Gorjuss ‘With Love’ Card

 

Hi! I recently made this ‘with love’ card for a friend’s birthday, but you could use it for any occasion. Read on for how I made it!

I started by stamping this Gorjuss (and she is gorgeous) little girl in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and watercolouring her with Distress Inks (I used the colours Peeled Paint, Victorian Velvet, Gathered Twigs and Antique Linen, and I just kept on layering them to get the shading effect). I then cut her out, leaving a white border around her.

Next, I took a piece of regular cheap white card and cut it down so that it was a centimetre or so smaller than my base card. I then embossed the bottom half of this with a Sizzix embossing folder (this is the one that came free with the Big Shot starter kit) and covered the halfway point with this vintage-style paper from a Hobbycraft paper pad (not sure on the brand I’m afraid, might be Docrafts).

I set the little girl against the white card and decided I didn’t like how that looked, so I die cut a circle from some more patterned paper from the same 6×6 pad. I then took some Lawn Fawn brown twine and wrapped that around a few times. I then tied a little bit more twine around the front of that in a knot. (I’m rubbish at bows so this is what I do instead!)

Originally I wanted this card to be a get well card, as I was going to put ‘Feeling under the weather?’ as the sentiment since she’s got her umbrella. However, once I’d put that circle behind the little girl, there wasn’t much room left for a long sentiment, and I didn’t like how it looked with the words all stacked on top of each other. (I wanted the little girl to remain the tallest thing on the card.) I fished through my stash and found this ‘with love’ sentiment from Lawn Fawn and stamped that instead. Then I decided it could be a birthday card for my friend Jess, who loves anything retro so Tim Holtz and Gorjuss are both perfect for her!

Finally, I adhered the little girl with double-sided foam for a bit of dimension, rounded off the corners with a corner punch and stuck the white card on to a piece of kraft cardstock which was the same height as my base card but left a tiny border around each vertical side.

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Manly Card Monday #15

This is probably my favourite stamp for masculine birthday cards. I’m a writer and a book-lover so I’ll buy anything with a good quote. People always smile when they see this one.

To begin with, I cut my little rectangle of white and masked off the sides. Then I blended Antique Linen Distress Ink with my round blending tool, coming in from the edges so that it grew darker at the sides and corners and lightest where I wanted to stamp my sentiment.

I stamped the quote in the middle and put that to one side, next stamping ‘Happy Birthday’ at the top of the card. Then I tied dark twine around this plaid patterned paper and stuck everything down.

Products:

‘Happy Birthday’ stamp – http://www.clearlybesottedstamps.com/

Mark Twain stamp – http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/

Lawn Fawn twine – http://www.makethedayspecial.co.uk/shop.php

Antique Linen Distress Ink – http://www.inkylicious.co.uk/distress-ink-pads/cat_43.html

Ranger blending tool – http://rangerink.com/

Patterned paper – http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/111655164468?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&chn=ps&device=c&rlsatarget=&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108

Kurt Vonnegut Cards

We all love a good quote. This is one that I heard years ago and loved, and I never realised it was from Slaughterhouse Five. I need to read that book one day.

The quote works nicely with both a feminine design and a masculine one, so I made 2 very different cards using the same sentiment.

The pink card was made using a distress ink background in Victorian Velvet, mostly blending but then also using the ‘squashing’ technique with acetate for a bit of added interest. I created the strip on the more masculine card in the same way, with Antique Linen. I used masking tape on both for the white borders.

I stamped my sentiment and cut the words out into singles, then stuck them down on my pink background. Then I added a few sequins.

I stamped the quote a second time, this time on the Antique Linen background. Then I covered my blank card in this patterned paper from my stash and stuck the strip down.

Products:

Lawn Fawn’s Jessie’s ABCs – http://www.makethedayspecial.co.uk

Sequins & patterned paper – http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk

Tim Holtz Distress Inks, ‘Antique Linen’ & ‘Victorian Velvet’ – http://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/tim-holtz-130-c.asp

Manly Card Monday #10

Fun with a new stamp set! My boyfriend is a photographer so I thought this Avery Elle set was a great buy.

I was also playing with some new Distress Inks, blending 3 together and masking around the side for a white border.

When stamping the camera, I masked out the heart so that it looked more masculine. I then coloured with Spectrum Noir markers and stuck down with double-sided foam for dimension. Finally, I took all of the greetings from the stamp set and stamped them all, stamping #happybirthday in a different colour to highlight it.

A really easy card which I’ll probably duplicate quite a few times!

Products:

Distress Inks in Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge & Gathered Twigs – http://www.amazon.co.uk

Avery Elle #Smile stamp set – http://www.makethedayspecial.co.uk/

Spectrum Noir pens – http://www.spectrumnoir.com/

“A Little Note of Thanks” distress ink card

Some partial die-cutting for you today, to which I have already admitted my lack of expertise! It took a few goes but I like the finished product.

First I blended Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers over white card, leaving a lighter space where I  planned to stamp my sentiment.

Once my background was ready, I trimmed the sides of the card down so that it would be slightly less than my blank. Then, I drew a straight line across the top in pencil, and stuck my ‘thanks’ die down with post-it tape, keeping the bottom edge just below my pencilled line.

I fixed my plates so that it wouldn’t cut the whole thing, and (after a few goes!) I cut the remaining parts with a craft knife so the word sticks up from the edge of the card.

I stuck the swirly borders on the card to get a faux-embossed effect. Then I stuck the ‘thanks’ card down with foam tape.

The borders were in my scrap pile from when I die-cut a load of them a while ago, and I used removable adhesive to stick them. If I were doing this card again, I would die-cut from scratch and used adhesive backing paper for a smoother finish.

Products Used:

Scripty Thanks die & “A little note of thanks” sentiment – http://www.lawnfawn.com

Swirly dies – http://www.craftsuperstore.co.uk/Papercrafting/Die_Cutting_and_Embossing/Xcut_Dies/Xcut-XCU503188.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_campaign=Xcut+Large+Dies+(7pcs)+-+Floral+Flourishes&gclid=CjwKEAjw25SoBRCMn7Gc97Knj0ISJAC7vaMrGqbDNcZf-hcR0I5X3ZwxTT9mw6-2VkPjX1VcnsP_FxoCcDLw_wcB

Distress ink – http://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/search/tim-holtz#c328

Manly Card Monday #4 – Distressed Balloon

My card is clean and simple today with a distressed vintage look courtesy of Tim Holtz and some old patterned paper I found in my collection.

I used masking tape around the edges and blended Distress Ink in “Antique Linen”, keeping it darkest at the top and bottom and leaving the middle space mostly free of colour so that I could stamp my sentiment there.

This “happy birthday” is from a wooden stamp with a car image, so I just selectively stamped the sentiment. After peeling off the masking tape, I was left with this vintage background.

I grabbed the classic balloon shape from the dies showcased in my last post and die-cut from this stripy patterned paper that I thought worked really well against the parchment-like background.

To adhere the string, I first drew where I wanted it to fall in pencil and ran glue along it, carefully using tweezers to adhere the string down along the pencil line.

Before sticking the balloon down with double-sided foam, I also cut out some white card and stuck that behind the shine-mark for added effect.

Products Used:

Tim Holtz Distress Ink “Antique Linen” –
http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/tim-holtz-distress-ink-antique-linen/573401-1000

X Cut balloons die –
https://www.docrafts.com/Products/xcut/large-dies-10pcs-balloons/92377

Lawn Fawn string –
http://www.lawnfawn.com/collections/lawn-trimmings/products/retro-triple-pack-cord

Manly Card Monday #2 – Oscar Wilde

Not every man likes fishing, cars, football and gardening. I’d be offended if women’s cards only ever showcased saucepans, sewing needles and lipstick, so let’s branch out!

There’s nothing wrong with a hobby card as long as the man you’re giving the card to actually enjoys that hobby. But I’m trying to think more about masculine colour schemes and layouts rather than embellishments.

First, the background: I used masking tape around the card to keep it in place and get that nice clean white edge. Then I started to blend Tim Holtz Distress Ink in ‘Peacock Feathers’ all over, keeping the darker parts at the top and the bottom.

The great thing with Distress Inks is how they react with water. I used a paintbrush to flick some water over the ink and dabbed at it with tissue to leave this blotchy effect behind. Then I hurried the drying process along with my heat tool and peeled off the masking tape.

The embellishment in the middle is the fiddly bit. It takes a lot of die-cutting and at one point my Big Shot handle flew all the way across the room!

I ran the Lawn Fawn stitched journaling card through my Big Shot a grand total of 4 times – once with patterned paper and thrice with white card. I cut two of these in half – the patterned one and one plain one.

The two plain ones left intact are backing sheets to keep the embellishment secure. I took 1 patterned half and 1 plain and stuck it over one of the backing sheets. I then put that to one side and got out my alphabet dies.

I lined the remaining halves up and stuck them to my final intact card. Then I taped down my die and ran it all through my machine. Then I stamped just the “wishes” from a “Birthday Wishes” clear stamp.

Using foam pads for dimension, I adhered this to my other half-and-half card. Then I took some white cotton, wrapped it around until I was happy with the look and glued on a button to top it all off.

Before sticking everything down, I took some ribbon that I’ve been dying to use. It has this Oscar Wilde quote:

“I can resist anything, except temptation”. A card for the cultured man in your life!

Products Used

Tim Holtz Distress Ink “Peacock Feathers” –https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/220595700/tim-holtz-mini-distress-ink-pad-peacock?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_promoted_en_gb&utm_campaign=supplies-everything_else&gclid=Cj0KEQiAr9ymBRDdqYrH6Mj5170BEiQAcRUsiwIjtYNshhI1Cyp8pnWXEa3bx3PmiY8XKQcnHMxzqg8aAl_z8P8HAQ

Blending tool –
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/281570523620?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&chn=ps&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

“Let’s Polka” paper pad –
http://www.lawnfawn.com/products/lets-polka-petite-paper-pack

Stitched journalling card die –
http://www.lawnfawn.com/products/stitched-journaling-card

Cole’s ABCs –
http://www.lawnfawn.com/products/cole-s-abcs

Oscar Wilde quote ribbon –
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Oscar-Wilde-I-can-resist-everything-except-temptation-Ribbon-Colour-Choice-/190884030898

Curiosity Corner button –
http://www.hotshotcraft.co.uk/catalog/dovecraft-curiosity-corner-plastic-buttons-p-2715.html

Double Sayings stamps –
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005LBDDW0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00