Some unique brayering techniques

Michelle Zindorf has some wonderful tutorials that can really help you improve in your brayering techniques. Take a chance and give it a try....Its not as hard as it looks! If you want some help, come over some evening and I'll show you how! The card to the left is one that I created from an idea that MZ posted and that I cased (see right card).

Another idea is to completely change the shape of the card. This one didn't turn out as well as I'd like because I shouldn't have used black along the border. It would have looks better in gold & silver inks! When the trifold (triptych) card folds up, the edge is visible. It folds to 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card.

Christmas Jingle (Again!)

I still haven't exhausted the paper and stickers associated to this Christmas scrapbooking kit! I love the different effects I can achieve by layering stickers and designer papers, adding extra stamps, embossing images and adding embellishments.

Not all the stamps and embellishments are currently available, but you probably have something on hand that could replace these.

I think the greeting stickers are very versatile and match stamp sets that are currently available. I don't have the Dasher® stamp, but it is a very affordable single stamp that can be used throughout the winter, especially at the Christmas season.

I even use the little left-over stickers that are around the strips (see under punched scallop edge on inside of card), to add a little candy-stripe edge to other strips. Why let anything go to waste? Even little pieces (1-1/4" x 1-1/4" squares) can be used for a "window effect" (see Peace on Earth stamped card below).

Another way to change the way your card works is to make a "cupboard" style -- fold regular card at 2-1/8" from each end, so it opens in the middle like a pair of kitchen cupboards instead of at the bottom or side. The card to the left below (red & cream) doesn't look like a cupboard fold card, but it is!!

Another special treatment is to cut the cardstock on an angle, as shown in the red, striped and cream card below. Add a few embellishments, fancy-punch the card edge and you have varied the card again.










While the Christmas Jingle kit uses Real Red, Old Olive, Very Vanilla and Chocolat Chip cardstock, I used the single greeting sticker with Glorious Green and the Ornament punch for variety. I stamped the 3-flowers from Punch Pals® stamp set, then coloured them with the shimmer paints. I used scrap sticker edger strips to add some lines to the ornament and some ribbon. I dry embossed the red cardfront and added some shimmer paint to the embossed dots.

The three ornament dangle card was fun -- tying little gold cording bows is not! It makes for a pretty card! I used the scrap mini strip stickers to creat a line to "hang my ornaments" from. Fun!


Creating a two-layer tag in coordinating cardstock for this "present" card and using the various stickers allowed this card to be created within minutes. Not much stamping here!




For the final card in this series, I embossed the punched ornament opening on the inside of the card using a mixture of Iridescent Ice® and Gold embossing powders. This adds a sparkle to the gold that really brightens the card.

2005 - Remember this one?

This scrapbook page was made with the Time for a Tree® wheel, the wheel guide, and several retired stamps. When I made it, they were not retired! Some people asked me about SBing with the Loads of Love® stamp set and associated wheel, so I resurrected the page from my samples and decided to post it.

Using the Wheel Guide for Mitred Corners: Place sticky notes across the 4 corners of the cardstock, at 45 degree angles. These act as masks for the wheel. Wheel across the top and bottom of the card. Now switch the sticky notes to lay at 45 degrees, lining up the wheeled images you’ve already completed. Wheel the remaining two sides. Be careful to keep the wheeled images all going the same direction e.g. if you are wheeling snowmen, make sure their heads are either all to the outside of the card or all to the inside! Remove the sticky notes.

More Christmas Cards from SB Kit

Here's five more cards, made with the Christmas Jingle ® scrapbooking kit. These were easy and fun to do! The Real Red® polka dot card was also dry embossed using the Big Shot® and Sizzix Texture Plate #4 (small argyle).

Christmas Jingle

I started to use the Christmas Jingle® Scrapbooking Kit to make some cards, as well as some older sets, Sizzix dies, lots of glittering Dazzling Diamonds® and Iridescent Ice® sparkle. Cards made from scrapbooking kits are easy and fast to make, and you can usually (if conservative and add in some extra cardstock) make between 25 - 30 cards. I'll see how well I do!

As you tell from the photos, the colours of the SB kit are Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, and Very Vanilla -- a very pretty and classic combination! The top card on the right used the 4 different Designer Papers that accompanies the SB kit, along with a medallion sticker and a Red Rhinestone Brad. The greeting is stamped with Old Olive® using the Four the Holidays® stamp set.

The top left card added in a few current stamps to add detail: Delightful Decorations®, stamping the ornament in Very Vanilla Craft® and embossing on the card with Iridescent Ice® after die cutting the ornament out using Movers & Shapers Curly Label®. The punch wouldn't work since I wasn't close enough to the edge of the cardstock. I used Serene Snowflakes® to emboss the Vanilla cardstock, adding a little more interest to the card. I love the effect of the Red Gingham Ribbon, which was tied to the ornament and added as part of the border sticker, using Sticky Strip®.

The card to the right uses the Hostess Set, Patterned Pines®. When cutting out the trees that were embossed (again), I used Dotto and stuck an additional Old Olive® scrap of cardstock behind the trees -- cutting 2 at once! Add a strip of Designer Paper, a sticker from the SB kit and you have a pretty card in Chocolate Chip!

The card to the left uses Baroque Motifs® that were stamped with Versamark® and embossed with a combination of gold and Dazzling Diamonds® on Rich Razzleberry®. The flowers were added using Dimensionals, to give more perspective, punched from the Trio Flower punch, with the centres punched from a small handheld circle punch in burnished gold. The Joy is die-cut using the Big Shot® and Join the Cheer® Decorative Strip Die in burnished gold.

An old favourite uses In Color® cardstock, Soft Suede and Rich Razzleberry, along with the Loads of Love® and Loads of Fun® sets. The truck is driving on snow created with Dazzling Diamonds on the torn edge. The new In Color® markers were used to colour the truck and gifts, with other markers completing the look.

Who knows what I'll try next?

Scrapping Christmas

In preparation for a class today, I have created a 2-page 12"x 12" scrapbook spread using craft, Garden Green and Ruby Red cardstocks and designer papers and inks. I used the ornament set of stamps, the ornament punch, iridescent ice embossing powder, new glitter translucent paint and gold cording. The Big Shot die cutter was used for the titles. The hardest part (and the most time-consuming)? Tying the little bows on the ornaments!

Creating Christmas Cards with my Granddaugher

Here are some cards that my granddaughter, Jillian, and I made this afternoon. She made the same cards and has already picked out the people she wants to share them with! I haven't....yet. I never realized how dry my hands are until she was embossing and left "greasy finger" marks where she held the card. At least the overlay covered that up! This first card uses the Versamark® Resist technique on glossy cardstock. You may not be able to tell, but there are snowflakes all over the top layer. The colours of ink and cardstock are Elegant Eggplant and Orchid Opulence. The Sizzix® snowflake was "painted" with 2-way glue, then dipped in Dazzling Diamonds. Its a fun card to make and looks fantastic! The stamp is from the Christ is Born set.


The dry embossing on the Wild Wasabi (retired) card uses the new Sizzix® Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. What a nice way to create a corner embellishment! We used Rose Red on the flower centres, then 2-way glue, then Dazzling Diamonds, to create a little pizzaz. We used the 5-petal flower punch on Rose Red to add a layer of flower leaves under the punched-out oval greeting. The ribbon adds a little drama to the mix.

Glorious Green, Whisper White and Melon Mambo creates this next brightly coloured card, which uses a retired stamp set. The centre stocking is coloured with markers and dipped in Dazzling Diamonds, to create a bit of glitter. Its a fun little card. I really like the little border stamps that come with this Christmas set!



The Season's Grettings card uses the new Delightful Decorations stamp set and Ornament Punch. We stamped the ornament with Versamark®, then used clear embossing powder. We then dabbed a little 2-way glue in the centre of the ornament design and added Dazzling Diamonds. We punched it out with the Ornament punch, then mounted it on the Very Vanilla cardstock, after stamping our greeting from the Four the Holiday set. The designer series paper is retired. We used the scalloped edge punch to add a little more to the design. Simple and easy to make!

The red and white card uses the Punch Pals set, which I love. The designer paper is a few years old and is a cardstock weight, making it a great way to use up a few scraps!. Tying a little ribbon onto the rectangle breaks up the continuous lines and helps to focus your eyes on the greeting. Before we glued anything on the card, we embossed snowflakes from the Serene Snowflakes set, using Iridescent Ice embossing powder. The greeting says, "'TIS THE SEASON", and uses the Scallop Circle punch, then the 3/4" circle punch to complete the effect.

If you haven't started your Christmas Cards and are planning on sending some out....Better get creating!!!