Holiday Thank Yous

December 27, 2018January 15, 2019CraftyK Leave a comment

Despite knowing all year when Christmas is I managed to put off creating my thank you notes. I also flat out didn’t do cards to send to people. I probably should, but if I make them it’s lots of work and my personal life is pretty boring so nothing to write lengthy prose about. Anyway, I digress.

These cards are to send to the 4 people who give me gifts in my old age (post 30). My mom, my mother-in-law, and my godparents. This year I enlisted help for my godparents gifts from my husband. He’s getting into woodworking and made something for each of them. Since it’s his thing, I don’t have pictures of the projects. So this will continue to be about the cards and my side ramblings.

I have stamped onto wallpaper before and decided to go for it again. Although it’s somewhat hard to see I did actually stamp on the pear card. I also took a Sharpie to it for an outline. For the white card I used black ink and stamped right onto the wallpaper. I had to wait awhile before adhering it to the cardstock because it was starting to bleed a bit. I barely touched it and it started to run up the lines in the wallpaper. After letting it sit for a while I went ahead and finished up making it into a card. The pear I didn’t seem to have those issues, but you can barely see the text. It’s a little more visible in person depending on the angle.

For the other two cards I got out the handy Cricut. I was never good at cutting squares or any shape for that matter. Straight lines are hard and getting them the correct size is even worse. I used the Cricut to cut out my squares from pink and grey paper. I then took a red ink to stamp Thank You onto the pink paper and a dark blue ink I onto the grey. Then I used foam tape to adhere the paper to the wallpaper to give a more 3D appearance.

To attach the wallpaper to the cardstock I used double sided tape on all 4 cards. I didn’t have the time to mess with Yes Paste and get it all to stick properly. I hope to spend some time working on more wallpaper cards next year. Until then I have now created some cards for December and can complete my blog on 2018 Cards. I think I’ll do another blog for next year since I know I’ll have a lot of cards to make for my mom’s side of the family.

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turquoise card with flower wallpaper and embossed Thank you

Thank You Embossed

September 15, 2018October 25, 2018CraftyK Leave a comment

As I get deeper into card making I find there are even more things that I don’t have. So many of these things seem like staples in other crafter’s collections.

The latest item I didn’t have? An embossing machine. While I do have a Cricut, embossing isn’t really its strong suit.

My birthday was this week and I decided to throw out an embossing machine on my wish list. My mother-in-law actually bought me one! And my aunt provided some cash. With that and a gift card (also from my mother-in-law) to the craft store I went to get some embossing folders.

I got some patterns and a few text ones. One of those being “Thank You”. The rest I had to order online, since the in store selections are pretty slim. I also got some direct from China through ebay.

I was so excited to try my new toy and folders I got some paper and went to work.

I needed cards to say thank you to the two people who made it possible to start embossing. I thought it was very fitting to use the machine and accessories to say THANK YOU!

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The beginning of stamping

August 21, 2018August 23, 2018CraftyK Leave a comment

I started collecting stamps last year. For whatever reason I have been terrified to use them. Partially I think it’s the mess and clean up that stamping entails that has kept me from using them. Whatever the cause I finally pushed through, grabbed a stamp and ink pad and tried something new.

One

My first stamping was to add something to a mostly plain wallpaper card. Add a little pizzazz. I didn’t know what would happen with applying ink to wallpaper, but it turned out ok. So far it hasn’t wipe off either.

Two

The next card I made I got a bit fancy with. Adding layers and foam squares to really give a 3D look to this card. I kept with a greyscale color palette. The wallpaper backing is much shinier than the picture shows. The black and white papers are matte. The thanks is a clear stamp. When I put ink on it there were just bubbles, so it doesn’t have solid coverage like I was expecting, but it works to keep with an industrial look. This card is staying in my personal collection to use.

Three

Can be found here…it’s a doozy!

Four

I already had used this paper for a regular “classic” wallpaper card and I was having such fun using stamps at this point to make cards different I came up with this idea. I had to buy some darker red ink and pink paper (I also bought blue to see what I liked better). I did learn that buying the cheapest ink is not the best idea.

I had to get out the embossing powder to try and get this design to show up better the ink was so faint. I also used the Cricut to cut the pink paper into an off kilter square. Giving this a funky look to match the stamp style.

Five

This card is the result of just wanting to keep going. I started to get into this whole stamping thing. I happened to have bought espresso colored ink a while back and it went perfectly for this card. Again stamping direct on the wallpaper and then I embossed it as well. I wanted to have it stand out.

I’m not sure if it’s because of the heat or what caused this, but there is now a bubble under the ‘no’ of note. I did the stamping and embossing with the heat gun (seriously spend a little more to get a good one) before I applied the wallpaper to the cardstock. So that might be a bit of a learning curve.

I did learn that you should probably hold small paper that need embossing with tongs, even low powered heat guns get super hot.

And here they are the completed cards using stamps. (Minus number 3, like a said whole story on that one)

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Stencils & Paint

August 8, 2018July 26, 2018CraftyK Leave a comment

So who knew that using a stencil with paint could be so challenging?

Maybe it’s just me, maybe I don’t hold the stencil down enough, but each flower I stenciled onto this card with paint is a little different. I did chose a very light paint color to add to this. I was going for a more blended look than something bright that would stand out more.

I think the light grey is a nice compliment to the overall paper colors. I was toying with an orange color until I went to look at it and found it was more construction orange than pastel.

The flower second from the bottom is the closest to the stencil I used. Once I pulled up the stencil I wished I had done this card the other way with the large flower on bottom for better balance. That feeling could also be from the excessive amount of paint that ended up bleeding out making the petals blend together more. The downside to using such a light color and not being familiar with paint. I thought nothing was happening, oops.

I am continuing to use a makeup sponge for painting with stencils. I learned this trick from an Introduction to Art Journaling class on CreativeLive (seriously check them out, On-Air classes are free to watch!). To be honest it is that class (which was On-Air one day) that got me started on this new way of working on wallpaper cards.

It’s amazing how sometimes the most random thing can spark an idea for a completely different project.

Happy crafting!

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All commissions from affiliate links go to the maintenance of this blog. Thank you for your support!

May the Fourth Be With You

May 4, 2018April 30, 2020CraftyK Leave a comment

For the first time I’m planning ahead! I thought about doing May 4th cards in March and finally got around to them mid-April.

These aren’t perfect by any stretch. I still can’t get placements correct on the Cricut. The biggest downfall of their design space when you go to make the item, you have to start over placing items every time.

The mishaps continue on the inside of the cards. I decided not to write with a silver marker as I did for my nephew’s birthday card (scroll to the bottom). Instead I attempted to make insets with cardstock. While the first one was too narrow and the second one was quite askew. Using double sided tape there’s no going back once you put it down.

Something else to work on and improve as I keep trying to create more appealing cards.

May Day

May 1, 2018May 13, 2018CraftyK Leave a comment

How are you planning to celebrate May Day with your family?

Growing up I would make a basket for the neighbors who lived behind us growing up. It was like a friendly ding dong ditch, because you left them treats in a basket. Once I was older they informed me that they knew it was me, and I was terrible at hiding. Either way it was fun for both sides.

Last year I made some cookies and took them to my previous temp job and the neighbors. This year I won’t be ringing any doorbells, just sending some snail mail. These will be arriving in DC hopefully today!

I decided some May Day cards were in order.

They are a mix of paint, wallpaper, scrapbook paper, and of course a dab of glitter glue. I used the Cricut to draw the word outlines and to cut out the tulips. I think I did fairly well lining up the text pretty close to the center. I’ll get there eventually with this more complex cards. I know they aren’t the most gorgeous things you’ve ever seen, but it’s a work in progress.

This post uses affiliate links. This just means that if you go to the site and end up buying something I’ll get a small percent, this doesn’t increase the cost to you at all. 🙂

Glitter Glue and Wallpaper

February 27, 2018May 13, 2018CraftyK Leave a comment

I went back to the basics this month for cards. My inventory of wallpaper cards was starting to run a little low, so I went on a card making frenzy and cranked out 15 of them.

wallpaper cards_0218_054 Although I never used to embellish these cards, I have started to. With paint and glitter glue to start, who knows what will come next. With the added time and materials going into these cards I am charging a little more for them. But I will always try to have a good selection of “originals” to choose from.

I use these kinds of cards all the time to send a little note to friends or more commonly, thank you notes. They aren’t very large, and add something even more personal than your typical handwritten note.

wallpaper cards_0218_056 If you enjoy writing and sending handmade cards let me know! My post Wallpaper Cards has a running gallery of everything currently in inventory. If I ever branch out and make other cards not primarily with wallpaper I guess those will get a post as well. For right now though, those cards are made on an as needed basis. I don’t like making the same card over and over again, so even though some of these cards may be similar, no two are alike.

You can also see all of the 2018 cards I’ve made here.

Will you be my Valentine?

February 14, 2018May 13, 2018CraftyK Leave a comment

So that title is a bit misleading. As this is posting the day of, I can’t get a card out that fast. I wanted to share the 3 cards I did make this year and sent out in time to reach their destinations (Colorado and Georgia). The third card was for my husband, so it didn’t have to go through the rigors of the post office!

After posting on Snapchat my newly acquired glitter glue, and asking who might want a card, my husband’s cousin responded that she did. The problem was I couldn’t think of a card to make, so I asked her what holiday or something I should do. She reminded me that Valentine’s Day was coming up. So I got started coming up with some concepts after browsing the Cricut library and not finding something I wanted.

I thought it would be fun to show my concepts for these cards I drew up on my phone (the Note 8, no icrap in this house). Anyway…I find myself telling people quite frequently that I can’t draw worth crap, what’s in my head does not translate into hand-drawn pretties.

Georgia

This is the card that made it’s way to Georgia. It’s pretty flat so I wasn’t worried about it surviving. This was also the most frustrating of the three because I wasn’t able to truly capture what was in my head.

First, I couldn’t find the heart ‘o’ in the fonts that I have. I could have sworn I had one, but was unable to find it and didn’t want to sort through all internet font options. But I think the teddy bear holding a heart does the trick.

Second, my sun ray type things just wouldn’t work for me. I thought I could do it, but things just didn’t translate, so it’s a bit messy for what I wanted.

Finally, the Cricut…Took me a few goes to actually realize it gives itself a margin where it won’t cut. So my card was placed right, but all the cuts are a good quarter inch to the right. I am hoping to be able to better compensate for this with future cards that have a peek through. Luckily I figured out the whole cut/draw on one mat thing so the drawing ended up where it should.

The paper background is discontinued wallpaper that has a silver sheen to it.

Colorado

This card I worried about so much. The button was thicker than I thought while I was picking it, and then the hot glue gun decided it wanted to create a huge glue glob.. you get the idea. I was very happy with the fact that I used some press n’ seal to get the adhesive foil up and onto the card. It took some patience, but worth it for not ruining the paper.

It was my first time transferring something using some sort of sticky material. My first card had all the letters connecting so I just picked it up and placed it where I wanted it. I am also happy that everything came out fairly straight.

The base of the flower I drew in Illustrator and then had the Cricut draw it with a gold pen.

The Husband

This card took the most in terms of intricacy. I also tried my hand at drawing in Illustrator…luckily it help clean up really bad curves. This is the only card with some outside inspiration. I saw this Pin once, thought I remembered the general idea, until just now, looking at it I really didn’t do mine the same at all. What caught my eye was the overlapping hearts and Love intertwined (at least that’s how I remembered it). I wanted to recreate something like that and ended up with my own overlapping heart with the word coming off that.

I used the same wallpaper and gold glitter glue as the piece above. I also used my new stencils to create the bottom arrows with acrylic paint that looks good with the gold theme I have going on.

After photographing these cards I realized (when it was at least 1am) that this card was missing something. It was the glitter on the arrows. It took so much effort to go to bed and not start working on “fixing” the card that night. I was good, got some zzz’s (I think) and worked on this first thing in the morning. It helped the card so much, finally coming together to look more professional.

2018 Valentine’s Day card set

Starting my Cricut adventure

February 7, 2018May 13, 2018CraftyK Leave a comment

Last year I started watching CreativeLive. It’s a great site for learning new things and getting inspiration. I happened to log on one day and there was a class called Introduction to Art Journaling. I decided to tune in as the photography classses that day weren’t what I needed. Within this art journaling class I was inspired to take the concept and use it for my notecards.

I’ve been making cards for years out of recycled wallpaper. Compared to what I have seen on Pinterest, my cards were very plain. Art journaling inspired me to get out paints, buy some stencils on ebay, and even contact my mom’s friend who does stamping. I now have stamps, embossing powders, more wallpaper, different cardstock, stencils, paints, and as of Christmas a Cricut.

(This did not survive the mail)

I came to discover the Cricut because I wanted to make my own stencils. After doing some research, and my husband doing even more research he decided that the Cricut would be a good investment. I have a background in design and decent know-how of Illustrator, Cricut allows uploading of SVG files which is great! I am able to create my own designs in Illustrator and upload to the Cricut Design Space. So far I have not made any stencils, but I have made some rudimentary attempts at cards.

Pre-Cricut

Before the Cricut I was attempting to hand-letter and then stencil on my cards. I sent out a few like this, very proud of those at the time. I didn’t take pictures of these first cards because I was making them to send out right away for birthdays, house warmings, and just because. For some reason I have a strong desire to put way too many mismatched elements onto one card. I feel that if I don’t have a little of everything on one card I’m missing something. The cards were very confused and amateur.

Post Cricut

I started using Pinterest to 1: learn a little about how the Cricut works and 2: to get some card ideas. After spending some time with my mom’s friend I realized I really wasn’t doing things right. I needed to really think through a card design. Picking out random stencils, stamps, papers and gluing/painting things randomly makes for a sad almost frightening card. (Apologies to those who received those first attempts.) Luckily I learn fast, my Illustrator knowledge has somewhat come back to me, and I am excited to have card ideas.

First semi-thought out card of my own design

Birthday Girl text is part of the Cricut images available to use, cut from Cricut adhesive foil (my first cutting attempt)

Green under the flower cutout is discontinued wallpaper, the flower was my first design in Illustrator attempt.

Button is from a collection of buttons I bought off of ebay years ago in an attempt to find a specific type of button to fix a shirt (no luck). I finally have a use for those buttons!

First thought out card of my own design

After my first two semi thought out cards seen above (first one was inspired from Pinterest), I got a brilliant idea for my nephews’ birthday card. He loves Star Wars and I had gotten him some Star Wars decor for his room, so a card to match was perfect.

First I found a Star Wars typeface, then another typeface that was silhouettes of popular characters and ships.

Next, I finally opened my 2016 day-to-day Star Wars calendar my mom bought for me.

Then it was time to start the layout and picking materials. I used the Cricut adhesive foil for the text and went through 2 plain white cardstock pieces for the card before realizing black would look way better. It took a few tries to get the cut out right on the card because I am still learning which setting to use for different paper types.

I used a silver pen to write a message on the inside of the card.

The cutout ships became confetti in the card.

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2018 Cards

January 28, 2018December 31, 2018CraftyK Leave a comment

If you don’t want to read the nuances about the cards I created in 2018, this is where you can see them all by month of creation. It can also be a place to get some inspiration for your own cards!