Not sure how many cardmakers out there regularly use sketches to get started on their cardmaking.  Most of the time I just go straight into creating my card but this time I knew I wanted to use a circle as a focal point and decided it might be faster to sketch something first.

Here’s the sketch I drew:

And here’s my card based on the sketch:

Since the sketch has a lot of ‘white space’ and that sometimes makes me nervous, I embossed the background paper to add some interest without overwhelming the card.  I think it goes well with the butterfly I die-cut.  Actually that butterfly die I used cuts and emboss at the same time which is pretty cool.

So I started with my base card and added some patterned paper.  The middle card is embossed as I mentioned then layered onto the same colour cardstock to frame it a bit more.  The circle was punched from the Attic Boutique patterned paper (same paper pack as the background paper and the strip of brown patterned paper).  I’m going to be very sad to see this paper go – 4 months is not enough!  It retires in 3 days!  After punching the circle out I sponged around the edges with Crumb Cake ink (I don’t think I ever put this inkpad away!)  The butterfly as mentioned before is die-cut and embossed at the same time and I secured that to the circle with a matching brad.  The greeting ‘friend’ was stamped and the I just cut around it with some scissors (it’s not perfect at all) and used my finger nail to distress the edges… that takes care of the imperfect cutting! hahahaha.

If you have any questions about the card or products I’ve used, or if you wish to purchase any Stampin’ Up! products, please feel free to email me.

And here’s a list of Stampin’ Up! products that I used to create this card:

Rubber Stamps:
Fabulous Phrases

Cardstock & Paper:
Pool Party Textured cardstock
Pool Party smooth cardstock
Soft Suede Textured cardstock
Attic Boutique Designer Series Patterned Paper

Inkpads/Markers/Paint:
Crumb Cake (aka Kraft) inkpad (for sponging)
Soft Suede

Tools:
Big Shot
Beautiful Wings Sizzlet (butterfly)
Elegant Lines Embossing Folder
2 1/2″ Circle Punch
Sponge Dauber

Accessories:
Basic Pearls
Designer Printed Brads

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals (foam dots)

I got busy today doing a bit of cleaning around the house so this afternoon I treated myself to a bit of cardmaking.  Unfortunately the cleaning didn’t extend itself to my craft desk and after a week of creating it’s looking, well… creative!

Today’s card is one that I think you could change the greeting so that it could go for a variety of occasions, it could be a birthday card, get well card, thank you card, thinking of you, or whatever else.

To make this card I started with a base of Pink Pirouette cardstock and I cut it so that when I fold it, it opens from the bottom.  I find that makes it easier when I’m using ribbon to be able to adhere the ribbon ends to the inside of the front of the card.  After I finish the card I simply cover the inside with some paper to hide the ribbon ends.  To the top of the card I adhered some patterned paper and then punched out two strips of card with the Scallop Trim Border Punch.  The scallop borders are done in Melon Mambo (hot pink) and Pretty in Pink.  The seam where the Melon Mambo border and patterned paper meet is covered with the ribbon.

The hot pink doily is actually from some patterned paper I have which is laser cut so that the whole 12 x 12 sheet is doilies.  I simply snipped off one of the doilies and used that as my main image with a pink rhinestone brad in the middle to finish it off.

So there’s today’s card.  I’m quite pleased with the way it turned out but then again I do enjoy making monochromatic cards.

If you have any questions about how I made this card or wish to purchase any Stampin’ Up! products, please feel free to email me.

And here’s a list of Stampin’ Up! products that I used to create this card:

Rubber Stamps:
Style Beautiful

Cardstock & Paper:
Pink Pirouette cardstock
Melon Mambo cardstock
Pretty In Pink cardstock
Flirtatious Specialty Paper (background patterned paper and doily)

Inkpads/Markers/Paint:
Melon Mambo inkpad

Tools:
Scallop Trim Border Punch

Accessories:
Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon
Circle Fire Brads
Basic Pearls

Adhesives:
SNAIL adhesive

Here’s the second Get Well card in the series of three that I need to make.

This card started with the orange patterned paper, I wanted to use something cheerful but not overwhelming.  The orange is Pumpkin Pie so I then picked Rose Red for the flower and base of card because I’ve found in the past that I like the look of Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red together.  I stamped the flower then cut it out and added a felt flower to the centre and then a half pearl in the centre.  You can’t tell in this photo but the flower is mounted using Stampin’ Dimensionals so that it sits up on the card rather than flat. Same with the greeting, that’s mounted so that it ‘pops’.  Also the whole centre part of the card (everything stuck onto the white cardstock) is mounted onto the Rose Red card using Stampin’ Dimensionals.  Seriously, I buy those Stampin’ Dimensionals in bulk I go through so much of them but I just like the effect they give.  Oh and on the left of the card is some patterned paper which I punched out using a Square Scallop punch and I just folded the square in half and sandwhiched the card into it.  I could have been frugal and cut the shape in half and stuck that on top and saved the other side for another card but I just like the finish it gives to the side of the card when it’s folded over the back.  So that’s it… I hope it cheers up the lady I’m going to send it to.

If you’d like to know exactly what I used to make this card the list is at the end of this post.  All the products I’ve used are by Stampin’ Up! and are available for purchase through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com.  Please feel free to leave a comment and maybe let me know what you usually like to put on a Get Well card, is it flowers? a bandaid? animals?  I always like to hear what other fellow papercrafts like creating.

Products used:

Sincere Salutations stamp set
Eastern Blooms stamp set (from the 2008-2009 Summer Mini catalogue)
Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper (both the orange and green paper is from this series of paper)
Ribbon Originals – Fairy Tale (the green ribbon is one of 5 ribbons in a pack)
Flower Fusion Accents & Elements (the small green felt flower)
Pretties Kit (pearls)
Rose Red cardstock
Rose Red inkpad
Old Olive inkpad
Sponge Dauber (to sponge Rose Red ink around the greeting)
Whisper White  cardstock
SNAIL adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals (foam dots)
Glue Dots (to stick down the pearls)

I just finished making this get well card (unfortunately for the recipients I need to make 3 get well cards this week and two sympathy ) and I realised that I used all the things that are real staple items for me.  Things like gold embossing powder, a set of sentiment stamps and some pretty embellishments that are for all occasions and of course some ribbon in a colour that goes with everything.  This is a simple card and yet I just love it’s elegance.  Okay, I feel weird praising my own card… but since I’m so over-critical with my cards usually, I’ll let this one slip by!

I also have a real ‘thing’ for frame stamps… I don’t know what it is but I figure that if I have a frames of some sort then I can always stamp a flower or sentiment or something inside and it’ll be a nice ‘complete’ image.  Now please don’t look at this and say “oh wow! she can sure stamp straight”… because I don’t!  Thankfully I have a Stamp-a-ma-jig (stamp positioner) and that’s how I managed to stamp the “get well soon” greeting so perfectly into the gold embossed frame.  It’s funny, because when I first started stamping I had heard of stamp positioners and I always thought they were one of those fad items that they get newbies with.  I can’t believe it took me 5 years to admit that it’s easier just to stamp something right the first time rather than stamp it crooked half a dozen times (with lots of cursing in between.. cough, cough).

So feel free to comment on my card, and let me know what your ‘staple’ items are for your cardmaking.

And for those of you who don’t want to discipher what I’ve used in the card, here’s a comprehensive list for you.  If there’s anything you’d like or if you have any questions then please email me on angelasargeant.com

All products by Stampin’ Up!

Frames with a Flourish stamp set
Sincere Salutations stamp set
Whisper White cardstock
Chocolate Chip cardstock
Brushed Gold cardstock
Soft Sky cardstock
Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper (from the Summer Mini Catalogue 2008-2009)
Chocolate Chip inkpad
Versamark inkpad
Gold Embossing Powder
Anti-static pad (so I don’t get gold dots all over my embossing)
Heat gun
Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon
Pretties Kit (white flowers and white flat-backed pearls)
Glue Dots (another staple)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (used on 99.99% of my cards)
SNAIL Adhesive (so easy, I’ll never use double-sided tape again)