I Heart You Card

A simple card today with a simple message. The green embellishments are actually beads that I melted down  and adhered to the card.

Materials: White cardstock, black gel pen, melted beads
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Baby Card

Happy Friday! I created this card earlier in the week when I realized that I don't have enough baby cards. It seems like everytime I turn around, someone else I know has found out that they are expecting. I guess that's what the late 20s will do to you!

Materials: White cardstock, Alphas, melted beads
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Embroidered Ombre Monogram Tutorial

The card today features embroidery. I love the effect of stitching on a card - especially when the thread is ombre and teal. As much as I love this look, it is very time consuming. It doesn't bother me so much, I tend to like tedious work, but I feel like I should warn the rest of you. For your letters, there are lots of options. Anything that can be used as a template, will work (examples: stamps, printed from the computer, stickers, letter embellishments, or draw your own)

1. Letters: Once you have chosen the letter that you want, put it on some scratch paper or printer paper. (I drew my own letters on notebook paper below.

2. Next, position your letter over the cardstock that you would like to stitch onto. (Make sure you have something behind the papers to protect your work surface from holes. (I use kitchen towels). Once the letter is positioned, poke holes in the ouline of both the template layer and cardstock.

3. Remove the template and you can see where you need to stitch.

4. Take some thread and get to work (this is the time-consuming part). I like to use ombre thread, because it adds so much interest to a somewhat "flat" project. I like to use 3 strands of embroidery thread (it comes in bunches of 6 strands) for the perfect weight of the lines. And that's it!

Here is my finished project.

Materials: White cardstock, embroidery thread
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Debossed Thank you

Alphabet steel dies can be expensive. That's why I'm always trying to get the most of out them. Here is another way that you can use steel dies - emboss with them. To get this effect, you have to work with your machine a little bit to find the perfect thickness. I have a cuttlebug, but you could use any of the die-cutting/embossing machines. I first put down an A plate, then a B plate, then some layers of old Tshirt scraps, then my paper that I wanted embossed, then the steel dies, then another B plate. I used cotton letterpress paper as it tends to emboss beautifully; see for yourself!

Specifications:
Materials: Sturdy white cardstock MFT steel die - Die-namics by the Letters
Size: Standard A2 size (4.25" x 5.5")

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Simple Thank You

Less certainly is more with current card trends. This is about as simple as you can get! (I, of course, could have omitted the patterned paper and it would have been okay, but I NEED color. So that really wasn't an option for me.)

Materials: White cardstock, Patterned paper, Black gel pen
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

I Love You Grid

Create an interesting focal point by weaving together scraps of white and patterned paper. Add some vellum hearts (or whatever symbols your heart desires) to give the card a theme.

Materials: Kraft cardstock, white and colored paper, red vellum hearts, white gel pen
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Simple String Thinking of You

Certain occasion don't need a lot of "fluff". I found myself needing a card for someone at work who is going through a rough time, but all of my cards seemed inappropriate for the occasion. They were all too feminine, or the focal point wasn't just right, or the sentiment didn't fit. Either way, this card is generic enough to work for lots of occasions, but unique enough to let your loved one know that you truly do care.

Materials: White cardstock, Sting, black gel pen
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Stitched Banner

I have a ton of colored cardstock that I've acquired over the years, but more and more I'm just using white and customizing it to make it work with my project. In this card, I just colored white cardstock (for the most part) so that I could achieve an entire color spectrum. Whether you have lots of colored cardstock or just white, this effect is simple to reproduce and has  certain visual appeal.

Materials: White cardstock, Bic Markers, stitching with white quilting thread
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Vellum Flower Card

I don't usually use embossing folders because I like flat backgrounds so that the focal point really pops. However, sometimes it's nice to have a soft background texture. Dry embossing is a very easy way to achieve this soft texture without distracting from the focal point.

Materials: White cardstock, Vellum, White embossing powder, Hero Arts CL495, Bic Markers, Cuttlebug embossing folder
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Trendy Stripes

I've been doing a lot of shopping lately for my spring wardrobe and I keep seeing all these black and white stripes everywhere. It inspired me to make something. Very simple, very modern, nice visual appeal.

Materials: White cardstock, Black cardstock
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Distress Ink and Embossing Get Well Soon

One of the few techniques you'll see me do that doesn't involve a white background. These inks blend so well, you don't even need high quality paper. You can also customize them is so many ways; seriously if you haven't tried them, what are you waiting for?

Materials: White cardstock, distress inks, metallic rub, white embossing powder, Hero Arts CL481, CL342
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Blue Stripes, Yellow Flowers

Just a simple card today: ocean blue cardstock and some two-toned yellow flowers, throw in a little bling there you have it.

Materials: Colored cardstock, rhinestones (actually taken off a pair of flip-flops after they bit the dust.) Fiskars small flower punch.
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Sunshine

Simple design, but so many possibilities. Multiple shades of yellow cardstock create this image that can be customized for endless occasions: note cards, get well card, birthdays, or any other special occasions.

Materials: White cardstock, yellow cardstock
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Fabric Scrap Card

Here I have created a card with some scrap fabric (this one comes from some T-shirt seams), but the great part of this design is that you can use almost anything as a backdrop! Patterned paper, wallpaper, watercolor, fabric, ribbon, tissue paper, the sky is the limit as long as it less than 1/8" thick. One of my other favorite things to use for this is images from storebought cards that I receive - especially if there are some nice colorful abstract images!

Materials: white cardstock, kraft cardstock, fabric scraps, white gel pen, foam dimensional.

Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow my blog or visit me on my pinterest or Etsy sites! Just see the right-hand side of the screen!

Flower Strip Stationery

Sometimes the best place to look for card designs in patterned paper. After all, someone designed the paper to look visually appealling, so why not use the existing design concepts to create something beautiful. These cards were created from paper that had a solid brown background lined with parallel strips of flowers. I didn't really like the paper because it was so straight and flat, but I thought the flowers in a row were interesting. So I cut out the flowers. Was it tedious? Yes, it was. Did I enjoy it? You betcha! So the end result: I kept the concept that I liked from the paper, but got rid of the design concept that was not my style. Voila! A unique card that fits my style. I left the blue and pink blank so I that I can add a message to fit the occasion later. The "happy birthday" sentiment on the red flower card was stamped with StazOn black and a TPC stamp set.

Materials: White cardstock, flowers cut from patterned paper, StazOn in jet black, TPC "sentiments" clear stamp set
Size: Standard A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Disclosures:
I use the craft products that I like to use. I am not paid by anyone or any entity for marketing of the various products that I may mention on this blog.