Blue with Kraft Hearts - Missing You

Hearts and circles. Two shades of blue, with kraft and a touch of white. A "missing you" card for Operation Write Home's Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop. Around 130 bloggers participating - wow!

Added May 30, 2011: A few people commented that they might like to try this idea. So I posted a tutorial with more details, especially on how to line up the punched hearts and slots. For my tutorial, scroll down to the previous post (also dated May 28), or click here.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and if you have any comments or questions for me, I'd love to see them! To comment, or to read more about my card, scroll down below the blog hop badge.

To continue hopping, click here: Starting from Scrap for your next stop to see Shana's creative card. Or you can click here for the complete blog hop list.

Card details:

• The punches are a 1" circle, a 1/4" circle, a 1" heart, and a 1/4" double slot punch. Tip: punch the slots first, and then the hearts.
  
  
• The sentiment is computer-printed in blue ink with "Lucida Handwriting" font. The card stock is Papertrey Ink spring rain (light blue), Papertrey Ink kraft, and Paper Source lake (dark blue).
  
  
• My white "ribbon" is a narrow (3/16") strip of Neenah card stock. I tried using real ribbon, but the Neenah's stiffness made it easier to thread through the slots, adjust, and adhere. Tip: bend each heart a bit while threading it onto the "ribbon."
  
  
• I ran the threaded hearts through my 1-1/2" Xyron. Then I was still able to adjust them as I positioned them on the dark blue circles (which I had already attached to the light blue layer).

Like most of my cards, this one was created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (056b)

Tutorial - Threaded Hearts Card

Posted May 30, 2011. This post is a tutorial for my "Missing You" card with the threaded hearts. A few people commented that they might like to try the technique, so here are all the details in one place. For my original post, scroll up or click here.

If you have any questions, leave a comment for me, and I will reply in the comments. Also if you try this, I'd love to see your card, so please let me know in the comments.

For reference, here is my card:
I included all the details of measurements and materials, so you know how the card fits together. If you want just the threaded hearts info, scroll down.

Card stock and layers:

• My card used 3 colors of card stock, plus white.
• Light color for the card base and the top layer (light blue on my card). I used Papertrey Ink spring rain.
  
• Medium color for the hearts and the middle layer (kraft). I used Papertrey Ink kraft.
  
• Darker color for the 1" and 1/4" circles and the bottom layer (dark blue). I used Paper Source lake.
• My layer sizes are: Top layer 1-3/8", Middle layer 1-5/8", Bottom layer 1-7/8."
  
• The bottom layer is 1" up from the bottom of the card base.
  
• The middle layer is 1/8" up from the bottom layer. The top layer is 1/8" up from the middle layer. In other words, 1/8" is visible above and below.
  
• The white "ribbon" is a 3/16" strip of card stock.
• The card size is A2 (4.25" x 5.5").

Punches:

• You will need 4 punches: 1" circle, 1/4" circle, 1" heart punch, and 1/4" double slot punch (ribbon punch.)
  
• Of course, you can try different shapes and sizes! I'm just listing what I used.
• My 1/4" circle punch is an old office supply punch to make holes for a 3-ring binder.
  
• My heart punch is a red "whale type" by EK Success. The heart is 1" wide and 7/8" high.
  
• My double slot punch is McGill. The slots are 1/4" long, and each slot is 1/16" wide.
  

Tutorial for punching slots and hearts evenly:

• The only tricky part is getting the slots punched evenly on the hearts. See photo tutorial below. Click on the photos to enlarge.
  

• 1. (Upper image below) - Cut a 1" x 5.5" strip of kraft.
  
• Draw lines lengthwise at 1/4" and 1/2." Draw lines crosswise, the first one about 9/16" from the left end, and then spaced a little over 1" across the kraft strip. I normally would use pencil, but this time I used ink to be more legible in the photo.
• Now punch the double slots, aiming to keep them straight and centered.
  
• Personally, I find my slot punch hard to line up exactly. My slots on the left are pretty good. I intentionally made other slots crooked, to show you how to adjust.

• 2. (Lower image above) After punching all your slots, punch your hearts.
• If you have a perfectly positioned slot, line up the heart vertically along the line.
• If you have a crooked slot, line the heart up along the slots.
• In the photo above, I tinted my punched hearts and put them back into their holes to show you.

• 3. (Upper image below) Another view.
  
• You can see from the punched-out strip that my hearts are tilting to follow my slots, not lined up with the grid that I drew. But I find the grid is still very helpful to keep me oriented in this step!
  

• 4. (Lower image above) My punched hearts. Tinted for purposes of #2, but in my real card, of course, they would be plain kraft.
• You can see my slots are not perfectly lined up - they don't need to be perfect! But they are reasonably straight and similar in position.

Threading the hearts:

• Thread the hearts onto the white "ribbon." My white "ribbon" is a narrow (3/16") strip of Neenah card stock.
• Instead of bending the "ribbon" back and forth through the slots, bend each heart a bit while threading it onto the "ribbon."
  
• I tried using real ribbon, but the Neenah's stiffness made it easier for me to thread through the slots, adjust, and adhere.

Final assembly:

• Adhere the 1" circles onto the top (light blue) layer first. The bottoms of the circles should be 1/4" up from the bottom of the layer. The middle circle should be centered left-to-right.
  
• The end circles should be 1/8" in from the outer edges. This placement will allow room for the 1/4" dots and will show a bit of the white "ribbon" on the ends.
• Now adhere the threaded hearts onto the 1" circles. I ran the threaded hearts through my 1-1/2" Xyron. Then I was still able to adjust them as I positioned them on the 1" circles.
• Adhere the 1/4" dots.
  
• Adhere all the layers to the card base.

Repeating the card photo once more for reference: Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (056b)

Wavy Stripes and Dots - Red, Blue, and Gray

A cheerful, bold design with wavy-edged stripes and dots. Using up more of my scraps. Click here for another design with scrap card strips.

The wavy edges are done with Fiskars edger scissors (corkscrew). The circle punches are 3/4" and 1/4" for the off-center holes punched in the red circles. The sentiment "Hello" is computer-printed in red and blue ink using Marker Felt font. The card stock is PaperTrey Ink enchanted evening (dark blue), pure poppy (red), and soft stone (light gray card base).

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (075)

Monochromatic Ribbon and Flower Card

Monochromatic. Simple. I like it.

The flower strip is a die cut from a packet of Paper Frills (lily white) by Doodlebug, colored with Copic marker V15. The uneven coloring looks nice on this card, I think. I used Ranger Liquid Pearls for five of the flower centers. The 3/16" ribbon is also colored with V15. The sentiment "Thinking of you" is computer-printed with light purple ink in Lucida Calligraphy font. The card stock is Hero Arts lilac.

Below is a blue-gray version of the same design, with tiny round stones instead of pearls. Both cards were created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (057)

Green Concentric Circles Card

A very green card, using my concentric circles design. I'm happy with the diagonal circles on the dark green band.

My card stock is Hero Arts pine (dark green) and grass (medium green card base.) The sentiment "Hello" is computer-printed with dark green ink/ black outline in Lucida Calligraphy font. I printed my concentric circles design (circles in PowerPoint) on Neenah cardstock, then punched out with 1-1/2" circle punch and colored with Copic markers G07, G14, G40, YG23, and YG61.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (074)

Orange and Yellow Three-Flower Card

Bright, sunny colors on a dreary day. I like the striped layer behind the flowers.

My three-flower line drawing, the same as this card, was printed on Neenah card stock before coloring with Copic markers YR00, YR09, YR14, YR15, YR21, Y38, E95, and custom color YYR2000. The colored card stock is Hero Arts poppy (yellow base) and mandarin (orange layer). The deep orange ribbon is 5/8" sheer-and-satin, colored with YR09. I drew the vertical lines with black Copic 0.5 multiliner and YR09 marker.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (073)

Woven Plaid Card with Hearts

Wow - one million cards! shipped to the troops by Operation Write Home, a volunteer group with thousands of card makers, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them."

The design of my woven plaid card (for Operation Write Home) was inspired by a growing pile of scraps - 1/2" to 1" wide strips of leftover red and blue card stock. See below for another version.

Technique: Adhere the horizontal strips on the left end. Weave in the vertical strips and adhere at both ends. Straighten the horizontal strips and adhere on the right. The strips may vary in width and spacing, but they must be parallel and at right angles.

My card stock is Papertrey Ink fine linen (tan background), pure poppy (red), and enchanted evening (dark blue). The 1" heart punch is EK Success. The tan dots on the hearts are from a 1/4" punch. (072)

Swimming Fish Card

I borrowed a friend's balloon punch, and the shapes made me think of fishes. So I made this card.

The fish are 1-1/8" balloons, turned on their sides. Their eyes are punched with a 1/8" hole punch, and their mouths are a small V cut with scissors.

The cloud is a 2" scalloped circle punch. To make it into an oval shape, I repunched the scalloped circle part way up with the same punch.

The water is a strip of card stock, edged with a Fiskars clouds (~ 1/2" scallop) scissors. When I edged it, I placed the scrap edge of my card stock to the left of the scissors, so the scallop shape was my scrap, leaving the (normally scrap) wave shapes on the non-scrap side. It's adhered with foam tape to add some dimension to the card.

More details:

• Card stock - Papertrey Ink spring rain (light blue card base), enchanted evening (dark blue water), and hibiscus burst (pink fish); Neenah Solar white (cloud); Paper Source poppy (orange), sunshine (yellow), and jadeite (green)
• Sentiment - "Just swimming by... to say hi..." computer-printed in dark blue ink with "Handwriting Dakota" font

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (071)