Month: May 2023

Time for Tea

| ullycatdesigns

This card was made for Craft Roulette #164 whose parameters included a slimline card, tea party colors, a word element and a hand-drawn line.

I started with an 8 1/2 x 3 3/4 inch top fold slimline white cardbase. The word element “TEA” is die-cut into the front decorative paper which comes from Graphic 45’s Alice’s Tea Party Collection. “Time for” was hand-drawn as was the required line below it.

To pop-up the inside scene, I used Karen Burniston’s Little Labels Pop-Up. The stamped and water-colored mice having a fun party are drawn by Anita Jeram.

I popped-out the mouse spooning sugar with a double layer of foam squares.

Just like the inside background panels, the card back was decorated with two stripes of decorative papers taped together and the die-cut using the largest crosshatch rectangle from Karen Burniston’s Long Rectangles-Crosshatch. The cut outs of “TEA” from the front panel were glued onto the back .

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

  • Colorado Craft Company – Clear Stamps & Dies – Tea Time Fun by Anita Jeram

Papers

  • Graphic 45 – 12×12 Double-Sided Paper Pad – Alice’s Tea Part Collection
  • Stampin’ Up – Thick Basic White Cardstock

Ink

  • Memento – Fade-Resistant Dye Ink – Tuxedo Black
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Watercolor Pencils – Set 2
  • Pigma – Mircon 01 Fine Tip Pen – Black
  • American Crafts – Metallic Marker – Silver

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Cloth
  • Scissors

Seasonal Cards

| ullycatdesigns

Recently, I had the honor of attending a workshop taught by Kittie Caracciolo who makes wonderful and detailed dimensional cards using Rubbernecker Stamps products. The workshop was part of the Stamp and Scrapbook EXPO – Orlando.

Rubbernecker Stamps makes some wonderful dies to create scenes that fit an A2 size card (4 1/4 x 5 1/2-inches). Using a sponge tool similar to an eye shadow applicator, Kittie showed us how to color our die-cuts using Color Fuse Inks to create shading that rounded objects and gave dimension to animals. Foam strips helped with the physical layering on the snowy scene and to make the white scalloped rectangle stand out on the pink flowers in the watering can.

I added eyes to both deer and a nose with a ultra fine tipped black pen and white spots to the fawn with a gel pen.

I added yellow Nuvo Crystal Drops to the flower centers.

As Kittie suggested, I went home and heat embossed the leaves with clear embossing powder to give them some shine.

Hats Off To You!

| ullycatdesigns

It’s graduation season and the Craft Roulette Episode 161 gave me the idea for this commissioned card for a high school graduate with the Dutch door cardbase, hats, campfire colors and book page element.

All of the dies used are by Karen Burniston. They include the Heart Collage Pop-Up (for the mechanism), Book Worm and Tiny Accessories 2 (both for graduation caps.) The hands and printed sentiments come from a Simon Says Stamp set called Hats off Grad.

Cardbase: Using a T-ruler and pencil, mark the measurements shown on the photo below on an 8 1/2″ x 11” sheet of heavyweight light blue cardstock. Trim off excess rectangles and then score and fold with metal ruler, scoring tool and Teflon folder. Erase pencil marks. Using a small corner punch, round all six corners.

Hat Mechanism: Watch the assembly videos on the Heart Collage Pop-Up page before die-cutting the mechanism piece from light blue cardstock matching the cardbase. Adhere to top fold as directed in assembly videos. Using a stencil and white ink, stencil clouds over the top inside of card, going over the mechanism. Cut out and assemble a number of graduation caps from Book Worm set (small caps) and from the Tiny Accessories 2 (large caps.)

Money Holder: Take a 3” x 4” piece of white copier paper and score along the short side 1/2″ from the edge.  Score both long sides at 1/4″, 1/2″ and 3/4″. Accordion-style fold the long sides and then fold short side under to form a gusseted pocket. Using a small circle punch, cut a half circle at top of pocket as a finger hold.

Sentiments: The large die-cut sentiments all come from the same Karen Burniston Word Set 8. “Congrats” was cut once from navy blue and once from orange – the high school’s colors. The two phrases were cut from navy blue and then their dies were traced on the outside on orange cardstock and fussy cut to create shadows for the words. The graduate’s name was die-cut using Karen Burniston’s Mini Alphabet set and lined up on card using removable paper tape.

Decorations: The high school logo was printed from the school website on light gray and white cardstock for the front and back of the card. (Because I could not find my Hats Off Grad stamp set, I had to print an image from photos of another card I had made using the stamp set.) The “Finally Done! Hats Off to You!” sentiment was fussy cut along with the hands which were glued to the sentiment before being glued to the card base.  Five hearts and two diplomas were added to the hat mechanism and background die cut from the Tiny Accessories 2 set. The math book on the money holder was die cut from the Book Worm set. The labels for a personal message are from two coordinating sets – Label Charm Pop-Up and Crosshatch Rectangles and Labels.

Envelope: The card fits into an A2 envelope. I like to hint at what’s inside the envelope, so a small graduation cap was glued to the back envelope flap.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps & Stencils

  • Simon Says Stamp! -Clear Stamp and Matching Dies-Hats off Grad -sss102120
  • Favorite Things – Clear Stamps – Free-010 Hand Stamped
  • Craftin Desert Divas – 6×6 Stencil – Clouds and Paths

Papers

  • Navy Blue, Orange, White and Gray Cardstock
  • White Copier Paper
  • A2 Light Blue Envelope

Ink

  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Oxide- Tea Dye
  • Memento – Fad-resistant Dye Ink – Tuxedo Black
  • Simon Says Stamp – Premium Pigment Ink – White
  • Sakura – Gelly Roll Pen – Medium – Black
  • Computer Printer

Adhesives

Tools

  • We R Memories – QuickStick
  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Cloth
  • Sponge Dauber
  • Heat Tool
  • Craft Mat
  • Scissors
  • Metal Ruler
  • Scoring Tool
  • Scoring Board
  • Teflon Pencil Tipped Folder
  • Clear T-Ruler
  • ¾” Circle Punch
  • Small Corner Punch
  • Removable Paper Tape
  • Pencil
  • Sand Eraser

Miscellaneous

  • Fun Stampers Journey – Twine – Teal Blue

Just Because You’re Sweet!

| ullycatdesigns

This card was made for Craft Roulette #162 whose parameters included a matchbook card, flowering field colors, a bird and woodgrain.

For the pop-up card on the purchased printed cardbase, I used Karen Burniston’s Frame Pull Pop-Up die set and branches and leaves from her Tree Pop-Up die set.

I followed the basic assembly video instructions for the Frame pull Pop-up using the packaging image as my design inspiration. Before I attached the mechanism to the card, I glued an inch long strip to the bottom and folded it over to form the lip of the matchbook.

Because the green background seemed bland, I covered it with a glitter gloss for some sparkle.

The blue birds were colored with markers while the tree leaves were cut from spotted green paper. I used some pink border scraps for the pink inside the woodgrain frames. The frames were embossed then die-cut and finally inked with a darker brown ink using the stenciling feature on the dies.

The sentiment comes from two of Karen Burniston’s die sets – Word Set 15- Just Because and You’re Sweet!

For the envelope’s back flap, I used a flower from a Bright Rosa stamp set stamped with pink ink.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

  • Bright Rosa by Paula Pascual – Fern Die and Stamps – from Simply Cards & Papercrafts Magazine issue 202

Papers

  • Lawn Fawn – 6×6 Double-Sided Paper Pad – Spiffy Speckles
  • Green, Blue and Brown Cardstock
  • Green Spotted Scrap
  • Printed A2 Cardbase and Envelope

Ink

  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink- Walnut Stain
  • Simon Says Stamp – Pawsitively Saturated Ink – Sweets
  • Sharpie – Ultra Fine Tipped Marker- Racey Red and Orange
  • Staples – Liquid Stix – Neon Orange Chisel Nose Highlighter
  • Nuvo – Aqua Shimmer Bruch Pen – Glitter Gloss

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • We R Memories – QuickStick
  • We R Memories – Scoring Board and Trimmer
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Cloth
  • Sponge Dauber
  • Craft Mat
  • Scissors
  • Ruler

Vintage Christmas Cards – Room Scene

| ullycatdesigns

Recently I came across some family Christmas cards I had designed with the help of my father who owned a letterpress printing press and had cuts (think metal stamps on wooden blocks similar to rubber stamps on wood blocks) made of my drawings. The printing press held an 8×10-inch frame which held the cuts and metal type (letters). Paper was hand-fed into the press which had an electric motor connected with a leather belt which turned the press wheel. From about age 8 and on I earned pocket money running the press to add people’s names to their store-bought Christmas cards, “From the Desk of” notepads and other small print jobs from family and friends.

The five cards that I am sharing this week were created before the computer drawing program Auto-CAD was widely available to individuals. (I know we didn’t have access to digital type fonts that Apple computers offered around that time.) I used rulers, India ink pens and protractors to draw the pop-ups.

In 1985 I designed a pop-up room scene featuring a fireplace tabletop Christmas tree and a cat. I used rub-ons that were popular at the time to created graphics. All the straight lines were rub-ons as well as the letters on the garlands. I used a plastic drawing template for the circles and arcs. The cat was a sticker that had been reduced on a photocopier.

These postcards were hand-colored with watercolors and markers.

On the back of the postcard was the first of my CRX drawings that showed how the finished pop-up should look along with cutting and folding instructions.

I believe this was the last of the family designed Christmas cards as my father discovered Graphics3, a family-owned printing business in Jupiter, Florida that made 3D pop-up cards and began ordering from cards from them.

Here are other vintage Christmas cards:

  • Room Scene

Vintage Christmas Cards – Sleigh

| ullycatdesigns

Recently I came across some family Christmas cards I had designed with the help of my father who owned a letterpress printing press and had cuts (think metal stamps on wooden blocks similar to rubber stamps on wood blocks) made of my drawings. The printing press held an 8×10-inch frame which held the cuts and metal type (letters). Paper was hand-fed into the press which had an electric motor connected with a leather belt which turned the press wheel. From about age 8 and on I earned pocket money running the press to add people’s names to their store-bought Christmas cards, “From the Desk of” notepads and other small print jobs from family and friends.

The five cards that I am sharing this week were created before the computer drawing program Auto-CAD was widely available to individuals. (I know we didn’t have access to digital type fonts that Apple computers offered around that time.) I used rulers, India ink pens and protractors to draw the pop-ups.

My siblings and I think the sleigh postcard was created around 1984 using an image found in a Dover Publications clip art book. (We didn’t document our source as it was an image in the public domain.)

The sleigh was manipulated on a photocopying machine. The image was cut-out twice and one image flipped on its back side and traced with an ink pen. A ruler and protractor were used to create the rectangular shapes and tabs that connected the sides. Rub-on lines were used to create the various thickness of lines and perfect corners.

The instructions, title and tab letters were printed using hand-set type and the cut and pasted onto the drawing. (You can see one of the “F” tabs shows the overlap of paper covering the line.)

These postcards were hand-colored using red makers. We printed 400+ of these cards starting in October.

A few of our friends said they had cut and assembled the sleigh.

Here are other vintage Christmas cards:

  • Sleigh

Vintage Christmas Cards – Fireplace

| ullycatdesigns

Recently I came across some family Christmas cards I had designed with the help of my father who owned a letterpress printing press and had cuts (think metal stamps on wooden blocks similar to rubber stamps on wood blocks) made of my drawings. The printing press held an 8×10-inch frame which held the cuts and metal type (letters). Paper was hand-fed into the press which had an electric motor connected with a leather belt which turned the press wheel. From about age 8 and on I earned pocket money running the press to add people’s names to their store-bought Christmas cards, “From the Desk of” notepads and other small print jobs from family and friends.

The five cards that I am sharing this week were created before the computer drawing program Auto-CAD was widely available to individuals. (I know we didn’t have access to digital type fonts that Apple computers offered around that time.) I used rulers, India ink pens and protractors to draw the pop-ups.

For the 1983 stand alone fireplace, I know I was influenced by the cardboard fake fireplaces that were popular Christmas decorations in my childhood. The mantel design may have come from family homes or other 1920’s bungalow style homes with brick fireplaces. It is a more complex assembly with many smaller pieces. I remember printing the instructions and tab names with hand-set type and then cutting and pasting them onto the drawing, before sending it all off to be made into a metal cut.

My father had a little more experience with creating the colors using rub-on sheets of dots to create the coloring of sections of the drawing. Using a photocopying machine, he reduced the size of the dots to make them more intense and he did a reverse of the dots and space in between for the fire. Then he had three cuts made – one for the black drawing, one for the green stockings and mantel greenery and the last one for the red bricks and fire.

For one postcard, it took four runs through the printing press. We printed 400+ of these cards starting in October.

A few of our friends said they had cut and assembled the tiny fireplace adding the suggest string loop to make it a Christmas ornament.

Here are other vintage Christmas cards:

  • Fireplace

Vintage Christmas Cards – House Box

| ullycatdesigns

Recently I came across some family Christmas cards I had designed with the help of my father who owned a letterpress printing press and had cuts (think metal stamps on wooden blocks similar to rubber stamps on wood blocks) made of my drawings. The printing press held an 8×10-inch frame which held the cuts and metal type (letters). Paper was hand-fed into the press which had an electric motor connected with a leather belt which turned the press wheel. From about age 8 and on I earned pocket money running the press to add people’s names to their store-bought Christmas cards, “From the Desk of” notepads and other small print jobs from family and friends.

The five cards that I am sharing this week were created before the computer drawing program Auto-CAD was widely available to individuals. (I know we didn’t have access to digital type fonts that Apple computers offered around that time.) I used rulers, India ink pens and protractors to draw the pop-ups.

The 1982 “From Our House To Your House” house box postcard was an outgrowth of my fascination with creating house boxes. I had been introduced to box making in a high school commercial art class where I created a blue and white farmhouse box for perfume. At college I expanded on the farmhouse box design by creating a cardboard embossing plate to add raised clapboard siding and roof shingles that was run through an intaglio press. In 1981 I had completed an internship at a historic house museum which was a red brick Victorian house.

The challenge with creating a house box on a postcard was how much would fit on a 5 3/4-inch x 3 3/4-inch postcard. I drew the box on an 8 1/2-inch x 11-inch sheet of paper and used a photocopying machine to reduce it in size.

My father was experimenting with a new technique for him using rub-on sheets of dots to create the coloring of sections of the drawing. He had three cuts made – one for the black drawing, one for the green roof, door wreath and greenery and the last one for the red bricks.

For one postcard, it took four runs through the printing press. We printed 400+ of these cards starting in October.

A few of our friends said they had cut and assembled the wee house box adding the suggest string loop.

Here are other vintage Christmas cards:

  • House Box

Vintage Christmas Cards – NO L Tree

| ullycatdesigns

Recently I came across some family Christmas cards I had designed with the help of my father who owned a letterpress printing press and had cuts (think metal stamps on wooden blocks similar to rubber stamps on wood blocks) made of my drawings. The printing press held an 8×10-inch galley or frame which held the cuts and metal type (letters). Paper was hand-fed into the press which had an electric motor connected with a leather belt which turned the press wheel. From about age 8 and on I earned pocket money running the press to add people’s names to their store-bought Christmas cards, “From the Desk of” notepads and other small print jobs from family and friends.

The five cards that I am sharing this week were created before the computer drawing program Auto-CAD was widely available to individuals. (I know we didn’t have access to digital type fonts that Apple computers offered around that time.) I used rulers, India ink pens and protractors to draw the pop-ups.

The NO L Tree card was a mash-up of another Christmas card my parents had done in the 1950s spelling out the alphabet but leaving a space where the “L” would have been, and a 3D triangle tree that I had made as a child which was made of two triangles cut with slits that allowed them to slide together. My father suggested having the sentiment in red ink be on two quadrants while the green alphabet be on the remaining two quadrants. We decided on different type fonts for the two sides.

Hand setting the type was a little challenging, but after several test runs, we found the proper placement. I think we created a cardboard template to trace the tree lines inside the card with a black pen.

Instructions on how to assemble the tree as well as the card title/subtitle and card credits were all made with hand-set type. To print one card, it took two runs of green ink, two runs of red ink and one run of black ink for a total of five runs and one hand tracing of the triangle lines. We would print 200+ cards each year and start printing in October.

My siblings and I think this card was made around 1980-1981.

Here are other vintage Christmas cards:

  • NO L Tree