Envelope Pocket Card

One of the best parts of Stampin' Up's new envelope punch board is using it to make unique card designs! I originally saw this card design on Caroline van der Straaten's blog, and I have had a lot of fun playing with the basic concept! I created two variations using the Four Feathers and Flower Patch stamp sets.

 

To create my envelope pocket card, I created a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 envelope and taped down two opposite edges. The pocket is created by attaching the remaining flaps together. The pocket insert measures 4 1/4 x 5 1/2, fitting perfectly into the altered envelope. I embellished the outside and inside with a variety of feathers and a button that I rolled on my Versamark pad and heat embossed in gold.

Here is another variation on the same design in softer colors using the Best Year Ever Designer Paper from the current Sale-a-bration promotion. I ADORE the colors in this paper!

 

I hope you'll try this fun technique!

Watercolor Backgrounds

Hi, friends! I'm back today to share a super simple idea for creating fun backgrounds for cards and projects. If you've had any experience with fine art, you might remember this technique as wet-on-wet watercoloring. If not, it's a super simple way to add a specialty paper look to your card background in a snap.

You'll start with your favorite watercolor paper cut to the size of your card front, watercolor brushes (I used a small flat brush and a small round brush), dye reinkers, a bowl of water, a back board, and masking tape.

Start by attaching your watercolor paper to your backing board with masking tape. Tape around all four edges, creating an even border with your masking tape. This will leave a uniform white space all around the outside of your paper, which creates a tidy edge.

Choose your background colors and squeeze a few drops of each reinker color into a palette or paper plate. Using a clean brush, wet the whole surface of your paper, then begin dabbing color onto one area of the paper. The more water you add to your reinker, the more dilute the color. Add other shades and allow them to spread and bleed together. If you want them to bleed more, spray the paper lightly with water. You can remove any pooling with a paper towel. Allow the paper to dry completely and remove the tape. For the card above, I used three shades of blue and left quite a lot of the paper white.

This technique works well with bright colors as well! For this little card, I used three shades of pink and then stamped over my colored area when the paper was dry. I used a water pen to color over the ink on my heart to make it look painted on.

 

 

 

I experimented a lot using this technique for water as well, and came up with these cool backgrounds! Adding a sprinkle of salt when your paper is wet creates a really neat mottled effect. I also tried sprinkling water on the paper after it was dry to create some light blotches. What a messy and fun crafty afternoon!

 

 



Springtime Blooms

  We have had the world's weirdest January and early February here in Montana. Several days were in the 60's and coat-free! This would be wonderful if there weren't such huge natural consequences for these climate changes. Fire season, wildlife, our ground water ... all are affected by our lack of snow and ice. I'm sure winter will be back, but for now these high temps have me thinking about spring flowers!

  For this project I used my PTI Garden Variety stamps and dies. I don't know what it is about Papertrey Ink's designs, but they are just unmatched in their level of detail and old-fashioned charm.

 

This card makes me want to put on an old apron and plant tulips, but I'll have to wait a few more months. Unless spring really does decide to come early in Montana!

 

Thanks, friends! Have a wonderful weekend!

Belated Christmas Share!

  OH MY GOODNESS! I haven't posted since September, despite doing quite a bit of creating over the past few months. I must say that different stages of life have different priorities, and sometimes our hobbies must take back seat to all the other important things going on.

  Owning a home has turned some of my creative juices in that direction, but there simply aren't enough hours in the day to craft as much as I used to or would like to. I am preparing to start my national certification through MTNA (and will be for a good while), and my focus on my career as a teacher and pianist has taken over a lot of my time. This is a good move and the right one for me right now. Of course, I love my crafting time, and I promise to post whatever I can whenever I can.

  Of course it's now Valentine's day, but there are a few leftover projects from Christmas that I wanted to share, only for the sake of using these ideas again in the future. I enjoyed having my crafting group (aka my best buds) over for a weekend Christmas craft-a-thon in December. Here are a few of the projects we created and a few I worked up just for fun:

 

Moose with pants. The end.

 

 

This was a super simple card created with Nordic Noel DSP from Stampin' Up. These houses are just adorable!

 

 

 

Maybe my favorite project: A photo card with a transparent vellum window. This would be even cuter with a CHRISTMAS photo, but what kind of organized person has one of those laying around?

 

 

Also maybe my favorite: A shaker card using the Peace on Earth set from Stampin' Up, some sponging, and faux snow and sequins. These turned out just lovely. My only change to the design in future will be to increase the size of the shaker window so more of the cute little animals are visible through the snow.

 

 

 

This card features a removable shaker ornament on the front that can be taken off and hung on the recipient's tree. More houses!

 

 

  We always have a lot of fun with Christmas crafts at our house, and I hope these ideas inspire you when the time comes! On to the spring goodies! Thanks for stopping by!