Paper Crafting World's Elf on a Shelf

My elf came off the shelf and is just popping in to say, Merry Christmas! I used the Paper Crafting World's Elf on the Shelf Boy Cut File, for this easy Christmas card. I know it is almost Christmas but this is easy enough to make in a rush.

I cut him out, inked the edges with Dew Drops ink pads and assembled him. I cut a circle with a sizzix scallop circle die and layered that over red dot scrapbook paper. I added that over a plaid piece of scrapbook paper and adhered it to a red A2 card.

To finish the card off, add embellishments you have in your stash. I had some red faux enamel dots I used as berries (I also used a yellow dot for a button) and hand cut some green paper for some holly leaves. I added them in the corners and a baby bow under the banner. The baby bow is from Paper Smooches. If you don't have a bow die, use ribbon to tie a bow and glue on with glue dots, add a banner stamped with your favorite holiday greeting and you are done! (You can use a die to cut the banner, a cut file of a banner or free hand one.)

I hope you enjoyed this easy Christmas card. I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you check back in the new year for more fun and easy projects!

Do you want to build a snowman??

Let's make a pop up card!!

This adorable little girl and her snowman friend are files from Paper Crafting World's
Frosty Fashionista.

Take an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of blue paper. Cut it to 4.25 x 11 inch. Score 5.5 inches down to make a vertical top fold card. With the right side of the paper we will make the base.  Cut the base to Score (a) .38 inch from the bottom

and (b) .38 up from that score. Then turn the paper over and score (c)
at .38 from other side.

(I did a sample of what it should look like. This should be done with your blue paper not orange. I used this as an example.)

Next fold on the score lines. A a valley fold, B mountain fold and C mountain fold. See below for folds and placement.

Now cut out the little girl and snowman from frosty fashionista. (Do not cut any images larger then 3.75 inches tall so they don't peek out of the card when it is closed.) Cut out some clouds and a sun either with a die, free hand or use this adorable set called, Apple-Tree-Clouds-Sun-Grass.  Ink all the edges with coordinating Distress Inks. Free hand some snow banks and ink them with a light blue ink. Add clouds and sun to the background of the card. Add some snowbanks. Decide where you would like the little girl to stand and where you would like the snowman to be. (Check before you cut anything that the images are placed far enough back so they don't stick out when the card is closed.) Then cut a slit in the floating floor with an X-ACTO knife.  Cut a strip of paper for a support and fold it at the end to secure to the bottom of the card through the hole you created.  Adhere the girl to the support. Do the same for the snowman. Add snowbanks to the front or back of their feet so they will move with the card. For added support, make another strip and fold on each end and adhere to background and back of girl and snowman's heads. Fold the card and train all your folds to lay flat. For some added bling I cut some snowflakes out of some glitter wrapping paper and glued to the bottom of my floating floor.


For the front of the card: You can decorate any way you would like. I added some decorative paper to the bottom of the card. Used some green paper to make a strip of paper to go above the patterned paper and die cut some words on my die cutting machine. I used glittered wrapping paper for all the shiny stuff, even for the faux ribbon across the card. Lastly I rounded the bottom corners of the card with my corner chomper.


If you would like to turn it into a Christmas card, add a Christmas tree to the background with some presents or have the little girl holding a gift.

Gingerbread Easel Card

Making an easel card is fun and easy! I used the adorable gingerbread people from the All Baked Out set over at Paper Crafting World. There are a lot of cute files included in this collection. I used the single man and woman. You can easily use the other designs such as the border people or the title on the base of this card.

Let's make a card!!

I used a die for the base of my card. It is from Sizzix. You can use any stand up bases you like. Silhouette has many in the design store and you can always cut one by hand too. Once you have your base cut from red card stock, decorate it with some patterned paper. I use Christmas papers from Recollections Sugar Plum pad. It was sold by Michael's a few years back but any papers will do.

Cut a white piece of card stock and stamp a greeting. I used a stamp from my stash. I used Stazon black ink and then antiqued the edges of the cut shape with some tea dye Distress Ink.

Cut the cute gingerbread people out your die cut machine. I used my Silhouette Cameo. I inked all the pieces with Distress Inks that matched my papers. I used all solid papers for these cuties. Assemble the folks. Decorate them if you would like with 3D elements to add interest. I added buttons made from melted Perler beads.

I cut the candies out from red and white card stock. I used a red permanent marker to add some extra lines to match my candy paper, this is optional. Add some Glossy Accents to the candy die cuts to add dimension. Let them dry before you attach them. I also added a dot of white acrylic paint with a tooth pick to their cheeks to finish off their faces.

As for the bottom "joyful" embellishment. I used a die from Sizzix. I cut it out three times and glued them together for dimension.

Glue on all your embellishments and you are done!! This card can be folded flat to mail and propped up to display!!

 

Turkey Time!

An adorable turkey from Paper Crafting World is the headliner to this card.  Once you cut the turkey, ink the pieces with Distress inks, the rest of the card goes together quickly. It is an A2 card meaning it is 4.25 by 5.5 inches. The striped paper is cut .13 inch smaller to leave an edge around it. (I used a rust paper for my card base. You could use white paper and add a 4.25 by 5.5 inch piece of paper over the front of your white card base and continue as instructed. This way, the inside of your card is white.) Cut some tan paper 3.5 by 5.5 inch and run it through an embossing folder. Any embossing folder will work. This procedure adds texture and interest to your card. (Round the corners with a corner chomper if desired.)  Add black paper behind that piece with .13 inch showing to make your image pop off the page. (Round corners if you rounded the other rectangle.) Add ribbon that matches your papers and then the turkey on top to finish off this element. 

The top rectangle is 2.75 by 3.5. (I used decorative paper with words. You can use any coordinating paper.) Cut a .13 inch paper border to go behind it. Add it to the top of the card, add the other embellished rectangle and you are done! (For some added fun you can add some faux enamel dots.)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Autumn Scrapbook Layout

This fun Autumn two page layout is made from several files from Paper Crafting World. The files used were:

Carving out Memories
Autumn Title
Bear in Sweater with Apples

I also used leaf dies from Prima to add an airy feel. The solid papers were from Recollections found at Michael's and the decorative papers were from "The Fall Stack" by Die Cuts With a View found at JoAnn's. (I think it has been discontinued so use any fall papers.) After cutting the pieces out with my Silhouette, I inked them all with Distress Inks. Optional, use a white gel pen for highlight and use colored pencils for details on apple barrel.

 I cut my mats for my pictures and ran them through my Sizzix Big Kick  for a little added texture. I used the a swirl folder from The Paper Studio found at Hobby Lobby. Each mat was backed with a tiny bit of black paper to help them stand out from the background papers. Lastly, I cut some strips of decorative paper in a wave to add movement to my layout and placed them behind my mats and title. (Before you glue anything down, you should lay them all out where you think they should go. I usually walk away at this point and then come back later to see if I still like how I have my items arranged. If there is anything that needs changing, I do it now and then I adhere everything down.)

If you already have photos you know you want to use, mat them first. Then lay them out to fit on the two pages and once you have all the photos placed add the die cuts.  I print my own pictures so I can make them fit any size mats that I make.

Scarecrow Card

I made this adorable scarecrow card from a Paper Crafting World design. It was originally a treat box but I wanted to show you how versatile the files are. It's like buying a treat box and getting the card file for free!

Let's make the card!

Open the Scarecrow boy treat box cut file in your die cutting program. I used my Silhouette Cameo.
Move the whole file off to the side of your cutting mat and ungroup. Select only the scarecrow pieces and place them on your mat.To size the scarecrow you need to assemble the pieces, use the "select all" button to select the whole scarecrow and size to 5.25 inches.

Next to make a card body you need to keep the design in one piece and use the shadow button and make a shadow .25 inches around the outside of your scarecrow. (If you want a white card base, keep a copy of this black shadow and then make the card base as described but make it white and add the black shadow to the white card base.)

Drag this shadow piece to the side and make a copy. Select the copy and flip that image vertically. Now merge the new flipped image with the original shadow copy and weld together at the hat. This completes the card base that the scarecrow will be built on. Move the card base to the right of the mat so you can work on the scarecrow body.

Take all the scarecrow pieces and group them according to color on your mat. You can place the black eye pupils next to the card base so you can cut together. (If you made a white card base then add the pupils to the copy of the black shadow piece.) I cut the shirt out of decorative paper but you can use solid paper if you don't have decorative paper.

Add your colored paper to your mat and cut out all the pieces. Ink around all your die cut pieces. I used Distress Inks. Prisma colored pencils were used to add details to my pieces. Add cheeks using chalk or Distress ink. Use a Zig Millennium .01 to draw on eye lashes and faux stitches around all the scarecrow features. Assemble all pieces on black card base. (Or black shadow base.) I used tiny brass brads for the pocket details and white enamel dots for the overalls buttons.
All Done!

Not seen on the directions:
I added a pumpkin! October's Challenge over at Paper Crafting World is "Anything Goes" and the "Twist" is to use a pumpkin!

Carmelita

Meet Carmelita! She is a file from Paper Crafting World or PCW. She is the second file in the Chico and Carmelita set. My last project from PCW was Chico and this adorable female Chihuahua is Carmelita.

Here's how to make the card!

1. Open up your Silhouette program and purchase design 42687 from Lori Whitlock. Cut out your card in red. The card opens up the size you need so don't adjust anything. Add paper to your mat and cut out the base card only.

 

2. Change the paper on the mat to your favorite dog paper for the background. Mine was from Creative Imaginations by Samantha Walker. I welded the square base to the bottom border to make one solid background for the front of the card. Don't forget to make the top 1/8 inch larger to replace the over lapping weld. See below:

 

 

 3. Make sure you also cut out the two side panels if you want them to match your base paper. If not, change out your paper and cut side panels.

 

4. Set that aside for now. On to the dog. Arrange all the pieces of Carmelita on your mat and assemble the dog in your program. Over lap where you would normally glue. Then select the whole image and size the dog to 4.5 inches, this includes the top of her ears. Select the whole dog and make a 1/8 inch shadow around her and cut out of black.

 

5. Disassemble the dog and place each puppy part in groups by color. Cut out the puppy parts with the colors you would like her to be. Ink the edges of all the cut pieces with Distress Inks. Use inks that are a shade darker then the paper you used to shadow.

 

 

6. Assemble the dog and add any details you would like to embellish. I used a rhinestone on the collar and some Wink of Stella on the bow and flower charm on the collar.

 

7. Add base papers to card and pop up Carmelita with foam squares. I added some extra embellishments on my card with stickers from Karen Foster Design Love my Dog #10475 and Sandy Lion stickers Dog Phrase.

 

 

Paper Craft World's Chico the Chihuahua

 I love this Chihuahua file from Paper Craft World. This is also a September Challenge from Paper Craft World's Blog. The challenge is: Anything Goes. The Twist: Use a digital or stamped image.

Here's how to made the card!

1.  Cut the pieces of the Chihuahua out with your favorite die cutting machine. I used my Silhouette Cameo. 
   
2. Ink all the pieces with distress inks. Whatever paper you use, choose an ink to match. The papers I used were Recollection from Michaels. Assemble the dog and glue together.
   
3. Cut your backing paper to fit a 5x7 card base. I used a bone pattern from Die Cuts with a View (DCWV) paper pad called "The Pets Stack." Attach your base paper to your card base with an ATG tape gun or any tape runner.
   
4. Cut a piece of 3.5x5 inch piece of paper and use a corner chomper to round the corners. My dog names paper was from DCWV "The Pets Stack."  I am not sure this is still available so use any papers you think would go with your card.
   
5. For your border strip, cut a 2x7 inch piece of solid brown paper as your base and layer a 1.5x7 inch piece of decorative paper over it.  My puppy paw print paper was from a 8.5x8.5 inch paper pad by daisy hill called "Top Dog."
   
6. Attach a ribbon to the border strip and adhere to card with tape. Tie the bow separately and use glue dots to attach the bow.
   
7.  Now for the twist, which is optional. In Microsoft Word, type "Ruff Day" about an inch tall. Then use the stamp and die set from Lawn Fawn "A Birdie Told Me " to stamp the talk bubble in versa fine around the word group and cut it out with the matching die set.
   
8.  Attach the die cut of the dog and the talk bubble with 3D foam tape. You are done!
   
   
   
   

Paper Crafting World Design Team

I'm so excited to announce that I have been selected to serve on Paper Crafting World's design team! Over the next 6 months I will be designing exciting projects featuring designs from Paper Crafting World! Check out their web store for fun SVG files and other cut files to use with home die cutting machines! They also have a great blog you can follow where other design team members and I will be making awesome projects with Paper Crafting World's (PCW) adorable cut files!

So to help celebrate the new design team, PCW is having a special! Just use the code PCW55 at the checkout and you will get 55% off your entire purchase with no minimum! This special offer will close on September 18, 2015.


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From the Heart Stamps

This is my submission to From the Heart Stamps design team call.

I used a sketch from their blog and their freebie digital image, Mouse Balloon.

I water colored the  mouse with distress inks and used my quickutz nesting circles to cut all the circles. The paper is American Crafts birthday 6x6 pad.
For added fun, you could add glossy accents to the balloon!

Best Witches

 This card was cased from a card I saw on the internet but I don't remember where I saw it, sorry.

I used my Silhouette to cut the cauldron. The background was stamped with a Stampin' Up background stamp with versa mark on a purple background. I layered that on a green paper and put that on a basic black card base. Reminder, before you apply the green layer to the black base add twine. That way you don't see the twine from the inside of the card. (If you forget, use a craft knife to make a slit in the fold of the card and insert twine.) I stamped Best Wishes and cut to resemble a banner and inked the edges with green ink and applied to the corner with tape. 



 

 

To add some dimension to the brew, I used some glossy accents to resemble bubbles. There was very little inking on this card. A touch on the tag and some on the base of the cauldron. I used dimensional squares to attach it to the front of the card. 

 

 

I stamped the inside saying from a Stampin' Up stamp on some green card stock, added some twine and three faux enamel dots. The dots were made by melting down some Perler beads. Tapped the green decorated paper to the inside of the card and I was done!

Halloween Fun

These fast and easy Halloween cards are great when you don't have a lot of time but want a cute card. I used some simple die cuts I purchased at Michael's a few years back from their Recollection line for the front. I popped the pumpkin and tag up with dimensional foam squares. On the inside I used files from the silhouette store. The pop up elements make the card fun and it looks like you spent hours making it, but in fact it only takes a few minutes!

 

I added a few more die cuts from the same collection on the inside, glued googlie eyes on the spider and some clear wink of stella to the words "Trick or Treat". The card base was some double sided paper from my stash. 

  

Another card using the same die cut set. I cut the moon out of yellow paper and inked the edges with some orange ink. Added the googlie eyes to the witch die cut and glued to the moon with dimensional squares.



 

This is another silhouette pop up file.

 

 



My Scrap Chick Easter Card

I purchased this file from My Scrap Chick. It was a lot to put together but the end result was amazing! I made 4 of these at one time. It took me 3 days to complete them! I cut them all out one evening. The next evening I spent inking and decorating all the tiny pieces and the third evening I put everything together. I love the trifold card  design and all the cute faces! I did make the card a bit larger then the original file. I accomplished that in my silhouette design edition software for my cameo. The embossing folders I used for each of the backgrounds were Darice.

Penny Black

This Penny Black stamp set is great for all occasions. I water colored the image and used my nestabilities dies to cut the mats out. I used a faux water color paper for the background and added some flowers I purchased at Michale's. The other little goodies I purchased at my local dollar store. For the finishing touch, I used glossy accents on the balloons.

Quick card

My son's girlfriend, Rachel needed a thank you card for a friend. Rachel is a teacher so I knew this was the card for her. I purchased the design from silhouette, cut it out, glued it together and I was done. Sometimes it's nice to have someone else do the hard work! I used an old white gel pen to write with so it looked like chalk. The pieces of chalk are just gel pen with glossy accents over it. A Great card to use up scraps of paper too!

Getting Ready

Getting Ready is another great stamp by Lili of the Valley. This was colored on watercolor paper using Tim Holtz distress ink markers. You can't see it in the picture but I used wink of stella on the dress. It adds a lot of sparkle but it isn't distracting like glitter. When I am tight on time, I like to make simple cards like this one. I precolor the images to speed things up even more. 

Basic Copic Coloring

This cutie is a Magnolia stamp. The card was a simple copic coloring class I held. We used only a few markers with the tip to tip technique to get different variations of colors. You don't have to be a professional to get artist looking results with copics.

Lili of the Valley

This stamped image from lili of the valley is adorable. Actually, all their stamps are adorable! I chose, Feathered Friends, to watercolor. I used my new distress markers to watercolor this image. It is very easy to do and I love the results. I was in a water coloring mood one day so I sat down and painted a bunch of images. I like to have them ready so my card making sessions aren't so long doing the painting and card making at the same time. I do like to pull some papers to match my inks and then store the colored images and the papers in a plastic folder. Then when I am ready to make cards, I have the time consuming part done already.

Here are some great tutorials on watercoloring with distress markers.

Easter Bunny Pop Up

People love to receive pop up cards. They are as fun to make as they are to receive. I made this for a family member for Easter. I made the front cover (hop, hop, hop) from a file the Silhouette design store. The die on the bottom is from Spellbinders Card Creator. The paper was from my paper stash.

This is the inside of my pop up card. I used Karen Burniston's lots of pops die. It is my "go to die" when I am making pop up cards. The fancy labels are from sizzix and the cute bunny is from kadoodlebug. I used a neat grass die from Lawn Fawn.

Box card mania!

Once I saw the cute box cards at SVG CUTS I knew I had to have them!! I made this adorable love mailbox for my hubby for Valentine's day. I didn't have to mail it but it's good to know that all box cards lay flat and fit into an A2 envelope and require no extra postage. This was cut using my silhouette cameo.

Diet Joke

I made this pop up card for a family member as a joke. She loved it! I used Karen Burniston's Lots of Pops die. The stamp is from Art Impressions. I colored it with copics using basic shading. The faux m&m's are melted perler beads. The cute paper is from DCWV Sweet Stack.

Shaker Fun!

It's been a while since I made a shaker. I used to make them all the time in my scrapbooks. I made this cute little shaker card with my Silhouette Cameo. The two files I used were from Miss Kate Cuttables. Pet fish Set and fish in a bowl from the Silhouette Design Store also by Miss Kate Cuttables. The decorative paper was paper from my stash, card stock from Michael's and sequence and beads from my dollar store. The twine was from Annie's Paper Boutique.

I cut a window of a fish bowl on the front of my card using my silhouette. I also cut two fish bowl outlines to hold the recycled plastic in place for the shaker. Next I cut all the fish elements from the Michael's card stock and glued them on the inside of the card showing through the fish bowl window. Before adding the shaker elements, I placed my decorative paper where I wanted it to be on the front of the card, traced the opening from the inside.

Then I cut out the fish bowl shape with scissors. I added a piece of recycled plastic cut 1/2 of an inch larger then the fish bowl opening and glued it to the outside of the card. Then took the decorative paper and taped it over the plastic and added the outline of the fish bowl to cover any edges. On the inside of the card, I added beads and sequence to the plastic fish bowl.

This next part is really important, you need to use double sided foam adhesive tape to make the shaker work. I used the tape around the opening of the fish bowl to seal in all the shaker goodies. I cut the tape to make long 1/8 inch strips and completely surround the fish bowl opening and then laid another piece of recycled plastic over the tape. I glued the fish bowl outline over the plastic to cover the tape. I also added the twine to the top of the card for decoration. I made a slit in the fold of the card to feed through the twine. Lastly, I added the fish food container.