Fun Fold Christmas Card Inspired by Day 2 of the Card Makers Success Summit

Yesterday was Day 2 of the Card Makers Success Summit yesterday and I enjoyed watching a number of the presentations. One of the projects that really caught my eye was a fun fold card shared by Lisa from Queen B Creations.

For the base, I used a piece of red card measuring 10 ¾” x 5 ½”. This size works beautifully with a 6 x 6 sheet of patterned paper, which makes it a great design for using up those smaller papers in your stash.

I found a quarter sheet of 12 x 12 patterned paper that was just right for the front and inside panel. My Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities were perfect for cutting the 3” circle from the front panel, along with the white inner circle.

The focal image is an ornament stamp I rediscovered in my Christmas stamp stash — a magazine freebie from years ago. I stamped it in Catherine Pooler Eucalyptus ink, then added touches of gold with a Posca pen and a few gold dots for extra sparkle.

The sentiment comes from the same stamp set as the ornaments and is stamped onto a die-cut Simon Says Stamp banner. I love how the simple banner shape keeps the focus on the ornament while still giving the card a finished look.

This was such a fun card to make, and it was a great reminder to revisit older stamps and supplies. Sometimes a forgotten stamp, a scrap of patterned paper, and a little gold shimmer are all you need to create something festive and fresh. 

Card Makers Success Summit - Day 1 - Inspired by Erin Reed.

Friday, my time, marked the first day of the Christmas-themed Card Makers Success Summit, and what a lovely way to kick off the festive crafting season! I managed to watch a few of the presentations, but the first project I sat down to make was inspired by Erin Reed’s presentation.

Erin shared a fun fold she calls a Narrow Fun Fold, and I really enjoyed trying it out. Her class included a digital printout with patterned papers, poinsettia images, leaf clusters, and sentiments, but I decided to put my own spin on the design using supplies from my stash.

For my version, I used patterned paper from a paper pack I already had, along with some pearlescent card for a little extra festive shine. I cut one kraft and one gold leaf cluster using Pinkfresh Studio Curvy Leaves, then created the poinsettia for the front of the card with the poinsettia and leaf dies from the Waffle Flower Poinsettia Frame die set.

The sentiment is from the Altenew Holiday Flower stamp set. I white embossed it onto black card and cut it out with an Altenew Featured Sentiment die, which gave it a crisp finish and helped it stand out beautifully against the softer Christmas florals.

I’m so pleased with how this card turned out. It’s always fun to take inspiration from a class and then make the project your own, and this Narrow Fun Fold was a lovely way to start my summit crafting. I’m looking forward to seeing what else the event inspires me to create!  Day 2 wrap up email has just arrived so more inspiration to check out!

Art Deco Card with Gold Foil Elegance

I came home from work this afternoon feeling inspired to create, and since hubby was on dinner duty, I took the opportunity to disappear into my craft room for a little card-making time. I pulled out some preprinted image and sentiment sheets I had purchased at the Craft Show from Creative Ewe, a small company based in Palmerston North.

Creative Ewe has such a wonderful range of preprinted sheets and kits for making fancy fold cards. I picked up a couple of kits, along with around five different sheets of images and sentiments, so I had plenty of pretty options to choose from.

For today’s card, I chose one of the Glitzy Ladies images. I trimmed the image and matted it with crimson cardstock, then used A4-sized black cardstock to create the card base. Because this card is 8¼ inches wide, the base is ⅛ inch smaller than a US A2 card base, so I trimmed the length to 5⅜ inches to keep everything balanced.

To add a touch of elegance, I trimmed a slightly smaller panel and used the Altenew Deco Fan Hot Foil Plate with gold foil to create a beautiful background. Once the foiled panel was ready, I added the Glitzy Ladies image and paired it with a sentiment from the same sheet.

I love how the crimson mat, black base, and gold foiling work together to give the finished card a glamorous feel. It was a simple make, but the Deco Art look is perfect.

The joy of interference ink and irresistible rub-ons.

 After a busy four-day work week, finding time to get creative felt like a real treat. Several new crafting supplies had been sitting patiently, waiting for their turn on the desk, and yesterday,  with some help with the housework from hubby, I finally had the chance to spend the afternoon crafting.

I managed to complete three cards during my crafting session, although only one can be shared at the moment. One card is part of a swap and must remain under wraps until it reaches its recipient, while another is being saved for an upcoming post.

That leaves today's featured card—a design inspired by a recent Make ’N’ Take session with Philippa from Scrapbook Central.

The inspiration began with a small tag project that introduced me to two fascinating products: the 49th & Market Irresistible Rub-Ons and Lisa Horton’s Cloud 9 Interference Ink. What makes this ink particularly special is its ability to shift colours depending on the cardstock beneath it. Applied to white cardstock, it creates one effect; on black cardstock, it transforms into something entirely different.

Although I purchased some Irresistible Rub-Ons around 18 months ago, they had remained untouched in my stash. This project was the perfect opportunity to finally give them a try. I started with a white cardstock panel and applied one of the rub-on designs. Over this, I blended Mermaid Lagoon Shimmer interference ink—a gorgeous combination of teal and purple. The result on the white background was a stunning teal shimmer that immediately caught the light.

For the focal point, I die-cut a delicate dragonfly from rice paper and added colour using the same ink. To create depth and definition, I used a micro blending brush with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink, adding soft black shading around the edges and across the body of the dragonfly.

While waiting for the black ink to dry, I decided the card needed a little extra texture. One of my recent purchases, Altenew’s Alhambra Mosaic Cover Die, seemed like the perfect addition. I die-cut the intricate design from white cardstock, trimmed it slightly, and adhered it to a card base.                                                   

Once the dragonfly was dry, I applied more interference ink using a pouncing technique. This is where the real magic happened—the black areas shifted to a rich purple, while the teal tones intensified, creating a beautiful iridescent effect.

To finish the card, I added a pre-printed sentiment and blended the same interference ink over it to tie everything together.

Then this afternoon had another crafting session dedicated to future projects. I also spent some time cutting and folding card bases, a simple bit of preparation that always makes future crafting sessions more productive.

And now it is time to settle down and watch some rugby, with New Zealand taking on Italy. 

As there is some items being used for the first time in this card, I'm entering it into Darnell's NBUS challenge. 

Christmas in July with Sweet Stampin’ Challenge

I must confess: I completely forgot to make my card for the latest Sweet Stampin’ Challenge theme — Christmas in July!

To make things a little more interesting, I was away all weekend too, which meant I only had this afternoon to pull together something quick and easy. I had headed down to Tauranga, about a three-and-a-bit-hour drive south, for the Craft and Create event. I managed a quick half-hour visit on Friday after arriving, then went back on Sunday for another few hours.

Let’s just say I spent far too much — but came home with some amazing goodies, so I’m not complaining!

For this card, I used some gorgeous AALL & Create washi tape called Purry Christmas Surprise. I added the tape to white card -   cut it into strips and layered them together to create a panel. It is such a fun and easy product to work with, and it made the card come together really quickly.
Once the panel was finished, I trimmed it down and matted it with red card before adding it to a white panel and then onto the card base. To finish, I stamped a Rosie’s Studio sentiment from the Hearth and Home stamp set.

I hope you’ll come and join us at Sweet Stampin’ Challenge with your own Christmas projects. 

A Sparkly Unicorn Card for a Very Special Three-Year-Old

 My littlest granddaughter turned three on the 1st of July, and she had us all smiling in the lead-up to the big day. When we asked her when her birthday was, she confidently replied, “One of July and I’ll be three, but I’m only two now.” Such a character!

For her birthday card, I knew a unicorn would be just right. I found some sweet inspiration on Pinterest, chose a cute image, and printed it ready to turn into something magical.

I die cut the unicorn using a decorative frame, then added a little ink blending in soft greens and blues to give the background some colour. The sentiment came from a Gina K set, and I finished the card with a glittery die cut number three. Of course, no unicorn card would be complete without shimmer, so I added plenty of sparkle pen to make it extra special.

The birthday girl loved it, which is always the best part. We took the card over on Sunday along with her present—a little tea set—which was also very much approved of.

June Anything Goes with Die Cut Divas

It’s the end of June, which means it’s time to share my cards for the Die Cut Divas June challenge. This month, our theme is Anything Goes, so there was plenty of room to play, experiment, and have fun with colour and texture. I made two cards for the challenge, and the first one will be featured on our blog post

For my first card, I started with two experimental panels I had made using some inexpensive acrylic sprays I picked up last Friday. The colours turned out beautifully bright and vibrant. After spraying the panels, I added a spritz of Sparkle Spray for a little extra shimmer.

I used an older Kaisercraft die to cut layered flowers from the pink and blue panel, then cut the leaves from the green and yellow panel. Once the flowers were layered together, I finished each one with a pearl centre.

For the background, I used a leafy stencil with green ink, then ran it through the die-cutting machine with a tan mat to emboss the design. It created such lovely texture and made the perfect base for the flowers and leaves. I finished the card with a hot-foiled sentiment.

 

My bonus card was made a week or so ago. I embossed two panels, one red and one white, together using one of my many embossing folders. To bring out the detail on the red panel, I lightly highlighted the embossing with white ink.

I found a small birthday sentiment that fitted perfectly into the clear strip across the card. To finish, I added a Montie’s Craft Supplies layered butterfly, cut from white card and covered with a Gold Sparkle pen for a touch of shine.

I’m also looking forward to the weekend, as I’m heading south to Tauranga, about a three-hour drive, for the Craft and Create Show on Friday and Saturday. I’ll drive down on Friday, spend some time with my sister-in-law and her family, visit the show on Saturday, and then head home on Sunday.

An extra bonus will be getting to meet my newest great-nephew. It will also be my first time driving that far on my own, so it feels like a bit of an adventure!

Craft Roulette #325 - Diamond Flip Fold Tartan Christmas Card

I had some time today to get creative and make a card for Craft Roulette #325. After watching the replay yesterday afternoon, I did a quick search for Flip Fold card ideas and found plenty of inspiration for different card bases.

For my project, I decided to try a Diamond Flip Fold card. This was my first time making this style of card, and I followed a helpful YouTube tutorial to guide me through the process: 

I found some free tartan patterned images on Pinterest and printed a full A4 page, then cut the paper into panels for the card. The tartan pattern worked beautifully with the flip fold design and gave the card a cosy, festive feel.

For the front diamond, I used a sentiment from Rosie’s Studio – Hearth & Home. The inner sentiment is from Catherine Pooler Designs – Wonderful Time of the Year, and the word “TIME” also fits my Element parameter. To finish the card, I added a tartan bow cut with the Poppy Stamp Grosgrain Bow die, along with some little tartan dot embellishments that I die cut.

I really enjoyed making this card. Since it was my first time trying a flip fold design, I was pleased to find it much easier than I expected. It’s a card style I’d be happy to make again!