Paper for Quilt Cards

I have said many times that K & Company produces my favorite papers and embellishments. Well, here is another of their "Super Paper Pads" that has some great patterns to use with quilt cards. I found it at Joann's store, but they might be available at other stores. The last time I bought a large bundle of their paper, it was at Michael's and came in a box, which was very nice.

Joann's is having 50% off coupons this week, so that makes it an even better deal than the 40% off I paid last week.

I am trying some of my normal patchwork quilts and will do some strip quilts before it is all over, but there are several patterns in this paper that stand alone as a quilt. Run it through with an embossing folder, sand the paper gently, and you have a quilt card that looks like one of grandma's old treasured quilts! Be sure and place another piece of cardstock behind your quilt piece. This paper is not as heavy as the normal double sided cardstock K & Company sells in the smaller pads. While you at at the store is a good time to choose some solid cardstock to go with the designs...plus it is on sale this week!

Sorry the photo below is out of focus. I have already used this card and snapped a photo of it before giving it away....without realizing it was not in focus.

These are so easy to do that they would be great if there was someone you wanted to give a set of note cards to....I make mine 5 by 7 so they could be framed if desired. The actual quilt piece is 4 by 6 inches, so you can get six of them from a sheet of paper.

There are also cool gingham's in the pad that I haven't even touched yet! And that button paper is just calling for that button and needle edger punch EK Success makes (which is also on sale at JAS!).

This is my enabling post for the week! :-)

Quilt Cards

I love all kinds of "quilt cards". I bought this die from SU! and finally had time to play with it. When I purchase paper that makes me think of quilts, I try to go ahead and match solid colors to go with the print.

After die cutting this die, you have the frame, the pattern and then all the little pieces that are in the pattern. Thus, you have a lot of possibilities. With these, I simply put a piece of patterned paper behind the cut out pattern and saved the little pieces. I will play with them later.

I also played with different ways to embellish the 5 by 7 inch cards. Above, the chain that I punched was a MSC Christmas punch I got on sale this December. It doesn't look like a poinsettia to me.....I think it is just a pretty border.

The chain above is from EK Sucess. It is called Chinese Knot Chain and it reminded me a little of the pattern in the die from SU! I threaded a strip of paper through the chain, but ribbon would be beautiful threaded through this chain.

Sometimes the paper itself will call for an embellishment, such as the cross stitch I did with ribbon to match the paper above.

Sometimes the ribbon itself is the inspiration for the choice of colors as above. I loved this ribbon, so I chose papers I thought went well with it.

I still have a lot of options for using this die, but this is a start. Thanks for visiting.

EK Success Powder Tool

One of the tools that we use in SDU (Scrapbooking Design & You) Classes is a powder tool. Sometimes when you want stickers to have more dimension than normal, you can use a 3 D Dot to make it stand out more, such as I did on this cute little owl sticker (Sticko, On the Farm). First, before I took the liner off of the 3D Dot, I used the powder tool to brush on the powder that makes the sticker not be sticky any more. That way, I don't have to worry about the sticker back catching on the paper behind the owl and making him look deformed. I also added some googly eyes to him as I felt he just needed them!

Above, you can see what the powder tool looks like. Sure, you could use talc or baby powder, but this is so much easier and much less messy.

All of the EK Success Brands are now represented on the new website, http://www.eksuccessbrands.com/. The powder tool is one of those things you can find there that aren't as easy to find in retail stores since so many scrap booking stores have closed.

Strip Quilt Valentine

I finally found the little hand held paper shredder that I looked for when Jan Castle first told me about the paper strip quilting method. It cuts a strip that is only about 1/8" wide rather than the 1/4" strip my electric one cuts. Thus, it has a more delicate look to it, but it also takes a little longer to put together. After I covered a quarter sheet of sticky label paper with strips, I die cut hearts. I had room to get three in varying sizes (the smallest one I used on the faux quilt I made and shared yesterday). I also look for decorative papers that have pretty stripes that I can cut and use as an embellishment as the row of hearts seen above. They are glossy on the hearts and look in real life like they were embossed.

Above you can see the hand held device. I found this marked down at Staples within the last year or two, but they do not have them now as they were clearanced out. You can see the strips forming the quilt pattern.

When I choose my papers, I not only try to have lights, mediums and darks, but also some type of texture or sheen. You can see above that one of the papers is glossy, so it introduces another element to the quilt. I love to use suede paper also for a different texture. If embossed when finished, the suede paper is very pretty.

Just thought I would share a different take on the strip quilting. Thanks for dropping by!

Paper Quilts

Well, I shredded several sheets of K & Company paper to use in my Martha Stewart Crafts Photo Holder cards that I found at Big Lots. Each package has two of each of these cards, envelopes, glue and two colors of glitter (all for $2!). There is an easel flap that can be secured to display the cards. I tried to choose papers that would work in any of the three colors and then once I had added all the strips, I decided which color I thought the quilt looked best in....another thing I learned was to use a background paper that would not stand out. Instead of using white, I used some kraft paper I have that are full sheet labels. I cut three 4.25 by 6.25 pieces of adhesive kraft paper from each sheet of 8,5 by 11 paper. I am going out of town this week, so I plan on taking these and the strips with me so I can do some quilting!

The card above uses one of the new Spellbinders die and it looks like it was made for this card opening! The sentiment is from Sparkle N Sprinkle. I used gutter guard through the Wizard to give the quilt a quilted look. The satin ribbon gives a nice authentic look.

For the brown one, I used a Spellbinders Impressabilities and the green one, a new Sizzix embossing folder. Both of them were distressed a little with the metallic rub-ons. Before removing the Impressability and embossing folder, I lightly sanded with a white block sanding block. Leaving it in place makes the design show up a little better. I don't sand the gutter guard one as it is not a delicate design like the others.

These are a great thing to do while watching tv or when you want something mindless to do! Once you get it all mounted, the patchwork almost looks like a piece of paper....too bad someone doesn't make paper that looks that much like a quilt!
Now that I have my paper shredder and am using the sticky labels to stick them to, I am going to go back and use some of these strips to do the bargello again. Happy Stamping!

Quilt with a background pattern

First, let me say, Happy Card Making Day!!! Hope you can grab a little time to make some cards!

I was in Big Lots recently and saw a $2 stamp with a solid quilt pattern on it....I thought of the technique where you ink up a background stamp and then impress a solid stamp on that inked background to create the background in the shape of the solid stamp. I thought that would be cool to use to create a patterned quilt. Above you see the finished quilt after it went through the Wizard with gutter guard for the quilted embossed look. I also did some stitching around the edges, once I made it too my sewing machine (I told you I was the Queen of too much stuff!!)

Here you can see the pattern from the background stamp. Notice also that the pattern is a little off center....I always learn something when I do a card and I learned something on this one.

Before running the "quilt" through the Wizard, I applied some of these creamy metallic rub ons. These have always been one of my favorite products, but I have been concerned as I had not seen Dennis, the man that sold these, at recent trade shows. Well, at my recent visit to Bonnie Boyle's shop, I learned that he retired and sold the company to a friend of mine, Ellen. I met Ellen through her sister, Carolyn Hurst. Anyway, to make a long story short, Bonnie carries these. I did not see them on her website, but I know she has them. These babies are one of the best values in the stamping world!

Another great buy is the EK Success Stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner! I have loved this since it first came out! You see, this quilt was made with a small stamp.

But, with the wonders of this stamp positioner, you can make your quilt as large as you want!

My card is a six inch square, made up of nine stamped images.

If you have never used a stamp positioner, you place the clear imaging sheet in the corner of the stamp positioner. Ink your stamp with dye ink and allow the corner of the wood block (or acrylic mount) to go down that corner (noticing the direction you have your stamp so you can repeat that direction each time) and stamp an image on the imaging sheet. Use the clear imaging sheet to place the dye stamped image exactly where you want it, placing the positioner up in that corner. Hold on to the positioner and remove the imaging sheet. Now ink the stamp with the ink you want to use and slide it down the corner of the positioner. There you have it! I also told you I learned something when making this card. Why not use the stamp positioner on the getting the background image I am transferring to the solid stamp in a centered position rather than it being off center? I did not redo this card, but on the next one, I will use the positioner on this particular background.

To ink your background, just apply ink to the background as it is laying flat. Obviously, the background needs to be larger than your flat stamp for an overall pattern.

Yes, the Stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner and metallic rub-ons are a couple of my favorite things! I am sure there are names for this technique....I first saw it in the Rubber Stamper Magazine (another past favorite thing!). Speaking of which, it won't be long before the Nov/Dec issue of Crafts N Things will be coming out....I have not been able to get any paper crafting items published in that magazine, but should have a couple of other type items in that issue.

One other note, while at Big Lots, I picked up some Martha Stewart Crafts kits for making black eyed susan flowers and also photo holder cards. I plan on making more strip quilts for those photo holders and K & Company has the perfect paper to go with the colors! I will share those later :-)

Another quilt card and new stamps!

I have been putting my new (old) paper shredder to the test! For this card, I ran suede paper through (the magenta strips) as I knew that paper would give a richness to my "quilt" and would also show up the impressabilities embossing, just like the metallic paper.

I also used new stamps from Quietfire Designs....you know I love calligraphy and I love stamps, so I really love nice calligraphy stamps. Suzanne has a new sheet of stamps and I liked all of them! There is a "Queen of" image and then choices....I guess my kingdom would be "too much stuff"....which is one of the choices!

I have loved Quietfire since finding them...above is a card I made that Spellbinders used in their CHA booth for winter 2008.
No affiliation with them....just appreciate good work!

Faux Quilt Card

Yeah, I finally found a paper shredder that does the quarter inch strips so I could make up some of the faux quilting cards that my friend Jan Castle showed me how to do!!! Yes, I know I could cut them on my Genesis, but this is so much easier!!!
I am sending her a card and I wanted to show you how I like to illustrate the envelope. Jan, whose last name is "Castle" lives on Emerald Drive. Does that sound like Ireland or what? So I had a little fun with my copics. Hopefully Jan will get the card before this post goes up...LOL! She reads my blog everyday and always makes a comment...hugs, Jan!

I have another friend on Pumpkin Vine Trail...isn't that a cool street name? It is now October...how I love this month!

I did the easel card I had shared with you earlier and the same pistachio paper. I did have some new Spellbinders tags to play with and I cut them from suede paper. When you open the card you see only the quilt (this card is A2 size) and then you open the easel and see the richness of the suede paper and rhinestone as well as the sentiment. Most of the paper is Anna Griffin with one bronze metallic thrown in. I also used one of the new Spellbinders impressabilities and it really shows up on the metallic paper.

There is varigated green ribbon running through the diecut. I used a piece of adhesive mat stacks as my base. Just pulled the liner off and then started applying the strips. You do one long one (the purple striped one near the center) and then two coming off of that one at right angles (there is a green striped on on the lower right and a darker green herringbone on upper left). Then you just add the strips in a log cabin fashion, filling up the four segments that have been created by the three strips first applied. Then I trimmed it and mounted it on the card. Hoping Jan likes the card...I did brush a little glitter over the card to fill in any crevices where there was still adhesive showing through. This could be addictive....and I cut a lot of strips with my shredder (that I found at Goodwill).

One other note of good news...our DIL, Jessica found out that she passed the bar exam for Alabama, so we now have a lawyer in the family! Congrats to Jessica!!!!