Just a quick note to let you know I just did an interview with Alura, you can read it here!
Alura create tools for Etsy sellers to start, run and grow their shop and they have a series where they feature successful Etsy sellers. They wanted to hear more about my story and what has worked for me. Well, as I said in the interview, considering my relatively small numbers I’m hardly the one to tell anyone how to run a magnificently successfulI Etsy shop 😅 but I still think my story might offer some encouragement for sellers just starting out.
I tried to make it a fun read and I would be thrilled if you all would take a few minutes of your day to read the interview, and perhaps share it with someone who is considering opening an Etsy shop themselves. They might find, hopefully, some inspiration.
Just thought I’d share kind of a “sentiment of the day” type of card. And it may just be the right sentiment for you, if you’re looking for some reflective card decorations this Lent.
Creative notes:
I sprayed my own background with Distress Spray Stain and Distress Oxide Spray, both by Tim holtz.
I matted a coloured card base with the background
I used the Artsy Stems die-set for the flowers, by Tim Holtz for Sizzix
I die-cut the flowers from some design paper
I coloured a chipboard sentiment piece and added it to the card
Design paper die-cuts on a handmade ink-sprayed backgroundThe sentiment of the day
In my last post I shared one way of adding a perfume sample to the inside of a card. In this post I’ll illustrate a second way of doing that: by way of what I would call an integrated belly band.
By ‘integrated belly band’ I mean a belly band which is not layered on top of a (design) paper surface, but which has seemingly been integrated with it instead.
Basic construction is the same: fold a card and make sure it has a wide enough gusset (or spine). But before you start matting and decorating, attach the belly band first! Simply dry-fit a strip of (design) paper around a small perfume vile or sample and glue its ends to the base card, on either side of the spine.
Only then mat & decorate. And a nice ribbon closure would be fun too 😉
In this example I created an ATC card-sized double card with a spine, of about 3 x 4″ (7.5 x 10 cm). I used design paper by Mintay Papers.
Done! Let me know in a comment: have you ever sent out perfume samples over the mail, as a little extra ‘something something’ for a dear friend or a loved one?
Video tutorial available a couple of posts above this one, check it out here!
Mat with design papers, layering them on top of both ends of the belly band, thereby hiding themDecorate the outside however you like. E.g. I added some flowers, blings and a stamped sentiment
In my previous post I shared the idea of fastening a perfume booklet to the front of a card. This allowed for the rest of the card to be a standard folded card, since the bulky part was on its outside.
But what if you want to add your perfume to the inside of your card?
One way of doing that would be to create a belly band on the inside.
However, this only works if your perfume sample comes with its own booklet (see picture below), for then you can tuck the edges of the booklet behind the belly band. If it didn’t come with a booklet, then we’ll need a different design – so keep an eye on this series of blog posts! Simply click the tag Perfume cards and you’ll get all relevant posts on my blog at any given time.
But first things first: your card will need a gusset, otherways it would not close around the vile. Depending on the girth of your perfume sample, create a gusset that is wide enough. For most samples a gusset of 3/8 to 1/2 inch (1-1.2 cm) will probably suffice.
If you use only one sheet of double-sided design paper that already has 6 double-sided 4×6″ cards as a pattern, you’ll be able to create two VERY quick & easy cards! 🙂
1 sheet of A4 cardstock + 1 sheet of 12×12″ double-sided design paper is all you need for these two cards!This gorgeous paper collection is Desire by Stamperia. The sheet is called ‘6 cards’ (SBB891).
I decorated a little bit but not too much, for I only wanted to enhance this stunning paper here and there and not get in its way.
Added some flowers where it would actually integrate with the design patternStrategically added a small bunch of roses and two pieces of chipboard; in this case, less was indeed more.
The end result was lovely. I simply tucked the perfume booklets behind the belly band, which automatically kept them closed.
Don’t underestimate the importance of details: I colour-coordinated my perfume samples with my design papers, and this definitely enhanced the card design! 🙂
Have fun crafting! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment with this post!
I’d like to add to that a new series of design ideas, this time centered around perfume and how to send someone an actual vile of perfume. This can be a decant from that awesome niche bottle you own yourself, a small test sprayer you bought online or the official samples that brands hand out and are often added for free to your purchase at your local perfume shop.
Keep those little brand samplers around, they make for great card gifts!
These are small enough to send over the mail, but you will have to find original ways to add them to a card design. Fret not! For that is where this new series comes in.
And here’s my first idea: take a brand’s sample booklet and add it to the front of your card. Choose or create a coordinating background. Keep the booklet closed with a swing tab closure. Stamp a nice sentiment, decorate, and done!
I sprayed my own background in the below example, but you could make this card with design paper too.
I diecut the butterfly with a 2-die set from some papers I inked myself, and added some extra Stickles to highlight.
It’s fast. It’s easy. It adds a lovely little extra ‘something something’ to your card.
I guess I’m over Winter. For when I started thinking about making these two cards, my mind immediately jumped to some yellows, florals, birds, bees and easter bunnies.
So, I’m inviting you to get started with me on some (very) early Easter or Spring cards, get some inspiration from my video or follow along with me to create these exact card designs.
The papers I used were by Craft and You Designs, from their Spring Garden collection.
Have fun crafting and I’d love to know: did you make these along with me, or at least feel inspired to get creating some spring projects of your own? Let me know in the comments down below!
And let’s start 2023 with a lovely vintage 1-sheet card, its browns & grayish blues so suitable for autumn and winter, and yet its pink roses remind us that Spring is coming (well, eventually it will).
There are many ways to fold beautiful cards with only one sheet of paper. You could also use cardstock and mat it (which would technically make it a 2-sheets card) but much easier is using a double-sided sheet of design paper.
I designed this particular card type myself, it takes a bit of folding, one cut with a paper trimmer and a little bit of glue, and it will turn into this very nice multi-faceted card with two pockets and a little doorlet on the front to tuck some extra niceties behind.
If you want to know the nitty-gritty of how to make this, there’s an excellent PDF tutorial in my Etsy shop, it’s Tutorial #9. (It’s very affordable btw).
I’ve made several of these over the years, and here’s my latest, using the beautiful vintage Time is an Illusion paper collectionby Stamperia.
Opening the front flap and finding a nice removable bookmark on the insideChecking out the center pocket, which holds a lovely tag, which I decorated with some stamps and a die cut image of a cup of teaOn the back of that same tag, I attached an actual bag of tea for my friendBack pocketThe back pocket contains a bookletThe inside of the booklet offers room to write a message on the left, and a nice stamped sentiment on the right
Have a blessed New Year every one! And thank you for your continued readership and support in 2022!
So, speaking of last year, apparently I forgot to post my 2022 Christmas cards here on my blog after uploading it to Youtube last December…. However, the tips are still useful, for they are for card making in general, not just Christmas cards.
So imagine any occasion you’re planning to celebrate with a card, sit back & relax and apply every tip to your own cards. I hope you find some inspiration, not only by way of card ideas but also to avoid the Chore Trap of crafting. Enjoy the video 🙂
A few weeks ago I discovered the beautiful Vintage Artistry Wedgewood collection by 49 and Market. Even though I loved the entire collection, I purchased only a single sheet to make it easier (for me) to immediately use it, and to save some money at the same time.
Now the challenge I gave myself was to create more than one project that all featured this paper. I came up with three cards and they all turned out lovely. Gosh that paper is so stunning.
Detailed walkthrough in the video!
Two kinds of embossing + stencilling and Distress embossing glaze.Showcasing the paper, stamping……and a box pocket (with some tea!)Using even the last bit of paper, stencilling, embossing, colorizing leaves and turning them grungy
In 2020 Tim Holtz started his so-called Colorize series of dies with Sizzix. These Colorize dies are meant for you to add layers of color to your diecut image, each layer being its own color.
It was quite the ingenious system, for each set of die parts comes with its own color code. For example, everything with code “1” should be dark brown, each “2” should be blue etc., helping you as a maker to put together the elaborately layered die-cut image designs.
I think the very first one of these was Arthur, the purple owl.
I have thus far crafted one owl-on-a-branch project, and I gave it my own twist of course: instead of using differently colored pieces of cardstock, I sprayed my own backgrounds on mixed media heavy stock and die-cut my pieces from those.
I actually made this project two years ago, in August 2020, but I just now realized I had never actually shared it on my blog! So, here we go, with a step-by-step semi-tutorial on how I made my card with Arthur, the purple marbled pink owl.
1. Made the building blocks: created enough inked/sprayed/painted backgrounds for the project, in the colors I wanted.
2. Embossed a wood pattern on the bark-colored one.
3.Die-cut the branches – which now also had some nice texture, thanks to the embossing.
4. Die-cut the owl pieces from the other papers, and sorted them according to the Sizzix color-coding. Although I made my own colors, the coding still helped me to know which pieces belonged together.
5. Chose some chipboard sentiment pieces and colored them.
6. Made a card background. It started as an abstract piece but then it became a moonlit landscape of sorts.
7. Following Sizzix’ color-coding, I glued each layer of the owl image to the background. Sizzix also has very clear video tutorial shorts on Youtube for each of their Colorize dies btw. I’ll embed the one for Arthur below these pictures.
8. Glued the piece to a black background, added the chipboard sentiment pieces and applied some liquid pearl along the edges.
Done!
I have to say it was a fun project, and the detail these dies provide by way of the ever-smaller layers is very cleverly designed. Look at those tiny claw pieces!
So yeah, I’ll have me some more of these Colorize dies by Tim Holtz for Sizzix and see what fun they’ll bring!
What about you, have you tried any of the Colorize die sets? Leave a comment and let me know!
Brands often put their best and most beautiful pattern designs on rice paper, instead of their regular design paper, it seems. Rice papers are usually used to alter hard surfaces, like boxes, furniture and the like.
So, can we papercrafters work with the ultra thin rice papers instead of regular-weighted design papers? In the Craft With Me video below I create two mini album inserts – but you can also use them as cards.
I use the most gorgeous sheet of rice papers, from the Clockwise collection by Stamperia.
In very busy times like these I don’t find much time to craft, let alone many hours continuously. Nevertheless, a girl still needs her cards to send to her friends & extended family! So, here’s six card ideas, all of which are very easy to make and which take up relatively little of your precious time.
Enjoy the video, and don’t forget to like this post and/or leave a comment! 😃
