Sending Smiles

 I'm done with winter.  If it's not going to give me a beautiful snowfall, let's just move along.  Haha - I wish it was that easy but it is in my craft room.  I needed a cheery card and I always love butterflies in season and out of season.  So here is my happy versions of Sending Smiles in a slimline format.

I started by using an old leaf stencil by Art Impressions and sponging in some different shades of green with my Distress Oxides.  I then cut the Symbol background out of pastel green foil by Recollection and used trimmed it to use the smaller halves to flank the sides of my slimline base.

The Sending Smiles and butterflies from the Butterflies Spray and Butterfly Pocket Insert were cut from the same slightly different shades of blue cardstock.

Supplies Used:

A Way with Words Sending

A Way with Words Sweet Smiles

A Way with Words Butterflies Spray

ECD Butterfly Pocket Insert

ECD Symbol background

Building A Christmas Scene

 I'm over on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog today with a Christmas scene I made using a lot of different die sets.  I'm in love with how versatile the new Christmas dies are. Can you spot them all?

Christmas ornament card

How many homemade Christmas ornaments do you have on your tree?  Every year I make some so the numbers are increasings and the plain glass ones are gradually staying more and more in the box as I have less room.  Maybe I just need to add another tree.  :)

My latest ornament is inspired by a friend who called me and asked me to make something to put on her mom's Christmas tree as a surprise.  She just got diagnosed with breast cancer, her grandkids won't be able to come for Christmas and she's just not feeling festive this season.  So her wonderful daughter thought of bringing a fully decorated tree to her front door with ornaments made from her family/friends.  Isn't that a great idea?

I made this ornament all with dies from Quietfire Design and then taped it to a card - makes it easier for mailing and it just completes it, you know?  It took me a while to figure this out but any die with a nice simple shape can be made into a shaker card!  And you don't even need to have foam which I never seem to have on hand.

I die cut the Flourished ornament from the Love Joy and Peace Ornament set 7 times.  I found a circle die that was bigger than the opening and smaller than the outer edge and used that for the backing of the shaker element.  You can handcut one if you don't have the perfect size because the edges of the circle will be hidden later.  I also cut a circle from an acrylic sheet for my shaker component.  Glue all the 7 layers together and on the back, the circle from cardstock.

You can add more layers depending on how thick you need the spacing.  I'm using chunky glitter so I did not need it too thick. 

Add the glitter and seal it in with the acrylic layer.  I die cut another ornament out of gold foil and put that on the top.  I flipped over the foil and die cut another ornament the wrong side up so that I could put that on on the back of the ornament.  To get rid of the edges of the die cut that is going the "wrong way" I ran just the diecut through my Big Shot again to flatten it out.

I added a tiny poinsettia from the Christmas accents and the word Peace to the front.  I liked this so much I made a few more and am sending the set below to her.  You can write on the back a message - I added some Bible verses that I thought would be encouraging.

I hope you like it and will be inspired to see which dies you can turn into a shaker card/ornament!

Love Joy Peace Ornament Set

Christmas Accents

 

Christmas Delivery!

 Hi Artlets!  It's Suzanne dropping in today to share this quick and easy card!  I had a moment of inspiration to combine Christmas with Delivery!  Have a look at your A Way With Words stash and you might be surprised what you come up with!

Making this card is just a matter of die cutting and assembling on a 5x7" side-fold card base.

Here is what I used:

Flourished Christmas Minis 3
Merry Christmas 3
Merry Christmas 4 snowflake
Special Delivery Day set

Soft Finish Cardstock

Glue Dots - Micro
Cardstock in navy, medium blue and light blue - it's a Michael's set of 65lb cardstock!

Thanks for dropping in and having a look!
Happy creating! Suzanne

 

Slimline Christmas Garland Card

 I love decorating my house for Christmas but I have a love/hate relationship with my staircase.  I love the look of the garland along the staircase but putting it up and taking it down is a lot of work.  At least I have gone from twirling it around the wrought iron and banister to just using wires to have loops - way easier.  Every year I wonder if it's worth it but I'm also so picky that I don't let anyone else do it.  But as soon as the boys ask for it, I do it.  :)

Long intro into:  Look, the slimline card is perfect for a garland all the way across!  

I started off with 8.25" x 3.5" layer of white card stock.  I sponged some light green and yellow along the edges for a nice glow in the clean white center.  

 

I divided the card roughly in thirds and drew a soft loop as shown below.  For my garland, I alternated between the soft rounded sprig and then the pinecone.  They were cut with different shades of green card stock,

I added a 1/16" red mat to the layer and then trimmed off the greenery off the edges.  Using the same red, I die cut two of the bows.

For the Merry Christmas, I die cut the Merry Christmas 3 four times and glued them together.  The fourth layer I die cut out of a sheet of white card stock with a sheet of double sided adhesive on top.  I added Silver Sands Microfine Glitter over the adhesive.  A black card base turned the layer into a card.  I love how it looks in real life - so sparkly!

Definitely putting up the garlands this year!

Supplies used:

Merry Christmas 3

Create A Wreath

Glowing Christmas Wreath

 

Hey Artlets!  It's Suzanne here today with a gorgeous project using the new dies from the A Way With Words Christmas release from Elizabeth Craft Designs.

You know how you imagine a design in your head?  Then you try to make it happen on paper and it never seems to be as cool?  Well, for a change, I was delighted with this one!

Metallic foiled papers are really hard to photograph, so just image this in real life!  What's even better about this project is that it's easy and quick to put together.

Here is how you can make it, too!

Supplies:

Create a Wreath
Clear Double Sided Adhesive
Fitted Circles

Gold foiled cardstock
Silver foiled cardstock
Rose Gold foiled cardstock
Black cardstock
Red cardstock
Glue Dots - Micro
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares
chalk pencil

 

Instructions:

1. Die cut four pine boughs from silver cardstock.  Die cut four holly boughs from gold cardstock.  Die cut a whole bunch of berries from rose gold cardstock.  Adhere the berries to the holly.
   
2. Form a 6" square tent-fold card base from red cardstock.
3. 
   Use the 4th smallest circle from the Fitted Circles die set as a template and use a chalk pencil to trace the shape onto black cardstock. Cut the black cardstock into a square panel measuring 5" with the circle in the middle. 
4. Cut a slightly larger mat panel from gold cardstock and attach to the black.
   
5. Lay out your foliage along the circle the way you want it. You can refer to the photo to help you.  I like to use Glue Dots to attach the branches - just a couple are needed in case you want to move something.  You can add more later.
6. If any of the chalk circle is showing, just rub it off with your finger.
7. Adhere the panels to the card base with 3D Foam Squares and you're done!

Great job!  Pretty glitzy, huh?  

Merry Christmas! Thanks for stopping by!
Suzanne

New Christmas release from Elizabeth Craft Designs/You had me at ho ho ho

Hey Y'all!

Robyn here excited to share new Christmas Dies from 

Suzanne's a Way with Words

for Elizabeth Craft Designs.

The new dies are now shipping to stores and will be available online on the ECD site next week.

Get out your die cutter and cut a bunch of all the mini elements and you will find oodles of

inspiration for all your holiday card making and decorating!

Flourished Christmas Minis 3

Create a Wreath

Flourished tree

The border is created with ECD tape and Silk Microfine Glitter.

Christmas Collection

Clear Stamps

Watch this blog and ECD blog for a group reveal of all the new dies and lots of 

projects, support and inspiration.

Christmas Collection

Supplies

• ECD A Way With Words dies-Flourished Christmas minis 3/ Create a Wreath/ Flourished Christmas tree
• ECD stamp set-Christmas Collection
• Cardstock
• ECD Clear double sided tape
• ECD Silk Microfine glitter
• Adhesive

Please join us at

Suzanne Cannon Fan Group

on Facebook

Comments and Questions warmly welcomed!

 

Christmas 2020 Dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs!

Flourishes and Foliage! Meet the 2020 Quietfire Christmas dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs.  They are available to store owners today and to individuals online at Elizabeth Craft Designs next week.

I'm so excited to share my brand new dies with you!  They are soooo versatile. You'll be able to mix and match and combine to your heart's content.  They can be combined with all the other Quietfire Design A Way With Words Christmas dies, too!

First is the Create a Wreath set which has holly leaves, pine branches, broad leaves and twigs as well as the berries.  Not only can you create the full wreath, you can make single type wreaths such as all holly, or all twig wreaths! How cool is that?  Included is a fun calligraphic bow you can use on all types of projects!

 

 

Next are the Christmas Accents. This set includes two smaller sized poinsettias which you can use as a feature in your projects or as an accent.  This set has two pine cones, one larger and one smaller.  Use them as a feature or an accent.  And of course, use them with the Create a Wreath dies, too!! 

We have a fun new set of Flourished Christmas Minis!  These are designed to fit inside the Love Joy Peace Christmas Ornament, but can be used on their own! There is a flourished gingerbread man, a flourished candy cane and a flourished gift. Combine them with the Create a Wreath dies and/or the Christmas Accents.  (Keep in mind, the gift doesn't need to be used for Christmas!)

 

 

Now here is a fun beauty!  The Flourished Christmas Tree. You can use this in so many way depending on how much you cut!  It comes with the star and ball ornaments. 

And what would an A Way With Words release be without a flourished word (or two!)?  Here is a new version of Merry Christmas, called Merry Christmas 4, which is surrounded in calligraphic flourishes and comes with a separate snowflake.

 

 Want to see a few projects made with these dies? Scroll down!

Make sure you keep tuned to this blog and our Facebook Page where you'll see lots more in the next few weeks!

I hope you love them as much as we do!
Thanks for dropping in.  Happy creating, Suzanne

You Shine Slimline Card

 
Hey there!  It's Suzanne popping in with a super simple slimline card (why is it that I always want to type slimeline.....?).

I've made a similar card before using this washi tape, but never in a slimline format!

Supplies:

A Way With Words Thank You:  ECD

A Way With Words Shine ECD  |  ECreek

Wide washi tape (this one is from Altenew)
Cardstock
Glue Dots - Micro

Instructions:

1. Form a tent-fold card base measuring 8.5 x 3.75" from any coloured cardstock. 
2. Cut a piece of washi tape larger than the card front, apply it to the card front and trim.
3. Die cut the "you" from Thank You and Shine from shiny foil cardstock and adhere to the card front with Glue Dots.
4. Give to someone special!!

Of course you can do this with any patterned paper, but when you have this perfect galaxy washi tape, how can you resist?

Happy creating! Suzanne 

Celebrate - Simple Customized Z-Fold Card

 

Today we’re making a simple customized Z-Fold Card using the A Way With Words dies.  Each time you change the word, I’ll show you how to change the card size.  This technique was featured in our Facebook Live on October 29, 2020 which is embedded in this post below!

 

Supplies:

Celebrate  ECD https://shrsl.com/2k50o

Cherish  ECD http://shrsl.com/2l3di 

ECreek https://emeraldcreek.co/cherish-thinlit-die/?aff=11

Welcome Little One Collection
ECD https://shrsl.com/2e46f 

Happy Birthday Collection
ECD http://shrsl.com/2l3ii 

Patterned Cardstock
Glue Dots
Ruler
Tape runner
Plain copy or multiuse paper

Instructions:

1. Die cut your a Way With Words word twice – from the same colour cardstock.  I used white.

 

2. First we’re going to make a template.  Place one of the die cut words about ¼” from the edge of the copy paper and use a pencil to mark about ¼” from the left side of the word.  Vertically score a line at that mark and fold. 

 

3. Measure the distance from the edge of the paper to the fold. (For this card it was 5”.) Divide that number in half (2.5”) and create another score line using that measurement to the left of the first score line.  Fold.

4.  Trim excess paper so the new edge aligns with the first fold.

 

 5. Trim the height of the template to the size of card you will ultimately want.

6.       When you’re happy with the template, cut your card base from pretty patterned cardstock.

7.       Cut a strip of plain cardstock as long as the card is wide in the open position and that is slightly wider than the letters are.  Cut another strip slightly wider from coordinating cardstock and adhere the two strips together.  

 

8. Trim a piece of the strip to fit the back of the card (5”) and adhere in place.  Adhere the diecut to the middle of this strip.

9. Adhere the rest of the strip to the left side of the open card. Adhere the second Celebrate diecut to this strip so, when folded, the diecut words line up perfectly.  Trim the right side of the diecut to the fold line. 

10.Use the left over strip to stamp the sentiment and adhere to the “hidden” fold. Perfect!  All done!

Just use this technique for any of the word dies.   The Cherish baby card below had different measurements.  The first score line was 4” from the right edge of the card.  It’s a smaller word, so the card is smaller.  You can customize your z-fold cards just this way for any of the A Way With Words dies!

Happy creating, Suzanne (scroll to the bottom to see the video from FB Live! or click HERE)