Sunny Days

Here's a fun card to make.  The base is made of cardstock and the decoration and greeting are made on acetate which is attached with four eyelets.

The sun (Soleil Points by Stampendous) was stamped with a permanent black ink pad (StazOn) and then different colors of liquid ink were dropped and allowed to mingle and then dry. I used Adirondack Alcohol Inks by Tim Holtz.  The inked side faces the cardstock and is then attached.

 

The greeting was made with Microsoft Word and printed on acetate made for my printer.  This was also attached with four eyelets.

As you can see from this side view, there is an upside down "v" shape on the inside flap.  This is called a "mountain fold".  This flap has a quarter inch flap that glues to the back to close the card.  The card stands by itself and also folds flat to fit an envelope.

This diagram shows the measurements I used on an 11 inch piece of cardstock.  These measurements can be altered to suit your paper and the size you wish to make your card.  The lines need to be creased with a bone folder and folded as the picture shows.  I attached the quarter inch fold to the back with some double sided tape for strength.  For a larger version of the diagram go here.

Something Fishy

Last Autumn my sister and her son planned a "Mother/Son" fishing trip to Montana.  They live on opposite coasts and wanted to spend some relaxing quality time together.  I made each of them a card to get them off to a good start.  Here is the card I made for my sister.

 

I bought some pre-made fishing "accessories" to use on the front of the card which I attached to the green cardstock.  Then I attached the green to the base card with photo corners that I created using Martha Stewart's punch.

  

These photo corners are so easy to create and yet add so much depth!  See the tutorial below.

The inside I made using Microsoft Word, left over "accessories" and a couple pictures of flies.  I poked two holes two inches apart in the center and tied the inside and outside together with a piece of twine (to which I added a fish).

PHOTO CORNER TUTORIAL

 

The punch used on this tutorial was made by Fiskars and is called Diamond.

Tunnel Vision

My latest "Card Crafts" swap is a "tunnel card".  There are a couple styles for tunnel cards and I chose to do one that I found on Chia's Rubber Stamp and Asylum of Creative Expression (An interesting name don't you think?).

Since my partner is in Ohio I decided to do a card with a Southwest flavor.  I found a desert sunset picture and printed it out four times.  Each of the pictures has to be cut once, each at a natural division.

 

I used the template pattern provided on the Chia site but I made some adjustments to it.  I wanted it to have one more fold on each side and I changed some measurements to fit a 12 inch paper.  For my template click here!

Above you can see the template after being folded and the window being cut out.  Use a bone folder to make each fold crisp.

 

I started on the left side with the largest (whole) picture and attached it inside the last fold with double sided tape. 

 

I added the second piece to the next fold.

  

And the third... 

And last but not least the fourth!

Repeat this procedure on the other side.  I added a piece of matching lavender cardstock to the back (cut to the size of the finished card).  This is a top view of the folds and photos.

 

This view shows the "step" effect.

Here are some tutorials for you...

   Can't Stop Making Things  

   Sunflowers and Dragonflies 

   Chia's Rubber Stamp Art

Colliding Kaleidoscopes

 

I have a great program called Kaleidoscope Kreator.  Originally I got it to design quilt squares and then one day decided to play around with it to make a design for a card.  I found a small picture of berries and pinecones and used it as the basis for the kaleidoscope.  Then, because I like the pyramid technique, I decided to print the design in several sizes.

This is a side view so you can see the layers of the pyramid.  The bottom layer is glued to a slightly larger piece of contrasting cardstock which was centered and glued to the card.  Each subsequent section is added on top of the previous section.  I used foam dots around the edges and in the middle of each section.

For the inside I copied the original kaleidoscope into Microsoft Word and stretched it to fit the inside.  I added a message, cut the image out and attached to the inside with glue stick.  I use glue sticks a lot because they dry fast.  After gluing an element I "press" it under several books while I work on the next part.

For those of you who have Kaleidoscope Kreator and want to print out pyramid sections, here is a short tutorial:

Open your program, import your image, choose the square shape with 16 pieces and play around until you like what you see.  When you save your image choose "save worksheet".  Once you've made your kaleidoscope image you will need to print it out in several sizes.

When you are ready to print make sure you choose "print multiple". In the size section check to see that "maintain proportions" is checked then enter "4 inches" for the width and "1" for the quantity and click "add".  Now you are ready to add your other sized pieces.  Change width to "3.4 inches" and click "add".  Continue on in this manner with "2.9 inches", "2.45 inches", "2.1 inches" and "1.45 inches".

Make sure your print margins are "0.1" for size and that "show cutlines" is NOT checked.  Make sure your printer properties are set for glossy photo paper, print the sheet and let dry a few minutes.

Here are some tutorials for pyramid or pyramage cards:

   Crafty Ann 

   Paper Craft Junkies