Fall into Autumn Cards

Had bought this fall themed embossing folder at a stamper's used items sale earlier this year - I paid $1.00 for it and knew I would use it for the upcoming Fall season. . .

Here is a photo of the two cards I made using this embossing folder:

These cards were made using one piece of white/GP card stock that I covered with various distress inks. Once the inks were applied I used a stitched wavy edge die from Pink & Main to cut this in half. Here is a photo of the die set this die is part of:

With the distressed piece cut I put the two pieces into the new-to-me embossing folder and embossed them in the Cuttlebug. Went over the top surface of these two embossed pieces using a gold Nuvo Mousse to add shimmer and shine to the embossed pieces. Set these aside.

For this first card:

The card stock base is SU River Rock, front piece is Pumpkin Pie, and the white piece is white/GP. I used a stamp from Stampendous for the greeting and stamped that using SU Pumpkin Pie ink. Put the embossed piece on the white/GP piece using the ATG. Then put this onto the Pumpkin Pie piece and  put these onto the card stock base.  Used glue dots and added three sequins to the card front. Here is a better photo to show the gold mousse over the embossed design:

This next card:

This card has the SU Old Olive as a card base. SU More Mustard was used for the card front and the white is GP.  Cut this white piece to the size I needed for the card front. Stamped a Northwoods Rubber Stamp using Old Olive ink. Used the ATG to add the embossed piece to the left side of the card front. Used the ATG and put this onto the More Mustard piece and then onto the green card stock base.

Using various glittered card stocks I used a leaves border punch from EK Success and punched out some leaves. Put the leaves onto the card front using glue dots. Here is a photo to show the gold mousse over the embossed design:

The key to using the embossing folder for both front card pieces is the design on this embossing  folder has no direction - the rake and leaves go in different directions so cutting it in half would work. Had it had a directional pattern when I cut it in half one of the embossed pieces would be upside down on my card front. So this works with a random pattern embossing folder.

Easy cards to put together using just one decorated card front piece. Happy to find this embossing folder at the sale and will probably be making more fall projects using it this fall! TFL

Out with the old and in with the new . . .

Recently went to a local stamp show and bought a jar of Nuvo Mousse at the booth of Tessler Crafts. Wanted to see if I would like this product since I have seen so many people using it on cards and projects. . .  Tried out my single jar and really liked it and wanted more colours so "out with the old" in the craft room...

Weeded out supplies I no longer use in the craft room and some storage items. Sold those on Craigs List. Used that money to buy my Nuvo colours -- was happy to get them on sale for half price online with free shipping so a win-win for me. Have not used all the colours yet but am on my way! I wanted to keep them all together so I have them in an IRIS box with a lid. Using velcro circles from the dollar store I attached a circle sponge to the top of each jar so I will have a sponge ready when I use each colour. Also have a basket in the box for the plastic spatulas and the applicator handle for the sponges:

This is one of the cards I made using the Nuvo Mousse:

For this card I used green card stock for the card base scored at the top. Cut a piece of white/GP for the card front. For the distressed/embossed card front I again used a piece of white/GP. Cut that a bit larger than the size I wanted for the card front. Used various distressed inks to cover the card front piece. Using a Sizzix leaves embossing folder I embossed this piece.

Once embossed I trimmed it to the size I needed for the card front. Using the Mother of Pearl Nuvo Mousse I lightly sponged this over the embossed piece. Wanted more of the mousse on the raised leaves than on the background so did this lightly. With that done I used the ATG and attached this embossed piece to the white card stock piece. Set this aside.

Using a stamp from Northwoods Rubber Stamps "AUTUMN" I stamped it onto a strip of vellum using Pumpkin Pie ink. Used the heat tool to set the ink. Using a die from my stash I cut out "happy" using scrap card stock and backed with Stik It from Ken Oliver. Then cut out this die from the top flap from a kleenex box and attached it to the card stock "happy". Covered these with clear Wink of Stella for some sparkle. (Having the cardboard "happy" behind the card stock "happy" gives this piece dimension on the card front).

Using double sided tape I put the stamped greeting vellum strip across the card front and attached it to the back of the embossed card front piece. Used the ATG and attached this to the green card stock base. Used a glue pen to attach the "happy" piece onto the stamped vellum piece. Added green Nuvo drops randomly to the card front. Here is a photo to show the shimmer on the embossed card front piece showing the Nuvo Mousse sponged on it:

The mousse can be used alone or spritz water on it and then add it to your project and you can even put it into a spritzer with water, shake, and now you can spritz it onto your projects. The mousse has a nice texture and you do not have to use much so buying them at half price was quite the deal for a long lasting product. TFL

Gift Bag with a twist - -

Recently went to the local stamp show and one of the vendors was a local demonstrator of Fun Stampers Journey. I have shopped her booth at this show and others and all my FSJ orders are through her. I had recently seen the new background die set the Rose Garden. I was hoping to see card samples using this die set at her booth and happy me that she had samples to look at. Decided I would buy this die set and I ordered it when I came home from the show. The die set arrived and I had planned on making two cards with it but once I took it out of the packaging I wondered . . .

Earlier this year I bought the Card Caddy/Gift Bag die set from ODBD (Our Daily Bread Designs) and this is the first gift bag I had made using that die set:

The die set can be used to make a solid bag or you can use this decorated inset die for your bag front and or back that comes with the die set. ODBD also sells a Poinsettia inset die (which I will be using for upcoming holiday projects) for this bag. ODBD also sells a snowflake background die which I do not own (yet -- haha) but I am not sure if that die set would work with the gift bag die set or not.

Wanted to work on my two cards using the FSJ Rose Garden die set and when I opened it it dawned on me that it may just work with the ODBD gift bag die set so I thought I would give it a try..... Laid the die pieces on my work table next to the ODBD die set and it looked like it would fit so I cut the card stock and die cut all my pieces. Here are the two die sets next to each other -- FSJ dies are all lime green:

This first gift bag I made I used the new Stampin Up Highland Heather colour card stock and I made the gift bag with a solid front and back piece and I used the Rose Garden die to make a decorated panel to fit over the front of the gift bag:

Very monochromatic but I like how the rose panel gives the gift bag front some depth. I also did not want the handles to cover up any of the bag front panel so I attached them to the inside of the bag. As with the first gift bag I made using this die set I assembled the bag flat and then added my rose panel to the front of the bag and then closed the bag. All I have to do is make a tag and fill the bag with paper shred or coloured tissues and a gift or treats....

Really like how the Rose Garden panel fits into the ODBD die set -- new possibilities for a nice gift bag set.... but wanted to show off the Rose Garden die cut panel so why not try a see through front panel??? Here is that bag:

The above photo the gift bag looks more blue than the Cool Caribbean card stock it is. As before I die cut the solid piece for the gift bag back, the two sides, the two handle pieces, and then the front panel using the Rose Garden die:

Once again I assembled this bag flat and then formed the bag with all the pieces attached to each other:

In the photo above you can see I attached the two side pieces to the front and back. Before I attached the Rose Garden die cut front panel piece to the other side piece I turned this over and measured the backside. I cut a piece of clear sheet to be a bit larger than my die cut front panel.   When I use clear sheets or clear packaging for 'windows' on treat holders and such I use a store brand Swiffer duster refill to run over the clear sheets to remove any lint or card stock "hairies" etc.. With that done I attached my clear sheet to the wrong side of the gift bag front using red sticky tape. With the clear sheet in place I closed the gift bag:

I closed the bottom of the bag with tear and tape. Added the handles using large glue dots and on the inside of the bag behind each handle I put a 7/8" circle from the matching card stock. This covers the backside of the handles on the inside of the bag. Added a large clear rhinestone to the front of the handles on the bag front. Here is another photo of this bag:

In the above photo you can see the shadow on the inside of the bag of the rose cutouts on the bag front. I used clear sheet so paper shred and treats and such will not fall out of the bag through the openings the rose die set made on the bag front panel. Here are the two bags together:

Really like the ODBD Card Caddy/Gift Bag die set and am happy I now have another choice for decorating the front and back panels of the gift bag! Now off to make the two cards I had bought the Rose Garden die set for to begin with .... ;0)

Shadow Box BOO

Had seen cards here and there using the idea of a shadow box but they all had flaps for the fronts. I wanted my card to be free standing and without a flap. Saw a card I liked but of course no directions anywhere when I tracked down the blog. . .

With just the idea of it all I would have to make my own pattern for this Shadow Box BOO card. I wanted it to be free standing but still lay flat for mailing -- here is an envelope from Mikes with my card inside:

Once it is out of the envelope this is what it looks like:

The card is two pieces of card stock -- these photos show the first one I made for my pattern. The back/front piece is one piece of white card stock 5 1/2" x 9". Scored with the long side at the top of the score board (I used the M Stewart score board): 1/2", 3 3/4", 4 3/4", and again at 8". The insert piece is cut to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" scored with short end at top of score board at: 1/2" and 3 3/4". The key to this box card is to crease your scored lines sharply so they will keep the box shape. Here are photos of the pattern:

and the other side with the insert piece:

Since this was my first one and the pattern I wrote front, back, and insert on the pieces so I could keep the pieces marked. Using rectangle dies from Spellbinders I used washi tape and held the die in place and die cut that. Wanted a larger opening so with it cut I moved the die down to the lower part of the front and cut it again for the larger rectangular opening:

With the window cut out of the front piece I did the same to the insert piece:

Now I was ready to 'dry fit' my box card:

With the pattern made I cut out the card pieces using Smoky Slate card stock from Stampin Up. Before I cut the windows in the front and insert pieces I decided how I wanted to decorate the front of my box card. I die cut the pumpkin and sponged the edges of that with black ink. Stamped "happy halloween" onto scrap white card stock and used the SU banner punch for that. Sponged the edges of that. Wanted to use the Spellbinder Deckled Rectangle die set for a frame around the window on the front of the box card so I cut a piece of Mikes black card stock using the largest of these rectangle frames. That decided how large my windows could be for my box card. I used the largest plain Spellbinder rectangle die and cut out a window in my front piece and the insert piece. I sponged the insides of both rectangle windows using black ink. Used red sticky tape and put the black deckled frame over the window on the front piece of the box card.

While my box card was flat I did all the decorating -- this box card is three layers. First I cut a piece of white/GP for the inside of the box piece -- the back piece - used a small haunted house die and cut that from Mikes black card stock. For the moon I used a Post It Note and a 1" circle punch and put the circle on the white/GP piece in the upper right corner. Used the SU Detailed Floral die to die cut a piece from black card stock to use as a template for my clouds. Sponged over this template on the white/GP moon piece using SU Going Gray ink. With that done I used the ATG and TomBow glue and put the haunted house die cut piece onto this white/GP cloud piece. I removed the moon circle and added some yellow and orange ink to that leaving the center all white.

Die cut the small Impression Obsession ghost die set using white glittered card stock and put two of the small ghosts above the haunted house on the background piece using micro mini glue dots. Put a third ghost near the bottom of the haunted house piece. Using the ATG I put this piece on the solid part of the card stock base. Set this aside.

Cut two pieces of clear sheets for my 'windows'. They are 3" x 3 3/4". Using a multi bats stamp from the dollar bin at Mikes (when the dollar stamps were a dollar).... I used StazOn black ink and the Stamp A Ma Jig tool to stamp the bats. Using the Stamp A Ma Jig when stamping onto clear sheets gives you a clearer stamped image without the stamp sliding. If you do not have a clear image just use StazOn cleaner on a clean tissue and wipe off the clear sheet and stamp again. For the front window piece I stamped the gate stamp from the SU stamp set Toxic Treats. With both clear sheets stamped I set them aside to dry.

For "boo" I made my own 'klipboard'. Used a pull tab from a kleenex box and die cut "boo":

I used a sheet of glittered paper from the dollar tree and backed that with Stick It sheet and die cut that and peeled off the backing and put it over the kleenex cardboard tab "boo" and this gives this word shape and dimension:

On my box card I used an orange "boo" I had die cut. While my box card was flat and not assembled I used red sticky tape on the backsides of my die cut rectangle windows and put the stamped clear sheets on the box pieces. With that done I used sticky strip and put the center insert piece onto the box card base. Then put the front window piece over the box card and closed it - using black ink I sponged the edges on the front, back and sides of my box card -- sides, top, and bottom.

Cut a piece of Halloween washi tape for the top front of my box card. This box card is very hard to photograph with the clear sheet windows but IRL you can easily see the gate piece in front of the bats piece in front of the haunted house piece:

The above photo is dark due to the window sheet glare for the stamped windows but this photo shows the card is free standing and it holds it's shape for a shadow box. This photo is a bit better:

This is an easy pattern to use for this box card. I did the base front and back piece first with stamping and decorating and then did the insert piece. Once all decorated then I attached the insert piece and closed the box card.  Like how it is not only free standing but also dimensional for the BOO Day festivities!! Fun card to put together and like that it folds flat for mailing. TFL

Layered Birthday Card

** This card was chosen for a "Favorites of the Week" on Splitcoast Stampers. No doubt due to the beautiful detail on this die set from Our Daily Bread Designs! (ODBD) Thanks to Jeanette for including my card on her list! **


Used the Our Daily Bread Design quilted die for this next card:

This die not only cuts the pieces for the quilt but it also has the stitch lines for extra detail. Here is my second quilt card using this die:

The card stock base is pink card stock from SU cut and scored on the side. For the quilted piece I cut the quilt die out of white/GP. The frame from that die cut is the white frame piece I used for the card front. Using Prima card stock from Hobby Lobby on sale I cut four prints using the die so I would have a variety of prints on the quilt:

With all the prints cut I cut a piece of white/GP the size of the die cut quilt frame. Covered that piece with adhesive using the ATG and put the white/GP die cut frame onto that. That would be the base of the quilt that I put all the die cut prints into to 'build' the quilt. Once all the pieces were in the frame I used SU Crumb Cake and sponged the edges of the quilted card front:

Put this quilt piece onto the pink card stock base using the ATG. Set that aside. Using an oval doily die from my stash I cut out a doily using white/GP card stock. Sponged the edges of that with SU Crumb Cake. Using two Spellbinder oval dies I cut out an oval frame from white/GP and sponged that as well. Used a lattice die from the stash and cut out a piece of white/GP. Lightly sponged the ink over that as well:

Here is a photo of the die cut doily and oval frame also sponged:

Used an oval die and cut out the lattice piece and put the oval frame over the lattice piece using red sticky tape. Used a white pearls pen for the pearls on the lattice piece:

Once that was dry I put it onto the oval doily piece using the red sticky tape. For the flowers I used flowers from the stash and used a sprig punch from M Stewart and punched out 6 sprig pieces. Laid the flowers and sprigs on a cookie rack and spritzed them with Shimmer Mist to give them a little sparkle:

Put the flowers together using clear TomBow glue and put a pearl in the center of those and put the sprig pieces under them using red sticky tape. Put these onto the oval doily frame piece using glue dots and sticky tape. For the banner "Birthday Blessings" I used a stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs and stamped it onto scrap white/GP using pink ink. Sponged the edges with the Crumb Cake ink. Trimmed this to fit into the SU banner punch and punched that out. Ran it over and under a plastic bone folder to give it a wave and put it under the flowers and on the frame using glue dots:

Used pop dots and put the doily/frame piece onto the card front. The above photo shows the flowers, banner, and the sponging on the edges of the quilted piece. The quilted die from Our Daily Bread Designs easily cuts through many different weights of card stock with no problems and the die gives your piece a lot of detail. Looking forward to making holiday cards using this die as well. TFL

Quilted Floral Card

Our Daily Bread Designs (ODBD) sells their new releases with bundle pricing or you can just buy whichever of those dies you would like individually. This card was made using the new Quilted Background die from their new July release:

Here is a photo of the packaging to show this quilted die:

For my card I used #110 weight black card stock from Mikes. Cut and scored that at the top. Set it aside. For my quilted piece I cut out white/GP for the white frame and pieces for my card. The prints on my card are from a 6x6 paper pack on sale at Hobby Lobby:

I cut out the die from three of these prints. Once all the quilted pieces were cut I cut a piece of white/GP the same size as the quilted frame and used the ATG to cover that with adhesive. (That piece is the "base" to 'build' the quilt on). Then I put the white quilt frame piece on that. With that in place I began assembling all the cut quilt pieces into the white/GP frame. This is a photo showing all the pieces in the frame:

I used the ATG and put this quilted card front onto the black card stock base. Using a scalloped punch I punched out a black scalloped circle. Using a die from the stash I cut out a black circle frame from the black and white print in the card stock pack. For the flowers in the circle frame I used the floral print card stock I had used for my quilted frame. Used a circle die from Spellbinders and cut out the largest flower cluster on the floral card stock. Used TomBow glue to put the circle frame over the floral circle and then put these onto the black scalloped circle. Used pop dots to put this in the center of the quilted background card front.

For the "hello" I used a stamp from the Stampin Up "Teeny Tiny Wishes" stamp set and stamped that using Memento black ink. That stamp reads "hello baby" but I just inked the "hello" and stamped it onto scrap white/GP card stock. Used the small tag punch from Stampin Up to punch that out. Tucked this tag under the floral circle on my card front. Put a pop dot behind this tag to give the greeting piece dimension.

The dies from Our Daily Bread Designs always cut well and you can see the detail of the quilted pieces in this photo - I used clear Wink of Stella over the flowers in the circle to add some sparkle and shine to the card front:

and a photo to show the greeting:

Added clear sequins to the card front for some sparkle as well - nice die to use for quilted cards and they will all look different depending on what prints and colours you use. TFL

Happy 4th of July Treat Holders

Happy 4th of July -- be safe, keep cool, and enjoy!

Here are two of the 4th of July treat holders I made this week:

This treat bag uses the Mini Treat Bag die set from Stampin Up. The patriotic paper is from a 6 x 6 pad of patriotic prints by Pebbles - "Americana" from my stash. Used a patriotic stamp set from Taylored Expresssions for the stamped banner greeting. Used the SU Banner Punch for that. The stars are the stitched star dies from Our Daily Bread Designs and in the center is a denim fabric covered brad from the stash. For the belly band just cut two pieces the width I wanted and put them around the treat bag using tear and tape.

This next treat holder uses a couple of dies -- the basket is the Bountiful Basket die set from Our Daily Bread Designs:

I die cut the basket out of #110 weight white card stock from Mikes. Stars print is from the Pebbles patriotic paper pad "Americana". This die set is very detailed -- when you die cut the basket shape of the die the die embosses the card stock so it is very easy to line up the printed paper you use to decorate each piece. I used TomBow glue to put the prints onto the basket piece while the basket piece was flat and not assembled - here is a photo of the packaging to show this ODBD die set:

This die set has the basket as well as the layers die set. Easy basket to die cut and assemble... but of course I added a Cheery Lynn small doily die that I had cut in half to the circles on the sides of the basket:

I also used the Stampin Up Bow Builder punch for the bow. Added a silver star crystal to the center of that for the front of my basket. Here is a photo to show how many mini treats this little basket can hold:

Another fun die from ODBD.  Happy 4th!