March 2016 Craft Hoarders Anonymous Monthly Blog Hop

Welcome to the March Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog Hop! You should be coming to my blog from Teresa's blog. After visiting me, hop over to Karen's blog next! To start at the beginning of the hop, and for the full list of Bloggers, go to Gloria's Blog!

March always makes me think of St. Patrick's Day, luck of the Irish, and so on.  It is also National Irish American Heritage Month, so better way to commemorate it than with a 3D Shamrock card.  

I love 3D, and some years ago, I discovered paper tole.   So, what is paper tole? 

Paper tole, also known as three-dimensional decoupage, is the art of handcrafting three-dimensional pictures from flat prints. This art is created by skillfully cutting, shaping, and assembling pieces of paper layered onto an image until a three-dimensional version of the image emerges.

This technique was right up my alley.  Of course, back in those days, I would stamp, color, and fussy cut an image several times to achieve what can be done quickly and easily today with our die cuts and electronic die cutting machines.  

Below is a picture of the various layers of paper shapes I cut using my Silhouette die cutting machine.  This paper is from Imaginesce.  One sheet is called Sweet Pea from Out on a Whim collection, and the other two prints are Totally Taj and Artistic Kashmir, both from from Exotic East collection.  The date on the paper tab is 2007, now that is some serious hoarding!  

The papers were layered onto the card base, as shown below.  The top two layers were adhered with foam dots to raise it off the card.  I also added gold pearls around the perimeter, as shown.

The shamrock bouquet needed to be shaped by using a large ball stylus and forming the petals over a soft piece of foam.

Then the piece was turned over to push the petals down in the center, as shown.

And here is one of the completed pieces.  Each layer will give beautiful dimension and add so much to your card.

Tiny pieces of foam dots were adhered to the centers of the shamrocks to keep them lifted, only gluing down the end of the stems.  

Each shamrock was adhered over its corresponding petal below it, giving this beautiful layering effect.   

I added Crystal Stickles glitter glue to the petals, and a seam binding bow with a tiny metal lock charm. 

Here is the list of the participating Bloggers. Make sure to hop along and say hello! 

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog Hop List:
Gloria Stengel
Debbie Seyer
Pam Bray
Jacquie Southas
Glenda Brooks
Tracey Sabella
Donna Idlet
Wendi Robinson
Teresa Horner
Barbara Rankin (you are here)
Karen Zueger-Brownell
Christy Houser

I hope we have inspired you to join us every month and de-hoard those supplies! 

Have a wonderful and creative weekend, but most of all, have fun!!!

Barbara

Paper Tole and Oh Christmas Tree Cards

Hello Robin's Nest fans.  Welcome to my last post as a design team member for The Robin's Nest.  On the one hand, it saddens me to leave, but on the other hand, I plan to continue sharing projects with you on my blog using their wonderful papers, embellishments, and of course, dew drops.  In addition, the new design team is going to be simply fabulous, so whatever you do, don't go away.

Well, Christmas is almost here, and the excitement in my heart has already begun.   I can't seem to get rid of that little kid in me that has always loved the enchantment of the holidays, not to mention the good eats!  I also love to make Christmas cards, right up to the last moment.  So, in keeping with my "last minute" traditions, I want to share (one last time) a couple of Christmas cards I made using the beautiful Russian Winter paper collection from The Robin's Nest, and pair it with some products from our monthy sponsor, Ecstasy Crafts.

Supplies used:

The Robin's Nest:  Brick Classic Glitter card stock, Brown Classic Glitter card stock, Gold Classic Glitter cardstock, White Snow Glitter card stock, Kiwi Glitter Sorbet cardstock, Boy Polka Dot Stamp cardstock, Brilliant Blue MiniDew Drops, Fushia Mini Dew Drops, Limoncello Yellow Mini Dew Drops
Snowflake doily die cut (Gina's Designs)
Ecstasy Crafts 3D Reddy Cards die cuts, Starform Christmas Tree sticker
Pumice Stone distress stain and ink pad (Tim Holtz)
Olive Pastel chalk ink pad (Colorbox)
Perfect Pearls Mist:  Heirloom Gold
Copic Markers: B97, E79, G94, R29, R59, V09, Y35
Rubber Stamp (Stampabilities)
Dies: Labels 8, Decorative Labels 8 (Spellbinders); Tattered Banners (Tim Holtz)
Corner rounder punch (Marvy)


Directions:


My first card is a paper tole style card using the 3D Reddy Cards die cuts from Ecstasy Crafts.

Trim White Snow Glitter card stock to 9" x 6-1/4", fold in half to make  4-1/2" x 6-1/4" card.

Color entire paper with Pumice Stone distress ink.

Allow to dry, then spritz with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls mist.  Below is a close-up of the paper, showing some of the iridescence of the Heirloom Gold mist.  Round card corners.

The next step is to follow the directions for making one of the paper tole images on the 3D Reddy Cards Sheet, shown below.  These are all die cut images and numbered to make it especially easy and so very special for the recipient.  Layer each numbered piece, in sequence, using foam dots.

Die cut papers and layer, as shown below, using the Spellbinders dies.

Below is a close-up of the dimension achieved using these 3D Reddy Cards die cuts.

My next card is also very easy to make using the Starform Christmas Tree stickers, also from Ecstasy Crafts.  These stickers look so fragile and delicate, but in reality, are very sturdy and easy to use.

I first trimmed Boy Polka Dot Stamp cardstock to 5-1/2" x 8-1/2, folded in half to make 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" card.  Round corners.

Adhere a tree sticker to a scrap of Kiwi Glitter Sorbet cardstock.

Next, color cardstock between sticker openings with Copic Markers.  The glitter in the cardstock will resist some of the color and give this nice gradation of greens to your tree image.

Fussy cut around the sticker.  Do not attempt to cut around the candles, but instead, gently lift them off of the paper and snip beneath them, as shown below.  This will make it much easier for you.

Continue fussy cutting around the tree.  Center a doily from one of our previous sponsors, Gina's Designs, and adhere tree image to that with foam dots.  Add all three colors of dew drops (as listed in supplies) to the tree and around the doily edges.  (See finished photo above).

Computer generate "Oh Christmas Tree" on a scrap of Kiwi Glitter Sorbet cardstock, between the glitter, and die cut with tattered banner.  Adhere to top of card with foam tape.   (See finished photo above).

To finish off the inside, and carry on the theme, stamp sentiment with Olive Pastel chalk ink pad, and add one of the smaller stickers from the sticker sheet to the top right corner.

And there you have it.  Two more beautiful Christmas cards that were a snap to make with the fabulous Robin's Nest papers and the Ecstasy Crafts products.  So check out the 20% off sale on the Russian Winter collection this month, and be sure to pay a visit to Ecstasy Crafts for more fun products.

It has been a real honor and pleasure to be on the Robin's Nest design team, and I hope you will continue to visit me often at my blog for more projects using their wonderful products.  The new design team is about to be announced, so stay tuned for more fabulous inspiration from them.

Merry Christmas to everyone, and a most wonderful, Happy New Year!

Barbara