Dimensional Envelopes "How to" & A Mom's Card

The unique thing about cardmaking is the freedom to add some level of dimensions instead of having a flat design. Conventional speaking, we will often try to fit them into traditional envelopes of any given sizes available and we need to be mindful not to create a card that's too bulky. Housing them onto a bigger envelope such as into an A6 envelope for a dimensional A2 card might work, but it will somehow squash the design which is an issue to me.

As I started to make more of such cards, I find a need to source for some dimensional envelopes to house these cards. I tried to search for existing templates or tutorials online, however there're some limitations and often require some kind of envelope making tools which appears to be rather confusing. Ultimately, I decided to create my own and also, made a video tutorial for this. 

To suffice the video I made, I've created a template for both A2 and A6 card sizes which is available HERE for download. Video tutorial showcased an A6 dimensional envelope for this Mom's card I made, and the steps are pretty much similar for other sizes and depths.

This Mom's card was made using most of my existing supplies and some of them are no longer available unfortunately. A good way to refresh my supplies and try to make something out of it. Not necessary for Mother's Day, this card can be gifted to moms for another other occasions.

I hope this new dimensional envelope tutorial is useful and helpful. Below is the list of supplies I used to make this card as well as the cardstocks used to make most of my envelopes. 

Cheers!

Clicking the links below will bring you to a new page.

• American Crafts 12x12 80lb vanilla cardstocks (AMZ, AMZSG)
• Astro Designs 12x12 65Ib bright white cardtsocks (AMZ, AMZSG)
• Bearly Art precision craft glue (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)
• Tim Holtz Alteration Texture Fade lace embossing folder (SB, SIZ)
• Spellbinders lace heart and various past clubs diesets (retired)
• Versamark watermark ink (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)
• Ranger Ink embossing powder in princess gold (SB, AMZ)

Legend:

SB (Scrapbook.com), SIZ (Sizzix) AMZ (Amazon), AMZSG (Amazon.sg)

Compensated affiliated links used are at no cost to you, refer HERE for more information.

A Rather Favourite Kind of Father's Day Card

For this Father's Day, I created a card using Graphic 45's rather old and retired A Proper Gentleman collection. Inspired by an old tailor shop, I used origami shirt with tie and pants, together with a pop-up shopping bag when the card is open up. 

The shopping bag template can be downloaded HERE for your personal use. The how-to process is in one of my short reels over at my YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Therefore, be sure to check them out. And here are the details on how the card looks like when open up. The shirt and pants are made from Graphic 45 DIY craft paper which has since retired and discontinued. Because the craft paper is quite thin, it makes creating these origami items easier. To make it more interesting, dollar notes can be used instead.

I hope this is one fun inspiring project for this Father's Day. And I wish all fathers a Happy Father's Day! I'll be back for more crafting projects, be sure to revisit my blog again. Cheers!

Below is a list of supplies I used to make this card. 

Clicking the links below will bring you to a new page.

• Graphic 45 A Proper Gentleman paper collection (retired)
• Graphic 45 DIY Craft Paper in quotes and newspapers (retired)
• Unity Stamp Echo Park Favourite Moustache cling stamps (retired)
• Tim Holtz Alterations Alphabetical Sizzlit (retired)
• Graphic 45 Folder & Sentiments Policy & Decorative die set (AMZ, AMZSG)
• Spellbinders Deckled Rectangle LG dies (SPB, AMZ)
• American Crafts 12x12 80lb black cardstocks (AMZ, AMZSG)
• MISTI stamping tool in black
• Bearly Art precision craft glue (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)
• Versafine pigment ink in onyx black (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)
• Ranger Ink Super Fine clear embossing powder (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)

Legend:

SB (Scrapbook.com), SPB (Spellbinders), AMZ (Amazon), AMZSG (Amazon.sg)

Compensated affiliated links used are at no cost to you, refer HERE for more information.

Creating Cards from Forgotten Supplies

Confession time! I do hoard stuffs and Yes! I have quite an amount of craft supplies that I bought, kept unused and most of them still pretty much in their packaging. Moment of truth here - there won't be a time these supplies will be used up until I make effort to do something about it.

Some of the long old forgotten supplies in my stash

With daily fresh and new product releases and ideas bombarding on various social media feed every day, sometimes I feel I need a particular product to create better. Each time I got tempted and get myself with new supplies, before I knew it, my stash has already gotten bigger than all those crafting ideas I have in my mind. Before I run of space, I reckon it's best to make deliberate attempts to create out from those forgotten supplies. With what I had found, these are the cards I've created.

To share this refreshing moment on these long old supplies, I've made a short start-to-finish video on this. No special tools, techniques shown, merely how to assemble and transform these supplies into a card.

Added some encouraging bible verses at the back of each card

It actually feels good to clear some stuffs and make way for more space. This won't be my only and last deliberate attempt. I will be making more of such projects in coming days. I hope this short sharing is encouraging enough to make deliberate attempts to create out from your existing and forgotten supplies.

Below is a list of supplies I used to make these cards. Most of them are retired or not available in major craft stores, however you might be able to find some of them on eBay or Etsy. However, I don't encourage to get more and if you happen to have these supplies on hand, this is one way to use them in your project.

Cheers!

Clicking the links below will bring you to a new page.

• Pattern papers from 7gypsies Mix & Match book
• Ticket stubs from Tim Holtz Ideology Adage tickets book
• K&C watercolour florals layering accents
• Jenni Bowlin cardstock stickers (butterfly banner in black)
• Prima Marketing Say it Crystals & acrylic embellishments
• American Crafts 12x12 80lb black cardstocks (AMZ, AMZSG)
• Kokuyo Dotliner Hold tape runner (AMZSG)
• Ek Success circle foam dots (SB, AMZ, AMSG)
• Other supplies - old dictionary papers, crystals embellishments, jute trims & ribbons

Legend:

SB (Scrapbook.com), AMZ (Amazon), AMZSG (Amazon.sg)

Compensated affiliated links used are at no cost to you, refer HERE for more information.

Fluttering Hearts; Cards that Capture Love

I always wanted to create something monochromatically with a touch of colour. While such ideas can be easy to come by, the execution part sometimes can get a little challenging. Sieving through my existing stash, I found some supplies that I think I should refresh them by using them instead. The thought of fluttering hearts came to my mind recently. Adding wings and flutter bugs to hearts will be the way to go.

The use of Tim Holtz's Butterfly Frenzy Sizzlit die allows me to diecut a mega tons of butterflies of varying sizes at one pass through the machine. This made producing butterflies an easy task for this project. And this is the final look of the cards I made. 

Oh yes! I made 3 at the end with different sentiments on each card all handwritten by myself. These are mainly made from Tim Holtz older collections together with Spellbinders Love in Flight D-lites dies that have since retired. Though not available in most major craft stores, sometimes you can find them from various eBay or Etsy sellers. Here is a closer look on these cards individually.

I enjoy in making these monochromatic cards and decided to enter this entry for Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Furs or Feathers.

Cheers!

Below is a list of supplies I used to make this card. 

Clicking the links below will bring you to a new page.

• Tim Holtz Alterations Butterfly Frenzy Sizzlit (retired)
• Tim Holtz Alterations Texture Fades embossing folders in dot matrix, notebook and quilted (retired)
• Tim Holtz Reflection stamps (AMZ, AMZSG)
• Spellbinders Love in Flight D-Lite dies (retired)
• Versafine pigment ink in onyx black (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)
• Neenah heavy weight 110lb classic crest solar white cardstocks (AMZ, AMZSG)
• A6 heavy weight 110lb white envelopes (AMZ, AMZSG)
• Astro Design 65lb crafting cardstocks in bright white (AMZ, AMZSG)
• Bearly Art precision craft glue (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)

Legend:

SB (Scrapbook.com), SPB (Spellbinders), AMZ (Amazon), AMZSG (Amazon.sg)

Compensated affiliated links used are at no cost to you, refer HERE for more information.

Cardmaking Over the Weekend; Cherish Cards

We all have that in our craft storage—crafting dies bought and kept unused (or minimally used). I was sieving through my dies over the last weekend, wondering what I could make, and I found this Cherish die set from Spellbinders 2019 club kits I previously subscribed to. Surprisingly, Spellbinders still have these dies in stock, currently running as clearance past kits sale.

Jan 2019 Club Kit - Large Die of the Month

With the idea of getting back into crafting, I decided to put these dies to use. I crafted two cards out from these dies — a Cherish card for a dear friend of mine and a Mom's card. Well, Mother's Day had just passed, but I wanted to extend the joy of crafting by maximising my existing supplies. I created both backgrounds using a mix of pink mists and my old Prima floral petites 6 x6 stencil, which fits the overall theme pretty well.

To match the cards I've created, I chose a white A6 envelope for the Cherish card and a hot pink one for the Mom's card. 

I made a video on how I created these cards. For a better experience, be sure to hop over to my YouTube to view it. I mounted the finished designs onto A6 notecards (4.5" x 6"), which I made using 110lb (~300 gsm) Neenah cardstock. I used various sentiments from Spellbinders' 'Just Wanted to Say Sentiments', which I embossed them over using ultra-fine silver embossing powder. Unfortunately, this stamp has run out of stock, however, the glimmer foil version is still very much available.

I tried stamping over the sentiments onto the inside of the card, but it ended up a mess! To cover up, I used the scraps I trimmed off from the backgrounds I created as matting to cover up the mistake I made. And it turned out pretty well. Sometimes, it's good to keep whatever scraps are left over; it might save your work!

Breaking away from my usual cardmaking style, these are fresh new perspectives that I tried exploring. I enjoyed creating the background myself instead of sieving through various pattern papers to match. 

Cheers!

Below is the list of supplies I used for these cards. 

Clicking the links below will bring you to a new page.

• Spellbinders Cherish - Large Die of the Month (Jan 2019)
• Spellbinders Just Wanted to Say Sentiments acrylic stamps
• Lettering dies from own stash
• Prima Floral Petites 6x 6 stencil (retired)
• Versamark watermark ink (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)
• Versacraft small ink pad in bubblegum
• Ranger Ink ultra fine embossing powder in silver (SB, AMZ)
• Neenah heavy weight 110lb classic crest solar white cardstocks (AMZ, AMZSG)
• A6 heavy weight 110lb white envelopes (AMZ, AMZSG)
• A6 hot pink envelope (from mix coloured selections) (AMZ, AMZSG)
• Daler Rowney system 3 in white titanium acrylic paint
• Bearly Art precision craft glue (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)
• Tim Holtz Tonic Studio Glass Mixed Media Cutting Mat (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)
• Time Holtz Stampers Anonymous Acrylic Grid Block Set (SB, AMZ, AMZSG)
• Misting sprays (retired) - Lindy Stamp Gang cotton candy, Shimmerz cotton candy and sweet heart

Legend:

SB (Scrapbook.com), SPB (Spellbinders), AMZ (Amazon), AMZSG (Amazon.sg)

Compensated affiliated links used are at no cost to you, refer HERE for more information.