Monday, May 26, 2014

White and Navy Rose with Yellow and Gray

One of my favorite cards ever.  I love the bright white and yellow with dark navy and light gray.  The navy edging sets off the die-cut petals.  My color scheme and large flower are inspired by the patterned paper.

Card details:
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." (376)

Friday, May 23, 2014

Green and Tan Pattern with Red

Bold and modern with layered texture and patterns.  My color scheme is based on the panel of multicolored patterned paper.  The red asterisk emphasizes the sentiment as the focal point. 

Card details:
  • Card stock is  Paper Source leaf (light green - discontinued), Papertrey Ink (PTI) pinefeather (dark green) and pure poppy (red), the polka dot print from PTI fine linen (tan) pattern pack, and a piece cut from Pink Paislee portfolio 6 x 6" collection.  
  • Die is Avery Elle icon fill-in-the-blank (asterisk).  The banner notch is hand-cut. 
  • Embossing folder is Sizzix Tim Holtz texture fades stripes.
  • The sentiment "thanks" is cut with Silhouette Cameo using a scrap of the patterned paper.  The tiny grid print doesn't stand out in the image, but it's a nice detail in real life, and I didn't want to add another card stock color there.  
  • The "thanks" cutting file comes from a Lori Whitlock ribbon slide set.  I enlarged the "t" crossbar and the "s" opening a bit.
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." (377)

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Gear Print - Diagonal Thanks

My inspiration was Erin Taylor's card, shown here (3rd card) on the Papercrafts Connection blog.  I used her diagonal striped sentiment on strongly patterned paper, with an embellishment based on the paper.  For her card, it was flowers; for mine, gears.

I added some chevron embossing to the sentiment panel and thin red lines (embroidery floss) above and below.  Thanks, Erin, for the inspiration! 

Card details:
  • Card stock is Paper Source leaf (light green - discontinued) and pool (aqua), Papertrey Ink (PTI) harvest gold (yellow), summer sunrise (yellow-orange), dark chocolate (brown), and pure poppy (red), and a gear print from the Echo Park "all about a boy" 6 x 6" paper pad. 
  • Embroidery floss is DMC 347.
  • Dies are PTI heart-2-heart #6 and Avery Elle icon fill-in-the blank (asterisk).
  • I used a 1/8" circle punch for the red center dot.
  •  Embossing folder is Sizzix Hero Arts textured impressions chevrons (retiring).
  • Sentiment "thanks" is computer printed in brown ink with Iowan Old Style Black font, expanded spacing.
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." (374)

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Rose Pink Pattern with White Trim

A sweet love card in shades of rose pink, with a touch of white.  I tried adding some ribbon, but it seemed distracting.  So I left it simple and straightforward.

Note: the gray is background, not part of the card.

Card details:
  • Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) stamper's select white and autumn rose (deep rose), a tiny pink heart print from Pink Paislee pen pals 6 x 6" pack, and the damask print from PTI autumn rose pattern pack.
  • Dies are My Favorite Things scallop ribbon border and PTI wonderful words: love.  To make a border strip with scallops on just one edge, I cut it from a 5/8" strip of white card stock, aligning one edge of the strip to the inner scallop portion of the die.
  • I rounded the bottom corners of the card with 1/2" corner chomper.
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." (375)

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Heart, House, and Sun - Aqua with Kraft and Yellow

This card makes me smile!  I hope it will do the same for one of our deployed troops sending it, and for a loved one at home receiving it.  Very colorful and crisp in real life.

The house and tree create a homey little scene, reinforced as the focal point by the "house-colored" straight and squiggly borders above and below. 

Card details:
  • Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) kraft, aqua mist (light aqua), Hawaiian shores (medium aqua), pure poppy (red), simply chartreuse (green), dark chocolate (brown), orange zest, and the stripes print from PTI lemon tart (yellow) pattern pack.
  • Dies are My Favorite Things jumbo squiggle, PTI take three, smallest die from PTI polka dot parade #2, and Avery Elle icon fill-in-the-blank (heart, house, and asterisk/sun).  
  • The tree trunk is cut with scissors. 
  • Embossing folder is Paper Studio woodgrain.
  • Sentiment "Love you, miss you" is computer printed in brown ink with Prestige Elite Standard Bold font (using a smaller font size for the spaces between the words).
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." (373)

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Blue Damask - Missing You

Blue colors with a textile theme - a damask print, a woven-textured panel, a pinked edge, and a faux striped ribbon made from embroidery floss.  In real life, the blues work well together.

The sentiment is inlaid into the negative shape, so I used the leftover die cuts to make a second card, the same but with the sentiment colors reversed. 

Card details:
  • Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) spring rain (light blue), blueberry sky (medium blue), enchanted evening (dark blue), and the damask print from PTI enchanted evening pattern pack.
  • The sentiment "Missing You" is cut with Silhouette Cameo using PilGi font.  I modified some letters in the words, moving the dots of the "i"s down to attach to the strokes, and opening up the closed loops of the "g" and "Y" - to avoid the tiny detached pieces.  I also thickened the lower loop of the "g" slightly to be less fragile when cut.
  •  I cut two sentiment panels, one in light blue and one in medium blue, then interchanged the pieces.  I put a 1" strip of Scor Tape across the back, then added texture with Stampin' Up square lattice embossing folder.
  • For the pinked edge, I used PTI pinking shears border die.
  • The embroidery floss is DMC # 800 (light blue) and 799 (medium blue).
  • Technique:  To make the faux ribbon, I adhered a 1/8" strip of Scor Tape to the dark blue card stock, then gently stretched across three lengths of embroidery floss, and pressed them down firmly with my bone folder.  The Scor Tape and floss are wrapped around to the back of the card stock about 1".  This technique makes a very nice flat embellishment, with a lovely sheen in real life.
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." (371)

Friday, May 9, 2014

Orange Patterns with Star

Two orange and yellow patterns, set off with wide borders.  In the midst of the busy patterns, a large star provides a strong focal point.  The card is bright and bold in real life, with more color contrast between the orange star and the orangey brown card base and sentiment. 

Card details:
  • Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) canyon clay (orangey brown), orange zest (orange), and summer sunrise (yellow).  The patterned papers are from the Echo Park "all about a boy" 6 x 6" pad.
  • The sentiment "thanks" is cut from the Silhouette box and flower tags set, this week's free shape. 
  • The little brown star is punched with a Fiskars 1/4" star hand punch.
  • Dies are My Favorite Things stacking stars (using the smallest inner die to cut the yellow star), PTI seeing stars (medium die to cut the orange star), and PTI coffee cozy details (edgeless die to cut the dots, which I left in the die cut).
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." (372)

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Diagonal Stripes with Stars

Strong colors and contrast in the diagonal background and variety of stars.  The small blue star in the middle row helps draw attention to the sentiment.

The cream stripes are inlaid in the kraft.  Using my "leftover" die cuts, I made a second card with kraft stripes inlaid in cream.

Card details:
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." (369)