Regiftable cards

My friends occasionally ask me what they should do with the birthday cards I make for them. On receiving this card, my friend Caroline said, “It’s just too nice to toss out, but I don’t often save cards.” I told her that it was okay if she wanted to paste a sheet of paper over the message I’d written inside, and pass it along to someone else.

That got me to thinking, should I make cards for people that are specially designed for “re-carding”? I have a friend who is an ardent environmentalist, and although she is too polite to say anything, I wouldn’t be surprised if she inwardly groans at the ‘waste’ in some of my multi-layered creations. So I decided to create a more environmentally friendly card, just for her.

Images (c) Stampin’ Up!

In this card, I made sure not to use any layers, just images stamped directly on the card base. I used an image of an environmentally friendly bicycle built for two, and used a generic greeting that is appropriate for all sorts of occasions. There are a few flaws in the card – I forgot to clean my border stamp before re-inking it in a new colour (oops) and stamping on my base, but I decided to go with it instead of reaching for a new piece of cardstock. Good for me, right?

My real innovation though, was on the inside. To make it easier to re-use the card, I made photo corners from scrap paper, and used them to hold down a stack of paper for writing personal messages on. Each sheet of 4 1/4 x 2 3/4 paper can be removed by the recipient of the card, and the sheet underneath can be used for the next greeting.

Here’s how I made the message pad.

Technique Tutorial – Re-giftable cards

1. Punch four large photo corners out of card stock.  If desired, round the sharp corners with a corner rounder punch.
2. Using a ruler and a bone folder, score along each “arm” of the photo corners.
3. Fold the “arms” under and behind the corner, to create a pocket.
4. Use adhesive, such as a glue dot, between the two arms, and on the back of the pocket.  Be sure NOT to adhere the arms to the top layer (front) of the pocket.
5. Cut one piece of 8 1/2 x 11 printer paper into 8 pieces of 4 1/4 x 2 3/4 paper, and stack.
6. Use four completed pockets to hold down the stack of 4 1/4 x 2 3/4 papers.

Patterns and Pennants

One of my goals for making this card was to try layering different patterns of paper.  I love patterned paper, but I also find it a bit intimidating trying to match different designs and colors.  Most of these papers came out of a single Simply Scrappin’ kit (long retired), so that made it a little bit easier. 

I also had in the back of my mind that I wanted to use pennants, because I think they lend well to layering different patterns.  But I always have a problem with cutting the ends of pennants evenly.  When I scrap, I usually eyeball a lot of things – don’t bother getting out the ruler to line up my layers for instance, or to center items on a card or a page.  If things don’t quite line up, well, that just adds the personal touch that says “I made this”.  But ( I feel like I’ve written a lot of “buts” on this page), that doesn’t cut it for pennants.  Whenever I’ve tried to eyeball the angle or the length of the cut-out on the bottom of a pennant, one of the pointy ends always ends up looking longer, or sharper or deeper than the other.  And the end result is just plain wonky. 

So I came up with this method for cutting pennants.  I’m still eyeballing a little, but it ends up a lot more even.

Pennant Tutorial

1. Cut a strip of patterned paper the width of your pennant.  You probably want your paper strip to be longer than you want your pennant to be, so you have a little room to play with.
2. Measure the width – this strip is 1 1/4
3. Using your paper-cutter, make a cut a little way up the middle of your paper strip.  One half of 1 1/4 is 5/8, so that is where I made my cut.  Don’t cut too far – just however deep you want the end of your pennant to be.
4. Use scissors to trim from one corner to the top of the cut.
5. Then do the other side.  That’s it, you are done.

Wet and Dry (embossing that is)

Who knew?  You can dry and wet emboss at the same time!

Images copyright Stampin’ Up!

I was so inspired by a treat bag I saw on the blog of the incredible Josee Smuck, that I had to try it right away.  For this house-warming card, I used a turquoise embossing powder inside the Chevron embossing folder. Too cool!  The end result has a bit of a distressed look, which I thought went well with the topsy-turvy house I stamped.  (I almost always use clear mount stamps now; I’m a little rusty with the wood mounts I guess).

Wet and Dry Embossing Tutorial

1. Ink up one side of your embossing folder with versamark ink.
2. Place your paper in the folder (right side of paper to inked side of folder) and run it through the big shot.
3. Coat paper with embossing powder, and heat set.
4. Don’t forget to clean your embossing folder.  I just sprayed it with Stampin’ Mist, and wiped with a rag.

Note: The photos used to illustrate this tutorial, are from my “Shameless” card posted last week.

Shameless!

Okay, “Shameless!” is probably not the best way to start a post with a wedding card, but it refers to my design process, and not to the bride or groom.

I have to admit, that almost no original thought of mine contributed to the design of this card. I was inspired by this card on SplitCoastStampers, and by this weeks colours on the PlayDateCafe. The double dry and wet embossing technique I used to fill the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder pattern with Iridescent Ice embossing powder was scraplifted from this post from the incredible Josee Smuck. All I did was bring it all together.

 

Images copyright Stampin’ Up!

 

Hope you like it!

p.s. I’ll be posting a tutorial on wet and dry embossing later this week!

Merry Moments Christmas Cards

Make all of your Christmas cards in a single evening!  This class by e-mail and demonstrator class planner provides full instructions for making 20 easy and beautiful cards using one-half of a Merry Moments Simply Scrappin’ kit.

PaperCrafter Class by E-mail

The PaperCrafter class by e-mail provides a PDF file containing full instructions for creating all 20 cards, including:

• Supply List
• Cutting Maps
• Photos of each card and step by step instructions

This tutorial does not include the supplies you need to create the cards.  Please contact your Stampin’ Up! demonstrator to order supplies.

PaperCrafter Class by E-mail  – $19.95 (CDN)

Demonstrator Class Planner

The demonstrator class planner includes all of the above, plus:

• A word document you can customize with your own contact details
• A class flyer
• Blog, newsletter and widget text for marketing your class
• The demonstrator class planner is not labeled with PeonyPaperCrafts identifiers

Information for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators here.

Demonstrator Class Planner – $24.95
 

Stamps, Inks and Tools used

• Greetings of the Season Stamp Set (W – 128030; C – 128033; F,C – 129531)
• Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin’ Pad (126966)
• Old Olive Classic Stampin’ Pad (126953)
• Decorative Label Punch (120907)
• Stampin’ Trimmer (or paper cutter of your choice) (126889)
• Paper Snips (103579)

Win a copy:  Link to this blog post or to the PeonyPaperCrafts home page, then leave me a comment to tell me where your link is.  On Friday September 21, I will randomly draw one winner to receive a copy of their choice of either the PaperCrafter class by e-mail or the Demonstror Class Planner.

(More) Busy Butterflies

If you look back through my posts, you will definitely see a lot of butterflies, of different shapes and sizes.  I guess everybody has their favorite go to images, and mine are butterflies.

This is another card inspired by a CAS challenge on SplitCoastStampers from a few months back, which I am only now getting around to posting.  With this card, I wanted to create a banner with a little more dimension than usual, so that it could hold its own against the busy butterflies.

Images (c) Stampin’ Up!

Tips and Tricks – Dimensional Banner

1. Cut a banner from cardstock and stamp with greeting.
2. Grasp both ends of the banner, and gently run it over the hard corner of a table.  This creates a curve in the cardstock.
3. Line the long edges of the banner with a marker.
4. Secure ends of the banner to your card with a foam square or Stampin’ Dimensional.

 

Cats and Corners (rounded corners that is)

This card was inspired by a SplitCoastStampers CAS challenge from a few months back, but somehow I just never got around to posting the card.  I love how the geometric squares in this card are softened by the ribbons, and by rounding off the corners.

Images (c) Stampin’ Up!

I have always loved the look of large rounded corners, but thought I couldn’t make them because I couldn’t find a giant corner rounder.  Silly Me!  I just recently figured out how to make rounded corners of all different sizes using my circle punches and circle cutters to create cutting templates.  Here’s how I did it:

Tips and Tricks – Giant Rounded Corners (Including nested rounded corners)

1. Punch or cut a circle from scrap cardstock. 
2. If you want to nest two corners – i.e. a smaller corner tucked inside a larger one – punch two circles of different sizes. 
3. Your border will be half the difference in the hight of the circles.  In the photo below, there is a quarter of an inch difference in the hight of my circles, so my border is an eight of an inch.
4. On the back side of your cardstock, line up your circles with the edges of the corner you want to cut, and trace around them.
5. Fussy cut along the line with a pair of sharp scissors.

 

Super Cute Pen Holder – Project Instructions

Whoo Hoo!  I’m adding a new product to my blog – downloadable project instructions! I’m super excited about this, as I used to teach cardmaking and scrapbooking classes on a regular basis. unfortunately, I got sick for quite a while and couldn’t keep regular hours with my classes.  I had to give them up.  Ever since, I’ve been looking for a way to get back to it, in a way that allows me more flexibility.

Please let me know what you think of my first effort in the comments (I appreciate the suggestions for improvement just as much as the kudos).  If this is popular, I will be adding more free projects, as well as some e-classes for purchase.

And now, drum roll please…. 

… my first downloadable project…

…A SUPER CUTE PEN HOLDER!

I don’t know about you, but I love having pretty containers on my desk or in my creative space. They brighten up my rather dull workstation at office, and inspire me when I’m cardmaking or scrapbooking at home.

In this tutorial, we will make a super cute pen holder using a dollar store pen cup, some cardstock and a little bling. It is relatively easy to make – all the tools and techniques used are used regularly in card making.

If you can make a card, you can make this pretty pen holder in about an hour!

Download instructions here.

Information for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators here.

Flower Power

I just wanted to share a quick card with you tonight.  Hope you like it!

Butterfly Love

This week, I challenged myself to create a few cards using styles outside of my comfort zone.  This card is the result.  I was also inspired by this week’s colour combination for The Play Date Cafe.

How I Made It

1. I used three different colours to stamp some butterflies, hearts and flowers in a border around the edges.
2. I used an embossing folder in my BigShot to create the frame around the love stamp.  The butterflies were also created with an embossing die folder.
3. The flowers were created using scallop and flower punched, following the steps I described here.