January 31, 2022

Let it Snow

Good Morning and Merry Monday. This card is all about layers.

I started with a silver fine-grained glitter paper, next I added black cardstock, then a panel of designer paper. The sentiment is from the same paper pack, the snowman panel pre-created and part of the pack as well.
 
I added a layer of foam tape on the snowman panel to adhere it to the panel underneath.


I finished the card with some tiny gems on the small snowflakes on the sentiment.

Supplies: White and black cardstock, Designer Paper - Echo Park or Carta Bella, glitter paper, gems.

Did you know: 'Dysania' is the state of finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning.

Just like that January 2022 is over.

Cheers,
Nina


January 29, 2022

Tuesday Morning Sketches #641 - Love

Hello Hello crafty friends - I am playing along with this week's Tuesday Morning Sketches.


I was visiting a favourite store last weekend and found this pretty wrapping paper - I think it is a blend of mulberry and regular wrapping paper as it has a fibrous feel to it. I digress, I like the paper and I could almost instantly picture a beginning of a card.

When I saw the sketch for TMS, I wanted to try to adapt the idea I had to the sketch.


I started by using a die-cut for the paper panel then I added a layer of black cardstock in behind. I created the vellum piece with gold embossing and I added that to a layer of black cardstock as well. The same with the flag panel.

I die cut the heart twice, once with the backside of the patterned paper then another out of black cardstock, I glue them together slightly of the center to make it look like a shadow then added some foam tape to pop it up. I heat embossed the sentiment then die cut it with a coordinating die-cut, added some foam tape and adhered it to the heart.

I finished the card with some black gems. The wrapping paper was easy to work with and die-cutting it did not compromise the shape which I loved. 

All that pretty gold messed with the camera so the photo is not the best.

Supplies: Cream and black cardstock, Designer Paper - Unknown, Simon Says Stamp - Scribble Heart, Ornate Love Stamp and Die Set, gems.

Did you know: The world's termites outweigh the world's humans by ten to one.

Cheers,
Nina


January 26, 2022

Happy Retirement

Hello hello crafty friends, I am working my way through a few cards I made last year but did not post.

This one was requested by a friend for a teacher family member,  the details around the request were slim  -  colours or style so I winged it.

I found these fabulous paper designs on Etsy and did a quick print with my home printer.


Unfortunately, I did not note the stamps I used for the sentiment, both of the sentiment panels are popped up with foam tape.

I added a layer of rust-coloured cardstock to each panel, the top panel is popped up with foam tape.

Supplies: White and rust cardstock, Digital Papers - RusticDigitalPaper, sentiment stamps - unknown.

Did you know: A lion's roar can be heard from five miles away.

Cheers,
Nina

January 24, 2022

Deck the Halls

Good Morning and Merry Monday.

This card could not be any easier to put together,  I cut a panel of patterned paper for the bottom layer. The top panel is a pre-done panel from a paper pack. 

I layered foam tape on the top panel then added Glossy Accents to each of the little light bulbs. 


Supplies: White cardstock, Designer Paper - Photoplay, Glossy Accents.

Did you know: The longest Monopoly game in history lasted 70 straight days.

Cheers,
Nina

January 22, 2022

Happy Birthday

Good Morning crafty friends - I have a masculine birthday card to share today. 

Plaid being the plan for this card, I started with a layer of black cardstock, I heat embossed a plaid design on one half using clear embossing powder (that apparently has flecks of white in it).

I cut a planel of plaid designer paper, then added a thin strip of black cardstock for interest. I used a sentiment strip from a Tim Holtz pack then finished with some Nuvo Drops.
Supplies: White and black cardstock, Designer Paper - Brutus Monroe, Tim Holtz idea-ology - Label Stickers, Stampers Anonymous-Tim Holtz-Perfect Plaids, Nuvo Drops.

Did you know: The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

Sweet Saturday wishes,
Nina

January 21, 2022

Tuesday Morning Sketches #640 - Happy Anniversary

Hello, hello, crafty friends- I am playing along with Tuesday Morning Sketches today.

I started with a blue layer of card stock, I then die-cut a piece of white cardstock with a background die-cut.

I die-cut two small rectangular pieces from patterned cardstock and I die-cut a larger rectangle from vellum for the middle panel.

I used a privet branch I die-cut and added foam tape behind the leaves, I used those leaves to hide the glue holding down the vellum panel.

I printed off a sentiment strip I created in MS Word the I adhered it using foam tape. I finished the card with some iridescent blue gems.

Supplies: White and blue cardstock, Designer Paper- Paper Rose, Simon Says Stamp-Detail Pincushion Plate, Privet Branch, gems

I tried out some Hammermill Coverstock for this card, it is 100lb weight and I have seen a number of people say they love it for ink blending... I will try that soon, but for this card I used it for the card base, the die-cut panel and for the privet branch, I also used it to print out the sentiment. I am pretty happy so far.

Did you know: It is believed that around 80% of Earth's gold is still buried underground.

Cheers,
Nina

January 20, 2022

Happy Birthday

Hello, Hello, craft peeps. My love of designer papers won out for this card and I used a quick and easy layout. When in doubt layer your panels.

I am in this place where I just want to repeat the cards I made with washi tape with different tapes, but I also want to do something different, so that is messing with my crafty mojo a little. I have some cards I need to get into the mail so I need to get it together.


I started by creating the panels, I knew which papers I wanted to work with, and I started out with three different panels but I just could not make the smallest one work for me. I layered each panel with some black cardstock. 

I stamped and die-cut the sentiment, and die-cut the leafy branch adding foam tape to both. I finished with black Nuvo drops.

Supplies: White and black cardstock, Designer Paper - Carta Bella, Memory Box - Signature Greeting, Poppy Stamps - Lorelai Leaf, Nuvo drops.

Did you know: Tonsurephobia is the fear of haircuts.

Cheers,
Nina

January 17, 2022

Warm Wishes

Good Morning and Merry Monday crafty crew. I have one of those quick and easy cards to share. I am not moosing around, the layout is simple, and the paper did all the work.

I cut a panel of designer paper that has the trees on it, the moose and sentiment were on the same panel. I cut that section out, put the twine in behind then added a layer of foam tape behind the cut-out piece to pop it up.

I added a layer of black cardstock to the panel for a small frame. I finished with some half pearls.


Supplies: White and black cardstock, Designer Paper - Echo Park, twine, pearls.

I have been binge-watching Dr. Oakley Yukon Vet the past few weeks, I love seeing the critters she gets to work with, especially all the babies. The episode I paused to prep this post is about releasing some rehabilitated baby moose back into the wild.

Did you know: When we are born out eyes are almost full size, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

Cheers,
Nina

January 16, 2022

Paper Craft Crew # 455 - Happiest

Hey hey crafty peeps - my sister Barb talked me into playing along with a new to me challenge Paper Craft Crew - PCC455: Horizontal Sketch Challenge.
 
The challenge is a horizontal sketch, I just picked up some slimline die cuts that I wanted to play with so that is what I did.
 
I started with a black cardstock layer then added a layer of gold card stock and finally a layer of designer paper. For the circle element, I used a circle die from the same set of die cuts from above with some vellum.


I ran that circle die cut through a second time with the same gold glitter card stock and filled in the little divots. I heat embossed the sentiment in white on black cardstock. I finished with some black vintage Nuvo drops.
 
Supplies: White, black and gold cardstock, Designer paper - Recollections, Pink Fresh Studio - Mini Slimline Essential Bundle, Colorado Craft Company - Big Bold Birthday cake, Nuvo drops.

Did you know: 'Go.' is the shortest complete sentence in the English Language.

Cheers,
Nina

January 15, 2022

Tuesday Morning Sketches #639 - Love you

Good Morning - I am playing along with this week's Tuesday Morning Sketches. I started with some patterned papers and added them to a black cardstock panel. I die-cut the largest heart from some woodgrain cardstock.

I heat embossed the sentiment, using white embossing powder on black cardstock doing that twice to get a nice solid sentiment. I then die-cut it using a coordinating die-cut set.

I die cut a series of smaller hearts from red mirror and textured cardstocks. I added them using some foam tape. I added some black gems and added the whole panel to a card base made of the same woodgrain cardstock as the large heart.


I am not entirely happy with this card, not sure why, maybe it will grow on me.

Supplies: White, black and red cardstock, Designer Paper - Echo Park, Simon Says stamp - Ornate Love, Stitched Heart Collage, gems.

Did you know: Giraffes can't yawn.

Enjoy your Saturday,
Nina

January 14, 2022

Happy Birthday

Happy Friday out there.  I used one of my go-to sketches for today's card. It is super easy, lemon squeezy. 

I cut out a bottom panel of designer paper, then layered it up from there. The papers I used are from a 6x8 paper pad so I used a coordinating page and cut a second panel that I added a layer of foam tape.

I added a little bit of shimmer to the insides of the flowers using a Gelly Roller pen. I die-cut a butterfly and added a little shimmer to the wingtips and gems for the body.

I had a sentiment strip already cut on my desk so I added some foam tape to adhere it.


Supplies: White and black cardstock, Designer Paper-Simple Stories, 
Memory Box-Pip Butterfly, Paper rose-Sentiment Strip, gems.

Did you know: In Oklahoma, it's illegal to wrestle a bear.

Cheers,

Nina


January 13, 2022

Sweet Moments

I have another quick card to share from the Simple Vintage Lemon Twist card kit. This past year I indulged in a couple of card kits, I found them helpful to have when I was feeling creatively challenged and my mojo was on vacation. I keep one or two small kits in my stash for times like that.

The kits not only enabled me to be creative but they can inspire as well. 

Like the other cards in this kit, I followed the instructions to create the card. There is a nice blend of paper pieces and chipboard. Everything is pre-cut and easy to assemble.


Supplies: Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Lemon Twist card kit.

Did you know: If you were able to put Saturn in the water it would float.

Create some sweet moments,
Nina

January 12, 2022

Sunshine

Let's carry on with the Simple Vintage Lemon Twist card kit cards, shall we? I do like the turquoise and yellow colour combo. I like it so much that I not only brought the card kit but a paper pad as well. Does anyone need paper :).

Anyway, the same steps apply to yesterday's posted creation, the instructions were provided and I followed, which is a win-win because I do struggle a little with following along to card tutorials and such.


Supplies: Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Lemon Twist card kit.

Did you know: The total weight of bacteria living in the human body is 2-6 pounds (or 1-3% of our total weight).

Bring sunshine today,
Nina

January 11, 2022

Squeeze the day

A very quick post this morning to showcase this layered card. I can not claim the design, it was part of a simple stories card kit.

I love the layers of elements though, I have never really mastered that in my cardmaking.

The pieces are all pre-cut and ready to go, I needed to add foam tape and follow the instructions - voila.



Supplies: Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Lemon Twist card kit.

Did you know: Dark-roasted coffee has less caffeine than medium roast. Roasting coffee beans burns off caffeine.

Squeeze the day,
Nina

January 10, 2022

Holly Jolly Christmas

Good Morning and Merry Monday - I am posting a music or record-themed Christmas card today. This is the card I made for my son.

The colours are very similar to that of the one I made for my husband - you will need to excuse the photo, I forgot to take a staged one and this was one I took as I was making it.


started with a watercolour background, I added blue and grey colours and metallic watercolours. Once that was dry I added splatter and some snowy texture with an embossing folder. I layered that with black cardstock.

I heat embossed the records then cut them out with a circle punch, I die cut the bows from silver cardstock. The records are popped up with some foam tape and I added a silver half pearl to the center.

I heat embossed the sentiment in white on black and added foam tape in behind.

Supplies: White, black and silver cardstock, snowy embossing folder, Inkadinkado - Music Inchie, Memory Box - Crisp Bows, Stampers Anonymous - Tiny Text Christmas.

Did you know: The pound symbol(#) is also called an octothorpe.

Cheers,
Nina

January 8, 2022

Tuesday Morning Sketches #638 - It's your birthday

I don't know about you but I have a number of shelves that I have smaller craft items on, ribbon, stamps, twine and such. As I was planning this card I was looking for something specific, what I found was was more washi tape, how had I missed that, perhaps some of my supplies had turned into art on the wall. I need to fix that I think.

Anyway, yesterday I said that the card I post would be the last of the washi tape in the series, I was obviously not truthful. I was visiting some of the challenge sites I played along with, I have not done a challenge for a while and I started with one of my favourites Tuesday Morning Sketches. Check out this sketch, is it not perfect for Washi Tape.


I used washi for the diagonal elements on my card, then used multiple circle die cuts to create my record, I have a layer of foam tape in behind the black circles to add depth. I added a circle of white and hand-scribbled Happy Birthday like a label.

I added a layer of black to the panel for a matt and I finished with a sentiment and some music notes, there is a black half pearl in the center of the record.


Supplies: White, and black cardstock, washi tape - unknown, Hero Arts - Infinity Circle, Paper Rose - sentiment strip, Memory Box - Melody Music, half pearl.

Did you know: Every year, the Earth becomes about twelve tons heavier because of meteorites landing.

Cheers,
Nina


January 7, 2022

It's your birthday

This will be the last washi series of posts, at least for now, I still have so much washi tape and I really like the simplicity of some of the layouts I used.

As for the layouts, I will add the sketches I used at the bottom of this post for those who may be interested. 

The card today is another quick and clean layout. I started by laying down strips of washi tape. I die cut the branch and popped it up with foam tape. The panel is layered with a piece of gold cardstock and popped up with foam tape. I added the sentiment strip with a layer of foam tape and then I added some gems to finish.


Supplies: White and gold cardstock, Sopcone - Washi Tape, Simon Says Stamp - Privet Branch, Paper Rose - Sentiment Strip, gems.

Sketch #1


Sketch #2


Sketch #3


Sketch #4


Sketch #5


Did you know: Baby red kangaroos are smaller than cherries when they are born.

Cheers,
Nina 

January 6, 2022

Gold Thanks

I was not sure about this particular layout when I was halfway through creating it. I struggle with laying elements out in a random order, I like all uniformity. 

I started my card by creating the two black panels, even with the panel being black the card is not as dark as it appears in the picture. The black cardstock has a texture with a woodgrain style of pattern.

I created multiple panels of washi tape, I added strips of gold cardstock then used varied sizes of circle punches to cut out the elements.

I die cut the sentiment then popped it up with foam tape and I added the circles at varying heights. I finished the card by adding some gold half pearls.


Supplies: White, black and gold cardstock, Sopcone - Washi Tape, Simon Says Stamp - Thanks Frame, embellishments.

Did you know: Horses remember people who have treated them well.

Cheers,
Nina

January 4, 2022

Thankful

With today's post, I am showcasing another Washi tape card. I have to admit I have been enjoying the simplicity of these cards; I mean, I am essentially laying down strips of pretty masking tape.

With this card, I covered a cardstock panel with alternating washi tape patterns. I added a layer of black cardstock and mounted the panel on a card base.



Easy peasy, right... I chose not to add any additional embellishments or sentiments; the marble washi has some gold marbling in it that is pretty.

Supplies: White and black cardstock, Washi Tape.

Cheers,
Nina

January 3, 2022

It's a Wonderful Life

Good Morning and welcome to my first Merry Monday card post of 2022.

I started with a watercolour background, I laid down the base blue and grey colours then let that dry before adding in some additional colours, I layered my way to the final resulting panel the top layer including metallic watercolours. I finished the painting portion with some spatters then set it aside to dry.

I die cut the bench silhouette then moved onto the top layer, I die cut the collage piece then added the same splatter as the bottom panel. I then adhered foam tape, I added some texture with a snowy embossing folder. 

I ran the watercolour panel through my Big Shot with the snowy background embossing folder as well. I added a thin silver embossed frame, then adhered to the top panel and mounted that piece into a piece of black cardstock. 

I heat embossed the sentiment in silver on a piece of black cardstock and added a layer of foam tape. I finished by adding the card base.

I have to admit I really like how this turned out, this is what procrastination looks like, I was down to the wire on Dec 24th making this card.

Supplies: White and black cardstock, Snowy Embossing folder, bench die cut - Unknown, Memory Box - Evergreen sky collage, Stampers Anonymous - Tiny Text Christmas.

Did you know: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never phoned his wife or mother. They were both deaf.

Cheers,
Nina



January 2, 2022

Thanks - Washi Tape

I had not intended to post today but I did want to spend some time in the craft room so I posted anyway.

This was another quick, simple and clean style card using washi tape. I cut a panel of cardstock then laid strips of washi tape from a set down in alternating patterns down the panel. Once I was done, I turned the panel horizontal.

I die cut a shadow Thanks from brown cardstock, then die cut the word portion from a panel of cardstock that had the same washi tape on it. I glued the two Thanks times together and added some foam tape to the back.

I added a layer of brown cardstock to the washi panel then popped it up with foam tape to adhere it to the card base. I finished with some brown Nuvo drops.


Supplies: White and brown cardstock, AGuGu - Washi tape, Simon Says Stamp - Big Thanks, Nuvo drops.

Did you know: The lion sleeps for 20 hrs a day.

Cheers,
Nina

January 1, 2022

Happy New Year

Happy New Year - Welcome 2022.

I thought I would jump into making a card on the first day of the year. At some point in 2021, I said I was going to try and use supplies before buying new stuff, I did, but I also lied.. oh did I lie. To be fair I blame the enablers, Amazon, Simon Says Stamp, Stampers, Paper and Ink Boutique, this list could get very long so I best stop there.

The truth of the matter is, I have lots to work with so let's get started. My most recent obsessions have been watercolours, mica powders and washi tape. Do any of you have any of that in your craft space stash, yeah me too, so I pulled out some supplies and I am starting with using washi tape.

I had a good supply of washi tape already, I certainly did not need to purchase anymore, that however, did not stop me from happy clicking on the buy button. That said, what do you use washi tape for? I have made a few cards in the past which I was really happy with but I am always looking for inspiration. So, off I went to the great library of YouTube, this is where I found a video by Teresa Morgan. The card idea I used is not my own, I am using the first card in the washi tape cards video as my template. I plan to try each of the ideas from the video in the near future.

I adhered strips of washi tape in horizontal and diagonal design across a panel of cardstock. I did not have a metallic strip of gold washi so I created them from mirror gold cardstock. I die-cut some leaves then backed them with foam tape, I did the same with the sentiment strip. I finished the card with some black Nuvo drops and mounted the panel to a card base with some foam tape.

This card was quick, simple and fun to make, I can definitely see using this as a template again.

Supplies: White and gold cardstock, Sizzix - Sizzlits Little Leaves, Simon Says Stamp - Reverse All the Thanks (Sentiment Strips), Sopcone - Washi Tape, Nuvo drops.

Did you know: A greeting card is touched an average of 25 times before it is brought.

Hmmm, that little fact makes me appreciate all my crafty friends and their handmade treasures evening more.

Happy New Year all, wishing you all the best for the new adventure of 2022.

Cheers,
Nina