Merry Making Class

Hello there! I have been in the Online Card Class this week called "Merry Making" and it has been a ton of fun with lots of new techniques. I wanted to share a couple with you that have been my favorites of the classes.  Don't get me wrong, I love all the new things I learned and I even learned some new twists on old techniques. The thing about taking classes is that they make you look at things you already have in new ways.

Today's card showcases the technique taught by Jennifer McGuire on Day 4 and I love it.  While I might not want to do this too often, it is a fantastic way to use background or cover dies.  Since those dies are some of the most expensive, it's nice to have another way to use them. In her video, Jennifer used some Silver Shimmer Cardstock and I did that for the first one of these that I made.  For the second one that I am featuring here, I used Shimmer Vellum which is much lighter weight and easier to fold since my center line is very narrow.  I have several cover dies but this one in particular seems to be well suited for this style of card.  It is from Papertrey Ink and is called Cover Plate: Twist.  It's a favorite for sure and was one of my early purchases from Papertrey Ink.

This class was pretty inexpensive ($25.00) and you can take it any time. It's all done through videos you watch at home. There are three lessons each day featuring different techniques.  I have not seen this technique before and the material is copyrighted so I am not going to be listing the steps here but you can sign up to take your own class here: Merry Making.

I thought this would also make a wonderful wedding card and I will definitely keep it in mind.  We don't attend too many weddings but it's always good to have a card design in mind for those occasions.

For this card, when you untie the ribbon, you get to see the medallion that sits in the middle. When you open that, then you can lift the top folding card to reveal the interior of your card.  It's fun to have an interactive card to present.

I always really enjoy doing feminine cards for my girlfriends and there are usually a few challenges that do a Twelve Tags or Cards of Christmas with a feminine twist and I plan to pull this one out of my arsenal when the time comes.

I pulled out a piece of 12 x 12 Pink Shimmer Cardstock (Creative Memories) for this card but in the end I trimmed it down to regular A2 size. The shimmer vellum I have came from Create for Less and the color is Gold Leaf.  I have another color that is a bit more yellow that I am planning to try.  The panel insert is stamped using Sunny Studios Petite Poinsettias which has 2 different sized blooms and three leaves.  I normally would get my MISTI out and use it for any type of layered stamping, but I was doing a trial run to figure out colors so I just used my acrylic block with Lovely Lady, Hibiscus Burst, and Autumn Rose Inks for the blooms and Ripe Avocado with Olive Twist for the leaves. The "Happy Holidays" sentiment is from a WPLUS9 Set called Holiday Boughs. Mine is stamped in Versamark and Heat Embossed with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  This is still my favorite gold because it isn't too yellow or brassy.  I have a large container of it and whenever Simon runs a sale on it, I buy about 4 more jars.

When I first stamped these blooms, I was thinking I was glad this was just a test because I didn't get it lined up very well.  But once the ink was dried back a bit, I liked how it looked so I decided to use it.  I die cut that panel with a stitched rectangle die for adhering it to my card base.  The base panel of this card is 4.5 x 5.75 so it will need to be mailed in a 5 x 7 envelope. I always have some of those on hand for just such a package so that was no big deal to me. Like I said, I wouldn't do this special size or type of card often and you can find packs of 10 envelopes at Joann's, Hobby Lobby, Amazon and lots of other places. I also used a couple of other Simon Says Stamp Products including Stitched Circle Dies and the Simon Says Stamp Kate Snowflake Die that I cut from Gold Glitter Cardstock.  It is very delicate so be careful removing it from the die.

The thing I have enjoyed most about this class is that I didn't need to buy anything special to participate. I was able to use stamps and dies I already had on hand and encouraged us to look at those things in a new way.  I hope you enjoyed today's project and thanks for stopping by!

Here's a few views of the first card I made in this style.  I'll be back tomorrow with another technique!