Card making process

I usually have many cards on hand but recently gave a bunch away, so I needed a birthday card that could made quickly. This is the card that I made and I'll explain how you can make it too.

I had some pre-cut flowers that just needed to be colored in, so I grabbed my Chameleon alcohol markers in  tangerine and mellow yellow and colored in two yellow and three orange flowers. I didn't do any fancy coloring, just colored in the images. I prefer to work in odd numbers so I chose 5 flowers. I usually have some card elements that I use frequently, like different types of flowers that are cut out but not colored. This was a tip learned from the YouTube video from It's Me JD.

I felt like they needed some bling, so I added some small orange gems to the center of each flower to give it that little extra bit, plus a little dimension.

I haven't found a company where I can buy a selection of gems so I use nail gems from Anezus, which I found on Amazon while looking for a gem picker as i do have a lot of sequins and those tiny things are hard to pick up.

The next step was to pick a background to showcase the flowers. I took a card blank and blended on some Distress Oxide in Broken China with one of their circular blending sponges. I have several card blanks that are pre-cut to just the right size. I definitely recommend you do this as it saves time and energy. I learned this trick from Jennifer McGuire and it has come in handy since starting to do this.

Once I was satisfied with the background, I choose a sentiment that I thought would work as it's a birthday card then laid the images on to it to find a pleasing pattern. I worked through a few different layouts and came up with this one.

When I cut down my card stock, I usually keep some strips to heat emboss common sentiments on, so I already had this on hand. Now I could just layer this onto a white card base but prefer to frame my cards with another slightly larger layer.

 I took another card blank that was a little larger that had already been pre-cut and embossed it with my Cuddlebug in the Swiss dots embossing folder. It adds a little added something to the white on white card. I then used my A.T.G to run tape along the sides and assembled my card.

I added foam dots to three sides of each flower for dimension and a strip of foam adhesive to the sentiment strip.

My card was now almost complete. I added three dots of Nuvo drops in Morning Dew to the bottom corner of the card as it seemed like it needed that little extra something. After looking at it for a while, It needed some greenery, so I added some leaves that had been pre-cut and colored in. Popping the larger leaves up on foam squares and gluing the smaller leaves in place.

There you have it, a complete card, start to finish in about 15 minutes. The pre-cut card, flowers. leaves and heat embossed sentiment really helped in that time frame. These are all tricks I've learned or seen other card makers use and have incorporated them into my card making.

Mistakes Happen

Every Card maker makes mistakes. It doesn't matter if you're a novice, have some experience or are an experienced card maker. Sometimes those mistakes are what we call happy mistakes, where you make a mistake but it turns out to be good and you're pleased with the end result, it may even enhance your card in a way you didn't think of before. At other times you make a mistake and it may feel as if all your hard work should now go into the trash/recycle bin. Yes, sometimes that happens. Sometimes you can cover a mistake with an embellishment of some sort or you can work around the mistake because no one will notice it unless you tell them about it.

Today I was working on some cards with my new Vicki Boutin stamp and die set.

I embossed the circles filled with dots around the card in what I thought was a pleasing pattern. I made several backgrounds and was working on blending inks on the ones I had heat embossed in white. Well it turns out that although I used my anti-static pouch to heat emboss the sentiment, the ink from my blending wasn't quite dry enough. I wiped it clean and tried re-stamping the sentiment with my VersaMark and I missed a little on the placement.

It's not a huge mistake but it's not something that is not noticeable either. I figured I would ink up a scrap piece of paper with the blended colors I'd used and just place it over the sentiment. This time I'm going to make sure my ink is dry before I stamp with my VersaMark. If that doesn't work out, I can always use circle punches or dies to die cut out pieces from the card panel to make a new card.

Mistakes happen and it's ok, sometimes we just have to accept it and let it go and sometimes we can fix it and make it even better.

Gorgeous Day

Today is May 15th and it's a gorgeous day outside, what better way to celebrate the beautiful day then to make a couple of cards.

I decided to play around with gold embossing my flowers and clear embossed my leaves after stamping them with a colorbox green pigment ink. I wanted to incorporate the gorgeous day sentiment and some ribbon, keeping the color theme of the cards gold and pink. I'm loving pink right now for my cards as you might have noticed. The stamp set I used was from Simply Cards and Papercraft Issue # 179. Just for a touch of bling, I added Nuvo Crystal drops in Pale gold.

I now have my own website

Good afternoon all you crafty people, well it's afternoon as I write this and the sun is shining outside. Late last night I decided to jump onto the superhighway of the world wide web and created myself a web page, It was another big leap for me in terms of expanding my social media platforms, yet I figured this would be an excellent next step. I'm not sure how it will go , I'm still in the beginning stages and learning each step of the way. I hope you'll join me as I progress through card making and Scrapbooking. It's been an awesome ride so far and it's only going to get better.

Thank you for stopping by and I'll see you next time!

ALTENEW Reason to Smile sentiments with Todays' cards

Today, I've been working with basic florals and patterns of three on each of my cards. Sometimes it's difficult to find just the right sentiment to go along with your card if you're not making them with a particular purpose in mind. That's where ALTENEW Reason to Smile sentiment stamp set comes in. It pairs nicely with a variety of back grounds and images. The sentiments are really encouraging and empowering.

I an not an affiliate of ALTENEW, this is just my opinion. I'm always on the lookout for a set of sentiments which can be used in everyday cards. If you have a favorite set please list it below in the comments section as I would be interested in getting more sets of sentiments. Below are the cards I made today using this set of sentiments. I can't wait to give them out to my friends and family.

Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to leave your favorite sentiment stamp set listed in the comments. I'll see you again soon.

Swans in Spring

On Sunday, I picked up my new Cardmaking and Papercraft , Issue 194, April 2019 from Indigo books.  The theme of the stamps, die cuts and embossing flap was Swan Lake. It got me thinking about visiting a local park with my trusty 4 legged friend Speedy; who loves long walks on and off the beach, lots of cuddles and naps whenever he wants to. The park opens out onto Lake Ontario and swans gather there by the lake shore/ beach. This swan themed stamp set inspired me to make a few cards.

I colored in the images using copic markers and used anexus gems for the center of each center flower in the swag. I then layered them onto different colored card stock (Dreamy by Recollections) and placed on a  5"x 6 1/2" card blank. I finished up with Heat embossing the sentiments "Congratulations" and "Happy Birthday" which came in the stamp set, then affixed them onto to the card with foam squares.

Not pictured here, I added some Nuvo Jewel drops on the top right and bottom left of each card in a corresponding color. I felt that the cards needed just that simple little extra something to bring it all together.

Thank you for stopping by and I'll see you next time!

Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop wrap up

On Friday of last week I worked on more cards for the Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. Although I am a coffee Lover, my Mom brought me up on Tea.  While I was going through my stash of stamps I didn't realize how many tea related stamps I had. Most of those stamps came from paper-crafting magazines that I get from my local bookstore Indigo. I started creating and came up with the following cards:

I've posted these on Intagram too!

The Blog Hop contest closed on Friday night and I posted three entries in total. There was a plethora of creativity in the cards that the other bloggers had come up with, something to aspire to as I develop and home my skills. I found quite a few cards were simplistic and beautiful in design and I can only strive to achieve that as I progress.

Last evening (Sunday night) a post came out of the winners from the Super Sponsors and what do you know.... I won a gift certificate from one of them. I was so excited, I had to show my sons. I felt like I'd won the lottery.

Here is a link to the post if you're interested, each winners card is linked by their name so you too can visit their blog to check out the amazing cards that won. Be sure to check out the Sponsors and Super Sponsors too, if it wasn't for their participation then there wouldn't be a contest.

I've already headed over to the Super Sponsors web page Craftin Desert Divas to check out their designs and what I could use my gift certificate on. I encourage you to do the same. I'll let you know when I've made my selections and get them in the mail.

Thank you for stopping by and I look forward to seeing you again!

Now you can find me on Instagram too

 I'm not all up with the various social media outlets or ways to connect with people outside of in person or via Facebook, so this blog was a start for me to spread my wings and connect with people around the globe. In this vein, I have started an Instagram account where I'll post pictures of my various creations in addition to photos I like and want to share. You can now follow me on instagram @ https://Instagram/carolewilliscreations/

Spring/Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop

I was watching a  YouTuber who makes 10 cards 1 kit videos when she started talking about this Blog Hop.

I checked out the Blog and signed up to be a member on their Facebook group. I figured since I've been called a Coffee Queen by more than one friend that I just might qualify as a coffee lover. When I'm crafting, I always have a coffee on the go so that I can sip and think about what to do next. When I thought about the challenge and you can see it here: http://coffeelovingcardmakers.com/2019/05/caffeine-fueled-paper-play-paper-sweeties-2/

This was the first idea for a card that came into my head.

This card was the second as I was waiting for the ink to dry for the first card before I could die cut out the little coffee mugs.

Then I realized that there was a theme of Spring or Summer required for the challenge, so I had to revise my ideas and think of something that incorporated Spring and/or Summer. I figured I'd go with a floral of some type but I had so many ideas running through my brain that I couldn't focus on just one of them. I thought about the second card I'd made and thought OK, how about we change the background up a bit to be lighter and more flowery or colorful and I came up with these:

 Now, I'm going to head back to the drawing table and come up with a few more cards because it can become quite addictive to work on a project and see the results immediately.

International Scapbooking Day/ Weekend

This past May the 4th was International Scapbooking day. Besides a great deal of shopping leading up to the big day I was able to complete 4 scrapbook layouts which is a huge feat for me as I usually spend hours creating just one layout. It takes me time to figure out which pictures I'm going to use, what I want my background to look like, my overall design and then put it all together so it looks at least a little cohesive. Some of the pages are simple in design and technique because hey I'm still relatively new at this and although I have a groove, I haven't quite found my niche yet.

Some of my shopping was done through a new online store  I found who runs a scrapbooking supplies business here in Ontario. I love haul videos on YouTube so here is my haul from Scrapbooknerd.com

Opening those boxes with all these supplies was a total #snhappymail moment. I was in joy just looking at all the things I had purchased and coming up with ideas on how to use them. I was like a kid in a candy store who was told she can have anything she likes.



Now that I had all these supplies my creative juices started flowing, that and I participated in  international scrapbooking weekend challenges on Facebook hosted by HipKitClub.net. This was the first year that I participated, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Basically it ran all weekend long and each hour or so during the day and evening a new designer would put out a challenge to complete. It gave general guidelines; like use 3 of a possible 8 ways to add dimension to a layout or use the colors peach, pink and blue in a layout. I also just created layouts without the challenges to scrapbook pictures I wanted to use. Here is my first layout in the middle stage where I'm trying to figure out how to use this big cut file element that I've cut out and colored with distress inks.

Layout # 2 was a challenge from Facebook to use the colors peach, blue and pink. I had already chosen a picture to use so my thought process was how to incorporate those colors into the layout. I also challenged myself to use a mixed media background, which I am still uncomfortable doing.  I like my layouts to be clean and simple but I had the thought that I wanted to incorporate papers that I had used for backing my photos in circles in the top left and bottom right of the layout. I used gesso on my background and colored in the three areas with gelatos and water with a paintbrush. The result was a hot mess so I trimmed it down and lay it on a dark navy blue background which helped to tidy it up a bit.

The next challenge I chose was to create a monochromatic layout. I took some liberties with this one as the paper I chose had more than one color on it because I really wanted the spring vibe and I wanted to use birds and flowers in it. I also wanted it to look completely different than another layout I'd finished the week before which was also in blue. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it at the time.

The last layout I completed was to use at least 3 of a possible 8 ways to incorporate depth and dimension into a layout. I have to say this last one was my favorite of the all the layouts even though its a bit messy, it reflects more of my current style and preferences. I like to use foam adhesives on my layouts to add dimension and I've started using thread to soften up edges and add a bit of interest. In this layout I used texture paste which I colored orange hoping to match the butterflies. I distressed the edges of the layers of paper behind my photo, used twine and thread and placed the butterflies in a semi circular pattern. Circles seem to be my go to lately.

Well that was it for the scrapbooking weekend although I created another layout on Monday. I'm part of a Facebook group called Mini kit Mondays. I found out about it from a YouTube channel I watch frequently. I only just became a member of the group at the end of April so this was my first month participating. Essentially there are a group of ladies who have blogs and YouTube channels who started this Facebook group  to reach out to viewers and share ideas and layouts using a kit that you put together from your stash at the beginning of each month. One each Monday of the month you use your kit and make a layout. I think I'll share those pictures and processes with you at the end of each month. Who knows how I'll grow and develop my skills this month until I look back at the end and say Hey! I really like this or that. I would have changed this or done something differently, or added that to it. Hindsight is 20/20.

Back story

My name is Carole Willis and I've had a love for paper since I was a little girl. This love for all things paper related got me interested in paper crafting, which now is centered specifically on creating Scrapbook pages and Cards. This creative outlet has lead me from paper bead making to quilling to scrapbooking and now card making. I'm a newbie in this field as I've only been creating Scrapbook layouts and cards since the beginning of January 2018. I've learned quite a bit in the past one and a half years and I continue to learn and refine my skills each day. I wanted to record my journey and connect with other people who are also interested in making scrapbook layouts and making cards so this has led me to creating this blog. I plan to share my projects, tips and tricks I've learned as I share my journey through paper crafting with you.