Thursday, October 16, 2025

Stenciling and Stitching To Create A Background, A Blank Page Muse Post


Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I am at the Blank Page Muse Blog with this card panel. I used the BPM Leaves Collage Stencil

Please visit the blog for details on how this panel was created.


Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this project at

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Assorted Birthday Cards for Janice

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I was commissioned by a friend, Janice, to create cards for her grown up children. I have created cards for her husband and her daughter before but never for her sons. Time to put on my creating cap!



One of Janice's sons loves to travel so I thought of this design. I used a Hero Arts cover plate die on this card.


To create this look, I embossed the die on watercolor paper. To do this technique, I substituted the bottom cutting plate with an embossing mat. I added a cardstock as an additional shim to put more pressure on the paper. I painted the watercolor paper using the embossing as a guide where to paint.

I tried a paint that I recently bought, the Boku-Undo E-Sumi Shadow Black Watercolor Palette, on this card. It is a paint used for monotone paintings. The black stands out although I noticed difference in shades between the colors on the palette. With this being a birthday card, it needs more happy colors but I don't want to go away from the monotone since this is a masculine card. So what I did is add Tim Holtz Distress Sprays on a mixing palette. I muted this with water then mixed a small amount of Boku-Undo. I mixed the colors accordingly. 

I die cut the cover plate on holographic paper. I adhered this to the watercolored panel. I trimmed off the excess.

For the sentiment, I selectively die cut the sky portion of the cover plate on blue vellum. I treated the vellum with anti-static powder. I stamped the sentiment using Versaefine Onyx Black ink. I poured clear embossing powder over it then heat set it. I used a Sticker Maker to add adhesive to the back of the vellum then pieced this in to the die cut. 

I adhered this to a side folding note card.


For the second card, Janice mentioned her other son loves cars. I was going to create a truck card only to find out that her son has a car, not a truck. Good thing, I have this Spellbinders die set which I recently bought at Checkered Cottage. 

Like any die that I am not familiar with and since the packaging does not say much, I searched the internet on how to use this die set. There is a video on what this die set cuts and how to assemble it but after using this die set myself, I think there should be recommendations on what color of paper to use for each die so as to achieve the 3D look. I plan to create another card using this die. I want to see if I can recreate this car more easily being my second time to use it. I plan to write notes this time and share it here.


To create this into a card, I die cut a large diamond on black cardstock. I embossed this using a chevron embossing folder. I lightly swiped a white pigment ink over the embossing to make the dotted details pop out. 

I die cut the letters using a Lawn Fawn die set. I die cut this on black and white glitter papers. I adhered the black alphabet die cuts to the back of the glittered alphabet die cuts slightly offsetting it to achieve a shadow effect. I adhered the letters to the embossed diamond.

I die cut a glossy light blue paper with a Mama Elephant stitched rectangle die. The blue paper has some diamond design on it giving it a retro look. I adhered the elements of the card to this panel. It took a lot of adhesive to make the die cuts adhere to the shiny blue paper. Somehow, the blue paper repels the glue.


The last card is for Janice's daughter. It might look familiar to you if you follow my blog. This is not a new card. I created this last June for BPM. Janice showed a photo of this card to her daughter. Her daughter liked it so I saved this card for her.

When I created this card, it did not have a sentiment on it. To customize it, I added a sentiment by die cutting the word happy using a die from Hero Arts. I swiped a Lisa Horton Interference Ink on a white cardstock. I heat set this to dry. I die cut this twice, the second one being on black cardstock. I adhered the black sentiment die cut behind the other die cut slightly offsetting it for a shadow effect.

For the second part of the sentiment, I treated a black cardstock with an anti-static powder. I stamped the Altenew sentiment on the black cardstock with Versamark ink. I poured white embossing powder to it then heat set it. I die cut this using a sentiment strip die from Avery Elle. 

I adhered the sentiment strip to the sentiment die cut. I adhered the sentiments to the flower panel. I adhered this to a side folding A2 notecard. I was tempted to add a gem to the flower center but went against it to keep the card simple. 

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

Maria Giselle B.

I shared one of the cards at


 

Saturday, October 11, 2025

Doodlebug World Card Making Day 2025 Card #2

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. This is the second card I created for the Doodlebug Design WCMD Challenge. This time, it is for a sketch challenge. The sketch is at the bottom of this post. I enjoy sketch challenges because it is formatted which works well with my creative mind. 



The focal point of the card, the Christmas tree, is a Scrapbook.com exclusive Doodlebug Design stamp set. It has been discontinued, unfortunately. 


I fussy cut the Christmas tree which was not that hard to do. 

I used the A & B sides of a Doodlebug Christmas patterned paper. I die cut the center and flipped the patterned papers to add interest. I inked the middle portion to achieve some contrast.

I die cut the scallops on the same red patterned paper for a tone on tone look. I added stitching to the scallops with a die to add details and make the scallops noticeable.


I hope you like my second card. I enjoyed creating these cards for the Doodlebug WCMD Challenges

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this card at









Friday, October 10, 2025

Doodlebug World Card Making Day 2025


Hello! Welcome back to my blog. One of the things I look forward to on WCMD is the Doodlebug Design Challenges. I love their challenges so I try to play along if I can using my Doodlebug stash which is not a lot. I used a lot of Doodlebug products in creating classroom giveaways for my sons when they are still young. The Doodlebug images are so playful and the colors are so vibrant making it fit for kids. When my boys grew up, classroom giveaways are not a thing anymore. The local store that sold Doodlebug Designs closed up which lessened my access to it. 

I was not getting a creative spark as I was looking through my Doodlebug craft stash. I am trying to make it work but I feel that I overused the limited Doodlebug stash I have over the years. So I made a trip to the last standing craft store in my area, the Checkered Cottage. It has a re-sell spot and guess what I found? Thanks to Christine, Checkered Cottage's Re-Create Go To Person, who helped me with the Doodlebug stamp set. I also found a Doodlebug die set. If it was not meant to be.

So this is what I came up for the One Color Challenge as inspired by the Doodlebug Design's new collection Oh What Fun specifically the trees. I hope you like it. 
 

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this project at



Thursday, October 9, 2025

Paper Stitched Pumpkin Mug

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I stitched this on paper. Thank you to Shannon Christine Designs for the free pattern. I am so glad to be able to stitch. I hope you like it.

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!


I shared this project at

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Fall Themed Art Journal Page, A Blank Page Muse Post

Blank Page Must Blog


Hello! I am at the Blank Page Must Blog with this art journal page. For the month of October, the DT is doing a Pumpkin and/or Leaves theme. I used the Blank Page Muse Leaves 2 Collage Elements Stencil on this art journal page. 

Please visit the blog page for more details. 

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this page at

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Happy Fall Card with Foiling

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's card features the hot foiling technique using the Spellbinder Glimmer Machine. I tend to forget to do this technique and to use my Spellbinder Glimmer Machine. I have a tiny craft space so a lot of my crafting gadgets are put back on its box after its use. Yes, I keep this machine inside the box together with its accessorries and its other related supplies. It just helps me stay organized. Each time I have to use it, I have to get it out of the box, machine and all. 

My card is inspired by a sketch from Scrapbook & Cards as seen below.


I just changed the orientation of the panel and also the occasion, from winter to fall. Although, this sketch is recommended for a scrapbook layout, it does not mean, I cannot use it for a card, right?

I pulled out different colors of cardstock from my stash. I picked which colors I will be using for the background and for the leaves. 

I used the Trinity Stamps Autumn Rainbow Cut & Foil Die Set on this card. This set has 8 leaf foil pieces and its matching die. To make my foiling experience easy, I created a foiling template by die cutting the leaves on a carstock. 


I die cut the leaves when these dies are still unsnipped from each other. I laid this template on the Glimmer Hot Foil Plate with its corner lined with a grid on the plate. I did this before I fed this through the die cutting machine.


I positioned the leaf foiling pieces on the plate, matching the leaf foil piece with the opening of the cardstock template. You will notice on the photo that the Glimmer machine has the green light on which means it is hot. The Glimmer machine came with a magnet accessory to move the metal plates. Use this and don't get burned! You can also use a craft pick to move the metal pieces.


I carefully removed the cardstock template. I cut a cardstock big enough to cover all of the leaves. I cut the foil at the same size. I recommend this or have the foil smaller than the cardstock to prevent transferring the foil to the spacer plate. I repeated this process with the rest of the cardstock.


Once the plate blinks green, it is time to carefully remove the plate from the base and run it through the die cutting machine. 

 

I used a Sizzix machine for the foiling. Although, the foil transferred, adding a cardstock to the sandwich gave better results as you can see on the above photos. The photo on the left is foiling without an additional cardstock for a shim, and the photo on the right is foiling with an added cardstock for a shim.


Unfortunately, I have to snip the coordinating dies from each other since it is the mirror image of the foil plate that gets transferred to the paper. I matched the dies with the foiled image. To keep the arrangement of the dies intact, I applied a shelf liner on top of the dies. After running this through the die cut machine, I carefully removed the die cuts. I repositioned this on the next foiled cardstock panel. Some of the dies may not match the foiled impression but for the most part, it did. I just fixed the dies that are not on the right spot.

I die cut the burlap on a dark purple cardstock using the Honey Bee Stamps Burlap Background Honey Cuts. I trimmed a salmony-orange cardstock at 5" x 6" (A4). I rarely create this card size but making it larger than A2 prevents overcrowding of the leaves.

I positioned the burlap die cut on the A4 panel. I arranged the leaves to create a frame, just like in the sketch. I adhered the leaves to the burlap. I only used the smaller leaves.

I adhered foam adhesive to the back of the burlap, behind the leaves. Before I adhered the burlap to the salmon cardstock panel, I adhered three of the big leaves to the panel just to add some shine that will show through the burlap.


I fiddled with the sentiment. I prefer a die cut sentiment so that the intricacy of the burlap will show through. For this reason, I just want my font size to be just right. Well, my alphabet dies are either too small or too big so I did a bit of die cut surgery to create my sentiment. The original sentiment die is 'BE HAPPY.' I trimmed the E to make it into an F and an L. 


I adhered the letters to the center portion of the burlap.


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

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this card at