Dragonfly Pocket Card

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Hello Friends!

Today's project is an oldie-but-a-goodie and a favorite fold of mine. This is called a pocket card. It's made by simply marking the card front on both outer edges at 2". Make another pencil mark at the bottom center of the card. Then, just score a straight line between the 2" mark on the left to the center mark on the bottom. Repeat that score from the 2" mark on the right to the center mark on the bottom. Fold the outer corners up a to meet each other at the center, and add some foam mounting tape to hold it closed. You've created a little pocket! I added some pre-purchased embossed white paper on top of the triangle.

I added some glityz shred to mine to give it an airy look since my small dragonflies from the Michael Strong Mini Wings set needed a place to nest. I stamped these little critters in VersaMark ink and embossed them with Verdigris embossing powder. It was easy to do so many because there was no cutting required. The mini dragonfly has a coordinating Mini Wings Die, so I die cut them in seconds flat. Easy!

The large dragonly was created the same way. The stamp can be purchased HERE. I added some small beads to give it some interest. The white cardstock layers' corners were pierced with a template.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Kathie

Kaleidacolor Hummingbird

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Today's project is one of my old favorites. It's a go-to when I'm stumped for a design--it's easy, fast, and is always so colorful and cheery. Today's card features two Michael Strong stamps.

Here's how I made the main image: I sprayed water (in a mister) onto white cardstock. Then, I inked up the Cloisonne Hummingbird stamp in a Calypso Kaleidacolor Ink pad. I stamped onto the very wet cardstock, let the ink run in wild patterns, and then dryed the cardstock with an embossing heat tool. Next, I ironed my cardstock (yes, ironed. Remember yesterday when I said neatness counts? It still does today!) until it was nice and flat again (the water and the heat gun make it curl). Then, I inked up the stamp again in the Calypso Kaleidacolor pad and stamped onto the cardstock in the same place as the first stamping. The results are always different, always spectacular.

Next, I took a stamping sponge and inked around the edges of the cardstock with the same Kaleidacolor pad. It's a cheap-trick way of really making things coordinate. Then, I added some Crystal Effects (sometimes called Dimensional Magic) all the way around the edges, right on top of the inked areas. Then, I poured clear beads onto the Crystal Effects. It makes a very nice, colorful framed edge around any image.

I stamped the small hummingbird image from the Mini Wings set on the background layer, then ran it through a Cuttlebug folder for a "floral" feel. Last, I tied on a coordinating multicolored ribbon.

I hope you've enjoyed today's project and maybe even learned something new. Thanks for stopping by!

Kathie

Cloisonne Dragonfies in Orange

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Hello Friends~

Today's card features a Strong Stamps image; the Cloisonne Dragonfly and the small dragonfly from the Mini Cloisonne Wings set.

This was a fun card to make. The background is an orange flocked design on a kraft-colored base (background paper--a gift from a friend). I wanted to add a bit of interest without detracting from the dragonflies, so I stitched some copper cord with my Janome Sew Mini sewing machine in a zig-zag pattern around the edges. The copper cording was simply wound around the card vertically and anchored on the back with scotch tape.

The dragonflies are painted with Distress Inks. I added some colored gems to the dragonflies. Why? Because they're girls....and we girls love BLING!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Kathie

Decorated Clips

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Some decorative clips I made with the Mini Wings Cloisonne Dragonfly from Strong Stamps.

Thanks for looking!!

Kathie

Cloisonne Butterfly in Black and White

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CLICK ON THE PHOTOS FOR A LARGER VIEW!!

Today's project features a Tri Shutter card design. For instructions on the cutting, scoring, and folding of a Tri Shutter card, go to my dear friend Bonnie's blog HERE.

Tri Shutter is a great design because it has so many great little pallettes to show off stamped images and embellishments. I've been accused of "over-doing" (such nonsense!) and "over-embellishing" (is there such a thing?) my Tri Shutters. I'll let you be the judge and then you can create as little or as much as you like on your Tri Shutters! =)

I chose a black and white theme because I thought the Cloisonne Butterfly image would look great stamped in black ink on white paper. I had black, white, and silver on my mind, so I designed around my color choices. The small panels on the card display an assortment of some decorative papers I had in my stash, the two outer panels show some regular white cardstock which I Cuttlebugg'd, and the two silver polka dotted pieces are background papers which I attached to the panels, then sewed around them with silver thread in a zig zag pattern on my Janome Sew Mini Sewing Machine. The center panel is a background paper from Scrappin' Deals n Steals which is luxuriously flocked with a black pattern.

The main panel shows off the Michael Strong Cloisonne Butterfly and the two small panels display the smaller butterflies from the Mini Wings stamp set. They were stamped with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. I die cut the small butterflies with the coordinating butterfly die from the Mini Wings Die Cut set.

The die cuts on the end panels are from Sizzix; the butterflys placed randomly on the panels are a Martha Stewart punch--a few of them were run through a Cuttlebug Swiss dots folder to match up with the polka dotted paper on the inner panels.

The beading on the card:
Large Butterfly Image: I hand glued individual silver beads onto the Butterfly's thorax (middle portion) on the card using Crystal Effects for an adhesive. The beads on the outer edges of the wings are very tiny seed beads. First, I applied a thin line of Crystal Effects in approximately 2" sections on outer edges of the wings. Then, I carefully dipped the wing into a bowl of the seed beads, shook off the excess beads, then let it dry before moving on to the next 2" section.

Small Butterlies: The silver beads were cut from a string of silver beads purchased from JoAnn's Fabric and Crafts stores. They were attached with Crystal Effects.

Hanging Beads with Irridescent Butterflies: These may be difficult to see, so try enlarging the photo if needed. Three strings of beads hang on the right hand side of the card from the small upper panel. I purchased these at WalMart in a close-out bin years ago. The beads--with the transparent irridescent butterflies at the end of each string--are sewn to about 12" of ribbon, and the 12" piece can be cut to the length of your liking. I carefully use fabric glue to affix a thread which runs along the back of the ribbon--it's a continuous length between the beads, holding them all together. If it's not glued before it's cut, one snip of the scissors and the beads begin falling off! I cut three of the individual lengths of beads and butterflies and attached them so they would hang freely and dangle in front of the last panel on the card.

Thank you for staying with me for this very long tutorial; see you tomorrow!

~Kathie

Cloisonne Silhouette Panel: Hummingbirds

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CLICK ON THE PHOTO FOR A LARGER VIEW

Today's featured card project showcases a brand new Michael Strong Stamps image from the Cloisonne Silhouette Panels collection. I stamped the image in VersaMark ink and embossed it with white embossing powder, then painted it with Distress Inks. The small hummingbirds are from the Mini Wings Collection.

The background is my version of "Faux Encaustic Wax", which is really just melted crayons on an iron, then applied to plain white cardstock. It's a wonderful adventure to play with crayons and combine colors, then swirl them around onto cardstock with an iron. I made the background first, then selected coordinating inks when I painted the Cloisonne Silhouette Panel. Each Faux Encaustic Wax project, regardless of the skill level of the crafter, produces an explosion of fantastic colors!

If you haven't tried the Michael Strong die cuts (which coordinate with several of the stamp images), I have to say that they are quite possibly the best dies I've ever worked with. They have a nifty little registration system and when you run them through a die cutter, they cut like butter!! For fun, I tried a little shadow effect behind the hummingbirds to add a little interest and dimension.

Here is how I did it:
I stamped and die cut a hummingbird on white cardstock. Then, I die cut two hummingbirds from teal cardstock. I positioned one of the teal die cuts behind the white hummingbird and raised it slightly above the white layer, and the other die cut slightly below the white layer. It made a nice outline/shadow effect behind each bird.

As a note, I attached the panel to the wax base with brads since I was concerned with tapes and adhesives resisting the wax.

I hope you've enjoyed today's project and thank you for taking the time to look at today's project.

~Kathie