Video- Nuvo Shimmer Powders Sparkle and Gorgeous Color!

I have posted a new YouTube video today that is chock full of card samples and information on a new pigment water activated powder from Tonic Studios called Nuvo Shimmer Powders. I have most of the watercolor powders on the market and I will say that these Nuvo Shimmer Powders are my favorite. It is hard to see in the pictures, but the powders shimmer with Mica and create gorgeous glimmer on our cards and projects. The video here is long I admit because I had so much fun playing and then making cards with what I created. You can break it down into two sessions if you wish, or choose to watch the first 17 minutes with all the backgrounds and a few technique tips, or the part after the 17 minute break with all the finished card samples and more techniques you could try with the Nuvo Shimmer Powders.

Today on my blog, I am sharing three of my favorites of the many cards I created with the Shimmer Powders. As I show in the video, all you need to do to get a gorgeous background is sprinkle on a few colors of the Shimmer Powders onto watercolor paper and spritz with water. Then cut a few lovely diecuts and you have a beautiful card. For the card above, I die cut Technique Tuesday's Tulip on the Border die on the side of a piece I created with Catherine Wheel, Cherry Bomb and Solar Flare Shimmer Powders, and then added "On Your Day" from Tonic Studios. 

I watched Paula Pascual demo at Creativation 2018 in the Tonic Studios booth and on Hochanda shows using Nuvo Aqua Flow Pens to wet watercolor paper with gorgeous color and then add the shimmer powders for more color and shimmer, so I tried that on this card. The result reminded me of a sunset or sunrise, so I added Memory Box's Cat Tail Sunrise die cut out of black cardstock. I tried to bleach out the moon but when that did not work, I die cut and added a thicker vellum moon and love the look. I made this card a Thank You card with a "thanks" die from Die-Versions.

My third favorite card of all those I did with the Nuvo Shimmer Powders was made with a technique I also demo in the video. It involves cling wrap, glossy cardstock and a beautiful mess created with the Shimmer Powders and is so fun to do. I created this card with one of the pieces I made using Kat Scrappiness Condensed Alpha diecuts and part of a "thinking of you" die from Tonic Studios. 

I am entering the second card in the Anything Goes challenge at Scrapy Land and the May Linky Party at Crop Stop. 

To see many many more card samples and techniques using Nuvo's Shimmer Powders, come watch the video here. Thanks for sharing, subscribing, watching and helping me #share the joy of creativity!

Anything Goes 4 Kids OR Easter/Spring Cards 4 Kids at Send a Smile 4 Kids

(This is my second blogpost today. If you are looking for the blogpost regarding the weekend video hop and the prizes you can win, click here.) 

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This year, all challenges at SAS4Kids are Anything Goes 4 Kids! We will have an alternative theme that you can choose to follow, but are not required to. Create and link any card that is appropriate for a child and your card could be chosen as one of our top three cards and you could join us as a guest dt member on a future challenge.

The theme for this challenge is: Anything Goes 4 Kids OR Easter/Spring Cards 4 Kids!  It may seem early, but now is the time to make and send in your Spring and Easter cards for our kids. It is not required that you send in your card if you enter our challenges, but our kids would sure love it if you did!

I made an Easter card with a fun Die-Versions Easter Tower die and an Easter stamp and Peep from Studio Calico. I did a little inlaid diecutting and added some flower eyelets for a cute and CAS kid’s Easter card.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

 

How to Make a Box Card Night Before Christmas Scene YouTube Video

I have seen some box cards with diorama scenes on Pinterest and decided to play with the idea to make this larger scene card that folds flat to mail. I show step by step how to make it in a new YouTube video I posted today on my channel here. Here are some more pictures:

I used some of my favorite dies from Lil' Inker, Memory Box, Die-Versions, Tim Holtz,  and Impression Obsession to make my Night Before Christmas scene, but of course you could use any stamps or dies you already own to decorate your own box card once you watch the video and learn how to make the box card that folds flat to mail. Here is a link to the new video. Thanks for watching, sharing,  commenting and subscribing.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

Karen Burniston New Pop up Dies Series - Day Eight

Today is the last day of my series of cards featuring Karen Burniston's new pop up dies. I have had so much fun designing these interactive cards, and a little birdie told me Karen is working on another release, so I am sure I will be playing and sharing cards with those as soon as I can. I made a spring card with the Tree Pop Up Die Set , but I can't share it with you yet as I am waiting to hear if it has been accepted in a recent design call at a national magazine. (Edited to add: Woo Hoo! Just heard from CardMaker and they have accepted my KB spring pop up tree card for the Spring 2018 Issue!!!) But I love fall cards too and designed this one to share with my classes in a couple months. I started with an A2 top folding card and die cut a leafy border (from Tutti's Designs) and a lovely pumpkin from Die Versions. I colored the leaf and stem on the pumpkin with Nuvo's green glitter marker and grounded the pumpkin with a wavy hill cut with the KB Nature's Edges die set. As always, the best part of these card is in the inside:

Here is another look that shows the simple pop up where the tree is attached:

I die cut the pop up apparatus in a piece of dark green with the Nature's Edges grass and hill dies on the top and bottom. I die cut a tree in brown and the larger foliage piece in gold. Then I die cut and added a bunch of orange, red and gold leaves for a lovely fall tree. I added a "warm thoughts" sentiment cut with a die from Quietfire Design and some birds cut with IO dies. 

Thanks for helping me #spread the joy of creativity!

Karen Burniston New Pop up Dies Series - Day Five

Today I am sharing a sunshine summer card featuring the new 1011 Katherine Label Pop Up Die Set from Karen Burniston. If you click on the link, you will see all the pieces in this die set as well as a die assembly video and handy pdf. You will also see that the die set does include label dies to create the pop up label and the label frame. I used them on another card that is going to be blogged July 1st for a Send a Smile 4 Kids challenge. But for this card, I knew I wanted to feature the summer sunglasses die (from Alina Crafts) which were too big for the label dies in the set. I was able to easily switch out the pop up label and frames to some larger ones from the Cockle Shell Layering Set by Tonic Studios. I started with a 5 1/2" x 11" side folding yellow card base. Before I cut out the pop up label and frame, I sponged Fossilized Amber Distress Ink through a TCW stencil that looks like sun rays and stamped "You are my Sunshine" (from Crackerbox Palace) with black ink.

The label with the sunglasses pops up on the inside as shown, and when the card is closed, pops into the opening on the front. Such an ingenious design from Karen Burniston! I added a die cut Adirondack chair (die cut from Die-Versions) and a summer sentiment from Joy's Life Stamps. Here is a peak at the apparatus that pops up the sunglasses label:

 I admit I tried to make a card with this pop up into an opening on the front following a tutorial video in the past and struggled mightily. With this new Katherine Label Pop Up Set from KB, it was so easy to make this fun pop up card and I am teaching this card in my next classes in my home. 

Thanks for helping me #spread the joy of creativity!

The Reading Tree Dreams Card

Happy Monday everyone! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing a card I made with the brand new “Reading Tree” die from Die-Versions. I love this die with the lovely tree and the sweet kids reading under its branches. I started with a background that I stamped with the Dream stamp from Local King Rubber Stamp. I die cut the reading tree out of the stamped card front, sponged it with brown ink and inlaid the tree back into the stamped card front on a navy blue cardbase. I die cut the little girl and boy readers out of black pieces and used pop dots to attach them so they are raised for dimension. I believe reading gives kids (and everyone) dreams and the passion to “reach for the stars to change the world.” 

Baby Bear Hugs Card with Die-Version's Dies

Happy Monday everyone! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing a sweet CAS card I made with the brand new monkey die from Die-Versions. I cut and embossed him and sponged with pink distress ink. I attached him with pop dots onto a hearts designer paper layered on a peach A2 sized card. I die cut Die-Version’s “hugs” and intertwined the two dies. I think my grandson will love this card!

Bugs and Hugs Pop Up Card with Die-Versions Dies

Happy Monday everyone! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing  a birthday card I made with the brand new Bug Friends die set from Die-Versions. I love to make cards for kids and when I saw this cute set of bugs in the newest release, I knew I had to play with it. I created a top folding A2 card base and attached the Happy Birthday Corner to the top. I die cut the Momma and baby snail out of green, plaid and black scraps and paper pieced them together. I die cut “BUGS &” out of Die-Versions alphabet die. The best part of this card is what pops up when it is opened:

Four panels of cute bugs and hugs twist and pop up to surprise and delight the recipient. There are many ways to make this twist and pop element, but I did a tutorial on the easiest way I have tried here if you would like to try one. I die cut three more bugs from the new Bug Friends set for three of the panels and added Die-Version’s “hugs” too. I think my grandson will like this “bugs and hugs” pop up card. Here is a close up of those cute bugs:

**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 unless the dies are already on sale.

Stencils and Foil Masculine Card

I hope you are not tired of seeing cards with stencils and Deco Foil because I am having so much fun playing with both. I shared yesterday that I recently was taught how to use to the Dreamweaver Embossing Pastes that many of us have gathering dust with our old brass stencils to achieve this gorgeous look with Therm-o-web's Deco Foil. We applied the embossing paste through the brass Dreamweaver buck stencil with a stencil knife and then dried it on an electric griddle. If you don't have an electric griddle just for crafts (like me and my crazy friends), you could let it dry overnight or for several hours at least. I cut a piece of Amber Watercolor Deco Foil just large enough to cover the buck and ran it through a hot laminator  in a folded parchment piece. I love how he turned out!

**Edited to add: I had a request for a tutorial to explain the technique a bit better. I found one here on the Therm-o-Web blog: 
http://thermoweb.com/blog/embossing-paste-and-deco-foil-together/

The background was created with two Prima stencils - one sponged with Distress Oxide ink and the second layer created with Nuvo Black Diamond Glimmer Paste through a cracked stencil. I layered the card front on a black card base and added "Thinking Of You" from Die-Versions.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Park Bench with Metallic Tissue Background and Die-Version's Dies

Happy Monday everyone! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing a card I made with the brand new Bench die from Die-Versions and a beautiful background technique I learned recently. To make the background, I sprinkled blue and green Brusho Coloured Crystals on tissue paper and spritzed them with water. The tissue paper has to dry completely which takes several hours. Then I crumbled it up several times so it was very wrinkled and applied Versamark to the top of the wrinkles. I applied silver embossing powder to the Versamark and heat set it. The result is this beautiful background. I die cut Die-Version’s bench out of black cardstock and white fun foam, glued them together and then on the card for a CAS card that can be used for any purpose. Here is a close up of the pretty background:

**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 unless the dies are already on sale.

Die-Version's It's a Boy Baby Giraffe Card

Happy Monday everyone! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing a baby card I made with the brand new “Giraffe” die from Die-Versions. I think this baby giraffe is too cute and I die cut him out of blue polka-dotted designer paper and attached him in the center of a round card. I added “It’s a Boy” cut with the “It’s a Boy/Girl” die. I die cut Die-Version’s Baby Confetti out of blue, pink and yellow scraps and glued them on all around the circular edge.

**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 unless the dies are already on sale.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Spring Rose with Metallic Tissue Background

Are you ready for some pretty Spring inspiration? I am sooo tired of all the snow and bitter cold! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing a card I made with the beautiful new Rose and Leaves die. This lovely die is just one of many fantastic new dies just released by Die-Versions. I die cut the rose and leaves out of dark pink, light pink and green cardstock. I wanted to keep all the pieces together to be able to easily paper piece them so I put a piece of Glad  Press and Seal under the cardstock when I cut the three colors. The Press and Seal kept all the pieces together right where they belonged as the rose was assembled. I die cut the rose shape out of  the front of a piece of tissue paper I had colored with Brusho Coloured Crystals and embossed with gold embossing powder. Here is a link to the Metallic Tissue tutorial I did on my blog. This background is flatter than the others I did because I ran it through my Tangerine die cutting machine to die cut the rose shape. Then I inlaid the rose outline, inside petals and green leaves.  

Spring Pond Water Scene Card with Die-Versions Dies

Are you ready for some Spring inspiration? I am already tired of all the snow and bitter cold! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing this card I made with the beautiful Spring Pond background die from Die-Versions and a fun soap bubbles technique I learned how to do on this video. All you need is dark Distress Inks and soap bubbles created with dish soap. I chose a medium blue distress ink because I knew for this card I wanted a background that looked like water. After it dried, I simply attached the lovely Spring Pond background die and layered it on an A2 card. CAS card but fun for any occasion for someone special.

**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 unless the dies are already on sale.

Joy and Peace Wishes CAS Card with Die-Versions Dies

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing this  Christmas card I created with the beautiful Christmas Word Tree and a fun background. I sponged a couple shades of green ink through a stencil and then cut it out with Die-Version’s diamond background die. I attached that to a green card base and then attached the Christmas Word Tree. I colored the star gold with glitter to finish the CAS card. Hoping the tree wishes are yours this Christmas season!

Double Embossed Christmas Card with Die-Versions Dies

Happy Monday everyone! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing this Christmas card I created with the beautiful Madonna Ornament die from Die-Versions and a favorite background technique. For more information on the double embossed technique and a link to the original tutorial, please visit my blog here.

For this card, I did the Staz-On streaks with Azure and Black Staz-on on aluminum foil. I embossed with a Spellbinders embossing folder and dumped on blue, silver and gold embossing powders and melted it with my heat gun. Then I sponged on black archival ink. After layering the completed piece onto a navy card base, I die cut the Madonna Ornament out of white, layered it on a navy blue circle and attached it. On the inside I added the gorgeous Christmas Greetings Die-Versions die as shown here:

**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.**

Thankful Card with Favorite New Technique

If you follow me, you know I have had so much fun recently playing with a technique that features both dry embossing and heat embossing. I pulled out an old embossing folder from Sizzix with thankful words on it and embossed the aluminum foil covered background after applying Versamark to the inside of the folder. Before embossing the aluminum foil, I swiped on black and green Staz-on inks randomly. I dumped on some green and copper embossing powders and melted them. The result is this unique lovely background. I layered the finished card front onto a black card base and add the Fall Border die cut from Die-Versions. 

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Scrapy Land and the Thankful challenge at Dies R Us.

CAS Hot Air Balloon Birthday with Die-Versions Dies

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing this CAS card I created with a new favorite Die-Versions die for a stamp camp I recently hosted with beginning card makers. I love how simply using a fun die cut over a patterned paper or a background we create makes for a great card! I attached some cloudy sky paper over a white A2 card base. I die cut Die-Version’s Hot Air Balloon Birthday out of several colors of cork paper and simply attached them.  

**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 Challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Celebrating with Die-Versions Jumping Dolphins

Happy Monday everyone! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing this pretty card I created with a new favorite Die-Versions die and glitter. I die cut Die-Version’s Jumping Dolphins out of a piece of thick cardstock with a sheet of two sided tape paper on it. I removed the top of the tape from the flowers and dumped on ultra-fine purple glitter. I removed the top of the tape on the dolphins and added ultra-fine black glitter to them. Then I completed the glittery picture with ultra-fine green glitter. I die cut the Celebrate Edge Die and attached the Jumping Dolphins before adding the front piece to a teal blue card.

**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.**

Celebration Cards 4 Kids 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: Celebration Cards 4 Kids!  Create and link any celebration card appropriate for a child and you could win one of our great prizes.

We have two very generous sponsors for this challenge: DRS Designs is giving their winner a $10 gift certificate! And the winner from Kitchen Sink Stamps receives a $25 gift certificate! 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 am featuring a sweet digi from DRS Designs called Skating Penguin on my CAS celebration card for a child today. I printed him, did a little coloring and paper piecing and cut him out. I created a red card base with an embossing folder and popped him up on mounting tape for dimension when attaching. I added a cheerful "Jingle Bells" cut with a die from Die-Versions.

CAS Guy's Birthday Card

So many of my cards are created with dies only and no stamps nowadays. I really love the look and reach for dies more than stamps for most of my cards. I wanted to design a CAS guy's card because it seems that is the type of card most of us do not have enough of. I die cut the background of this card with a die from Dee's Distinctively. The feather opening was created with a die from Die-Versions and the sentiment is from Sue Wilson and cut out with deckle scissors.