I'm a cheater

I like to make the focal point of my cards stand out by adding some dimension. I do this by raising the image instead of adhering it directly to the card. Let me show you what I mean.

 

Can you see how they pop out? Most card makers buy the product pictured below to accomplish this effect. 

I cheat. I don't want to have to pay for foam dots. I just use a piece of cardboard.

I got this cardboard from a box of diapers. I just keep a few pieces in my scrap bin on my crafting desk. 

 

I cut as many pieces as I think I will need. I probably could have just used two for this image. You don't have to cover the entire back with cardboard.

 

Next I put my Mono Tumbo Adhesive on BOTH sides of the cardboard. I put the cardboard on the back of my image. Then I placed the image on my card.

You can see how it looks up close from the side. If I wouldn't have shown you I don't think you would have noticed it was cardboard under there.

 

There you go! Now you know my secret. I don't like to spend more money then I have to and now you don't have to either. 

Button...button...who has the button?

 Anyone else remember that game? It may have been one of those games my Mom made up out of desperation. All of us kids would sit on the bottom stair. She would hid a button in one of her hands and if we guessed the hand that had the button we could move up a step. If we got it wrong we had to move down a step. It was a fun game, I'll have to remember that one. The button game, isn't the only thing stray buttons are good for. I love buttons! I decided to do a card inspired by buttons. I picked out a few buttons out of my button jar. Then I set them aside.

Then I took my sewing tracing wheel and pushed it into the paper and rolled it in a straight line. I used a ruler as a guide to make it easier to have a straight line. You can see it better in the picture below.

*You can also ink the tip of your tracing wheel for a more colorful effect*
I glued the buttons onto the card, stamped a sentiment and cut two pieces of corrdinating paper 1/4in smaller than the card.

Finished dimensions:
3in x 5 1/2in (It will fit in a regular small envelope)

Before & After

I've received a few requests to see my card making area. It is more like my craft area because I like to do all sorts of home decor projects, scrapbooking, sewing, quilting etc. I got my camera out, took a picture and when I put the picture on my computer and looked at it I was mortified. It was a huge MESS! I decided to clean it up a bit and take another picture. I wanted to just post the clean picture but I thought you might appreciate seeing both sides of me :) So here you go...this is where the magic happens. You can see my cuttlebug in the picture. You can also see the old jar I got for .25 at a second hand store. I made a label for it and put buttons in it. I also put money I get for my cards in there and then I use it to buy glue and envelopes. Pretty exciting!

I have a question for all of you. Would you like me to post some of my other projects that I do? Right now I just put pictures of my cards on here but if you would be interested I can post other crafty things I do. Please let me know what you would prefer by leaving a comment.

Yummy

Some of you may know that I teach a cake decorating class. I love baking. I think the finished products of baking are so pretty. Don't get me wrong sometime when I cook dinner it looks nice but not like a freshly decorated cupcake. I like to make the batter and then just make a few cupcakes and freeze the rest. That way I can only have one or two and then I can pull the batter out of the freezer and have cupcakes ready in a few minutes. I got this cupcake stamp from Joanns from their $1.00 stamp bin. I used regular crayola markers to color it in and then I added a little bling on some of the dots around the cupcake with some silver glitter. The background is an embossing folder from my cuttlebug. MMMM...now I want a cupcake.

Little Black Dress

I have a little black dress. I love it! Every time I wear it I get a lot of compliments. I can wear a lot of different pairs of earrings with it and it makes me feel sexy, pretty and confident. This card made me think of my little black dress. It is simple but also kind of sexy, pretty and fun. This card can be used for a lot of different occasions, just like my little black dress. I think every woman should have a little black dress. It doesn't have to be revealing, just a black dress that is flattering and comfortable. Do you have a little black dress?

Valentines

I love Valentines day. I cut out a heart and then cut it into strips and reassembled it on the card without every other piece. I think it turned out cute. I have been trying to do simple cards lately. Happy Valentines day

And the Winner Is.....

Amie King! Congrats Amie and thank you everyone for participating. I used a random number generator website to choose the winner so it was fair. I just need your address Amie so I can send you your cards. You can email it to me at briellekennington@gmail.com Thanks again everyone!

Want to Win these Cards?

I wanted to do something to thank all my followers for, well....following me! I decided to make these cards to give away to one lucky winner. Just follow the steps below to be entered to win these cards. I will randomly choose a winner in one week.

1. Leave a comment

2. Follow my blog if you don't already

3. Put a link on your blog that goes to this blog

I will be checking to make sure the winner has done all three of these things. If you do not have a blog of your own please email the link to my blog to three friends. Thank you and good luck to everyone!

Stamping on cross-stich fabric

I found some old cross-stich fabric in my craft stash and decided to put it to good use. I didn't know if it would work out but I stamped a flower image on the fabric. I like how it turned out. I used three different shades of pink for each square and then I frayed the edges and crinkled it before gluing it to my card. I just used my regular tumbo double sided tape to attach it. I used a crumbled up brown paper bag for the brown strip in the background and I put the front of the card through my cuttlebug embossing folder. Let me know what you think.