This card was made for Craft Roulette #212 whose parameters included a card for a co-worker, kites in the sky colors, April element and sparkle.
I used products available from Craftstash – USA or –UK
Cardbase: I used thin papers to cover the four panels of the purchase A7 (5×7-inch) cardbase. The green paper is from the Hot off the Press Pretty Papers. The front mustard yellow paper is from the Hot off the Press Spice Market.
Sentiments: Stamps used on the card front and inside the card are from the Sentimentally Yours – Botanical Bees – gift set in Creative Stamping issue 99, August 2021. The stamps on the back are from Craft Roulette – The Basics.
Envelope: Stamped on the envelope back in black ink are a bee buzzing around a flower and the sentiment “Just bee-cause” from the Sentimentally Yours – Botanical Bees set.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊
Materials Used:
Dies
Made to Surprise by Sam Calcott – Metal Dies – Pretty Blooms
Stamps
Sentimentally Yours – Clear Stamps – Botanical Bees – gift set in Creative Stamping issue 99, August 2021
Made to Surprise by Sam Calcott – Clear Stamps – Pretty Blooms
Craft Roulette – Clear Stamps – The Basics
Papers
Keep It Simple – 6×6 Double-Sided Cardstock – Back to Basics Lemon Collection Pack
Hot Off The Press – 8.5×11 inch Single-Sided Papers – Pretty Papers
Hot Off The Press – 12×12 inch Double-Sided Papers – Spice Market
Bazzill – 8.5×11 Cardstock – Gumdrop 5-5154
Gold Foil Cardstock
White Cardstock
Park Lane Paperie – A7 Cardbase and Envelope – White
Ink
Memento – Fade-Resistant Dye Ink – Tuxedo Black
Simon Says Stamp – Pawsitivity Saturated Ink – Sunbeam
This card was made for Craft Roulette #209 whose parameters included a tri-fold card, sleigh ride colors, joke(s)or funny element and out of proportion. It has a number of insider jokes in it for that Craft Roulette fan to get.
The card uses a purchase A6 cardbase (4.625 in x 6.25 in) as a top fold and two pieces of decorative 6 in x 8 in paper.
The sweet pinks and reds of old-fashion rose bushes always remind me of their scent. This Mother’s Day card is a loving way to say how much mothers are appreciated.
I used Honeybee Stamps’ layering Bold Backgrounds Vintage Roses dies for the front of the card. The roses are cut from three different shades of pink cardstock and inked with a bright red ink. The leaves were cut in an apple green and inked with a medium green ink. There layering guide which you have to download from the Honeybee Stamps website shows how the the three sizes of roses are assembled. The sentiment banner is a strip of apple green cardstock 4 1/2-inched wide by 1/2-inches tall with fishtails ends cut free-hand and inked to match the leaves. The gold foiled sentiment strip “Appreciate You” is from Spellbinders that I had batched foiled previously.
The inside “Happy Mother’s Day” sentiment is cut from the apple green cardstock using a die by Papertrey Ink. The back of the card is covered with a striped sheet of printed paper from This Calls for Confetti.
I went stash diving to find a old-fashioned looking rose for the back of the envelope and ended up using a stamp set from Pinkfresh Studios called Pretty Paisley. The roses were stamped in melon red ink while the tiny sentiment “It’s the little things that make life big” was stamped in a green pear ink.
This card was made for Craft Roulette #204 whose parameters included: thinking of you project, fairy tale colors, hear(s) or ear(s) element and stamped background.
To learn how I made the card, watch this process video.
It’s Sneak Peek Week for Karen Burniston’s February 2024 release. These dies will be available for purchase on February 19, 2024 on the KB Riley LLC website.
Your co-worker is leaving for a new job and you need a card for others in the office to sign for her. That is the brief for this accordion card.
This card was made for Craft Roulette #192 whose parameters included a thank you card, roadside market colors, yard(s) element and confetti.
Heartfelt thanks is the emotion that this accordion-fold card expresses. Inspired by Karen Burniston’s December 2023 release Heart Add-ons pivoting panel, the card features a shaker element filled with confetti. Other Karen Burniston dies were used including: Fence Add-Ons, Thank You and Fancy Label Accordion.
Before starting, watch the assembly videos of the pop-ups which are usually near the bottom of the linked pages for the various die sets used.
Accordion Frames: Cut three accordion frames from heavy blue cardstock using the main large die in the Fancy Label Accordion set. Train the folds of each frame and set aside. (You will cut a fourth accordion frame under the Shaker section using the same heavy cardstock.)
Fence Panel: Using the largest of the label die in the Fancy Label Accordion set, tape it inside the accordion frame die and cut two from decorative paper. Save the inner fancy labels for use on the fence panel. From the decorative paper accordion frames, trim the smaller panel frames away from the larger frame leaving the small tabs attached to the frames. Set both accordion frames and small frames aside for later use. From brown decorative paper cut one fence using the fence die in the Fence Add-Ons set. Cut flowers and grass to decorate fence with using dies also in the Fence Add-Ons set.
Attach a fancy label to the center panel of one of the blue accordion frames. Trim fence to fit panel and adhere to panel. Decorate the fence with grass and flowers. Glue the remaining fancy label to the reverse side of center panel. Set the piece aside.
Heart Pivot Panel: Glue the tab of one blue accordion frame to the backside of the remaining blue accordion frame. Cut from a lightweight teal blue cardstock the Hearts-Add-Ons panel. Train the folds of the hearts panel. From the blue accordion frames cut off half of the center panel leaving them attached at their pivot points. (See photo)
Put glue on the left back side edge of the teal blue hearts panel before attaching to the left blue center panel of the blue accordion frame. Match up the fancy curved edges of the panels. With the blue connecting post of the accordion frame behind the teal blue hearts panel, attach the right side of the hearts panel to the right accordion frame panel.
Cut a hearts panel from decorative paper. Trim out the string of hearts and save to decorate the backside of hearts. Glue decorative panel to the front side of hearts panel. Using the smaller decorative heart dies in the set, cut a number of hearts from patterned paper. Decorate both front and back sides of panel.
Glue the panel frames to the front of the hearts panel with the panel tabs being covered with decorative paper. Trim off the parts of the frames at the center of the hearts panel that are not attached. Set piece aside.
Shaker: Using the largest of the label die in the Fancy Label Accordion set, tape it inside the accordion frame die. Cut the fourth frame piece from the blue heavy cardstock. Keep the dies tapped together to cut four heavy cardstock frames and two decorative paper frames. Use smaller pieces of the heavy cardstock for the four panel frames. Cut the full accordion frame with the decorative paper. Trim the panel frames from the accordion frames and save the decorative paper frames for later. Cut two squares of clear acetate or plastic slightly larger than the panel frames.
To assemble, glue two blue panel frame pieces together. Using 1/8-inch wide double-sided tape around the blue frame, adhere the acetate to frame. Trim off overhanging acetate. Attach decorative pink paper frame over the acetate with more double-sided tape matching up edges. Glue the assembly to the accordion frame panel matching blue frame to blue frame. Repeat with the remaining two blue frames, pink decorative paper frame and acetate piece, but DO NOT attach to accordion frame panel.
Using an anti-static tool, swipe powder over all of the acetate inside the frame and the sides of the shaker frames. Add confetti/sequins to the frame attached to the accordion frame. Glue the remaining shaker frame over the confetti filled frame. Leave undisturbed until glue dries. (To listen to commentary about the anti-static products I used go to my video.)
Accordion Assembly: With all the accordion frames decorated, assembly can begin. Collect the four decorative paper accordion frames previously cut in the Shaker and Fence Panel sections. Cut four more frames from decorative paper, trimming out the inner panels which can be saved for later. Glue the fence panel accordion frame tab to the backside of the first heart panel accordion frame. Glue the second heart panel accordion frame tab to the backside of the shaker accordion frame. Trim off the unused tab on the shaker accordion frame. Cover the backs of all the accordion frames with the decorative paper frames. (This should hide all the tabs.) Glue decorative paper frames to fronts of the accordion frames.
Once all the decoration of frames is completed, glue the center panels of fence and shaker accordion frames to the heart panels. (Note: the tabs that attach to the shaker panel are glued to the front of the shaker panel, while the fence tabs are glued to the back of the hearts panel.)
Cut one of the decorative paper inner panels in half to cover the backsides of the panels cut in half that the hearts panel is attached to. (Green paper in the photo.)
Sentiment: “Thank You” is a die-cut that was cut twice from the same double-sided paper with the blue side used as an off-set shadow behind the pink patterned paper.
Envelope: The card is thick and would require a padded bubble envelope if not hand delivered.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊
Materials Used:
Dies
Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Heart Add-Ons – 1257
(Please watch the assembly videos for the various dies that are located toward the bottom of each die set’s link page before starting a card.) For a detailed tutorial of a sympathy basket click here.
The folded card fits into a catalog 6×9 inch envelope. To mail the card, I fold a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11-inch white cardstock in half to fit inside the envelope and cushion the card in the mail.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊
While more of a rarity to get a card in the mailbox these days, why not send a simple hello to someone you haven’t seen in a while. (Otherwise known as Happy Mail.)
This card was made using two of Karen Burniston’s new June 2023 release dies – Fence Landscape Accordion Add-On and Fun Flowers – and several previously released dies – Mailbox Pop-Up and Nature Edges. (The Nature Edges grassy strip is the longest of the straight grassy strips in all of KB’s dies. You could glue several together from the Fence Add-on, if you don’t have the Natures Edge set.)
Fence and Base: Cut one fence from the Fence Add-On set from white cardstock and trim off the four side tabs. Cut four of the grassy strips from the Nature Edges set from green cardstock. Lay grassy strip over the fence with an even amount of grass extending beyond the fence. Fold the excess grass over to form two tabs. Repeat for the remaining three grassy strips. Take two strips and glue the tabs over the tabs on the other strip to form a rectangular shape. Glue one side of the rectangle to the bottom of fence. Repeat with remaining grassy strips and glue to bottom of the other side of fence.
Mailbox: Using the Mailbox Pop-Up, cut two of the mail mailbox shape from silver foil cardstock. Cut two of the lids, making sure to reverse the foil side of the cardstock for one of them. Cut one wooden post from brown cardstock and one red flag. Cut one circle from silver foil cardstock. Cut two envelopes from white cardstock. Assemble envelopes as shown in assembly video and write “Hello” on the fronts. Glue front lid to bottom edge of main mailbox piece. Glue envelopes to side and lid of mailbox so that one envelope faces front and the other faces back. Glue wooden post to back of mailbox. Glue back lid piece matching notch to front so silver shows on both sides. Glue back mailbox piece onto front covering the post top. Position on back side of fence and glue in place. Adhere silver circle and red flag over hole on front of mailbox. Cut a butterfly from the Fun Flowers set and glue over the hole on back of mailbox. (I inked my butterfly with a dark blue ink and filled in its body with a black marker.)
Flowers: The flowers glued to the fence are cut from the Fence Add-On set. Cut two of the bluebell flowers in blue and two of the tall stem in green and glue stems to the flower backs. Cut once the two small flowers from yellow, the two circles from brown and the two stems from green. Glue brown circles to the flower centers and the stems to the back of the yellow flowers. The pink bush flowers that are glued to the opposite corners of the grassy rectangle base are from pieces in the Fun Flowers set. For each bush, cut four of the long leafy stem from green, the five flowers in one die from pink and the tiny circles from yellow. (I inked the three smallest flowers to be darker pink.) glue the four stems together to form a bush. Add a dot of glue to the three largest flowers and using a pick-up tool place one small dark pink flower in the center of a large flower, making sure to alternate the flower petals so no gaps show. Add another drop of glue to the center of small flower and drop in a tiny yellow circle. Fold all petals up to form a just opening flower. Glue to a top leaf on bush. Repeat steps until you have two bushes, each with three flowers. Glue bushes to opposite corners of the base rectangle so weight is evenly balanced and when the base is folded closed no leaf or flower overhangs the grass base.
Envelope: The folded card fits into an A2 (4.5 x 5.5-inch) invitation size envelope. I enclose the following CRX sheet to let the recipient know how to open the card.
One of my cardmaking friends lost her husband to cancer recently. He was career military. I wanted to make a flower basket for the card with a nod to his military career, so I did the colors of red, white and blue with some flag bunting on the sides of the basket.
Please watch the assembly videos for the various dies that are located toward the bottom of each die set’s link page before starting a card.
When assembling the woven basket, I like to make the rims of the basket fold by lining up a metal ruler from pointed edge to pointed edge. This make a straight fold that is more rounded to cover the top edges of the basket.
When making the flowers, I like to use some flower shaping techniques such as using a tool with a round ball on its end to push the center of the flower into foam to create depth. I most often use my fingers to curl the petal tips under. On the large hibiscus-like flower I used the ball tool to shape the undersides of the petals. Many flowers, such as daisies, have two layers of petals.
The arrangement of the flowers always scares me, but I tried to remember my flower arranging class tricks from years ago. Start with the largest flowers first, creating a tall focal point in the center and shorter to the sides. Fill-in with smaller flowers symmetrically and finish with baby’s breath to fill-out the empty spaces.
I cut the “with Sympathy” sentiment from matte gold cardstock and curved the word sympathy to fit the front of the basket. In addition, I cut a white tag from the Tag Book Pop-Up and stamped and heat embossed the tag with “Sending prayers your way” in matte gold embossing powder. A narrow ivory organza ribbon was used to tie the tag on to a basket handle. A personal message can be written on the tag back.
The folded card fits into a catalog 6×9 inch envelope. To mail the card, I fold a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11-inch white cardstock in half to fit inside the envelope and cushion the card in the mail.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊
Ully Cat's World 