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

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

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