Secret Door

The card base is 5" x 8". It is scored at 2", 4", and 6". It is then folded in half and cut from the fold line to the score line at 1 1/4", 2 1/2", and 3 3/4".

The 2 pieces of paper that are weaved in the slots are cut a 1 15/16 (1 tick mark less than 2") x 5"

This is how the card looks when you weave the pieces of paper in and it's completely open.

This is the card when it's closed (semi-closed in my picture). You can add an embellishment to help keep it closed.

Here is what the card looks like when you open the secret door.

Here is a link to the video I followed in order to make this card. http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=KeSbbYawZDY

Oh Hoppy Day

Not too much to ramble on about today. I hope that the summer weather comes back. It's too early in the year to be this chilly.

I used my square punch to cut out a total of 8 squares. I cut the white squares down just a tad so they would fit inside the blue ones. Then I used my corner rounder and rounded opposite corners of each square. I lined up the white squares on a piece of paper and stamped the image I wanted to use so that it would be all lined up. I placed the white pieces on the blue pieces. This is a 5 x 5 card.

Give Thanks

I saw a Halloween waterfall card and wanted to make one. With the weather the way it is here in Wisconsin it feels like fall, so I made one using leaves as the theme. For me it was a rather easy card. Since it was my first time making it, it took time to get it figured out. Overall it was a fun card to make and it's fun to look at. 

This is the background layer of the card that goes on top of the card base. The card base is 5 1/2 " x 8 1/2". I used a stamp to create the leaf pattern. The layering piece is 5 1/4" x 4".

I put the layering piece on top of the burnt orange card. I added a piece of dark red with 2 brads so the piece of paper is not adhered directly to the background layer. The brad piece is 1" x 4".

This is the waterfall strip. I cut out 3 burnt orange squares and 3 white squares. I stamped each of the white squares with a leaf. The waterfall strip is 1 3/4" x 8 1/2". The waterfall strip is scored at 1 3/4", 2 3/4", and 3 3/4". The 3 burnt orange squares are 2" x 2 1/4" and the white squares are 2" x 1 3/4".

I slid the waterfall piece under the brad piece and attached a ribbon at the end so you can pull it out.

Same as above, but pulled out slightly.

Same as above, but pulled out all the way.

A video showing how the waterfall card works.

Eek! Spider!

This past weekend while we were waiting to meet up with someone I was looking at discount paper in one of the stores. I came across a lot of Halloween paper and ever since I have wanted to make a Halloween card, so here is my first Halloween card. 

I used my Creative Memories cutting system to cut the circle for the body, my Silhouette Cameo for the whites of the eyes, and a standard hole punch for the blacks of the eyes. For the legs I used my Stampin' Up corner punch.

Thankful for friends.

In the midst of everything going on a lot of my friends have been very supportive and there for me, that includes my husband. In the time of need it is so important to take the support and embrace it. It may seem like you are all alone, but really you aren't. I'm not alone in this fight and that is one thing I need to remember to keep going. Not only do I have my family, the professionals we are working with, but I also have a small, but supportive group of friends. I may not be physically with them due to distance, but they are still close to me. It's important to hang on to all of that and keep pushing forward. I have said it before and I will say it again, thank you so much to all those who have been there for me and continue to be there for me. I have found out who my true friends are and those are the ones I will hang on to. THANK YOU!!!!

I used my square punch to cut out 4 squares. Then I rounded the opposite corners of each square. After that I cut them in half. I placed them so that the points met in the middle making a pinwheel type design. I used 2 buttons for the center where the points meet. The sentiment is stamped.

Bad day

Today was an absolutely, terribly, horrible day for me. I did not get a card made, but I hope to be able to tomorrow.

Friends

First I used my scoring board to score the diagonal lines.

Then I found a stamp that would fit inside the diamonds and stamped away.

The finished card with ribbon and sentiment. I chose brown as the background because it reminds me of sand on a beach.

Thanks So Much

Though the colors of this card aren't my norm, the card colors grew on me as I continued to put it together. It's okay to do things outside of our safety zones. Some risks are perfectly fine to take. That is what I did with this card. I chose the card base color first and then found patterned paper to match it. Then I went off the colors on the patterned paper for the rest of the card. Each time I make a card I have different starting points. Sometimes there is a specific cut I want to use. Sometimes there is a certain kind of paper I want to use. Wherever the starting point may be it, it's all a learning experience. 

I used my square punch for all the square cuts. I placed them on a 4 x 6 piece of cardstock and trimmed the edges. The next layer is 4.5 x 6.5. The card base is 5 x 7. I added a thank you sentiment and ribbon.

Shadow Box Card

Not much to say today. Life keeps going on and so do I. I found this idea on Pinterest again, as I do the majority of my ideas. 

I took double sided paper and cut a 4" square. Then I scored it at 2", turned it and scored it again at 2".

I took each of the corners and folded them so the points met in the middle.

After the 4 corners were folded I took each point and folded it so it was right at the edge of the square to look like this.

I turned it so it was a diamond shape and added a plain yellow square in the middle. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the cupcake from Miss Kate Cuttables. I only cut out certain pieces of the cupcake and to make the wrapper look like a real one I decided to score it.

I used my Silhouette Cameo again and cut out the Happy Birthday phrase and adhered everything to a blue card base. 

Well wishes

I saw this card idea on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try. It actually turned out to be a very easy card and was fun to make.

I cut out 8 squares total with my 1 3/4" square punch. I used my corner rounder and rounded the colored squares on opposite corners. The white pieces I cut down to a 1 1/2" square and then rounded the corners. 

I used a heart stamp with multiple colors where the corners meet in the middle. I lined it up the best I could.

I layered the shapes so the ink color matched the background color.

I stamped, "If wishes could make you well, you'd be better already."

Two cards. One cut.

Today's card is super simple. All I did was take the negative of the cut from yesterday's card and adhered it to cardstock. Don't forget to keep the little pieces for some of the letters that require them. This could be done with any type of cut and not just phrases. 

Thanks?!?!?!?!

Today has been a huge struggle for me in so many ways. Frustration after frustration keeps piling up. So what exactly is there to be thankful for at this time? First and foremost my wonderful husband and beautiful daughter. Having a roof over my head, food on the table, clothes to wear, and water to drink. That seems a lot to be thankful for, right? In some senses it is, but in other ways there is more help that is needed. However, that help is unavailable and because of that the frustration piles up.

I saw this technique done on a birthday card in rainbow colors. I chose to change the colors and saying. 

I started out by putting colored strips of paper on another piece of paper diagonally. I did that until I filled enough space to cutout the lettering I wanted. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cutout the phrase on the paper. 

Pretending to be a quilter.

It is quite fun to look at examples of cards and then try to make one that is similar to it. I don't ever copy them exactly, but I try to get the main concept across. Today's is another quilt type card. Growing up I always remember on Thursday mornings that my Grandma would go to church for quilting. She was also one of the regular ladies who worked at funerals and always brought home cake. I still have my baby blanket that was quilted for me and given to me as a newborn by a family friend of ours that went to quilting with my Grandma. A lot of hard work goes into quilting and there are many different steps to make it happen. Quilts bring warmth to those that are cold. They bring comfort to those who feel alone. They bring comfort in many other different ways. By using a quilt design it reminds me of how cards can bring comfort and joy to those who receive them. That's what I enjoy most; making them for other people's enjoyment.

I used 2 techniques that I have previously done; the quilt blocks and embossing everything to make it look like one piece.

I took my square punch and punched the number of squares I needed. Then I cut each square in half from corner to corner creating 2 triangles. Then I took each triangle and cut them in half creating 4 triangles total out of 1 square.

I placed the triangles in a pattern to make it look like a quilt block.

This specific card took 4 "quilt blocks". When I had them all together I put them through my Cuttlebug to create a look that they are all one piece. Since quilts bring so much joy to others I added the sentiment "You make me Smile".

A Rainbow

As I continue to make cards I try to remind myself about many different things. When I am in the process of creating my mind has plenty of time to think, whether it is good or bad. One of the things that I continue to think about and have mentioned in a previous entry, is that we need to stop and take in the simple wonders. I have always tried to do that, but in the recent weeks an amazing woman in my life reminded me to do it more. I can't thank her enough for all she has and does to help me. There are so many neat things about nature and being outside. Tonight our little family decided to have a small campfire to make s'mores. As we were waiting for the fire to die down to mostly coals I kept hearing a thumping like sound coming from one of our trees. I knew it had to be a woodpecker, but when I was by the tree it sounded like it was something in the tree. As I took a closer look, sure enough there was a woodpecker in our tree. We also watched a butterfly flying up around the trees. Rainbows are another amazing wonder to take in and that is what I chose to put on today's card.

First I took some blue white core cardstock and embossed it with my cloud embossing folder. Then I took my sanding block to sand the edges of the clouds to make the white come through on the edges. When I was satisfied with the look I got I picked out the rainbow colors in buttons. I decided to take some white embroidery floss and threaded each of the buttons. I used a corner rounder for both the base of the cards and the smaller piece. I stamped the sentiment at the bottom in blue.

Sometimes life gets so hectic that we forget to stop and take in the wonders of the world. We spend so much time rushing around in our lives that the little pleasures disappear. It's time to stop and pay attention to those little things. It's amazing what can be seen, felt, heard, etc when you actually stop and pay attention to the small things in life.

Sunny Days

I was so tired and wiped out last night after coming home from being gone for 5 days, that I didn't make a card. Today's card combines 2 techniques that I have used before. 

I cut strips of paper 1.5" x 4".

I cut each strip of paper from corner to corner to create 2 triangles.

I adhered the triangles to the base card. Once the base card was covered this is what it looked like.

I trimmed off the middle where all the points were to make the center not as bulky. I also trimmed off the edges to the size of the base card.

I decided to make a rosette to go in the middle. The rosette is 12" x 1". I scored one side of the paper at every half inch. I flipped over the paper and scored at ever quarter inch. Then I accordion folded it and adhered the ends together. I flattened it down to make the rosette look.

Inside of the card. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the sun.

Baby

A friend of mine found out today that she will be an aunt for the first time next spring. Also, we found out today that one of our cousins had a baby girl today. I chose to make a baby card with all the baby news going around. 

I found this idea on Pinterest and tweaked it to my liking. The baby face was suppose to be punch art, but I decided to do it on the Silhouette Cameo, which I also used to cut out the letters. I picked up this ribbon at a garage sale and found it fitting for the card.

Pet Sympathy

Today I learned that a good friend of mine's dog died, so I decided to do a pet sympathy card. I found this card idea on Pinterest.

Since I'm currently at Renee's I was able to easily make this card because she has a number of punches that I don't. For the paw I used a heart punch and a circle punch. 

Losses of all kinds are hard and it is important let others know they are thought about during a difficult time.

Wonderful

My daughter and I are currently visiting some wonderful friends of ours for 5 days. My husband is at home working. Today we went to a garage sale and a few scrapbook stores. One of the things I bought was a scoring board, so I could do this one particular piece for a card. I like the way the rosettes look and they are so versatile.

The main part of the card that I wanted to try was the rosette. I bought a scoring board today to do that. The rosette is 1" x 12". I scored it every half inch on once side and then flipped the paper over and scored every quarter of an inch. Then I accordion folded it. The hardest part was to get the rosette to stay flat and to get it to stay adhered together. I don't necessary have all the essentials for making it stay, but I think I finally got it to work. (Renee may say otherwise. LOL She is my friend who is doing a card a day plus a blog along with me.) 

Negative Effect

Usually when you hear the terms negative effect it has a negative connotation. Today that is not the case. The technique I used is getting the negative effect of a Cuttlebug folder by inking up the inside of the folder before embossing.

Here is what negative effect looks like. It's fun to do and lets you have 2 different colors while dry embossing. Take a chance and try it! See what combinations you can come up with.

The finished card.

Just as in real life, you don't have to always let the negative take you down. It's okay to use it as a positive experience.

Thinking of You

Today I was challenged by someone who is extremely important to me to look around and know that God is there. I know that people who read this blog may have different beliefs and that's okay. This woman is definitely a blessing sent from God. Without her, as well as other people in my life,  things would be very different for me. She is just amazing and am so thankful for her. Being that she challenged me to stop and take a look at the simple things such as flowers, I decided to make a card with flowers.

I cut the flowers with my Silhouette Cameo and put a different color middle on each one. I stamped the stems with leaves on before adhering the flowers.

Flowery Birthday

It is a good day when I get my card done before my daughter goes to bed. If I don't then I am up late and lose out on good sleep. It feels good to have it done early. 

I used my We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy for the border here. This is how I started my card and I went from there. The only thing I knew I wanted to do was a zig zag border.

Here is how the entire card turned out. Everything was cut out with my Silhouette Cameo.

Oh Happy Day

The card I chose to do is similar to one I had previously done. The difference is that this is a circle instead of a rectangle. 

I chose to use corrugated paper that I got while going to garage sales over the weekend. I got a lot of really good deals that will help me to expand my card making and scrap booking skills. 

I used my Silhouette Cameo to make a circle card. To make it more like the sun rising or setting I cut the bottom off.

I cut pieces of corrugated paper into rectangles and then cut them in half from corner to corner to make 2 triangles out of the rectangle. I carefully (with the help of my husband. Thanks for your help again.) put the triangle pieces around the circle. Once I had them in their places then I was able to adhere them to my card stock. For the bottom I used corrugated paper and had the waves go the other direction. I cut the circle with the sentiment using my Creative Memories cutting system. 

Hugs for all

My inspiration again came from Pinterest. I actually made it up as I went along though. So even though I was inspired by a card I saw it became my own creation.

The patterned edge is another patchwork type pattern. I put it on a separate piece of card stock that is the same color as the base card. I inked around the rest of the edge and added the sentiment.