CARD# PR-2015-09: J & K

Hello there! I’ve been MIA for a couple of days and I didn't get to update you on my recent projects. I just started with my new job and I’m on graveyard shift. So, I would most probably be able to write during my rest days (weekend).

What we have here is another trishutter card with a matching box. Boy, it is really popular!

The client didn't have a particular color palette in mind, but she was leaning into black and white just like the one I made for Katie at the start of the year. You can check that project here.

This was for a first anniversary so she also requested their initials placed on the box.

The lid was made a bit different this time. I added lengths of cotton tape and the base that I used for the initials was a die cut frame from Spellbinders.

The embellishments in the inside panels are simple. I painted a wood veneer with acrylic paint and coated it with crackle paint. I added some rub on stickers on the same panel where I placed the wooden heart and two brads that say 4U at the bottom. I just adhered a lot of black crystals on several panels to add some flare and that’s it.

That was another awesome project and the customer really loves it. I hope the recipient would like it.

Thank you for stopping by today! Have a great week!

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel Board Paper White, Rives Board Paper Tradition Black,  chipboard, Bo Bunny 6x6 paper pad Enchanted Collection, Rouge de garance 6x6 paper pad Nympheas, self-adhesive crystals, Eno Greeting Wooden Embellishment, brads, cotton tape, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Ranger Distress Crackle Paint Rock Candy, HP Inkjet Printer, Martha Stewart Scoring Board, Spellbinders Shapeabilities D-Lites Frames, Spellbinders Nestabilities A2 Card Creator Tranquil Moments, Cuttlebug Machine V2

CARD# HPJ-2015-17: Kryss

Hi there! How are you? I hope you're doing fine. What I am going to share this time is another recessed frame card. I actually haven't posted the photos of this particular card in my other SNS accounts (except for a little sneak peek on IG) since I would be giving this as a gift for a friend and former colleague on the 24th. It is too early for her to see it. Let's not spoil the element of surprise. Heh. It is safe here. I know for certain that she does not read blogs that much.

I've done two cards with this technique so far (and this is the third). I haven't given her any birthday cards since the first year I met her (almost four years ago) and I thought this time I should give her something really extra special. She asked for a turquoise card, but I told her it would be a bit hard for me for I only have limited supplies with this color. It is close to nothing. Anyway, I just decided to go with a blue and green color palette.

I remember one of the designs in the Graphic 45 Couture Collection that has peacock feathers all over the page so I went ahead and checked to see if I still have some left. There's still one whole page! Yay! With the thought that this card should be super special, I wanted to make an interactive card or a fancy fold card. At first I thought of making an easel card which she can display on her desk in the office (She will likely do so. If not in the office then somewhere in their house.) Anyway, while I was prepping the supplies needed last night, I kind of changed my mind. Instead of an easel card, why not a square recessed frame card? It would be doubly fun and will sit perfectly on a desk. So a frame card it is! 

If you haven't seen my two previous projects using this technique, here are some snippets. Just click on the links in the captions to go to the original post.

This was a commissioned Christmas card. The details can be found here.

This second project has a recessed frame front and the inside is a popup book. Hop on over to my old blog for more photos.

Alright. Now that you've seen the other projects, let's move on to the newest one. As I have said, the color palette is blue and green so the elements I used are of these colors.

The card measures  5 1/4" x 1/2" x 5 1/4".

For the front of the card, I used some cutouts from the paper collection and adhered them onto the frame with foam tape. I added several types of flowers and then some beads and buttons. It still felt something was lacking after adding all those embellishments. I looked at the upper part and saw this much space which could be filled with the recipient's name. Well, I wanted to use 'ANDREA', but apparently I only have one A in my stash. So, I just used her other name 'KRYSS'. But then again it still felt incomplete even after adding the name. I thought perhaps some bling would add more interest and it did. Awesome! Now the frame was complete!

As for the inside of the card, I only placed a distressed piece of designer paper, the same one I used for the die cuts. I'll just write a short message in there and then give it to her when I have the chance.

I am loving this technique. I think I can use this again for an anniversary card. Hmn. I can suggest this to a friend who is looking for something to give her parents for their wedding anniversary. We can just put a picture of them together. Nice. I will keep you posted.

That was another great project and I'm pretty sure Ate Andrea would love it. Watch out for the next post--another boxed trishutter card! Thank you for looking!

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Rives Board Paper Tradition Black, Graphic 45 8x8 paper pad Couture and Typography Collections, paper flowers, wooden flower, brad, buttons, beads, self-adhesive crystals, metal charms, Stanley Glue Gun, ColorBox Cat's Eye Queue Pigment Ink Turquoise, Cheery Lynn Designs Fanciful Flourish, Cuttlebug Machine V2

BOXED MINI ALBUM

Hi there! I have posted about the wedding gift I made for a friend last December on my tumblog, but I have made some changes to it. Since I haven’t given it yet to her (Gaaad, it’s almost March!), I decided to change the photo folio into a mini album.

If you might recall, I received a commission for a guestbook last month and I made something like a mini album to hold some photos of the event as well as doodles and what not from the guests. I loved working on that particular project which got me to think of making a smaller version with more pages for Miss Karen. I was done with the original photo folio, but I didn't quite like how it turned out so I made a mini album. Hah! It doesn't look that good (hey, I only started making them), but it is way better than the folio!

Okay. So I had made the box first.

I altered a box from my stash of Papemelroti boxes. I coated it with several layers of gesso until I was satisfied with the coverage. I then stenciled the sides of the bottom with molding paste and used a different stencil on the lid. After which, I applied distressed crackle paint on the sides of the lid. When everything was dry, I inked the edges of both the bottom and the lid. I also used an ink pad to color the stenciled brocade on the lid. Before putting the decorations, I stenciled some dots on the surface of the lid with different colored ink pads.

I adhered wooden flourishes to the corners and put down the embellishments one by one. Of course it wouldn't be complete without the pearls and the crystals. I just love it! Maybe I’ll also alter the round boxes that I've been keeping for almost two years now. Hmn. Perhaps I’ll do it this weekend.

As for the mini album, the page assembly was the same as the one I used on the guestbook. If you haven’t seen it yet, I got the idea from Brenda Bliss on one of her video tutorials. You can find it here. 

This is the back part of the mini album. I didn't put anything else so as not to get in the way when writing on the pages.

The cover, though, was a bit different. Instead of using patterned paper to cover the chipboard base, I coated it with gesso, added a length of lace trimming and coated the whole thing again with gesso. I stenciled on the spine (the same one I used on the box bottom). Like the guestbook, I also wanted to add a detachable set of charms on the spine which I did by affixing a piece of lace trimming with a jump ring on the top part of the spine.

I made a video of the different parts of the mini album so you can also see what the inside looks like.

Thank you for looking today! Have a great weekend!

*NOTE: I've written this post a month ago, but then I missed to publish it that's why the side comment on the first part of the post says 'It's almost March.' I hope you don't get confused. Thanks again for stopping by!

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: (For the box: Papemelroti box, Marie's Gesso, Golden Molding Paste, Ranger Distressed Crackle Paint Rock Candy, ColorBox Cat's Eye Queue Pigment Ink Stucco, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, The Crafter's Workshop Stencils Mini Brocade, Art Is and Mini Swiss Dots, Eno Greeting Wooden Embellishments, wooden flower, paper flowers, metal charms, self-adhesive crystals and pearls, Kaisercraft Pickled Pear Collection Sticker Sheet, Graphic 45 8x8 Secret Garden Collection, paper scrap, Kaisercraft Clear Stamps Botanical Odyssey, Elmer's White Glue, glitters, Stanley Glue Gun, glue sticks, Spellbinders Shapeabilities Fancy Framed Tags One, Cuttlebug Machine V2); (For the mini album: Multi-purpose board, Elit Board Paper Pale Cream, My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Two 6x6 paper pad Blush, Kaisercraft 12x12 Forget-Me-Not Collection, Bo Bunny Etc Collection, The Edwardian Lady's Diary, stationery sets, ColorBox Cat's Eye Queue Pigment Ink Stucco, lace trimmings, paper tapes, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Kaisecraft Clear Stamps Botanical Odyssey, double sided tape, Glue Stick, hot glue)

CARD# PR-2015-08: Nikki

Hello everyone! Here’s another card for Karisse. It is a square card with a matching box. It measures approximately 5 1/4" x 5 1/4".

It is something floral again and it has a lot of crystals like some of my previous projects, but it is still somewhat different from what I have done in the past. Do you know what makes it so?

If you ask me, it is some sort of fusion of at least four of my card styles. That includes the gessoed paper flowers and beads for embellishment, molding paste for the background, the white neat card base which I usually use for CAS cards and the abundance of crystals. I haven’t even put in the box which I often make to hold my mixed media square cards.

In this particular card, I added micro beads (the teeny weeny sweet little pearls) to the molding paste before applying it on the stencil. I have these little jars of micro pearls from one of my shopping sprees at The Landmark last year. They were actually for the nails, but I thought I could use them on my projects. I am so glad I bought them because I am seeing a lot of mixed media art journal pages using these beads which I bet cost much more than what I paid for the ones I got at a department store’s cosmetics section. Yay! I’m thinking of getting some more when my finances get stable (in two months?). I think it is safe to say here that I am getting a new job and I look forward to my new workplace. Gah. I missed going to work. I missed the hustle and bustle of a busy workplace. I missed chatting with my colleagues and having potlucks every so often. I hope I would be able to make friends with my new colleagues and share my passion for papercrafts. [Sigh.] I will most probably post something about my new job so keep coming back here. Hehe.

Now back to the card, I said that is a fusion of my different card styles. I originally intended to use watercolor on the background, but I kind of messed it up so I decided to just leave the watercolor and spraying part. Perhaps it would (and I would) get better when I have the right supplies. I have my eyes on some bottles of Tattered Angels mists. Gad. I have a lot to save up for. Excuse the side comment. I’ve gone astray of the topic again. Anyway, I didn't use any paint on the background, but just gave it life by adhering several crystals (two shades of pink and silver). I am just thinking that I should have used the pink eyelet lace trim instead of the white one to accentuate the stenciled image even more. But all in all, it seems rather fine. I like it! I hope the recipient will also like it. Fingers crossed.

What else can I say? Hmn. Oh. By the way, I ran out of foam tape so I used some chipboard scraps. It just got a bit bumpy in some parts because of the dried hot glue, but thankfully the card still looked nice.

As for the box, it is also mostly white. I only added some flowers and crystals to accentuate the white frame with the Bible verse Karisse asked me to include in the project.

So what do you think of this card and box set? It was rather fun experimenting with supplies and layout. Perhaps I will make another one like this in the near future, but it would be rectangular. Ooh. I know! The accent should be purple! I haven’t done much project with this color. My purple (violet, lavender, etc) stash is still plenty. Awesome!

Alright. So that was that. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a great weekend!

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel Board Paper White, My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found Two 6x6 paper pad Blush, paper flowers, silk flowers, beads, self-adhesive crystals, paper leaf, lace trimmings, rickrack, The Crafter’s Workshop Stencil Mini Brocade, Golden Molding Paste, pink micro beads, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, alpha rubber stamps, HP DeskJet Printer, printed text, Spellbinders Shapeabilities D-Lites Frames, Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Twenty-Five, Cuttlebug Machine V2