Happy New Year!

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I still needed to send out holiday cards but I don't think it will arrive on time so I decided to create cards to celebrate the the upcoming year. I got my inspiration from the this month's Lunar Year Challenge. 

I used a My Favorite Things number die set to die cut the numbers. The number die cuts an outline and the negative cut. Instead of putting the negative cut aside, I decided to do a two-for-one cards, interchanging the outlines and the negative cuts. 

I used the solid number die as the base of the numbers. I die cut this on black cardstock.

I die cut a red cardstock using a panel die from Catherine Pooler. I backed this with the same gold cardstock I used on the numbers.

I stamped the horse and the hat on watercolor paper using VersaFine Clair. I colored the images with a Marvy Uchida Color In Watercolor Twist Pencils. I used a water brush to pick up the pigment from the pencil then paint this on the images. I die cut the images using the coordinating die. The die cuts a small border around the stamped image. I snipped off the bottom part of the hat die cut so it looks more continuous when adhered to the horse.

Next year is the Year of the Horse which explains the image choice for my card.

I die cut a banner on red carstock using a die from Lawn Fawn. I used a Lawn Fawn alphabet die to spell out my sentiment. Although I have a sentiment stamp with this message, using the alphabet stamps allowed me to follow the curve of the banner. My alphabet stamps are over used that it does not stick to the acrylic block anymore. That can be frustrating especially when you are ready to stamp and an inked letter falls to your panel. Not to forget the effort you put in putting the letters together. Cleaning the back of the letter stamp on a stamp scrubber sprayed with a stamp cleaner will recondition the stick of the polymer. 

I inked the sentiment with an embossing ink. I poured gold embossing ink over the sticky ink then heat embossed it.

I adhered the die cuts to the panel. I adhered this panel to a top folding A2 note card.

I hope you like today's card. Happy New Year to you all!

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day...and year!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this card at

December 2025 Challenge #29

Simon Says: Sparkle and Shine

Simon Says: Add A Sentiment

Stitched Monogram Paper Embroidery Hoop Ornament/Tag Take 2

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I recreated one of my previous projects using a different color scheme. I created this as as a holiday gift to someone dear who supports and patronizes my card making. I stitched the first letter of her family member's name.

Of course, we have to include her dog.

You can find the first version of this project here. I thought I was detailed enough to describe the creation process of these paper ornaments. I forgot to describe how to attach the jingle bells but I eventually figured it out.

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

Maria Giselle B.

 

Sketch Inspired Christmas Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. We have new sketch challenges at Stick It Down Scrapbook and Card Making Challenge in FB. It is easy to join having three options to choose from.

I used scraps from a 6x6 Lawn Fawn patterned paper pad for the arrow pennants. I trimmed the paper in 3/4" width with varying lengths. I used a We R Makers Corner Punch Chomper to created the arrow on one end. 

For the sentiment banner, I trimmed a green cardstock at 4 1/4" x 1". I made pencil marks on the center point of each of the short side and 1/4" from the corners. I cut off the corners to create the arrow edge using these marks as a guide. 

For the sentiment, I die cut a My Favorite Things sentiment die on a red patterned paper. I cut two more of it on red cardstock. I adhered the cardstock sentiment die cuts on the back of the patterned paper sentiment die cut to create dimension. I temporarily set this on the arrow banner so I can position the sentiment stamp for heat embossing. 

I pre-treated the stamping area with an anti-static powder before stamping the sentiment with Versamark ink. The stamp sentiment is from Lawn Fawn. I lightly pressed the sentiment stamp to the paper to prevent creating heavy and uneven impressions which can happen with acrylic stamps.

I poured white embossing powder to the sticky ink, then heat embossed it. I adhered the sentiment die cuts on top of this stamped sentiment. I drew a line border on the inside of the arrow banner using a white gel pen.

I adhered the arrow flags to the back of the arrow banner. I trimmed off any excess on the top. 

For the background panel, I embossed a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" white cardstock with a Simon Says Stamp 3D embossing folder.  I adhered the sentiment banner with the pennant to this.

I embellished the pennants with snowflake die cuts and sequins.

I adhered this to an A2 note card. 

Comparisons with my card and the sketch:

• I added arrow cuts to the sentiment strip so it will have the same cut edge as the pennants.
• I have a two lined sentiment compared to the one lined sentiment on the sketch. 
• The sketch's pennant has spaced and different lengths of pennants. My card also has varying lengths of pennants but I made the pennants longer and touching each other, some of which are slightly overlapping.
• I did not add a matte as on the sketch. I actually forgot about the matte. At this stage, I think I can still add a matte by carefully trimming the edges of the panel with the use of a craft knife. It will still be different from the sketch since I will let the banner and pennant extend to the matte. But I like the clean white space of the background so I just kept this panel as is. 

I hope you like today's card. Please visit Stick It Down's social media sites for more sketch inspiration:

FB Challenge Page: Stick It Down Scrapbook and Card Making Challenges

IG: #stickitdown

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this card at

Holiday Cards 4 Kids #1

Simon Says IG Challenge~Handmade Holiday Magic

Simon Says: Add Some Texture

 

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

Challenge #122~Amazing Autumn

Shaker, Wobbler Birthday Card, a Remake

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. A new month means a new challenge at Stick It Down Scrapbook and Card Making Challenge in FB. There are several opportunities to join with three sketches to choose from.

My Favorite Things just said its goodbye to its crafting era. I am saddened to see another great crafting company close its doors. I remember my first MFT product, which I still have, believe it or not. I also remember where I bought it, a brick and mortar store here in St. Louis, which sadly closed a long time ago. I also remember joining the MFT blog challenges, winning once last November 2021. Lots of great memories. It just shows how anything is vulnerable to the changing times. I want to thank Kim, MFT's owner, for all the great things she has brought to me in the crafting world. I wish her well and maybe I will cross paths with her again in the future.

This card is a tribute to MFT using MFT products from my card stash.

This is also a remake of a card I created a long time ago. I had a bit of technical malfunction with the shaker feature of that card. I really wanted a seamless shaker card at that time but I was not able to contain the shaker beads. With the developments and improvements in crafting, I was able to figure out how to fix this problem. 

I stamped the images on watercolor paper using Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress ink so I can do a no line coloring. I used the Misti Stamping Tool to stamp the images. With the texture of the watercolor paper, I needed to re-stamp the images. The stamping tool was a big help on this part.

I stamped five images from the MFT stamp set to follow the number of balloons on the sketch. 

I colored the images using a newly acquired Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors Noveau Set of 24. I already have the set of 36 colors and also own several single watercolor pans. I love this watercolor brand! The new set offers muted colors which is a great addition to the 36 color set. 

After  I watercolored the images, I fussy cut the images leaving a narrow border around it.

I used pattern papers from Doodlebug to complete my scene. I trimmed the green checkered paper at 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  I traced the wavy road die on this panel. I cut the panel on the traced lines and erased the pencil lines.

I die cut the wavy road die on a pebbled patterned paper. Using the split panel as guide, I positioned the wavy road die cut on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" light weight paper. I lightly traced this with a pencil. I colored this traced road with a black marker. This black coloring will show through the wavy road die cut.

I adhered the wavy road die cut to the white cardstock panel using the traced lines as guide. I erased the pencil lines. I lined the wavy road die cut with a double adhesive tape. I wrapped this panel with a left-over plastic film packaging leaving one of the ends open. The double adhesive tape served as a trap to keep the shaker elements. I poured seed beads on this wavy road pocket. It was a bit tough with the narrow opening that's why I chose a very small shaker element, seed beads. I closed the bottom flap to seal the shaker. Now I have a seamless shaker. This is the upgraded step of my previous card. 

I stamped the sentiment on the larger green checkered paper piece. I treated this first with an anti-static tool. I stamped the sentiment using a red dye ink then stamped it using Versamark ink so I can heat emboss it with clear embossing powder. I used the Misti Stamping Tool for this purpose.

I adhered the checkered paper to the wrapped panel using liquid adhesive. I set this aside to dry.

I adhered one of the bear images on the road portion of the panel using a mini wobbler. I adhered the other bear image and the larger tree with foam adhesive. I adhered the other tree and the stop sign image with liquid glue. I used a portion of the negative die cut to ground the car.

I inked the edges of the green checkered panel to mute down the brightness.

This is the old version of this card having the same shaker and wobbler elements (https://ienjoywhatido.blogspot.com/2016/02/masculine-interactive-birthday-card.html). 

Below is a short video showing the interactive elements of this card. It is scheduled to go live later at 4pm CST (My 13 year old posted it that way.) I hope you come back to see it.

I hope you join this month's Stick It Down Challenge. We can't wait to see your take on this month's sketches. 

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this project at

Challenge #346

Scrapbook & Cards Today FB Challenge

Spider Web on a Fall Card?!

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project was created using Blank Page Muse products. I hope you like it.

I got busy with a month long post for the Day of the Dead that I was not able to use some of the BPM Halloween themed products that I ordered. I don't want to wait for next year. Luckily, on my web search, I was able to come across an image with a spider web but is not Halloween themed. The spider web is so subtle that it does not distract your eye from the focal point.

For my card, I decided to give the Stazon Metallic Platinum ink another try. I have been unsuccessful in using this ink. This is what's great about the internet. You can search for not only images but also techniques on using a product. 

I temporarily adhered the BPM Grunge Cobwebs Halloween Background to the glass mat. I inked the stamp with the Stazon ink. 

I placed an acetate on top of the inked stamp and gently ran my fingers across the acetate to transfer the ink to the transparency.

Not the greatest impression but not too bad either, right? The image popped when I placed a black cardstock behind it. I used a brown cardstock instead for a fall color.

I stamped the BPM Small Sunflower Blossom Rubber Stamp on watercolor paper. I used the Misti Stamping Tool just in case I need to re-stamp the flower. I temporarily adhered the rubber stamp to the door of the Misti using a glue stick.

I stamped the sunflower using different Tim Holtz Distress inks. To make sure the inked impression is dry, I heat set it.

I fussy cut the flowers leaving a small white border around it.

Using the same color of ink I used in stamping the flower, I blended the ink on the flower to add color to it.

For the flower center, I used a smaller blending brush to apply the same color of ink I used to stamp the flower.

I die cut some leaves on green cardstock using a die from Altenew. I blended ink on the leaves to add some depth. I also drew leaf veins on the leaves using a metallic green pen. 

I adhered the stamped transparency to the back of a scalloped frame die cut on orange cardstock using a die from Pretty Pink Posh. I used a thin double adhesive tape to adhere the transparency to the frame. I adhered the unstamped side of the transparency to the frame to preserve the inked impression of the background. 

I trimmed a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" dark brown cardstock. I spritz some Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain on this panel. The colors I used are Rusty Hinge and Fossilized Amber. I dried the panel with a heat gun.

I arranged the flowers on the brown panel using the transparency as a guide. I avoided adhering the flowers behind the spider webs. Once I am happy with the arrangement, I adhered the flowers and leaves to the brown panel. I adhered the framed transparency after. 

I adhered the rest of the flowers and leaves on top of the transparency. 

I die cut the letters using a My Favorite Things die for the sentiment. I die cut the letters on kraft and cream cardstock. I adhered the cream letter die cuts on the back of the kraft letter die cuts, slightly offsetting it for a shadow look. I adhered the letters to the transparency.

The frame is a bit shorter than the 5 1/2" length of the card. I trimmed off some of the edges to make the border around the frame even.

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

Maria Giselle B.

Blank Page Muse and I Brake For Stamps is generously offering a 15% discount to their online store to YOU, my blog readers. Just use the code BPMMaria when you check out. Enjoy!

Spotlight Stitched Slimline Card

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project is a stitched card. The pattern I used is from Cross Stitch Floral Dreams by Durene Jones. The die I used is the Crafty Meraki Stitch-A-Cross slimline die. I used a Neenah Desert Storm cardstock for my stitching panel. 

There are 8 holes per inch on the stitching panel created by the die. Any design you use on this stitching panel will be enlarged. Finding a pattern that fits this stitching panel can be a challenge that's why I resort to spotlight stitching. This technique involves choosing a part of the pattern, usually the focal point of the pattern, to stitch on the stitching panel. 

Since the holes are large, I used 6 strands of DMC floss per stitch. I separate the strands from each other then put the strands together again before stitching. I just practiced this lately. It can be time consuming to do this especially when the strand gets knotted but this step makes a difference to the floss by making the stitch fluffy.

I die cut a slimline frame using a Trinity Stamp die on a darker kraft cardstock. I die cut two frames, adhered one on top of the other then adhered it to the stitched panel.

I stamped a sentiment form My Favorite Things Bitty Birthday Wishes stamp set on the same dark kraft cardstock using a purple dye ink. I die cut the sentiment into a strip using an Avery Elle die. I die cut five more pieces of strips and stacked in on top of each for dimension. I adhered the sentiment on the stitched panel. 

I adhered sequins to the stitched flowers for embellishment. I added Nuvo drops and Stickles to the centers of the sequins. 

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

Maria Giselle B.