Joyful Press Plate Play Multiple Ways

Did you know every Spellbinders Press Plate (as well as those from other companies) can be used in at least three different ways on our cards and projects?! I played with the new Home for the Holidays press plates from Spellbinders and created many cards for my newest video here. I am featuring the new Day and Night Pines Press Plates and the Sending Joy sentiments. On the card above I created the background with one of the Pines press plates and no ink- so just letter pressed for an embossed look. The center strip shows the 2nd way to use our press plates- add ink and run through the BetterPress machine and I did both the strip and the sentiment with gold ink. 

This card shows the difference between the two pines plates very well- I did both with a green ink and cut out the holly with Spellbinders Stitched Poinsettia and Holly dies. I raised the top piece with adhesive strips and the pattern flows from the front to the darker green pattern below. 

This is the card I show how to make step by step in the new video. I show how I adding Lisa Horton's Cloud 9 Charcoal Gold Shimmer Interference ink on the Pines press plate and also how I hot foiled the sentiment before cutting it out. (Watch the video or check back on Wednesday to see more hot foiled cards- one more way to use the Spellbinders Press Plates!) 

The fun fold I taught is called the 4 Piece Puzzle Slider Card and I learned how to do it from  Suestampfield. The front pieces show the pines pattern continuing across the 4 pieces and here is a template I made to share if you want to make the card:

I now have a good start on my stash of Christmas cards so I will not be in a rush in December to make them. I hope my cards encourage you to give some of the products and ideas a try and you can get ahead on your holiday cards and spread joy too. 

First Card with My New Spellbinders Glimmer System

I tried a friend's hot foil system (not Spellbinders) a few years back with hot foil dies (or stamps) and had so much difficulty getting good images I swore I would never hot foil. But I now have quite a collection of press plates that work beautifully in my Spellbinders BetterPress and they all also can be hot foiled. Double the looks at no more expense? I was sorely tempted and a recent sale at Spellbinders was so good I gave myself an early Christmas present of the Spellbinders Glimmer Machine. 

In the Glimmer Machine box along with the machine and other equipment were two rolls of foil and a two Glimmer Plates. I love Rainbow Foil so I made my first hot foil impression and card with that roll and those two glimmer plates. I watched a bunch of videos from Yana and Jennifer McGuire and right from the start had good success. A little over-foiling can be brushed away with a stiff brush or erased with a sand eraser. I emphasized the "hello" with a Spellbinders/Simon Hurley layered die and cut the center out and raised it on a square card. 

I am hooked and you will see many more hot foiled cards with press plates here and on my YouTube channel soon.

Foiled and LetterPress Cards from Pinkfresh Studio's Online Class

I wanted to learn more about letterpress with my Spellbinder's BetterPress System and decided to take the online Create and Connect Hot Foil/Letterpress Virtual Event for that reason. We received a huge box full of press plates with matching stencils and dies and a full day of classes plus two extra make and take cards with instructions for each class. It was worth every penny and I highly recommend these online events from Pinkfresh Studios.

This is one of my favorite cards we created in one of the classes. I was unable to take the classes live on the scheduled day as I was out of town. I love that we can watch when it is convenient for us, stop as many times as we want and create at our own pace! I am not sure if you can tell in the picture, but in the floral frame at the top and the bottom, there is the sparkle of foil. I looked at all the sample cards made with the beauty of hot foil and with the help of a big sale at Spellbinders, I gave in and purchased a Glimmer Machine. I had resisted for years, but all of the press plates I have now in my collection can be foiled too! I can letter press OR foil them, so I treated myself. Most of the cards I share have larger foiled sentiments from Pinkfresh Studios and smaller foiled sentiments from Taylored Expressions.

My favorite class was taught by Emily Midgett and here are the two awesome cards she taught:

I loved the layouts and everything about these cards from her class. I changed the color to purple on the roses oval card just for fun. Here is another card I made with the oval rose and floral border from another class:

For each class we were taught two cards and then we received pictures and instructions for two more cards. I loved the arches set of press plates, stencils and dies and created these two beautiful card with their instructions. It is hard to see, but the lower card has gorgeous foiled leaves and flowers. Here is another card I made with instructions from the class:

I just love the layouts of these cards and would not have come up with them myself so I am so glad I took the classes! Here are the last two cards I made with a lovely floral press plate:

Spellbinder's Nature's Botanical Gardens Blackout Technique Without Black

My favorite technique right now is the blackout technique with the debossed side of 3D embossing folder card fronts inked and then the background is swiped with a black ink pad. I decided to play with different colors for the background and this one was created with a bluish purple ink from Altenew. The gorgeous 3D embossing folder I am featuring on all my cards is the Nature's Botanical Gardens Wreath 3D Embossing Folder that is part of the new Nature's Botanical Garden Collection from Susan Tierney-Cockburn. 

 I often struggle with color choices and a friend who is a fantastic artist and crafter recommended The Color Cube by Sarah Ranae Clark. I got a huge box full of color combos and I picked this one to get colors that look good with the Altenew ink background:

I added some orange flowers cut with the new Forsythia die set also from the Nature's Botanical Gardens release, and I completed the card with some gems and a gold foiled sentiment from Pinkfresh Studios. 

I tried a dark green background on this one and once again added Spellbinders flowers, gems and a gold foiled sentiment. The Color Cube system is available now at Spellbinders, and here is the Color Cube card I used for my color inspiration:

I chose a gold background for this one and used the new Spellbinders Hydrangea die set to add some dimensional flowers on part of the wreath. 

Square Column Fun Folds with the Brilliance of Foil

I get very excited about new fun folds and new products, and my new video here combines both of those on all the cards I share. In a recent make and take I learned how to make a Square Column fun fold card and all my cards are in that format and also feature foiled toner printed designs. 

I made the card on the right in the new video showing how to foil a toner card front from Deco Foil and then do a 2nd generation foiling with colored toner sheets from Pink and Main. The card on the left features the same Lavish Lace Toner Card Front from Deco Foil with rainbow foil. Both cards have foiled sentiments and butterflies from Pink and Main's Amazing Butterflies Foilables Cut Ups.

Here is a template on how to make the Square Column Fun Fold card as I show step by step in the video:

Foilables are toner printed designs and I bought the Buffalo Plaid Foilable and the gorgeous Waterfall Teal Cheer Foil from Pink and Main in their booth at Simon Says Create. Of course they are also available on their website here. I share also the three ways we can now do a 2nd generation of foiling  - the traditional Black Toner Sheets as I used to create the Buffalo Plaid with the black on the right side of the card above; white toner sheets from Pink and Main or white Poly-Glaze Sheets from Gina K Designs; and colored toner sheets from Pink and Main such as these here.

Here are a couple more of the cards I share in the video:

Can you tell I love this new to me and easy to make fun fold? The square column can be on the right or the left and the card folds flat to fit in an A2 envelope. I made the top one of these two with new Vintage Flourish Poly Glaze Foiling Sheets from Gina K Designs, and the bottom one with a pretty toner card from from Unity and Deco Foil. 

To see all these cards and how easy they are to make with all these awesome foiling products, watch the new video here. 

Out and About Interactive Cards Featuring Spellbinders

I am sending hugs and singing in the rain with this card featuring Spellbinders Out and About dies all designed to fit into the smaller Scout die cutting machine also from Spellbinders. The legs swing back and forth and the umbrella was mounted on a Action Wobble so that moves too. This set of dies is called Dancin' In the Rain and shaped Essential Arches and sentiment dies are also from Spellbinders.

I used two more sets of Out and About dies on this card which flips open to reveal this cute gnome:

The new die sets are called Mushroom Mansion and Garden Buddies. The stamped sentiments are from Lawn Fawn. 

Isn't this Roller Disco Dottie adorable? He is on a channel I created with a curved punch and two pennies on each circle and he moves back and forth. 

All of these fun cards are interactive which is hard to show in still pictures so I made a short reel which you can see on my Instagram here or Facebook page here.  

Crealies Playing Cards and Pop up Guy's Celebrations

My family and I love to play cards together so the new playing cards dies sets from Crealies are perfect for upcoming guy’s celebrations! Here is the surprise I created for one grandson:

And this is the pop up card I created in my new video for my grandson who is turning 18 this summer:

I show in the new video how I created that pop up card and here is another pop up card I created for my husband for Father’s Day:

 

The new Give a Gift Card Shirt Man die set is perfect for giving a gift card for any special occasion.

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

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