Christmas Tree Card

Hi Everyone

Even though I am still anticipating Thanksgiving and the yummy feast we will have, I have started creating my Christmas Cards. I tend to find multiple ideas and can never decide on the one I like best, so I end up making a few of each one. Here is one idea that I really liked. Using 1/2 of a circle of cardstock, you create a Christmas tree by scoring a few lines and then folding the cardstock on those scores.

Ingredients for this card:

5 inch circle of double sided cardstock - I used Crate Paper - Wintergreen
5.5x8.5 Cardstock for the base of the card
Circle Cutter
Adhesives
Embellishments

Step 1

Cut a 5 inch circle out of your cardstock and cut the circle in half.

Step 2

Starting at about 2 inches down on the flat side, score a line through the 1/2 circle to create a base of about 2 to 2 1/2 inches.

Step 3

Fold along the score line. Using the flat side as a guide, line up your paper and create a new score line.





Step 4

Fold the score in the opposite direction as the first score and repeat the process of lining up the flat side as a guide and scoring another line.



Step 5

Fold your score line in the opposite direction and follow the previous step.

Your Christmas Tree should look like the picture below. If you want the color scheme to run the opposite way, then just reverse the folds.

Step 6.

Using adhesive, glue down the folds on the tree. Place the tree on your card and embellish as desired. I used American Crafts Ribbon, a clear rhinestone, and a Merry Christmas stamp.





Happy Crafting


Sandra

Folded Tag Flower

Hello from Portland! A few weeks ago our super creative sales associate Mary made this lovely card for our store and it's become one of our most asked-about samples. It's a simple flower embellishment made with gift tags! You can customize it about a million ways and it's a great way to use up scraps. Today we'll show you how to make it with some of our holiday 12x12's.
Here's what you need:2-sided paper, tag & circle punch, 1/8 & 1/16 hole punch, scissors, adhesive, bone folder, brads, pencil, and metallic marker (optional).

Start by punching 8 tags out of your paper. Our tag punch doesn't make a hole, so we punched an extra tag out of scrap, folded it in half, and punched a 1/8" hole at the top. We used this as a template so the hole would be in the same place on all the tags. Fold the tag diagonally, using the tag's scalloped top as a guide. The left edge of the tag should be right under the scallops. Flip it over and cut off the excess so it's square. Fold the right edge (the one you just cut) back over itself, and crease with a bone folder. You can use a metallic marker to outline the edge, so it really pops.Repeat 7 times!Punch a circle out of paper. If you're using scraps you can choose a coordinating color, but we had enough to punch a circle out of the same 12x12 we used for the tags. You can use any size circle punch, so long as it's big enough to hold all 8 tags, and small enough that it doesn't show over the top of the tag. Our circle is 2 1/2". A little tip from Mary: it's easiest to attach the tags in quadrants. She punched an extra circle out of scrap, folded it in quarters, and snipped the top edge of each corner. Lay this template over your circle and mark a line for each quadrant. She also put a hole in the center so we could pre-punch a 1/16" hole for the brad we'll add later. Put adhesive on the backside of the tag, underneath the scallops. We took the opportunity to try out our new Stamp Runner from Tombo, and it worked perfectly! Stick your tags to the circle--points towards the center (above the hole for the brad), and the diagonal fold up against the pencil marks.Once you've got 4 tags stuck down in your quadrants, you can fill in the empty space with your 4 remaining tags.Pop a brad in the center and you're finished! You can attach this to a card, a scrapbook layout, the top of a gift box, or......Make another tag flower with the folds on the opposite edge, and you can stick them back-to-back for a super cute ornament! We're can't wait to put up our tree and cover it with tag flowers!Happy folding!-Portland Paper Zone

New American Crafts Nightfall Collection

Hi Everyone! I am happy to share with you the most

recent offerings from American Crafts, the Nightfall Collection!

I made this card and envelope set and want to show you how easy it was to create.

First I selected the matirials for the card. I chose a few pieces of patterned paper, a Facets card in Terra Cotta and some of the dimensional stickers.

After that I cut down the paper for the background (the blue polka-dot paper) to 4x5.25, rubbed black ink around the edges and mounted it to the a2 Facets card.

Next, I created an embellishment for the card by punched an oval out of the yellow patterned paper and placing one of the dimensional stickers on it.

Then, I cut a strip from another piece of patterned paper to measure 1.5 x 5.25 inches and mounted that to the card before adding the embellishment.

Next, to add a sentiment I stamped "thanks" to a small yellow strip of paper. Then I glued down all the elements to the card.

Then, to spruce up the envelope I wanted to make a liner. This was really easy to do, I just traced the envelope flap onto the paper I wanted to use as the liner. Then cut it out and scored it so that it would fold easier.

Finally I added one of the chalk-board labels to the front of the card to finish it off. These labels are also part of this new collection that just arrived in stores; they are the coolest thing!

Happy (soon to be) Fall!

Christina

The Indie Bloom Collection

We have recently received in a new 12x12 collection of paper from Basic Grey called Indie Bloom. This collection is bright and colorful and full of great patterns. The collection also has some great embellishments that coordinate so well with the papers.

I decided to make a few different gate cards with this collection, and am so excited on how they turned out. I used 3 different papers:



Senora - Tortilla

and Tres Chic.


I also used the canvas boarders and the layered stickers and for these cards. The canvas boarders are my favorite embellishment from this line, and I am going to have to buy some more paper so I can use more of them!!!


Here are the instructions to make a simple Gate-Fold Card.


Ingredients

1 - 11 x 4.25 piece of cardstock for your card base
1 - 3.25 x 4 inch piece of coordinating patterned paper
1 – 2 x 4 inch piece of coordinating patterned paper
1 - 1.5 x 3.5 piece of cardstock for a closure
1 – 1 x 3 piece of cardstock for stamping a message
1 magnetic disc – I used the Basic Grey Magnetic Discs.
Embellishments
Scoring tool

Step one

Score your 11. x 4.25 piece of cardstock at 3.5 inches and 9 inches. Crease the score lines.

Step 2

After choosing the pattern design you like best, adhere the 3.25 x 4 inch piece of patterned paper on the larger fold and the 2 x 4 inch piece on the smaller fold.

Step 3

Stamp your message on the 1x3 inch piece of cardstock. After this dries, adhere it to the 1.5 x 3.5 piece of cardstock. You now have the closure for the card.

Step 4

Place adhesive on the left half of this piece. Position and adhere it to the front of your card. Put the positive and negative sides of the magnetic disks together. Peal off the seals and place the magnetic disc on the right side of the closure and adhere it to the card. After this sets, the magnets will be able to detach from each other easily.

Step 5

Embellish your card as desired.



Happy Crafting

Sandra

Life of the Party!

We have had Basic Grey's 'Life of the Party' line in for a while, but it is so cute I had to make something with it. Here are directions on how to make a birthday card with matching gift bag. You will need the following supplies: 2 different pattern papers, solid cardstock, solid color bag, happy birthday stamp, ink pad, scissors, twine or ribbon, dimensional foam tape, hole punch, 1" circle punch, and the Epic Six Letterpress machine used to diecut the banners.

In the picture above you can see the whole array of papers from this line, basic cardstock, the $.99 birthday stamp, and the twine. Start off by cutting your green cardstock to 10"X7". Next, score it right in the middle so you make a 5"X7" folded card.

Next, using the Epic Six machine and the banner cutting dies cut out five of the smallest size; three of one pattern and two of the other.

Next, arrange the cut out triangles in an angular pattern acorss the length of your green 5"X7" card and adhere down using the double sided foam adhesive to give the banner dimension.
Then, punch two holes at either end of your card just above the line of the banner. Tie knots on the underside so it stays put.

After that, cut a small piece of solid cardstock to 1.5"X2.5" and stamp 'Happy Birthday' on it. I prefer to use VersaFine ink because it goes on the easiest and it stamps clearly.

Lastly, mount the sentiment with the foam tape and adhere it to the bottom right corner of the card and Voila!

Now it's time to make the matching bag! First, I printed out the word 'HAPPY' on pink text weight paper. I also cut out the second smallest size of the banners from the cutting dies.

Next, using your 1" hole punch, cut out the letters you printed making sure they are centered.

Now, mount the cut out letters using the same dimensional foam tape and adhere them to the little banners.

Next, we need to thread the twine through the banners. The dies do cut out a little notch which works great for flat ribbon. However, since I am using a fibery twine, it is much easier to punch holes and thread them through that way.

Again, punch small holes in the top of the bag so that the twine can thread through. Make sure to tie knots so it will stay put. I also used more foam tape to hold the banner onto the bag. Next, I stamped 'birthday' on plain red cardstock and attached it under the banner.

Here is the completed bag! One great way to personalize this is to spell out the gift recipient's name or any other sentiment on the banner.

Happy Crafting!

-Malyse