What Else Can We Do With Our Dies?

I am fascinated with coming up with different ways to use my Tonic Studios dies. I explored that idea in a Take 5 article that will be published in an upcoming Scrap and Stamp Arts issue and I will be teaching some of the cards I made for that article in a class April 29-30th at Let's Create in Wisconsin Rapids. More info on that to come. Today and tomorrow I am sharing 6 different cards using Tonic Studios Plush Peony Entwining Trellis Set. Here is a peak at what the die looks like:

There are seven pieces in this die set. The flowers can be cut inside or separately from the die. There are two different outside edges and you can cut the oval without the edges too.

For the card above, I cut the oval with the flowers along the fold of a card front. The beautiful oval trellis stands up when the card is folded in half. I also die cut some of the peonies out of white and green cardstock scraps. I sponged the green ones with Pine Needles Distress Ink, and sponged the white ones with a pink ink while the flowers were still in the die. I attached the flowers with pop dots and added Nuvo Sherbert Shimmer Glitter Drops to their centers. I added some Birthday Wishes (from Everyday Sentiments Two) and a little more pink Crystal Drops to complete this card.

Sometimes we want to make an A2 sized card with a larger die set like the Plush Peony Entwining Trellis Die. One easy way to do that is to create a stencil with it and sponge ink through part of it. I used my favorite new sponging tool, a Mini Smoothie from Creative Expressions (available at Let's Create) and aqua Distress Ink. I cut the top and bottom swirls off one of the die edges for the corners and stamped an "I Love You" tag from a  Indulgence Chalkboard set.

On my last card for today, I started by embossing only the trellis oval on a white A2 card front and sponging it with green ink. I sprinkled yellow, purple, blue and green Magenta Nuance colored powders on watercolor paper and spritzed with Shimmer Mist to activate the gorgeous colors. After it was dry, I die cut a bunch of the different sized of peonies and also a few greens from the outside edge of the die. After laying them down where I wanted them on the card, I covered the arrangement with Glad Press 'n Seal to hold them in place, took them off the card and applied glue. Then I flipped them back on the card and pressed down. Here are some pictures showing this brilliant idea I found on Pinterest:

I added some Woodland Green Crystal Drops on all the flowers to complete this card. Come back tomorrow for a few more cards using this same die set in different ways.

I am entering the last card in the "We can see clearly now" challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and the second card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Anything Goes in my last Repeat Impressions Challenge Blogpost

Happy Wednesday everyone! It's time for another fun challenge at Repeat Impressions. If there is a 5^th Wednesday in the month, the challenge is my favorite: Anything Goes! Make any card and link it up for a chance at some great Repeat Impressions rubber! For all the details on what you can win and to see the other Rock Stars cards, please visit our blog.

I am fascinated with shaker cards especially when there are more than one shaker. I used the smallest square die in Repeat Impression’s Flip Die Set to cut the three diagonal openings in the card front. Then I laid the card front on a craft sheet on an electric griddle and melted some embossing powders around the edge for a fun look. I stamped “Dream Big” and then flipped the piece over on my Scor-buddy. I applied some acetate over the square holes and created individual shakers with two layers of mounting tape around each square.  I added some colored sequins and beads to each window. Here is a picture of how that looked, and also one with the shaker elements all shook up:

I find that attaching the front to a shaker card is easiest if it is the same size as the shaker layer and I push both layers into the left upper corner of the Scor-buddy (or any scoring tool) and attach them lining it up that way.

Today is my last day on the Repeat Impression’s design team. I have been a member of the Rock Stars for over five years now. Wendy gave me my first chance to be on a design team and I have enjoyed every minute of designing with her wonderful stamps. But it is time for a change and I decided I needed to free up some time to pursue some other adventures. I thank Wendy and Bill and Repeat Impressions for everything and hope to be a part of some blog hops occasionally with my friends on this wonderful team.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at 613 Avenue Create and Craft Your Passion.

**Don’t Forget: for a 10% discount on any size order at Repeat Impressions, make a note of my discount code (rr10kh), click on the blog badge on the side of my blog and go to the website here to shop and save!**

Die-Versions Feathers and Embossing Powder Techniques

Hope you are having a great day! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing a card featuring Die-Version’s gorgeous feather die and several embossing techniques I learned from Fran of Stampendous. I die cut the Die-Versions feather die twice out of chipboard and placed them on a craft sheet on an electric griddle. I layered thick clear and then several colors of embossing powders, let them melt and then stamped them with a background stamp. I also placed the card front on the electric griddle and sprinkled gold and light blue embossing powders around the edge and let them melt. I attached the feathers with glue dots and tied them with baker’s twine.

**Remember you can get a 15% discount on any of Die-Version’s great dies by simply using my discount code karen15 when you check out at the Die-Versions website.**

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Crafting from the Heart and Craft Your Passion.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Quick post as I prepare to spend Easter with my family. I found this appropriate card in my folder of cards not blogged yet and am sharing today. I created the subtle background with my Brushos and stamped the beautiful flowers twice in the center. I think the flower stamp and the die are from Penny Black.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Creative Fingers and Jo's Scrap Shack.

Hope you have a lovely Easter weekend.

Tonic Studios Chelsea Handbags

I have been having so much fun lately playing with my Tonic Studio dies and these are the first Chelsea handbags that I made. This Girls Night Out Chelsea Shoulder Bag die makes a perfect little gift or table decoration. It is big enough to easily hold a gift card, cash gift or small goodie, and any big or little girl would love it! This is what the backs of the two Chelsea handbags look like:

The first Chelsea bag I made I die cut out of a watercolor sheet of paper I had sprinkled with Magenta Nuance colored powders and spritzed with water. The colors of Nuance I used were purple, turquoise, yellow, raspberry and violet. After it dried, I die cut two main purse pieces and one lacy overlay piece. I embossed half the purse in a We R Memory Keepers embossing folder and then put the purse together. I added a Plush Peony flower (from the Tonic die of the same name) and a gem, and closed the purse with a velcro circle.

My second Chelsea purse was cut out of aqua blue and white cardstock. I again embossed half and attached more of the beautiful lacy overlay pieces. I created a tissue flower out of the Plush Peony dies and tinged the edges with aqua blue ink. I added my favorite white Nuvo Crystal Drops and closed the purse with another velcro circle.

**If you have time this holiday weekend, you need to check out the Weekender Specials on new Tonic Studios dies at Create and Craft. If you watch Jodie demo these dies on the website or on TV, you will see why my mouth is just watering wanting all of the new Sew Pretty Corner and Strip dies! And all the layered dies too! I learn so much from Jodie's demos each time I watch her! Check it out if you can!**

I am entering these projects in the Anything Goes challenge at Julia Spiri and Little Miss Muffet.

Thank You for your Support

It’s Crackerbox Palace Friday and today I am sharing a feminine thank you card I made with Crackerbox Palace stamps. I started the card by sponging pink ink through a stencil called Check-mate by Wendy Vecchi for Studio 490. I stamped the bra on floral pink dp and cut it out. I created a clothesline with bakers twine and hung the bra with two pink clothespins. I stamped the perfect sentiment from Crackerbox Palace and layered the card front onto a pink card base. 

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at 613 Avenue Create and Retarte.

Come Rain or Shine- More Likely Snow:(

The challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is "Come Rain or Shine" and I am sharing this card with some of my favorite raindrops from Designs by Ryn. But here in central Wisconsin, we are expecting a major snow storm with up to a dozen inches of heavy snow. We had gotten rid of all our snow and today I saw my first robin, but Spring is going to be delayed a bit more now:(

I started this card by stamping the Designs by Ryn water droplets along with a rainy day couple and rain lines stamps by Local King Rubber Stamps on water color paper. Then I sprinkled on a couple shades of blue Brusho Coloured Crystals and spritzed with water to release the gorgeous colors. I highlighted the water droplets with a white gel pen.  I layered the completed piece on white and then onto a black card base.

I am entering this card in the March challenge at Designs by Ryn as well as the SSS Wednesday challenge.

What If? Wed. Sketch Challenge at Repeat Impressions

Happy Wednesday everyone! It's time for another fun sketch challenge at The House that Stamps Built and we are challenging you to make a card using the sketch below and link it up for a chance at some great Repeat Impressions rubber! For all the details on what you can win and to see the other Rock Stars cards using this sketch, please visit our blog.

I started this card with three shades of pink on a card base following the sketch below. I embossed the whole card with an embossing folder by Sizzix. I stamped Bella, one of my favorite all time Repeat Impression’s stamps, on kraft paper and on pink cardstock and pink dp. I cut them out and paper pieced her sweet outfit. I stamped the sentiment and cut it out with a Sizzix tag die.

Here is the sketch for you to follow when you create a card for our challenge. You do not need to use Repeat Impressions stamps to enter our challenges, but you get an extra chance to win if you do!

I gave this card to Wendy Wyman, the owner of Repeat Impressions as part of a birthday package of cards. The sentiment is how I feel about Wendy. Happy Birthday Wendy!

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Crafting from the Heart and Craft Your Passion.

**Don’t Forget: for a 10% discount on any size order at Repeat Impressions, make a note of my discount code (rr10kh), click on the blog badge on the side of my blog and go to the website here to shop and save!**

Totally Pawsome Purrrrfect Pampered Pets Projects

I just can't stop playing with the new Pampered Pets dies from Tonic Studios and I have used my favorites from the line on these two tag boxes I created for a 3D class I am going to be teaching. Isn't that Scotty dog just adorable? And the Tangled Mischief kitty is just purrrfect, right? These tag boxes are easy to make and fun to decorate for a small gift or table decoration. I started with two tags for each box cut 3" by 7". The base of the box is 4" by 7" and scored  and trimmed as shown in this photo:

After the tag box is put together with strong two sided tape strips, the fun part is decorating it, especially if you have these adorable Pampered Pets dies from Tonic Studios. Here are some more views of the Pawsome Scotty tag box:

I die cut and attached the window, curtains, puppy and flowers from Harvey's Ledge die set on the back of the tag box. I attached some gingham designer paper behind the sweet Scotty dog and stamped the "totally pawsome" sentiment from Pawsome Poodle die and stamp set. I tied the tag box with gingham ribbon and gold cord, and placed a gift of candy and hot chocolate inside the box.

I die cut the window, two kitties and the curtains from Toby's Sill Die Set for the back of my Tangled Mischief tag box. I cut the kitty and yarn out of white and black cardstock and offset them slightly before attaching. The "just purrrfect" sentiment is from the die and stamp set of the same name. Inside this tag box, I placed some delicious cookies for a fun little gift or table decoration.

I am entering these projects in the Cute and Cuddly challenge at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge and the Anything Goes challenge at Crafty Friends.

Happy Easter Bunny Card

I needed an Easter card for a loved one and designed this CAS card with some NBUS (never before used schtuff.) I embossed the bunny embossing folder from Darice, masked the bunny and sponged with my favorite new sponging tool, Creative Expressions Smoothies. I love how easy this new sponging product applies ink of any kind! I die cut the sweet bunny from Die-namics in a light pink and created a darker pink background. I raised the bunny on pop dots and stamped the Happy Easter sentiment (from Repeat Impressions) to complete the card.

I am entering this card in the Cute and Cuddly challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and the Easter challenge at Sweet Stampin'.

Tonic Studios Dies and the Kiss Cut Glitter Technique

I recently discovered the Kiss Cut Glitter Technique on my friend Verna's blog and watched this video she shared to learn how to do the technique. The cards are sparkly and glittery in real life but it is hard to photograph all that glorious glitter. The key to the technique is to start with very thick cardstock and apply two sided tape sheets over the cardstock. The next step is to cut the die but not cut through the bottom cardstock layer. The video showed how to use a Transfer Pad instead of one of the cutting plates in a Big Shot. In my Tangerine Cutting Machine by Tonic, I used the Orange Die Cutting plate and the Green Embossing Plate (instead of the thicker usual Top Plate.) I placed the Best Buddies die on the two sided tape sheet and cut through that layer only. Then I used a Tonic Tim Holtz Craft Pick to pick off the two sided tape for each part that I wanted to be a certain color of glitter.

Just look at these beautiful bottles of Nuvo glitter! I used Spiced Apricot and Chestnut Brown on the puppy and Steel Grey and Mirrorball on the kitty. I chose Deep Pink for the heart and then finished the card front with Diamond White glitter. I highlighted the eyes with a black marker, and layered the sparkly top on black and then on a pink A2 cardbase. Here is a look at the glitter close up and also the inside of the card:

The Best Buddies are just so cute that I had to cut them again in white and attach to the inside of the card. The perfect sentiment stamp is from the Pawsome Poodle set.

Here is another Kiss Cut Technique card I made with Tonic Studio's Sax Solo and Musical Notes dies. If you like glitter, you should give these Tonic Studios dies and this Kiss Cut Technique a try.

I am entering the first card above in the Cute and Cuddly challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge  and the Anything Goes challenge at Creative Fingers.

For the Boys Challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time our challenge is For the Boys! Create and link any card appropriate for a boy, and you could win one of our great prizes.

We have two very generous sponsors for this challenge: Crackerbox Palace is giving their winner 3 digital stamps! And Bugaboo’s winner gets 7 digis of their choice! TEAM S.A.S will also be choosing their favorite cards for our top three and the winners will receive a blog badge and an opportunity to be a guest design team member on a future challenge.

I love Bugaboo's AKV Ninja series and this cute Ninja is #6. I printed him and paper pieced his outfit. I used some alphabet stickers to say HI-Yah! and the CAS card was complete. I think my grandson will like this one as would any of the young men hospitalized at one of our 17 hospitals.

I am entering this card in the Show Me Some Green challenge at Crafty Gals Corner and the Anything Goes challenge at Crafty Sentiments Designs.

Fairy Wishes and Lucky Stars

I have been playing with some gorgeous semi dies from Tonic Studios for a class I am teaching in April and this card is one I made with Moonglade Wish Die set and Nuvo Pure Sheen Glitter. I die cut the Moonglade fairy out of two sided sticky paper and then sprinkled on Glitter Rose Gold from Nuvo (by Tonic) and burnished it in. Here is a closer look at all the sparkle of this lovely glitter  which is even prettier IRL:

I punched a gold star made with regular gold Nuvo glitter and rounded the corners on the black A2 card base. On the inside, I die cut just the edge of this versatile set and added a sentiment from Everyday Sentiments Two.

I am entering this card in the Use Some Lucky Stars challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge  and the Anything Goes challenge at Creative Moments.

Cat's Whiskers Metallic Camo Card with Favorite Dies

I have been playing with Tonic Studio's new Pampered Pets dies and my new Metallic Camo technique (explained in this blog post.) Today I am sharing a fun card featuring the new Cat's Whiskers die and stamp set. I sprinkled silver, black and gold Nuvo embossing powders on a sticky two sided tape piece and heat set them with a heat gun resulting in the texured sparkly finish. I die cut the Cat's Whisker's die from Tonic Studio and attached it to a stitched circular die from Die-Versions. I cut strips of the Metallic Camo finished paper and attached them to a top folding card. I stamped the perfect sentiment from Tonic Studios and attached the kitty piece with mounting tape. I like to add something to the inside for fun as shown here:

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at TTCRD and Crafty Sentiments and the Cute and Cuddly challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

What If? Wed. Photo Inspiration Challenge at Repeat Impressions

On the third Wednesday of every month at Repeat Impression’s blog, The House that Stamps Built, the challenge is going to be an Inspiration Photo challenge. Here is the photo chosen to inspire us this month:

Will you be inspired by the colors or the shapes in the photo? It is up to you to pick out what inspires you and make a card, then enter it for a chance to win some great Repeat Impressions rubber. Be sure to check out the RI blog for the inspiration based cards by the other Rock Stars. I have seen them and you do not want to miss them!

I was inspired by the sweet kitty colored with Easter egg dye. I chose Repeat Impression’s Persian cat and I stamped in black ink on white and cut him out. I sprinkled some Brusho Coloured Crystals on watercolor paper and spritzed it with water. I stamped and cut out some Easter eggs from the Brusho colored sheet. I also added some Brusho splots of color on our grumpy Persian kitty. I attached all the pieces to a yellow card base and stamped Happy Easter to complete the card.

 I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Crafting From the Heart and Crafting Your Passion. 

Hot Camo Hunter's Card

A few days ago on this blogpost  I introduced a new technique I called Metallic Camo. I used gold, silver and black embossing powders for the metallic version of this technique. But going with the Camo or Camouflage idea, I decided to try it with green, brown and black and this was the result:

Cool, right? As with the metallic version, I sprinkled the three colors of embossing powder randomly on a strip of sticky two sided tape (by Sookang.) I then heat set the embossing powders and the result is a very textured bumpy shiny finish. I decided to use it on a card for my favorite hunter. I spattered a mix of black Distress ink and gold spray with my new Tim Holtz spatter brush on a gold A2 card base. I die cut a Tim Holtz deer out of brown suede paper. I went on line to find a fun Camo saying, printed it and added it to the card.

I think this is an original idea born in my head while thinking about what else I could do with embossing powder. But if you have seen it elsewhere or done it yourself, please share that with me. And if you use this technique and blog or put the project in a gallery, please give me credit and link back to this blog post.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Lil Patch of Crafty Friends and Love to Create.

Die-Versions Spring Egg Tower Easter Card

Hope you are having a great day! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing this Easter card featuring Die-Version’s fun Spring Egg Tower. I started with an aqua blue card base and embossed it with a SU embossing folder. I die cut the Spring Egg Tower out of sticky two sided tape paper and added various colors of fine glitter to the Easter eggs and chick.

**Remember you can get a 15% discount on any of Die-Version’s great dies by simply using my discount code karen15 when you check out at the Die-Versions website.**

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Crafting from the Heart and Craft Your Passion.

Tonic Studios Pampered Pets Card in a Box

Happy Sunday everyone! Today I am sharing a card in a box that features many of the Pampered Pets dies recently released by Tonic Studios and available at the Tonic Gold website. I decided to make a Card in a Box so I could play with almost all the sweet new pet dies. If you have never made a Card in a Box, here is a link to a great tutorial on the size I chose to make. There are many different sizes of this style of card. This one is 6 ¾” x 5 ½” folded flat, stands up for display and folds down to mail as shown in this picture:

 I started with a piece of light brown cardstock cut to 12 x 8 ½ inches and followed the tutorial linked above to create the box card. I die cut the Best Buddies die out of red patterned paper and out of black cardstock, layered them together just slightly offset and attached to the front of the box card. I added Ebony Black Crystal Drops to the eyes of all the die cut Pampered Pets.

I love the kitties and puppies in the Pet Windows sets and used parts of those dies for the stand up back panel in this card in a box. I die cut the Just Purrrfect Kitty and the Pawsome Poodle out of patterned paper and black cardstock and attached them (again slightly offset) standing up in the inside panels.

The views from the sides of the card in a box show Love Cats and the fun and oh so true stamped sentiment from Dinner’s Up.

I had fun playing with these new dies from Tonic and hope this card inspires you to play with some Tonic Studios dies soon. I suggest you subscribe to the new Tonic USA blog and/or follow Tonic Studios USA on Facebook here to see more ideas from the talented designers on the Tonic USA blog team using these dies and more.

Tonic Studios and Nuvo Products Used: Rococco Dies: Best Buddies, Love Cats, Pawsome Poodle, Dinner’s Up, and Just Perfect; Toby’s Sill and Harvey’s Ledge Pet Windows, Tonic Tangerine Die Machine, Nuvo Ebony Black Crystal Drops, Tonic Funky Glue Pen, Tonic Advantage V Blade Trimmer Other: score board

I am entering this card in the challenge at LiveLoveCards to use colored cardstock in our project and the Anything Goes challenge at 613 Avenue Create.