Even a Small Star

I'd like to welcome Nancy Nickel to the Quietfire Design Team!  Here is a little bit about Nancy in her own words:

Hello, from the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada! I live here with my sweet and tolerant husband. Our two girls are all grown up, and we have a lot of fun in our empty nest. It's a good thing we have snow half the year (or more), as I really like to hibernate. What a great excuse to stay at home and craft! To keep myself from becoming totally anti-social during my hibernation, I enjoy meeting and making new crafty friends online, from all over the world! The rest of the year I try to balance crafting with taking long walks along the river with my husband, popping in at the farmers' market, and having picnics in our favorite parks. 

Hello, everyone!

It's Nancy here with you today. I'm so excited to be sharing my very first official Design Team Post with you! I'm thrilled to be here! I find all the Quietfire products so creatively inspiring. My goal is to share some fun projects with you, in hopes of inspiring you to try these great products for yourself!

Today I have combined a Quietfire stamp with a Quietfire Digital Cut File  to create a fun card.

Here it is:

I don't usually begin with an angle photo but I wanted you to see the see-through nature of the card.

I have lots of photos to share in hopes you can really see how this card comes together.

It's so easy to make but it looks like it took some effort, doesn't it?

I began by cutting the Nesting Stars Folded Card out of a night sky coloured cardstock.

You can see that I already have my sentiment stamped and sparkle embossed.

I wanted to make sure it fit before I went any further.

Then I cut a second card out of a pretty gold shimmer cardstock.

I'll use this card base for another card. All I really needed was the smallest star cutout.

I really wanted it in the pretty gold shimmer, and using the same cut ensured the perfect fit.

I decided to make my card a tent-fold card.

I began with a side-fold card, so the cut does work either way.

This is what the inside of the card looks like.

I forgot to take one before the card was finished 

but it's important to see that little star cutout on the inside of the card.

I wanted the little gold shimmer star to be floating in the card.

To do this I actually laminated it, and then cut out a 4 3/4" square.

Since I recently bought a laminator, I am always looking for more ways to use it.

However, if you don't have one, you could easily adhere your star onto a piece of acetate,

sandwich it in two pieces of transparency, or adhere a star on each side of a piece of clear packaging.

The nice thing about the shimmer cardstock is that the sparkle shows through.

If you don't have the shimmer cardstock, just add some glitter or some other form of sparkle.

We want this little star to be special and have some twinkle! 

Next comes the only tricky part about putting this card together. 

The floating star piece is inserted under the front of the card, as shown in the photo below.

However, it must be lined up with the little star cutout that is in the inside of the car, shown in the photo above. 

It's really not all that tricky to do in person,

it's just tricky to explain with photos! lol 

I had a small piece of double sided tape ready.

Once I had my star piece just where I wanted it, I lifted up the corner edge of the card

and slipped the piece of tape in to secure the laminted piece securely to the card base.

Then I could open the card up and adhere the rest of it in place all the way around.

 It's also hard to get a good photo showing it because of the glare. 

If you look closely at the photo below, 

you can see how the gold star aligns perfectly with the cutout star behind it, 

when the card is closed flat.

Even when the card is standing open you can see how the stars all nest beautifully into each other.

Here's a closer look at the stamped sentiment:

"Even a small star SHINES in the DARKNESS."

It was stamped with embossing ink, and then covered with a pretty gold sparkle embossing powder

before being heat embossed.

Isn't that a lovely sentiment?

It works so beautifully with the card.

To finish it off, I simply added a few sequins.

Quietfire Design Products Used:

Even a Small Star Stamp

Nesting Stars Folded Card Cut File

Other Materials Used:

Recollections - Cardstock, Holiday Shimmer Cardstock;

Stampendous Embossing Ink;

Ranger Embossing Powder - Enchanted Gold;

Unknown Sequins;

Hilroy Laminator.

* * * * *

Thanks so much for stopping in today!

I hope you liked looking at my card! I sure enjoyed making it! 

See you again soon! 

Nancy :o)

Christmas in July- Periodic Table "Ho Ho Ho"

Hello Crafty Friends!

Have you enjoyed the Christmas projects this week?   It has definitely been a jam packed week of holiday inspiration!

Today's card was inspired by all of Suzanne's awesome digital cutting files.  She is such a busy gal creating weekly digital files for us crafters.  The digital cutting file Ho Ho Ho periodic table is right up my alley being a nerdy mechanical engineer.  (That's right, I admit to being a nerd.  And I am loving all of her Periodic Table files!)  

Card Instructions:

1. Die cut Ho Ho Ho using red card stock.  Apply brown ink along edges to create an aged appearance.
2. Create top fold card using Kraft card stock.
3. Cut and mat wood grain paper to card front.  Apply brown ink along edges.
4. Mount Ho Ho Ho to card front using double faced foam tape.
5. Apply Nuvo Crystals or similar to inside of each H o.
   
6. Decorate inside as desired.

Isn't it fun?  Perfect for your "nerd" this holiday!

Have you entered into the draw for the $25 gift certificate?  It is easy peasy: 

To celebrate Christmas in July we’re having a giveaway!  One randomly chosen follower will win a $25 gift certificate for the Quietfire website.  All you have to do to be eligible is comment on the Quietfire Creation blog posts and follow us on YouTube!  https://www.youtube.com/user/QuietfireDesign   Entries close Sunday July 29, 2018 at midnight.  Good luck!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a happy, crafty day.
Big hugs,
Kathy Jo

When This (Christmas) Day - Hoppy Easter - Egg Trio - easel basket

Yogi here today and it's almost Easter time ... So I thought I'd get one of those cards in for my final post this month.

I'm using another of those stamps that was meant for Christmas... but with a little masking it's now good for any time of the year. How many stamps or dies do you have in your stash that you only use for what they were originally meant for?? Why not look at them again and see what you can do with them - you'd be surprised... This one is especially meaningful to me because I have so many happy memories of Easter egg hunting. BIG GRIN

I'm using a quote stamp from Quietfire Design ("When This Christmas Becomes a Memory...");

Also using a couple electronic cut files from Suzanne available on Silhouette. Click image to purchase. 

I started with cardstock 8.5 x 11". Scored and fold the cream cardstock at 7" point. Score the remaining 5" at 3.5" from the first score line. You'll have a 1.5" piece to adhere your basket to.

See template image to cut the basket. Emboss the lower section using a basket weave embossing folder (I used Darrice). Sponged all over and hit the high points with Distress pads in various browns. Adhered to front flap leaving about 1/4" on the top edge to slip my eggs and grass into. Cut a strip the width of my card and 1/2" h. inked with a darker brown and adhered to basket. (that's that solid wooden piece that usually keeps the basket sturdy...)

Wrapped some pink narrow ribbon around the handle. Tied a multi loop fork bow and adhered that with hot glue.

Electronically cut my eggs and grass, colored with Distress pads in fun color combinations and used both the negative and positive of each egg. Adhered under lip of basket.

Electronically cut the "Hoppy Easter" from the cream cardstock and swiped Oxide pads across in Easter color streaks... Adhered to front.
 
On the floor: Stamped the quote, minus the word "Christmas" using Versafine Black Onyx and clear embossed.

Raided my stash of alphabet die cuts (Elizabeth Craft Designs "Upper Case Alphabet") and spelt the word "Day". Die cut with Nellie's Multi Frame dies setMFD007, first cutting around the bottom flourish and placing it above the die so it wouldn't be cut off. Sponged around edges with some yellow and orange dirty sponges. Adhered to floor.

Electronically cut the rabbits, coloring with some browns and using a clear embossing pen for the tails and embossing with white embossing powder. Folded 2 of them and adhered to the floor to act as my stopper. Adhered the last one where it fit...

 

Sleeping Under a Quilt

It's Suzanne sneaking in today between all the usual awesomeness!  This week I released four quilt block cards over on the Silhouette store.  I wanted to make the files simple to assemble with very few pieces and yet still have the look of a true quilt block.

 

Here is an easy card I created using my Sleeping Under a Quilt stamp and the Star Quilt Block Card.  Instead of making the cutfile cardbase, I assembled the quilt block on the front of a larger card with enough room to stamp the quote.

Quietfire Digital Cutting Files available at the Silhouette Design Store

Here are the four quilt block cards over on the Silhouette site.  There is a Cathedral Window, a Dresden Plate, a Star and a Flying Geese Quilt Block.

I used Maja Designs cardstock* and Core'dinations Atoll Aqua cardstock to create these and cut everything with the Silhouette Cameo.  I have totally fallen in love with the Maja papers!  

Your own cards could be in any colour pathway you wish - even more subtle than this or bright and beautiful.  Each card measures 5x5", so you can enlarge them.  For more detailed instructions (although they're so simple, you probably won't need them), see the file description.

Thanks for stopping by!
Happy cutting and stamping, Suzanne

*If you're in Canada, I found mine at Scrap Addicts in Edmonton.

Cuts of the Week - Halloween Card in a Box Tutorial

Hello my spooky lovelies!  It's Suzanne here today with a tutorial on the new Quietfire Halloween Card in a Box.  You may find this project on the Silhouette America site here.  And it's brand new!

You can find templates all over the web for these kinds of cards, but I wanted to have the basic shape at my fingertips for use any time and never have to measure any of the elements. (Yes, I'm *that* lazy!  But really, it's more of a time thing.) Expect to see a few variations of the Quietfire Card in a Box soon!

Here is how you make the Halloween Card in a Box.

Supplies:
Halloween Card in a Box: https://www.silhouettedesignstore.com...
Core’dinations Nightfall Cardstock
American Crafts Cardstock in Apricot, Ash, Stone and Butter
Black 80# Cardstock from Quietfire
Tombow Stamp Runner 
ThermoWeb 3D Foam Squares & Glue Dots http://www.quietfiredesign.ca/Glue-Do...
Bone Folder http://www.quietfiredesign.ca/Bone-Fo...
Double Sided Tape http://www.quietfiredesign.ca/Be-Crea...
 
Thanks for stopping by and having a look!
Suzanne

Here are some of the other Quietfire digital cutting files available at the Silhouette Store.

Butterfly Heart Card

Hello Crafters.  Kathy Jo here sharing a project using a digital cutting file from Quietfire Design.  Quietfire Design offers many digital files in their store and also in the Silhouette Design Store.  For my card I used the Butterfly Heart Card which is found on the Silhouette Design site.

 For the card I started with an ivory card base, then a patterned paper from Graphic 45's Gilded Lily, a piece of vellum, digital cut ivory heart doily and finally the digital butterfly cut from the patterned paper.

The butterfly wings were lifted slightly.

A small piece of lace and ivory wrinkled ribbon and the card was complete.  This will be a perfect card for a Thank You, Thinking of You, anytime friendship or Happy Birthday card.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you enjoyed the card.
Big crafty hugs,
Kathy Jo

Walnut Hollow & Quietfire Blog Hop - Last Day!

Welcome to the final day of the Walnut Hollow & Quietfire 2014 Blog Hop!  We’re pleased you’re joining us and hope you've found lots of creative inspiration for combining Quietfire stamps on the beautiful Walnut Hollow wood products. 
 

 I love autumn. I'm not a lover of hot weather.  Thanksgiving used to be such an event in our family.  While the turkey was cooking, my mother took me out for walks and we'd collect leaves which inevitably ended up on the table and then later pressed in books. Visits to my grandparents when I was young found me reading a book or building a model airplane - or climbing the maple tree in their back yard. 

As soon as this blog hop was conceived, I had an idea. When you have something in your mind for so long (Chris and Sara from Walnut Hollow and I discussed the hop at the CHA conference in January!), I'm not sure the reality can ever live up to the expectation.  But, no matter what, it was fun getting to the final product.


I'm the daughter of a woodworker/furniture refinisher (amongst other things), so when my Walnut Hollow treasures arrived, I was in sniffing heaven!  Who doesn't love the smell of wood? I chose the Walnut Hollow Rustic Wood Ledge for this project and rather than use it as a ledge, I (as I think most of us would) flipped it over to use as a container! 

Along the side of the ledge, I chose to create the year-long story of a maple tree as it goes from bare branches in the winter, to maple syrup time and fresh buds, to lush summer coolness and on to the glorious colours of autumn.

Last week I introduced a new cutting file to help make this project easier:

maple tree - four seasons

Because of my passion for wood in its bare state, I didn't paint or stain the beautiful pine surface. (lol, no, it's not maple, but that's okay!)

Here is the supply list:
Walnut Hollow: Rustic Wood Ledge
Quietfire Design: Being Thankful, Give Thanks

Silhouette Online Store: maple tree - four seasons and leaf spray card
Silhouette: Cameo
Silhouette: Vellum (for snowflakes)
Tsukineko: VersaMagic Dew Drops Jumbo Java, Spanish Olive, Pumpkin Spice
Zva Creative: Long Flourish Pearls
Cardstock: American Crafts Smooth and Recollections
Bo Bunny: Autumn Song
Kaisercraft: Treasures Metal Corners Brass
copper book corners
candles, rocks
Adhesives:
Glue Dots: micro and mini 
Pop Dots
Zip Dry
Tombow Dot Pattern Stamp Runner

Instructions:

1. Cut 8 trees from brown cardstock.  If your cardstock is fairly thin, cut 16 trees and double up each tree with adhesive so you have eight sturdier trees in total. Cut leaves in many colours, snowflakes from vellum, and swings, birdies and buckets from red cardstock.  (You could use Elizabeth Craft's All Season Tree die set if you don't own an electronic cutting machine.)
2. While they lay flat, assemble the trees with leaves, snowflakes and other elements as shown in the photographs. Decorate both sides of the trees as back of the tree tops will show across the table!
3. Stamp the sentiments on off-white cardstock and trim. Blend Jumbo Java around the edges of the cards to antique them.  Place book corners on each corner of each card and crimp in place.
4. Attach the brass corners to edges of ledge.
5. Apply the pearl flourish to the side of the ledge so winter blows into spring. Attach trees and sentiment panels to ledge with Pop Dots as shown.

6. On the Silhouette Cameo, ungroup the leaf spray card elements and cut only the leaves from a sheet of patterned paper.  Use Glue Dots to attach leaves to the ends of the ledge - because we just can't leave it naked!

7. Add some scented candles and rocks to the inside - or fill it with pressed leaves and you'll be all set for the sharing part of Thanksgiving!

Speaking of thanks....
Many thanks to Chris Wallace and Sara Shirman at Walnut Hollow and Judi Kauffman for playing with us, and to Walnut Hollow for providing the Quietfire Design team with such wonderful products.  You will see more projects over the next few months featuring other Walnut Hollow items.

And thanks, as always, to my amazing Design Team!  You inspire me to be better - and different - every day!

And now............

To be eligible for our grand prize, your work is simple:  Please leave a comment on each of our blog posts, nine here on the Quietfire Creations blog and five on the Walnut Hollow blog hop posts here: http://walnuthollowcrafts.wordpress.com/   So that will be 14 comments in total on two different blogs from September 29, 2014 to October 3, 2014!  The winner must be a resident of North America.  

You can go back and comment at any time on any of the blog posts to be eligible, but you should finish by midnight Sunday October 5th PST.

We will draw the prize on Monday October 6^th, 2014 and the winner will be announced shortly after in a separate blog post. We look forward to seeing your comments!  Tell your friends!

Good Luck!

and Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians!

List of Blog Hop Posts with links:
Wanda
Teresa
Chris
Sherry
Kathy Jo
Sara
Holly
Yogi
Chris
Judi
Yvonne
Robyn
Suzanne (that's here!)
Chris