Milestone Birthday Wow

Hi there

I have a milestone birthday card to share with you today. This was a commission from a lovely friend for her husband who turned 50 last week. I think a 'zero' birthday always deserves a special card, as it marks the beginning of a new decade.

I have chosen a tri-fold card, that folds to fit into a standard DL envelope. This is a simple 'fancy fold', so perfect for a masculine card, but you can dress it up as much as you want. I've chosen to go with a classic black, white and gold colour combo that packs a punch.  Here's a first look.

This is the card folded flat, ready to go into the envelope. I have used the full length of a sheet of white A4 card stock, divided into 3. The photo doesn't do the gold foil and glimmer accents justice; it's very shiny and sparkly!

This photo shows the card standing, perfect for display. At the tallest point it is the full height of the A4 sheet (21cm).

In this close-up photo you can see I have built up the gold foil '50' with 5 layers of of Crushed Curry card stock to add more dimension. Above that, I have attached the gold foil 'celebrate' on the edge of the first fold and then adhered 2 additional layers to the reverse side to add dimension and make it more robust.

This photo shows the card open, revealing the balloons on the last fold that are attached to the Gold Glimmer 'happy birthday' die cut with metallic thread. The centre panel is left blank for the giver's message.

Finally, here is the card open flat, so you can see the panels and the dimensions. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Project Details
Stamps
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Basic Black, Gold Foil, Gold Glimmer, Designer Acetate (retired)
Ink
Accessories	Gold Metallic Thread
Tools	Large Numbers Framelits, Happy Birthday Thinlits, Celebrate You Thinlits, Big Shot, Balloon punch, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack (retired), Tombow Adhesive, Dimensionals

 

Thanks for visiting today!

Heart of Christmas - Week 3

Hi there

Welcome to another week of Christmas inspiration from the Art with Heart team. This week I have been playing with the lovely Dashing Deer bundle that is new in the upcoming Holiday catalogue and the Swirls and Curls embossing folder. You will be able to purchase these products from my online store from 5 September.

I've paired the leaping reindeer with the lovely nesting Stitched Seasons Framelits from the limited time Blended Seasons bundle that is available until 31 August (only 2 days left, so don't miss out). I started out with this card in Real Red and Call Me Clover for a bright take on the traditional Christmas colours. I have some tips for you, to get the best result with the Swirls & Curls embossing folder. The design is deeply etched and gives a beautiful texture to the card. I highly recommend that you spritz your card stock with water before you emboss it, to help the fibres stretch and prevent the card stock from cracking.  After the embossed piece was dry I spritzed it with shimmer mist (created with rubbing alcohol and  Frost White Shimmer Paint) to give it a gorgeous sparkly finish, which is impossibly difficult to photograph!

 

I find it easier to cut the card stock to the exact size you want before embossing, as it can be hard to trim it accurately afterwards. So, you need to add 3mm to the required length of your card stock as the embossing shrinks it. More below on how I found that out the hard way, lol. The width is unchanged by the embossing.

I used the nesting dies from Stitched Seasons Framelits to cut the green frame and then the smallest die to cut the red centre from the All is Bright Designer Paper. You can see the lovely stitched finish on the edge in this close-up. I positioned the greeting and then popped up the lovely leaping deer that was cut from Gold Glimmer paper over the top. I stamped and coloured the holly with my Stampin' Blends in Real Red and Call Me Clover and added it to the end of the greeting for a finishing touch.

For the inside, I have added the lovely greeting in the centre and the flourish at the bottom, which was heat embossed in gold. Both of these images come from the Dashing Deer stamp set.

Project Details
Stamps	Dashing Deer, Peaceful Poinsettia
Card stock & Papers	Real Red, Call Me Clover, Whisper White, All is Bright DSP, Gold Glimmer
Ink	Versamark, Call Me Clover, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories	White Baker's Twine
Tools	Stitched Seasons Framelits, Detailed Deer Thinlits, Swirls & Curls TIEF, Big Shot, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Stampin' Blends (Real Red & Call Me Clover), Dimensionals, Tombow Adhesive

 

I then decided to make the same layout again, but this time in a blue colour combo. The base card is Night of Navy and the embossed piece is in Balmy Blue. It was after embossing this piece (cut to my required measurements) that I discovered I had lost 3mm in height (oops!), so I added the narrow white border. I think the white helps to make it pop; so an accident with a happy ending. This time I used the de-bossed side for a different look and the shimmer mist turned it more into a softer ice-blue.

This time, I have cut the frame in Silver Foil, which shows off the stitched edging beautifully. The centre is from the Twinkle Twinkle Designer Paper, which is perfect for a night sky background. The leaping deer was cut from (retired) Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer, which has now been replaced by the Sparkle Glimmer paper.

This time I matted the greeting onto Balmy Blue and heat embossed the holly in white on the Silver Foil, as I didn't want to add any other colours. I finished it with some rhinestones.

 The new products from the Holiday Catalogue that I have used on this card will be available for purchase from 5 September 2018.

Project Details
Stamps	Dashing Deer, Peaceful Poinsettia
Card stock & Papers	Night of Navy, Balmy Blue, Whisper White, Silver Foil, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer (retired), Twinkle Twinkle DSP
Ink	Versamark, Night of Navy
Accessories	Rhinestone Basic Jewels, 1/8" Silver ribbon (retired)
Tools	Detailed Deer Thinlits, Swirls & Curls TIEF, Big Shot, White EP, Heat gun, Dimensionals, Frost White Shimmer Paint

You can see more inspiring Christmas projects from other members of the team.  Click on Claire's Blog to see the full list of participants this week.

Thanks for visiting today!

CASE-ing the Catty - Graceful Glass

Hi there

This is our last week (for now) in the Annual Catalogue, as we will be starting to look at the fabulous new Holiday Catalogue from next week. This week however, we are taking inspiration from the Graceful Glass section of the Annual Catalogue on pages 164-179.

If you've come from Sandra's blog, then welcome! If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today!  You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the CTC Crew by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post. 

I have been busy for the last few days prepping and running a class, so I left it to today to make my card. I had selected the card above for my inspiration, but it led me on a merry dance. I do not have the Bouquet Blooms Bundle used in this sample, but had in mind exactly what I would replace it with. Well, I got there eventually and I'm reasonably happy with the final product. Unfortunately I ran out of natural light as the afternoon became very gloomy in Melbourne.  We've had our allocation of sunshine for now, it seems. So here it is:

The base card is my favourite Balmy Blue and I've stamped the leaf from the 'Share What You Love' stamp set on 2 sides in Balmy Blue ink. For the art panel I have used thick Whisper White and embossed it with the 'Subtle' embossing folder to add interest and texture.  I added the cute scallop trim from the Bouncing Baby Framelits to the edge.  Next came the die cut wreath in Crumb Cake, using the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits.

I've used the 'Beautiful Bouquet' stamp set and coordinating Bouquet Bunch Framelits to stamp and die cut my cluster of flowers and leaves and arranged them on the right side of the wreath, popping them up at different heights.  I cut a few strips of whisper white and using the Stamparatus, stamped a set of flowers in each colour, so I could play around with the placement. The greeting from 'Varied Vases' stamp set was popped under the flowers. I added some tiny rhinestones to the little blue flowers and popped the silver and white twine bow underneath one. 

For the inside I have a double mat, with a strip of Crumb Cake striped designer paper at the bottom. I've added a little cluster of flowers in the corner, from the leftover bits and pieces.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Beautiful Bouquet, Varied Vases, Share What You Love
Card stock & Papers	Balmy Blue, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Granny Apple Green
Ink	Balmy Blue, Pineapple Punch, Highland Heather, Melon Mambo, Early Espresso
Accessories	Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Silver & White Baker's Twine
Tools	Swirly Scribbles Thinlits, Bouquet Bunch Framelits, Bouncing Baby Framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals

 

I hope you found some inspiration in my card and now it's time to click on the Next button below to hop over to see what Angela has to inspire you this week. 

We would love you to join us with your CASE this week, using our Facebook group. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to click on the 'Join Group' button at the top. Once you have been added to the group, you can go ahead and post your creation and you do not need to have a blog. 

 Thanks for visiting today!

Heart of Christmas - Week 2

Hi there

Welcome to week 2 of the Heart of Christmas inspiration from the Art with Heart team. This week I want to introduce one of the fabulous kits from the upcoming Holiday Catalogue. On page 32 you will find the Sincerely Santa Project Kit, which is going to add style to your gift packaging with fabulous handmade tags. The kit comes in a cute green and white striped tin and contains all of the supplies required to make 30 gift tags - six each of 5 designs. You can then store your finished tags in the tin until you need them. 

Your kit contains the 5 styles of die cut tags in Real Red, Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler; gold and silver foil banners, cute bells, doilies, snowflakes, ribbon and twine. Here is a set of completed tags, that I put together.

I have to admit that I do enjoy putting my own spin on kits to give them a bit of extra pizzazz, but these are largely as per the kit instructions because they are really lovely. I used the coordinating stamp set 'Sincerely Santa' (see below) for the greetings and stamped the to/from (from the stamp set) on the reverse of each of the tags.  If you're thinking this is too much effort for tags, then consider that a beautiful handmade gift tag such as these ones can replace a card when you're giving small gifts to friends, colleagues, neighbours, teachers and so on.

You can obviously mix and match the tag shapes and greetings if you want a bit more variety. Here is a closeup of each of the tags.

I think this is my favourite, with the silver snowflakes (stars to me, lol), ribbon and jingling bells at the top. I added the 3 coloured rhinestones to the greeting on this one.

Love the striped tag and all the little details on this one. It would be great for the kids of course, but also for your office Secret Santa or Kris Kindl giving.

This is another favourite with the tag looking like a wrapped present. The instructions say to wrap the ribbon all the way around the tag, but I came up with a better option that still looks the same and allows you to write on the back of the tag. I added the small gold stars (provided in the kit) to the top and bottom of the greeting.

One thing to note, is that the ink does take a little longer to dry on the white labels provided in the kit, so be careful not to smudge it (as I did on this one, lol). If you have a Stamparatus or stamping platform, I suggest you use it for quick and accurate stamping of set of white greeting labels. I also found that sometimes you needed a seconding inking of the stamp to get a crisp image. 

This is the one I tinkered with, as I didn't think the tiny to/from label on the front below the tree was very practical. I've replaced it with a Real Red banner with a (retired) greeting heat embossed in white and the to/from is on the reverse. I also added the red coloured rhinestones to the tree.

Here are the finished tags in the tin for safe storage. You could have all your gift tags done and dusted well before Christmas with this great kit.  I know it is pretty obvious, but just in case, I'm going to say it! There is a leaflet in the kit to help you out, so please open and read it. It gives you a close up of each tag, specific requirements for the tag such as length of ribbon and numbered steps, plus tips about the doilies. This will save you making assumptions and wasting supplies.

The Sincerely Santa Project Kit and coordinating Sincerely Santa stamp set will be available for purchase from my Online Store from 5 September or feel free to contact me directly with your order.

Project Details
Stamps	Sincerely Santa
Card stock & Papers	Sincerely Santa Project Kit
Ink	Real Red, Garden Green
Accessories	Rhinestone Basic Jewels
Tools	Dimensionals, Tombow Adhesive, Stamparatus

 

You can see more inspiring Christmas projects from other members of the team.  Click on Claire's Blog to see the full list of participants this week.

Thanks for visiting today!

CASE-ing the Catty - Tranquil Textures

Hi there

We are still in the Artistic Expressions section of the Annual Catalogue and this week the CTC crew are taking inspiration from Tranquil Textures on pages 154-163.

If you've come from Mel's blog, then welcome! If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today!  You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the CTC Crew by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post. 

I'm channelling spring today, with my inspiration coming from the card above, on page 161 of the Annual Catalogue with the pretty blossom flowers. It has been a very cold winter in Melbourne this year and blossom trees herald the arrive of spring. It can't come soon enough for me! I get to enjoy this gorgeous blossom tree that is in the neighbour's front yard to give me hope that the warmer weather will arrive soon. I even managed to get some blue sky in the photo during the sunny break today.

 

I started with a piece of Shimmery White paper and used my aqua painter and Balmy Blue ink pad to create a soft wash of blue for the background. I then stamped the branches from the 'Colorful Seasons' stamp set and mounted it onto the Blushing Bride mat. The blossoms were stamped in Blushing Bride ink with Soft Suede for the centres and then cropped with the coordinating dies from the Seasonal Layers Thinlits.

I chose to use a different sentiment from the same stamp set which I think works well with spring being a time of renewal. I embossed it in Early Espresso on vellum card stock. You can do this with any colour by inking your stamp in Versamark first and then in the ink colour of your choice and stamp onto the card stock. Sprinkle with clear embossing powder and heat. I attached it with narrow double sided tape on the left because it was going to be under the linen thread and the blossom flower on the right.

I used my bone folder to slightly curve the petals upward for some extra dimension and popped them up on the branches. I finished with the double row of linen thread down the side and a scattering of pretty pearls. A strip of wood grain designer paper was added to the left edge of the Crumb Cake card base and the finished art panel was popped on foam pads

For the inside I have a mat of Blushing Bride for the writing panel and at the bottom is the die cut branch from the Seasonal Layers Thinlits in Soft Suede card stock and I've added a few more blossoms and pearls to finish.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Colorful Seasons
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Shimmery White, Vellum, Wood Textures DSP
Ink	Balmy Blue, Soft Suede, Blushing Bride, Versamark
Accessories	Linen Thread, Share What You Love Artisan Pearls
Tools	Seasonal Layers Thinlits, Big Shot, Clear EP, Heat gun, Dimensionals, Aqua painter

 

I hope you found some inspiration in my card and now it's time to click on the Next button below to hop over to see what Megan has to inspire you this week. 

We would love you to join us with your CASE this week, using our Facebook group. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to click on the 'Join Group' button at the top. Once you have been added to the group, you can go ahead and post your creation and you do not need to have a blog. 

 Thanks for visiting today!