Cards with die cut edges

Hello fellow crafters,

I love the Spellbinders Card Creator sets!  The die cut edges really add a classy and feminine touch to any card.  It really gives cards that one-of-a-kind feeling - making the recipient feel very special. The dies are designed to fit 4.25" and 5.5" card widths.  The notches on the dies give you perfect placement - no measuring needed.

The card below were made with the A2 Bracket Borders One set and the Stylish Stems Framelits from Stampin' Up.  You can use a single die to create the layered border.

The next card also uses the A2 Bracket Borders One.  On this card, I paired two dies together to produce this elegant edge on the white and navy cardstock.  The dies fit perfectly together providing different decorative options. This technique works great for monochromatic styles.  The layered circle dies are from Stampin' Up.  This is a great set - lots of layering options.

The third card was made with the A2 Curved Borders set.  On this card, the die cuts are used as an embellishment instead of on the edge.  This card takes a few minutes longer as you need to die cut three pieces of cardstock but the look is worth it.  The three layers are attached to a vanilla card - the vanilla shows through the intricate design.  The colors used are Elegant Eggplant, Crumb Cake and Mellow Moss with Altanew's Peony Bouquet stamp set. The background was stamped using a set from Inkadinkado.

I hope you get a chance to experiment with these dies from Spellbinders.  I just love all the ways they can be used to embellish cards.

Happy crafting!

Sunsets by the ocean

Hello fellow crafters!

When my husband and I are able to take a vacation, we love going somewhere warm by the ocean. Since we live in the mid-west, this is something that we don't get to do very often. So in between vacations, I recreate those memories through stamping.

Here are my current favorites.  I love doing the sponging technique to create the blue/green hues of the ocean, and the yellow and purple sky of a setting sun. Thanks to all of you that post your great creations as they definitely inspire my creativity. The thing that I like most is that every card turns out a little different.

The cards below were made for a couple of my friends that needed a little pick me up.  I also think these designs would be great for sympathy cards and for the guys in your life.  The version with the lighthouse was made for my brother's birthday.

Both cards were made with the Stampin' Up High Tide stamp set.  Here are few tips when making these cards:

• Before stamping or sponging, make sure your card stock is cut to the finished size.  When I made these cards I trimmed after and lost the really cool edging the sponging makes.
• For the masking, I found post-it notes that have a large sticky area.  This made masking so much easier. They are made by Post-it and called full adhesive notes.
• When stamping the lighthouse, be aware of the shadow that is created by layering the two stamps together.  Just make sure you place the light source on left.

I am still amazed how these turned out!  Both cards started out completely white,  Give this a try.  I hope you have as much fun as I do making these cards.

Happy crafting!