Simple Copper Tree Cards

I love watching different channels on Youtube. Sometimes the ideas on the videos inspire me to create a card. This card was inspired by a card by Brandy Cox, an American demo whose cards are amazing, but quick and simple. I loved the simple circle aperture and I also the layering of the circles.

I have teamed a number of items together to create a card which uses simple techniques, blending brushes, punches, created backgrounds, stamping and heat embossing. The snowy background is the one from a previous video using white craft ink and water to ‘flick’ snow, it is super messy but my favourite.

The video below shows how I made the card. Although the circle punches are retired, you could use any that you have, you can also use dies. My slight boo boo with dies was due to using tape which was too sticky.

Measurements:

My Metric

10.5 cm x 14.5 cm (10.5 by 29cm scored at 14.5cm)

front panel - 10cm x 14cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.5cm

Metric

10.5 cm x 14.8 cm (10.5 by full length scored at 14.8cm)

front panel - 10cm x 14.3cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.8 cm

Imperial

4." x 5.5" (4” by full length scored at 5.5”)

Front Panel - 3.75” x 5.25”

Inside White Panel – 3.5 x 5”

You could of course use any stars that you may have and use an embossing powder to match. I think it would look fabulous in gold. Gold or Copper which is better?

Cardmaking Basics

Todays post is a bit different, I feel a bit like it is the twilight zone, don’t adjust your sets :)

After a large number of awful mistakes culminating in me droping a glass bottle on the floor I decided to film a different video than I was trying to film (it was awful, glue every except where it was supposed to go and ink dropped on cards.)

So I decided to film a new to stamping video.

My favourite item to recommend to a new stamper is a kit. I love the all inclusive kits as they contain all you need. They have card bases, envelopes, stamps, inks, dimensionals and also the embellishments. Another bonus is they have a block so if you are new to stamping you don’t have to buy a block. The only other things that I recommend is glue and also scissors.

If you know stamping is for you, I then recommend note cards, they come with envelopes - no cutting (whcih i think is a bonus,) You can add ink and punch pieces for quick simple cards. I also use the stamps from previous kits I have to make super cute cards (everyone loves a handmade card!) I would recommend getting one ink collection, my first collection was the subtles, but the in-colours come in 5’s rather than 10’s so can be good to play with at a more reasonable price.

I think that any stamp set with a punch is perfect. I am in love with the dragonflies, for birthdays I recommend the Sweet Ice Cream bundle for birthdays and the Snowman Seasons for Christmas.

What do you think are the essentials for crafting? Have I missed something?

Sparkly Perfectly Plaid Trees

I am like most crafters, sometimes I require a bit of inspiration to create a card which I love. Usuallly this inspiration comes from a Video, Facebook post or Pinterest Pin. I can spend hours scrolling, watching and pinning. Sometimes though rather than be inspired by other peoples cards, I look through old cards I have made and try to recreate things with a different twist.

When Perfectly Plaid was released, contained in the same catalogue was a chunkier glitter than Stampin’ Ups! Annual Catalogue glitter. But alas, both are now retired. Around that time (september 2019? maybe along time ago) I made a snow scene card using the pine trees. I used that card as inspiration and created another one.

I used my blender brushes on the stamp to make the mossy meadow softer. Using blender brushes on the sky to create a blended background which I think looks like a dark sky. I ensured that I used the darkest colour at the top and then blended down lightly to the trees (no masking required) and then addded ‘snow’ using the detailed glue and I pulled the glitter out of my stash but lots of places sell glitter and you can choose any you like!

Measurements:

My Metric

10.5 cm x 14.5 cm (10.5 by 29cm scored at 14.5cm)

front panel - 10cm x 14.5cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.5cm

Metric

10.5 cm x 14.8 cm (10.5 by full length scored at 14.8cm)

front panel - 10cm x 14.8cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.8 cm

Imperial

4." x 5.5" (4” by full length scored at 5.5”)

Front Panel - 3.75” x 5.5”

Inside White Panel – 3.5 x 5”

I forgot to clean my stamps and my second version ended up an interesting purple colour! whoopsee! But a handmade card is appreciated by everyone and it just makes it individual. The video below shows how to make this gorgeous simple card.

So the moral of the story is always clean your stamps! So embarassing! I do love the random colour though, what do you think?

Special Kangaroo Delivery

I have been playing with my favourite card layout rather than using the snowman, I decided to play with presents.

I loved the Kangaroo the moment I saw it. I love that it can carry flowers, a joey or presents. I have seen some gorgeous gorgeous cards using the different stamps and dies.

I thought that the presents would be perfect for a Christmas card and had decided that the Perfectly Plaid sentiments would work well. I have adored the sentiments since the stamp set was released, I was not sure if I liked the trees, but have used the sentiments previously on cards and tags. The tree stamps were not used on this card, but they will be featured in the next few cards,

Measurements:

My Metric

10.5 cm x 14.5 cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.5cm

Snow panel - 10.5 cm x 7.5 cm

Metric

10.5 cm x 14.8 cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.8 cm

Snow panel - 10.5 cm x 7.5 cm

Imperial

4." x 5.5"

Inside White Panel – 3.5 x 5”

Snow panel - 3” x 5.5

I think that the Cinnamon Cider Kangaroo looks the best, which do you prefer?

CASEing my favourite design

I love searching for inspiration either by searching Google images or using Pinterest, although I can spend hours searching and not enough time crafting. Whilst looking for inspiration for a snowman card, I found an amazing card created by Karina’s Kreation’s the card can be found here. I loved the simplicity and that it had layers but not what I would call ‘normal layers.’

I have to confess that my first card that I tried, was not that amazing. I think that the snowy panel is too large and the Stitched Shape die is too small. I then went back to the drawing board, looking at the panel sizes and also the snow banner.

I finally came up with a size that I liked, which I felt is balanced for the card.

Measurements:

My Metric

10.5 cm x 14.5 cm

Inside White Panel – cm x 13.5cm

Panel 1 – 11.5cm x 7.5cm

Panel 2 –  11.3cm x 7.3cm

Snow Panel – 10.5 x 3.9cm (to fit in 1 ½ inch groove in the triple banner punch)

Metric

10.5 cm x 14.8 cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.8 cm

Panel 1 – 11.5cm x 7.5cm

Panel 2 –  11.3cm x 7.3cm

Snow Panel – 10.5 x 3.9cm (to fit in 1 ½ inch groove in the triple banner punch)

Imperial

4." x 5 ½ "

Inside White Panel – 3 ½”  x 5”

Panel 1 – 4 ½ ” x 3”

Panel 2 –  4 6/16 x 2 14/16

Snow Panel – 4” x 1 ½

I used traditional blue snow colours, but I think that this would work with lots of different colours. I prefer the Night of Navy and Balmy Blue, whats your favourite?