Project 62: Layered stamp layouts

I thought I’d do a quick post on this sketch I found on Pinterest ages ago.

During the playdate I played with Claire’s extensive stamp collection to put it to the test. I layered three card sheets on top of each other and then made the patterned paper, being careful to make sure the stamps crossed over the layers to make it more interesting.

I then topped the papers with gold ink, making it look antique. You can buy distress ink expressly for this purpose but who can be asked? I already have the gold ink and this seems to work just fine.

Next I layered each card with a solid color matching the ink

Topped with a greeting and we’re done and it looks super cute. I need to hunt down these stamps. I love them.

This version is a bit truer to the sketch with twine and a button. It’s too busy I think. It only needs the two layers like the headline version to make the point and the twine is just fussy.

This is the only use the stamps have got as they are part of a “Edwardian Lady’s Collection” Claire got free. They cracked me up and I was determined to use them. That’s the fun thing about a playdate – you use things that normally seem impossible because your only agenda is to make it random and different from your normal crafting. Love playdates.

Project 61: Wedding cards 4 ways

We have a lot of weddings to go to this year and as we had the playdate to end all playdates, I used this as an opportunity to spend a bit longer coming up with my own wedding ideas. And playing with Claire’s toys, obviously.

The headline card was a contemporary take on wedding cards which I’m actually going to use as a wedding shower card. My sister is the maid of honor in this wedding and the bride is all about purple (just as I was) so I thought I’d take a modern approach as it’s not for the actual wedding. I used this sketch as inspiration (which I was surprisingly true to!).

This card was one I came up with for our friends Nick and Connor, who are getting married in February.  I thought this folder really worked and normally I'd never go for this style but it was balanced by the dark purple and pinstripes. I hoped the pinstripes would make it look more masculine but being purple I don’t know why I thought that would work. I love it anyway. 

Next is one for a lovely modern couple. Sarah has really classy style so I wanted the card to reflect that. I went for something simple and elegant for Sarah and James and silver and white were perfect for this. I love this embossing folder of Claire’s and this glittery paper is just amazing.

Finally this is my most traditional card for our friends Emma and Rob. I have always been intimidated by this formal embossing folder but I’ve realised that by going outside of the non-embossed greeting area is fine and makes it much easier to use. I made a wedding cake out of silver paper and gave it some glitter icing and a pearl-bling heart as a topper. Claire has a great scallop heart punch for the greeting.

I’m pleased I had time to play around with wedding sketches because I tend to do one of two layouts usually and with all the weddings on the cards for the next 2 years I need to branch out to keep it interesting.

Project 60: Valentines cards

A short collection of Valentines for you!

The headline one was inspired by this pinterest layout.

The heart die that Claire and I used was too big for the layout to work properly but Claire had the idea of putting it on the diagonal and I loved it. The glossy photo paper embosses a dream. Some buttons on top make it a bit more “me.”

Next was a variation on the theme: Claire had embossed the paper and cut it too short and I was convinced I could save it so I did a stripey border on the side with the purple bakers’ twine that I love so much. Another button.

Finally a retro-feeling valentine for Olly. I made him another one that was personalized but I thought this one was perfect for the colors. I’m debating giving him quite a few more but I don’t know if I can invest the effort. Will keep you posted.

Project 59: Spice up your cards with some orange

I had the best playdate this weekend with Claire. She’s moving to NYC and this may have been our last ever playdate. So we seriously went to town and made cards for 12 hours straight, trying new techniques and new tools and new layouts and then finished off with some old favorites.

As a result we produced about 40 cards between us. And because of this I won’t be posting them all here in one post.

I’ve grouped them into posts that feel the most coherent and this one is probably the biggest stretch.

Orange is one of my favorite colours, I love using it as a bold accent in cards. And as a bold accent in life, generally.

The headline is one based on a pinterest sketch  that I found. I love gradient and you could obviously do this in any color as long as you can punch a butterfly (or any shape) and get a long enough scrap to make the gradient. 

This one is also based on a pinterest sketch  that I pinned a while ago. I just got a die cutting machine and with it I inherited this gift cutting die that cuts the package bows for you. So that was easier than ribbon.

Next is one of my standard layouts with layered patterned paper. I used a die cut flower topped with a button with a punched tag and stamped greeting. I added the embossed border below to add some technique and glittered random parts of the paper to make it playdate-worthy.

Finally this was a simple layout that I wanted to feature the Orla Kiely-style paper I found in Claire’s random scrap bag. A collection of candies at the bottom probably weren’t necessary but I freakin’ love candies.

I’ll post some of the other versions later this week, there are some real gems coming up J

Project 58: Fun with candies

Happy New Year! I wanted to mention that yes, I will be blogging again this year, but no, I will not be committing to do one post per week. I aim to still craft every week but I’m hoping to be a bit more lenient with myself as sometimes it was a stress-point to get a post done.

So straight in to today’s post – I have had a generous amount of craft bounty gifted to me for Christmas and as I had a few spare days before going back to work I gave myself time to really play with all the new kit.

I’ve themed this post candies as I realized about half way through my 2-day session that almost all of my cards featured them. Claire gave me a few new sets and a handy-dandy organizing set of really useful boxes so having them all sorted really inspired me to use them more. I see a candy-fuelled life ahead!

I started to write a short blurb about all of the cards but then I was getting bored so just the highlights (with new toys highlighted in brackets):

Headline card uses my Martha art deco scallop border punch on repeating papers. Takes ages. Never again. (Candies are new from Claire. All candies are in fact new for all cards.)

Simple divided layout using an embossed upper half, ribbon, patterned paper and stamped sentiment. (The green ribbon is from my stocking from my parents. My dad does a good job with ribbon choice. Also the green one uses a stamp that I have never found a use for before. Score.)

Next a gingham background using paper flowers, ribbon stripe in the middle, die cut and stamped sentiment.  (Some of the paper flower are new from Claire and features my new daisy-chain Martha punch from my parents.) 

A reverse-out flower punch with a very simple layout to keep the focus on the colourful flowers. (New punch from Joy.)

The only birthday card in the mix (I need thank yous for all the presents!) I made a hippie inspired card with a water-mark effect on stamps. (New tie-dye style stamps from my parents as well as the ribbon from my dad’s sale-bin-diving efforts.)

A butterfly layout where I fashioned an envelope by deconstructing a proper envelope. (no new toys other than the candies.) 

Another butterfly layout using a music stamp, butterfly punches and another stamp I have never been able to use before. (see above re: new toys.)

A card for my sister using the papers she gave me last year using an embossed thank you and simple layout. I tried to ink the thank you in light pink but it looked awful so I inked over it again in black. (as above) 

A stamped feature piece that I hand cut as I don’t have a die-cutter (yet!) using a complicated stamp and variegated gold paper. (as above) 

Finally this one is for Claire as this looks simple but was a major hassle. I put a strip of white paper down to highlight the red and white string and then managed to feed it through the double button and create the bow (15 minutes later…). The chipboard shapes were given to me by Claire last year in the $20 challenge and they were plain so I hand coloured the raised bits with a red felt tip pen. Then I stamped the sentiment. So it looks simple, but only a fellow crafter will see that it's more complicated to create. This one also does not use candies.Misleading for this post, I know.

I could have spread these out over two posts  but as I’m no longer tied to posting every week I’ll give you a bumper hit to make up for my 2 weeks of absence.

Hope you enjoyed the week of candy!