Thursday, June 25, 2020

3 fun ways to give a gift card or cash

Are you looking for a fun way to give gift cards or cash? How about a handmade card that sends a sweet message and a gift?!

There are some die cuts that make it so easy to turn cards into gift card or cash holders!


You could create a pocket by making a partial cut with a paper trimmer or straight edge & craft knife but this die is so much easier! I love it!

Another great die is the Essentials by Ellen Parcel Box Die. The box it creates is small enough to fit inside a card and it can hold cash or a standard gift card.

Finally any die can be used to create an opening for a pinata-style card but I love using a rectangle die big enough to fit cash or a gift card. And it looks like a present! It's it cute?!



 You can see more about how all these cards came together in my video tutorial...

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Wednesday, June 17, 2020

shaker card with the stamp market's bounty of blooms

My favorite kind of card to make is always a shaker card! Even just a really simple one like this...
I stamped the Bounty of Blooms off the edge of a teal cardstock panel with navy ink and it looked rather plain. So I added a little color with pencils (I can always use more pencil practice).

 The card still seemed a bit boring so I die cut a circle from the center panel to create a shaker window. With the shaker window I was happy!
Hope you are having a great day!
Carly
supplies:
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Wednesday, June 10, 2020

how to make an easy diy rainbow baby onesie

Are you getting ready to celebrate the arrival of a miraculous tiny human? We are and we are so very excited!

 Our little guy is a rainbow after a very rough storm and I haven't been able to resist crafting some little onesies for him! 
This DIY rainbow onesie is super easy to put together! Here's what you need...
  • a onesie
  • some felt
  • a rainbow die cut (or if you don't have one, you can hand cut your rainbow)
  • felt glue (or embroidery floss)

 And here's how you put it together...

  • die cut or hand cut your rainbow. I used The Stamp Market's Rainbow Stripes die to cut mine. And a little note about felt...the type of felt matters when die cutting. I highly recommend using wool or wool blend. It cuts much cleaner than using acrylic felt. Ellen Hutson LLC and Benzie Design have great felt!
  • next attach your rainbow to your onesie with glue or by stitching. I'm not a great stitcher so I absolutely love the glue! I used Tacky Glue based on Benzie Design's recommendation an it worked perfectly! If you do use glue, I recommend placing a piece of cardstock inside the onesie to keep any excess glue from soaking through the front onto the back. (You can see my little piece of cardstock inside the onesie in the pic below.)
  • and that's it! So easy right?!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Carly
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Wednesday, May 27, 2020

a fun coloring technique to try the next time you make a card

Are you looking for a fun coloring technique to try next time you stamp & create a card? One of my favorite coloring techniques to use with stamps is selective coloring!
Selective coloring (or spotlight coloring) is as simple as just choosing part of a stamped image to add color to.

 I love coloring just part of my image for a few reasons...

  • coloring a large image can feel overwhelming or be time-consuming so only having to tackle a small piece is awesome!
  • coloring just part of an image also let's me focus on practicing with a few colors of whatever medium I'm using like getting some extra practice with this Copic combo.
  • and it's just fun!
Sometimes I like to layer images and use the overlapping area as the place to add color. 

For this card, I stamped the blooms from the Sending Bunches Of Love with The Stamp Market's No-Line ink. I love the soft gray color of this ink for No-Line coloring but also just for stamping.

Next I stamped "LOVE" in black ink with the Chunky Outline Alpha over the top and used just a few Copic markers to color the flowers inside the letters.
To add "sending" I used some low-tack tape to mask part of the stamp. I inked with black ink, removed the tape and stamped in onto my card.



I hope you are inspired to try a little selective coloring if you haven't already!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carly

 P.S. Here are a few more selective coloring ideas from past cards...
selective coloring with essentials by ellen stamps
spotlight coloring with neat & tangled
1 new honey bee stamp, 3 cards & bunches of talented makers
supplies:
affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!
The Stamp Market Sending Bunches Of Love Stamps
The Stamp Market Chunky Outline Alphabet Stamps
The Stamp Market Inks No-Line & Black
Copic Markers RV52, RV55, BG11, BG34 & 100
Purple Tape
MISTI 
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Friday, May 22, 2020

creating a clear card with nuvo drops

Have you ever made a see through card? Acetate makes it really easy and I think adding Nuvo Drops makes it extra cool!
First let's chat about acetate for a second...

 I've tried a handful of different acetates for creating clear & shaker cards and so far my favorite is the Essentials by Ellen Crystal Clear Plastic Sheets. It's comes in 8-1/2 x 11 sheets which is perfect for cutting into cards. The weight is also heavy enough to be a card base but not so heavy that you can't cut with a paper trimmer or die cuts. And it cuts cleanly, with no ragged edges, which not all acetate does.
To create this card, I used low-tack tape to mask off a rectangle on the front of my acetate card. Then I applied Nuvo Crystal Drops in a rainbow and spread them with a squeegee.

 The Nuvo Crystal Drops are opaque on cardstock but are more transparent on the acetate. When I write a message on the inside of my card, it will show through just a bit creating a fun look!

 You can see more about the making of this card in my quick video tutorial...
By the way...if you are here for Ardyth, Kathya & Jenny's celebration video hop, there are lots of great prizes so leave a comment on my YouTube video to be entered to win!

 And you can find the whole hop list on Ardyth's blog.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Carly

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Wednesday, May 20, 2020

rainbow word card with essentials by ellen

It seems that I never tire of creating handmade cards with rainbows! I love rainbow stamps, rainbow die cuts, rainbow colors of ink...the list could go on but this card didn't actually start with a rainbow product, it started with this rainbow saying.

 Gratitude is always a good idea but lately the practice of "counting my rainbows" seems extra important. And I thought it would make an encouraging card saying, especially when paired with a unicorn!
To create the rainbow striped letters, I started by applying some Stick Adhesive to the back of piece of white cardstock. Stick It is great for making die cut "stickers" because it is extra thin and dies will still cut cleanly.

 I die cut the adhesive backed cardstock with The Stamp Market's 1/8 Quick Strip die. All The Stamp Market's Quick Strip dies are super handy to have but if you don't have a die that cuts strips, you could also use your paper trimmer.
Next I used Copic Markers to color the strips.

 Then I applied the strips onto a lightweight piece of printer paper in rainbow order. I used the printer paper as the base so it would still be easy to die cut through the stripes & their printer paper backer.

Aren't the rainbow striped letters cute?!

I die cut the rest of my letters from black cardstock and used a glue pen to adhere the saying to the front of a white card.

Finally I added a very simply colored little unicorn.

Hope your day is full of rainbows to count! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Carly
supplies:
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Thursday, May 7, 2020

rainbow sentiment strip card

Do you ever sit down to create with absolutely no idea what you are going to make?
I sat down to play with no plan to create and ended up creating a rainbow of sentiment strips just for fun. 

 Then I liked them all together so much, I created this card...
A little bit more about creating this card...

 I didn't have the rainbow cardstock on hand that I wanted, so I cut the strips from white cardstock with The Stamp Market's 1/4" Quick Strip Die. I love this die for sentiment strips and easy stripes!

 Then I colored the strips by just swiping my ink pads across them.
After the ink was dry, I stamped the little sentiments from The Stamp Market's Ton of Type set in clear embossing ink, added white embossing powder and heat set.

 I adhered the rainbow strips onto a 4 x 5-1/4 piece of light blue cardstock. The cardstock is Bazzill's Icy Mint but I think it is the perfect light blue to pair with rainbow projects.
I trimmed the excess strips off and mounted the panel to a white card.

 Finally I added the white "hello" die cut.
Hope your day has rainbow! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs!
Carly
supplies:
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