Low-budget scrapbook papers are usually also fairly low quality; they’re thin, crack easily and they sometimes even lose their top layer – hence, their colors! Nevertheless, if you’re on a limited budget you can still create some lovely cards with the more affordable, brandless paper pads.
Just don’t fold them and glue them down really well…
Check out the video for two examples, in which I’m sharing some more low-budget tips – and have fun Christmas Card crafting! 🙂
This week I’m actually posting from beautiful Gran Canaria (one of Spain’s Canary Islands just off the southern coast of Morocco), so I’m at least really feeling summer’s Promise of Bloom 🙂
Because of my holiday there will be no video this week, but I will share two very Summer-spirited cards with you.
My tip for you this week is one of Affordability & Frugality: the design paper you’re using does not have to be expensive, nor of ‘Brands of Renown’ so to speak, for you to be able to create some lovely cards!
For instance, the paper I used here was somewhere in the obscure dollar bin of a very affordable (and therefore not the hippest) line of shops in the Netherlands. So the paper may be brandless, but applied well it is able to remind us of a festive summer garden party nonetheless!
So, don’t skip everything that has no brand worth mentioning, but go treasure hunting and see what you can come up with! For some inspiration, check out the other projects that I created with paper lines belonging to those Cheap & Brandless Ones… 😉
Enjoy, and see you next week!
Card 1: Two bi-fold doorlets, held together with a bow
Doorlets opening up to the journalling spot inside – on which I wrote a personal wish to my aunt
Card 2: Tri-fold card with magnetized closure
Opening up to a journalling spot inside. Just like card 1, this card can stand on its own when opened.
Today I’m happy to share a tutorial with you all, of a sophisticated birthday card designed for a man. It’ll be great fun to make for all of you who, like me, don’t like to use any fluff when creating something for a guy. I always like to keep it clean and stylishly simple, and this time I’ve created the cleanest and simplest one yet of all of my projects for guys. 🙂
You can watch the show & tell video to see every detail of the card, so enjoy and have fun creating!
Tutorial
Let me know if you’d like me to do a (free) tutorial for this elegant card! (even years after this post is fine with me, just drop me line or leave a comment – I’m always in for new blog and/or video ideas 🙂 )
More detailed tutorials on a growing number of projects are available in my Etsy shop.
If you have any questions, just let me know!
This December month I’ll post many projects on my blog, to give you some inspiration and ideas for your Christmas projects – and also to help you spend your holiday time creatively. In my previous post I showed you a quick Christmas Mini Album. Today: Part 2 of this December Deluge of creative ideas 🙂
There’s a particular 1-sheet mini photo wallet of which I’ve created several by now. It’s created from only one sheet of double-sided 12×12″ design paper, and it looks something like this:
If you click on the picture, it will link to my free video tutorial for that kind of mini wallet.
This week I’m showing you a new micro version of this design, created with a 6×6″ sheet of paper! So cute! They measure only 2⅜” (6 cm) and can hold little pictures, or you could write little notelets with personalized messages, as I have.
These are quick to make and would make great alternatives for your standard Christmas present tags 🙂
Next up: December Deluge pt. 3: Nutcracker Sweet Christmas Cards!
SInce it’s almost Thanksgiving (which we don’t celebrate in the Netherlands, but still 😉 ) I’m sharing a Thank You project with you all today.
If you’re in need of a way of showing your gratitude to someone, why not create a personalized little card?
For instance, recently I changed departments so I said goodbye to some colleagues. I made them each a unique and personalized Thank You notelet. I worked with four different paper collections: Mariposa (DCWV), Craftsman (Prima), A Proper Gentleman (Graphic 45) and Spring (Precious Marieke).
Needless to say my colleagues really enjoyed them 🙂 Hope you find this idea inspiring and create lots of them yourselves! 🙂
Enjoy the video and stay crafty, see you next week!
Two masculine-themed cardlets for the guys in my team:
Sometimes you want to send someone an awesome card, but you don’t have the time to spend hours and hours of creating. That is why I love my quick scrap projects!
I designed this card from only 1 sheet of doublesided 12×12″ (30,5×30,5 cm) design paper, with just a couple of folds and cuts. I also added some cardstock for the tags, and a few little embellishments. This design helps you to create a luxurious, interactive card within less than 60 minutes of creating!
It also enables you to use up those single sheets of double-sided design paper you might still have left over from other projects.
Or, in my case, the design lets me indulge myself in just buying single sheets that really stand out from their collections, without having to buy the entire collections and all that goes with them 🙂
To help you all along I wrote a tutorial for you, which you can acquire for a very sharp price in my Etsy shop 🙂
Enjoy the video and pictures below, and stay crafty!
Although I’ve done my share of larger mini albums, and also created an XL card, I really love my micro projects as well. Recently I made a tri-fold cardlet, teeny-tiny and supercute. I aimed for a modern, stylish feel. The birthday lady for whom it was intended, while very feminine, was not of the girly-girly pink stuff persuasion 😉
I chose DCWV’s Immortal Love paper, and got to work with some cardstock, some glitter glue, a couple of stamps and a single brad. Of course I inked around all of the edges with distress ink: Black Soot by Tim Holtz.
A small word of warning in case you want to create one yourself: this is not a so-called quick-scrap that you can create last-minute when you’re in a hurry. Although it’s very easy to make, the use of glitter glue requires a lot of drying time that you’ll have to take into account when planning your project. Just saying 😉
Anyway, here’s the pictures!
Closed – A blinged-up belly band is keeping the little tri-fold closed. It measures about 4 x 6 cm (appr. 1.5 x 2.5 inches)
Open
Front panel – I used two different colors of Tim Holtz’s distress ink to stamp a rose on the front. I used sticky embossing powder by Ranger to turn the image into a glued surface, which I then sprinkled with Tim Holtz’s Clear Rock Candy distress glitter.
Left inside panel – I stamped ’46’ with black ink (the birthday girl’s age), which I then traced with red glitter glue. Simple, and gives a great effect!
Middle inside panel – I used red glitter glue to trace around the panel. Once the glitter glue had dried, I could write my birthway wish with a silver metal marker.
Back panel – No extra embellishments, this piece of paper was gorgeous enough in and of itself!
Left outside panel (turning the card over) – I stamped Handmade for you and traced the pattern of the paper with red glitter glue.
Middle outside panel – First I stamped Birthday Wishes onto a tiny tag I had created from a piece of design paper. I used red glitter glue to trace the edges of the tag. I used a silver-colored brad to attach the micro tag to another piece of design paper that I had cut to size. Only then did I mat the panel with the completed assembly.
So, this was my micro project, hope you liked it and got some inspiration from it! See ya again soon, with a new video post! 🙂
We’re pretty used to sending eachother birthday cards, but this time the theme is Thank You! 🙂
In my case, to thank my singing teacher for a year of great lessons – but you can of course come up with many things to be grateful for, and actually sharing that with someone! In that sense it would also be a great little wallet to add to your Thanksgiving present that you’ve bought (or created!) for your Thanksgiving Dinner Hosts!
I’ve done a tutorial a couple of blog posts ago, in case you want to create one yourself – it’s really very easy! 🙂
So, what are you grateful for? Leave a reply in the comment section! 🙂
Here’s several ideas for some bookmarks, large & small.
Bookmarks are the ideal quick scrap project: it’s quick, fun and perfect for using up those lovely scraps you have left over from your other projects. Also, they make a great gift, for instance as a companion piece to a novel that you’re gifting someone (or, in my case, a hardcover comic 🙂 ).
These bookmarks have no bulk whatsoever of course, for they have to fit tightly between the pages of your novel. Except for their very top, for that will be the show piece, sticking out above your book 😉
As always, enjoy the video and let me know what you think. Also: like & subscribe 🙂
Here’s a quick tutorial for creating a fun little birthday wallet.
I keep coming back to this design because it looks great, it’s easy to make and takes only one sheet of 12×12 inch double-sided scrapbookpaper. So I thought I’d share this with you and show you how to make it! 🙂
If you want some more inspiration, click the links below for my other versions.
Dutch language version available as well this time (without the tutorial):
Previous versions of this wallet:
Micro version of this wallet:
You may have heard of decoupage or napkin technique. It’s a fun way to alter objects, usually made of wood or paper mache. But did you know you can decoupage a candle as well? It’s the same technique, except you’re using special, flame-resistant candle podge instead of regular podge.
You can check out some examples of decoupaged candles in my blogpost on Easter decorations, for some inspiration. Meanwhile, here’s a tutorial on how to decoupage your own candle – and let’s make it a Valentine’s Day version this time, why don’t we 🙂
So enjoy the video and have fun experimenting!
Please feel free to like & subscribe and leave your remarks and questions in the comment section below!
Here’s a little tutorial on how I make so-called ‘scrap mats’. This is what I call the photo mats that I create from leftover scraps of design paper.
You see the thing is, I just like to use up as much of my design paper as I can – I guess it’s a combination of enjoying as much of a particular paper stack as possible on the one hand, and frugality on the other. I mean, you’d be surprised how much photo mat real-estate the right combination of scraps generates! (What can I say, I’m just weird that way 😉 )
Meanwhile, the results have been quite cool, imho. So check it out and find out how to create these mats yourself!