Blue Flower Flip-it Card

I cut a piece of white printmaking paper with the Sizzix Circle Flip-it die.  Then I ran it through my Big Shot using a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I dusted the raised design with some distress ink.



I was inspired by the blog post of Elena Roche where she created a transparent flower so thought I'd give it a try. To create the floral center I made a flower using material from an old transparent blue duo tang which I cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die.  I embossed the petals with the same embossing folder used on the card front. I used a brad to hold the petal layers together.  Using the left over cut-out of the largest petal as a stencil I added a blue silhouette with distress ink.

The flower center is a 1-inch button that I made using scrap fabric rather than the traditional paper and clear acetate covering.  I glue-gunned the button over the brad and glue-gunned the flower over the silhouette.

Heart and Wings, Poinsetta, and Telephone and Flagpole Pop-Up Cards

I received a big haul of Sizzix and Tim Holtz dies at Christmas.  We had lots of company, both visiting and staying over the holidays, so I have only managed to play with a few.  As I don't buy cards, I like to make non-occasioned cards to have on hand.

Went for a grungier as opposed to pretty look so used pastel pinks and blues with black.

Outside

Heavy printmaking paper cut with Sizzix pop 'n cut die without an insert.  Distress inks added randomly to front and embossed.  Black Stazon ink added to raised design.

Inside

Digital scrapbookking background printed to cardstock and cut with Sizzix pop 'n cut die with Winged Heart insert.  Side edges cut with Tim Hotz Plaque and Postage On the Edge die. Cardstock cut with Sizzix Heart and Wing Set and added to the insert section.

Tried to use the Pionsetta 3-die pop n' cut insert to make a non-Christmas card and went for an East Asian look.

Outside

Heavy printmaking paper cut with Sizzix pop 'n cut die without an insert.  Front embossed and distress ink added to raised design of both sides.  Two sizes of flowers cut with Tim Holtz Tattered Floral Garland die. Yellow tuille layed between two flower layers and completed flowers added to front with yellow brads.

Inside

Digital scrapbookking background (yellow and green) printed to cardstock and cut with Sizzix pop 'n cut die with Poinsetta Flower insert. Another digital scrapbookking background (beige and brown) printed to cardstock cut with the Sixxiz pop 'n cut die without an insert glued to the back of the first (to show through the cut flower hole).  Top and bottom edges cut with Tim Holtz Ornate On the Edge die.  Same beige and brown cardstock used to cut another two flower sections and added to front and back of the pop up flower.  Same small flowers as on front cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Floral Garland die added to insert section with yellow brads.  Note that 3 layers of paper make for a thick card.

Outside

Half of a 12x12 scrapbookking paper cut with Sizzix pop 'n cut die without an insert.

Inside

Other half of a 12x12 scrapbookking paper cut with the Sizzix pop 'n cut die with the basic insert.

Black card cut with Tim Holtz Vintage Telephone and Typewriter Movers and Shapers die.

Flagpoles cut using the Sissiz Flagpole and Lantern die.

Birds cut twice using two different blues using the Sixxiz Birds on a Wire die. Three of the birds separated from the wire and added to the flagpole and centre insert.

The pole is inserted and attached to the back of the insert using the technique shown in the video by Karen Burniston.

Wedding Pop-Up Card

My nephew Fraser and Karen were married on New Years Eve.  I made a card to celebrate both their marriage and the festive party theme they chose.

For the front I used a heavy printmaking paper which I cut using the Sizzix pop 'n cut die without any insert.  I used a blue distress ink on the raised edges of an embossing folder before embossing the raised design on the front half.  I cut two sizes of flowers using the Tim Holtz Tattered Floral Garland die.



I added a piece of blue tulle in between each flower layer and attached them to the the card with small blue brads. The brads get hidden once the inner and outer cards are glued together.



I used digital scrapbookking paper printed onto cardstock.  This I cut with the Sizzix pop 'n cut die with the basic insert.  I added a Tim Holtz Plaque and Postage on the edge die to trim the top and bottom.



I cut the bigger heart using the Tim Holtz Mini Heart Set and a flourish from the Sizzix Decorative Flourishes Set. I glued the flourish directly to the inner base and added the heart with a foam dot. 

The flag posts were made following the tutorial by Karen Burniston but without using a flagpole die (I kind of made my own). I followed her tutorial and punched slots on the back shelf and inserted the post with a fold at the bottom. I hung fishing line between the poles and drapped pennant flags with intials of the bride and groom.

The wedding was a blast and I hope I caught the party atmosphere.



Snowman Pop-Up Card

To pump up the Christmas spirit, I wanted to make more cards using Sizzix and Karen Burniston's basic pop 'n cut die with different designs.  Again I used a lot of recycled materials, all except for the glue and paint.

The cardstock used for the exterior is off-cuts from a paper distributer, cut to 5" x 11" and edged with a bit of distressed ink.  The snowflakes are cut from cardstock using the Sizzix Snowflakes #3 die and the Tim Holtz Winter Wonderland die.  The snowflakes were first painted with an irridescent silver Modern Masters acrylic paint and then with the Tim Holtz picket fence distress crackle paint.  Difficult to see, but the silver shows through the crackle.  The snowflake on the right was glue directly to the card, the one on the left was added using a foam dot.  The "Let It Snow" letters were cut from scrap cardstock using the Tim Holtz Word Play die.  A light layer of distressed ink was added to the letters.

The inside card was cut from a vinyl wallpaper sample using the Sizzix basic pop 'n cut die and the sides cut with the Tim Holtz Ornate On the Edge die. 

The snowman, branch, bird and snowflake were cut from card (recycled cereal box).  The snowman and snowflake were cut from the Tim Holtz Winter Wonderland die then painted using the same technique as the snowflakes on the front (iridescent silver and crackle paint).  The snowman was given a scarf and then glued to the front of the circle pop up section.  The snowflake was attached with a foam dot.

The branch was cut using the Tim Holtz Bird Branch die.  Only a portion of the branch was used, painted with brown acrylic paint and splashes of white added to look like snow.  The bird was cut twice using the Sizzix Birds on a Wire die, then painted with acrylic paint.  The second wing was added to give some depth.  Both branch and bird were sanded slightly and distress ink added to the edges.  The bird and branch were added to the back of the circle pop up section with foam dots.

I made a similar card with blue theme using the same techniques.

The background for the inside of this card is sample fabric glued to cardstock, then cut with the pop 'n cut die.  Again, I used a Tim Holtz On The Edge die on the sides.  I used a different section of the same Tim Holtz Bird Branch die and another bird from the Sizzix Bird on a Wire die, and attached them slightly differently.

The basic pop 'n cut die offers a lot of flexibility in designing cards.  I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Snowy Reindeer Pop-up Card

Inspired by Karen Burniston and Shelly Hickox I created the following pop n' cut Christmas card for the Die Cutting Inspiratioin post on the Sizzix blog.  As with most of my art I like to incorporate a lot of recycled materials.  So true to tradition, all materials used for this card are recycled except for the glue and paint.

The cardstock used for the front was an old file folder cut to 5-1/2" x 11".  I swiped the edges both inside and out with distressed ink.  The red "wooden boards" and the "wreath" were cut from a kleenex tissue box, then painted with acrylic paint.  The wreath was cut using the Tim Holtz Regal Crest die and is constructed using a technique Tim Holtz used in one of his 2011 Christmas tags.  Both were sanded and distressed ink added.  The bow was repurposed ribbon from a Christmas past.  The letters were cut from scrap matte board from a framer using the Tim Holtz Word Play die.  Letters were left white to contrast everything else on the front.

The interior card was cut from a page from a sample vinyl wallpaper book using the Sizzix basic pop n' cut die and edge cut with a Tim Holtz On The Edge die. The trees were cut from matte board samples using the Tim Holtz Pine Tree die.  Splashes of white acrylic paint were added for a snow effect and glued to the circle base (one on top of the other).  The deer are cut from an Oreo cookie box using the Tim Holz Reindeer Flight die.  The deer were coated in walnut ink distressed ink and a collar of light white string added to each.  The standing deer is attached to the top tree with foam dots to add dimension.  The leaping deer is attached to the back of the circle base.  The snowflake is cut from waste cardstock using the Sizzix Snowflakes #3 die and glue to the card.

I have yet to perfect Karen Buriston's spinners but want to have the leaping reindeer actually leap.  But that I shall leave to another card.

Ashwin Accordian Album

Little Ashwin hit 1 month and learnt how to smile.  I wanted to mark this momentus occasion. I watched a video by Karen Burniston using a Sizzix die to make a 3-D accordian flip album.  I was not sure whether I wanted to buy this die so I made one without the die.  

As with all their dies, when you are viewing information about this die on the Sizzix website you can see a sample photograph of something made with the die and usually a line drawing of the die blades.  I followed the line drawing to make this card.  Still not sure if I want to buy this die, but it should be noted that what took me at least 5 hours to make could have been made in under half an hour if I used the die.

My accordian album is 5"x5". The pages use coordinating digital scrapbookking papers printed onto cardstock (if I had to do it again I would print the cardstock on both sides).  This is the front.  The letters were cut using the Tim Holtz Word Play die using scrap matte board which I then coloured using some Tim Holtz distress ink.  I added a felt/wood embellishment of a star with a rocking horse as Ashwin translates to "star" in Sanskrit (trust these young folk to give their kids exotic names).

The accordian album is rather nifty as it folds down flat enough to slip into an envelope, yet opens to quite an impressive size. You can make your album any number of pages; I chose 4.



On the internal pages I added photos of little Ashwin's smiling face which I printed onto cardstock.  The frames were cut using 2 different sizes of Sizzix Bracket Window dies using a blue cardstock.

Red Flower Pop-up Card

Using the Sizzix basic Pop n Cut die I cut both the inner card and the outer card using cardstock from a recycled report cover (the government report was about rare and endangered wildlife species).  I embossed  half of the outside card  using a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

  

For the inner decorative elements, I cut flowers with the Tim Holz Tattered Florals die and the Sizzix Flower Layers #5 using some scrap papers I had left over from other projects.  I attached the flower layers to the pop-up base using a brad.  The leaves were cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Pinecone die from a postcard advertising a garden lawn service.

This card isn't intended for anyone in particular.  I like to keep spare cards on hand for last minute situations.  Thus, the inside is a bit bare, but I'll add specific things once I have an intended recipient.

Wedding Card

It's wedding day for my neice Morgan and I've made a card/gift folder for the occasion. It's a standard 4x6 card with an opening flap on the right.  For the card base I cut, scored and folded an old file folder.  I then covered the various panels with pieces from a 12x12 sheet of double-sided scrapbook paper from the Susan Winget K&Company Specialty Paper.  I selected this sheet as red and gold are auspicious colours to the Chinese. 

A

After gluing all the pieces onto the blank card I used a corner round punch on the short panel edges.  Then I sanded all the folds and edges and added some gold distress ink.

In keeping with the bird theme on the paper I added a gold bird cut from scrap matte board using the Tim Holtz Bird Branch die.  This I added using foam dots to raise it a bit (and to allow for the cord).

The card was to serve as a gift holder, so I cut a shape using half of the Tim Holtz Ornamental die and added it using foam dots to allow for the thickness of the intended cheque.

I cut  from scrap white card using the Sizzix Leaves die, wrote "Welcome to Married Life" and our names and attached it to the inside of the card with a heart-shaped paper clip.

I stamped with gold ink a red envelope with the happy couple's names and added another bird to tie it all together.

To keep the card closed I used a length of gold stretch cord saved from a Christmas past.

Once the cheque is removed and the leaves unclipped, the card can be regifted.

Wedding Shower Card

I made a wedding card for my neice's shower.  I die cut the bottom front edge with the Tim Holtz Art on The Edge Scallops die.  Then I embossed the card front with a Sizzix embossing folder.  I die cut a dress form using the Tim Holtz Alterations Movers and Shapers Mini Sewing Room set.  To make the dress itself I first added a boddice using a piece from a paper doily.  White tulle and lace was glued to the dress form to make the dress.

Silhouette Die Cut Cards

Back in June I purchased a Silhouette SD machine, but never got around to playing with it.

I have a Cricut machine, but was unhappy with the fact that I had to buy cartridges for any new designs or fonts I wanted. With the Silhouette you can use any font on your computer. As a collage artist and computer graphic person, I have collected thousands of fonts and dingbats as well as images. The software was pretty straightfoward and I figured out how to convert files for use in the Silhouette, so the possibilities are endless.

First, I bought a couple of the designs from their online store and started experimenting with the cutting machine. Not wanting too get to elaborate with the print and cut function, I printed paper patterns onto cardstock on a laser printer and then cut the image files using the printed paper. Because I have tons of small scrap collage pieces, I laid a piece on the inside back of the card. With the collage scraps all being different, each card is unique.


I then attempted to create designs in the software to make similar die cut cards. I'm getting a feel for what works and doesn't work. I'm pretty pleased with the results.