Sparkly Christmas Tags and Bonus Project! - Guest Designer Judi Kauffman

 

My friend Judi Kauffman designed some sparkly and super simple tags with two dies from my newest release, the flourished reindeer (from the Flourished Christmas Minis) and small size Merry Christmas.

Judi picked light blue and white (White and Light Blue Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz and Velvet Adhesive Sheets), colors that evoke winter, but the combination is yours to choose. And you can design your tags with other dies as well!

Only three steps:

One.

Die cut motif or sentiment from adhesive-backed Velvet sheets.

Two.

Die cut Dashing Rectangles from Shimmer Sheetz* (smallest two for the reindeer and smallest three for Merry Christmas).

Three.

Layer as shown, using clear double sided adhesive tape to secure the Rectangles, and finish by punching a hole for the eighth-inch ribbon.

Flourished Christmas Minis

Merry Christmas Small

*A metal adaptor plate is required for die cutting Shimmer Sheetz. Review Els van de Burgt's YouTube tutorial if you are new to this technique.

Tip: Shimmer Sheetz is non-porous, so pick a pen formulated for writing on glass or plastic to add names and date to the back of the tag.


A big thanks to Judi for sharing with us!

This wraps up our "official" celebration of the new Christmas release from Elizabeth Craft Designs!  I'd like to send a HUGE thanks to the Quietfire Design Team for their creations and the extra projects they've added to their personal website.

We're wrapping up our giveaway!

To be eligible to win, leave a comment on each blog post on the Quietfire Creations Blog from September 28th through to Friday, October 5th, 2018.  We'll randomly choose three winners and send out one of the new dies to each winner!  You have until tomorrow, Sunday October 7th, 2018 at midnight to leave your comments and then we'll randomly choose winners!  Winners will be announced late Tuesday!

Good luck!!

But First, Coffee - A Guest Designer Weekend Treat!

By Judi Kauffman for Quietfire Design

When I saw Suzanne Cannon’s new stamp sets with coffee and tea themes I knew they’d be perfect for making cards for my caffeinated friends. (You know who you are!)

This card combines four of the stamps from two sets, ‘Tea & Thee’(#6263) and ‘But First, Coffee (#5697) with long notched adhesive-backed strips that were leftovers from a sheet of address labels. I added a trio of transparent photo corners to create the shiny triangles. I wanted to evoke folded white napkins! (Mission accomplished, I hope…)

I used a craft sponge to smudge on butterscotch dye ink, followed by espresso brown, allowing the photo corners to act as a resist. No ink stuck to their surface because I wiped them with a tissue while the ink was wet.

The interior of the card incorporates an additional sentiment from But First, Coffee, as well as the little splotches from Tea.

The card is a standard side-fold, A2-size (4.25” x 5.5”).

I have so many ideas for these sets – Gift card holders, Artist Trading Cards, tags, invitations… And I think the stamps that look like spills, stains and splotches would be fun to use on coasters!

Tip: Office supplies are fun to incorporate into stamping and cardmaking – labels, photo corners, correction tape, notary seals, cork, string, magnets, envelopes.

I say it often and it’s always true: The possibilities are endless.

SUPPLIES:

But First, Coffee #5697

Tea & Thee #6263

White cardstock

Ink in butterscotch and espresso

Craft sponge

Transparent photo corners

Leftovers from a sheet of labels

(OR narrow strips of adhesive-backed glossy white paper)

Butterfly Flourishes: She Flies With Brave Wings

By Judi Kauffman for Quietfire Design

My friend Jane is nearing the end of her chemo and radiation treatments for breast cancer and I wanted to make her a little sign to hang in her kitchen to remind her how strong and brave she’s been! Suzanne Cannon’s Butterfly Flourishes die set captured what I wanted to express – it’s airy and upbeat.

I found some washi tape in my stash printed with the words ‘She Flies With Brave Wings’ that was just perfect with the die cuts. Since the tape has likely been discontinued there are several ways to get the same look: Computer-generate a sentiment and print onto vellum; use clear double sided adhesive tape on the back of the vellum. Hand-stamp or hand-letter the words onto ribbon, cardstock, vellum, or solid color washi tape.

Instructions:

1. Choose a color palette that pleases your eye and suits the occasion. Needed: Three Shimmer Sheetz colors and a coordinating piece of patterned paper. Shown: Background rectangle – Amethyst Gemstone Shimmer Sheetz; Small butterfly flourish and one large butterfly – Pink Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz; Second large butterfly – Light Blue Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz; Patterned paper – origami paper with cherry blossoms.

2. Back a 3” x 4” piece of origami paper or other heavy weight patterned paper with double sided adhesive sheet. Use the large flourish die from the Butterfly Flourishes set to die cut the origami paper.

3. Cut two 3.5” x 4.75” pieces of Shimmer Sheetz and put a piece of double sided adhesive sheet between them. Using the 4.25” x 3” die from the Dashing Rectangles set, cut the rectangle. Use a sanding block and very little hand pressure to lightly sand the front of the rectangle on the diagonal and again on the diagonal in the opposite direction. Dash lines are de-bossed on the front. Refer to the photo below.

4. Die cut the small butterfly flourish and one large butterfly from Pink Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz. Die cut the large butterfly a second time from Light Blue Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz. Bend wings upward on all three.

Reminder: A metal adaptor plate or Big Shot machine with Precision Base Plate is REQUIRED for die cutting Shimmer Sheetz. Review Els van de Burgt’s YouTube tutorial if you are new to this technique. (Place Shimmer Sheetz on metal plate, place die on top of SS with cutting side facing DOWN, then complete the machine’s cutting ‘sandwich’ as usual. Fun the piece through the machine twice before removing it from the die for best results.)

5. Arrange and adhere the large flourish, small butterfly flourish, and two butterflies (light blue on top) as shown. Use non-stick scissors to cut small snippets from Tombow Xtreme Adhesive Tabs to secure the small butterfly flourish and two large ones.

6. Add three-eighth-inch strip with sentiment across the bottom of the rectangle, just above the dashes.

7. Using an awl or piercing tool, pierce two holes at the top left and right, .75” from the sides and .25” from the top edge. Create a hanging loop with silk cord, metallic braid, or narrow ribbon, fed through the holes from the front and knotted at the back on both sides.

Supplies:

Butterfly Flourishes  Quietfire | ECD

Dashing Rectangles

Shimmer Sheetz in 3 colors of choice

Clear double sided adhesive tape

Tombow Xtreme Adhesive Tabs

Non-stick scissors

Origami paper to coordinate with Shimmer Sheetz

Awl or piercing tool

Sentiment strip (washi tape or other)

Silk cord, metallic braid or narrow ribbon And I found some washi tape printed with the words ‘She Flies With Brave Wings’ that was just perfect with the die cuts.

Faith, Hope and Courage - Designer Challenge by Judi Kauffman, Guest Designer

A big thank you to Judi Kauffman for standing in for this month's Elizabeth Craft Design's Designer Challenge!  This month's challenge was to create something using the Scissor Spring Mechanism and Judi has created this beautiful heartfelt project that is lighthearted, too.
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For today's challenge Elizabeth Craft Designs is giving away a $20 Gift Card to use on their website to 3 winners. 

To enter simply leave a comment on the Elizabeth CraftDesigns Facebook Giveaway Blog Post or the Elizabeth Craft Designs Challenge post and tell us What Elizabeth Craft Designs dies or stamp sets would you use with the Scissor Spring Mechanism die set to create a card, scrapbook layout of home decor item?

We will select 3 lucky winners in a random drawing 

The winners will be announced on Friday, April 20th on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog and our Facebook page.

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And now to Judi's project!

I knew immediately that I wanted to make something for a childhood pal who has just gotten a scary health diagnosis, hence the words Faith, Hope, and Courage. I added a butterfly because of the lightness and beauty it provides and chose spring colors to match the optimistic nature of the season.

I decided to die cut the scissor springs from Shimmer Sheetz because it’s so sturdy – (it’s Mylar), and used Shimmer Sheetz to add sparkle throughout the project in other ways, too. Tip: Practice with cardstock first to get the hang of how to assemble and fold the mechanism.

When the card is closed it wants to pop open all by itself, so I’m going to hold it flat for mailing with a large star-shaped paper clip – though I’ve been thinking that perhaps a ribbon or cardstock band would be good alternatives. What do you think???

I chose the Dashing Circles die set for the shaped card. The card base, the decorative circle on the card front and beneath the springs are glittered cardstock, as are the words Hope and Courage and the butterfly. The sparkly circle that lines the inside flap (the top part of the card when it is open (see photo below) and the equally sparkly circles that hold the words and butterfly are Shimmer Sheetz.

Three things that are vital to this project:

1. You MUST use a metal adaptor plate or Big Shot machine with Precision Base Plate to die cut Shimmer Sheetz. Review Els van de Burgt’s YouTube tutorial if you are new to this technique.

2. Do NOT try to glue the Scissor Spring Mechanisms to the card and to the circles with wet glue. Use snippets of Tombow Xtreme Adhesive Tabs (cut with non-stick scissors). They are the perfect choice and hold like a bulldog with a bone in its mouth – not letting go!

3. The card base is die cut with the fold positioned inside the die during cutting, leaving a 2” fold across the top.

Supplies:

Elizabeth Craft Designs:

Scissor Spring Mechanism

Faith  Faith at Quietfire

Hope   Hope at Quietfire

Courage   Courage at Quietfire

Butterfly Flourish  Butterfly Flourish at Quietfire

Dashing Circles

Shimmer Sheetz in Blue Iridescent and Turquoise Gemstone

Tombow Xtreme Adhesive Tabs

Non-stick scissors

Foam tape

Sanding block (optional: To tone down sparkle on Shimmer Sheetz circles)

Glittered cardstock in pale teal and lavender (or colors of choice

Stamp Smudge & Color: 10-minute Valentines and Envelopes By Judi Kauffman for Quietfire Design

Need some Valentine’s Day cards and envelopes in a hurry? These are easy and lightning-fast! Simply STAMP with red ink, SMUDGE with some of the same ink, and COLOR with your favorite pencils. Optional: If you enjoy doodling or have a dot-pattern stamp, add dotted lines.

Add a patterned cardstock border, layer onto a white side-fold card base. Done!

Supplies:

Calligraphic Love Bits

Stamps – Calligraphic Love Bits

Cardstock – Pink, white, patterned

Ink – Red

Pencils – Prismacolor

Other – White envelopes, double-sided adhesive tape or glue stick

Masculine Valentines by Judi Kauffman for Quietfire Design

My husband has always scoffed at Valentine’s Day, declaring it a conspiracy between florists and candy makers, but since it’s one of my favorite holidays (I love chocolate!) he gives in and celebrates. Of course, this leaves me with two tasks: Making a special dinner and a special card.

Masculine Valentines can be tricky. The usual color combination often skews too far toward feminine. My solution: Start with Suzanne Cannon’s elegantly hand lettered word die – Love. Combine it with simple motifs – hearts and stars – and a quirky color combination. I chose speckled red cardstock for a weathered feel and mixed it with ivory, gray, and bright orange!

The cards are 5.5” and 6” top-fold squares. I used black ink to stamp a striped background, creating a wonky plaid when it’s turned crosswise. Good alternatives include crackle pattern or wood grain.

Decorate, Bake, Wrap, Nap, Repeat - Judi Kauffman, Guest Designer

Decorate, Bake, Wrap, Nap, Repeat…Those words just about sum up the holiday season in a single stamp, don’t you think? But why stop at just one stamp when there are so many more to play with? Dip into your collection or do a little shopping to add whatever else you think would look just right! I mixed in Quietfire Design’s crackle pattern background, flourished tree and holly flourish stamps, did a bit of coloring and doodling, and embellished with glittery and gold peel-offs.

 The top layer with raised border is a panel card, sold by printing companies to use for invitations and reply cards, but if those aren’t available simply mask off a rectangle and smudge on some inks with a craft sponge to create the frame. (Masking was needed even with the raised border). Each side-fold card base is solid color cardstock, chosen to coordinate with the stamped and embellished layer. Tip: It is usually easier to choose the card base last rather than first, and it doesn’t have to be a solid color! Get out some cardstock-weight patterned scrapbook paper and use it instead.

Please use these whimsical cards as inspiration. Go for whatever color combination you prefer. As usual, I picked a quirky off-beat palette rather than traditional. Doodle and draw, or not. Add border peel-offs, tiny six-petal flower peel-offs as snowflakes, top the trees with glittery stars! Or keep it simple. Stamp, smudge on a bit of color – Done!

SUPPLIES:

Quietfire Design –

Decorate, Bake, Wrap, Nap, Repeat from Christmas Truths

Tree flourish & Holly flourish from Christmas is the Day, set of 9 stamps

Crackle Background

Other –

Inks in shades of green, brown, butterscotch and raspberry

Craft sponge

Panel cards in ivory

Solid color cardstock

Glitter Border, Gold Border Lines, Gold Lace, and Glitter Flower peel-offs (Elizabeth Craft Designs)