Monday, December 5, 2011

Ella Friends blog hop: Cards!

Welcome to the Ella Friends blog hop! This has been a wonderful year working with such a talented and friendly bunch of women. I'm honored to have been on this team.

As a final farewell, we are hosting a blog hop focusing on cards. Our ideas come from this wonderful ebook:

31 Thank You Cards, by Kimber McGray, Heather Nichols, and Kristina Werner. The book is filled with design inspirations for creating various beautiful cards. At the end of this post I have information on a giveaway that can include an ebook, so be sure to read to the end!

I took inspiration from the challenge to let a beautiful piece of paper shine. Here's what I did, on a Congratulations card:

I cut out the intricate design from a piece of Lost and Found paper from My Mind's Eye. (I never use those intricate part for layouts, so it was great to put it to good use on a card!)

I also took inspiration from another challenge: to use multiple colors of mist with a template. This time, though, I used it on a layout! The book is not just great for inspiring card ideas. I used a piece of die cut paper from a Studio Calico kit as the template, and these three mists:


Mister Huey Shine, Maya Road Buttermilk Cream, and Mister Huey Lemonade. I laid down the Buttermilk cream heavily because it's the lightest, followed by a smidge of Lemonade, then a dousing of Shine.

I turned the template sideways for an interesting angle:


Then covered the edges with paper to color only the inside of the template:


Here's the design (upside down):

When I looked at the LO the next day, I thought the top looked too empty, so I decided to add another misting with the same template.

Since I had already adhered the rest of the LO, I covered them up with wax paper to prevent mist seepage.


And here's the finished LO, complete with additional details:

Design inspired by cards! I may go back and stitch lines under the journaling. Still deciding.

Thank you for visiting my blog! All of you can use the code CARDHOP one time for a $2 discount off of the ebook 31 Thank You Cards; code expires 12/10/11.

Now for the giveaway: Please leave a comment telling me what you like to do with cards--design wise, product wise, you tell me! Your comment puts you in the running to win a Gift Card to Ella Publishing, which you can use to buy this wonderful ebook. I will keep comments open until Wednesday, December 7 at 8 P.M. CST.

Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you can stop by again. Now please visit the wonderful creations at the blogs of the other Ella Friends participating in this hop:


Have a great Monday!

12 comments:

Marg Van Patten said...

Thanks for the awesome tutorial! I have yet to play with my Lost and Found papers but now, you've got me thinking! I tend to use very basic patterns and like stamping on my cards. Thanks for sharing your time and talent at Ella!

Miriam Prantner said...

Great card and layout! I have to be inspired when it comes to cards. Sometimes it's a sketch, sometimes, it's a stamp, color, shape, etc. But I can't just go in cold. It might take me as long to find the inspiration as it does to make the card sometimes. I will see a challenge and mull it over a couple days before I figure the card out, or I see it and I immediately know what I will do with it.

Kelly said...

love your sparkle!

Kelly Sroka said...

Love the layout! I like to make cards from the leftover scraps of my layouts. I usually pull out a copy of a card magazine and let it inspire me!

Aliza said...

I love my cards nice and simple, really. I love that you used the fancy detail of pp on the card.

Debbie Pereira said...

I love the idea of using the portion of the 12 x 12 paper on a card...I too, never seem to use them on layouts. I do love lots of layers and tetures on my cards.

Michelle Hernandez said...

The page is incredibly lovely!!! LOVE the color, how you used that paper and the small detail so that the focus is in the photo- fantastic!
For cards I like to mist, use ribbon and flowers for layering and I like to taylor them to the personality I will eventually give them too- even cards created for a challenge eventually go to someone.

Crystal said...

What a beautiful page. I would hate for a card I made to get thrown away, they seem to take so much time. I am a scrap booker, but have only done 1 card. Mothers Day. Decided I could make a card for what they charge for them, and put in my own thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my goodness! What a gorgeous project! I have a tendency to get stuck when designing a card, but I find that thinking of the person it's intended for helps out a lot. I don't do well when I make a card, just for the sake of making it. I have to have a recipient in mind to make my "process" work.

Jen said...

Beautiful LO! Sometimes I think I want to play more with mists, but I rarely love my own results.
As for cards, I almost always need to have some card occasion to motivate me. And then I make several similar cards to stow away for when I need them. I almost always use stamps for the sentiment, at least. Thanks for the chance to win!

thehappycrochetchic said...

I love to *try and use my collection of stamps on cards and all the little thingsi have been saving!!
Juloa

Nasir said...

This tutorial is very utile, the design is also very good.

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