Good as Gold! What a wonderful kit!

I'm not really one for kits.  I like creating cards my way and usually that's not what you do with a kit.  Well, colour me wrong!  This Good as Gold Simply Sent kit is, well, as good as gold.  Even the cards that they suggest making with this kit are gorgeous.  But you don't have to stop there.

I made up my first card sticking pretty closely to the suggested design and it was definitely cute.  Especially since it came with a gold-foil lined envelope in which to send it.  Actually every embellishment on the card came in the kit.  Terrific?  You bet!

With all those colourful dots and gold foil dots, who wouldn't be thrilled to get this card?

But then I began thinking.  Surely all the cards didn't have to be the same.  I had been enjoying the challenges of the little card-in-a-box and thought why not?  Yes, the measurements would have to be adjusted, but outside of that this could be quite a showy card-in-a-box.  You'll have seen it in the last blog hop.

For all its apparent volume, this card-in-a-box fits perfectly into the same foil-lined envelope as the other card.

Of course that got me thinking.  What else could I do with this kit that doesn't look at all like the original kit card?  What about a Circles Flip Card?  Could I adapt that even though the Thinlit is meant for something much larger?  There was really only one way to find out.

With a bit of shifting the original score-line, it really wasn't all that difficult to adapt the Circles Card Thinlit to fit.  I made sure the dotted pattern was to the inside and then went to town decorating the card up.  The colours made me think of Spring and so that's what I aimed for.

I love those little banners and, of course, the Modern Medley Designer Series Paper.  For the inside I kept to the spring theme.

There's just enough room to write something in that empty dialogue bubble.

And finally, this folds down to fit into the gold foil lined envelope that comes with the kit.  Isn't that terrific?

Products Used For Circle Flip Card

Good as Gold Simply Sent Kit (free during Sale-a-bration)

Banner Blast (free during Sale-a-bration)

Banner Punch (free during Sale-a-bration)

Backyard Basics Framelits

Circle Card Thinlits

Word Bubbles Framelits

Chalk Talk Framelits

Apothecary Accents Framelits

Circles Framelits

Window Frames Framelits

1" Circle Punch

7/8" Scallop Circle punch

2 1/2" Circle Punch

Small Heart punch

Owl Builder punch

Backyard Basics stamp set

Springtime Hello stamp set

A Round Array stamp set

A Dozen Thoughts stamp set

Just Sayin' stamp set

Modern Medley Designer Series Paper

Tangerine Tango cardstock

Whisper White cardstock

Island Indigo cardstock

Gold Foil Sheets

Gold Embossing powder

Versamark ink

Tangerine Tango ink

Island Indigo ink

Gumball Green ink

Smoky Slate ink

Backyard Basics meets Pretty Print

I fell in love with the Backyard Basics bundle the moment I saw it in the new Annual Catalogue.  There was something timeless about the stamp images and the realization that I wouldn't have to hand-cut the images was a great incentive.  I tried to give this card a bit of a vintage feel with the colours that I chose for it.  What really added the final touch, however, was using a background of Very Vanilla which I put through the Big Shot using that gorgeous now-retired Pretty Print embossing folder.  Very lightly sponging over the raised words made them "pop".  As an added vintage touch, I mounted the irises onto an oval cut from the Brushed Gold cardstock.  It's a simple card but I love it and hope you do, too.

Sweet Sorbet---so simple

Sometimes a very simple card can be extremely effective.  That's especially true if you're using that gorgeous Designer Paper, Sweet Sorbet, which you can get free through Sale-a-bration with a qualifying order.  I love the designs on this paper and thought this one, particularly lent itself to a quick and easy but fun card when you need something in a hurry.

In a nutshell, the card is Basic Black with a strip of the Sweet Sorbet, a strip of Crisp Cantaloupe cut with the Scallop Edgelit, and a white heat embossed sentiment.  The added little bit that puts the card over the top is the cute wooden arrow, available in the Occasions Catalogue.  Don't you just love it stamped with the sentiment from the Happy Watercolour stamp set?

For a quick "just because" card, you really can't beat something like this.

Products used:

Basic Black cardstock #121045

Crisp Cantaloups cardstock #131298 

Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper #133521

White embossing powder #109132

Versamark #102283

Jet Black StazOn ink #101406

Essentials Wooden Elements #132258

Fun with the Circle Card Thinlit---Creating the double flip

You've seen it and want to make your own, right?  It's quite a showy card.  I had a lot of comments about it on my post for the blog hop and promised that I would post a tutorial for it.  I like to keep my promises.

This is the one you saw on my blog hop post.

It really isn't all that hard to do this double-flip card.  And the good news is that it takes no more cardstock than a normal 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.  The measurements of the finished card, however, make an almost square 5 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.  But an envelope is easily taken care of using your Envelope Punch Board.

We begin with a piece of cardstock cut to 5 7/16" x 8 1/2" (yes, that is 1/16" less than normal but it makes a huge difference.  That 1/16" less allows you to slip your cardstock into your thinlit instead of having the thinlit cut it out).

Step 1.  Slip cardstock into thinlit as shown.  This works with both the Circles Card thinlit and the Labels   Card thinlit.  Please note how the cutting edge is facing down in this photo.

Step 2.  Flip cardstock over and slip into thinlit again as shown.  In this photo the cutting edge is facing down

                This is the same step but I'm showing the cardstock with the cutting edge facing up.

Step 3.  This is how your cardstock will look when you've completed Step 2.

             And this is how you fold it. 

After that, it's just a matter of deciding how to decorate it.

I decided to use this piece of Crushed Curry cardstock to make a slightly different card.  Instead of folding it the way the first card (at top of post) was done, I folded it with the cardstock flipped over.  That way I wound up with the first circle at the bottom instead of the top.  It's just a variation you can try depending on the design of your card.

One suggestion for putting Designer Paper onto your base cardstock follows.  You don't have to do this but I thought I'd share how I prepared the next layer for my card.

Step 1.  Cut a piece of Designer Paper to 5 7/16" x 8 1/2".  Cut as shown for cardstock in the steps above.

Step 2.  Use your Stampin' Trimmer to cut each section just beside the fold lines as follows:

                 And this is what the pieces should look like.  

Step 3.   Trim just a tiny bit from each edge to allow room for the cardstock to show.

Step 4.  Adhere to base cardstock.

Step 5.  Fold and decorate as your mood takes you.

This is where my mood took me.  More about the products used here.
                                                                       

   

Enjoy using my instructions.  All I ask is that you do not sell them and that you give me credit.

Another Double-flip Card

I really have been enjoying my Circle Card Thinlit lately, especially since I tried out that new Double-flip style of card which Carol Matthews introduced.  You've seen the one I posted for the February Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop.  Well, several people have asked if I would be posting a tutorial showing how to make one of these cards and today I began making one from scratch and taking photos every step of the way.  That post is here.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek at my brand new card.  This time I chose to have the first flip lower than the second flip.  It's an easy choice.  You can do it either way just by choosing one side of the die-cut cardstock or the other.

For this card, I chose that gorgeous Watercolour Wonder Designer Series Paper featured in the Occasions Catalogue.  The primary colours in the piece I decided to use are Whisper White, Crushed Curry and Tangerine Tango.  For my base cardstock, therefore, I used some Crushed Curry.  For further layers I used some Tangerine Tango cardstock and also some Watercolour Paper which I brushed over with a wash of Crushed Curry.  I also used some of that wonderful Modern Medley Designer Series Paper.  Of course, since it has a Very Vanilla base, I had to do some sponging with the Crushed Curry and Tangerine Tango inks to make it fit in better.

For the little flowers which I cut out using the Petite Petals punch, I decided to use a piece of coffee filter.  I tried our Creped Filter paper first but it was simply too fragile for the look for which I was aiming.  I used Crushed Curry and Tangerine Tango re-inkers and alcohol for the little flowers and finally dabbed some dots into the centres with my matching markers.

                                                     Front of closed card

                                                    Card standing open

Stampin' Up! Products Used

Crushed Curry Cardstock

Tangerine Tango Cardstock

Whisper White Cardstock

Watercolour Paper

Watercolour Wonder Designer Series Paper

Modern Medley Designer Series Paper

Vellum Cardstock

Tangerine Tango ink pad, re-inker and marker

Crushed Curry ink pad, re-inker and marker

Black StazOn ink

Happy Watercolor Stamp Set

Yippee Skippee Stamp Set

Papillon Potpourri Stamp Set

Bitty Butterfly punch

Elegant Butterfly punch

Petite Petals punch

Non-Stampin' Up! Materials

Coffee Filters

The Wacky Watercooler February Sale-a-bration Blog Hop

Welcome to another Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop.  What an exciting blog hop this is going to be!  We have our regular members as well as two new "hoppers".  This time we're concentrating on all things Sale-a-bration.  If you haven't heard about Stampin' Up!'s annual Sale-a-bration event, you'll be as excited as I was the first time I heard about it.

With Sale-a-bration, which extends from January 28th until March 31st, you are eligible for a choice of one free item listed in the Sale-a-bration brochure for each $60 that you spend.  There are always great products to choose from but I swear that this year Stampin' Up! has exceeded my expectations.

As usual, our Blog Hop is a circular one.  Each participant is linked to the other and the final participant in the list is linked to the first one---hence the circle.  You could keep "hopping" forever if you just click on the "Next" icon at the end of each post.  Of course, as wonderful as each post is, you might begin to get a feeling of deja vu by the time you have gone around the circle several times.

If you have begun at the beginning, you'll have arrived at my Blog from the very talented Susan Horr's Blog all the way over in New York.  I'm in Blackfalds, Alberta, Canada, so you can imagine, that was quite a trip---thank goodness it all happened instantly thanks to the internet.

* * * * * * * * * *

I'm going to be showing some of the different ways that kits from the Sale-a-bration brochure could be used. The first kit that I am going to play with is the Heartfelt Banner Kit.  This kit includes 6 die-cut Designer Series Paper banners, 5 paper doilies, 9 die-cut fabric canvas banners, 7 mini wooden clothespins, 2 pieces of Natural Linen Thread and 1 needle.  The banner that is shown in the Sale-a-bration brochure is really cute and would make a great decoration combined with family photos.  But if you're not the banner type and barely gave the kit a glance in the brochure, let me urge you to have another look at the list of contents in that kit.  There are some awesome products in there that could so easily make their way onto a card or into a 3-D project.

My Valentine's Day card, for example, uses some of the canvas elements, the Natural Linen Thread and clothespins.  I love the way they've added so much extra "pizzazz" to the card and am certain that I'll be using more of the kit pieces in future projects.  Of course the card itself is a bit over the top anyway.  I saw Carol Matthews' birthday card for which she used the Circle Card Thinlits Die at both ends of a piece of 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of cardstock.  The resulting double "flip-flop" was intriguing and I knew I wanted to try it out myself.

              Left side panel                     Centre                      Right side panel

You can see the cute little clothespins holding the Gold Foil banners on each end of the card.  The banners also appear to be attached to the piece of Natural Linen Thread, don't they?  I love those banners and am glad that once Sale-a-bration is over, the Banner punch is going to be headed for the brand new Annual Catalogue.  It's such fun to use.  You can just see a glimpse of the canvas heart on the inside of each circle flip flop.  

Yes, this is the canvas heart but it's had some work done to it.  It may have begun life as a simple piece of canvas, but after some serious sponge daubing using the Crisp Cantaloupe ink and the Tangerine Tango ink, it was no longer a simple piece of canvas.  To get the darker patches, I daubed some Versamark on the heart and then scattered some Gold Embossing powder across it.  Most of the gold melted into the fibre but there are hints of shiny gold that really show up in the light.  It certainly helped to make it compliment the Venetian Romance Designer Paper which I used for this card.  

I've used stamps from four stamp sets for this card:  Fabulous Phrases, Hearts a Flutter, Perfect Pennants and (from the Sale-a-bration brochure) See Ya Later.  I love the way they work together.  And that is the card.  Products from the Annual Catalogue, Occasions Catalogue and the Sale-a-bration brochure work together and seamlessly help to make a perfect Valentine for your favourite person.  The instructions for the card are here.

* * * * * * * * * * 

My next project also uses some of the canvas from the Heartfelt Banner Kit.  For this project I went back to my original design for the Scallop Tag Topper punch box and tweaked it a bit.  This time I wanted the box to close and, after a couple of not-so-successful tries, I finally got the measurements right.  You won't have to fiddle around because I'm offering the free template and instructions here.

Once I finished creating the box, I decorated it using some Modern Medley Designer Paper as well as some of the Sweet Sorbet Designer Paper which is available only through Sale-a-bration.  The canvas banner, cut to size, worked perfectly on the sides of the box, especially topped with a little banner punched out from the same designer paper as I used on the front and back.  

Then I used sentiments and images from the Itty Bitty Banners, The Open Sea, and Love You More stamp sets to finish the box off.  Finally I stamped the chevron image from the Tape It stamp set on a piece of Very Vanilla Seam Binding and tied up the box with that.

It's cute from the front as well as the back.

And best of all it closes up at the top.

Just think---your goodies won't fall out.  Enjoy using the template but please do not sell it.

* * * * * * * * * * 

And finally we come to the last of my projects.  This one was so much fun to make and turned out better than I ever expected.  For this one I turned to the Good as Gold Card Kit from the Sale-a-bration Brochure. It's a fun kit with which you can make 8 cards.  It also comes with embellishments as well as envelopes and gorgeous Gold Foil envelope liners.  This is what the finished card could look like:

It's such a happy card, isn't it?  There are dots of Crisp Cantaloupe, Tangerine Tango, Bermuda Bay and Gold Foil.  Who wouldn't like to get one of these cute cards, especially since it comes in its own Gold Foil lined envelope.

Well, even though the cardstock for this card only measures 7" x 5", it has the same pretty design right across instead of ending where the front of the card would be.  And that gave me ideas.  Why not use it to make one of those cards-in-a-box?  After all, the measurements could easily be adapted from the one I featured here and, best of all, there was already an envelope for it to fit into.  What could be better?

So I scored the cardstock at 1 3/4" from each side.  The centre was, of course, already scored for the kit.  Then I scored it along the long side at 2 3/4", leaving the last section unscored.  You'll have noticed that there wasn't room for a tab to connect the sides.  That was easily fixed by cutting a 3/4" x 2 3/4" piece of Whisper White and scoring it lengthwise at 3/8".  Using my double-sided tape, I closed the side of the box with that strip.  Because the pretty design was just on the one side of the paper, I chose to have that on the inside so that the folded flaps as well as the straight piece at the back showed it off.  Then I cut two more pieces of Whisper White measuring 1" x 2 1/4" and scored them both at 1/4" and 2".  Assembly was the same as for the previously featured card.

Then I went a bit wild in decorating up the card.  Decided to use the colours in the paper and added flowers, hearts, banners and lots of gold foil.  The stamp set used for this project were:  Perfect Pennants, Love You to the Moon, Petite Petals and (from the Sale-a-bration brochure) Banner Blast.  I also used the Banner punch (from the Sale-a-bration brochure), one of the Chalk Talk framelit dies, the Petite Petals punch, the Scalloped Oval punch, the Large Oval punch, the Small Heart punch, and some Hearts framelits dies.  This is what the various layers look like when you look down into the box.

And this is the card from the right

And from the left

And finally, from the front

It's hard to believe that both these cards had the same beginnings---and that each will fit into an envelope like this.

* * * * * * * * * *

Well, that's it for my projects for this blog hop.  I hope you've enjoyed them and will leave a comment if you get a chance. Thanks so much for joining us today.  I know you'll love the wonderful creations that our next hopper, Marsha Reed of Iowa, USA has prepared.  She always has such great blog posts.  

Scalloped Tag Topper Punch - the closing box

After fiddling with measurements, I successfully designed a closing lid for the cute little Scalloped Tag Topper Punch box.  I've changed out the sizing from the original box so that this one may fit on a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of cardstock.

You can see that I've scored along the long side at 2", 4", 6", and 8".  Along the short side I've scored at
1 1/2" and 3 1.2".  If you go to my tutorial for the original Scalloped Tag Topper Punch box, you will see the lines I've put on the punch and why I've done so.

Line up the 6" score line and the 8" score line with the lines on the punch as shown and punch out this section.

Next, line up the 2" score line and the 4" score line with the lines on the punch as shown and punch out this section:

Your cardstock should now look like this:

Now all you have to do is to line up the ends of your punch cuts on your Stampin' Trimmer as shown:

Trim the 1/2" wide strip from the top to the score line and from the bottom to the score line as shown.
Next cut your score lines from the top to meet the scored line and from the bottom to meet the scored line.  Then you will trim the bottom flaps of the sections that do not have the scalloped top to approximately 1/2".

Next fold under the scalloped sections and line up your straight topped section on the Envelope Punch Board as shown.  Make sure your paper lines up exactly as I have shown.  Punch that section.

Flip over your paper and line it up exactly as shown.  Punch that section.

Trim the little pointy ends as shown:

Next, cut a piece of cardstock to 1 7/8" x 1 1/8".  I've chosen to use black only because of the project I'm doing.  This piece can be the same colour as the base cardstock if you wish.  Its only purpose is to provide a slot into which the end formed by the Envelope Punch Board will fit.  Put double sided Sticky Tape on each end as shown.

Adhere to the unshaped straight flap as shown.

Next, add all the Designer Paper and embellishments that please you.

And close up your box.

And this is my finished project.  Enjoy making yours.  Please do not sell this template and please give me credit.  Thanks.