Holiday or Celebration Cards 4 Kids at Send A Smile 4 Kids

It’s the first Saturday of a new month and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! The theme for this challenge is Holiday or Celebration Cards 4 Kids, but you can choose to participate in our challenge with any card appropriate for a child.

My card is an envelope card with an adorable gnome peaking out. The gnome was created with a super cute die set from Stampendous and Spellbinders called Gnome Hugs. I put him in an envelope I created with the new Envelope of Wonder die set from Spellbinders. When the tag is pulled out, here is the message stamped with a cute stamp set from Picket Fence.

 The shape of the tag was created with a Notched Corner Frame die from Spellbinders.

 Be sure to check out the rest of the cards from TEAM SAS here and we would love it if you entered our challenge.

 

Seasonal Joy Folds Varieties With Stitched Backgrounds from Frantic Stamper

Want to add interest and texture to your cards without the need for extra postage? Try using pinprick or stitched background dies like the ones from Frantic Stamper I feature in my newest video here. All the cards in the video are versions of the Joy Fold fun fold, and here is the 5 x 7 version I show how to make step by step:

This card features the Swirling Leaves Stitched Background die from Frantic Stamper as well as several other fall dies found here on the Frantic Stamper website. I share a template and how to make a 5 x 7 top opening joy fold card in the video. Joy folds add more interest with extra flaps rather than the traditional side or top opening of cards. The base of this card was cut 5 x 9 1/2 inches and scored at 2 1/2 for the bottom flap. The center flap is 4 x 10 1/2 and scored in half at 5 1/4 inches. Here is a look at the inside of this joy fold card:

As I show in the video, I cut the Scroll Maple Leaf and two of the Stacking Maple Leaves out of foil cardstock and then attached two layers of the "Blessings" sentiment. All the dies I show in the new video are from Frantic Stamper. I am honored to now be a guest dt member at Frantic Stamper and will be featuring their awesome dies on my blog and videos often. 

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

Snowflakes, Butterflies and Extra Pages In our Cards? Why Not?

I love butterflies and snowflakes, but never thought of using them together on a card until I saw the dies in the new Miss P Loves release from Paula Pascual and couldn't resist them! The dies are designed for easy journal making but I thought I could use them for unique cards with several pages in them, and I show many cards with these innovative dies in my newest video here. Here are some more pages from this winter butterfly card:

Of course we don't need to make winter cards with this butterfly die, and here is a hello card I made in just minutes with the same die set: 

If you are a journal maker, you would love these dies from Miss P Loves at Create and Craft. But if you like to make unique cards like me, they are perfect for you too! 

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

September Guy's Card Class at Harts N Scraps

I really loved the cards I designed for my September classes at Harts N Scraps this month. They were all guys cards, and this one was made with several stencils and stamps from Blue Knight Rubber Stamps. Here is a picture of some of the happy class members with this card:

We had two very full classes and one smaller class and it was in that class these pictures were taken. Two of the cards were light up cards featuring EZ Lights and One Lights from Pear Blossom Press and everyone had great fun making these cards:

The BBQ dies are from Trinity Stamps and the love bug car dies are from Paper Rose Studio. Here are some more pix of the students with these cards:

The last card we made this month was a shaped fish vest card made without large expensive specialty dies. 

Miss P Loves Boundless Journals For Cardmakers

I have been a huge fan of Paula Pascual from back in the day when we were both associated with Tonic Studios and when I saw her new release at Create and Craft recently, I was so inspired I bought the whole release. The dies are part of her Miss P Loves Boundless Journals and I am not a journal maker. However, I thought they could be used to make unique cards with extra pages if wished, and that is what I show in my newest video here. Here is the first card I made with the three Hexi die sets:

As I show in the video, the Hexi Page die set can make two large hexi pages, two smaller hexis,  and one of each all with a slot that fits over a hinge which is also made with the Hexi Page die. Here are a few more of this card's pages all made with dies from this Christmas release from Miss P Loves:

It is easiest to see in the video itself how these special cards with extra pages look. The front sentiment die is from Tonic Studios and the Peace, Love and Joy is from Penny Black. Here are a couple pictures of the 6 page card I make step by step in the video:

The Christmas Blessings sentiment die is from Sue Wilson. Rather than photo each page, I suggest watching the full video, but if no time right now, here is a mini video of each page of this special card I show how to make:

**I love my subscribers! But unfortunately my subscription service does not for some reason show mini videos when you read my blog in your email. Just click on the title and go to the actual blogpost to see it or click on any of the links for the full video with many more cards and how to make the Christmas Blessings card step by step. 

More Cards with Gina K's Technique And What Not to Do

After watching Gina K's technique video here, I pulled out all my stamps and cover dies that might work and had a play. In my newest video here, I shared many cards I made, some of which worked great and some not so much. I love the Sail Away stamp from Woodware on this card, but it proved to be a real struggle to line up the die cut layers because it was just such a detailed stamp. The die cut from Dees's Distinctively was a bit hard to work with too for this technique, although I do like how the card turned out.

I have a cover die from Spellbinders and Simon Hurley I love and tried it over a stenciled background on this card. The cloud stencils and flowers were from TEXTures by Lou Collins which I stamped and stenciled twice on a lightly colored patterned paper. The Zig Zag Chevron die cut layers were just too thin to line up for the extra layers, so I simply glued the two patterned paper layers together and added a die cut sentiment and some birds. I like how it turned out and there is some texture, but when the top layer is raised, this technique is much more effective as I show in my video here. 

Thanks To Gina K A New Technique To Try

I love to find new techniques to try, then have a play and come up with my twist on the technique. Recently I watched a video where Gina K of Gina K Designs shared the idea of stamping twice on white cardstock with black ink, then cutting one out with a cover die, raising it and gluing back on for a unique look. I pulled out every stamp set and die that I thought could work, and in my newest video I share what did and did not work. 

I thought I would try different colors than the black and white Gina K showed, and here is one of my favorites of the cards I made. I stamped "Baseball in Motion" from Technique Junkies twice on kraft cardstock using my MISTI so they were in exactly the same spot, then cut one of them out with the largest plaid die from a set by Tim Holtz and Sizzix. This die set was new to me, but is apparently out of stock at Sizzix.  I did find it here. I love how this card turned out, and wondered- do we need to stamp on each layer for this technique to work? 

No! All I did on this one was to start with two identical forest scene designer papers and cut one out with the Sizzix die and one without. I also cut out two more of the Sizzix plaid die out of thicker black cardstock and glued the three together before gluing onto the back piece. Then I glued onto a black cardbae and added a couple die cut birds. This card was so easy to make and would be perfect for sympathy, thinking of you, birthday or any reason to send a card. 

In the new video here, I show these and other cards where I learned what did and didn't work, and I made this card step by step: 

I knew I wanted to use the same Sizzix plaid die as it worked the best of the ones I tried. I had this new stamp from TEXTures by Lou Collins that I found at Paper Wishes, but it was quite a bit larger than the die. I show how I stamped twice on the same designer paper cut to 4 1/2 x 6, die cut one and glued on to two die cut out of black. I attached back onto the larger uncut piece so the flowers flow from the background on the diecut piece, and love how this one turned out!

I thank Gina K for her video and this fun technique and hope between the two of us, you have been inspired to give some of the ideas a try!