I realize Easter is already over, but I forgot to post this – as well as my other Easter card, which I will post next. After all, it’s the thought that counts – and you can use these techniques of layering and adding a small booklet to the front, as inspiration for your own cards. For any occasion you can think of! 🙂
Papers used: Easter Greetings collection by Craft and You.
Springtime! And at the moment (for as long as it lasts) I’m loving all of those bright pastels! This year I’m sending out three Easter cards, two of which I’m showing you this week.
I used Mintay’s perfect springtime collection, Better Times. Gosh, those images are like frameable paintings all by themseleves, but I got over those qualms and cut into them anyway 😱
I focussed on designing one large, luxurious card with three sheets of double-sided design paper plus a cutapart sheet. I think I succeeded quite nicely 😊
In the end I still had enough paper left over to create a bonus card, which I’m sharing towards the end of the video.
Wishing you all a very lovely Easter and a happy spring! I’m curious, are you sending any Easter cards this year? Let me know in the comments!
Usually I don’t send out Easter cards, but this week I decided I would, because of these strange times we live in. After all, we can all use some spring-themed cards with some encouraging words.
So here are my five cards (one more than I’m sharing in the video!), created with the Easter Greetings collection by Craft and You, and some encouraging words 🙂
Spring is coming, and although it’s still howling and storming with raging winds and rain here in the Netherlands, I already pruned my apple & pear trees and the first daffodils are blooming in my garden 🙂
So, time to take my Celebrate Spring collection by Studiolight and create something happily colorful. I created a relatively large tag, using some papers, diecuts and cut-aparts. The butterfly is a Prima butterfly made from white fabric, which I sprayed and inked myself.
Since this tag was going to function as a bookmark, I made sure to keep everything as flat as possible. The only little bit of dimension I used was near the top edge, since that would be sticking out from a book 🙂
And since it would also go with a birthday gift to my friend, I gave it a birthday theme on both sides!
Fancy more of my under-1-hour Quickscrap projects? Click here, where you’ll find them all!
To celebrate Easter – and simply the arrival of spring yesterday 🌺 – I created two z-shaped, multi-panel, tri-fold cards and did them up with Cotton Tail, a super fun Easter collection by We R Memory Keepers, in lovely spring colors.
The examples of regular Z-cards I found on the internet were all tri-folds, with four panels – which are very easy to make.
For my second card I decided to give it a little Creator’s Image Studio twist, and doubled its length! Now that was great fun to work on, I have to say, for each panel is its own little layout, and there’s fourteen of them on my double-length design!
It helps if you’re working with some cutapart sheets or a die-cut pack, to be able to create enough variation in your panel decorations. Also, just throw in some flowers, feathers, enamel dots and the like, and you’re ready to go.
Happy Easter, happy spring!
A lady asked me to create four double-layout cards for her, one for each season. She also provided me with four seasonal sentiments to incorporate. What a fun challenge that proved to be! 🙂
I also used four brands by the way, so I really saw all four ? corners of my craft supply room. Here’s the collections I used:
Let me know what you think!
Tag die set by Crealies:
I’m a big fan of the Dutch brand Studio Light, which offers, among many things, several lovely 6×6 inch pads which simply consist of different patterns within a certain (combined) color theme. These pads don’t have posh collection names, but are simply numbered 01, 02 and so on. These themeless and therefore relatively neutral pads offer the special opportunity of creating projects with which you could combine almost any embellishment from any collection.
The following four, happily colorful cards I created with Studio Light pad nr. 05, combined with several different embellishments and some cutapart tags and labels from Panduro and Scrapberry’s.
Card 1 – Summer Day
I stamped the inside with 6 different stamps:
Card 2 – Enjoy Your Special Day Continue reading
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 auntÂ
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.
Hi all!
As you may have noticed, one of my favorite design paper brands is Graphic 45. Which is why I’m super excited – and a little nervous! – for this blog post, for it is my first time ever submission for a Graphic 45‘s Design Team Audition! 🙂
I am delighted to be able to share some of my favorite projects – old and new – that showcase my style, including a tutorial via Snapguide, and I hope you’ll all feel inspired by them!
Project 1: ATC Book Box Wall Ornament – with Graphic 45’s Sweet Sentiments
Graphic 45’s ATC Book Box (ivory) offers many, many creative possibilities and it was an absolute joy to work with it!
It inspired me to create a brand new project: an Easter Wall Ornament. It has a removable decorative show piece showcasing many fussy-cut images from the collection’s gorgeous signature sheet.
Without this show piece it is still a very decorative but also practical little box for anything you’d like to store – and keep handy at the same time. Like your keys. Your phone. Your business cards. Or your lipsticks! 🙂
To create it, I (gently) cut the box part from the book cover part, turned it 90 degrees and reattached it. By firmly wrapping the cover part with design paper I made sure it stayed straight, preventing it from folding like a book.
I used a ribbon tied through an eyelet to hang the wall ornament on the wall.
Below are some pictures, and the show & tell video:
To see more of the details, click the picture below for an enlargement:
Fussy-cut tag, adorned with fussy-cut floral (lifted with some dimensional tape):
Detail of the ornament, without the show piece:
Bottom
The chipboard pieces on the front are backed up with design paper, continuing the main pattern on the back:
Hanging from my bed room wall
Show & tell video:
Project 2: New Job Card – with Graphic 45’s Time to Celebrate
As soon as I laid eyes on the Time to Celebrate collection, I fell in love with its vibrant spring colors. I immediately created a card with it for my friend who got a new job. She’s quite the lady, so this paper fit her perfectly! 🙂
I love making cards with Graphic 45 papers and for this one I worked with both the 8×8″ design paper and the 6×6″ patterns & solids pad. I used the Best Wishes chipboard piece of the collection, and added some embellishments from my stash: flowers, ribbon, feathers, and flat-back pearls. I stamped Nieuwe Baan (= Dutch for New Job) to finish it.
I layered the inside of the card with both design paper and cardstock, and added two stamps that I cut from the design paper – one of which I lifted with some dimensional tape. I also added two small butterflies from my stash.
Quick video overview:
Project 3: Double-stacked Mini Album ‘Celebrate Every Day’
I love to design and create new or special kinds of mini albums. For example, I’ve designed three different types of folio albums, I love to design large gatefold-style keepsake albums and I’m also an enthousiastic creator of micro albums. The project I’m entering here is yet another kind of (large) keepsake album, which I designed last August. I’m calling it a double-stacked mini album.
This sophisticated album has six page assemblies, three above, three below – which together offer twelve unique interactive page layouts plus some large photo mats!
The insides of the large front and back covers make up their own interactive pages, twice as large as the regular ones. The album has a magnetized closure and although I sometimes go all out with embellishments on mini album covers, I intentionally kept this one crisp and clean on the outside, to showcase the papers – with the added bonus of it easily fitting into a book case.
Below are some pictures, plus the show & tell video I did last September. I’ve also done a video tutorial for one of the origami page elements in the album, which I’ll also embed below.
Inside front cover:
Bonus Project: Briefcase Micro Album – with Graphic 45’s Bohemian BazaarÂ
This is one of my first designs with Graphic 45 papers and I’m still proud of it, which is why I’m adding it to this audition, even though it’s from 2014 🙂 .
I designed this cute little micro album to look like sort of a briefcase. It measures only 11 x 9 x 5,5 cm (4¼ x 3½ x 2″) and sports six small pocket pages. Each of those holds a tag or a cutapart from the collection.
I created a ‘suitcase handle’ from cardstock lined with book muslin, which I attached with two brads and two small D-rings. The album is held closed with a magnet closure.
Because I really enjoyed showcasing the gorgeously colorful paper, I only added a few embellishments both inside and outside, keeping it clean and stylish and letting the paper speak for itself.
The album is designed to open vertically, not horizontally, just like an actual briefcase. This enables you to thumb through the pages with both hands, kind of like you would a rolodex or some records or some such (yeah I know, this reference totally dates me… 😉 ).
The intended way of opening and perusing this micro album is vertically:
And here’s the (2014) video show & tell video:
Tutorial: How to Create a Micro Booklet – with Graphic 45’s Time to Celebrate
I really love my micro projects, and for the tutorial part of this audition I’m entering a second micro project, next to the Briefcase Micro Album above (Bonus Project). I designed this cute micro booklet as a fun alternative for a card or gift tag. It holds several tiny tags on which you could write your birthday wishes and/or little personal messages. Thanks to its small size it’s easy to send by mail, to carry in one’s purse, to add to a bunch of flowers, etc. – for it measures only 6.5 x 7 cm (2½ x 2¾”).
As an added bonus, it’s perfect for using up the scraps of your awesome scrapbook design papers! (I don’t know about you but I hate to throw away even the tiniest sliver…)
For this project I chose my beloved Time to Celebrate paper line again – couldn’t help myself, it’s just too gorgeous 🙂 .
Please check out my Snapguide* tutorial for this fun project! It’s embedded below, so simply click the tutorial’s pictures or the arrows underneath to move back and forth through the tutorial – very convenient! 🙂
*: Edit 2021: It seems that Snapguide no longer exists, and without warning they apparently removed their entire tutorials database. So I’m sorry, but the aforementioned tutorial for this little booklet is no longer there. If you’d like to know how to make one though, check out this earlier video tutorial of mine.
Hope this inspired you to create one or more yourself, for it’s really a fun little project!
Short show & tell video:
In conclusion
This has been my entry for the Graphic 45 Design Team Audition 2016!Â
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post as much as I have creating it!
Like to see more? Click here for all of my Graphic 45 projects! 🙂
Thank you to all who follow me on this blog and/or on Youtube or other social media, I really appreciate all of your support.
Now please wish me luck 🙂 – for I’m really hoping and praying I’ll make the cut! I would be so honored with a spot on the ever-awesome G45 Design Team and am really looking forward to a chance of working with this great team of designers and crafters – and of course with Graphic 45’s great products and beautiful vintage paper collections – which are great to work with and always smell so good… 🙂
Bye all, see you next blog post!
Fairly recently I added a sweet little paper pad to my (ever-growing) stash. It was the Spring Collection by what I think is a new Dutch brand, called Precious Marieke. It has lovely shades of purple and lavender, lots of florals and butterflies, and it really breathes spring or summer.
I decided to create an entire set of cards with this lovely paper line, and since I wanted to gift them to my friend for her birthday, I also needed a box to put them in.
So I upcycled the packaging of some scented candles. I painted it and matted it with the Precious Marieke design paper. And here’s what’s great: the enticing cinnamon scent of the candles was still clinging strongly to their former-packaging-now-gift-box!
So there you have it, a great tip to give someone an actual scented gift box! 🙂
By the way, creating a set of cards is also a great way to use an entire paper pad, without having to bother with leftovers you can’t get yourself to throw away but which are of no real use either 😉
Enjoy the video and pics!
How about a new category of projects: the ones that take you 30-60 minutes from start to finish, for those unexpected invitations-for-tonight or the little something you want to send someone on impuls. Let’s call those… Quick Scraps!
In fact, I actually created a new blog post category for them, check it out in the Category menu on the home page: if you click on it, you’ll see all of my Quick Scrap projects in one neat list – this will make it easier for you to find some inspiration if you’re in dire need of a quick idea! 😉
And here’s a new one for you: this little project will help you personalize the bunch of flowers you’re giving to someone – by creating your own tag to write a special message for them! It’ll take you 15-30 minutes at the most.
Hope you’ll take some inspiration from the video! – please like/subscribe & leave a comment if you like 🙂
And yes, those were some genuine Dutch tulips 🙂 (with some hyacinths on the side)
Don’t you love spring? The days are finally lengthening again, birds are coaxing potential mates to their side by singing to their hearts’ content, early flowers are blooming in happy colors and the sun is already tentatively testing the strength of it’s rays. I think God designed springtime to be an awesome reminder for us that their’s always New Life waiting for us after a period of death – no matter how long the winter in your heart may have lasted.
An explosion box is therefore an especially fitting springtime project: it’s literally an Explosion of Joy! 🙂
Enjoy the video – please like if you do & feel free to leave a comment! And – there’s a tutorial available in my Etsy shop!
