File Folder Card for Birthday - Give a Poem a Home

I played around with file folder cards again. I have previously used my We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board to make the file folder tabs. This time, I used my Accucut Craft file folder die.  Accucut Craft's die is 4 x 6 inches but an A2 card is 4.25 by 5.5 inches. Since the die is 4 inches and I cut it just shy of the bottom cut line to preserve the fold, my finished card is 4 by 5.5 inches. (I suppose, I could make the card wider and just put the cutting mat shy of the bottom cut line instead of putting the whole card shy of it. Hmmm....)

Anyway, I knew I wanted to make a file folder card, but I wasn't certain how to decorate it.  I used the colour palette of the scraps littering my desk and made this:

This birthday stamp (from Close to my Heart) is my favourite. I think it's classy and funky all at the same time! I like how it turned out, so I made a few more. The ribbon strips and border strip are such great ways to use up scraps!

Here's one of them:

(This one holds a gift card inside.)

I composed a little birthday poem for my hand made birthday card, which went to my sister-in-law.  Click on this photo of the inside to be able to read the poem. Feel free to snafu it for your own cards!

Tis the Season for Wedding Cards

I made these wedding greeting cards some time ago but never found the time to post them.  The first one was for a wedding last summer. I actually had to make 2 cards for the same wedding: one from my husband and I and one from a group.  (Goes to show you to keep extra stuff on hand!)  This was the card from my husband and I.  I used my own die cut flowers on it and based it on a card sketch with some minor alterations.

I decided to just hand write the sentiment myself.  Sometimes, I think the imperfection of natural handwriting works well on a card.  I think this embossing folder is actually a Christmas one, but I thought it had a bit of a lacy garden effect, so I like how it looks.

The second card I made for a bridal shower I attended this spring.  The bride and her maids came to use my studio to make their bridal shower invitations.  My sister advised on the project and, once the elements were decided, they came to produce. They were pleased with the invites but quite tired, I think, by the end.

I used a doily die on this card and inked the edges with Cashmere ink by Close to My Heart... or maybe it was Vintage Photo by Tim Holtz.... I can't recall. I was aiming for something simple but not too plain. the stamps are from Close to My Heart - in fact, it's a set the bride's soon-to-be mother-in-law bought that she didn't end up liking so she gave it to me.  So, I used it for her son's future bride! Almost full circle, I guess!

Monster Fun Children's Cards!

There are two challenges posted for the next card run to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children by Kards for Kids. We've got a "May Monsters" challenge and a June "Sea Sun and Surf" challenge. (Cards must be received by the Kards for Kids founder and coordinator by June 30.)

I have been having a real ball with the monster theme.  I have three young nephews, so monsters work fantastically well for me.  I made this birthday card for my youngest nephew who is born in May to get my monster madness flowing.

The stamp is "Lil' Monster's Balloon" by Annabelle Stamps.  I sprung for the matching die cut to save myself the fussy cutting. I intend to use this one quite a bit.  I LOVE this stamp!  It is so easy to colour and so gosh dark cute!  You can cut off the balloon and put a flower or a sign too.

This one I coloured with Copic markers and Bic Mark-It alcohol based markers.  For budget markers, Bic Mark-Its work very nicely.  They don't blend as well as Copic markers on regular cardstock and they are not refillable like Copics, but they are an excellent foray into alcohol markers and they come in a fantastic array of colours all in a set.  Even the case they come in is cleverly designed for full transportability of your whole collection. I coloured this one on Copic Xpress It paper that really helped the blending.  On this paper, they blended like Copics do.

It definitely got my brain on the monster theme. Over the past three weeks, I have designed three monsters for my electronic die cutter. Here are two of the monsters:

And here is the third:

I made some of the two-eyed ones in girly themes too for the Kards for Kids contest.

For every 5 cards you send in for a theme, you are eligible for a prize draw. Join us and let out your creative monster!

Recycled Beverage Can Bouquet

 HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Here's a Mother's Day bouquet that will never die! This project is made from recycled beverage cans using my Accucut GrandeMark die cutter.

The vase is a Tetley Tea canister with tissue paper butterfly. The flowers are glued to barbeque skewers, and stuck in a Styrofoam ball glued to the bottom of the canister.  The canister is filled with plastic vase filler beads to cover the ball.

My sister cut the flowers from my Accucut Craft holiday flower die and layered them with dimensional foam tape. She used her Stampin' Up ornament die for one flower and my Accucut Craft Christmas light string bulb die for the petals of another. Here's a close up of the Christmas bulb flower:

The intricate butterfly is a Memory Box die.  My sister reclaimed some tissue paper from a gift bag to make the translucent base and used a scrap of patterned cardstock for the intricate top layer.  You can see the leaves on this bouquet are also from my Christmas die: it's a pointy bottom ornament shape.  The other flowers were made with my sister's Stampin' Up! ornament die. It's the blue one in the back.  It's a dark blue tissue paper alternated with white cardstock for more stability.

Here's a picture of the other critter in the bouquet: a dragonfly.

The small dragonfly is also an Accucut Craft die. These dies cut the thin metal beautifully and help to create a more finished edge than cutting only with snips. I entered this project for my sister into the Accucut Craft Grandemark challenge (contest closed May 4).

New Cat Die Cut!

Well, I made a new dog die cut not long ago. I used it for a dog scrapbook mini album.  (It's not that mini. It's a pretty decent size at 5x7 inches, actually.) I figured it's only fair that I make a cat album too, and that means - a new cat die cut!

Why didn't I do this one first?  It was way simpler than the dog one!  Anyway - I have used this die cut on my first ever cat themed scrapbook mini album. (Video link at end.) I made this one specifically to benefit animal charity.  35% of the proceeds of this album will go to the Etsy for Animals Charity of the Month in the month it sells and 15% will go to the Southern Ontario Animal Rescue (a local dog rescue and registered Canadian Charity). (Right now, for May 2014, the charity of the month is a kitty charity - how fitting! Want to support animal charity? Click the picture below to go to my Etsy shop and buy this album!)

I really like this envelope album style because it sits so nicely flat.  (My first one was a love themed envelope mini album.) On this one, I reinforced the spine with Tyvek, which is a very thin plastic-like material that is water resistant and tear resistant. The spine allows for a small amount of expansion to accommodate filling the pages with photos. The album pages are made with business reply envelopes, which allow for 4 x 6 inch pages. So, the photo mats are a little bit smaller than a standard 4x6 inch photograph.

In the preceding picture, you can see the small sized die cut cat.

All the inside pages are the same: Two pockets on the left - one larger tag and a smaller tag (for most pages); one large space on the right with a pocket for a double-sided photo mat. All-in, there are a total of 48 spots of various sizes for photos or stories.

The tags are a great size for a wallet photo (2 x 3 inches) and they are all blank on the back for writing down the photo's story, or facts and thoughts about the photo's subject.

I wanted to show you my fish die cut too.  I made it some time ago, but I found it fitting for this album.

 If you would like to see the WHOLE album, you can watch the mini album flip through on my Vimeo channel.