Cardmaking: Easy Card No Fancy Tools

 

This week's link party continues here!

As I've written before, I love my amazing crafting tools like my Cricut Explore Air2. But sometimes I also love the simplicity of making something that doesn't require tools.  Here's how you can make an easy card with just some pretty papers and a few basics. 

Supplies: 

• Scrapbook Papers (I used the Let's Wander Stack by Recollections from Michaels) and some paper scraps from previous projects. 
• Cardstock. I used 110lb Cardstock, Recollections, Michaels
• Stickers. I used one sticker from a pack by Crafter's Square from Dollar Tree
• Embellishments. Crafter's Square, Dollar Tree. 
• Double sided adhesive or tape runner
• Paper Trimmer or craft knife
• Scoreboard / bone folder or if you don't have, you can use an empty ball point pen

First, choose your papers and what you want to use for your card's focal. Stickers are great for this, especially those on clear backgrounds. I found these at The Dollar Tree and for $1 you can make multiple cards. 

Trim your cardstock to 7x10 inches then score in the middle at 5 inches. I use a scoreboard for my cards but you can easily place your cardstock on a magazine , use a ruler as a guide, and use an empty ballpoint pen or something else pointed enough to score your fold but not cut. 

To make the focal for your card, place the sticker you've chosen on a piece of cardstock then trim it to size. If you don't have a paper trimmer, again a ruler and a craft / utility knife and easy peasy. 

Cut the main decorative paper you've chosen to 4.75x6.75 (I used a pink swirly sheet) then mat your trimmed sticker focal on another piece of the same paper and mat with a solid ( I used a scrap of black cardstock). 

Since I've been at this a while, I have a TON of paper scraps from other projects but if this is the first card you're making, choose some coordinating sheets from the paper stack and play around. I grabbed some of my scraps and cut to sizes that worked with my trimmed focal. 

Assemble. Hint: I always assemble my layers before I attach to the card itself. So in this case, I put my matted focal on top of the scrap with the bows on it, then attached to the silver dotted paper, and finally on the pink swirl background. Then attach to your card. 

I always like to finish with some bling or some dots of glitter glue etc. In this case, I used a sheet of rhinestone embellishments by Crafter's Square from The Dollar Tree. They are really expanding their line of crafting materials and you can't beat the price! 

Lots of cards to make with all of those rhinestones! Most of the teardrop shaped ones have the little round ones attached. I used these for the bigger bows. For the smaller bows, just dotted with some other smaller rhinestones in my stash. This part is completely optional. 

But see? Easy, no fancy tools, and when you can get a beautiful stack of papers like the ones in this Let's Wander pack (currently on sale at Michaels 70% off!) then you don't have to spend a lot to make some pretty things! 

Sharing At: 

The House On Silverado 

Our Hopeful Home

St. Patrick's Day: Acrylic Paint Poured Shamrock Sign

 

This week's BFF Open House Link Party continues here

I've been having fun with some St. Patrick's Day decor. In addition to my Layered Shamrock I had fun with this $1 wood sign from Dollar Tree. 

Supplies:

• Wood Shamrock Sign ( Dollar Tree)
• Acrylic Paints 
• Zinsser Paint Booster ( Lowes)
• Silicone ( Hardware Store )

Ignore the red hearts. I thought I was going to layer them onto the sign and changed my mind. I found this line of Top Notch paints at JoAnn. I'm not sure if it's an in house brand or not but they are another line of reasonably priced acrylic paints. They make a whole host of other products as well. The Zinsser paint booster is an alternative to Floetrol which is used in a lot of paint pour projects. The silicone you can get at any hardware store. 

I chose to go with a more muted green palette along with some white and a couple drops of gold. So first step was to mix the paints. My formula for small projects is about a capful of the paint booster to 1/3 cup of paint. It's not scientific, I just found it gives the right flow. If you're starting out with paint pouring play around to find the consistency YOU like for your projects. There's no absolute. I squeezed 2-3 drops of the Silicone in and mix well until your paint just looks like paint again. 

Re-using cups is great in practice but I didn't think about pictures. Note to self. Use new cups. But I didn't, so don't be confused by the other colors you see. 

For this project I did what's called a "dirty pour". What this means is layering  the paints in one cup vs pouring each color individually. You can see them start to interact in the cup which they'll do more as they flow once they're on the surface you're painting. 

For a "clean pour" you pour your paints from their respective containers onto the surface one by one. For a "dirty pour" there's the flip step. Place your surface atop your cup, then holding the cup, flip until your surface is on the bottom and the cup with your paints sits atop it. Some paint may leak out but that's OK! 

When you lift your cup you'll see your paints begin to spread and how they've blended and their magic is revealed. I love this part the most! From here, just tilt your surface to spread your paint until your surface is covered. I ended up having to add a little more paint to my pour cup which was fine. I was trying not to have too much and ended up with too little. It's a Goldilocks process!

I love paint pouring so much because no two pieces are alike and each takes on its own personality. If you want exact replication, this art is not for you! 

Once dry, I finished with some black and white check ribbon and kept it simple, just hanging it on a mirror in our entryway. 

I'm happy with it and it was $1! 

Paint Pouring: Dollar Tree LOVE Sign

 

Oops! I forgot to post this before Valentine's Day but actually, I think I'm going to just leave this up all year anyway because why should we limit love to just one day?  I'd picked up an unfinished LOVE sign at Dollar Tree and decided to use it as my surface for a paint pouring project. 

Supplies: 

• Unfinished Sign
• Acrylic Paints, Choice of Colors
• Paint Pouring Medium ( I used Artist's Loft, Michaels)

This is the sign I found at Dollar Tree. It came with twine on the back so it could be hung up but I removed it both to avoid getting paint on it and because I knew I was going to stand it up. 

Choose the colors of paint you want to use. I went with white, silver and gold. The Artist's Loft Pouring Medium is easy to use with the paint to medium ratios stated on the bottle. I've done paint pouring using this as well as other additives and I like both ways but would recommend this for your first projects. 

Mix your colors. I just eyeballed the amount I needed for a smaller project. Since the medium makes the paint more fluid, you don't need much and I hate wasting leftovers.  As you can see, I re-use my stir sticks! 

I started with white and someday maybe I'll try making a video but for now it's pics! Then randomly added the silver and gold and tilted the sign to let the paints "move" around. They'll drip down the sides so you want to ensure you elevate your piece. 

I love paint pouring because no two pieces will ever look alike and as the paints dry, they just kind of "do their thing". 

It went perfectly on my entryway table with a canvas and some rhinestone covered letters I did a few yeas ago. 

And since the colors I went with aren't overtly Valentine's themed, I think I can leave it up year round! 

Sharing At: 

OurHopeful Home 

Valentine's Day: Pink, Grey, Cream Valentine's Cards

 

Less than two weeks until Galentine's and Valentine's Day! When you love making cards, it's easy to make them for those you love. 

I tend towards non-traditional colors because I'm contrary like that. This year, I went with a color palette of Black and White, Cream and Grey and Pink. I backed into my palette when I found some great stickers at Dollar Tree last month. 

With these COVID variants, we're going out even less than before which wasn't that much to start and it will be another cozy home celebration for us. 

Supplies: 

• Cardstock (Recollections 110lb Michaels)
• Scrapbook Paper (American Crafts and Pink Paislee)
• Focal Sticker (Dollar Tree)
• Paper Trimmer
• Adhesive 

I found this sheet of wood stickers at Dollar Tree. I love the natural hearts and although I'm not much of a pink person, I really wanted to use those too because I knew I had the perfect papers in my stash! 

I did some on cream cardstock with coordinating grey and cream papers. I had scraps from cutting the cards to size (5x7) so I ran them through a damask embossing folder that matched the pattern of the paper. Makers hate waste!. I kept these simple because the papers were so pretty so just adhered the natural heart to a white scrap, matted with a grey scrap and done! 

I'm physically unable to avoid black and white. It's true! My doctor confirms. OK no, but...it's my thing. So for this one, I used a striped silver on silver paper, American Crafts XOXO paper, the pink hearts and done!

For the pink cards, white cardstock, coordinating papers by Pink Paislee, more natural hearts and done! 

Those of you who know you're getting one will just have to see which one you get! 😛

Holiday 2020: Dollar Tree Sign-A-Palooza

 

On one of my strategically planned outings out of the house and to The Dollar Tree, I picked up these fun holiday signs to play with and I had tons of fun with them! I'm really happy with how they turned out and how they'll fit in with my Christmas decor!

Supplies: 

• Crafter's Square Signs from Dollar Tree
• Acrylic Paints ( I used Craftsmart and Artist's Loft from Michaels)
• White Glue and Quilling Paper for Snowflake

Merry Sign: 

I have different spots using different colors in my Christmas decor and Black and White fits right in. For this one, I painted the sign Black as a base coat: 

Then taped off my stripes using painter's tape:

and added the white stripes. Once this was dry, I taped off vertical lines (not pictured) and also painted those white. 

TIP: Start your taping in the center of whatever you're working on and work outward / up or downward from there. This helps make your plaid look more even. 

Peace Sign: 

I used the same process except for this one I went with a white and gold palette. This will go perfectly with a Mackenzie Childs Ornament I have and designed it with that in mind to go on a table where I usually place that.

This one I did the base coat white and then following the same process went over with gold. 

Snowflake Sign: 

I had a little accident with this one and broke one of the ends. So I adapted my original plan for this to conceal my glue it back together job, using my tried and true White Glue Crackle technique which you can read more about here. "Happy Accidents" are a Maker's best friend!

I painted this with a couple coats of white, then the glue, then a metallic turquoise. 

See? The "Ooops" is gone. I did another layer of the crackle technique...more glue, then white paint and went in the opposite direction of the turquoise. 

Next I Quilled a bunch of coils in different sizes and arranged them into a snowflake before gluing them to my sign: 

This helps ensure your pattern is what you want before you commit to glue!

I would say this was $3 well spent!