Creative Knockouts Design Team

Hello Everyone! I hope all is well with you and yours.

Today I wanted share some of my good news.  I have been accepted as part of the Design Team at Creative Knockouts on Blogspot!  I'm more than thrilled and so honored to be joining the awesome designers over there and hope you will stop by the Creative Knockouts Blog, check out the site and join in the fun!

This is my debut design using one of the cute digital stamp images provided by Imagine That Digi Stamps.

The theme for this weeks challenge at Creative Knockout is #248 - Embossing Delight.  Some type of embossing on the project;  heat or dry is required.

This little Otter is part of the Otter Say Hello set.  It is an adorable set and the Otter images come in jpg or png.  You get a black and white image as well as a colored image that is ready to go and there are a variety of sentiments included as well.  I chose the colored image in the png format, uploaded to my Cricut Design Space, then print and cut....easy peasy!

This little side folding card is a shaped card measuring 4.5" x 4.5".  The yellow mat was dry embossed using the Cricut Swiss Dots folder and colored with Scattered Straw and Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide Ink.  I used a Wink of Stella Clear Glitter pen for some sparkle and Ranger Glossy Accents for clear droplets here and there.  I finished the card off with some baby blue Baker's twine from my stash.  

That's all I have for today.  I hope your visit again and until next time, Happy Crafting!

Donna

Teal. Blue and White Shabby Chic Card with Matching Box

Hello Everyone and Happy Wednesday!

Today I'm sharing the last of the matching cards and boxes I recently created.  This was a quick project using Prima Marketing designer papers, die cuts, faux pearls, floral accents from Wild Orchid Crafts, Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal drops and stained seam binding.

 The card measures 4.5" x 5.5"; a standard A2 size.  The box is slightly larger than the card for a good fit; it's 1/2 " deep.  I chose to use a satin ribbon from my stash for the box instead of seam binding.  Maybe in hindsight, I should have went with the seam binding for the box.

I hope you enjoyed my quick project share for today and until next time, Happy Crafting!

Donna

A Vintage Birthday Wish Card with Matching Box

Hello Everyone!  I hope all is well with you and yours and you enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day Holiday.

Today I have another card with matching box to share with you.  This matching set has a Vintage feel; card measures 4.25" x 5.5" (A2).

Vintage and Shabby Chic are my absolute favorite to create.  I feel I'm better at creating Vintage but I still try with Shabby Chic.  This card was created with Prima Love Notes Papers, flowers and leaves from Wild Orchid Crafts, die cuts and ribbon from my stash.

The base is kraft colored cardstock from Recollections.  I have inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and colored the lace die cut mat with Tattered Rose Distress Ink.  I then spritzed the card with Glimmer Mist for some sparkle.

The matching box is simple in it's design and decoration.  Covered with the same Prima Love Notes designer paper and a ribbon from my stash to be used as a closure.

The box measures slightly larger than the card for a nice fit.

I hope you enjoyed my project today.  I have one more matching card and box to share, then it's Masculine Cards for Father's Day.

Till Next time, Happy Crafting!

Donna

Lovely Lavendar and White Card with Matching Box

Hello Everyone!  I hope all is well with you and yours.

Today I have another card with matching box to share with you.  I couldn't resist creating this set using my favorite color which is Purple and all shades thereof.  This card measures 4.25" x 5.5" (A2).

The die cuts used for this card are the lace doily, the white background mat and the sentiment circle.  The sentiment is heat embossed with Ranger Gold Fine Embossing Powder.  The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the ribbon is from my stash (Wal-Mart I believe).

I dotted the flowers with liquid adhesive and sprinkled extra fine glitter on the adhesive.  The adhesive will dry clear and all that's left to be seen is the glitter.  This technique of using glitter in this way was inspired by Christina Griffiths at Flowers, Ribbons and Pearls.

The Box was made using heavy weight cardstock, Neenah 110 lb Solar White and Embossed Purple cardstock placed on top.  The box is finished off with a ribbon closure and the box measures 4.5" x 5.75", slightly larger than the card for a good fit.  *** Tip:  I used a circle punch to cut 1/2 circles from the sides of the lid in order to provide an easier opening of the box.

Both the card and box are being offered for sale in my Etsy Shoppe (link to your right - in the column).

That's all I have for you today; I hope you were inspired and until next time....Happy Crafting!

Donna

**  I support the following card challenges:  CardzTV Anything Goes Challenge #49

Lemon and Blue Card with Matching Box

Hello Everyone, I hope all is well with you and yours.

Today I want to share the first completed project in a series I am creating.  I love to create embellished cards however they can be too bulky to properly fit into an envelope so I decided I would create a box to match the card.

This project was very enjoyable to create; the lemon and blue combo turned out fantastic and I feel the black sentiment really sets the card apart from crowd.

I used some of my favorite embellishments which are flowers!  I also used die cut leaves and a background piece I cut from Cricut Design Space.  I embossed the blue mat with an unbranded embossing folder and added some lace trim from my stash.  The sentiment and yellow shadow piece are also from Cricut Design space images.

The Box was embellished with a polka dot mat and some matching ribbon.  The card is an A2 size ( 4.25" x 5.5") and the box is slightly bigger than that to accommodate the card.  

This card and box are currently listed for purchase in my Etsy Shoppe (link to my shoppe on the right).  I hope you enjoyed this project today and were inspired.  Please come back to see more cards with matching boxes this week.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Donna

I support the following Challenges:  CARDZ TV ANYTHING GOES CHALLENGE #47, Creative Knockouts Challenge #246

Create Your Own Backgrounds

Hello Everyone.  I hope you are well and happy!

Today I would like to share some cards I created using the Tim Holtz Distress Inks and water to create some gorgeous backgrounds for cards.  The cards are A2 size (4.25" x 5.5").

This 1st card was created using an unbranded Star die I purchased from AliExpress and Distress Inks in the following colors:  Candied Apple, Abandon Coral and Barn door.  I used an Embossing Folder with a Star pattern and my Cuttlebug to dry emboss the top mat which measures 4" x 5.25".

I placed the 3 inks on my craft mat at spritzed each with some water.  I then placed the white card on top of one color to pick up some color, rotated the card and placed on another and so on.  I dried with my heat tool and repeated the process until I was happy with the result.

I used the "left over" piece of star from the die cutting process to pop up on foam and placed in the middle of the cut out for some dimension.  I heat embossed the sentiment on Vellum, for the finishing touch and sparkle I added clear sequins here and there.

The 2nd card was a bit simpler in design using an unbranded dies from AliExpress and Distress Inks in the following colors:  Seedless Preserves, Peacock Feathers and Aged Mahogany.   I heat embossed over the word Lovely with Ranger Black Embossing Powder for some shine and thickness.  For the finishing touch, I used Tonic Nuvo Drops in Crystal for some interest.  

If I may say so myself, this is my favorite of the group!  This time I used the Distress Inks in the colors Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Chipped Sapphire to create this awesome background.  I ran the card mat through the Cuttlebug using an Embossing folder with a Burst pattern.  I die cut the middle and the dimensional piece with 2 unbranded dies from AliExpress.  The Dream wording is also an unbranded die that I heat embossed with Ranger Black Embossing Powder.  I again used Nuvo Drops in Crystal to add some interest. 

Last but not least, I wanted to see how the colors would look against a Kraft colored card.  The Distress Colors I used here were:  Mowed Lawn, Tea Dye and Spiced Marmalade.  I cut 1/2 inch strips and die cut a circle for the focal point.  The front of the card was embossed using an embossing folder with dandelion images.

The flower die cut was colored using Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks in the colors Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint.  The sentiment was heat embossed with Ranger Black Embossing Powder.  I finished the card by placing Nuvo Drops in Bronze around the card.

I hope you enjoyed today's blog post and until next time, Happy Crafting!

Donna

** I support the following challenges:  CardzTV Anything Goes Challenge #48, CardzTV Anyting Goes Challenge #49

Anna Griffin Shabby Chic and Vintage Card Set

Hello Everyone and to all the Mothers out there...I hope your day was extra special!

Today I am sharing a set of 4 note cards I created using Anna Griffin Designer Papers, Vintage Flowers and Butterflies.  I used my Cricut Access to purchase the images, then printed and cut them to use for my card fronts.  One of the note cards has a little Song Bird ephemera image from K & Company.  For all the cards, I used photopolymer stamps from CardzTV Stamps.

These beautiful cabbage roses are some of my favorite images.  I added some pink lace and Nuvo Drops to simulate pearls.

This little Song Bird is so sweet.  I used a circle die to cut out a circle for the focal images, inked the edges of the papers with Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink, used Nuvo Drops to simulate pearls and finished off with seam binding tied into a bow.

I feel this card has such a dramatic coloring scheme and is quite eye catching.  Anna Griffin Vintage Floral images are so lovely.  

This card has a bit more embellishment.  I used two different dies for the main focal point mat and the sentiment scalloped ovals.  I added some lace and faux pearls (not Nuvo Drops this time).  I inked all the edges with Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink and finished with a spray of Shimmer Spray Glitz.  

Last but not least, I went with a Butterfly for this card as I felt I had 2 florals and 1 bird so I needed a butterfly to finish the set.  This Butterfly image is another Anna Griffin image that I purchased from Cricut Access.  I used satin ribbon, a die cut for the focal image to rest on and some fauz pearls.  For the finishing touch, I spritzed with some Shimmer Spray.

I hope you enjoyed my note cards and the lovely images from Anna Griffin as well as the stamped sentiments from CardzTV.  I had so much fun creating these cards and they are currently available for purchase so Please visit my Etsy Shoppe for this card set.

Thank you for visiting and until next time, Happy Crafting!

Donna

** I support the following challenges:  CardzTV Anything Goes Challenge #49

Celebrate You Today

Hello Everyone, I hope everything is well with you and yours. 

Today I want to share a quick Birthday card I put together.  I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I was running low on Birthday cards so I'm dedicating most of my time this week to creating cards for birthdays.  

This is a standard card measuring 4.25" x 5.5" (A2).  I used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks in the colors Twisted Citron and Broken China to create the background color on the embossed card mat.  I cut a piece of Vellum 1" wide and heat embossed the sentiment "Celebrate You Today" using a Ranger Embossing Pad and Ranger Fine Black Embossing Power.  The Balloon die cut is an unbranded die I purchased from AliExpress.  I added clear sequins for a bit of bling!

**Hint for heat embossing on Vellum:  apply the heat from the back in short bursts.  This will prevent buckling and wrinkling of the vellum.

A Quick, Simple and Effective Card.  

Thanks for visiting and I hope you'll stop by again for another blog post.  Take care and until next time, Happy Crafting.

Donna

** I support the following challenges:  CardzTV Anything Goes Challenge #46, Crafty Cardmakers Challenge - No Patterned Paper

Birthday Splash Out

Hello Everyone!  I hope all is well with you and yours.  My stash of cards is getting very low and I like to keep cards on hand so I'm prepared.  I'm in desperate need of Birthday cards so I decided it's no time like the present to get some cards made.

Recently I ordered a copy of the U.K Magazine Papercraft Essentials from More Mags.  Included in Issue 158 was an adorable stencil, die and stamp set featuring a frog, duck, water puddle, Wellingtons, sentiments and more.  The set was designed by Crafti Potential and is just fun!

The card measures 5.5" x 4.25" (a standard A2 card) in a landscape format.  I colored the images with alcohol markers, used a circle die to create an opening on the mat for the Pond; using Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink in the color Salty Ocean to color the pond.  I fussy cut the frog and Wellies, die cut the puddle and droplets with the dies included in the magazine purchase.  I think Mr Frog turned out great and the card was given to a co-worker for her birthday.  She thought it was cute!

Thanks for visiting and till next time, Happy Crafting!

Donna

I support the following challenges:  CardzTV Anything Goes Challenge #45, Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #211: No Patterned Paper

Havana

Today I would like to share a card I created using the Havana papers from Prima Marketing, Inc.  This is a lovely paper pack with soft, pastel colors and wonderful images.  I'm not sure how to describe this card; I want to call it an Easel card however it's not like a standard Easel.

This is a standard A2 size card (4.25" x 5.5").  I used an unbranded die for the clock image and circle background; added color with alcohol markers.  I then added die cuts of dandelions  inside and inked them with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink in the color Peacock Feathers.

The colors are soft and shabby chic.

I created a tag and used an unbranded stamp for the sentiment.  I purchase many of my unbranded dies and stamps from AliExpress.  I have been pleased with everything I have received from AliExpress thus far.  When you're on a budget, AliExpress is kind to the pocketbook.

All You Need Is Love....this is yet another unbranded stamp from AliExpress.  I love the meaning behind the sentiment and thought it matched the beauty of the Havana papers.  

I hope you enjoyed my card today.  Till next time, Happy Crafting!

Donna

**I support the following challenges:  CardzTV Anything Goes Challenge #45, Creative Knockouts Challenge - Friendship #244