Tag: cards

World Card Making Day 2016

So, this past Saturday was World Card Making Day (WCMD). After watching a FB live by Catherine Pooler, I decided to finally join StampNation, which is an online community for paper and mixed media crafters. I first learned about StampNation from My Sweet Petunia when they conducted a contest and the prize was a Stamp of Approval box from Catherine Pooler. Begun a year ago, SOA is a curated box of creativity for paper crafters. A new SOA filled with various products comes out each quarter and they always sell out (sometimes in a matter of hours, sometimes in a few days).

Anyway, I’d thought of joining SN over the past few months but I’d resisted. On Thursday Catherine did a FB live talking about what StampNation was planning for WCMD (actually a whole weekend of fun, with videos, prizes, tutorials, and challenges) and I decided to take the plunge and join. So far I’m not sorry I did. I spent a good part of Friday looking around the site and Saturday making cards for several of the challenges. I also made cards on Sunday. I’d meant to write this post on Saturday, but each time I was back at my computer it was to upload a new creation, not take the time to write a blog post.

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Anyway, I wanted to blog about this so I decided to share a few of the things I created so far. We have until 10/22 to post our creations (there are over $450 in prizes) so I plan to join a few more challenges. It’s just what my creativity needed. Simultaneously, another friend posted a picture of a “half-a-puppy’s” worth of cards she was sending out to friends for WCMD and she encouraged us to send some snail mail love. I decided to join in and ended up sending out about 25 cards to friends. I put a little post-it inside with the following message: “Happy WCMD 2016! Pay it forward? Consider sending this (or another) card to a friend. Snail mail rules!” I had a lot of fun sending out snail mail to friends and enjoyed WCMD 2016 immensely. So much so, that I cannot wait for WCMD 2017!

Until next time, remember, creativity and imperfection live together in all we do. “Grace is the face love wears when it meets imperfection.”

~xoxo
Beanie

Yuletide Greetings

Happy Monday before Thanksgiving friends! If you find yourself here, welcome! Grab a cup of tea (or coffee) and enjoy a few minutes with me while you take a break from your Thanksgiving preparations.

Today I have a group of Christmas cards made using the Yuletide collection from 7 Dots Studio. I love these papers and have enjoyed playing with all the bits that came in the collection. In addition to the 12 x 12 papers there are tags, word stickers, element stickers, and a second sheet of element goodies. More than enough to spark your creativity!

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For the first card, “Holly Jolly Christmas” I used one of the large tags, a word sticker, a chili pepper card base, and a wooden tree from UmWow Studio. First, I ran the front of my card through the Big Shot inside a texture plate (knit sweater) and I rubbed metallic gold ink over the texture to give it definition. Next, I die cut the Seattle skyline out of the Gingerbread card stock. I adhered the tag to a piece of Warm Cider card stock (the snowflake side) and trimmed it close. I popped up the skyline using black foam dots and added the Holly Jolly Christmas word sticker to the tag. I painted the tree using a dark green glitter pen and glued a silver star sequin to the top. Once it was dry, I glued it to the skyline. A red enamel disc and bit of creme an gold ribbon and this card is complete.

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The next card, “Noel”, uses one of my favorite dies, the word noel with reindeer antlers, which I cut out of a piece of Sugarplum card stock. I mounted on another of the large tags and tied some red and green twine through the hole in the tag. I also cut a 5.5″ x 1″ strip of Gingerbread card stock and mounted it to the vanilla bean card base. Next I popped up the tag using black foam dots. To finish off this card I glued down a few snowflake sequins and added Rudolph’s red nose.

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The “Joy” card is mounted on a juniper card base I ran through the Big Shot with a texture plate (numbers). As before, I rubbed gold metallic ink over the face of the card to highlight the texture. I die cut the bough out of vanilla bean card stock and used some Queen & Company red pearls for the holly berries. The focal piece, the joy chipboard ornament, was painted with red paint and then clear glitter pen was added over the top to give it a bit of sparkle.

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The final card, “Presents Squared”, uses a crimson card base run through the Big Shot with a texture plate (brick wall) and highlighted using gold metallic ink. I cut a strip of Sugarplum card stock 5.5″ x 2.25″ and mounted it to the front of the card. I chose another large tag and a few square sticker elements that I applied to the tag. Another UmWow Studio chipboard (a present) was colored using a gold orange glitter pen and adhered to the tag. A green enamel disc adds a pop of color to this card.

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I hope you have a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving. We will be back with another Christmas preview week beginning Sunday, December 6th! Until then, remember, creativity and imperfection live together in all we do. “Grace is the face love wears when it meets imperfection.”

~xoxo
Beanie

Supplies Used
Yuletide collection
UmWow Studio
Queen & Co Red Pearls
Joy Chipboard Ornament
Big Shot & Dies, Adhesive, & Gold Metallic Ink