CAS Simple Trees Christmas Card

 

A simple tree outline card to add to my CAS cards. This card was inspired by the CAS christmas card challenge which you can link to here.

 

For the process video on how I made this card see the link below or click here.

 

SSS Clean Line Christmas stamp set has three tree outlines so I decided to line all three up next to each other on the front of a white notecard. 

First I used ranger archival ink in sap green to stamp all three images, then removed the two tree images on the left and right to leave the centre tree image. I then use momento cottage ivy ink to re-stamp the centre tree image with a darker green to give it contrast and interest. Of course I'm using a stamping platform here to make it easy for me to re-stamp exactly on top of the image I'd already stamped.

Next step is the sentiment. I chose a sentiment stamp with "season's greetings" inside a rectangular box and decided to heat emboss that using black embossing powder.

I decided I wanted to mount the card front onto a red card base but I wasn't fond of the high contrast between the white notecard and the bright red card base. To combat this I decided to grab a blending brush and my Stampin' Up Cobbler Red ink pad and quickly add what I'm going to call a 'red fog border!' I liked how this softened the feel of the whole card; I just hope it doesn't break the CAS Christmas card challenge rules (sorry blog moderators if it does, but hope you enjoyed visiting my blog anyway).

Anyway, happy crafting.

Mel Crafting.

CAS Engineering Tree Christmas Tree Card

 

This is a very simple CAS christmas card. I used the Altenew stamp set "Engineers Rule" so it is a more masculine christmas card perfect for engineers or handymen. The motivation for this card was to enter the CAS Christmas card challenge which you can find here.

If you prefer to watch a video on how I made this card there is a link below or just here.

The first step was to mask the triangle for the tree. On a standard note card I used a ruler to mark the centre of the card then used purple masking tape to form a triangle. I taped the notecard to my 'We R Memory Keepers Precision Press' (just a stamping platform!) then arranged the small engineering images from the Engineers Rule stamp set inside that triangle.

Using Gina K Designs Amalgam Ink in Jet Black, I stamped the images onto the notecard a few times to make sure I got a good impression.

I then removed the masking tape. I used a ruler and a black ink pen to draw a dashed line to outline the tree.

The tree needed a stand or trunk and I found a 'Merry Christmas' sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Clean Line Christmas stamp set that lined up perfectly with the base of my 'tree' to give a metaphorical stump. I decided to stamp that sentiment using Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler ink and my precision press stamping platform.

I then trimmed down the edges - mainly to trim off the tear in the card (caused by my impatience when removing washi tape in an earlier step). Then I used double-sided tape to adhere the notecard to a navy blue card base.

In hindsight, I think it would have looked better had I heat embossed the sentiment and spotlighted some of the images making up the tree. However, it was a very quick card to make and I'm sure one of the engineers in my life will appreciate it.

Happy Crafting!

Mel Crafting.

Housewarming - Simple Happy Housewarming

Happy Housewarming Card

I needed a card for the housewarming I'm attending in the weekend. Found out I didn't have one so decided to see how fast I can make one. Turns out the answer is about 15 minutes (once I've figured out the design).

This card is obviously very simple to make and by definition very basic and very easy to achieve. Nevertheless, click here or below for the process video.

I started off looking through my crafty stash and found some leftover dies cut phrases and letters. Quickly had a sort through to see what sentiments I could make and settled on using a 'Happy' die cut and the negative space of letters that spelled out 'housewarming.' Both of these dies cut outs were from using diecuts I bought off Aliexpress. The 'Happy' die cut is actually part of a set that includes the sentiment and its shadow, here I only use the sentiment. The alphabet diecut set I used actually cuts both the letters and a square block of negative space around the letters. This means the die cut letters can be used in multiple ways: The letters on their own, the negative space on their own, or both using contrasting card stock. Here, because I found everything was cut out of black cardstock, I decided to mount it onto yellow card stock to give it good contrast.

To adhere the diecuts to a yellow card front I used liquid glue inside a glue pen. Again I got the glue pen off Aliexpress; I bought 5 of them and they come empty so I filled one with liquid glue then used it to dot glue on the back of the diecut pieces and placed them on the card front. I purposely tried not to make anything too straight and went for an 'organic' look with the placement of the letters and the 'happy' phrase; but if you want to be a bit tidier, feel free to use a t-ruler to line up the letters.

Check out my blog post where I review this glue pen here, or just click below to view my video review...

Using this glue did warp the card front a little; to avoid this you can use higher weighted card stock or different glue. To fix this issue I just place the card front between non-stick baking paper, put inside a book and put a heavy weight on top, leave it overnight and come back next day to a fixed card front. As I was rushed for time, I decided to adhere my card front directly to a yellow card base using double-sided tape anyway, trimmed off the overhangs and then placed inside book under weights etc. This cheat step worked a treat, though I wouldn't recommend for more seriously warped card fronts.

And we are all done. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it.

Happy crafting.

Mel Crafting

Christmas Card - Peaceful Trees

Peaceful Trees

Once again I wanted to use Simon Says Stamp's Clean Line Christmas stamp set and it's geometric trees that I was recently gifted to use. I thought it would be perfect to create a clean and simple Christmas card. I also wanted to use the 'peaceful' stamp from Simon says stamp's Holiday Greetings Mix 1 so that formed the basis of this design.

(I'll post a link to a process video here in the near future)

Simon Says Stamp Holiday Greetings Mix 1

Simon Says Stamp Clean Line Christmas

First of all I decided to stamp each of the 3 geometric trees in a shade of blue, green and red. For the blue I used Altenew crisp dye ink in Desert Night, the green is Ranger Archival Ink in Library Green and the red I used was Stampin Up Cherry Cobbler.

Ink Pads Used on this Card

I placed a A6 sized piece of 300gsm (~100lb) cardstock and each tree stamp into my we r memory Keepers stamping platform and lined them up using a ruler. I stamped the furthest from the edge of my stamping platform first, removed it from the door then stamped the tree in the middle, removed that stamp and stamped the final tree. Thus was to make it easier for me to stamp the separate colours cleanly while keeping them all lined up where I wanted them on the card front.

I decided I wanted to have the sentiment "wishing you a peaceful Christmas" so I lined up the smaller 'wishing you a' above the "peaceful" stamp with 'christmas' below. I stamped this using ranger archival ink in jet black but I wanted the "peaceful" part of the sentiment to stand out so decided to restamp it using clear embossing ink then heat embossed it with black embossing powder. When I did this I made sure the stamped images where completely dry before applying my anti static powder tool then heat embossing.

Heat Embossing Tools Used

That was all I wanted to do on this card to keep it simple but felt it needed something more. I decided to give the card a bit of dimension by using foam tape to adhere the card front to a 180gsm textured white card base.

All The Products Used on This Card

And it's done. It turned out really simple and clean. Just how I wanted it to be. Hope you enjoyed this card design.

Happy crafting!

Mel Crafting.