Making Shaped Cards With Creative Dies Plus

I've been making lots of cards this week. Article work has been keeping me busy but I have also had the opportunity to try out the Creative Dies Plus Stitched and Pierced nesting dies from Craft Stash. Have you seen these dies? I'm not sure how long they have been on the market for but they were new to me and it's totally perfect timing for me as I've been meaning to update some of my nesting dies.

I have to keep my stash current with what is available on the market for my article work but unfortunately some of my Spellbinders dies are no longer easily available, well at least here in the UK. So, well it's great excuse to go shopping, right? Luckily, Craft Stash asked if I would try out some of their products so I jumped at the chance and picked some dies including these two nesting die sets (thank you Craft Stash!) but I might have also bought some other dies as well that I will share with you later (*wink).

[There are some affiliate links in this blog post, so if you buy through them I do get a small amount of money at no extra cost to yourself. Thanks for your support!]

I know! I could not resist, they have this amazing large Hexagon Panel die from the Apple Blossom collection that I have just fallen in love with, but more on that in another blog post!

I do have to admit I've never actually had a set of nested heart dies before as I usually cut my own heart shapes but check out the stitch and pierced dot details. Well, you've got me there, I can't do that easily so this set had to drop into my basket.

The stitched and dot details are a lovely touch that I really like but if you are looking for some plain nesting die shapes they also have a large collection of just shapes to choose from including some heavily discounted bundle deals worth looking at (just thought I would give you a heads-up in case you were looking for some!).

You guys know that stars and hearts are probably amongst my favourite go-to motifs, we have talked about our favourite motifs before here on my blog. I do use them again and again and I am naturally drawn to those shapes first but there were lots of other shapes in the Creative Dies Plus Stitched and Pierced range too including tags, scalloped shapes, circles, ovals, banners, rectangles and squares.

Both these cards, that I am sharing today, are shaped cards using Kraft and cream cardstock and some old papers from Studio Calico. It's the Brighton Pier collection in case you were curious but I expect you can't find them any more. Sorry! I've hand-written the sentiments and mixed and matched the die-cut shapes to make a matching pair of cards. 

The sentiment on the Stitched and Pierced Heart card says 'Wishes' and on the Stitched and Pierced Star card says 'Besties'. 

So thanks again to Craft Stash for sending me these dies to try out and you might have noticed that I am also an affiliate of theirs too as it just makes sense - I like their products, I am a big fan of their in-house designers and as they are part of Practical Publishing International they have most of the latest magazines that you can sometimes spot me in (*cheeky grin!).

By the way, if you are a new Craft Stash customer make sure that you join their newsletter as you can get 20% off your first order if you do.

So which are your favourite shapes in the Creative Plus Stitched and Pierced Nesting dies range? I'm curious as to which will be the most popular. What nesting die shapes do you use the most or what shape would you like to see but haven't yet?

Kim

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VIDEO: DIY Logan / Wolverine Inspired Birthday Card

I've mentioned before that we are pretty keen on comic books and graphic novels in my household so today's project video is a total geek-out homage to the new Logan film coming out in the cinemas around the world this week. It's a DIY how-to for making a Logan / Wolverine inspired Birthday Card.

I totally wish I could claim to having come up with the idea but it was my amazing partner David who did, I just brought it to life. The one thing we are not short of in my house is comic books so it was easy for me to source some old ones to cut up. But if you aren't so lucky then try your local charity shop or second hand book shop, but do make sure it isn't a rare one before you go tearing it up!

Hope you enjoy the movie Bub. Both mine and the one in the cinema, which might be slightly longer and less papercraft-based than mine!


VIDEO: DIY Logan / Wolverine Inspired Birthday Card



[There are some affiliate links in this blog post, so if you buy through them I do get a small amount of money at no extra cost to yourself. Thanks for your support!]

Products:
Old comic book pages
Cardstock 12" x 12" yellow, blue
Glue - any paper glue will do, I used Golden Regular gel
Scissors
Sakura Micron Pigma pen 05
bone folder (or use the side of a pen)
Paper trimmer (or a craft knife and a metal ruler)
Scoring tool (or an old inkless ballpoint pen and a ruler)
Craft knife
Metal ruler (optional)

Have fun with this technique! I don't think it isn't just for Logan / Wolverine birthday cards either, it would make a fun Halloween card too wouldn't it?

Kim

***



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Another Die-Cut Design For Men

Welcome to the last of my four die-cut designs for men. All four cards have been designed around a common theme using simple die-cut shapes but they all use various different aspects of design theory. If you look back over the month at each of the cards I have posted on the last four Monday then you can see some of the usual card design principles such as the use of colour, or the placement of elements. But this card is a little different.

On first look at this design it might look a little discordant, but it still works and there is still a design harmony in this project. One of my favourite design tools that I use regularly for my card making is reflected colour. Repeat a colour or the shade and tone of a colour in several places on a card brings harmony to a design. You probably use it yourself regularly, without even realising that you are doing it, it is a very popular design tool.

But I've not repeated the colours for this design. However, I have used a repeat, it just isn't an immediately obvious one. Look again and you will start to see repeated motifs, which is another great design tool that many of us use again and again. The geometric shapes with the diamond pattern, the chevron and the star; the repeated circle motif of the dots, rounded rectangle corners and the die-cut disc of the star. If you really look you start to see them.

Obviously it helps using a paper pack where a designer has already curated the colours and motifs so that they will work well together but don't be afraid to utilise that work that someone else has already done and play with it in your own design work. Build your confidence using paper packs and then you will start seeing design elements everywhere and start curating your own colour combos and design motifs.

If you have missed the other three cards in this series than you can find them by clicking on the pictures below.

Card designing is fun isn't it?

So what design theory tools do you find yourself using again and again in your cardmaking?

Kim





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6 Card Ideas To Revisit For 2017

On Wednesday I posted 'My 5 Favourite Art Videos Of 2016' blog post as part of a little review I do around this time every year to take stock of what I have been working on through the year. Today I thought I would share six of my favourite cards designs from my 2016 back catalogue.

But I have to admit I haven't done a lot of cards for my blog this year. I've still made them for magazines but when it comes to making them for my blog content, they have been a little sparse. Even so, the ones that I have collected together to share today are still my favourites from my blog this year and I hope they are yours too!

So to kick off here is a great design for Valentine's day (affiliate link).

Yep, I know, we haven't even got past Christmas and New Year yet, but believe me, I have already been making Valentine's cards and projects for 2017. The original card is on the Blitsy blog with a step by step showing how to put it together and if you are interested you can visit it via the link above the picture.

Another favourite card idea from 2016 has to be one of my clean and simple (CAS) style designs using my new stamp range launched with PaperArtsy this year.

And you could not get much simpler than this design, well, except perhaps just stamping one flower and the sentiment, ok, that might be simpler!

I think I do kind of lean towards CAS design, sometimes through personal taste but also a lot of the time due to deadlines if I'm honest. But even my 'arty and 'messy' cards have a clean and simple vibe as seen in the next two cards.

The first one was from an article in Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 153 where I shared some ideas for using the Ken Oliver Color Bursts which were very popular this year. For this card I used a The Crafter's Workshop stencil to apply the pigment watercolour paint through.

The second card was a similar make in that it uses watercolour and a stencil but this time the stencil was a chipboard embellishment and the watercolour was a Lindy's gang spray.

[Photo credit: Practical Publishing International]

I have a video showing how I put the 'Hey Pineapple' cards together, it is a really simple method for making multiple cards in one go, great for invite making! You can watch it if you hop to my 'How To Make Quick Pineapple Party Invites' blog post. 

The last two card designs that might make good ideas to revisit for your cardmaking in 2017 are very different from each other but still in-keeping with my CAS vibe. For the first one I played with die-cuts and patterned paper to make a fun, very loosely inspired by Captain America, card,

As I have mentioned before I do like using circles and stars in designs!

The final share is a mixed media card that uses cut outs with brush work to form the image. The dress was made by adding gouache colour to a piece of cardstock collaged with book pages then I cut out the shape. The dress was then stuck over a body form that I painted on the card directly with a brush. And the lettering was also done by hand with a brush directly on the card. 

It was a bit nerve wracking as I don't tend to draw or letter like this directly on projects for commissions. I tend to do the drawing or lettering on something else, cut it out then stick it on, so no big deal if I get it wrong! But I threw caution to the wind for this one!

That is my look back on my favourite cards for 2016. I hope that some of these are interesting for you and might inspire one of your card designs for 2017.

Let me know if you have or plan to do a look back on your favourite makes for 2016, I would love to see it!

Kim

To find my other 2016 Round-Up Posts click the pictures below or follow the links listed:

My 5 Favourite Art Videos of 2016

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More Card Ideas For Men

Time for my third card in this card designs for men series. If you have missed it I have been posting a card designed for a man on Monday for the last two weeks, but, as I said in the first post of this series they really don't need to be designs just for men, you can use them for women too!

All the cards I've been sharing so far were made for the same commission, so there is a theme weaving these cards together into a set. The theme can be seen in the patterned paper I've used, so the colour palette, and they are all heavily using die-cut elements.

I use stars a lot in my cards. For me, stars in my cardmaking are a bit like hearts in my art journaling, they are my easy-go-to motif for finishing a design. No matter how much I try to break out of the star-using or heart-using rut I still return to them as design elements again and again.

They are one of my favourite elements, I actually have to stop myself using them as I use them so much, I just can't help myself! But I think they are particularly useful for this type of simple design, where I have not really used anything other than some die-cut shapes and patterned paper. For me I feel the stars give the card design some focus.

Actually, now I come to think about it I think circles are another one of my most over-used design elements in both my cardmaking and my art journalling!

So what are your easy-go-to motifs for your cardmaking or other creative projects? What shapes do you find yourself drawn towards over and over again?

Kim



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Another Birthday Card Design For Men

If you happened by my blog last Monday I shared a male cards in my 'Die-cut Cards for Men' blog post, as well as my general anxiety about calling things either male or female! This week I have another share from the same set of cards that I made for a commission earlier in the year. It is also a male card, and I am still conflicted about calling it that but I do feel better by the fact that it again has the man in question's name on it, so I can't really call it anything else!

I've gone for a simple design again for this card, but well, I think that is the way I role, particularly when I am trying to get things done for deadlines! Also I quite like the challenge of designing with very few elements and when you have a 'busy' paper like the one I used for this range of cards, you can get away with letting the papers speak for themselves.

Die-cutting is perfect for this type of card and I've used a star die with the Stitched Rectangles from My Favorite Things Die-namics range. There is a little bit of dimension as I have used a thin foam pad to stick the shapes to the card front but I tried to keep it flat to keep the cost down for the client if they wanted to send it by post.

Come back next Monday for another male card in this range.

Kim




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Die-cut Cards For Men

I often um and ah about labelling my card designs specifically for men or women. Cardmakers often talk about cards for men or cards for women, but I try to be a bit nebulous about it, if I can, when I share my makes. Because, well, I will be honest, I often LOVE cards that have supposedly been made with men in mind and sometimes I even love them more than some cards that are labeled for women. So, really, do we have to label them?

Although, having said that, this card is definitely a card for a male person, I mean look, it even has his name on it! I can't really get away with being nebulous about it. This is a man's card, made for a man by a women, so I'm still not really sure if a man likes it or what makes it a 'man's' card, but I like it and I hope that is enough!

And for any Marvel fans out there can you guess the superhero inspiration for the design for this one? Do you see it? I mean it is obvious right? Answers on a postcard to...

I do have some other cards for men using die-cuts, that I made for the same commission, to share with you over the next few weeks and again, I know they are for men as they have their names on them too!

So what makes a man's or a women's card for you? What sort of themes or colours do you go for or avoid when you design a card for a man or a women? Or perhaps I should ask what are your favourite cards that you receive and then let me know if you are male or female!

Oh and if you can't see which Marvel superhero, shout and I will let you know.

Catch you later.

Kim

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A Handmade Birthday Card For A Fashionista

I worked out recently that I have made around 360 projects this year for magazines, give or take a few and 95% of those have been cards. That sounds like a lot of cards when you starting adding it up! But this doesn't take into account the cards I make for personal commissions, so add them into the mix and what, we are looking at over 400 cards for 2016 at least.

Then you look at my blog over the last year and I rarely have any cards on it. Crazy! So you might be mistaken into thinking that I don't make cards anymore but I do, honest! If you popped by my blog a couple of weeks ago you would have spotted a card I made for Simply Cards and Papercraft Issue 156 in my blog post 'Cards For Tech-Heads'.

But that is not all. For further proof that I am still making cards, I have another one for you today. I know! It's like busses, no cards for ages then you get two in a row. What is that about?

[I do use affiliate links and there are some in this blog post.]

So this card was a personal commission for a birthday and I decided to go with a mixed media-spin. The dress is made using collage and gouache and the figure and lettering is gouache with a brush. Just in case you wanted the details.

If you have been following my Art Slice videos then you will know that I've been playing a lot with gouache recently. I really like it as a colouring medium, the colours are bright and bold with gouache but I'm still playing and trying to find my way with it.

This particular gouache that I used for this card is pearlescent and so pretty. I've used the Turner Acryl Gouache Colour Pearl Mint for the body and dress with Colour Pearl Red and Colour Pearl Lemon on the dress as well.

I'll admit it, I am little addicted to these paints! The pearlescent is much more shiny than I've been able to capture with the photos.

Ok, your turn, spill the beans, how many cards have you made this year? Rough numbers will do. Oh, and I still have a Christmas card commission to finish so you can add those into the total too! But it isn't a competition (it so is! #SheWhispersUnderHerBreath).

Catch you later Card-inators!

Kim

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Cards For Tech-Heads!

If you know someone who is into their technology and you need some card ideas for them then you might want to get your hands on the current issue of Simply Cards and Papercraft (issue 156).

[Photo credit: Practical Publishing International] 

I've got a whole article brimming with different ideas for cards and a gift, covering different occasions, and all based around technology, you know - mobile phones, gaming, laptops the lot. Being a bit of a tech-head and gamer myself it was fun to come up with some techie-themed makes for this issue.

Also with this issue of Simply Cards and Papercraft is a really pretty embossing folder free gift with matching dies and stamps that I am really looking forward to playing with when I get the chance. Have you seen it yet? Lovely. Every year I keep my eye out for new snowflake stamps and dies as they are so handy to have in the stash.

[Photo credit: Practical Publishing International] 

I might use these on the Christmas card commissions I still have left to make. There are also some lovely Christmas stamps that came with some recent issues of Creative Stamping that I might use too. I can't quite believe that we are so near to Christmas! I've been making Christmas commission projects since May so now we are only, what, five or six weeks from the day itself, I can't get my head around that there isn't much time left to finish this year's cards!

Zoinks! I better get on with it. Good luck if you are in the same boat as me!

Catch you later.

Kim


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As Featured On Blitsy - How To Make a Mixed Media Big Bloom Card

It is Blitsy time and this week I have a card making tutorial on the blog.

[I do use affiliate links and there are some in this blog post.]

I've gone all pink, well with a smidge of kraft and cream too, but mostly pink, pink with some more pink for good measure! I've obviously been in a bit of a pink mood as well as a teal mood at the moment.

So if you are looking for something a bit inky, card-y and mixed media-y then go take a look on the Blitsy blog to see how I put this Mixed Media Big Bloom Card together. Of course yours doesn't have to be pink if you don't want it to be!

Catch you later.
Kim

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As Featured On Blitsy - How to Make A Valentine's Day Card With Journaling Cards

Flutter, flutter goes my beating heart. Did someone say Valentine's? Come on now, own up, I know that someone did! Or perhaps it was just whispered on the wind? Well if you are looking for some Valentine's Day ideas then you could always have a look through the Blitsy blog. There are a few heart-themed ideas on there, including one from me today!

[I do use affiliated links and there are some in this blog post]

The whole step by step showing how I put this together and what I used is over on the Blitsy blog so hop on over there and don't forget to check out the other loved-up inspiration too.

Love is in the air, I'm sure of it!

Kim

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Rocket Ship Cardmaking

It has been such a long time since I last posted a card on my blog that you might be wondering if I still make them! Well I do but 99% of my cardmaking these days are for magazines so I can't show them here on my blog, but you will have seen them if you get Papercraft Essentials, Simply Cards and Papercraft, Creative Stamping or Die-Cutting Essentials.

But I do have a card to share today and I've used the 1950's inspired stamp set that came with the issue 21 of Creative Stamping.

Oddly enough the last card I posted on my blog also had a rocket ship on it!

Well I do love a bit of Sci Fi!

Have a fun day and if you are looking for the Show Your Face link up then click on the picture below, it will take you straight there.

Catch you later.
Kim

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Crafts U Love Demo - Get The Most From Your Journaling Cards (Continued)

3...2...1...BOOOOMMMMM!

Monday is Go! 


I don't know why but the intro music to Thunderbirds just popped into my head then. Did it pop into yours too?

Ok, so you may not have noticed but it is Monday, I know, it was a surprise to me too! I have an explosive card to share with you today to help you get Monday off with a bang!

It is one of my Crafts U Love demo cards (I told you I had a few to share) and it is another from my 'Get The Most From Your Journaling Cards' series and I've used the Becky Higgins Boys Rule Project life card kit.

I might have told you guys this before but I'm a massive space and Sci Fi geek so this one rings all of my bells plus it is interactive, I've put the rocket on a spring so that it wobbles - too cool for school!

I *LOVE* cards with moving elements! Sorry I get a bit excited about space-y things and interactive things. Don't mind me!

Ok you guys! You GO get your Monday, it ain't rocket science! (Well, it might be for some of you, I mean I have no idea what you do in your job, you maybe a rocket scientist for all I know! In which case it IS rocket science!).

Right, I'm out of here, perhaps I shouldn't drink so much coffee before I write my blog posts?

Kim

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Crafts U Love Demo - Get The Most From Your Journaling Cards (Continued)

After the canvas on Monday and the Face for Show Your Face on Friday I was thinking I would shake things up again with a card. What do you think? I still have some Craft U Love demo cards that I haven't shared yet so let's do this!

This is another card in my 'Get The Most From Your Journaling Cards' series and I've used the Becky Higgins Boys Rule Project life card kit with Tim Holtz Abandoned Coral and Fossilised Amber Distress inks.

How To Make:
It is another simple design, I used a craft knife to remove a star from a journaling card and then I used the card with the star removed as a stencil to sponge the inks through on the card blank. The cut-out star was then stuck on top using 3D-foam with a circle and the date tab, both of which were also cut from journaling cards.

If you like this make then you might want to check out these ones too if you haven't seen them already:



Hope you have a great creative Wednesday.

Kim

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