3 Products, 3 Cards

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching! If you haven’t already created your cards, I’ve got some ideas to share. I wanted to add techniques and ideas you can use all year long. Starting with three basic supplies, a modern color palette that steps away from the traditional, and a solid design principle means we have the recipe for many lovely cards.

Products

I started with a sentiment stamp set that can be created for a Gal-entine’s sentiment or for more typical Valentine’s. I have a nested set of heart dies. Having different sizes allows for more design options. Finally a simple geometric 2D embossing, in this case polka dots, will add some texture to the designs.

Design Element

My favoite part about these cards is this fresh modern color palette. It is also a great one for masculine cards or for cards that step away from mushy sentimentality. All my colors come from Concord and 9th.

The heart die set is going to give us various ways to play with negative space. Often we will cut shapes and then use that shape. But if we use the hole left behind from cutting, we get different design options.

The Cards

The most common way to use a negative space is to create a shaker card. And that is where I started my creations. I’ve leaned int more of the pinks for this Gal-entine’s card. But I have kept it more modern by including yellow and aqua.

Card two plays with negative space in a very different way.

After creating a striped panel, I cut out the heart but let it overhand the edges to get just a partial negative space left behind. The I filled in the space with the sentiment. I adore this one!

Card three looks simple at first glance. The hearts are cut to reveal some other elements. However, when the card is open, there is a pretty surprise.

I also have an interesting technique happening with the gold splatters. If you want to know more about that, check out my tutorial video.

Before you go I have a bonus card. When using negative space, there will always be positive shapes leftover. I just can’t let those go to waste. So here is a heart filled card to used up those bits.

Hope you have happy Valentine’s Day crafting! Until next time, have an artful day.

Forgeries on the Fourth (aka FOF), June ’24

As a design team member over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge group I play along with as many of our monthly inspiration challenges as I can. The Forgery on the Fourth project is definitely one I enjoy! That is where we see a scrap product we like and set out to recreate it with supplies we already own. So let’s go ahead and dive in to what I have for you this month.

Each month I enjoy finding inspiration in our Counterfeit Kit. Some months ideas pop instantly. Sometimes I have to dig deeper. And, like this month, sometimes I have too many ideas for the time I have. I needed to pick and choose. Even limiting myself to three items kept me very, very busy. Let’s take a look at the inspo to see where I went. Our inspiration is the Intrinsic Limitless kit from Not Just for Boys. I did pull from some of the add-ons to this kit as well.

I did pull from some of the add-ons to this kit as well. In fact, those fabric stars where part of the add-ons. Plus they were a popular item with the team this month! I knew that the sewing technique and the fabric they used would make it a bit tricky to do at home, especially at that size! I altered it up to fit my needs: non-fraying fabric plus sewing that didn’t require my machine. That way I could sit and stitch while I watch TV, lol. Despite my less than perfect blanket stitch (pointy corners stump me!) I think they came out well.

Next up I wanted to tackle those charms. My first thought was to make them from clay. But I don’t have any clay and I was not about to go out and buy some. If I did that I might as well just buy some already made charms. The point is to use what we have on had to mimic the inspiration. So I pulled out shrink plastic and metallic ink. It has been a while since I’ve worked with shrink plastic, but it was just as satisfying as I remember!

The final idea is one that I based my entire kit around this month: postage. I have been loving the trendy postage theme out in the crafty world lately. I have a few products that are clearly postage related. Yet as you can see from my makes, you can use just about anything to create these little gems. It helps to start with a great postage die. I used the Waffle Flower Postage Collage die. Waffle Flower makes many postage products; this one is sized for A2 cards. I threw in plenty of other supplies from my stash to create postage, from a nature theme to an Alice in Wonderland theme.

That is where I had to stop with my makes. I had too many ideas for my energy to hold out. I was very tired by the time I finished all these. It took me a couple of days to get through everything but it was fun. If you want to see details on how to create these, my video is up. Each make is in its own section so feel free to jump around to just what you want.

For more creative ideas, the CKC blog has more forgery examples to check out. I hope this gave you some ideas on how you can recreate your favorite product ideas with supplies you may already have on hand. Don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.

Until next time, have an artful day.

Supplies Used
*Affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you.

➜➜➜ FOR THE POSTAGE STAMPS
★★ Waffle Flower, Postage collage coloring stencil
★★ Waffle Flower, Postage collage die set, A2 size
★★ Sizzix, Stencil and Stamp Tool:
From Scrapbook.com
From Scrapbookpal.com
From ACherryonTop.com
★★ Honey Bee, angled shading brush
★★ Spellbinders, die cutting tool
★★ Spellbinders, alabaster, 12×12 cardstock

➜➜➜ FOR THE STUFFED STARS
★★ Spellbinders, quality Wool felt sheets: Not what I used but a good quality.
★★ Pacon, craft felt sheets, inexpensive: Not what I used but an inexpensive option.
★★ Colonial Needle, Embroidery needles: just an option
★★ DMC, embroidery floss/thread

➜➜➜ FOR THE “METAL” CHARMS”
★★ Spellbinders, die cutting cleaning tool
★★ Lawn Fawn, small alphabet stamp set: Not what I used but similar
★★ Lisa Horton, metallic pigment inks
★★ Spellbinders, corner rounder + notch tool
★★ StazOn, jet black, permanent ink
(In addition ultra fine point sharpies, the shrink plastic and a 1/8 inch hole punch can be found on Amazon.

Forgeries on the Fourth (aka FOF), July ’25

As a design team member over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge group I play along with as many of our monthly inspiration challenges as I can. The Forgery on the Fourth project is definitely one I enjoy! That is where we see a scrap product we like and set out to recreate it with supplies we already own. So let’s go ahead and dive in to what I have for you this month.

Since we always start our forgery projects with inspiration, here is the image we are working with this month. It is the Balboa kit from 2014. This kit no longer exists, which a perfect reason to pull inspiration from it and make our own version!

There were many ideas I could pull from this. I ended up focusing on three things.

The Chalkboard pattern papers. I thought I had some in my stash, but didn’t find it when pulling my kit. So… I’ll just make it!
The fancy pins. In fact, I think my mock version is even better than the real thing. Stay tuned for why!
That “Hello” word. A nice thick chipboard word covered in colorful spatters? Yes please!

Here is a quick look at the finished items. But let’s go over them briefly one at a time.

Chalkboard Paper

This process is really easier to see in action. I’ve got the video tutorial linked below for you.

I punched out a nearly 2 inch circle and cut it in half. Then I cut that half in half. That left me with a quarter of a circle. I used that to trace the curved edges. With a white gel pen I was able to trace a cruve in each corner of a black piece of cardstock. Remember to use the smooth side if you have textured cardstock. Then with a ruler I could connect each of those curves with stright line. Repeat that process to create a second border. Then realize there are smudges of white gel pen and make more purposeful smudges and marks to make them blend in.

Decorative Sewing Pins

Recreating these pins is awesome. I’ve used real sewing pins for projects in the past. They create two problems: danger of being poked and excess bulk on layouts. My version solved both those problems. You can make these using twist ties! Peel off the paper portion of the tie, but leave about 3/4 of an inch of the paper intact at one end. This is where you can glue on enamel dots. Once the glue is dry, trim away any excess paper using a pair of fine scissors and you have your mock pins! They are a major budget saver as well.

Just a note: the one on the right end was made using Nuvo stone drops instead of enamel dots. While it did work, these weren’t my favorite.

Word Art

Finally, I made the Hello word. This was easy to do on my Cricut. But you can also use dies. I just don’t have any word dies this size. I cut 4 layers of the word, then stacked and glued them. Once dry I simply splattered them with some watercolor. Done!

You can see all these ideas in action in my makes video below.

Until next time, have an artful day.

Glimmer of the Month subscription, month ’25

I’ve decided to dive into the hot foiling trend. I never expected to actually do it. The cost of a foiling machine, the cost of new foiling plates, the space to store it all and getting caught up in the latest and greatest were all a bit overwhelming. And yet. And yet I was feeling a sense of FOMO. It was almost akin to the early days of die cutting; it was the latest and greatest. But would it be an expensive fad to fade away? Die cutting ended up being a staple crafting method. I believe hot foiling is as well.

My shifting thinking toward hot foiling collided with a ridiculously cost saving Black Friday deal. I accidentally ran across a hot foiling machine for a discontinuing price of $25. I was stunned. And also sold! The next step was how to go about adding some hot foiling plates to my stash in a reasonably affordable way.

Enter another collision of events. I had been subscribing to the Freckled Fawn memory keeping kit and cancelled it back in November due to poor customer service. I thought I would take a break from subscriptions for a while again. However, the Spellbinders kits have been in my periphery for a while. When I found the hot foil machine, signing up for a monthly foil plate subscription just seemed to make sense. I could slowly add to my supplies and also some monthly happy mail. I may even try to keep the goodies a surprise if I can manage to avoid all the social media reveals!

So, on with my first happy mail goodies. I received the December “kit” near to Christmas and held off making the unboxing video until after the holidays. So here is what the December set involved.

On the left you can see the outlines of all the pieces included: The larger floral corner, two sentiment plates and the coordinating three dies to cut out the pieces. The center shows off how things will look when used as designed. To complete the monthly kit there is a roll of hot foil. This time it was matte gold. How can you have shiny foiling that is also matte? I don’t know the magic they use, but the results are beautiful!

I had a learning curve to overcome when setting to work. After a few mistakes I got the hang of it and the results were amazing. I quickly got ideas on projects and made it happen. I created a set of cards for Galentine’s Day as well as a scrapbook layout using some scraps.

Neither of these images do justice to the shine of the foiling. You should watch the video to get the full effect.

I hope you’ll join me later in the moth as I unbox and explore the January glimmer products. I’m looking forward to adding more shiny goodness to my projects this year.

Until next time, have an artful day!

Spellbinders Advent Day 22-24

Join me all month of advent as I open each day of the Spellbinders Crafty Advent Calendar. Some days I will create a project and some days I’ll just show off the goodies. No matter what, I know I will use each and every product at least once this month. So much fun awaits!

If you missed previous days, be sure to go back and see the first seven days as well as days 8-14. If after seeing all the goodness you’d like to grab one of these calendars, they are on discount right now (as of 12/11/24) over at ACherryOnTop.com**. For now, let’s dive into the next section of fun.

Day 22: Pink Sequins

Day 23: Floating Cat

Oh my goodness! This cat is so dang cute. If you remember back on the 6th we got a very cutesy bee that I said was not my style? Yet today I’m in love with cute? I think the difference is that while the bee is big-eyed and anthropomorphized, this cat is more cat-representative and in a silly situation. So, yeah, cute vs cutesy is a thing for me.

Now, my daughter said the cat should be in a box. Thus, I made it so! (I wonder how many people will get cats as Christmas gifts this year??) At any rate, the box was easy to make. I cut two squares of the same size. One became the box base. The other I trimmed at an angle on the two sides, and I trimmed off a bit of the bottom. This creates perspective for the front box flap. I glued it flat down at the top and popped up the bottom edge with some foam squares for dimension. The two side flaps were simply slivers of cardstock. A bit more ink shading where things over lapped and voila, box!

Day 24: Luggage set

What a fun die set! You know I had to do a bit extra for this one. The still photos do not say it all. You really have to watch the video to get the whole experience!

Day 25: Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

To see the rest of this series, visit these pages.
Days: 1-7
Days 8-14
Days 15-21
Days 22-24 (you are here)

** I use affiliate links when possible. When you shop using my links I earn a very small commission at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work in this small way!

Spellbinders Advent Day 15-21

Day 15: Embossing Folder

Day 16: Sentiment Die Set

Day 17: Nested ticket/postage edged die set

I had way too much fun with this nested set. I was supposed to keep the day’s project simple. But. Nope. I had to make all the things.

Day 18: Sequins

You know I had to do it at some point. Today I made a shaker! And a bonus card too for other sequin ideas.

Day 19: Sentiment Stamp Set

I was rushed for time today. So my exposure is bad on my filming (and still image capture!) But I did make really good use of many leftover bits that I have been saving throughout the series. I cut a new tag and did some ink blending. Besides that and the stamping, everything else was done.

Day 20: Random Dots Stencil

Day 21: Popsicle

I admit that some of the included pieces kind of puzzled me. In fact, they felt like a puzzle as I was trying to layer them all together. I think in the end there are options, LOL.

To see the rest of this series, visit these pages.
Days: 1-7
Days 8-14 (you are here)
Days 15-21
Days 22-24

** I use affiliate links when possible. When you shop using my links I earn a very small commission at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work in this small way!

Spellbinders Advent Day 8-14

If you missed days 1-7, be sure to go back and check them out. For now, let’s dive into day 8. If after seeing all the goodness you’d like to grab one of these calendars, they are on discount right now (as of 12/11/24) over at ACherryOnTop.com**.

Day 8: Vase & Flowers

While I loved this vase, I knew everyone out there would make a vase with flowers in it. I definitely like to show other ways to use supplies. So today I used the vase as a rainbow background for a cluster of flowers.

Day 9: Sequins

Today we got the sequins I knew would come at some point. Each year Spellbinders has included 2 packs of sequins. I really like this style of sequin as it has no hole and that makes gluing them down so much easier! While most people would make a shaker that doesn’t require glue, I made a disco ball instead.

Day 10: Sentiment Die set

Today’s three sentiment dies read “just saying hello” when stacked together. However, you can always split them up into different word groups.

Day 11: Embossing Folder

Yes! We got an embossing folder in our advent box. It is a small one, but a mighty one. I enjoyed using an inking technique for this one that I learned from Jennifer McGuire.

Day 12: Lemonade Glass

Unfortunately my camera’s exposure settings were off and my video & graphics are a bit blown out. I’ve tried to correct it as best as I can. You’ll have to trust me that this tag is more fun in person!

Day 13: Multi-lingual Sentiment Stamp Set

Finding ways to use sentiments so that they stand out as a featured item is a bit tricky for me. I’ve come back to my much used idea: repeat stamping.

Day 14: French Bulldog

I was inspired on day 9 by Mostly Paper Crafts‘ YouTube channel. She turned the honey bee die we got on day 6 into an entirely different critter. I usually see different ideas in dies, but the bee did not click with me. That is, until I saw her video. Then… when we got today’s little bulldog a flood of ideas hit me. So here they all are, LOL. All these critters were made with a combo of the bee and/or the bulldog pieces.

To see the rest of this series, visit these pages.
Days: 1-7
Days 8-14 (you are here)
Days 15-21
Days 22-24

** I use affiliate links when possible. When you shop using my links I earn a very small commission at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work in this small way!

Another Update

Yesterday I updated you on what I’ve been working on as part of my CKC design team life. Today I’m back with the other projects that have been keeping me busy in the craft room.

Community Project

Each year I create and donate Easter cards to a senior meal program. The cards go out to the seniors who are home bound and they accompany the Easter meal delivery. I’ve had such kind comments from the folks getting these cards that I’m glad to keep doing this project. I am happy to bring people a little joy through paper and ink!

Craft Shopping

I’ve been running low on certain supplies and needed a restock. Also, the February release from Concord & 9th had a few things in there that made me ooh and ahh. In fact, the Easter cards above were created from a new Turnabout stamp set. If you have never used a Turnabout, it is fun! After aligning the stamp, you ink, stamp and rotate it up to 4 times to get a background pattern. (Images from the C9 website.) This set is not an Easter set. However, with the right colors this background can mimic jelly beans or even Easter eggs. I love supplies that have this kind of flexibility!

If you want to see what else I got in my crafty shopping boxes, I do have a video.

Freckled Fawn^^

My latest FF subscription boxe reached my house and I dove into as soon as I could. Check out the unboxing and project video if you want all the details.

I played with the washi tape in the kit and made up a new washi technique. I plan on doing an small addendum to my popular 10 Ways to Use Washi video. I won’t have 10 new ways, but 3 or 4 to share!

Disaster in the Craft Room

The most recent event was the breaking of my Gemini II machine. I reviewed this machine back in March of 2023. Had I really understood then what I know now, I would have been more careful! Luckily my husband did a little surgery on it and it is now working. However, the issue lead me to create a video as a word of caution to any Gemini II owners–or potential owners. If you want to know more about what happened, check out that video.

Event Crafting

And finally, I’ve been doing some crafting inspired by the SBC Fest over at Scrapbook.com^^. They offer free online class events each year. While you don’t have to use their products, they do offer shopping lists and bundles should you want to. The bundles are even available after the event so you can take the class first and really see if you want to own those products later. I only bought a couple of small stamp sets and have worked on the projects largely from my own supplies. Here is what I’ve done so far.

That wraps things up for now. I have been doing some sewing this month as well, but I don’t have pictures of those projects yet. Maybe this will encourage me to document that process next!

I have just a couple more things coming to you for March, so until then, have an artful day!

^^Disclaimer: I offer affiliate shopping linked products when possible. This shopping won’t cost you anything extra, but I get a small kick back from the companies for sending business their way. It is an easy way to tell me “Thank You” for the content I provide. I appreciate you using my links!

Freckled Fawn
They sell products individually, or in subscription kits. The kit subscriptions are a build-your-own bundle style. You pick and choose which of their standard items you’d like shipped to you each month. They carry items from wood veneer all the way up to 12×12 scrapbook papers. Take a look and see if there are any goodies you wan to add to your craft room! And… if you use the code craftysoup you’ll get 8% off your order!

Forgeries on the Fourth (aka FOF), Jan ’24

As a design team member over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge group I play along with as many of our monthly inspiration challenges as I can. The Forgery on the Fourth project is definitely one I enjoy! That is where we see a scrap product we like and set out to recreate it with supplies we already own. So let’s go ahead and dive in to what I have for you this month.

We are being inspired by this kit from [fill in blank here].

Did you notice the die cut ephemera pack in the bottom center of that kit? Well that is where I got my idea. I chose some of the homey icons included in that set and added in some woodland critters that matched my theme from my kit build. With a bunch of stamping, punching, die cutting and even some diy tag creation, I made a full set of ephemera.

This project is great for a spending freeze or supply ~~hoarders~~ collectors like me. It is even great for those who just run out of favorite pieces in store bough collections. Whey you diy, you can always make more of those favorites.

For more creative ideas, the CKC blog has more forgery examples to check out. I hope this gave you some ideas on how you can recreate your favorite products with supplies you already have on hand. Don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.

Until next time, have an artful day.

PRODUCTS USED^^

Small inking tool:
— From Scrapbook.com: https://shrsl.com/4d97p
— From ScrapbookPal.com: https://shrsl.com/4d97q
— From Acherryontop.com: https://shrsl.com/4d97s

Concord & 9th Inks:
— From Scrapbook.com: https://shrsl.com/4d98n

^^ Disclaimer: I offer affiliate shopping linked products when possible. This shopping won’t cost you anything extra, but I get a small kick back from the companies for sending business their way. It is an easy way to tell me “Thank You” for the content I provide. I appreciate you using my links!