Hi Everyone,
It’s Tina here and I have some wonderful news to share. Today is my first official post as one of Susan’s Designers for Susan’s Garden Club. Yeah!!! I am super excited to be joining her wonderful team.
My card for today was inspired by Spring which has finally arrived here in Canada. It took its sweet time. Everywhere I go I am seeing gardens bloom. I knew my first card would have to be a garden.
By Jeanette Horner
This card was designed for a dear friend of mine. She gave me a beautiful bracelet and I just want to say Thank You. Linda Ware, you are such a dear friend. Thank you for being in my life.
Although this card was inspired for my friend Linda, it can also be made for lots of occasions. So let your creativity run wild…
Let’s get started.
Heart You Teacup
By Suzanne Cannon
Hi! It’s Suzanne here today with an embarrassingly easy project for Valentine’s Day – or any day, really! It’s simple to personalize your loved one’s mug or glass using craft vinyl. This is adhesive vinyl, sometimes referred to as sign vinyl, and you can use it for creating banners, decals and bumper stickers. The one I used is called Oracal 631 and is not permanent. It is great for indoor and short-term outdoor use. It works well on most smooth non-porous surfaces including walls, glass, mirrors, wood, metal, tile and plastic. It won’t damage the surface or leave an adhesive residue when removed within two years. This is the vinyl you can use for walls. If you use it for dishes, you should hand wash them. (Oracal 651 is the vinyl with stronger adhesive and might withstand the dishwasher.)
Starting today Elizabeth Craft Designs is running a contest to go along with this project. All you have to do leave a comment on this post and you will be entered to win A Way With Words – Love, Thank You and Calligraphic Elements Dies plus an exclusive Elizabeth Craft Designs mug. The winner will be chosen on Tuesday, February 9th at random, good luck crafters!
Hi, it’s Sanna here! I am very excited to be joining the Elizabeth Craft Designs design team! This is my first project as a team member.
I was pleased to see the German “Danke” in the A Way With Words die collection. It immediately inspired me to create a set of thank you cards. You never know when you will need one! I always keep a box of handmade cards at home so I am prepared for any occasion. I started with the first card and always tried to use both the positive and the negative images from die cutting, so in a way the first card led to the second one and so on.
Here is how I created the cards:
1. Back a 4.0×5.5 inch piece of Soft Finish Cardstock with Clear Double Sided Adhesive.
2. Run through a die cutting machine three times and align the word each time to match the position of the previous die cut image within the rectangle. Leave more open space between the the second and the third images. Keep the small pieces (negative shapes) that come out of the words.
3. Use the negative piece of the die cut cardstock sheet to space the words for the next cards. Now ink a second piece of Soft Finish Cardstock with orange, pink and green water-soluble ink. Then add water droplets onto the inked surface to create an interesting background.
4. Adhere the inked piece onto a card base. Then layer the negative die cut sheet over the inked sheet. Now use the negative pieces from the die cut words you have been saving to fill in the missing pieces to create readable words. Since they are backed with Clear Double Sided Adhesive it will be easy to adhere them into their places.
5. Now decorate the card with twine and rhinestones.
For the second card use the positive “Danke” pieces.
6. Ink with pink and orange ink to create an ombre (blended color) effect on the words.
7. Next ink both the left and the right side of the card base with orange ink and adhere a strip of Soft Finish Cardstock (3 inch wide) down the middle of the card base.
8. Then adhere the inked words onto the white cardstock strip. Now cut two pieces of Soft Finish Cardstock into a 3×4 inch size, adhere them on matching sized pieces of Clear Double Sided Adhesive and then run them through a die cutting machine using two of the Bunch of Flowers 4 dies. Cut each die twice on one of the two pieces, using the whole paper piece. Save the negative images for later.
9. Ink the flowers with orange and pink inks, layer them over each other and adhere to the card base. Decorate with rhinestones and black ink splatters. For the third and fourth card use the negative flower pieces as a starting point.
10. Apply Fire Opal Silk Microfine Glitter over the “empty” flower die cut areas.
11. Brush the excess glitter off with a paintbrush and polish the glittered areas with your fingertip to make the glitter really sparkle.
12. Use the Stitched Rectangles die (3rd largest size in the set) to cut a piece of green cardstock into size. Next use the Fitted Frames 3 Curvy Rectangles die and run the same green cardstock through a die cutting machine.
13. Adhere the glittered flower pieces and the frames overlappingly over each other. Die cut the word Danke three more times and ink them with black ink. Adhere in the center of the flowers. Decorate with rhinestones. (Option: Die cut black cardstock instead of inking.)Save the third black “Danke” for the last card.
14. Start by cutting a piece of Soft Finish Cardstock to 4×5.5 inch. Next use the Stitched Circles die (the 4th biggest one in size in the set). Use masking tape or washi tape to temporarily adhere the circle die onto the cardstock piece, then place two thirds of the die inside the cutting boards of the die cutting machine. Run through the machine. When you lift the die up, only 2/3 of the image is cut. This way you can create a half circle window for a card.
15. Then use a metal ruler and a craft knife to cut the window open. Save the leftover half circle piece for later. Add spray ink to color the window piece.
16. Use the Leafy Branch and the Bunch of Flowers 4 dies to cut shapes from Soft Finish Cardstock for decoration. Ink with orange and green ink.
17. Next add a piece of Clear Double Sided Adhesive onto the leftover half circle piece. Remove the release sheeet and apply Fire Opal Silk Microfine Glitter onto the adhesive surface. Brush off excess. Polish with your fingertip to achieve a perfect shine.
18. Ink the area of the card base under where the window will later be with blue ink. Use the glittered half circle as a sun and mark its position with a pencil. Cut the “sun” down to size.
19. Add thin adhesive stripes (6mm Clear Double Sided Adhesive) as sun rays and then apply Silk Microfine Glitter Fire Opal onto the adhesive strips. Brush off excess, polish with your fingertip (as for all other projects).
20. Use a piece of soft foam and the eraser end of a pencil to shape the flower petals, ink the tips of the petals with pink ink for contrast. Then layer and adhere all pieces. Add some detail using green, black and white pens. This is what the finished cards look like:
There are so many possibilities for using a single sentiment die! Hope you give it a try. Happy crafting,
Sanna
SUPPLIES:
Elizabeth Craft Designs –
1033 Leafy Branch
1030 Bunch of Flowers 4
1157 Danke
1120 Stitched Rectangles
1116 Stitched Circles
1063 Fitted Frames 3 – Curvy Rectangles
Soft Finish Cardstock – 8,5×11″
Clear Double Sided Adhesive 101 mm
Clear Double Sided Adhesive 6 mm
Fire Opal – Silk Microfine Glitter
Other –
Distress Ink (Ranger Industries)
Big Shot die cutting machine – Sizzix
Washi tape
Paint brush
Black, white and green marker (Sakura, Signo, Micron)
Card bases
Twine (Whisker Graphics)
Rhinestones (ScrapBerry´s)
Spray ink (Tattered Angels by Canvas Corp Brands)
Hi, It’s Kelly Booth here today with a cheerful way to send a thank you.
We all need thank you cards, especially this time of year, and this is a fun one using some *new* Elizabeth Craft Designs dies created by Joset van de Burgt and one of my favorite Accordion die sets; the Fancy Label, by Karen Burniston.
Here is the card in the closed position:
And here is the card opened up!
The back of the card:
Start by gathering the dies you will need for this project: (1149 Strawberries), (771) Accordion Fancy Label , (907) Fancy Seasons Frame Edges, and (1096) Flourish Gift Frame (for the thanks)
You’ll also need some other Elizabeth Craft Designs supplies:
4. Die Cut the following pieces without adhesive on the back.
5. Color the strawberry leaves, detail strawberries, stems, and solid strawberries with markers. (I used Copics and then textured a little with a rag and some Blending fluid.
6. Adhere the Frame Edges around the two front pages leaving even spacing on both sides of the frame. Adhere the embossed labels to the center of each page. Snip off the long side tab on the right page. Decorate the right page with the red “thanks” referring to the photos for placement. Use a pop dot or foam tape under the small white label. Assemble the small strawberry and attach it to the raised white label as shown.
7. Place the colored strawberry leaves on the first page using liquid adhesive. Assemble the large strawberry and adhere in the position shown using foam tape adhesive.
8. Attach the two pages to each other using tape on the long side tab on the outer frame of the first page. Turn the album over and add the remaining 8 Frame Edges to the back of the album, which will disguise the tab that was used to connect the pages.
9. Using liquid adhesive on the two small tabs, join the two inner panels together. Train the card to fold correctly as shown in the photos. Remove the liner from the white labels and place them onto the back of the card matching up the Fancy Label shape. (This helps make the card sturdier and also helps support the tabs underneath.
Your card is now finished! I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. Thank you for stopping by the Elizabeth Craft Designs blog today!
Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies:
(907) Fancy Seasons Frame Edges
(E114) Lots of Dots Embossing Folder
(607) Chocolate Silk Microfine Glitter
(510) Elizabeth Craft Designs Clear Double Sided Tape 101mm
(506) Clear Double Sided Adhesive Tape 6mm
(PSF102) Soft Finish Card Stock 8″5″ by 11″
Other Supplies:
Red Cardstock
Liquid Adhesive
Die Cutting Machine
Ranger Glossy Accents
Copic Markers & Blending Fluid, plus a rag
Created by Mary Dimercurio Prasad for Elizabeth Craft Designs
Making the Card
1. Cut blue cardstock 5.5 x 8.5 inches; fold in half to form an A2 sized card base. Cut pink cardstock 4 x 5.25 inches.
2. Die cut black cardstock, Light Blue Metallic Shimmer Sheetz and Raspberry Metallic Shimmer Sheetz using the Garden Patch 1 1/2-inch & Mini Petals main die. Die cut Thank You sentiment from Raspberry Metallic Shimmer Sheetz (use Metal Adaptor Plate to die cut Shimmer Sheetz). Die cut 2 more copies of Thank You from pink cardstock. Glue the Thank You words in a stack to form thick words, with the Shimmer Sheetz on top.
3. Adhere the black frame to the pink cardstock (step 1), centered at the top (long side) as shown.
4. Emboss square pieces of Raspberry Metallic Shimmer Sheetz using Bouquet folder, emboss blue pieces using Dancing Leaves folder. Tap/rub StazOn Black ink across the tops to enhance the design. Adhere into black frame using Elizabeth Craft Designs’ Transparent Double Sided Tape, alternating designs. Add blue ribbon around the bottom of the pink cardstock with squares as shown. Adhere pink cardstock to front of card base. Adhere stacked Thank You to card over ribbon as shown.
5. Using Hydrangea and Peony dies, die cut stems and leaves from green cardstock, Peony petals from light pink cardstock (cut about 3 copies of the single petal sets), Hydrangea flowers from cream cardstock (2 sets of flowers), and Peony center (stamen) from yellow cardstock (cut 2 copies).
6. Lightly ink all edges of cream flowers with Salty Ocean Distress Ink using an ink blending tool. Watercolor petals of Peony with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink: get each petal wet with a brush and water, add a small amount of color most of the way up the petal, then intensify the color at the base. Watercolor the leaves using Mowed Lawn Distress Ink: darker green in shaded areas (base of leaves), let dry then use a small brush to add veins. Add green shadows to the stems as well, along one side.
7. Shape the leaves and petals: rub the middle of the Hydrangea flowers with a small round stylus. Run a stylus around the back edge of each Peony Petal (including the ones that form the base), flip and rub with a large stylus or end of a die pick from the base about half way towards the tips – choose about 6 petals to shape the opposite way to go around the center and on the Peony bud (one very small and one small for bud), i.e. these will curve inwards while the others will curve outwards.
8. Cut the yellow stamen stalks (filaments) down the middles maybe 2/3rds of the way down. Add glue along the bottom edge of one, roll tightly along the bottom edge. Add glue to the other and roll it around the first. Spread the filaments out a bit with your finger.
9. Add a small dot (e.g. with toothpick) of Baby Blue Liquid Pearls to the centers of each of the Hydrangea flowers. With a large stylus or end of die pick, rub the back of the round Hydrangea base (top of stem) to form a cup. Add something to the cup to give it support from behind – I used a large enamel dot but you could fill it with Glossy Accents, Silicone Glue, or even dimensional tape (cut in circle). Glue the flowers to the outside. You may have to adhere a few on opposite sides then let them dry before adding more so they won’t shift on you.
10. For the Peony bud, find the base (one with embossed lines), glue the small sized then the very small sized petals you reserved, as shown in photo. For the main Peony, rub the petal base in the center to give it a bit of a cupped shape (e.g. with the end of a die pick). Glue the stamen to the center. Glue the petals reserved for the center around the stamen then fill in the other petals.
11. Assemble and adhere stems, leaves, and flowers as shown. Don’t be afraid to trim a stem and/or move leaves to create the look you want. I cut an extra leaf for the Hydrangea (bottom) and glued it on top of its matching leaf, along the bottom edge, to make it pop out. Make a double bow with twine and adhere where stems meet.
Supplies
ECD Supplies
Other
Hello my crafty friends, it’s Raquel Mason here today. I was inspired by a card Rita Edwards made. She tore away pieces of the release sheet covering the Transparent Double Sided Adhesive Tape Sheet a little at a time so she could add Silk Microfine Glitter in sections one color at a time, creating soft (rather than cut) edges. Let’s get right into the glittery goodness!
1. Cut a piece of light tan cardstock at 4.25 x 5.5 for an A2 sized card base.
2. Cut a piece of black cardstock at 4 x 5.25, adhere to card base. Apply Pink/Silver Glitter Border Lines around the perimeter of the black cardstock.
3. Cut a piece of white cardstock and Transparent Double Sided Tape at 3.5 x 4.5. Adhere Transparent Double Sided Tape to the white cardstock.
4. Tear a strip of the release sheet off one section a time, cover with Amethyst Silk Microfine Glitter, brush off excess and polish with your finger. Repeat this step with alternating colors until cardstock is entirely covered with Silk Microfine Glitter. Adhere to black cardstock.
5. Using a scrap piece of vanilla cardstock, die cut Thank You. Adhere to lower left side of card.
6. Cut a piece of white cardstock large enough to fit two Crystal Flower Peel-Offs and adhere Double Sided Transparent Tape to it. Remove peel-offs and place them sticky side up on the release sheet. Place white cardstock with the Double Sided Transparent Tape sticky side down onto the release sheet to transfer the peel-offs. Remove release sheet and cover sticky tape and peel-offs with Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter. Polish with your finger and brush of excess glitter.
7. Color Crystal Flower Peel-Offs with alchol based markers or desired medium then cut using Fine Pointed Scissors. Use foam tape to adhere flowers to card base. Use photos for placement.
8. Cut a piece of Transfer Sheet large enough to cover image, lay Transfer Sheet onto negative image, burnish with a bone folder. Lift up Transfer Sheet, if all pieces have not been transferred burnish again. Place Transfer Sheet onto inside of card, burnish again, lift up Transfer Sheet, burnish again if all pieces have not been transferred. Click here to see Els demonstrate this technique. I added the negative images to the envelope too.
I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial and feel inspired to try it out yourself.
Happy Crafting,
Raquel
SUPPLIES:
Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies –
2579 Crystal Flower Peel-Offs in Black
639 Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter
603 Silver Silk Microfine Glitter
621 Amethyst Silk Microfine Glitter
619 Fuchsia Silk Microfine Glitter
7010 Glitter Borders Pink/Silver
503 Transparent Double Sided Tape
Other Supplies –
Light tan, black and white cardstock
Foam Tape
Welcome everyone to the last ECD Designers Challenge for this year. Wow, this year flew by so fast! Since December is the month of festivities we thought some extra glitter and sparkles would be nice, therefore we challenged our team to create projects using our Silk Microfine Glitter and Shimmer Sheetz. We didn’t request a particular theme so the team created Thank You cards, Birthday cards, cards for any occasion or for no special reason. There’s even a New Year’s card! We hope you enjoy seeing all of the projects.
First project is from Frances Byrne who created this beautiful sparkly card using our new transparent double sided adhesive tape, a combination of Silk Microfine Glitter colors and Blue Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz. The background looks very complicated but is actually really easy to create. Just add strips of double sided tape to white cardstock. Peel off the release paper covering the tape lines, one color at a time, and add the glitter. More info on Frances’ blog.
Next project is from Rita Edwards who used the Lucy Label Pop Up to create this beautiful bright sunshine-filled card. She used the Gold Metallic Shimmer Sheetz to create the sun and Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter for the boots and the umbrella. Love the added Red Glitter Dots.
Love the sparkly background on this beautiful, elegant card from Candy Spiegel. She used the Pinecones Embossing Folder and a piece of Gold Metallic Shimmer Sheetz. For the purple stripes she used Amethyst Silk Microfine Glitter.
![ECD_DC_December_Candy_Spiegel3[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.blog.elizabethcraftdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ECD_DC_December_Candy_Spiegel31.jpg?ssl=1)
Karen Aicken made this beautiful tag using Tags & More 1 – Lace, Dragonfly Silhouette, Dragonfly Overlay and Hello dies. Love the colors she used. Karen added Silk Microfine Glitter to the top and bottom portion of the tag and to the dragonfly overlay. For the dragonfly silhouette and the Hello she used Shimmer Sheetz.
Love this next card created by Debra Hensley. For the background she used Shimmer Sheetz and our Bouquet Embossing Folder. Sanding the Shimmer Sheetz lightly will bring up the white core and add more detail. The bright red flower looks stunning with the purple background. For more details, make sure to visit Debra’s blog.
Raquel Mason created this elegant card using the Rose and Thank You dies. For the rose she used Red Metallic and Peridot Gemstone Shimmer Sheetz. She created a gorgeous lace background using Silk Microfine Glitter. Love the added black Peel-off border.
Next card is from Mary Prasad who created this beautiful Thank You card using the Spiral Circle Pull card and the clock and gear from the Clock and Gears die set. Really like the patterned paper Mary used for this card. A timeless card that can be used for many occasions.
A stunning card from Kelly Booth using the Bouquet Embossing Folder, Shimmer Sheetz and Silk Microfine Glitter. Kelly used the same lace technique with glitter that Raquel used for the background of her card (already shown). For the inside of the card she used Karen Burniston’s Happy Birthday Pop Up.
The last project for our challenge is from Jackie Smith who created this stunning Asian-theme Happy New Year card. Jackie used a combination of dies, Shimmer Sheetz and glitter all matching with the beautiful patterned paper she chose for her card. The Blue Glitter Border adds a nice finishing touch. More info on Jackie’s blog.
We hope you enjoying today’s challenge and feel inspired to try some of the projects yourself. We would like to thank our wonderful Design Team for all their beautiful work they created for the blog this year. We also would like to thank Karen Burniston and her wonderful team for the monthly challenge and our guest designers for their stunning work!
Then last but not least we wish everyone a Happy New Year! For next year we have a lot of fun new products in store so stay tuned!
The Elizabeth Craft Designs Team
Hi It’s Kelly Booth here with a Sparkly Snowflake Thank You card using some fun supplies by Elizabeth Craft Designs. It’s a very simple card but also very elegant using just a few products.
I love ECD’s Glitter Dots Peel-offs and new Transparent Double Sided Adhesive Tape. They make it so easy to add some sparkle to a card. The ECD Snowflake Dies and Embossing Folder are favorites of mine.
1. Cut a piece of white cardstock 4″ 1/4″ by 11″ and score at 5″ 1/2″ making a top fold card. Open the card so it is flat, insert only the bottom 2 1/2″ of the card front into the embossing folder and run it through the die cutting/embossing machine. See photo below.
2. Take a piece of 3mm Elizabeth Craft Designs Double Sided Tape and place a strip on the card front just above the embossed area. Remove the top protective layer from the tape and sprinkle some Solar Gold Silk Microfine Glitter on the adhesive. Polish with your fingers and brush off the excess glitter.
3. Using a small scrap of white cardstock about 3″ by 4″ place a piece of the Elizabeth Craft Designs Double Sided Adhesive the same size on to the cardstock. Remove the top layer and cover adhesive with Silver Silk Microfine Glitter. Polish with your fingers and brush off the excess glitter. Take another piece of adhesive 3″ by 4″ and place it on the back of the silver glittered piece. Place the Elizabeth Craft Designs (788) Thank You die on the silver glittered piece and run it though your die cutting machine. You might need to use a shim for this to get it to cut better. Peel the backing from the words Thank You and place them (centered) above the gold glittered line.
4. Back a piece of white cardstock about 4″ x 5″ with ECD Transparent Double Sided Adhesive Sheet. Die cut one of each of the three snowflakes in the Snowflakes die set.
Peel the backing from the snowflakes one at a time and arrange them on the top portion of the card front.
5. Place a Glitter Dot Peel-off in each circle on the three die cut snowflakes. Your card is now finished!
I hope you have been inspired to give some of these fun Elizabeth Craft Designs products a try! Thank you for stopping by the blog today and have a wonderful day!
Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies –
(E126) Snowflakes Embossing Folder
(7018) Transparent/Silver Glitter Dots
(505) Elizabeth Craft Designs Transparent Double Sided Tape 3mm
(503) Elizabeth Craft Designs Double Sided Tape sheet 6″ x 6″
(603) Silver – Silk Microfine Glitter
(638) Solar Gold – Silk Microfine Glitter
Other Supplies –
White Cardstock
Die Cutting Machine
Scissors
Guest Designer Judi Kauffman is here today with an idea that is perfect for this time of year and suitable year round.
Fast & Easy Thank You Cards
By Judi Kauffman
My parents thought it was important for my sister and me to send handwritten thank you notes within three days of receiving a gift. To encourage the habit we got to make whatever kind of card we wanted and there were always lots of colorful pens and pencils for writing a message inside. It was so much fun that I’ve never stopped making and sending Thank You cards. For me, an envelope and a stamp will carry my gratitude across town or across the country and beyond in a way that is not possible with a keyboard and the “Send” button.
The Thank You cards I’m making this year take only a couple of minutes. Here’s the recipe:
TIPS:
Make a batch of cards instead of working one at a time and you’ll always have Thank You cards on hand when needed.
Switch the color palette (Velvet Adhesive Sheets come in lots of colors, good old basic Black will work with almost any paper choices).
Switch to a vertical side-fold card instead of a horizontal top-fold.
Use this fast and easy card idea for other occasions. Substitute different Stand Up Helper word bands (Happy Birthday, Thinking of You, etc.) or choose peel-offs for the greeting instead of die cutting your message.
Supplies:
Elizabeth Craft Designs –
Any embossing folder (shown: E117 Flower Power)
Any Shimmer Sheetz (shown: SS0102 White Iridescent)
Any border peel-off (shown: 1275 Ribbon Radar)
Any Stand Up Helper word die (shown: 941 Thank You)
Glitter Dots in any color (shown: 7018 Red/Gold)
Velvet Adhesive Sheets in any color (shown: 402 Red)
Other – Sanding block; Die cutting/embossing machine; Solid cardstock, patterned papers (Bazzill Basic Papers, Graphic 45); A2 envelopes
