Queen & Co. Christmas Door

Tonight Demo Donna did a live class. Those who were interested were given a list of Foundation dies, what papers to cut, how many, etc., which we were to cut ahead of time, making our own class kit.

During the class, she showed us how to put it together. I did the wreath slightly different, but not a lot.

The panels of the door were supposed to be more dimensional, using foam tape, but I liked it better without as much dimension on the door panels. I didn't have gold glitter cardstock, so I used a gold foil instead.

Favorite Christmas Cards from CARDtober

One favorite was created for a challenge by another hostess, which required using as many different types of paper as possible. This was my card:

I used Queen & Co. dies from a variety of sets. Unfortunately, this one took far too much time to reproduce for making a lot of Christmas cards.

Another favorite was one that I did for a challenge example when I was hostess:

Rocker cards are fairly quick and easy, although adding a shaker can affect whether they are balanced and rock well, or are off balance (which my snowman shaker was). This one did rock well.

I used a cutting file that I had created on my Silhouette, and a couple of Queen & Co. dies, along with one of their stamps. 

This one would be easy to reproduce, but would cost more due to the shaker.

The bow on each of the cards is from their Heartfelt Holiday kit. I absolutely love this 3D bow!

2021 CARDtober Challenge #31 Leftovers

This challenge was to use at least one or more items "leftover" from making one of the previous 30 challenges. I had made this shaker, intending to use it for the Winter Scene challenge, then decided to use the stamped winter scene instead. I also decided to do it as a rocker card, a nod to my final interactive challenge that I posted as a CARDtober hostess.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #30 Water Scene

This challenge was to have some kind of water scene. The twist was to include some kind of plant life. 

I have wanted to do a shaker with fish that have some movement, but stay mostly in place instead of upside down. I saw one of the big name paper crafters do this with invisible thread, but I don't remember which one. I used the Queen & Co. Fish bowl, plus Hero Arts stamps (fish and tall plants) and Stampin' Up stamps (sand, small plant, both are old & retired). I used a shimmer card stock for the fish bowl.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #29 Rocker Card with Embossed Envelope

This is the last CARDtober challenge that I am hosting for 2021. It's been fun for me, and I hope it has been fun for you. My last interactive card is an easy one, to make a rocker card. It's a circle, folded in half, and decorated. Because of the shape, it rocks naturally back and forth when the table is jiggled. The card on the right is a shaker card, but it's not required to include a shaker. It just adds an additional fun element.

My twist is to emboss the flap of the envelope with an embossing folder. My examples are below:

The bottom card is one I made awhile back, but it needed an envelope. I'm including it because I don't have any embossing folders with apples, but I do have a plaid one. Since I used plaid paper on the card, the envelope still coordinates with the card.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #28 Layered Background/Nature

For this challenge, we were to stamp our background, have something from nature, and make sure we had at least 3 layers. I went simple and old school on this one.  I even used stamps that I probably haven't used for years. The little girl is a very old Hero Arts stamp. The larger sunflower may be an old DOTS/CTMH stamp, but I'm not sure. The smaller stamp is from a company called Too Much Fun. I no longer have a stamp store near me, so I have no idea if that company is even still making stamps. I popped the lower part of the flower basket.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #27 Colored Background, Black & White Focal Point

I am still learning to use brushes and inks to make colored backgrounds. I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. The border is an old Hampton Art/Graphic 45 stamp. I think I got the ticket stamp from Michaels years ago. I don't know who made it. The bat background was made with an Inkadinkadoo stamp.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #26 Different Papers

This challenge was to use as many different types of papers as you can. I managed 7. I used patterned paper, plain card stock, mulberry paper, shimmer card stock, glitter card stock, metallic card stock, and corrugated paper. I used Queen & Co. dies, including for the bow.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #25 Recipe

This was a recipe challenge again. I totally peeked to see the design. I'm behind, I'm tired, and I've got too much on my plate. It was still a bit challenging getting the right paper combination, even after peeking at the spoiler. I used mostly leftovers from the BoBunny Secret Garden papers that I had chosen for the previous challenge.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #24 Same but Different Sympathy

As in the past challenges by this hostess, we needed to make 4 cards using the same papers but with different sentiments, this time for sympathy cards. I used the BoBunny Secret Garden collection for this challenge. I had to type and print my sentiments since I didn't have any that were small enough for my cards. I used the Ink Free font.

2021CARDtober Challenge #23 Winter Scene with Bird

I wasn't happy with my first card, which was a shaker. In fact, I didn't finish it, especially when I remembered that I had bought this Heartfelt Creations stamp and die awhile back. It even included birds. I used Wink of Stella on the snowy parts. The glimmer shows in person, but not in the photo.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #22 Interactive Card

I'm the CARDtober hostess tomorrow, and this time I am letting card makers choose what type of interactive card that they want to make. I chose to make mine a window wheel card.

Other possible types of interactive cards would be pop up card, lift & peek, explosion card, waterfall card, penny slider, swing card, spinner, iris card, etc.

The twist is to glue a patterned paper that you used (or at least coordinates with your card)  to the flap of your envelope. Basically you just cut a rectangle a little bigger than the flap, glue it, then trim away the excess with scissors.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #21 Halloween Card

This challenge was to make a Halloween card with a white background, as well as include a pumpkin.

I used Queen & Co. dies from 4 different sets (1 from Foundation set 7, pumpkin from Fall Foundation set, cat from Happy Haunting, and web from Fright Fest), plus a couple of stamps that I've had for a long time. The spider on the pumpkin was from Inky Antics, and the sentiment was from Snag 'Em Stamps. The purple card stock has a shimmer to it. That was a Tuesday Morning find awhile back.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #20 Mona Toth Inspired Coloring

This challenge was about incorporating pink along with yellow, gold, brown, etc. for autumn coloring.

I used a scrap for the background, shaded white card stock with yellow, gold, red, pink, and Maroon, then die cut that for some of the leaves and the sentiment banner.

I used dies from the new Queen & Co. Fall Foundation set to create the wreath and pumpkin. The banner was also a Queen & Co. die.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #19 Quilling

 When I first saw the challenge, I thought, "Well, I don't know where my quilling tool is, so maybe I'll skip this one." Quilling is not one of my strong points.

This morning I woke up knowing exactly where the quilling tool was, so I worked on at least trying to do something with it. Two of the attempts got tossed, but I had enough decent ones to do this card.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #18 Recipe

We were given a recipe for cutting patterned paper, card stock, etc., then try to figure out how to put it together. We could see the hidden finished card or try to wing it on our own. I tried different papers and wasn't thrilled with anything, but I finally went with scraps from a previous challenge. My card definitely did not turn out quite like the example.

2021CARDtober Challenge 17 Same But Different

We were to use papers from a collection to create 4 cards with 4 different sentiments. The twist is to incorportate a previous challenge. I chose to use an older collection from (long gone) Little Yellow Bicycle that was called "Feels Like Home." I used 3 different sheets from the collection. It was a fall theme, and my cards could be considered either Challenge 16 Autumn Scene, or Challenge 7, which was to use 3 techniques (I used layering, die cutting, and stamping). Here are my four cards:

2021 CARDtober Challenge #16 Autumn Scene w/Pumpkin

I was going to stamp my scene, but I was browsing the Silhouette Design Store and came across an Autumn Scene box card. It probably took me just as much time to cut, glue, and assemble it, but I love box cards, and it was fun to make.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #14 Offset Fold

Most cards fold in the middle. This challenge was to use a different fold. I started with a 4.25x11 piece of card stock and scored it somewhat at random in two places. The end result was a card that was 4.25x5 inches. My card design is partly based on the hostess' example. We were also supposed to include ribbon, which helped, because the card didn't want to stay closed.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #13 Color Family w/Handmade Element

We were supposed to stick with one color family, but could include another color if needed for realism, etc. I started with a cut apart card that I loved, but felt needed a bit of embellishment, so I used die cut banners and Nuvo drops. We were also supposed to include a hand made element, so I added flowers that I made using Heartfelt Creations stamps, dies, and shaping molds.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #15 Collar Card

 The last two Friday challenges I did were "outside the box" (literally). This time, the challenge is to make a collar card with something coming out from inside the collar, or an "inside the box" challenge. Most collar cards have a phrase or different paper showing inside/above the collar. The example definitely has a different paper, but it also has an owl in front of the moon to pull out, with a place for a gift card.

The twist is to line your envelope with a matching paper.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #12 Water Heat Embossing

 It was messy, and it was definitely challenging. Instead of ink, water and a paintbrush were used, then heat set from underneath the card stock. We were supposed to do it to nested die cuts and pop them. I used Graphic 45 paper, and I used fun foam to raise each layer.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #11 Recipe

I used my leftover scraps from challenge 10 to do this one, and I die cut my sentiment instead of stamping it. 

2021 CARDtober #10 Same but Different - Friends

It turns out that Challenge #3 was supposed to be a birthday theme. I went with friends. I may try that one again, but I went with the actual theme this time, even if it is a repeat of the type of card. 

This time, I chose BoBunny papers from their Genevieve line. I found them at Tuesday Morning a long time ago, but they are so pretty. It complicated the challenge, because I chose not to use the sketch that was posted. Using the sketch was optional. I probably made it harder for myself doing my own design, but I'm happy with the results, even though these cards took me longer than the sketch probably would have. On the other hand, I struggle with sketches, so maybe it would have taken just as long. The last few days have had their own challenges (family needs).

One of the sheets of paper had a consistent design all over on each of the two sides (different pattern). The second had a consistent design on one side, but had cut apart cards on the other side. I used two sheets of the latter, and one sheet of the first. I used my Queen & Co. Foundation dies, which was a big help, but I also used a Spellbinder flourish die that I've had, loved, and often used over the years. The card with the bird cage did not get a sentiment, because I felt it would detract. It will get a sentiment on the inside of the card when I am ready to mail it to a friend or family member. The others will be used as note cards, probably, with no sentiment inside.

 

2021 CARDtober Challenge #9 Four Seasons/Summer

This challenge was to create a summer themed card, and the twist was to include a tree. I used mostly cut apart cards that were paper scraps. 

 

2021 CARDtober Challenge #7 Three Techniques

I am posting this one out of order because I didn't do the challenges in order. Sometimes life gets in the way of crafting and other things we want to do. This is actually a repeat of some cards I am making to send, but jazzed up with dry embossing. It looks so much better than the ones I had partially finished, that I'm trying to figure out if I can carefully take off layers of the partially done cards so that I can add dry embossing to the card stock. Dry embossing adds so much but takes so little effort.

This challenge was to pick 3 techniques. Mine are dry embossing, stamping, and layering. I'm not sure if the Nuvo drop I added to the flower center counts as a technique.

Making the Pumpkin Shaker Cuter

I was in such a rush to post my shaped shaker challenge yesterday, that I forgot to add the stamped images to the pumpkin shaker. The kitty in the pumpkin stamp is a very, very, very old Stampin' Up stamp. The bat is from My Favorite Things. It was a simple modification, but it makes a huge difference (to me, anyway).

Basic Shaped Shaker Tutorial

I hope to do a video version, too, but something came up unexpectedly for my family, so I am going with a quick written tutorial today. I hope this will help.

If you have nesting dies, you can make a shaped shaker, and it's really not hard at all when you know what to do.

You will need a tacky glue. Regular craft glue can only be used when gluing card stock to card stock. Tacky glue is used for everything else, such as gluing fun foam, or card stock to acetate.

For my sample, I made the flower card a second time.

I used two circle dies from My Favorite Things to cut my rings (shaker outline). I had cut the dies apart, so I taped two together of the size that would work for my project. You can see the taped dies, which are the upper right shape in the photo. The rings in the photo were cut with the taped dies. On the left, going from top to bottom is one cut from brown fun foam, one cut from chipboard, and another cut from fun foam. The ring below the taped dies was cut from brown card stock. Set the card stock ring to one side and keep the fun foam and chipboard rings together.

Once I cut my rings, I separated the dies. I used the larger ring to cut a circle shape of yellow card stock.This will be the bottom layer of my shaker.

You also need to use this same die to cut a circle from acetate. It doesn't show in the photo, but imagine it stuck to the tape inside the die. 

When cutting acetate, I run it through the die cut machine at least 3 times, then carefully punch it out. It helps to attach it to the sticky edge of a post a note to your acetate shape so that you can find it again when you need it.

Next, I die cut my flower from yellow. I also used a nesting die for this. Then I took a half sheet of white card stock, folded it in half for my card base, and positioned the flower die so that two of the petals were slightly beyond the folded edge of the card stock. Once I had it positioned and taped into place (I use removable tape), then I ran it through my die cut machine.

In the photo below, you can see the folded card base, which is now flower shaped. Two of the tips are missing where the fold is. That won't show once the card is finished.

I took the yellow flower and used an embossing folder to add a raised design, so it wouldn't look so plain, then I set it aside. (The flower card shown in my previous post was plain, and it bothered me.)

Then I used a tacky glue (I like the one from Queen & Co.) to glue the fun foam and chipboard rings together. 

Glue one fun foam ring to the top of the chipboard ring. Use your fingers inside and outside the rings to get the two rings aligned perfectly. Once you're happy with it, then glue the second fun foam ring to the bottom, so you have a sandwich, with the chipboard n the middle. Again, use your fingers inside and out of the rings, till you have them lined up well with each other. Try to make sure there is no glue residue inside the rings.

Once the rings were aligned, I glued my fun foam/chip board sandwich on top of the yellow circle, with the smooth side of my card stock up (it was a textured card stock). I knew I'd be using micro beads, which might catch on textured card stock instead of rolling freely when shaken.

Next I filled my shaker with micro beads (from Michaels) and prills (from Heartfelt Creations), but you can use sequins, small buttons, table confetti, or whatever will fit and still allow some movement when the card is shaken or rocked (just do that very gently at this point, or you may find a mess all over your table).

Next, I glued the brown card stock ring (putting the glue on the ring only, and sparingly) to the top of the acetate circle, being careful to avoid getting glue on any part of the acetate that will show. This glue does not come off. If you get glue on the part that needs to stay clear, it will look cloudy instead of clear.

I glued the acetate top piece to the shaker. Once the glue had set enough, then I glued the yellow flower with the shaker to the white folded flower base. You can add a sentiment either before or after you do this, just make sure your glue is set.

It only took me about 15 to 20 minutes to make this card, but I knew what dies I would be using, and had them ready. I also had the card stock, fun foam, and acetate close at hand and ready to cut.

I hope that helps, and that you enjoy making a shaker card now that you understand the steps.

CARDtober Challenge #8 Shaped Shakers with Stamped Envelope

It's my turn to be hostess again, and I'm doing another "'outside the box" challenge with an interactive element. Shaker cards were originally rectangles or squares made with foam tape. Now shaped shaker dies and accessories are available, but even if you don't have those, you can make a shaped shaker card using nesting dies or an electronic cutter. Below are 4 different cards I made as samples.

The top left shaker was made with the Queen & Co. Pumpkin Shaped Shaker kit. They even provide the right size of envelope. However, I noticed recently that most of their shaped shakerkits and replacement parts are out of stock, including for the pumpkin. This is when you can use fun foam in a pinch. I'll post a video later today or tomorrow on how to do that. Fun foam can easily stretch out of shape, so there is a simple trick to fix that.

The upper right shaped card was made with nesting dies, including the flower base.

The lower right bat card was made with my Cameo 3, which I adapted, but used the same circle dies for creating the shaker tummy.

The twist is to stamp or print a coordinating and appropriately colored design, image, or phrase on your envelope.

CARDtober 2021 Challenge #6 Color Palette

 This was an easy card. I had found the Graphic 45 paper at Tuesday Morning recently, and the ombre and pink shimmer paper at Tuesday Morning awhile back. I am a sucker for most Graphic 45 papers. The colors matched the color palette for the challenge, (although it may not be obvious, since photos aren't necessarily quite true to color). This was a fast and easy card to pull together.  I added bling at the corners and to the woman's hat. The bling was from Queen & Co.

 

CARDtober Challenge #5 Pleating and Embossing Multiple Times

I used to do a fair amount of heat embossing, so I thought this challenge would be relatively easy. I am evidently very rusty when it comes to heat embossing, because it did not go particularly well when I tried to emboss multiple layers. The pleating didn't go all that well, either. In the end, I managed both, but I'm not thrilled with the results. Since I am not sure I will actually give this card to anyone, I left it pretty simple rather than taking the time to add anything more to it. The background paper is older, another of those Tuesday Morning finds from long ago.

 

In the future, if I want a similar effect, I think I would prefer to do dry embossing with an embossing folder instead of pleating, and I'd use Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) with my Melting Pot rather than heat emboss multiple times.
 

CARDtober 2021 Challenge #4: Following a Card Recipe

The hostess who posted this one kept the image of her card hidden unless you chose to look. She gave the dimensions for how to cut your papers, then let you try to figure out how they were supposed to go together. My card was close, but not exact. We were also suppose to incorporate a stamped image that we hadn't used before. The one I used was from My Favorite Things "Sweet Birthday Wishes," and the papers were from an Echo Park 6" Paper Pad called "Happy Birthday Girl."

After I had finished my card, I decided to add some Ivory Seashell Crystal Nuvo drops to give it a little dimension and a bit more visual interest.

 

CARDtober 2021 Challenge #3 Same Papers, Different Sentiment

 I used papers from the BoBunny Bee-utiful Collection, as well as Foundation dies and stamps from Queen & Co.

CARDtober 2021 Challenge #2 Seasons Spring

The hostess for challenge 2 was justjac. and her theme is The Four Seasons. The challenge was to do a spring scene card, and the twist was to include a flower. I had completed the stamping and had forgotten the flower, so I added flowers to the little girl's umbrella. Most of the stamps were from My Favorite things, as well as the cloud stencil that I used. The raindrops were a very old Stampin' Up stamp. The grass was from Love You to Bits. The small flower on the umbrella was from Judith. I'm still not particularly adept at using a brush blending tool, but I tried.

#CARDtober2021

Easy Tutorial for a Traditional Pop Up Box Card

NO dies or electronic cutters/cutting files are needed for this. Anyone with a scoring board, scoring tool, paper trimmer or scissors, and a ruler can make the original box card. The videos on the internet used a few different steps that made it more difficult. This is the easiest and quickest way to make a basic box card to decorate any way you like. The one shown in the image below was decorated with Graphic 45 papers from an older line. The tutorial itself teaches how to create the box card structure.

https://youtu.be/IFWlEANhEK0

Easy Shaped Pop Up Box Card Tutorial

Here is my tutorial for the Shaped Box Card shown below:

 

https://youtu.be/QXpvyr3Mdfs 

 

CARDtober 2021 Challenge #1 Shaped Box Card

I have the honor of posting the first CARDtober challenge at the 2 Peas Refugees message board.

Challenge #1 is to make a box card if you have never made one. I've even done a simple tutorial, which will be posted tomorrow. 

For those who have made box cards before, the challenge is a bit more....challenging: to make a box card that is shaped, and doesn't look boxy. And yes, I'll be posting a tutorial tomorrow on how to do that, too.

For now, though, here is my sample card:

And the twist is to make an envelope from patterned paper for your box card. This one wouldn't fit an ordinary envelope, anyway. I used thin patterned paper that I found at Tuesday Morning on clearance when they were getting rid of most crafts. I used my Envelope Board to make a 6 X 7 inch envelope, so it was quick. And it's a rectangle, even if just barely, so hopefully it won't be as expensive to mail as a square envelope is.

For those who have never made a box card before, the tutorial will be for a very simple box structure that can be decorated with patterned paper like this one which I made years ago for my DH:

Or, if they want to use print and cut files, they could do something like this one:

#CARDtober2021

STAMPtember Week 4: Stamped Background with Matted Stamped Image

For this one I did not use a background stamp, but stamped the bats multiple times on the purple mat to create the background. Then I stamped, colored, and added a background mat to the owl/pumpkins image. I did add a little Wink of Stella to the star, buckle, and eyes of the owl.

It's pretty simple for the amount of time it took. I didn't have the right sizes of matching ovals, so I had to make one with my Silhouette for the black oval, and that is when I realized that my oval die is not perfectly symmetrical.

It worked, though.

Great Outdoors Box Card Tutorial

This took me a lot longer than I expected, but I finally finished the tutorial for how to make a multiple level box card with Queen & Co. Foundation dies (instead of having to buy specialty box card dies).

I used the Queen & Co. Foundation dies, their Great Outdoors Kit, and a few stamps from My Favorite Things.

The YouTube link to the tutorial can be found at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSgUyG3Ze5M 

Here is a photo of the completed project: