Live Life in Color!

This card turned out a bit bolder than I expected, so I layered it accordingly! This text stamp from smARTworks was just right for it!

Thank you quilted cards

I am very low on thank you cards, so this was a great pattern for them!

I mentioned in my last post that I might try doing just basic stripes. As you see, I did so with the pink card. It was so much easier than the really quilted patterns I had done earlier. The basic square quilt panels were also much easier.

Top thank you is Eureka, bottom two are Stampin' Up.

"Cuttlequilting" tips

I so liked the look of this technique, that I decided to make a couple more panels ... and ended up making five! Crazy, as I have the next three weeks tightly scheduled to be ready for a craft fair I do at nearby Houghton College. But, I just got carried away ... and it was a great distraction from the election tensions! :-)

The sun was going down before I realized that I had not actually finished any cards, so I grabbed the first panel, this yellow one, and tried it with the black panel on a yellow card. Too busy. I expected black to be the best color, but after moving the panel back and forth between the two colors, I decided the sunny look of the yellow was the better choice. The camera photos seem to favor the black, but that might be the background colors. At any rate, I thought it was interesting how different each look is! Tomorrow I'll finish this card.

Anyway, in the process of making these, I decided I'd write a list of tips:

1. Use a piece of cheap cardstock as a base. Actually, use two: one for the background layout, the other to transfer those pieces one by one as you glue them. Layout is important because you don't want an edge that is a tiny sliver of a color, it tends to look like an error.

2. Make the cardstock at least an eighth of an inch longer and wider than you want the finished product. Then you can trim the edges of the scraps. Much less time consuming than trying to piece them flush with the edges.

3. When creating your layout, it will go much easier if you use repositional glue instead of just laying down the strips/pieces. Much more stable to work with, and easier when you decide you need to switch any pieces.

4. Make sure that you don't forget to note the size of your embossing folder ... you want to be sure the entire panel, including any edge you might want embossed, will fit in the folder.

5. Consider any images you will be putting over the top of the quilted panel: if a large part will be covered, you might want to make a mask about a 1/2 inch in diameter smaller, to temporarily affix to the spot it will be placed; if you have a complicated design, it will save time! I have to confess I kept forgetting to do that with mine, though most of them needed the entire panel done anyway.

6. If you've glued a piece on a little crookedly, don't worry. Just glue the next piece slight overlapping the angled piece; it will not be noticed. Even if it seems a little obvious as you are working, once the panel is cuttled it won't be noticeable. If your mistake is in having the strip angled inward, then a little marker in a coordinating color will take care of that.

7. Print papers are easily roughed up when embossed if the panel is too thick, so keep that in mind if you are planning to emboss a panel behind the quilted one.

8. This can be really time consuming; try to cut multiple strips together, don't obsess about perfectly straight lines, etc. Punches can make nice squares to save time. Tomorrow I'll post a card in which I just took one piece of paper, and attached a few punched squares. Very fast! Hmmm... I think I'll make one last panel as well with just strips of paper...

9. Notice on the card that the busier the pattern, the less the embossing shows. So be sure to include some really basic, near solid papers.

Quilting with Cuttlebug

In the midst of my hurry to finish cards for my pastor and his wife, I suddenly got the idea for this card. I didn't need another card; I had already made or selected the ones I was going to give them. But I couldn't help myself, lol! Being last minute, it was too late in the day for much natural lighting, so the photograph is not the best quality. But it really does have a quilteed look to it. The card was a little time consuming, but extremely easy to do. And a great way to use up scraps! :-) I just glued the scraps onto a piece of cardstock, trimmed the edges, and sent through my cuttlebug.

Birthday grace

I used the faux batik technique to create this card. The stamp is actually a border stamp, not a background, and I really enjoy using it.

I coupled the two text stamps together because it's just so easy, at least if you're over 35, to think of birthdays in a negative light, when really, I think the older we get, not only do we have more wisdom, but I think as Christians, we become better able to recognize how gracious God is and has been to us. Anyway, those were my thoughts as I put this card together. One of my panels was a bit messy, but that enabled me to go ahead and cut it up to get the individual flowers. While faux batik is relatively easy, it can be time consuming, so if I hadn't made a messy panel, I wouldn't have wanted to cut out the flowers, lol! I used an autumn Kaleidacolor pad to cover the embossed panel. After using the roller, I sponged on extra color where needed.

Tip: I was first embossing in clear on cream, but it was very difficult to see where to place the continuous border images, hence the messed up panel. I got smart and pulled out white cardstock, and used craft vanilla, so I could see what I was stamping!

Just to show another way a border stamp can be used, I made what looks like a background panel with this same stamp. I embossed two sides, then covered the ends with post-it paper, and embossed the other two sides. I really thought the corners would show a messy overlap or gap, but it really looked surprisingly smooth.

PA thank you

As usual, I was behind schedule. I knew I wanted to make cards that my pastor and his wife could send people, but I didn't think about the card FOR them to express our appreciation, until a day or two ago. Our church has a "Fall Fun Night" every October 31st, so I had a meal today, and was still putting together the box for the cards and deciding which cards to include in addition to the ones I'd made for them. So, this photo isn't even of the final product ... I realized after downloading the pictures that it needed some balance (I had to place the thank you where I did to cover up a portion of ruined card; because of waiting until last minute, I decided to remake a card, and this one had a ruined text portion, so I removed it, and it was not "kind" to the card. I was glad that I had a spare leaf to match that covered up what the thank you circle did not! Anyway, I added a button & ribbon to the top left corner, which gave it a much more finished look. Unfortunately, by that time, we had to leave, and the glue had not even dried yet, so there was no use taking a picture!

hymn in vellum

"Like a River Glorious" is my pastor's wife's favorite hymn. (In making them a set of cards for Pastor Appreciation, I wanted to make some cards that reflected their preferences, even though they'd be giving them away). I printed the hymn out several times in different sizes on parchment paper, but just could not come up with something I liked.

A few days earlier I had taken apart a card I had made for a SALT challenge, because of an error in the text. I had really liked the card, and had several other similar backgrounds. I was going to see if I could remake the SALT card, and perhaps make a few other cards with the same method. I had left it in a pile on the counter, and as my glance fell on it, I realized it would work perfectly with a hymn!

The vellum, by the way, 17# UV/ULTRA II Thin (tissue-like), radiant white, is from Marco Paper, and is wonderful for images that you want to see clearly through, and also be able to print on. Ink will not dry well on some vellums, but this one works very well.

Text is computer generated.