Author: Karen

I am a very blessed wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. I firmly believe in the quote by Dieter F. Uchtdorf which states "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human heart." Every day I try to create something that lifts the heart for myself and others.

Red Hot Foil Big Birthday Wishes

This card uses the waste from hot foiling the My Favorite Things Big Birthday Wishes with red foil. I’ve found that foiling the waste can be hit and miss. Most of the time you do not get full coverage. That was the case with this card. The edges were not well covered, so I cut the panel down with a stitched rectangle. If you look closely there are a few small areas were the coverage isn’t precise, which gives it a little distressed look.

I added Simon Says Stamp Big Mama Foam Tape to the back of the panel and adhered it to a top folding A2 cardbase. It needed a little more visual interest and so I cut the mini cupcake and candle from My Favorite Things from white glitter cardstock and the candle again from gold mirror cardstock and adhered everything together with liquid glue. Simon Says Stamp’s Big Mama Foam Tape was added to the back and the candles was adhered to the base of the “I” in the word “BIG” and I liked that much better.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • My Favorite Things Big Birthday Wishes Die
  • My Favorite Things Mini Cupcake Maker Die
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle
  • Paper Accents White Glitter Cardstock
  • Neenah Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock
  • Spellbinders Glimmer Red Hot Foil
  • Simon Says Stamp Big Mama Foam Tape
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive

Gold & Red Big Birthday Wishes

This card is an example of how you can mess up on a card and still salvage it.

I first hot foiled the Big Birthday Wishes die onto white cardstock with red hot foil. There was too much white space on the card and not enough visual interest and so I began coloring the inside of the foiled words with Copic Markers and hated the color combo I used and threw it in the trash. After creating a card with the waste leftover from the foiling I pulled it out of the trash and decided to cut the die from gold foil and fill in the letters. When you do this you can no longer see the foiled lines of the die, but at least it didn’t go to waste.

Before adding the gold letters I ran the background through the Big Shot with the Memory Box Matinee Rectangle Die. I really like the visual interest with the corners of this die.

I decided to add foam behind the word “big” which makes it pop on the page and enhances the word itself. I liked the way it looked but it needed a pop of color so I die cut a patterned candle from red mirror cardstock and the background with the flame from gold mirror. This way the flame can be yellow in color. I added some Copic Coloring to have some variation in the color of the flame. The candle was then adhered over the “I” in the word Big.

I used a red top folding cardbase to add an additional pop of color to the card.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • My Favorite Things Big Birthday Wishes Die
  • Elizabeth Craft Birthday Candles
  • Copic Markers: YR27, YR24, YR23
  • Paper Accents Red and Gold Mirror Cardstock
  • Neenah Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs Base Weight Red Hot Cardstock
  • Spellbinders Glimmer Red Hot Foil
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam Red
  • Memory Box Matinee Rectangle Die
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive

Glimmer Daisy Bouquet Happy Birthday

This card uses different hot foil techniques. The daisies are foiling a regular die, which gives you a fine gold border. The second is foiling the waste of another project, which gives a solid foil look with a pattern. I’ve had mixed success with foiling the waste, but this one turned out nice on Kraft cardstock. The sentiment and small leaf and flower is a hot foil stamp/die.

The daisies were colored with Copic Markers, which work great with hot foil. It resists the maker, but you need to work slowly and precisely to stay within the thin gold outlined. I decided to use a golden yellow. The daisy die comes with a coordinating outline die and works perfectly on foiled projects.

The foiled waste background was cut down using a stitched rectangle and adhered to a top folding Kraft cardbase with liquid glue. The daisy bouquet and sentiment were adhered using Simon Says Stamp Big Mama Foam Tape.

The final embellishment was to add small gold rhinestones to the center of the larger flowers.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • Gina Marie Designs Cut In/Cut Out Daisy Bouquet
  • Spellbinders Glimmer Stylish Script Happy Birthday
  • Copic Markers: YR24, YR23, YR21; E37, E35
  • China Flower Grid Background Die
  • Crafter’s Companion Papercraft Gold Hot Foil
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle
  • Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs Base Weight Kraft Cardstock
  • Simon Says Stamp Big Mama Foam Tape
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • Gold Rhinestones from Stash

Three Candles Hot Foil Birthday Wishes

I’ve been experimenting with my Gemini FoilPress Hot Foil Machine using regular dies. I pulled out Elisabeth Craft Birthday Candles and hot foiled them with Spellbinders Red Foil. One thing I have learned as I’ve experimented is that the Spellbinders foil need a higher heat setting. I use the medium setting.

When you use regular dies in the FoilPress you get a thin outline. You could get a wider line by using the back, but it will also leave openings in the foil where the release holes are.

I foiled three of the candles. You cannot use the dies to cut the images foiled because they will cut on the exact lines of the foiling and you will loose the foil, so I fussy cut the images.

I liked the candles, but they were very white. You can easily color the images with Copic Markers. In fact the foil will resist the marker. You just have to color slowing and carefully since the lines are so think.

I also foiled a sentiment with red foil and then die cut it using Pink & Main Sentiment Strip.

I wanted some pop behind the candles and decided to use some red mirror cardstock, which is so complimentary to the foiling. I cut down a smaller panel with a stitched rectangle and adhered the candles and sentiment with Simon Says Stamp Big Mama Foam Tape.

I wanted to use a birthday embossing folder behind the candles, but the embossing folder I had wasn’t large enough to cover the card front, so I decided to cut down a smaller panel of white cardstock and embossed it. I’m actually glad that this was needed, because it was adhered to a red cardbase and I love the look of red/white/red with the white candles.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • Elizabeth Craft Birthday Candles
  • Spellbinders Glimmer Everyday Sentiments
  • Copic Markers: R39, R37, R35; YR27, YR24, YR23, YR21
  • Spellbinders Glimmer Red Hot Foil
  • Neenah Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs Base Weight Cherry Red Cardstock
  • Paper Accents Red Mirror Cardstock
  • Simon Says Stamp Big Mama Foam Tape
  • Pink & Main Sentiment Strip
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle
  • Cuttlebug Happy Birthday Embossing Folder
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive

Confetti Cupcake Birthday Wishes

For a previous card I used a silver cupcake. Whenever I have small images I go through my scraps of cardstock to cut the image. For that card I pulled out a circle of silver mirror cardstock and cut the cupcake from the center, because I thought I could then use it on another card. This is the card I made from the leftover circle.

Since the cupcake is so small, I wanted to add some visual interest to the circle, so I ran it through the Big Shot using an Oxford Embossing Folder from Cuttlebug. Mirror cardstock embossed beautifully.

I guess I was in a red mood lately because I decided to cut the cupcake again from red mirror cardstock and adhered it to the center of the circle. I held it in place with washi tape and then cut a smaller circle from sticky back foam and adhered it to the back of the circle, which held the cupcake in place.

I cut down a panel of red cardstock with a stitched rectangle and placed the circle where I wanted it to determine where to place the sentiment, which I decided to hot foil silver. You can use your regular dies with hot foil so I pulled out a Honey Bee Stamps Sentiment Banner and hot foiled it first. I then used a Spellbinders hot foil sentiment and foil it into the banner. I loved the way it turned out.

The circle focal image was added above the sentiment, but it looked lonely, so I cut some confetti from mirror cardstock and scattered it round the front of the card, adhering it in place with liquid glue. I also pulled out some silver confetti from Martha Stewart and filled in the open spaced. I really like the way it turned out.

The focal image was adhered to a top folding cardbase with liquid glue and the card was done, my last card of 2020, number 630, WOW!

PRODUCTS USED:

  • My Favorite Things Mini Cupcake Maker
  • Spellbinders Glimmer Everyday Sentiments
  • My Favorite Things Balloons Shaker Window
  • Honey Bee Stamps Sentiment Banner
  • Paper Accents Red and Silver Mirror Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs Base Weight Red Hot Cardstock
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle
  • Hero Arts Infinity Circle Die
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam
  • Gemini FoilPress Silver Foil
  • Cuttlebug Oxford Embossing Folder
  • Martha Stewart Sterling Confetti

Metallic Squares Happy Birthday

From the previous card I made I had three red mirror squares leftover. I wanted to put them to use on a card, but I wanted a different layout, so I cut three more squares and adhered them to a panel of white cardstock in a grid of 3 x 2. I decided to cut down the panel so that there was a smaller white border of cardstock around the square using a stitched rectangle. If I had to do this again I would place a piece of printer paper over the panel. If your cutting plates are well used you might get a few indentations and imperfections in the mirror cardstock. They weren’t significant so I proceeded with the project, but it would have been better if I had protected the mirror cardstock.

I went through my birthday stamps to find some images that could be stamped in the squares. I decided to use VersaMark Ink and heat emboss them white. I decided to add a mat of red mirror cardstock behind the focal images panel. This helped it to pop on the white cardbase. I also decided to embossed the front of the cardbase for some additional visual interest.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • Papertrey Ink Inside & Out Birthday
  • Art Impressions Aged to Perfection
  • Art Impressions Birthday Wishes
  • Avery Elle Cupcakes
  • Clearly Besotted It’s Your Birthday
  • Simon Says Stamp Party Like a Panda
  • Paper Accents Red Mirror Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock
  • Neenah Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle
  • Ellen Hutson Essential Square Dies
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Gina K. Designs Detail White Embossing Powder
  • Darice Argyle Embossing Folder
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam

Stop Drop Party Shaker Birthday

I was needing some masculine birthday cards and thought about using three cutout squares across a card front. I don’t have a die that will cut all three, so I took a quarter sheet panel of cardstock and drew a line across the card where I wanted the bottom of the squares to be. I marked the center of the card with pencil and placed the square die so it aligned with both markings. I then marked with pencil the spacing I wanted between the dies and simply aligned them with the marked lines and tick mark. It worked great.

I cut down the panel using the largest My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle. For some visual interest I ran the panel through the Big Shot using Stampin’ Up Brick and Mortar Embossing Folding. To define the bricks I ink blended some Distress Oxide Weathered Wood.

I wanted a sentiment in the center box and so I laid it on another panel of cardstock and drew a pencil mark around the square to know the perfect placement. I went through my stamp to find a great sentiment to fit in the square.

A strip of acetate was adhered to the back of the windows and then double thickness foam tape was added around the windows and the entire back of the card. Black and silver sequins and silver beads were placed in the wells of the two outer squares. The paper backing was removed from the foam tape and then the stamped panel was placed on the back.

I liked the card, but I wanted to add a pop of color. I gook some red mirror cardstock and heat foiled a sentiment with silver foil and then cut it out using a Pink and Main sentiment Strip. I decided to cut out a small cupcake with silver mirror cardstock for the cupcake and red mirror for the cherry. It was adhered to the left of the sentiment strip, which was adhered to the front of the card with liquid glue.

I liked it, but I felt I needed a bit more red. The square dies I had used were from Ellen Hutson’s Essential line. They cut a thin frame as well as the shape. I decided to cut the squares again from red mirror cardstock and adhered the thin frame into the center of the squares. It was just what was needed.

The shaker card front was placed on a side folding red cardbase and the card was done.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • CZ Designs Stop Drop Party
  • Spellbinders Glimmer More Sentiments
  • Stampin’ Up Brick and Mortar Embossing Folding
  • Paper Accents Red and Silver Mirror Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs Base Weight Cherry Red Cardstock
  • Neenah Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle
  • Ellen Hutson Essential Square Dies
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam
  • Gemini FoilPress Silver Foil
  • Gina K. Designs Amalgam Ink
  • Distress Oxide Weathered Wood Ink
  • My Favorite Things Mini Cupcake Maker
  • Honey Bee Stamps Galaxy Sequin Mix
  • Pretty Pink Posh Metallic Silver Sequins
  • Pink and Main Sentiment Strip

Golden Plaid Happy Birthday

I was cleaning out a box of cardstock cardbases I never use and ran across this panel of ivory cardstock with a dark brown mat and decided to put it to use. I searched through my patterned cardstock pack and found this pretty plaid that would work with the brown mat. I cut it down using the largest My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle, which gives a very small border when placed on a card front. Now I needed to figure out what to use as a focal image.

I finally decided to pull out the My Favorite Things Balloon Shaker Window. I love the pouches, they make it so easy to create a shaker card. I cut it from gold mirror cardstock and filled it with gold beads and brown sequins and adhered it and the balloon string with liquid glue to the ivory panel.

The sentiment is from a favorite of mine, Lawn Fawn’s Happy Happy Happy. It has three different happy stamps with matching dies. I stamped one of the words with VersaMark Ink, heat embossed it with copper embossing powder, and cut it out with the coordinating die. I also cut it from sticky back foam for some dimension. I placed it on the card front to determine where to stamp the secondary greeting with Gina K. Designs Warm Cocoa Ink and then adhered it with liquid glue.

The card front was kind of blah and so I pulled out the shaker die set and cut out some of the filler images, cakes with candles, stars, and ribbon confetti swirls from gold mirror cardstock and scattered them around the balloon and sentiment. I liked that much better.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • My Favorite Things Balloons Shaker Window
  • Lawn Fawn Happy Happy Happy
  • Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words Birthday
  • My Favorite Things Balloon Shaker Pouch
  • Gina K. Designs Warm Cocoa Ink
  • Golden Yellow and Brown Plaid Cardstock from Stash
  • Bazzill Chocolate Brown Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs Layering Weight Ivory Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs Base Weight Ivory Cardstock
  • Paper Accents Gold Mirror Cardstock
  • Mikuki Seed Beads Honey Butter and Gold
  • LilacLane Puppy Paws Sequin Mix
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • Kokuyo Dotliner Long Adhesive
  • Be Creative Double-Sided Tape
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Ranger Super Fine Detail Copper Embossing Powder

Delightful Blooms Birthday Wishes

I had an envelop sitting on my desk from a previous card I made using Gina K. Designs Delightful Blooms and needed to give it a card to go with it. I love this pretty stamp set, it has two gorgeous bouquets of flowers to choose from.

I stamped it first with a light gray ink and colored it with Copic Markers. I like the combination of the light pink with the darker plum. Once the color was complete I put it back in the MISTI and re-stamped with VersaMark Ink and heat embossed it gold.

For the sentiment I did a little stamp surgery. I cut about one of the sentiments in the stamp set so that I could stack it in the available space in the lower right of the card. It too was stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed gold.

The focal image panel was sized down using a stitched rectangle. Darice Sticky Back Foam was added to the back for dimension. The front of a top folding cardbase was dry embossed using the Cuttlebug Oxford embossing Folder and the focal image panel was adhered to the front of the card with liquid glue.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • Gina K. Designs Delightful Blooms
  • Copic Markers: RV69, RV66, RV63; RV23, RV02, RV00; G46, G24, G82; YR27, YR24, YR23, YR21
  • Cuttlebug Oxford Embossing Folder
  • Memento London Fog
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Ranger Gold Embossing Powder
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • Clear Wink of Stella

Foil Frame Happy Birthday

I have been experimenting with the Gemini FoilPress Machine and decided to use the Crafter’s Companion Ornate Frame. Working with hot foil takes some experimenting to get it right with different types of dies. On this one it took a couple of tries. This die not only hot foils but cuts as well. Simon Says Stamp Big Mama Foam Tape was added to the back of the frame.

I laid the frame on the side rectangle of cardstock to determine where to heat foil the sentiment. I cut down the rectangle with a stitched rectangle and then dry embossed it using the Stampin’ Up Subtle Embossing Folder. The embossed rectangle was added to a side folding cardbase with dotliner adhesive. The foiled frame was adhered to the front by removing the paper covering on the foam tape.

I decided to use the Altenew Garden Picks 3D Dies to create a focal image for the card. I colored Neenah Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock with Copic Markers in different shades of pink and green and then cut the layers and assembled them together with liquid glue. There were adhered with liquid glue and foam tape to the bottom of the foiled frame.

I think it turned out lovely.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • Crafter’s Companion Ornate Frame
  • Spellbinders Glimmer Stylish Script Thank You and Happy Birthday
  • Altenew Garden Picks
  • Copic Markers: RV25, RV23, RV02, RV00; G46, G43
  • Gemini FoilPress Silver Foil
  • Simon Says Stamp Big Mama Foam Tape
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • Neenah Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock
  • Stampin’ Up Subtle Embossing Folder
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle