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| Limitless Creative Optins enclosed in the April 2015 card kit from EmbellishKits.com |
Oh Boy, when I opened my package from Shelby at Embellish It! and saw the April Kit Club inside, my heart skipped a beat at the amount of Spring colored happiness contained within. As I showed in this month's Review, the Wild Berry Jubilee collection from My Mind's Eye features a mix of soft coral reds, bright fuchsia pink, juniper and lime greens against a startling black.
Bold tribal patterns and delicate florals offer a contrast that I found easy to mix and match, and it wasn't long before all eight cards in my EmbellishKits.com April 2015 Card Kit were complete. The hardest part was not keeping them all as art! I could easily imagine a few of them in small black frames highlighting my entryway.
Let's start with card number one, "Today- Best Day Ever." As you could see in the video, there were definitely some die cuts that would change the look and sentiment of this card with minimal effort. And, if you make a boo-boo when following directions, a little washi can go a long way!
Next up was a card that I took a few more liberties with. The graffiti paper used in the "Graffiti Floral" card was speaking to my scrapbooking side. So many of the sentiments echoed the memories I brought back from my recent trip to Tenamaxtlan, Mexico. If you've been following along on my blog, or care to go back and read my musings, you'll now that my father accompanied me and showed me a lot of the surrounding area, including different plots of cattle grazing land he owns. As I searched through the die cut ephemera pack included with this kit for those large tropical flowers, I happened upon those photo frames. One is empty and the other shows a prairie- like scene that was perfect for this thank you card I ended up creating. I have found that men do enjoy receiving cards, but you know how a stoic man reacts when a little emotion is thrown at them, so I chose the slightly distressed soft coral solid to contrast with the Bazzil black cardstock base and tribal border. Now that "sweet" little die cut sentiment just blends right in. Don't you love how the black shows through behind the flowers, too? I continued the contrasting theme inside as well by using my white gel pen to express my gratefulness at such an emotionally impacting trip south.
On a brighter note, I've begun sending my cards via text and facebook messenger images! Sometimes you just want to say "Hello," and this 6x6" turquoise blue Bazzil backed card is a super-sized way to do so.
Take a closer look at that strip of green and you'll realize it's a little translucent. That's because it's not made with the suggested strip of paper, it's the same washi tape I used in the review video! Click on the word "washi" in the search column to the right for more ways to use this cool tool.
Since I'd used that "beautiful" die cut on my TeneMeme card, I chose the tribal diamond strip instead. A little snip on one side makes this small piece appear to stretch across the entire card front now. I put some foam adhesive under the hello square for some extra pop against that busy background. But I didn't stop there... oh no, I brought the party to the inside too! A card this big can be a little intimidating to fill, and this side piece will nicely contain a moderate amount of wording and still cover the card space.
You know, I used to write for an awesome magazine called DieCutCrazy, and working with all these die cuts, pulling them in and out of the package, and trying to keep all those tiny pieces together was making me feel a little reminiscent of those days, so I decided to go all out and create my own card front filling design based on the example photo for card number four, "So Cute."
It may be a little difficult for you to find my card at the bottom left here, just click on any of the images here on my blog and they will appear in a larger window. Go ahead, click and come back. Or, read, and then click, and then come back lol.
I used 15+ pieces! As if all that pattern wasn't busy enough, I added a sprinkle of green glitter ink splatters too. It was really liberating, playing with the shapes, and once I had my basic grid down, layering the hearts, circles, and that lovely flower on the top put me in such a festive mood that I decided this card could be for a birthday, or maybe for a gardener's baby!
I already shared a bit about my trip to Mexico, but maybe you didn't go and read that the reason for my trip was to visit my nearly 97 year old grandmother, Balvina. I have always wanted to see her again (last time was literally a life time ago- mine!) but it was mi Tia Natividad who sent me my grandmother's love in letter form so many times over the last couple of years. I know that she and her son read a lot of my postings here, but she needs a special thank you card. I grounded the typewriter on a piece of woodgrain washi tape, selected an Anna-appropriate sentiment and made it appear to be coming from the paper spool. My baker's twine travelled up to the top right and is also layered on a strip of leftover floral print. The addition of an airplane motif flair badge from Queen & Co. to card number 5, "Oh My!" makes this the perfect way to send a story of happiness and my thanks for her encouragement. The stickers, twine, and buttons you see embellishing these cards all came in this month's kit as well!
Did you know that I have a second video cardmaking tutorial for this month's kit? Click on the Mr. and Mrs. card here and a new window will pop up for your viewing pleasure. On a side note/afterthought, this would be a great card for a Mr. & Mr. or Mrs. & Mrs. too :-) You know, I could have used that "Love" rub for the inside greeting on this card, but instead, it went on another project!
As I mentioned in the video, I try not to measure as much as possible when I'm in "the zone." I have to admit there are times when a ruler does come in handy, though, like when you are planning to use one piece of paper multiple ways. The first card and this card share that paint brush stroked background, and the instruction sheets included with each of embellish it's! kits contain all those hand cutting guides to let us know precisely where to cut. Score!
Card number seven, "You + Me," is so cute, the only change I made was to the orientation, from portrait to landscape. Well, I guess that wasn't the ONLY thing different, I also added those rub on heart shapes and an enamel dot to bring the focus to the sentiment. Here's a fun trick you can try; add some depth to your circular die cuts by punching the middle out and adding a pop dot to the back. POW! Now that's a blue ribbon embellishment!
By the time I got to the last card for this kit, I was feeling so much of that bright and cheery fun from all that color. This set of brightly colored greetings wouldn't be complete without a congratulatory "Awesome!" After all, what comes along before the traditional summer wedding season? Graduations!
These multi-colored shapes remind me of the Volcom logo, so I geared this card towards a skate boarding teen. If you're ever in a creative rut, try visualizing a stereotypical recipient or viewer, and then work on incorporating elements that that imaginary person would enjoy.
Isn't this card rad, man? The rub on really does most of the work for me, it even included ink splatters, so my fingers stayed clean. Our full-color example shows the same button and black twine combo popping against all those angles in the background. I substituted an trimming of the turquoise blue Bazzill cardstock in place of the black triangles print, add some enamel dots in an assortment of the same colors shown in the background, and then dug into my alphabet stash for the canvas u, R, and the smooth white asterisk thicker. Then I messaged it over to a friend I made on my cruise last month, because, new friends are Awesome!
I'm going to make a judgment call here and say that this blog post didn't take long enough to load... in other words, here are some more pictures!
Bold tribal patterns and delicate florals offer a contrast that I found easy to mix and match, and it wasn't long before all eight cards in my EmbellishKits.com April 2015 Card Kit were complete. The hardest part was not keeping them all as art! I could easily imagine a few of them in small black frames highlighting my entryway.
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| Today- Best Day Ever Birthay |
Let's start with card number one, "Today- Best Day Ever." As you could see in the video, there were definitely some die cuts that would change the look and sentiment of this card with minimal effort. And, if you make a boo-boo when following directions, a little washi can go a long way!
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| Graffiti Floral Thank You |
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| Hello Card for a Friend |
Take a closer look at that strip of green and you'll realize it's a little translucent. That's because it's not made with the suggested strip of paper, it's the same washi tape I used in the review video! Click on the word "washi" in the search column to the right for more ways to use this cool tool.
Since I'd used that "beautiful" die cut on my TeneMeme card, I chose the tribal diamond strip instead. A little snip on one side makes this small piece appear to stretch across the entire card front now. I put some foam adhesive under the hello square for some extra pop against that busy background. But I didn't stop there... oh no, I brought the party to the inside too! A card this big can be a little intimidating to fill, and this side piece will nicely contain a moderate amount of wording and still cover the card space.
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| So Cute Birthday |
It may be a little difficult for you to find my card at the bottom left here, just click on any of the images here on my blog and they will appear in a larger window. Go ahead, click and come back. Or, read, and then click, and then come back lol.
I used 15+ pieces! As if all that pattern wasn't busy enough, I added a sprinkle of green glitter ink splatters too. It was really liberating, playing with the shapes, and once I had my basic grid down, layering the hearts, circles, and that lovely flower on the top put me in such a festive mood that I decided this card could be for a birthday, or maybe for a gardener's baby!
 |
| Oh My Thank You/Hello |
Did you know that I have a second video cardmaking tutorial for this month's kit? Click on the Mr. and Mrs. card here and a new window will pop up for your viewing pleasure. On a side note/afterthought, this would be a great card for a Mr. & Mr. or Mrs. & Mrs. too :-) You know, I could have used that "Love" rub for the inside greeting on this card, but instead, it went on another project!As I mentioned in the video, I try not to measure as much as possible when I'm in "the zone." I have to admit there are times when a ruler does come in handy, though, like when you are planning to use one piece of paper multiple ways. The first card and this card share that paint brush stroked background, and the instruction sheets included with each of embellish it's! kits contain all those hand cutting guides to let us know precisely where to cut. Score!
Card number seven, "You + Me," is so cute, the only change I made was to the orientation, from portrait to landscape. Well, I guess that wasn't the ONLY thing different, I also added those rub on heart shapes and an enamel dot to bring the focus to the sentiment. Here's a fun trick you can try; add some depth to your circular die cuts by punching the middle out and adding a pop dot to the back. POW! Now that's a blue ribbon embellishment!
By the time I got to the last card for this kit, I was feeling so much of that bright and cheery fun from all that color. This set of brightly colored greetings wouldn't be complete without a congratulatory "Awesome!" After all, what comes along before the traditional summer wedding season? Graduations! These multi-colored shapes remind me of the Volcom logo, so I geared this card towards a skate boarding teen. If you're ever in a creative rut, try visualizing a stereotypical recipient or viewer, and then work on incorporating elements that that imaginary person would enjoy.
Isn't this card rad, man? The rub on really does most of the work for me, it even included ink splatters, so my fingers stayed clean. Our full-color example shows the same button and black twine combo popping against all those angles in the background. I substituted an trimming of the turquoise blue Bazzill cardstock in place of the black triangles print, add some enamel dots in an assortment of the same colors shown in the background, and then dug into my alphabet stash for the canvas u, R, and the smooth white asterisk thicker. Then I messaged it over to a friend I made on my cruise last month, because, new friends are Awesome!I'm going to make a judgment call here and say that this blog post didn't take long enough to load... in other words, here are some more pictures!
With just a few additional patterns pulled from my extensive paper stash, I used a lot of my left over kit pieces to capture the visual flavors of that family reunion I had just experienced. As mentioned above, the graffiti print paper held many sentiments I could use, "on this day" for the morning my sister, grandmother, and I enjoyed prepping lunch together. It may have been a once in a life time opportunity (but I sure hope not)! "Having A Blast" for the afternoon my father and I watched a volcano erupt before our matching brown cattle-ropin' eyes. "Remember the Good Times" for another first- mi Tio Gonzalo y mi Tia Carmen embracing in la concina de mi abuela. And "You are the Best" for a gorgeous close up of my grandmother's ancient, wizened face. She really was as sweet as could be!
Pocket pages can be a fun way to enclose a lot of pictures in just a pages. I have found that if I photo collage a few groupings, I can get an entire weeks worth of memories captured in just a few moments. But of course, coordinated papers and embellishments like the ones in this month's card kit from embellish it! make it all very easy as well. Thanks for joining me for this month's card share post from the April 2015 card kit from EmbellishKits.com.
Watch the video version, and subscribe here on the blog if you're not doing so already...It's always a joy for me to have you stopping by to CraftWithAnna!
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