Sunday, May 11, 2025

A Mother's Day Gift

Hello! Happy Mother's Day! I am celebrating this day with a project made for two co-worker moms of mine. I hope you like it.

This project was supposed to be a part of a DT project but the colors are not matching so I decided to work on my DT project later and went ahead to finish this project. After all, I have been itching to sew for a while.

The pretty foiled patterned paper is from Spellbinders. I trimmed this based on the size of the stitched scallop rectangle die from Pretty Pink Posh. This paper is very light weight. I won't be able to support any stitching on it. I adhered a cream cardstock behind it to make this paper thicker.

I used The Stamp Market Stitched Alphabet dies to die cut the stitching holes. Initially, I was planning to stich on the patterned paper directly but I tear one of the papers when I was peeling off the tape that kept the letter dies in place. I die cut the letters again on the cream cardstock this time to cover the poked holes on the patterned paper. I cut the letters using a craft knife. 

I used a DMC embroidery floss and a DMC metallic threat do add cross stitching to the poked holes. I adhered this on the patterned paper.

I die cut a total of 6 pieces of the scalloped frame. I adhered 3 pieces on top of each other, stacking it for dimension. I adhered this on the patterned paper.

I used a Stampin Up rubber stamp to spell out the names of the recipients. I stamped the letters using  Wow! embossing pad then poured Wow! gold embossing powder over it. I heat set this. I punched the letters using the square punch included in the stamp set.

I adhered the letters underneath the stitched letter. 



I die cut 6 pieces of the scalloped frame. I adhered 3 pieces on top of each other, stacking it for some dimension. I adhered this on the patterned paper panel. 

I adhered a cream cardstock on the back to cover the stitching. I trimmed off any excess.


I used a die from The Stamp Market Scalloped Frame die for the easel. I die cut 6 pieces total. I trimmed the tabs off on 4 the easels. I adhered 2 of these pieces on the tabbed easel piece. I repeated this on the rest of the easel die cuts. I applied glue to the tab. I aligned the triangle/arrow tip of the easel to the bottom corner of the frame, then pressed the glued tab to the back of the panel. I set this aside to dry. 

I adhered the mini circles included in the die cutting to mimic the screws of the easel.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day! Celebrating all the mothers out there. Yay!

Maria Giselle B.

Thursday, May 8, 2025

Adding Wings to Just Us Girls Stamp, a Blank Page Muse Post

 

Hello! I am back at the Blank Page Muse blog with another entry to my art journal. Please visit the BPM blog for more details. Thank you!




Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Sunday, May 4, 2025

20 Minute Challenge


Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I am a guest designer at the Craft & Connect Challenge Blog. For this month's challenge, they are doing a 20 Minute Challenge in which you create a card or any handmade project in 20 minutes or less. I was a bit unsure about this since it usually takes me more than 20 minutes to create a card, but I am up for the challenge. How about you?

I did not include in the 20 minutes the time I planned and pulled the supplies out of my stash. I pressed my timer as soon as I started creating.

I trimmed an Altenew Velvet cardstock into 5 1/2" x 4 1/4". I lightly spritz water to this panel to prepare it for embossing. The mist softens the fibers of the paper and prevents cracking with embossing. I embossed this panel using the Simon Say Stamp Margot Tile 3D embossing folder. I heat set this panel to speed dry it.

I inked the flat side of the embossed panel with Altenew Berry Mocha ink. I heat set this to dry the ink.


At this point, I am at the 10-minute mark. I swiped a Versamark ink on the edges of the panel. I poured gold embossing powder on the sticky ink, then heat embossed it. 

I was fiddling with my project as to how to add a sentiment to the panel. I did not want to cover all that detailed embossing. I paused the timer so I can look for a gold cardstock to die cut the sentiment on. The sentiment die cut is from Lawn Fawn. 

I adhered the sentiment to the panel. It was a bit tedious to add glue to the die cut sentiment because of its dainty feature.

I still have a few minutes left so I flicked gold paint to the panel. I heat set this again to dry the paint and this is when I ran out of time. The only step I was not able to do with this project is to adhere it to a note card. Not too bad, right? 

All the use of the heat gun on the cardstock panel caused some warping. I laid an acrylic block over the cardstock panel to flatten it. 


I hope you like today's project. Please join this month's challenge at Craft & Connect. Thank you, Jayne & Emma of Craft & Connect, for giving me this opportunity to guest design in your challenge blog. 

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.
 

Friday, May 2, 2025

Plaid Greeting Card

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's card uses products from Kat Scrappiness. I got my inspiration after joining an IG Hop for another company's products release. I would like to thank @larissaheskettdesigns for the colors and card design inspiration. I like her work so much that I created my own version of it. 

I die cut a red shiny textured cardstock using the KS Buffalo Plaid Background craft die. I kept the red square drop outs which I used later. A tip for a successful one pass cut using this die is to add a metal shim to your cutting plate sandwich. It works each time for me. 

I measured the width of the two columns of the plaid and use this measurements to trim a blue cardstock. I was initially going to adhere this cardstock over the two rows of the plaid background but changed my mind. I placed it behind the plaid cover die cut. To add some depth and detail to this piece, I embossed the plaid pattern to this panel. To use your metal die cuts for embossing, add a silicone mat underneath the cardstock when you layer your die cut sandwich. This pushes the metal die to the paper, thus, transferring the design to the paper. You have to play with your die cutting machine to know what plates are needed to get this effect without ruining your machine and your paper. 

I adhered this to the back of the plaid cover die cut, aligning the embossed design with the opening of the plaid die cut. It is hard to see in the photos but the embossed design added a pillow effect on the openings. 

I adhered the red square negative die cuts to the back of the vented portion of the plaid die cut.

I adhered a white cardstock to the back of the open columns. I pieced in white square negative cuts to the open areas. I used this cover die a lot that I accumulated a lot of these square negative cuts.

I stamped some of the images from the KS Wok On stamp set to a smooth watercolor paper. I used Karin markers to color the images. I added details to the images using a white gel pen and white enamel glue to the eyes. I fussy cut the images. I arranged the images on the panel, mostly placing it on the blue area of the plaid panel. I adhered the images with foam tape for some dimension.


I prepped a piece of white cardstock with an anti-static tool. I stamped the sentiment to this piece using Versafine Onyx Black ink. I poured black embossing powder to it and heat set it. I created this into a strip using a sentiment die. I adhered this sentiment strip to the same blue cardstock I used on the panel. I used a craft knife to gently cut the blue cardstock creating a matte around the white sentiment strip. I adhered this to the panel.


I hope you like today's card. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I added below links to the Kat Scrappiness products I used on this project. There will be no additional cost to you should you decide to purchase this/these product/s. While you are at the Kat Scrappiness website, do check out their wide array of products. Enjoy!

I am sharing this project at

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Alcohol Inked Alphabet

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I attended a virtual workshop by Ishani (@quill_ish) last Saturday. I enjoyed creating live with her and the rest of the attendees. 

One of the techniques I learned in the class is about creating a background using alcohol markers. I don't have any Altenew alcohol inks. I only have Copic, which is an alcohol based marker. Since I prefer not to start a new collection of a different brand of alcohol ink, I used Copic refills as a substitute for the Altenew alcohol inks. I added drops of colors on a Yupo paper. I don't have an alcohol ink blower so I just used my heat tool to move the ink. Once I am happy with the pattern, I heat set it to dry the ink. 

I created two alcohol blended panels, one red-pink base for the flower, and another blue-green base for the leaf. I die cut these panels using the Altenew Layered Rose die set. I used the drop outs on this project but I kept the outline die cuts for future use. The best way to keep the drop outs in its original placement is to use a masking paper to pick up the pieces from the die or the plate. This will make the next step easier.

I die cut the image outline on pink mirror cardstock. I die cut the solid piece using a scrap white cardstock. I adhered the mirror outline die cut to this and inlayed the alcohol die cuts to the outline die cut. This is the second technique we learned in the workshop. 


I die cut the letters on both the alcohol panel and the mirror cardstock. I adhered the mirror die cut to the back of the alcohol letter die cut offsetting it for a shadow effect. I went off the instructions on the letter M on the left. The mirror letter die cut was supposed to be offset towards the left, not to the right. I only realized my mistake when I was adhering the letters to the weaved panel. 


For the weaved panel, I rubbed pink dye ink on the flat side of the Altenew Wicker Texture 3D embossing folder. I sandwiched a pink cardstock cut at 4 3/4" x 3 3/4" inside and ran this through my embossing machine. What it does is the inked flat side is pushed to the deeper crevices of the embossing. Such a cool technique shared by Ishani during the workshop. No worries with the cleaning. Just wipe the inked side of the embossing folder with a damp cloth and the excess ink should come off. 

I matted this embossed panel with the same pink mirror cardstock. If I had more time during the workshop, I would have cut this piece into a frame so I can use the middle portion of the mirror cardstock for something else.

I adhered this to the same pink cardstock I used on the embossing which was cut at 5 1/2" x 4 1/4".

I added a sentiment strip using a stamp from the Altenew Wild Hibiscus stamp set. I stamped this using a red dye ink on the same pink cardstock which I die cut into a strip. 


I hope you like today's card. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Sunday, April 27, 2025

Color Inspired Graduation Card


Hello! Welcome back to my blog. My eldest son will be graduating in two weeks. How exciting is that, right? This celebration needs a card. Thanks to the latest Newton's Nook Challenge with their color challenge, I was able to create this card.

I die cut the shapes using a Honey Bee Stamps Double Stitched Polygons on yellow, green and purple cardstocks. I made the center polygon into a frame. 

I traced the outer frame of the window die cut on a kraft cardstock. I stamped the sentiment and the graduation cap on this panel. The pencil mark gave me an idea up to where I will stamp the graduation caps. I used a kraft die ink for the graduation caps to achieve a tone on tone look. The stamps I used are from the Newton's Nook Designs Newton's Graduation stamp set.

For the other polygons, I temporarily adhered it together with a tape. I stamped the graduation cap on these die cuts using a white pigment ink. It was hard to see the stamping on the yellow cardstock. If I will do this all over again, I  will use a yellow dye ink for stamping on the yellow cardstock.

I adhered the window frame die cut to the stamped kraft panel. I adhered the rest of the polygon die cut pieces making sure that the pieces are butted next to each other. 

For the star of the card, Newton, I stamped Newton on a white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored the image with Copic markers with Crystal, our dog, as the model in coloring. (Sorry for we don't have a cat.) I fussy cut the image to the line. I ran a black marker around the edges of the fussy cut image to hide the white core of the paper. I adhered this to polygon panel.

I trimmed off 1/4" on each side to make this into a 5 1/4" x 4" panel. I adhered this to a top folding A2 note card. 


I used the negative polygon cut as an accent to the inside of the card. The sentiment is from Ellen Hutson.

I hope you like today's card. It brings me joy each time I am able to join the Newton's Nook Challenges. I don't ever get tired of coloring Newton. I know I have a dog but I fell in love with Newton first before we adopted Crystal. I wish I can join more of their challenges often but my DT responsibilities pretty much take over my crafting time. That's why I appreciate the few times that I can participate in their challenges.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Friday, April 25, 2025

Monochromatic Mandala Pattern Panel, a Blank Page Muse Post


Hello! I am at the Blank Page Muse with this project. Head on to the BPM blog for details. Thank you! 

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at