Sweet Pea Stamps Blog Hop - Tuesday, Jan 26th

Welcome to the first day of the Sweet Pea Stamps Blog Hop... and welcome to my blog!!! The Sweet Pea Design Team Members have some beautiful art to show you on this hop. I am the 3rd stop along the hop for today; hopefully, you've already visited Mag's blog and Connie's blog. If you haven't, be sure to go back and check them out... there is a prize to be won here!!!! A gift certificate to spend at Sweet Pea Stamps!!! You don't want to miss a chance to win that! In order to win you must visit all of the blogs on the hop and post a comment at each blog. And I'm not the last blog on this hop for today. I'll direct you to the next Design Team Member's Blog at the end of this posting.
A winner will be selected from those of you hopping along with us on Tuesday, and another winner will be selected if you hop along with us on Thursday and post a comment to all of the participating blogs on that day too!!! Two chances to win!!! What more can you ask for?? For more info about this blog hop visit the Sweet Pea Design Team Blog.
And be sure to check out this enchanting image at the Sweet Pea Stamp website. She is the Haiti Relief Image and will be available Jan 29th. 50% of stamp sales of this image will go to Doctors' Without Borders.


And now ... let's get on with the Blog Hop...

It is my pleasure to work with 'Black Rose Fairy'. She is one of the images from the Ching-Chou Kuik Fantasy Art Collection on sheet #7, and is available on Sweet Pea Plate #29. I couldn't stop at just one card, so I've made 5. Each of the images was painted with Twinkling H2O's and after the paint was dry I added some highlights with a sakura glitter pen.
For this card I cut the image out using a nestabilities die and my Cuttlebug machine. I used the next size larger in the same nestabilities dies to cut and emboss a piece of gold card stock, mounting the image onto it. I looked through my tons of decorative card stock packs and found the multi-colored paisley and the gold embossed green pieces. I cut and ripped each on a diagonal and then attached to the rust-colored card. Once all the pieces were attached to the card it looked 'unfinished', so I got out my fabric flowers and chose 3 coordinating colors attaching them to the card with a large gold brad. I think this may be my favorite of the 5 cards I made for this blog hop. Check out the rest and let me know which is your favorite....

I trimmed the upper half of the image for this card, but left the vines that are part of the bottom of the image.
I cut a piece of core 'dinations card stock slightly smaller than the light blue card. Core 'dinations card stock is a type of card stock that has a color core, rather than white. You can tear or sand this card stock to achieve some unique results. I ran the piece through the cuttlebug with an embossing folder and then sanded the raised areas to get the tone on tone look shown. Before attaching the embossed piece to the blue card I punched 2 rectangular holes in the left side and slipped a silver ribbon through to simulate a bow. Then using a thin silver thread I attached a silver charm to the center of the bow. I ran my image through a xyron and attached her to the lower right of the card. The card still looked bare to me, so after rummaging through my stash I found a large silver leaf and attached it across the top of the card.
There are many ways to work with this image. For this card I used a nestabilities die to cut and emboss the image in my Cuttlebug. I then mounted it onto a piece of background paper that a friend had given me. That piece was also embossed with a cuttlebug folder. I edged the layer with a silver krylon pen before attaching to a piece of decorative card stock that was also edged with the silver krylon pen. The purple card was punched with decorative photo corners and the matted image slipped into the corners. She didn't seem quite finished so I took a silver star bead, ran some purple wire through it and strung some small seed beads to the ends of the wire, curling the wire on each end so the beads would not fall off.

Here is an easy card to make with the Black Rose Fairy, or any of the fairies that are available at Sweet Pea Stamps.
I trimmed the image, leaving none of the background. Starting with a piece of lavendar card stock slightly smaller than the dark blue card, I ran the piece through the cuttlebug with the script embossing folder. But before I did that I rubbed my adirondack denim dye ink pad onto the embossing folder so that the 'unraised' areas of the piece would look shaded. I used a 'ticket' style corner punch on the piece and then attached a wine colored ribbon down the center of the card vertically. After attaching that piece to the dark blue card I attached the image in the center and added some silver peel offs in the corners and edges of the card. That was just the little extra that the card needed!

Here's another very simple card made with this wonderful image...
After trimming the image I mounted her onto a piece of decorative card stock that had been cut and embossed with a nestabilities oval die in my cuttlebug. I cut a piece of purple card stock slightly smaller than the orchid card and ran it through the cuttlebug with one of my cuttlebug embossing folders. Then I used a decorative corner punch on the piece. Before putting all the layers together and attaching to the card, I edged the 2 layers with a turquoise marvy metallic marker. I also used the sakura glitter pen to add highlights to the embossed areas of the purple card stock. After attaching all to the card I punched a couple of rectangular holes in the center near the bottom and slipped a purple multi-colored ribbon through to simulate a bow. Can you tell I'm drawn to purples and blues??

Be sure to leave a comment on my blog so you are eligible for the gift certificate drawing that will be held at Sweet Pea Stamps. And now it is time for you to move on to our next Design Team Member, Jennifer.... so hop on over to Jennifer's blog.
Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to visit the Sweet Pea Stamps Blog on Thursday, Jan 28 for the 2nd day of the blog hop.

Joy Fold cards

I am enjoying making and giving these 'Joy Fold' Cards. To get more info on the specifics of what size the pieces are and how to put them together google "Joy Fold Cards".
I used the central image and the sentiments found inside this card that are found on Sweetpea Plate #2. Both the base and center panel of this card were cut from a wine-colored card stock. I used some handmade background papers that I had laying around on the various panels of this card. I stamped the central image onto the background paper using india black ink and then trimmed before attaching to the front of the center panel.
I've partially opened the card in this photo. The butterfly closure was created with a Cuttlebug die and then embossed with another cuttlebug embossing folder. Before embossing the butterfly I rubbed a metallic brilliance ink pad on the folder so that the crevices of the butterfly would be metallic. I then applied clear embossing powder and heated. I attached the butterfly to the left panel using raised foam squares so that the corner of the center panel would easily fit under the wing of the butterfly and remain closed.
With this card fully opened you can see the handmade background papers I used to cover both the left and center of the base piece of the card. On the left side I cut a piece of wine-colored card stock (the same used for the base and center panel), punched decorative photo corners, and inserted a mauve-colored piece of card stock that was stamped with one of the sentiments available on this Sweetpea plate. The simple 'Happy Birthday' sentiment was stamped inside the center panel leaving space for the person sending this card to write a personal message.

For this Joy Fold Card I used an image from the Ching-Chou Kuik Fantasy collection; it can be found on Sweetpea Plate #21. Also, instead of creating the card in the landscape orientation, I decided to switch it up and orient the card in a portrait mode.
The base piece was cut from a rust colored card stock. I used various pieces of coordinated patterned card stock on the base and center panels of this card. On the closure for this card I cut one of the funky flowers from the patterned card stock and used raised foam adhesive squares to position the flower.

I'm holding the card partially open in this pic. I've opened the small bottom panel of the base and left the center panel closed at this point. It is easy to see the central image. I stamped her onto white card stock with india black ink and then painted her with Twinkling H2O's. I trimmed the image into a rectangle and then used a decorative corner punch. I then matted the image onto the same rust card stock that I used for the base piece of the card and used the same corner punch on that layer. Finally, I mounted the layered piece onto the front of the green center panel piece of the card.
You can also see the coordinating patterned card stock that I used on the inside of the base piece.



On the inside of the center panel of this card I stamped one of the sentiments from Plate# 21.... " Have a Magical Day". It may be a little difficult to read since I stamped it over the patterned card stock piece that I attached to the green panel. I purposely left the other side of the center panel blank so that the sender of this card could write a note to the lucky recipient.
These cards are fun to create and a breeze to make using some of the coordinating packages of card stock and scrapbook papers that are on the market now.

Belated Christmas gifts

This all started because of these great pictures I took of my great nieces and great nephew when they visited us at Christmas time. The pictures were so cute I had to do something with them. I cut the pictures into ovals by first running them through my Cuttlebug with a nestibilities die, and then I trimmed them down a bit more so that they would fit onto the matting that you'll see further on in this posting.




I had these ornament shaped chipboard pieces in my stash. I had gotten them at Michael's in the $1 section; there were 5 in the package... what a bargain!
I ran a gold krylon pen around both edges of each of the 4 chipboard ornaments. I assumed that even after tracing and cutting the gold, red, and green papers I was using that I wouldn't have a perfect fit and I didn't want any of the ugly brown chipboard to show through.

Here is 1 of the 4 gold pieces after I ran it through the Cuttlebug with the snowflake embossing folder. I used the chipboard piece to trace the shape onto the back side of the gold, green, and red card stock. After trimming them and checking to make sure they fit onto the chipboard I ran them all through the Cuttlebug. The gold pieces were attached to the front sides of each chipboard ornament with double sided tape.

Here is the 1 red piece after I ran it through the Cuttlebug with the snowflake embossing folder. These colored pieces (the red and the 3 green pieces) were attached to the back sides of each of the chipboard ornaments.







This is one of the 3 green pieces after I ran it through the Cuttlebug.









I cut mattings for the 4 pictures and for framing the 4 sentiments using my Cuttlebug and a nestability die. There were 4 gold pieces, to be used for the sentiments, and 3 green and 1 red piece, to be used for the pictures.





I typed the sentiment and printed it onto a silver and gold flecked vellum sheet. I had gotten the idea for the sentiment from a Christmas card we had received from my DH's Aunt. Each year she sends us a card created with family photos. This year her card was a picture of her with all her grandchildren and this sentiment.



For the backs of each ornament I cut the sentiments from the vellum using the same nestabilities die I had used to cut the pictures with. Then I also cut a piece from the gold paper using both the largest and then next size smaller. I wanted to frame the sentiment with the gold piece.








Here's a picture of the front of one of the green ornaments. I made 3 ornaments with this same picture. These are my 2 youngest great nieces and my great nephew. From left to right they are: Alivia (3), Adrian (4), and Alexa (4). The girls were posing like ballerinas in their new Holiday dresses and Adrian was taking it all in. One ornament will go to my niece Tracie, who is Alivia and Alexa's Mom, the second will go to my niece Leah, who is Adrian's Mom, and the third will go to Adrian's Grandma.
Once the cuttlebug'd pieces were taped onto the chipboard, I edged it once again with the gold krylon pen on both sides and then attached the matted pictures and sentiments onto the appropriate sides of the ornaments. It wasn't hard finding a decorative ribbon to use... I have a ton of ribbons.








This is what the back side of the green ornament looks like. The same paper that was used on the front to make the matting for the picture was used on the back.











Here is the ornament I made using red paper. The matting behind the picture is the same paper that is used on the back side. I'm going to let my two nieces decide whether they want a red or a green ornament. I hope they both don't want the red since there is only one red one!!





And here is the back side of this ornament. As a final step to both sides of all the ornaments, I added some glitter onto the raised snowflakes using a glitter gel pen. I don't know if it shows up very well in any of these pictures.
I may just decide to add some type of little dangly bead, or something, to the bottom of these. I'm just now sure about it yet.









Here is the 4th ornament. It has a different picture than the other 3. It is a picture of my 3 great nieces; they are sisters; Alivia, Alexa, and Paige (14). This ornament is going to my sister, their Grandma. The other side of this ornament is green, just like the matting behind the picture. And it has the same sentiment on the other side as the other 3 ornaments have.
I hope my sister likes it. She'll be visiting us in Feb and March. That is when I plan to give all the ornaments away.

A journey to Paris

A friend of mine, Carol Sweeney, sent me the wonderful eiffel tower embellishment that is in the center of this card. It is made of air dry clay and has metallic ribbons in it also. Isn't it gorgeous!!! Rather than hoard this beautiful embellishment and pack it away with the rest of my stash, inspiration struck as I knew I had the perfect Sweetpea stamp to accompany this embellishment. Besides, there was the perfect opportunity to use this embellishment for a swap entitled 'Use it or Lose it' on CCSwaps.
The eiffel tower image, seen in the upper right and lower left corners of this card, is on Sweetpea plate #6. I stamped the image onto white card stock using lightening black brilliance ink and then I embossed with clear detail powder. I double mounted the image on a metallic gold piece of card stock and then a black piece of card stock. I cut a piece of white card stock to 4 x 5 1/4" and sponged on some gold ink, but not enough to cover the card. After the ink dried I ran the piece through my cuttlebug using the script embossing folder. I swiped a black ink pad and then the lightening black brilliance ink pad across the embossed card to highlight the script. I edged the piece using a gold krylon pen and before attaching to a black card I attached a piece of printed twill ribbon with a gold star shaped brad to the left top corner. I then attached the embellishment and 2 stamped images to the front of the card. I love it when inspiration strikes and all the pieces of a card work together so well!!!

Altered Tin

We have an "altered container" swap going on over at CCSwaps. I started with this tin that measures 4 1/4 x 3", and 3/4" deep. Using alcohol inks and a felt applicator I applied color to the top, sides, and bottom of the tin. I actually did this twice as sometimes the first application doesn't result in the textured look I was trying to achieve. There is no need to wait between applications since alcohol inks dry so fast. By the time I was finished with the first application I was able to start on the second application. I used sail boat blue, twilight purple, and silver inks.

To decorate the top of the tin I used one of the Ching-chou Kuik images found on Sweetpea plate #21. I stamped the image using india black ink onto a piece of glossy card stock that I had colored with various alcohol inks. After trimming the image I used a corner rounder and then edged it with blueMarvy Metallic Markers. I attached the image to the center of the top of the tin with double sided tape. I used silver glitter glue and glossy accents to embellish several areas of the image.

I attached some decorative metallic trim all around the edge of the top cover. I used red line tape to attach the trim so that it would hold up to someone opening and closing the tin.






Before finishing off the inside of the tin I applied alcohol ink to the sides of the top and bottom using a piece of felt. I just wanted to cover the silver with a little color.
I had some white glossy card stock that I colored with alcohol inks using the 'polished stone' technique. I traced the top of the tin on the glossy card stock, cut it out slightly smaller than the tracing marks, and taped it to the inside top. I have a bunch of vellum booklets that contain pre-printed sayings and words, so I chose this saying, tore it out of the booklet and attached to the inside top using vellum tape. I placed a dragonfly button embellishment inside the top using a couple of glue dots.
For the inside of the bottom of the tin, I cut a piece of background paper I had created using white glossy card stock, alcohol inks, andversamark ink. I had stamped onto the white glossy card stock using versamark , let dry or dry with a heat gun, and then apply alcohol inks with a felt applicator. To get the piece of card stock to fit the bottom of the tin I just placed the tin on top of the paper and traced around it. Then I cut it out slightly smaller than the tracing. I attached the piece with double sided tape. I tore the vellum piece that waspre-printed with "Dream" and taped that down using vellum tape.
And now it is ready to give away!!! Fill it with a few pieces of chocolate and it makes a great gift to give and a great gift to receive!

Recycled holiday cards

CCSwaps is having a "Recycle the Holidays" swap. So I looked through the many wonderful Christmas cards we received and chose a few of them to work with.
One of our cards had this wonderful central image of a silver glittery snowflake on a blue square. I trimmed the square and snowflake from the card and made it the central image of another card. I ran a piece of light blue card stock through the cuttlebug with a snowflake embossing folder and attached the 'recycled' snowflake to it. Before attaching that piece to the dark blue card I placed 2 silver snowflake brads in the center of 2 of the embossed snowflakes. Then, I used silver glitter on some of the embossed snowflakes. This is the card that will go to my partner in the swap.

I didn't have to do much to create this bright holiday card. The 4 pieces of the Christmas tree were part of a card that we received. I just took them off that card and placed them onto a piece of bright blue card stock that I ran through the cuttlebug with a snowflake embossing folder. I attached a silver fabric star to the top of the tree and mounted the piece onto a lime green card.
Then I used silver glitter to spice up some of the embossed snowflakes.
This isn't your typical red and green Christmas card, but I like the bright colors it adds to the already festive holiday.





Who says that when you recycle holiday cards that you need to create another holiday card??? Not me!
The aqua colored star with the rhinestone center that is in the lower right corner of this card is from a Christmas card I received in 2009. I have a cuttlebug star embossing folder and some silver fabric stars...so...
I cut a piece of silver metallic card stock in a triangular shape so that it would fit onto the right side of the shimmery green scrapbook paper I had cut to 4 x 5 1/4". I taped the silver onto the other before running it through the cuttlebug so that the stars landing on the diagonal line where the 2 pieces joined would be in sync. Before attaching to a light gray card I inserted the alpha brads that spell "wish". I attached 3 silver fabric stars in various places and attached the 'recycled' aqua star. This card could be given for a variety of occasions.

Joy Fold Card

This style of card is called a 'layered card' or 'joy fold card'. I used Ching-Chou Kuik's image found on Sweetpea plate #21 to adorn this card. I stamped the image on white card stock with india black ink and painted with Twinkling H2O's.
Now I'll attempt to explain how the card was put together!!
The card is made of 2 pieces of card stock:
- the base (olive green) is 8 1/2 x 4 1/4" and is scored and folded 3" from the left side
- the front panel (pink) is 8 x 3" and is scored and folded in half.
I cut a piece of decorative scrapbook paper and attached to the front panel, and on top of that I attached the image. The front panel piece will open from left to right (hope that makes sense). And when the card is closed flat it lays on top of the left side (panel) of the base piece. You'll see this better in a picture I have posted further on.


I attached a piece of decorative card stock to the right panel of the base. On top of that and centered I attached the left side of the 8 x 3" piece of card stock - for this card it is the pink piece. This is where you would stamp or write the sentiment/message.







I attached pieces of decorative scrapbook paper to the inside of the front panel and to the outside of the left panel. (The flower that you see on the left panel is added later on.)





At this point you want to fold the card flat in order to determine where to place the item that will secure the front panel. For my card I used my cuttlebug with spellbinders die to cut and emboss 2 flowers. I punched a hole in the center for the brad and then determined where to place the flowers so that just the edge would fit over the corner of the front panel.




The last step for my card was placing some decorative scrapbook paper on the inside of the left flap. I needed to do this in order to cover up the back of the brad I had used on the front of the left flap to hold the flower petals.
I used my cuttlebug dies and embossing folders to create a butterfly, and a spellbinders die to create a flower that I attached to the inside left panel.
There are so many variations with regard to decorating and embellishing a layered card. I love that fact that this card provides the creator and the lucky recipient with multiple layers of surprises.
If you google 'joy fold card' you'll find more ideas and pictures that will help you to see how this card is put together.