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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Home - a Card with die cuts

I couldn't resist making this card. I got a free punch in the mail the other day of a house.  So, I thought "well, ok. let's punch out some die cuts and see what happens".  I knew I wanted a house border.





Close Up!

I really like this bird. It's part of a set of die cuts from France.  I used distress ink on the edges and outlined the bird in gold and added a jeweled eye.  The die cut behind the bird is from the same set.  The words are from Tim Holtz word pad. (Sorry about the twine.  The words are "Our Home")

I added tiny colorful gems to the edges.  Here you can see the different papers I used to punch out my houses.  I used a ribbon behind the houses to tie them together visually.
Hope you enjoyed my Home Card!

Lis

Friday, March 30, 2012

Mizuhiki Heart with Mica Pearl Ink Background

Hi everyone!

I was fortunate to go to a stamp show (Carson, CA - you may be familiar with it).  My friend Bobbie and I signed up for a Judikins class with Judy herself!  If you look on their blog, you may even see pictures of us!

Anyway,  the class was full of techniques.  One super great technique I learned was how to make a mizuhiki heart for a card front.  It is AWESOME!  SO, I am going to share it with you.

I love mizuhiki cord.  It is tightly wound paper cord and comes in in some beautiful metallic colors. You may even have seen it tied into some gorgeous Japanese knots (I would so love to take a class to learn that!).

So, when Judy taught us this card, I was overjoyed!



Close Up!
To make the heart, you take three strands of mizuhiki (I used two gold and one silver), fold them in half and cut them.  Now you should have six pieces of the same length. TAKE THREE PIECES. Fold them in half (do not cut).

To prepare your mat or card front, cut two small slits about 1/4 inch apart from each other.  You will position the slits at an angle and toward the top of your card. (See my pictures)

Take the folded cords and work them through the slits as you see below.  You can cross the strands here so that the top of the heart isn't so open.  You can also hang charms from the top!  How cool is that?


To properly position the bottom cords, I took my two ends and brought them around to get the heart shape.  I held the two ends together and took my xacto blade and placed it where I thought I wanted to cut.  I let go of the ends and made my two slits.  Then I threaded first one set of ends and then the other set of ends through the two slits. Voila!  A heart!


I wanted to show you these pearl dots.  These were made with the Viva Decor pearl pens.  These pens are wonderful!  You can get them in all kinds of pearl and non-pearl colors.  What's so great is that you can make every size of "pearl" you want.  They dry in about 15-20 minutes - maybe a little less (I like to give mine plenty of time to dry). The result is fantastic!  I will be showing more of these on my blog in the coming months, so stay tuned.


Thanks for stopping by!

Lis

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Vanilla Beetle Card by Bobbie

Today's card was made by one of my best friends, Bobbie!  We spent the last two weeks in craft heaven (we were on vacation)!  We went to as many craft stores as possible and even took a class from Michael Strong.  You may want to google him.  He designed a really great series of stamps that pre-date zentangle.  Also, he has come out with a beautiful oval shaped alphabet.  And there is even a punch that will punch out the letters!  You will definitely be seeing some cards from me with these amazing stamps!



Close Up!

I love the way that Bobbie accented the beetle's spots with lavender pearls. She also colored the beetle with distress ink.



Bobbie used a number of clear crystals in various sizes to accent the clock hands on her embossed anthracite stardream paper.


I hope you liked Bobbie's card!  Come back soon for more inspiration!
Lis

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Tissue Tape Double Border Card

Hi everyone!

Today's card has a lovely double tissue tape border.




 Close Up!
The papers that I used for this card are from Prima.  I bought one of their 8 x 11 pads and it included the pretty bird below which I punched out.  I used Forest Moss distress ink on the edges and attached with mounting tape.



Here is a close up of the double border.  First I added the ticket border (Tim Holtz tissue tape). I added the full width of the tape to my card.  Then I mitered the corners. I used a ruler and an xacto blade and cut from the inner corner to the outer corner.  I was able to easily feel when my blade hit paper so I knew when to stop cutting.  I took off the cut tissue tape and voila - a perfect frame.
I took a variety of tissue tapes and tore pieces off and layered them onto the edges of my card, overlapping the tapes as I went.  For this second layer, I only used half the width of the tape.


I used an over sized gem to decorate the front of my card.  It looks like a ribbon slide, don't you think?


Since my ribbon wrapped around to the inside front of my card I wanted to finish it off.  I used a matching (smaller) gem on the end.

Thanks for stopping by!
Lis

Friday, March 23, 2012

Washi, Tissue, Paper & Fabric Tapes -A Beginner's Exploration

Hi everyone!

How are you all doing this fine weekend?Are you looking forward to summer?  I am!  In the meantime, are you as hooked as I am on washi tape, tissue tape, fabric tape and paper tape?

I LOVE this stuff.  There is a difference between them, that's for sure.  So, here's some quick information.  If you want more information on where I purchased the tapes I use, let me know - leave a comment!

Let's start with my favorite - Washi Tape!
Washi Tape is similar to washi paper.  For those of you not familiar with washi paper, it is made in Japan and is either a handmade paper (sometimes machine made) with beautiful BEAUTIFUL screen printed designs on it.  Some have gold or silver in them as well.  Because of it's translucency, you can layer it on top of each other to get different effects.  It doesn't really lend itself to additional coloring.  It seems to me that there is a coating on the tape to prevent adherence of inks. Although you could use Staz On or Sharpie markers.

Tissue Tape:
No doubt you are aware of tissue tape from TimHoltz collection.  There are lots of tissue tape out there.  I really like tissue tape because you can color it.  Tim's collection is really nice because some is made with a white background and others an ivory background.  If you place the tape on the same color paper, you can get the tape to practically disappear, leaving the design looking like its part of the paper. Neat, huh?

Next up is Paper Tape:
Paper tape is exactly what it says, it's made of paper and is heavier than washi tape.  Unfortunately I don't really like this tape.  It's a bit heavy and tends to curl alot when you are pulling it off the roll.

Lastly, Fabric Tape:
 You may be familiar with 7 Gypsies Gaffer Tape. This is fabric tape.  There are other companies that make a variety of colors and patterns of fabric tape also.  Fabric tape is very strong because, it's made of fabric!  You have to cut this when using it.  Although you could color this tape with a variety of inks, you may not want to because the designs and colors are already beautiful.

Here are some pictures of the various tapes so that you can see the variety!




Washi Tape on Ivory Glossy
See how when you layer the solid colors, you can get variations in colors?  This tape works nicely when doing faux stained glass on cards.
 Washi Tape on White Mat (The colors are brighter with the white paper background)

Tissue Tape (Left is white mat paper, Right is ivory Glossy paper)
Can you see the difference when a white background tissue tape (see the middle left tape)  or ivory background tissue tape (see the top right tape) is added?


Below is a short table of information on the various tapes.  This is just a basic beginner's list of information and in no way am I implying that I am an expert.  I'm still experimenting!   
Tape Comparison
Washi Tape
Tissue Tape
Paper Tape
Fabric Tape
Manu-
facturer
Various
Tim Holtz, Various
Making Memories, various
7 Gypsies (also known as “Gaffer Tape”), various
Tear vs
cut?
Can tear from roll
Can tear from roll
Between text & cardstock – better to cut with scissors than to attempt to tear it
Heavy-cut with scissors
Color it?
No
Distress, alcohol inks
No
No
Strength
of
 Adhesive
Can be repositioned. depending on paper used
Can be repositioned. depending on paper used
Cannot be repositioned once placed without tearing the paper.
Cannot be repositioned once placed without tearing the paper.
Adhesive
Backed?
X
X
X
X
Peel off
backing
to reveal adhesive


X
X
Opaque


X
X
Trans-
lucent
X
X


Solid
Colors
X
X


Patterns
X
X
X
X
Different Widths?
X
X
X
X


Tomorrow I will be posting a card with a pretty tissue/washi tape double border. Stay tuned!

Lis

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Paris Collage Card

Hi everyone!
Today I want to share a collage card with you called Paris.

The base card is epic black in neenah linen cardstock (my favorite black of all time!).  I matted a gold glossy to my base card which was embossed. 

The three pieces of glittered embellishment were actually cut form a scrapbook paper from DCWV.  They were actually from one design.  I cut them apart and layered them with the Pris picture layered with mounting tape.


Close Up!

I love the stick pin accents here.  I used mounting tape behind the Paris picture so all I had to do was to stick the pins in the mounting tape.  Works perfectly! 
I used a dusty rose satin ribbon to accent which coordinates with the pink roses in the lower left.


I added a gold edging to the Paris card.  Because the entire piece is glittered, the gold shows off the rough edges giving it kind of a faux foil look.  I also like the way it is a mat looking gold which contrasts with the shiny gold mat behind it.



Here you can see a clearer picture of the gold edging and also the pink roses.

Lope you liked my Paris card!  Come back for more card ideas and inspiration!

Lis