Stamp Joy Staycation Cards

I recently participated in Taylored Expression's Stamp Joy Staycation and the theme was Timeless Techniques. I learned so much. Above is one of the cards I made and below are several more I made pretty much exactly as they taught them:

I loved what I learned making both of these cards. The mason jar in the first one is full of TE's Iridescent Glitter Happy Medium and is squishy to the touch. I added and orange reinker to it to make this "old fashioned" drink card:

The old fashioned drink glass is from a set by Spellbinders. Looks good enough to drink, right? 

I loved revisiting the baby wipe technique, and I made these two cards with different colors of reinkers and several of the stamps we received as part of the kit. The arched shape dies are from the Essential Arches die set by Spellbinders. 

An exciting product that Taylored Expressions sent us (and will be available in January) is the Mirror Mat that allowed us to easily create the reflection of the trees on this card. I decided to cut my image apart into strips and put on a new fun fold called the Quadruple Z-fold. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Shaped Cards in Non-traditional Colors for Christmas or Gifts

Today I am finishing up my Christmas Inspiration Countdown Series for CutCardStock with non-traditional colors and shaped cards. Instead of the usual reds, greens and golds, why not try some beautiful metallic cardstocks in purple, blue and silver?

I have chosen CutCardStock's Stardream Metallic Card Stock in Vista, Silver and Punch. All of my cards feature Spellbinders Arch Punch & Pierce Plate. The Bethlehem Nativity dies above are from Creek Bank Creations. 

One pass of the Spellbinders Arched Punch and Pierce Plate through a die cutting machine die cuts all three pieces.  So after three passes, we have all the pieces to make three beautiful shaped cards.

These shaped cards can be used for Christmas cards as shown in the first card. They also could be used for birthday, sympathy, thinking of you or any other reason or season. I made a set of 6 cards most without any sentiments attached. Then I packaged up a dozen or so foiled and die cut sentiments with adhesive strips on the backs. Next I put the sentiments and the cards with envelopes in a cloth basket to be given as a gift. The recipient can chose which sentiment to add anytime they need a special card.

I hope these cards inspire you to try dies and colors in new and non-traditional ways, and then give or send them out to share some handmade joy in our world! Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen

Spellbinders Pop Up Surprise Card

This is a card I made recently with the beautiful Scenic Poinsettias 3D embossing folder from Spellbinders. It is pretty, but the real fun happens when the sides are pulled:

Peppermint Prancer pops up wishing everyone Happy Holiday Smiles. I loved the October Stitching Die of the Month from Spellbinders and created several cards with him which you can see here on my blog. But when the month is over, the dies and other products of the month are still available if they did not sell out and this die is here if you want this cutie. 

It is hard to see this pop up magic with still pictures, so here is a mini video to show you the fun:

If you are a subscriber, the videos do not show up. Simply go to my actual blog or instagram to see this card in action. 

Wishing you Happy Holiday Smiles! and Happy Thanksgiving!

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Stenciling on Waffle Flower's Piercing Panel Die Cut Backgrounds

I love the look of stenciling on perforated paper backgrounds but the perforated paper is hard to find and so expensive. So I was excited to discover that Waffle Flower has an A2 Piercing Panel Die that creates the look of perforated paper without the expense. I can make as many pierced backgrounds as I want and use for all sorts of cards. My favorite technique is to stencil on them, and I pulled out an older (but still available) Pretty Pink Posh Crocus stencil to make these two cards. 

I chose purple and yellow crocuses and am not sure which I love the best? What do you think?

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Altenew Doves in Flight Cards

I took a few minutes this week to play with new dies I have recently received and made two cards with Altenew's Doves in Flight layering die set. Altenew has a brilliant Key Hole System to make lining up the different layers so easy! I hadn't made a split circle background in a while so I die cut some patterned paper and gold shimmer paper with Tonic smaller scalloped circle dies. I cut them in half and layered as you see. Then I embossed the whole panel with a Spellbinders text embossing folder. I put the dove together and attached with a sentiment from the same die set.

Here is a card I made the same way with a white dove and grey semi-circle pieces.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

November Class Cards - Interactive with Clear View Transparencies

This month at Harts n Scraps we made interactive Christmas cards with Clear View Transparencies. I had two full classes and they loved the cards. Here are the front and insides of each:

In December we are going to do book folding- you can choose an angel or Christmas tree. Then in the new year, we are starting out with Thoughtful Stenciled cards.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Overlaying Amazing Sparkle on Toner Foiled Fun Folds

Have you seen the new kind of foils called Overlay Foils that add a mystical or magical shine and shimmer to toner sheets and your cards? In my new video here, I play with Overlay Foils from Gina K Designs, Brutus Monroe and Taylored Expressions. I show how to add the extra sparkle you see above by running the toner patterned cardstock and plain toner sheets through a MINC with Gina K's new Mystic Shine Overlay Foil. The card design is called Double Decker Pop Out card and is perfect for the three different layers of foiled beauty. The Toner Card Front I started with is called Design Haven and is from Deco Foil and Therm O Web. 

Here is another double decker fun fold I made with foiled panels. I started with a Flowers in the Breeze Foilable from Pink and Main that has a layered stencil to add blended color to the flowers. The second layer was not stenciled but I did add sparkle with a Gina K Designs Mystic Shine Overlay. The front layer was the 2nd generation of foiling with a Taylored Expressions Opalescent overlay on top. 

Here is a couple pictures of the template of the Double Decker Fun Fold I made in the video:

The new overlay foils also work great on toner printed pattern paper and I started with that on this card and added the GKD Mystic Shine to those panels as well as to the black toner sheet on layer two.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen