Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Card Kits - No Subscriptions - Easy Gift Giving!


Sets of handmade cards make lovely gifts anytime of the year, or we can just send one card at a time to spread joy. In my new video I share 8 cards I made in just minutes with the 49 and Market Tranquility Card Kit and Clear View Transparencies. The card kit includes 8 beautiful card bases with matching envelopes as well as rub on transfers with sentiments, flowers and butterflies. There are many collections from 49 and Market that include card kits, and you can find some here. Of course you can create card bases with their awesome patterned cardstock and use an envelope maker to create matching envelopes, but as I show in the video why do the work when the kit gives you everything you need. Here are a couple more cards I made in just minutes:



I also stepped outside the box and cut one of the 49 and Market cardbases apart and made a version of a joy fold fun fold like this one in the video:




The small card opens up and the diagonal flap opens as well. The pretty patterned cardstock from 49 and Market is on the inside and the front diagonal flap. And of course there is a matching envelope from the 49 and Market card kit and I framed another Clear Views transparency on the front of the little square card. 

I hope my cards encourage you give some of these ideas and products a try and then send some joy out into our world.

Monday, December 9, 2024

49 and Market Card Kits - 8 Gorgeous Cards in Minutes!


I love to give sets of handmade cards as gifts, but I don't have the time to spend hours picking out matching papers and embellishments and then making envelopes to match. I just discovered 49 and Market has card kits that include everything you need to make 8 gorgeous cards and there is no need to commit to a subscription! In my new video here I share the 8 cards I made with the Tranquility Card Kit from 49 and Market. I also feature Clear Views Transparencies in most of the cards, but the one above I made in just seconds with a card base, matching envelope and some rub on transfers. Here is a look at everything you get in on of these card kits from 49 and Market:


I could have make lovely cards with just the paper and rub ons included in the kit or maybe added some laser elements from the same Tranquility collection, but I have been wanting to design with my Clear View Transparencies from Jill Lemke. These Clear Views are pictures printed on acetate and are available locally at a favorite paper crafting store so I am lucky to be able to get them easily. Here is the first card I made in minutes with a card base and matching envelope from 49 and Market and a transparency picture:


The transparencies can be added to the card base with a cut out frame like this one or a die cut frame like this one from Hero Arts:


In the new video, I also did something a bit different from the usual with a card base from the 49 and Market kit- I cut it apart and created a version of a joy fold:


I show the measurements and how easy it is to make this fun fold with the lovely 49 and Market cardstock and another Clear Views transparency. Here is a look at the inside of this card:


To see all 8 cards and how easy it is to create a set of cards to give or keep yourself, watch the new video here.

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

What Else Is Popping Up in my Christmas Cards?

When Karen Burniston has a new release of her fantastic pop up dies, you never know what is going to pop up next. Of course some of her dies are not pop ups, and I made this lovely card front with the new Poinsettia die set and a foiled frame from Penny Black:



I added a white poinsettia on the inside and Merry Christmas is popped up with the Lorna Label Pop Up and a new add on Merry Christmas die. Here is another pop up card I created for my Christmas stash with another new add on die for the Christmas Tree Pop Up:


As usual, still pix do not do these cards justice, so here is a mini video of the pop up action of these cards:


Things change all the time on Blogger (grrrrrrr!- tell them my blogposts are not SPAM!) - but if you cannot see this video in your email if you are a subscriber, you can go directly to my blog to see it or on my Instagram or Karen's Kreative Kards on FaceBook. 

Monday, December 2, 2024

What's Popping Up For Christmas?


Isn't this Rudoph adorable? Christmas will be here before we know it and I am sharing some pop up holiday cards for very special people on my list using new dies from Karen Burniston. There is a new add on die set that changes the Pop Up Snowman into a reindeer or a penguin. I love to include jokes when I make cards for special kids, so here is the front and the punch line:



I wanted to use the reindeer and penguin on the same card, but come up with a different way to do that then what Karen showed in her excellent video. So I made a double door on the front and here are a couple pix showing that and what pops up when the top is opened:



The top door reveals the pop up penguin and the bottom door reveals this:




Wishing you holiday fun and joy and laughter when the animals pop up. It is so hard to capture the magic of these cards with still pictures, so here is a mini video of that action:


Things change all the time on Blogger (grrrrrrr!- tell them my blogposts are not SPAM!) - but if you cannot see this video in your email if you are a subscriber, you can go directly to my blog to see it or on my Instagram or Karen's Kreative Kards on FaceBook. 

Monday, November 25, 2024

Fractured Quilt Cards With Stitching - Perfect!



Fractured cards have been around for a long time now and no dies are needed to make them. But when I saw the Divinity Designs Fractured Quilt die set which adds stitching details to pieces, I just couldn't resist. In my newest video here I show how easy it is to make a dimensional fractured quilt card for Christmas like these. The small poinsettia and greens were created with the Spellbinders Delivering Joy Sleigh die set. 


This is a bonus card I didn't show in the video. I had a gold die cut piece and green strips from the cards above and I couldn't waste them. I so glued them down, added some patterned paper and embossed the whole piece in a Stampin' up embossing folder to look like a quilt. The sentiment was created with a die from Crealies.

In the video I share cards made with just one layer of patterned paper: 


and two colors with the plaid raised for dimension:


and three layers of different colors:


The beautiful blue floral and pinecone designer papers are also from Divinity Designs. I made all these cards so easily in just an afternoon with this awesome die. I hope my cards inspire you to give some of the ideas and products a try! 

Monday, November 18, 2024

Hedge Hugs and Owl Love Triple Easel Cards

I love fun fold cards but some are so difficult to make with all the cutting and scoring. The new Triple Easel die set from Crealies makes triple easel cards in just minutes and here is the card I made step by step in my new video here:

 Isn’t that adorable? Kids love to receive and display cards and here is another one I made for a special child, this time with the new Hedgehog die set:

I have the whole set of Texto Positivo word dies and used letters from them to create the puns on these two cards. I wondered what else I could do with this Triple Easel die set and made this card by folding the side triangles up instead of down: 

The “curtain” effect on the sides and middle was created with new On the Edge Little Striped dies. It is fun to play with our dies and come up with  new ways to use them. 

To see just how easy and fast it is to make triple easel cards with this new die set from Crealies, watch here. 

I am happy to share that Crealies dies shown can be purchased either on the Crealies website here OR in the United States at the Frantic Stamper website here.

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Spellbinders Florals Through the Year Calendars and Cards


Desk calendars make great gifts and Spellbinders has a new release with each month's flower we can BetterPress or foil in our Glimmer machines. January's flower is the Snowdrop, and I made this calendar page with January's flower as well as the 2025 DIY Calendar BetterPress plates. This and the other months' pages that I made are displayed on a Spellbinders Easel. All of these new BetterPress plates and dies can be found here on the Spellbinder's website. 


I though the monthly flowers were so pretty, they would also make beautiful cards for special people who have birthdays in that month. I chose a vertical easel fun fold to feature each month's flower. Here is what this card looks like open:




February's flower of the month is Violet and this is the calendar page I made. On each of the calendar pages, I added some rub-on transfers to decorate just a bit more. Here is the tri-fold card I made for someone special who has a birthday in February:


March's flower is the daffodil and here are my calendar page and card I made: 




I just was able to make January through March so far and love how these calendar pages and cards I turned out. I hope you will check out this release and all the other new dies and products at Spellbinders.