Hello, everyone! Welcome to my blog! I was invited to be a guest designer at Altenew’s mixed media blog, and I wanted to share with you what I made. I used 3D embossing folders to create these mixed media tags. For more info, check out the Altenew Mixed Media Blog for all the details.
I’m attaching a video on how I created these tags. Enjoy!
Hello everyone!!! Altenew has a wonderful July release and I made a couple of cards to showcase this new release. Take a look at these gorgeous products!!!
I read all your comments on my blog and truly appreciate your kind words. I’ve noticed that there are quite a number of people who are new to cardmaking so this blog post will be a mixture of simple, fun and easy to make cards/tags and some that need a little more time to create. Do let me know which one is your favorite in the comment section, ok? I really love hearing from all of you. <3
Don’t you just adore the Courageous You stamp set!?!?! I love huge images that can be colored using different kinds of coloring mediums. For these cards though, I thought of stamping and embossing the image on vellum for a soft and dainty look. I used the Fine Frames cover die to add borders around the card front. Light colors were chosen to match the soft look of this card.
When embossing on thin papers like vellum, just make sure that you heat up your heat gun first. I also heat it from the back to prevent the paper from warping.
Here’s another set of CAS cards using the Geometric Elements stamp. When I saw this stamp set, the first thing that came into my mind was the geometric terrariums that I used for my daughter’s party a few years ago. 🙂
I used the stems on the Fragile Foliage Stamp set as strings for these “terrariums”. My youngest daughter Andrea helped me with the drawings of the mini succulents ( I will need a magnifying glass in order to do that!!! Thanks so much, Dea! <3 ) The succulents were colored with the Altenew alcohol artist markers. Strips of papers from the Blushing Blooms paper pack were added to finish off these cute and simple cards. The card front was also mounted onto foam sheets for added dimension.
This next card was created using the Floral In and Out Border die, the Wild Flora washi tape, the Terrific Tags die and the sentiment from the Courageous You stamp set. I wrapped a panel with the washi tape then die cut the Floral in and out border die. I did the same to 4 layers of white cardstocks so that I can stack them up to create some dimension.
I just had to fit them like a jigsaw puzzle then added a sentiment stamped on one of the tags from the Terrific tags die. A green brad was added as an accent to this simple card. You really don’t have to do much because the washi tape is already so beautiful.
Here’s another pair of quick cards to make. I got some paper scraps from the Shades of Purple gradient cardstock set and cut them into strips. My apologies if I can’t remember who I saw this technique from– must be from the amazing Laura Bassen or Jennifer Mcguire or maybe even from Kristina Werner or the wonderful Cathy Zielske. They are my go-to cardmakers where I get my inspirations from.
I covered the entire card front with double-sided tape then adhered the strips. Both positive and negative elements from the Circled Greetings: hugs die were used to create 2 cards so nothing went to waste.
Would you believe that this card was made using only 1 stamped image? 🙂 The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed on vellum. The floral image from the Courageous You stamp set was stamped on 140 lbs Arches watercolor paper using Versamark ink then heat embossed with Rose gold embossing powder. I used colors from the Altenew watercolor brush makers. I love how highly pigmented these watercolors are! A little goes a long way.
The image was placed in one corner and the excess was cut off. Foam tape was used to create dimension. The leftover pieces were also adhered to the card front to fill the other edges of the card.
Here’s another set of CAS cards using bold colors. I die cut 3 different colored cardstocks using the Circled Greetings: thanks die. To vary the background, I placed the Feeling Dotty Stencil over the background then added Versamark ink over it.
White embossing ink was poured over it and heat embossed to create a dotted background. I also added a sentiment from the Hello and Hugs stamp set for variation. This is a quick way to create multiple cards with a single die– just vary the cardstocks and backgrounds.
Here’s another quick project using the masking technique. For these tags, I used the sentiments from the Geometric Elements and the Fragile Foliage image. The biggest tag from the Terrific Tags dies was perfect to make the packaging for the monogram cards I made for a friend look pretty. I love the simplicity of the image which ties up with the modernity of the font.
The sentiment and border were stamped and embossed first using rose gold embossing powder. Then I masked the area so that I can stamp the foliage image over it.
If you have been following my previous blog posts, you’ll notice that my style leans heavily towards layering and lots of embellishments. Restraining myself from adding more to a card is truly a struggle for me. I have a hard time creating clean and simple cards because I tend to cover up all of the white space. That being said, I’ve always been a huge fan of Cathy Zielske‘s CAS style ever since my scrapbooking days in the early 2000s. From her, I’ve learned the basics in design principles. She’s my rockstar when it comes to CAS layouts and cards. And just recently, she sent me a video message full of sound advice on how to deal with certain types of people. I am so humbled that she took time out of her busy schedule to personally send a message and make me feel better. So in honor of this amazing human being, this post showcases a number of CAS cards and from this post onwards, I will step out of my comfort zone and try to include a card that reflects her style. Thank you, Cathy! Truly appreciate what you did. ❤️ Below is a set of CAS cards inspired by her style using the Fragile Foliage stamp set.
The image from the Fragile Foliage image was stamped on a rectangular die cut cardstock. This was adhered on the card front using a foam sheet. Golden peach and Caribbean sky embossing powders were used to emboss the sentiments from the Sentiment Strips stamp set.
Thank you so much for dropping by!!! As I’ve said earlier, I truly enjoy reading all your wonderful comments. Do say hi and let me know which card is your favorite! Would love to see you too in my other social media platforms. To see my latest projects, you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook . Thanks again for dropping by and keep on crafting!!!
Hi everyone! It has been a while since I’ve posted! The past month has been very busy preparing card kits for the participants. A total of 8 projects were prepared and we had to finish them within 4 hours. I think some of the participants were a little stressed out! 🙂 Below are the cards/tag that they made.
For the first card, the participants got to try out their own Wonderland stamp set and did stamping, embossing and die cutting of the flowers on watercolor paper. After that, they colored the petals using wet on wet technique and added some salt for more texture. The background was colored using distress oxide inks and splattered with water droplets.
The next card was made using the Sweet Peas stamp set. This time, the participants got to use their masks to create shadows of the flowers. They used Zig clear color real brush pens to color in the petals. For this card, I used Altenew dye inks and was careful not to add too much water.
This card was made using the Woodland stamp and the coordinating masks. I just love how thin the masks are and how easy it is to create layering. Only the die cut letter was colored to make it pop out.
For the next card, I got inspiration from Jennifer Mcguire’s see through card but instead of doing the whole front, only half the card was see through 🙂 I love how these Peruvian Lily layers are so easy to line up. The students learned how to use the press and seal to pick up all the elements together while maintaining the positions. It’s a technique that will definitely be very useful in future cardmaking projects.
This card was pretty straight forward. All they had to do was color in the images and sentiment strip, stick together the images to create a thicker chipboard-like image and assemble the card.
Another card inspired by Jennifer 🙂 This is a peek-a-boo card wherein the image changes as you open the card. All images are from the Celebrations stamp set. It is a bit tricky to assemble the card but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy. The important thing is to make sure the windows line up when you die cut the circles.
This card was so simple to make but the outcome was elegant. Washi tape was stuck to Neenah Solar white cardstock and the flower and leaves images were fussy cut. They were then adhered using foam tape. The thanks die cut was again layered and the lower part was heat embossed using my all time favorite gold embossing powder from Altenew– rose gold.
The last project was a tag using the Wild Rose 3D die. The separate petals were colored using monochromatic colors of Zig markers while the 2 center pieces were colored in using contrasting colors.
The class ended with some shopping and merienda. It was so nice to see everyone having an enjoyable time learning, getting to know new crafty friends and having fun creating cards. I look forward to seeing you again for the next Altenew workshop. Stay tuned! <3
Hi everyone! I just love giving handmade gifts. It tells the recipient that the gift comes with so much heart because you spent time and effort creating them. It’s something very personal and no two items are the same. Each is unique since they’re individually handmade.
It also tells the receiver that you have thought about him/her– color preference, style, hobbies, etc. — something specifically created for the recipient.
It’s significant to know the age and style preference of the recipient as well. Is it whimsical? Is it clean and elegant? Is it fun and quirky?
Packaging is also very important. It shows that you went a step further. It makes it more exciting for the recipient to discover what’s inside.
Some people wonder why handmade crafts are more expensive than mass produced products. It takes a lot of time to come up with a finished product– designing the layout, die cutting or hand cutting the paper, prepping the paper, inking, stamping, water-coloring, coloring, applying mixed media, redoing the item if the outcome is not right (thus wasting materials), pasting, embossing, packaging, adding little details to make it look more presentable etc. etc. etc. times the number of cards you make. It is really time consuming! So I truly appreciate the people who value handmade craft.
Some of you have requested for me to sell handmade cards for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Will be posting some of them soon. Again, thanks for appreciating handmade goodness. Happy Friday everyone!
