Vintage Leaves Card Set Winner Announced!

I'm just popping in to announce the winner of the Vintage Leaves Card Set!

I must say that I learned a few things from this venture.

It seems that though I might be excited about a particular project I have created does not necessarily mean that others will share my excitement. Though I worked long and hard on this card set, it did not seem to inspire many viewers to comment for a chance to win this set. This is a little disappointing but I won't let it deter me.

Be that as it may, I am grateful to both Donna Ellis and Charlene Erb for their support! In retrospect, I wish that I had two giveaways so that I could give you both a gift for your loyal support. In the end, though, it was Donna that won the card set.

Donna, I will be contacting you to arrange to post this card set to you. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Vintage Leaves Card Set Giveaway

Jennifer McGuire posted a tutorial the other day for a gate fold technique that used border dies. I really liked the result and kept mulling it over in my mind as to how I could make it my own. With Autumn just around the corner, I decided to create a card set using Autumn hues and employ Jennifer's technique.

For my colors, I chose Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Delightful Dijon, and Garden Green. I cut a piece of each color at 11 x 4.25", modifying Jennifer's size to be more in line with that of a standard size card. Each piece was scored on the long side at 4" from one end and 2" from the other end. After folding on the score lines, the card front overlapped slightly.

I placed the single edge die from the Detailed Floral Thinlits along the edge of the longest flap and ran it through the Big Shot. It easily cut through the top and partially through the next layer. I had to open the card, reposition the die and run it through again to finish cutting the second flap. There was a resulting indent from the die on the inside of the card but that would be hidden by a matte.

I chose a leaf stamp, from the Vintage Leaves stamp set, for each of the four colors and then stamped the front of the card using matching ink except for the Cherry Cobbler card. When using my Cherry Cobbler on the matching card stock, the color appeared "greenish" so I chose to use Real Red as an alternative.

After stamping the card fronts, I cut white mattes for the inside of the cards and stamped a leaf on each of those to match each card. In addition, I used my Envelope Punch Board to create envelopes for each card and stamped leaves on the fronts of those as well before assembling the envelopes, using Post It notes to mask off the non-inked sides of the envelopes.

Next, I stamped sentiments from the Watercolor Wishes Card Set, in Versamark on the four colors of card stock and heat embossed them with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder. These were then die cut with the matching Leaflets Framelits. Each die cut had its edges inked with the corresponding ink.
It was then that I got the idea to heat emboss the edges of the die cut gate fold edges themselves! To do this, I used a Versamark Pen to ink each edge, repeating the process to really get a nice embossed gold effect.

Another idea struck and I decided to add flecks of ink onto the cards to provide a bit more texture to my design. I used both my Stampin' Write Markers, flicking the marker off the edge of the cap, and my Tim Holtz Distress Splatter Brush with reinkers, which produced larger splatters.

To finish each card, I added a thread nest, using Gold Metallic Thread secured with a glue dot, and adhered a leaf over it using Dimensionals.

After completing the cards and envelopes, I needed a container to put them in so I consulted this tutorial by Catherine Pooler on how to create a box. Once I had figured out what size I needed for my card box and lid, I cut the two pieces from Kraft card stock.

I scored, cut and glued the piece for the box bottom and then used my stamps to create my own paper for the box top. After stamping the leaves, I again used my Tim Holtz Distress Splatter Brush to add flecks of Crumb Cake reinker. After it was dry, I scored, cut and glued the lid together.

A belly band was created for my card box using a strip of Garden Green card stock topped with the now retired Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon. I stamped two oak leaves in Delightful Dijon on the matching card stock and die cut them with the framelits. The edges of the leaves were inked with matching ink and then I used my McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit to give some dimension to the leaves. I used Glue Dots to adhere them to the top of the belly band to complete the box.

I am really loving the rich hues of this color combo! Feel free to copy this image if you'd like to use it!

I'm very pleased with how this card set turned out! And now the fun part–I'm going to give it away!

If you live in either Canada or the United States, here is what you need to do to be entered into a draw to win this card set:

1. Leave a comment either below or on my Facebook post (or both!).
2. Pin any image from this blog post to Pinterest.
3. Share my Facebook post about this card set.

On Sunday, September 4, at 7:00 pm CDT, I will draw to see who wins the card set! Be sure to check back here for the announcement of the winner. I will need the winner to contact me so that I may get a mailing address for where to send the card set.

The lucky winner could be YOU!

Floral Thinlits Birthday

In my post, Floral Thank You, I said I would challenge myself to create a card with some softer tones. I have done that today with my birthday card using the Detailed Floral Thinlits.

For my color scheme I chose Blushing Bride and Mint Macaron. Don't they look like yummy ice cream flavors?

I started by cutting both Blushing Bride and Mint Macaron card stock 4.25 x 11". After determining that I would use the Blushing Bride for the liner and the Mint Macaron for the outer cut piece, I scored the Blushing Bride liner at 2 1/8" and 7 5/8". Because the Mint Macaron needed to surround the Blushing Bride piece, I scored at 2 1/8" and 7 3/4" to allow for the extra bulk.

The Big Shot was used to die cut each end of the scored Mint Macaron card base, after carefully positioning each die with the thin trimming die in place to cut a nice edge. Using a dryer sheet under my card stock worked well to catch all the little pieces and allow me to quickly get on with the rest of my card making.

Next, I placed the die cut Mint Macaron piece over the Blushing Bride piece and laid it on my cutting pad at an angle. I lined up the thin trimming die with the cut edge of the Mint Macaron and then used Washi Tape to tape the die in place over the Blushing Bride card liner. This ensured that I would get a nice cut end that matched the one on the Mint Macaron card base. I removed the Mint Macaron and cut the Blushing Bride liner.

After both ends had been trimmed, I put the two card pieces together again and used glue to adhere the die cut Mint Macaron panel to the Blushing Bride liner.

Using Mint Macaron, I stamped the paired sentiments from the Birthday Blossoms stamp set on a piece of Watercolor paper. I then stamped the blossoms between the sentiments using Basic Black Archival ink.

One the ink was dry, I used my Kuretake Water Pen with Blushing Bride reinker to watercolor the blossoms. I dried this thoroughly with my Heat Tool and then used Fast Fuse to adhere it inside the card base.

Using Fast Fuse, I adhered the Blushing Bride ribbon from the now retired Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit to the back of the card and then tied it in a bow at the front to complete the card.

Drop me a comment below if you visit my blog–I'd love to hear from you!

Floral Thank You

In my mind, Black = Drama.

When I picked up the Detailed Floral Thinlits this afternoon, I immediately knew that I would be using Basic Black with them to instill a dramatic look in my card. The hard question was what other color would I put with it? I was leaning toward Real Red but when I walked over to my card stock stash, Bermuda Bay called my name!

I cut a standard card base from Basic Black and a matte from Bermuda Bay. I used my usual cutting sandwich with a dryer sheet under my card stock and ran it through the Big Shot after placing the Detailed Floral Thinlits at the top and bottom of the matte.

I only ran it through and back through the Big Shot rather than 2X through because I wanted to see if it would cut like that. Indeed it did! All but two little pieces stuck to the dryer sheet so I consider that a successful cut.

I used my MISTI to stamp the sentiment from the Floral Phrases stamp set with Versamark and then heat embossed it with the now retired Black Stampin' Emboss Powder.

I placed dots of liquid glue all around the matte and on the little solid areas. I then used my Marsupial Layering Tool to adhere the matte perfectly. Perfectly WRONG! Somehow I turned the matte or the card base upside down! Luckily, I was able to remove the matte, re-glue it and mount it this time, right side up, on a new card base!

Wow! The combo of Basic Black and Bermuda Bay sure pops!

I adhered a tiny bow, using the now retired 1/8" Basic Black Ribbon , using a glue dot and also added three rhinestones.

For the inside of the card, I stamped the matching sentiment and floral stamp using Bermuda Bay. I adhered the matte using Snail Adhesive to finish the card.

I really like the impact that the card has by using Basic Black and Bermuda Bay! However, the next time I use these dies, I think I will challenge myself to select some softer tones and see where that takes me!

I'd love to find out what kind of cards you like. Please take my poll below!