Today I have another card for you featuring the Oceanside Lighthouse and Waves die. I told you this would be one of my favorite dies!
To make this card I started by painting a watercolor a piece of paper that is die cut using the Rectangle Basics Set. I die cut the lighthouse twice, once from a red stripe piece of patterned paper and once from licorice cardstock. I saved the windows from the licorice die cut and cut the top of the lighthouse. Glue the top to the striped lighthouse and adhere it to the painted background. Insert the licorice cardstock windows into the lighthouse. Punch a circle from a yellow scrap piece of paper and glue this to the card front. I used the Seaweed Stalks die and watercolor paper to cut the elements on the side of the lighthouse. They were painted with watercolors.
Glue the seaweed stalks and the wave to the prepared card layer. I added some details to the lighthouse with paint and a black ink pen. Spatter the scene with white acrylic paint. I added texture paste to the bottom of the scene and sprinkled it with sand.
To finish the card, adhere the prepared card layer to a larger rectangle using foam tape and adhere this to a white card base. Stamp your sentiment below the scene.
The new Tall Fern Left Corner creates a great background for the Springtime Bunnies. Bunnies don't usually wear flower garlands, but this is a special trio. Hello, Jean Okimoto here, with a quick card to welcome spring - and hope it's really arrived this time!
You're probably wondering why the Wintertime Joy die is shown here - I would! I needed a bunch of tiny flower shapes and decided the littlest snowflakes would work. Diecut them from scraps of painted watercolor paper, then snip them apart with a pair of detail or manicure scissors.
Attach adhesive label paper or a sticker sheet to brown felt and diecut Springtime Bunnies. The paper backing stabilizes the felt and keeps glues from soaking through the felt.
Dry-embossing the Scallopped Stitch Fancy Frame is an easy way to add a subtle background accent. Here's how I layered everything for my Platinum - I bought the extra magnetic platform too. (Caution, the magnetic field can be harmful to anyone with a pacemaker.) Place the die - cutting-edge-up - on the platform first. Add the front of the card, rubber embossing mat and the purple embossing plate.
Attach the diecuts and add sparkly green gem stickers.
Thanks for visiting - have a great evening. Join us again tomorrow for another great design from Donna!
Create a colorful thank you with the new Montpellier Butterfly on a watercolored card - it's sure to be noticed, and appreciated! Hello - Jean Okimoto here - sharing a quick design that's also perfect for birthdays, congrats and thinking-of-you cards too.
Paint watercolor paper with diluted Kaleidacolor dye ink refills and heat-set it. Flick a few water droplets onto the dried paper. Let it air-dry, then cut it with the 3-¼" Square Basics die.
Cut Montpellier Butterfly from watercolor paper. Remove the bottom flower and leaflet to create a new look. It's such a versatile die - great as designed, or using just the top three or bottom three flowers with the beautiful butterfly.
Cut a coordinating turquoise vellum butterfly from the Butterfly Ensemble set. Cut the center portion from gold mirror cardstock using the Morning Garden Butterflies die.
Stamp the greeting - from the Watching the World Bloom stamp set - on a scrap of watercolored paper with VersaMagic Turquoise Gem. Dry the ink, then trim it with the 2" x ¾" Rectangle Basics die.
Attach everything to a top-folded smooth white 5-½" square card. Add gold gem stickers.
Watercolors and butterflies are meant for each other. Our collection includes butterflies in all shapes and sizes, perfect for any occasion. Paint a dreamy, colorful background then layer it with your favorite Memory Box butterfly or butterflies for a card that's sure to be appreciated and admired.
It's hard to believe that the month is almost over and that Easter is on it's way. Today I decided to get a jump start on my Easter cards using some of the fabulous new butterfly dies that were just released.
For this card I die cut the Potenza Butterfly Trio out of a pink sparkly paper. I glued them to a white piece of paper that I die cut using the largest rectangle in the Pinpoint Rectangle Layers set.
For the beautiful Happy Easter Journal Script I used a silver mirror card paper. I love how the silver jumps off the card. To finish the card I added some sequins. You could use this same design with a happy birthday or thank you card all year long.
Thanks for stopping by the blog, have a great day!
Hello everyone! Can you believe spring has sprung already? And what a difference this spring has been. With all of the rain we had, everything is green and blooming! The card I’m sharing today is all spring and blooms!
My A2 card base was cut from a pale gray card stock. I cut a frame from white card stock using two of the dies from the Rectangle Basics set. I also cut a frame from the Petite Doily Frames, and snipped off one long side. I sponged Milled Lavender on this piece, and edged it with a touch of Dusty Concord. I adhered this along the right side of the white frame. I added the tiny sentiment to the bottom right corner of the frame.
I cut one Antilles Floral Border from white card stock and snipped away the two flowers on the left. I cut the border again, but this time positioned the die so that only the three flowers on the right were cut. I sponged my fav … Peeled Paint … on the stems and leaves, and sponged Seedless Grapes on all of the flowers, varying the pressure to get different shades. To add some dimension, I shaped the top flowers and adhered them over the other flowers, offsetting them just a bit. I then adhered this to the bottom of the frame, snipping off the excess from the bottom.
I cut two of the Lavender Bunch from white card stock, and added Peeled Paint to the leaves and stems of one. I sponged Milled Lavender on all of the flowers, and shaded them with Dusty Concord. I snipped off the flowers from one die cut, shaped them, and added them over the top of the corresponding flower, again offsetting them just a bit. I also sponged a small area of white card stock with Dusty Concord, and die cut the Mini Butterflies from that area.
Now for the assembly. I added foam tape to the back of the frame, but before I adhered it to the card base, I held it over the base, and positioned the lavender flowers where I wanted them, adhering them in place, then adhered the frame. The three tiny butterflies were adhered where shown, and I decided to add some white dots with a gel pen to finish off the card.
I hope you will be inspired to have a spring fling of your own! Have a great week, and thank you as always for stopping by.
I am excited to share a video today that features two projects with some of my favorite techniques. The first card shows how you can create a completely different look with your craft dies by doing an easy masking technique with your glitter. The second card uses some of the new Distress Oxide inks from Tim Holtz to create amazing spattered backgrounds - and they turn out perfect for ocean themed cards!
See those soft wave patterns - embedded in the glitter? It is so easy to achieve this look - and it definitely opens up your craft dies to new possibilities!
Once you get the hang of how to create those patterns in the glitter area then you can really let your creativity take off. I did a simple wave pattern, but you could get really focused and create some intricate designs. And adding different color combinations of glitter is so fun! I chose a tone on tone look, but anything goes if you are going to use glitter.
This glitter technique is definitely an attention getter - I used the Underwater Collage die with double stick adhesive sheets to create the background and notice the bubbles on the side are glittered too. No matter what you put on top of the glittered area, people are going to say wow!
I based both of the projects on this cute little guy - the Neighborly Narwhal. Some simple paper piecing is required to put him together and here I have cut him out in varying shades of cardstock to show off his light and dark areas.
I wanted to give the idea that he was sort of floating on the waves and I think it worked. Cutting him out of matte cardstock and then placing him over the glitter background gives him a halo of sparkle and shine.
I varied the glitter a little bit here - adding a green color to make the two shades stand out a bit more. It is a lot more noticeable and I had some fun experimenting to see which combinations I liked best.
The Cheerful Crab die is a bright addition to the card - I added some Glossy Accents to make his shell look a little bit wet. And the sentiment is from a Poppy Stamps Clear Stamp set called Flower Patch - I just stamped the Thank You in black ink near the bottom, tucked into one of the rounded edges of the die shape.
The Underwater Collage works with two other dies - the Coral Collage and the Seaweed Collage - to create some really interesting 3D papercraft projects. You can see above that when they are layered together you can create a dimensional scene - fish can be poking their heads out from behind the edges and you can tuck in little bits of coral and seaweed.
For the cards in the video though, I just kept it simple and used one layer at a time. The nice thing is that they can still be used individually!
I had a blast putting this simple slider card together - when it is "closed" you see the Neighborly Narwhal swimming in the window I created with the Seaweed Collage. And when the card is "open" the Narwhal slides out of the way, revealing the sentiment underneath.
The Narwhal is proportioned just right to float in the middle of the opening - I used the same cardstock color scheme again to create him because I wanted it to go nicely with the "bubbly" background.
Creating the background was a breeze - I used Distress Oxide inks in three colors (Broken China, Wilted Violet and Faded Jeans) to make a beautiful marine inspired background. After blending the three colors, I spritzed lightly with water and watched the drops create glowing spots on the ink. It looks just like bubbles coming up from the sea.
I kept the design pretty simple - I loved the background so much that I didn't want to put a lot on it! But you could mix things up and stamp the sentiment on the open area, and add more fish and ocean things into the hole. We have an entire section of nautical themed dies that are ready for a scene just like this!
I had some extra Cheerful Crabs from the first project, so I glued one onto the tip of the slider. That way the card recipient gets their attention drawn to the side and will know to pull!
A little bit of color from the Seaweed Stalks may be a nice addition - we have lots of ocean inspired designs for you to choose from. Careful though, you may get carried away!
The new Grassland Collage creates an Asian-inspired spring setting for Sketch Bunny Background, cut from silkscreened paper. Easter eggs are optional! Hello, Jean Okimoto here, with a simply styled card to get your workweek off to a quick start.
Do you have a secret stash (hoard?) of beautiful imported artpapers that you're saving for the perfect design opportunity? Here's your chance to use treasured bits of them on bright spring cards. The layered inks, metallic highlights and fiber content of these papers can be challenging to hand-cut or punch - but Memory Box dies cut through them like a dream.
Cut Sketch Bunny Background from the reverse side of paper - so he'll face the Grassland Collage. This pretty print is from Hanko Designs. Cut two additional bunnies of lightweight cardboard and layer the pieces for extra dimension.
Here's a tip that makes it easy to attach Grassland Collage to cardstock for diecutting. Place pieces of folded painter's tape (sticky-side-out) in the circle and near the bottom right corner of the design. This lets you avoid the edges near the intricate circle outline and the grasses - and the outer area that frames the collage. Press the die firmly onto the cardstock - use extra pressure on the two taped areas. The two taped areas will be cut away and disposed of. This is easier done than explained - give it a try!
Attach everything to a top-folded A-2 card of natural cardstock. The bunny die includes the tail - but I attached a little white pompom for a bit of extra pouf. The card will probably require extra postage with the pompom, but I think the recipient will appreciate it.
I found the pretty Sequin Flower Kit at Impress - the little blossoms are the perfect size for the collage, and all of your spring and summer projects.
Special thanks to everyone from Saturday's ASIAN DESIGN...SIMPLY STATED class at Impress! The Square Basics dies cut perfect pieces for our origami projects, making it easy to fold crisp points and and sharp angles for our bunnies and butterflies. Other dies from Memory Box and Poppystamps did a great job of cutting design elements and accents for our cards. Thanks to Ann, Shari and Erin too - for helping us find just what we needed!
Hello, hello Memory Box friends. So excited to be bringing you a bit of Spring today. I gotta tell you, I am loving this Butterfly Swell die from the new collection. Cuts like butter and leaves the tiny embossed area around the outer wings...so cool!!!
Let's do this:
Start by die cutting the Butterfly Swell from White cardstock. Trim your panel to 4.25 x 5.50 inches. Squish Peacock Feathers Distress ink onto craft sheet, pick up color with wet paint brush and flick across card front.
Now for the fun part.... take a piece of computer paper and cover it with adhesive. Cut 1/4 inch strips of colored papers (I used 4 different colors of Teal). Adhere strips to computer paper on the diagonal. Trim and adhere to back of Butterfly panel with foam adhesive.
Make a base card from Blue card stock by trimming to 4.25 x 11 inches and folded in half. Adhere your card front to base card.
Stamp and heat emboss Possibilities onto Vellum. Trim, notch end and adhere to card front as shown.
Add Caribbean Ocean Crystal Drops as desired.
I love using up small scraps of paper for this technique.
I have a simple birthday card for you today featuring the Happy Birthday Elegant Script die. By changing the background colors of card, it could be used for a female or male birthday card.
To make this card I sponged white cardstock with Picked Raspberry and Ripe Persimmon Distress inks. The ink was applied darkest at the top and lightest towards the bottom. Similar to an ombre effect. I placed a stencil over the inked cardstock and sponged over the stencil with Wilted Violet Distress ink, keeping the color the darkest at the top.
Once the ink was dry I spattered the card with white acrylic paint. Using licorice cardstock I die cut the Happy Birthday and glued it to the prepared card front. Adhere the card front to a licorice cardstock layer and use foam tape to glue this to a white card base. To finish the card I embellished the front with some sequins and used a silver pen to color the stars on the die cut.
I hope you enjoyed todays card!
Thanks for stopping by today and have a great weekend!
The new Butterfly Spectacle is just too great to save for a warm, sunny summer day! A cold, sunny Seattle spring day will suffice. There are so many ways to use Butterfly Spectacle - with watercolors, vellum, powdered pigments, or layered over printed papers. Hi, Jean Okimoto here, with a quick watercolored backdrop for this beautiful addition to the Memory Box collection of butterfly dies.
Paint a square of watercolor paper with diluted Kaleidacolor dye ink refills. Air-dry it for a few minutes, then spritz it lightly with water and heat-set it with a dry iron on the cotton setting.
Cut it with the 3-1/2" square die from the Square Basics set. Cut Butterfly Spectacle from white cardstock. Trim around it with the 3-¾" Square Basics die.
Attach Scor-Tape behind gold mirror cardstock and cut the antennae from the Morning Garden Butterflies die set.
Score, cut and fold a 5-½" square card of white cardstock. Assemble the card. Add lavender gem stickers.
Wasn't that quick and easy? Paint a supply of watercolor paper and have it ready for your next project. I like painting squares of watercolor paper - about 6"x6" - so I can select the ideal section of colors for my projects. Having a square also means you'll be able to rotate the waterolored background up to 4 times to find that perfect blend of pretty colors!
If you're in the Seattle area this weekend - join us for my last class of the quarter at Impress. It's ASIAN DESIGNS...SIMPLY STATED - a great way to use your stash of Asian artpapers and dies from Memory Box and Poppystamps. See you there!
Next quarter's classes have some quirky titles - but I promise they'll be colorful, fun and filled with techniques and great ways to use your supplies. Enjoy and splurge with your 10% shopping discount too. Here's what's coming up:
- RAINING CATS & DOGS on April 8
- GOING GREEN on April 15
- SUMMER HEARTS on May 13 and Memorial Day, May 29
- SURF & TURF on June 3
- SUMMER BLISS on June 17 and July 4
Thanks for stopping by - join us for Donna's great project tomorrow!
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