Tips for Making Cards in Quantity

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a great weekend.  Mine was VERY busy.  I went to Stampin' Up!'s OnStage in Las Vegas.  WOW - what a packed day.  It was wonderful and there are a lot of exciting things coming with the new Annual Catalog!

Today's card is the one I created to swap with others at OnStage.  It's fairly straightforward to make and I was able to make 24 in about two hours.

I don't think I've ever crafted that fast before!  I did simplify the swap card a bit compared to this one.  I did not put a sentiment on it and I used a 3/4" wide strip of the striped paper rather than the curved one.  The curved edge uses the curve from the Swirly Framelits set and it just took too much time to position, cut and then release all the parts I DIDN'T want.  A minute or two really adds up when you're making a larger quantity of cards.  In this case it would have been an extra 45 minuted I didn't have.  So I used a straight strip down the side and it achieved the same basic look in less than a quarter of the time.

Another thing that helped this go quickly.  I used just a small bit of snail adhesive to lightly hold the vellum leaf and ribbon down.  What really keeps it all in place are the dimensionals that are on the back of the flower.  I didn't waste time gluing the underneath parts down when I knew that the flower on top would keep things in place.

These are things to be aware of when making invitations, cards for holidays, etc.  Getting the most bang for your buck is key.  I used the Stamparatus (available in June for those who were not able to order it at the end of last year) and that helped immensely.   The two lids allowed me to quickly stamp the background leaves in two different colors.


Stamps: Oh So Eclectic
Dies: Eclectic Layers , Swirly Scribbles Framelits
Save 10% on the bundle
Paper: Naturally Eclectic Designer Series Paper, Vellum, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Berry Burst, Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy
Accessories: Lemon Lime Twist Mini Striped Ribbon, Tutti-Frutti Adhesive Backed Sequins

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Sending Smiles Across the Miles

Good morning!  Today I have a card that will surely brighten the day of someone far away.

For this card background I used a piece of printed paper that looks like it's watercolored.  Normally I like to watercolor my own backgrounds but this is nice if you're pressed for time.

Some of the die cuts are cut from colored cardstock, but others are cut from white. I colored the rabbit, basket fringe and tassel pieces with Copic markers and used a sponge dauber with Crumb Cake ink to add some shadow to the basket.  I then assembled the pieces.

I glued the sun in the upper right corner, letting some of the rays hang off.  I used paper snips to clip off the over hang.

I glued the sky panel to the front of the card and arranged the clouds and sentiment panel.

Finally I used foam tape to pop the rabbit and basket off the card front.

I hope you enjoyed today's card.  It will surely bring a smile to a loved one's face!

Dies:  Cottage Cutz Spring Hot Air Balloon, Stitched Sun, Clouds and Umbrella, Nested Wacky Stitched Rectangle set.

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3-D Thursday Interactive Wobble Card

Today I have an interactive card for 3-D Thursday.  I created this card for my youngest daughter's birthday in December.  During the first part of December we had wildfires by our house while my husband and I were out of town, and she evacuated our animals and home by herself.  She had very little time (about an hour) but managed to get the pets and herself to safety, along with some family heirlooms.  So we thought Super Girl here fit her pretty well! And her response to being Super Girl?  "Mom, I had an HOUR -(rolls eyes) - in Oklahoma I only had minutes when there was a tornado warning!"

Super Girl is lifted off the card making it 3-D.  But how it's lifted is what makes it fun!  I used an Action Wobble (available from online craft retailers and Amazon).

An Action Wobble is like a plastic spring that is self adhesive on both sides, letting you stick it to a card base and a die cut element.  One side of the Wobble is light plastic allowing it to be easily cut if it's a bit too large for your die cut.  And they come in a couple of sizes.

I've used these a few times on cards.  They really make them fun!  Below is the Wobble in action (I hope this video works - I've never posted one before.)

The card itself is pretty straightforward.  The background was created using Distress Oxide ink and a stencil.  The cityscape is a stamp from the stamp set and stamped twice - once in black and once in grey.  Super Girl was colored with Copic markers.  (I don't have the colors off hand, but if I find them, I'll post them.)

Stamps and Die:  My Favorite Things BB You're Super
Copic Markers


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Using Shadows to Add Color

Hi everyone!  It's the first Tuesday of the month and time for a new color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches blog.  My card today was super quick to make so I thought I'd share some of my "process" in creating cards.

The colors for this week are:

As you can see, there is not much coloring on this card!  By far I spent most of my time laying out where the clouds and sentiment would go.  I stamp on grid paper and often use this for my ideas.  I keep on my desk an A2 card template that I use to trace the outline of the card front.  Even though it's grid paper I find this goes faster.

So I traced the card, stamped my images and laid out the clouds, noting which were "unders" and "overs". By the time I finished I had changed the layout a little.

My coloring went very fast.  I used my Stampin' Up! watercolor pencils since I had the three colors used in the challenge.  I intended to use a blender pen to add shading but decided that on an image this small I'd just shade using the pencils.

Normally, I would add some very light blue to the clouds or background to add depth and contrast.  But this is a color challenge and I couldn't!  So I decided to use positive and negative space to do the work of the color I couldn't use.  I die cut two clouds from the panel and then stamped my cake, sentiment and puff.  I cut a few extra clouds from white cardstock.  Foam tape pops the main panel off the card base and I used foam dots under the dragon and two clouds.  One cloud is glued directly to the card but overlaps a negative space cloud.  All this gives the white clouds "color" by the use of shadow.  

Stamps: Mama Elephant Dragon Wishes, Stampin' Up! Party with Cake
Dies: Mama Elephant Dragon Wishes, MFT Puffy Clouds
Washi Tape and Watercolor Pencils: Stampin' Up!

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Sending Love - Copic Coloring

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Mine was very busy - we had a neighborhood brunch and Easter egg hunt for 145 people and I  had the honor of being the Easter Bunny.  I was pretty tired today so my post will be quick.

I decided to share this card that I made awhile ago.  It is colored with Copic markers.  I was originally going to use the sentiment "Miss you" but my daughter said that sentiment and the image seemed sad to her, so I changed it to this one.

This is a simple card to make.  The image and sentiment are stamped and the border is hand drawn with a multi-liner pen.  I find that a can not draw a straight line, but if I try real hard to draw straight, I get just the right amount of waviness to my line!

I don't have the exact Copic colors but I know the bunnies are warm greys.  I use those the most often for animal fur.  Unless the animal is white, it looks more natural than cool or neutral greys.  And even for white animals, I'll usually use neutral greys as the cool greys are too blue. 

Stamp: Lili of the Valley Lost Balloon, Lili of the Valley Handwritten Sentiment
Card Stock: Whisper White, Real Red, Sahara Sand

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