Crafting Cards with a Common Theme - Part Two!

Hi! It's Louise back with my next set of four cards with a common theme - if you missed part one you can see it HERE!

I applied a similar process for my next set of cards, selecting some papers from the MME Lost and Found Record It 6x6 paper pad, a few rubber stamps, two Memento Ink Pads and two of the Studio Calico Mr Huey Mists.  

• I worked on the inked backgrounds first. Using my son's Bart Simpson ruler (shushhh...he'll never know!!) I ran the edge through the momento ink pad and wiped the ruler over two of the cards.

•  On the other two cards I used the chevron stamp for a stamped background.

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• Next I flicked drops of Studio Calico Huey Mist ink onto the cards.
• Larger background papers were used on the two cards where I cut out frames from the 6x6 pad, with smaller strips used on the other two cards. The edges of all the papers were torn.
• The flowers were stamped onto white card and cut out. These were adhered to the cards with foam tape after adding some white cotton to the back of the flowers for interest.  

Again, using a common theme, common colours and elements made another four cards came together nicely!

Making these made me wonder how you approach your card making?  

Are you like me and normally leave your card making to the last minute or do you have a stash waiting to be used?

If you leave your card making to the last minute, has this post inspired you to put together some common themed cards? 

If it has then please share your creations with us by leaving a link in the comments!

See you again soon,

Louise x

Louise is a mum of three boys and she blogs her life and crafting at Boys, Bugs, and Beautiful Buttons!

Crafting Cards with a Common Theme - Part One!

 Hello! It's Louise here today, and before I share my creations with you I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

For many of us this is the time of year when we are all considering both our personal and creative goals for the new year. The biggest question I have asked myself is "to do or not to do...project life?"...and while I am still considering taking on such a big project I wanted to start the year making a selection of general greeting cards, so I have a small stock to pick from.

At the end of last year SJ Crafts announced the Six on the 6th Christmas Card Challenge. A challenge that I enjoyed immensely and one that inspired me to want to make general cards. When I made my Christmas cards for the challenge they all had a common theme and it is this idea that I am going to use again today.

I started off by choosing some papers from the Wild and Free Glitz Design 6x6 pad. I don't know about you but I struggle to cut into a sheet of 12x12 patterned paper to use on a greeting card, so these little 6x6 pads work perfectly and you normally get 2 sheets of each pattern, so it's a win win for me. Next I pulled together some rubber stamps that are very rarely (or never used), 2 Studio Calico Mr Huey Mists to complement the papers I chose, a black Memento Ink Pad, and a selection of gems.

I find it easy to work on card pieces, rather than the actual blank greeting cards, so I cut four pieces of white card a little smaller than the actual blank greeting card. I like the effect of the card stuck to the base card - if you wished to, you could add more colour by mounting the card. I chose to keep the fresh feel of the white card:

After I cut the card :-

• I used the Memento ink to stamp a scrolled image to the top half of the card.
• Then I flicked drops of Mr Huey Mist ink onto the card. You can see from the four cards made that when I do this there is no technique or precision. For me the ink goes where it wants to and I work with it.
• Using two stamps I stamped the sentiments onto the card. Two of the cards I left blank so they can be used for any occasion.
• Knowing that I was going to place paper bows across the scrolled image I added some Gems for that sparkle.

While the ink was drying I made the paper bows using a template I found on the internet (or HERE is a paper bow tutorial by another team member, Jennifer) I adapted the size of the template for the card, added some white cotton to the back of the bow for some added interest and then adhered the bow to the card using double sided foam tape.

By keeping a common theme for the cards they came together nicely!

I loved making these cards so much that I repeated the common theme by creating four more cards. Making all these cards means that I now have a nice stash of cards waiting to be used!

Stop by tomorrow to see the next set of four cards!

Louise x

Louise is a mum of three boys and she blogs her life and crafting at Boys, Bugs, and Beautiful Buttons!

December's Six Cards On The 6th!

Hello and welcome to December's Six Card's on the 6th!

This is the last post in our series that's all about getting those Christmas cards made in time. You can link up your own cards at any time throughout the month, and at the end of the series one link-up from all the posts will win a pizza box stuffed full with scrapbook stash! 

 As you may have made most of your Christmas cards by now, this month we'd love you to link up even if you just have one or two cards to show us - or maybe you've made a few tags for Christmas presents? Let us see!

Today we have inspiration from Louise and Lisa-Jane, who have put some festive 6x6 pads to good use!

Louise:

The countdown has commenced and I have a long list of things that I need to do before the big day. Thankfully my Christmas card making has been under way for a while now which has all been down to the 6 on the 6th challenge. I have really enjoyed making a few cards each month!  

The cards I am going to share today have been made using the Teresa Collins Santas List 6x6 pad and stickers sheet. A perfect Christmas collection!

 I've already made cards with Christmas trees, snowflakes and holly, so this time I wanted to use stars.

To start I cut a silver glitter circle and a slightly smaller vellum circle for each of the six cards. These were layered and placed onto a background patterned paper. 

Then on top of each vellum circle I wrapped a circle of either tinsel, wire or twine. These were adhered with Glossy Accents.

Using a die cutting machine I cut six stars... or you could use a template and cut them out by hand.

To make them 3D I scored from the tip of each point across to the other side. By creasing the score lines to create peaks and valleys the star comes to life!

As I wanted the star to appear as though it is hanging...I threaded some cotton through one of the points and a silver bead. The cotton was fixed to the back of the background paper to hold it in place.



Here are some close up photos so you can see a little more of the detail:

Oh.....Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year!

Lisa-Jane:

I've recently been using the Bo Bunny Elf Magic 6x6 Pad to create some really colourful cards. The beauty of this collection is that the designs are so bright that you don't need to add much more to make a striking card.  Also there are some more traditional designs too for a more subtle feel.

I made 2 ranges of cards and chose 3 of each to show you here. 

The top row were made by cutting 5x5" squares of paper a third of the way down, and then swapping two pieces over to make 6 cards out of the 3 original squares. I covered the join with some glitzy trim and added a few sequins (inspired by Jennifer!) and a little arrangement of punched shapes with a pre-made topper:

The second row were made by matting 5x5" white card with slightly smaller papers from the pad. I then attached a strip of coordinating paper and some festive trim. I coloured some stamped images and matted them on coordinating paper before adhering them over the trim with pop dots. 

You can see what a range of looks you get in the Elf Magic collection, especially when you change up the embellishments too!

I also made some cards from the inch that I trimmed off by layering the strips up in a tree shape - even the children helped!

I've loved doing this series because I have a lovely little pile of cards that I otherwise wouldn't have had.

Merry Christmas!

Didn't Louise and Lisa-Jane make some fabulous cards! Do you have a Christmassy 6x6 pad that you could use on a couple of cards or some tags? How about trying Louise's idea to make some 3D stars, or Lisa-Jane's tip to hide paper-joins with glitzy trim? 

Now it's your turn! Link up your cards below for a chance to win the pizza box full of stash (prize will go out in early January). We can't wait to see what you create! Jennifer x 

November's Six Cards on the 6th!

Hello and welcome to November's Six Card's on the 6th! Are you feeling festive yet? I'm starting to dream of decking the halls and roasting a turkey... ooh I love the anticipation!

This series is all about inspiring you to get those Christmas cards made in time. You can link up your own cards at any time throughout the month, and at the end of the series one link-up from all the posts will win a pizza box stuffed full with scrapbook stash!

Today we have cards by me (Jennifer) and Jenny to make you feel festive! We encourage you to think of how you can make the six cards quickly, and before you know it you'll have a set of cards ready to go!

I'm up first...

Jennifer:

I pulled together a kit for my cards:

It includes the Crate Paper Bundled Up 6x6" Pad and Ephemera, 6x6" Square Kraft Blanks, sequins, a white pearl pen, a sentment stamp, a stack of pigment inks, and some Studio Calico Tiny Stars Wood Veneers. After I took this photo I also pulled out some cream card, wide ledger print washi tape, white glitter tape, and clear embossing powder (plus tools and adhesives!).

Here's the six cards I created:

You can see I followed the same format for all the cards, even though the varied colours and ephemera makes them look a bit different!

Now for Jenny's set of cards...

Jenny:

I've gone for a red and silver theme this month! I've used a background stamp with versa mark ink and silver embossing powder to create a background and then inked over it with Festive Berries distress ink.

Aren't Jenny's cards jolly? I love the ones with jingle bells on - I know my kids would keep shaking them to hear the bells ring!

Have we inspired you to get crafting? If you join in with the series we'd love you to copy this button into your post or sidebar! Just select all the text in the box below the image, and copy that either into a html gadget (or text widget) in your sidebar, or into the html on a blog post. Then the button will appear and will be linked back to the series - your button won't have a box underneath!

<a href="http://www.sjpapercrafts.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/six%20on%20the%206th"><img src="http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab280/Jennifergrace_photos/Sixon6thbutton180pix_zps321d7a53.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo Sixon6thbutton200pix_zps673fb713.jpg" /></a><br>

Link up your cards below for a chance to win the pizza box full of stash (prize will go out in early January). Have fun and be merry! 

Jennifer x

More Dapper Dan And vellum!

Hello! 
Louise back today with more Dapper Dan and vellum!
If you missed the other post, you can catch up on that here!

3. Vellum pockets. 

The boy's looked very smart after their back to school haircuts, so I took a quick photo outside the barbers, with their lollipops (They are still young enough to be offered a lollipop after having their haircut...and once upon a time the only way I could get them to the hairdressers.)

Initially I made the vellum pocket to hold my journalling in. As the page progressed I ended up filling the vellum pockets with tiny white hearts (you might just be able to make them out) and adding my journalling to a tag that I slipped behind the pocket.

Because my son is wearing a red t-shirt I used red as an accent colour. Did you notice the "Instagrammed" stamp...how cool is that!?

The pocket was machine stitched to the layout, filled and sealed with alpha stickers to make the title.

 4. Using vellum on cards.

Using a few scraps of left over vellum, I added it to a couple of cards made with the Dapper Dan papers.

As with my layouts I used the vellum as a background, layered it and punched the edge.

Like many scrapbooking techniques and tools, vellum seems to have come full circle.  I've spent the past hour working back through my albums to pinpoint the first time I used vellum on my layouts. I think it was around 11-12 years ago now. It looks as if, then red vellum was a firm favourite of mine.

I hope these layouts have inspired you to think about using the Dapper Dan collection to scrap your favourite boy(s) back to school or sports photos.

Dapper Dan truly is a wonderful collection designed especially with boys/men in mind. Thank you Sarah for letting me have the pleasure of working with it and capturing more memories.

Thanks for visiting the blog today - we'd love to hear your comments on vellum!!

Louise x

Supplies used in these projects can be found here: Dapper Dan

See more of Louise's crafting on her blog: Boys, bugs and beautiful buttons

Dapper Dan And Vellum!!

Hello everyone!

Louise here today to share with you the new Dapper Dan collection from the wonderful Glitz Designs. When I received my DT pack from Sarah, it struck me that this is a very masculine collection full of bold colours and patterns - perfect for my boys. I pulled together some stamps, embellishments and vellum that I thought would work well with it.

Recently I've joined Instagram and I love collecting everyday photos. I knew that some of photos I'd Instagramed would work perfectly with Dapper Dan. I used my home printer to print the photos I'm sharing today, complete with the instagram effects.

Vellum seems to be coming back into crafting lately so I also want to show you a few ways to incorporate vellum into your scrapbooking.

1. Using vellum to layer and soften

I wanted lots of layers for this photo. It was the start of the rugby season at the beginning of September. Kitted out in his new boots, I wanted to record how long my little man has been playing.

I've used six different patterns from the Dapper Dan pad (some were small pieces of pattern rather than whole 6x6 sheets) with two layers of vellum to soften some of the bold colours and patterns. With one sheet of vellum I punched circles into it to allow the strong colour and pattern to show through.

I used stamps to fill in the background gaps. I love this technique, it gives me a chance too, to hook out stamps that I don't use often....or have forgotten I have.

The little woodgrain tiny alphas were perfect for adding the year.

Using all of these layers allowed me to hide my journalling underneath.

2. Using vellum to embellish.

Having to wear a shirt and tie is all part of starting secondary school. The day before my gorgeous man started school he realised he didn't know how to tie a tie, so a quick demonstration with dad and he had it down to a fine art.  Another moment I captured on my phone and instagramed.

The Dapper Dan collection is predominately blue, green and browns. Again I used many patterns on this layout, using shapes cut from scraps.

With this layout I used vellum between the layers of patterned paper and on its own to create an embellished section.

Using a border punch on the edges adds an extra embellished detail.

I journalled onto a tag made from the Dapper Dan patterned paper and tucked it under the layers and photo.

I have another layout and a couple of cards to show you so I hope you'll come back to see that in a day or two!

Have you used vellum lately or does this post make you want to try adding it to a layout?

Louise x

You can see more of Louise's crafting at Boys, Bugs and Beautiful Buttons where she regularly blogs about scrapbooking, card making and life with her boys!!

Supplies used:

Dapper Dan 6 x 6 pad

 

Dapper Dan Alpha & Words Stickers

     

October's Six Cards on the 6th!

Hello and welcome to October's Six Card's on the 6th! Do you know it's only 80 days until Christmas?! Sorry to scare you, but it's time to get crafting for the festive season!

This series is all about inspiring you to get those Christmas cards made in time. You can link up your own cards at any time throughout the month, and at the end of the series one link-up from all the posts will win a pizza box stuffed full with scrapbook stash!

If you join in with the series we'd love you to copy this button into your post or sidebar! Just select all the text in the box below the image, and copy that either into a html gadget (or text widget) in your sidebar, or into the html on a blog post. Then the button will appear and will be linked back to the series - your button won't have a box underneath!

<a href="http://www.sjpapercrafts.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/six%20on%20the%206th"><img src="http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab280/Jennifergrace_photos/Sixon6thbutton180pix_zps321d7a53.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo Sixon6thbutton200pix_zps673fb713.jpg" /></a><br>

Today we have cards by Lisa-Jane and Sarah to make you feel festive!

First up is Lisa-Jane:

I was working with some supplies from the fun new Simple Stories "December Documented" collection:

  This pack included some transparent overlays, which gave me the idea to make some shaker cards! I used the cut apart sheets and stickers to make different backgrounds and foregrounds for my glittery creations. For some finishing touches I added sparkly ribbons and trims and a few snowflake brads from my stash:

Next up is Sarah:

I opted for a red and grey colour scheme this month, using Echo Park's "Reflections Christmas" and Glitz "Hello December" papers. I also added a paper doily to four of the cards - they all have a nice vintage feel: 

Didn't Lisa-Jane and Sarah make some gorgeous cards? It's really not hard to make six cards if you use a common idea for the set. If you are struggling to come up with a 'kit' to make six cards you can always think of a theme like 'vintage' or 'sparkly' to work out what items to pull together!

Now it's your turn! Link up your cards below for a chance to win the pizza box full of stash (prize will go out in early January). We can't wait to see what you create!

Jennifer x

Chalk Studio Part Two - Timeless Chalkboard!

Hello, Jennifer here with more projects using My Mind's Eye's Chalk Studio collection! Today I want to show you how timeless these chalkboard embellishments are. You can use them for any season, just by changing the papers and other embellishments you put with them! 

The below projects are all cards, but the same techniques can be applied to layouts and other projects.

First up is a card for Halloween. I've been taking my daughter Trick-or-Treating for the last couple of years with a group of mums and kids. One of the other mums (who loves Halloween), is due to have a baby that week, so she won't be coming this year. I'm going to send her this card to make her feel part of it!

Admit One To Spooky Town:

I don't have any Halloween supplies, so I used some orange patterned paper, black and white cardstock, a twirly corner stamp, and the awesome Chalk Studio embellishments to create the spooky feel - the lines surrounding 'Admit One' look almost like bones! 

The word 'spooky' is heat embossed with white embossing powder to give it a ghostly sheen, which is a great texture difference to the chalky label. I finished the card off with a few black pearls and doodled lines around them so they became spiders!

Next is a traditional-looking Christmas card...

Be Good:

The 'Be Good' sentiment on here really stands out with a Chalk Studio Label Sticker backing it. I love the Chipboard Elements banner along the bottom like a ribbon, it looks like the reindeer is jumping across some snowy ground at night-time! I also added a couple of pieces at the top left to resemble icicles. The black chalkboard elements really help the traditional reds and greens to pop from the page!

Finally, here's a card for Valentines Day, though you could use it to send a little love at any time of year...

True Love 4 EVA:

For this card I teamed the Chalk Studio items up with the Glitz Wild & Free 6x6 Pad and Giant Rhinestones. All the hearts were perfect! I amped up the chalkboard on here by layering a Decorative Frame on top of a Label Sticker. The glittery number 4 and the yellow dots made with a pearl pen stop it looking too dark. The 'Well Hello' sentiment adds a cheeky touch that makes me smile!

I'm really loving the chalkboard trend and I know I'm going to be using the embellishments up completely! 

Don't forget these ideas from my two Chalk Studio posts for how to use the embellishments:

• Frame small photos (you could adhere one with foam dots)
• Journal onto the Labels using a white gel pen
• Push some chalkboard items right up to the edge
• Add colour to the chalkboard
• Layer a sentiment piece onto another embellishment
• Heat emboss onto a Label
• Use a chipboard border like a ribbon
• Put chalkboard on top of chalkboard!

And if these cards have given you some ideas, you can still join in with our Six Cards on the 6th series to be in with a chance of winning a pizza box filled with stash! There's a couple of days left on the current linky, and a new one will be here on the 6th of October!

Jennifer x

Check out more of Jennifer's layouts and cards at her blog Jennifer Grace Creates.