it lightly with water and then went back over the entire area with the Spun Sugar to be sure there were no white spots and to light blend the colors together.

I then cut a mat from the Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge (I believe Kim can special order this if you are interested) out of the photo paper and also from a dark burgandy scrap paper for the shadow. For my card base, I started with Kraft card stock I cut, scored and folded to make a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" card stock base. I then cut a mat our of the same burgandy card stock 4" X 5 1/4" and then cut a mat from the Prima Botanical 6" X 6" paper pad. For the image on my card I used an image from the Morehead Decoupage Ecstasy Craft line. While the particular set I used is not available the Ecstasy Craft images are great to put together a quick card. Check out the dimension you get once you are done layering the image.

I really love how the photo paper turned out and it works great with my image and paper. What a great way to create custom back grounds for your images. I hope you will give it a try and tryout the Ecstasy Craft line.

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Flower Soft, Echo Park Paper, and Copic Christmas Card with Lori

I see by the calendar that I am a day late posting this - oops!  Good thing no one else was scheduled for today...

Anyway, I have a fun little project for you today.  I always like to look for new uses for existing products, and today I did something a little different with my Flower Soft.  Here's a Christmas card I made:

I decided to use the Raspberry Fizz ultra-fine Flower Soft on the girl's umbrella and scarf.  You know that material that has dimensional fuzzy stuff on it?  That's what I was going for here, and I rather like the way it turned out.  I also used Polar White for my snowflakes - don't they look nice and fluffy?

Now, just a couple of other things to note: My card is 5x7, and I covered the front using a paper from the 6x6 Country Drive paper pad from Echo Park Paper.  I just covered the seam with my ribbon.  My doily mat is from the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge.  (Remember, Kim may not have a cartridge listed in the store, but she can probably get you the one you want!)

I colored my image (sorry, not available at Cutters Creek) using Copic Markers.  I swear, the more I play with them, the more fun they are and the better I get at using them!  Here's the list of colors I used:

• Skin - E000, E00, E11, E13, R20, R29(lips)
• Hair - E37, E59
• Scarf & Umbrella - YG07, YG09
• Jacket - RV29
• Jeans - B32, B34
• Boots - C2, C6
• Bird & Holly - RV29, R29, Y17, YG63, YG67

Thanks for stopping by today and checking us out!  Hope to see you again soon.

Just Because Card by Deanna

I recently got the Kate’s ABC’s Cricut cartridge and knew immediately what I wanted to do when I saw this image on the cartridge. This image reminded me of the chives in bloom that I grow on my back patio in pots.
My card base is an A2 4 1/4” X 5 1/2” cream card stock. My orange and patterned paper is from a Basic Grey 6” X 6” paper pad I got from Cutter’s Creek several months ago and is no longer available. I really encourage you to get some of the 6” X 6” pads that Cutter’s Creek sells like the new Echo Park pads. They are great for card making, the patterns are shrunk down to be in proportion to the size and work great for cards reducing waste. Check them out.
Back to my card. I used the Elegant Edges cartridge for the decorative mat and cut both the shadow and the base image from page 38 of the handbook using the oblong creative feature.
My yellow layer of the decorative mat was actually cut out of white card stock. I used some Wild Honey Distress Ink and my Inkssentials Blending Foam and the Alcohol Ink Applicator to apply the ink in a circular motion over my entire piece of white card stock. Then I sprayed it with some Sun Sister’s Glimmer Mist. Once I sprayed the card stock and lightly blotted it with a paper towel and let it dry.
While the card stock was drying I cut out my image from page 67 of the Kate’s ABC’s handbook. I cut all the layers at 3” and followed the colors as they worked for what I wanted to do.  After adhering all the layers together I got out my Sweet Pea Flower Soft and my Flower Soft Glue and got to work. I applied the glue to the flowers and sprinkled the flower soft over the glue and tamped it down using my finger. I allowed it to dry and then gently tapped off the excess and loose flower soft.
To finish my card, I added a piece of twine from my stash to the pot and attached the image to my card front with some foam tape . I then added some pink I-Rocks Glitter Gems in two sizes using my heat set tool to each corner of my yellow mat. Love this gem set, it has several different colors and each color and several different sizes. I opted to use two sizes with a larger one in the middle.  I haven’t stamped a sentiment yet as I haven’t decided who will be getting this card and for what occasion.
While the cricut cartridges are not listed on the Cutter’s Creek site Kim might be able to order them for you, just ask.

Birthday Card by Deanna M

I recently bought one of the 6 X 6 pads of the Echo Park Paper from Cutter’s Creek. As soon as I received the Summer's Day pad I knew the colors in the patterned paper would work great with my All Wrapped Up Cricut Imagine cartridge. All of the solid colored cuts are flooded with colors from the All Wrapped Up Imagine cartridge.

For my card I started with a 9” X 6”Bazzill Simply Smooth white card stock that I scored at 4 1/2” and folded to create a 4 1/2” X 6” card base. I then used a piece of the patterned paper from the Echo Park Summer’s Day paper pad cut the 4 3/4” X 5 7/8”. I really just wanted a very narrow white border on the card. I used my Elegant Edges Cricut Imagine cartridge and using the Oblong feature on the cartridge cut just the shadow of a scalloped rectangle that I flooded with a bright lime green color from the All Wrapped Up cartridge.  I cut this rectangle at 4.4”. Instead of adding stamped sentiment to my card I decided to emboss this green mat with the Happy Birthday cuttlebug A2 embossing folder. I attached this to the card with some foam tape. The mouse image is from the Birthday Bash cartridge and was cut at 3.0” again all flooded with colors from the All Wrapped Up Imagine cartridge. I added some Orange Peel Stickles to the orange dots on the package and some Fruit Punch Stickles to the pink dots on the gift.  I added some white doodle dots with my Sakura Gel Pen. I attached the mouse to the card with an Action Wobble.

The cartridges used on the project are not listed on the Cutter’s Creek store site but Kim may be able to get them for you. The Action Wobble’s are on the site for Pre-order and should be available sometime in June.

Tutorial Tuesday: Custom Stamped Embellishments wihth Lori

Welcome to another installment of Tutorial Tuesday!  This month features stamping, and I thought that this week I would share an unexpected combination of products used to make some cute custom dimensional embellishments.  So, we'll be using stamps (of course) and the new to Cutters Creek iBond cordless glue gun with colored glue sticks!

Have you ever looked at colored glue sticks for glue guns and wondered what on earth you would want to use colored glue for?  Today I have just one splendid little answer for you.  Let's make dimensional embellishments!  But first, I have to say that I LOVE the iBond glue gun - the cordless feature makes it so easy to get things done without wondering how the heck to get that cord out of the way.  In fact, I have several other projects I can already think of that I''ll be using this for this year.

Now, rather than ruin the surprise, I'm going to make you wait until after the tutorial steps to see what I've made.  Just check out these steps:

First, you will need a non-stick surface (the Bazzil splat mat is a good choice) and your iBond loaded with the glue sticks of your choice.  Turn on your iBond and let it rest on the mat.  (Another great feature of the iBond - there's a light at the tip so you ALWAYS know when it's turned on!)

While that's warming up, you will want a few additional items.  Choose a small stamp image, stamping block if acrylic, and ink for your stamp.  You need to ink up your stamp for this process, but most ink will not stay on our stamping surface.  You can just use a clear ink for no color, or Staz On if you want your image colored.  I chose to use a red Staz On for my image, just so it would show up better in the photos.

First step: coil a circle of hot glue slightly larger than your stamp image, making sure your coiled glue lines are touching.  You may want to experiment with the thickness for some different effects.  (I apologize for the odd picture here - it's hard to glue left-handed and take a picture right-handed!)  I tried to keep mine about the thickness of the stream that comes out of the tip.  Colored glue tends to be stiffer than clear, but you should still have plenty of time before it hardens up.

Once your circle is made, quickly ink up your stamp and press it into the hot glue.  Leave the stamp in place for a minute while the glue cools, then you can pull the stamp out of the glue and peel the glue off of the non-stick surface.

You now have two options with your stamped piece: leave it in a circle, as I chose for my card, or trim it down around the image.  A nice thing about using glue is that it trims super easily with a pair of fine-tip scissors.  At left is an example of a trimmed image.  This would look cute at the center of a ribbon bow, or perhaps three in a row on a card front, mounted on circles or squares.  When left whole, these embellishments give the appearance of wax seals, with a lot less fuss.

Now, on to my end product!  I created a card and used my embellishment as an accent piece in my design.

Using a card sketch and some papers from my stash, I got to work!  The cute girl stamp image is Cheeky Howdy from The Greeting Farm and the cherries stamp image is from the Kitchen Classic stamp set from Crafty Secrets.  Cheeky Howdy's outfit is paper pieced (see last week's Tutorial Tuesday!), and the scalloped mat/frame is from the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge.  I adhered the stamped glue embellishment to my rosette using Glossy Accents to ensure it stays put.  As a finishing touch, I added stickles to the cherries in my girl's hair and the circle cut-outs in the frame.

Items available at Cutters Creek:

• Bazzil Splat Mat non-stick sheet
• iBond cordless glue gun from Imaginisce
• iBond mini glue sticks - solid color
• Tim Holtz clear Distress Ink Pad
• Kitchen Classics stamp set, Crafty Secrets
• Cheeky Howdy cling stamp, The Greeting Farm
• Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge  (not in stock, but Kim can order almost any cartridge you want!)
• Glossy Accents
• Stickles in Xmas Red