Decorated Jar

Inspiration

Welcome to a new year and another Heartfelt Creations Wednesday! Remember, we are back to our regular schedule of a NEW RELEASE on the second Wednesday of the month, so there's a sneak peek of the January release on the Heartfelt Creations blog today! I think you will LOVE it. Be sure to head over there to check out the inspiring creations of the design team, too.

My contribution this week is a decorated jar - alcohol inks are so easy to use to color glass, and the Heartfelt Creations' flower stamps make beautiful decorations. Together, creating gifts like this is a snap!

Ingredients

Note: Finished card size: 5" x 7"

Paper

Seersucker Stipe on Aegean (ANW Crestwood)	2" x 12", and 4" x 4"
White Gold Metallic (Wassau)	6" x 12"
New England Ivy (CTMH)	4" x 6"

Ink

Versamark (Tsukineko)

Stamps

HCPC 3406 Botanical Floral 1 PreCut Set (Heartfelt Creations)

HCPC 3407 Botanical Floral 2 PreCut Set (Heartfelt Creations)

Accessories

Rose Creations Shapeabilities (Spellbinders)

Scalloped Circle Nestabilities Large (Spellbinders)

Grand Calibur (Spellbinders)

Squash Blossom Opaque embossing glitter (PK Glitz)

Moss Tinsel embossing powder (Creations Unlimited)

Heat gun

Paper Blossoms Tool Kit (MacGill)

Glass Jar

Alcohol inks (Ranger)

Felt Applicator (Ranger)

Wired-edge ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

Peg bow maker (Unity Stamp company)

Modge Podge glue (Plaid)

Dries clear Glue (Art Institute)

3-D Foam Squares (Scrapbook Adhesives)

Zip Dry Paper Glue (Beacon)

Scissors

Rotary Trimmer (Fiskars)

Instructions

JAR

My jar started out clear glass - apply a combination of alcohol inks to the glass using a felt applicator to completed color the jar and lid. I used Stream, Wild Plum, and Pearl Additive. I will tell you that this can be messy! Wear rubber gloves if you have them. I made this jar on Saturday (12/31), and went back to work on 1/3 with blue under my fingernails... LOL!

PAPER TRIM

Cut a 2" x 12" strip of paper (or any length you need to fit around your jar). Using Modge Podge glue, attach the paper strip around the middle of the jar and set aside to dry. Cut a scalloped circle from matching paper and mount on the jar lid, and set aside to dry.

ROSES and LEAVES

Using Versamark ink, stamp 2 of each rose image size on the white metallic paper, and heat emboss with the embossing glitter. Stamp 6 leaves with Versamark on green paper, and heat emboss with green embossing powder. Using the matching dies, cut all of the stamped images out. Shape the petals with the blossom tool kit, then carefully roll the petals and glue the layers together to form 2 roses. Using foam squares and Zip Dry glue, attach the roses to the jar lid. Shape the leaves and attach under the rose petals with foam squares and Zip Dry glue.

BOW

I'm loving my peg-bow maker - it's really great for tying bows! I saw Becca Feeken's great tutorial on making peg bows, and really got hooked. Tie a triple bow, and string a 12" ribbon into back of the bow (or the length you need to fit around your jar). Using the double-sided sticky tape, mount the ribbon and bow around the paper trim on the jar.

Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas Ornaments

Inspiration

Here's a pink and green Christmas card made with stamps from the Christmas Cheer Collection and lots of glitter. My friends will tell you I'm not a "glitter girl", but I'm learning! I really like the PK Glitz embossing glitter - it makes it easy to use glitter in just the right places. And, of course, the SPICA pens give you the ability to add just a touch of sparkle just where you want it.

As always, the Heartfelt Creations blog has more creative inspiration for you - be sure to check out the design team's efforts this week.

Ingredients

Note: Finished card size is 4 1/4" x 9"

Paper

Bravo Burgundy (SU!)	8 1/2" x 9", score at 4 1/4"
English Rose Collection - Thelma (Kaiser Craft)	4 3/8" x 8 7/8"
Old Olive (SU!)	4 1/4" x 11"
Neenah Solar White	4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Inks

Old Olive (SU!)

Versamark (Tsukineko)

Gold Pigment Ink (Colorbox)

Stamps

HCPC 3417: Poinsettia Ornament 2 PreCut Set (Heartfelt Creations)

HCPC 3419: Holiday Poinsettia Candle PreCut Set (Heartfelt Creations)

Accessories

Grand Calibur (Spellbinders)

Heirloom Ornaments 2011 Shapeabilities (Spellbinders)

Ribbon Tags Trio 3 Shapeabilities (Spellbinders)

Holly Accents Shapeabilities (Spellbinders)

Ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

Embossing glitter - Honeycomb (PK Glitz)

Heat gun

Sponge

2-sided tape (PK Glitz)

Adhesive gems (Recollections)

Gelly Roll Clear Star pen (Sakura)

3-D Foam Squares (3L)

ATG (Scotch)

Scor-Pal

Scissors

Rotary trimmer (Fiskars)

Instructions

CARD

Cut the base card from burgundy cardstock measuring 8 1/2" x 9", score at 4 1/4", and fold. Cut a mat layer from the designer paper to 4 3/8" x 8 7/8" and adhere to the front of the card. I used my Gelly Roll Clear Star pen to add some sparkle to the background paper before adding anything else to the card - just follow the outlines of the swirls on the paper - it really adds a nice touch.

ORNAMENTS

Stamp the smallest ornament image on white paper 3 times, using Versamark ink. Heat emboss with the embossing glitter. Cut the ornaments out using the matching ornament die. Cut/emboss the long holly border from green paper. Before removing the die cut from the die, use a sponge and green ink to color the open areas on the die cut. Carefully pull the holly trim line from the die (Note - it can be a little tricky to pull the paper out of the die! I've found that putting a sheet of waxed paper between the die and my cardstock before I run it through the machine makes a huge difference). Mount across the top of the card front. Use foam squares to mount the ornaments as if they are attached to the holly. Decorate the holly and the ornaments with adhesive gems.

SENTIMENT

Cut a ribbon tag from white cardstock, and stamp the sentiment in green ink in the center of the tag. Using a sponge, distress the edges with gold pigment ink. Thread ribbon through the tag. Mount a strip of double sided tape across the lower portion of the card, and mount the ribbon and tag across the tape.

FINAL TOUCHES

Cut/emboss the small holly corners from green paper. Before removing the die cuts from the dies, use a sponge and green ink to color the open areas on the die cuts. Carefully pull the holly corners from the dies. Mount around the sentiment tag. Decorate the holly and the ornaments with adhesive gems. Use the Gelly Roll pen to enhance the holly, and the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!

Heartfelt Fall

Inspiration

I love fall! I’ve always seen fall as a new beginning—maybe even more than January bringing in a new year. It might be a holdover from starting the school year in September as a kid, or the changing of nature’s colors into one of my favorite palettes, or maybe the switching over what we wear, or perhaps the impending switch of the time off of Daylight Savings time. Whatever it is, I love the feeling, and since I live in Texas, October feels much more like fall than September does. So this week, I have a fall-themed card to show you. I used it as a birthday card, but it would work for many different occasions.  I’ve CASEd a card from the Heartfelt Creations website (one of my FAVORITE places for ideas)—click here to see the original card.

Ingredients

Paper

Note:  The finished card size is 4 1/4” x 5 1/2”

Color	Size
Kraft (SU!)	a)  4 1/4” x 11”, score at 5 1/2" b)  3” x 3 7/8”
Cajun Craze (SU!)	a)  4” x 5 1/2” b)  3” x 5”
Bashful Blue (SU!)	a) 1” x 4 7/8” – 2 pieces
Whisper White (SU!)	a)  3” x 5” b)  scrap – at least 2” x 2”
Autumn Traditions DSP (SU!)	a)  3 7/8” x 5 1/8”
So Saffron DSP (SU!)	a)  2 7/8” x 3 7/8”

Ink

Rich Cocoa (Memento), So Saffron (SU!), Cajun Craze (SU!)

Stamps

Daisy Patch Swirl (Heartfelt Creations)

Accessories

Acrylic block (SU!); Masking Magic (ThermoWeb); Deco Fans Punch Around the Page (Martha Stewart); Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Oval Large, and Scalloped Classic Oval Large; Cuttlebug; Pearls (Crystal Stickers); blue ribbon (Hobby Lobby); Prisma Color pencils; Spica pens in Mint & Sand (Too Markers); Sticky Tape (PK Glitz); Scor-Pal; Foam tape; Adhesive Transfer Gun 714 (Scotch); Rotary trimmer with straight blades (Fiskars); Scissors

Instructions

Paper

Cut all your pieces of card stock to the sizes outlines above.

Run the 3” x 5” piece of rust-colored paper through the Cuttlebug twice, using the large scalloped oval Nestabilities die - once to cut and once to emboss.

Using the edge punch, punch one long edge of each of the 2 blue strips.

Image

Stamp the daisy swirl image in brown on the 3” x 5” white panel.  Then stamp the flower in the middle of the image again on the scrap of white.  Cut out the flower from the small image.  Use the largest plain oval Nestability to frame and cut out the full image from the larger stamped image.

Make a mask for the flower portion of the image, by stamping the flower on the masking sheet, or a post-it.  Then trim your mask closely and cover the flower on the oval panel.  Using a sponge with the yellow ink, sponge around the flower, with outward strokes so that the ink is lighter as it approaches the outer parts of the oval, and darker near the center.  Then with another sponge, lightly stroke some of

Hint: The tricky part about using Post-It notes for detailed mask is that the final mask is sticky only on one edge of the mask.  If your goal is to be able to use the mask cleanly without holding it down with your finger, try out a masking medium that is sticky across the entire image.

Using the colored pencils, color the petals of the both flowers blue, and the centers yellow.  Color the leaves on the full image green.  Using the SPICA markers, cover the green leaves with Mint, and outline the petals and centers with Sand.

Attach the pearl stickers to the dot swirls in the image, and mount the trimmed flower to the flower on the image using a foam dot.  I rotated the flower slightly so that the petals alternate with the base image to make the flower look more full.

Assembly

Score and fold the large Kraft panel for the base card. Mount the rust paper on the base, followed by the green patterned paper.

Now mount the yellow patterned paper on the smaller Kraft piece.  Mount the punched blue strips to the back of the Kraft paper so the fans show along the edge.  Using the sticky tape, mount the ribbon across the front of this stack of paper.  Then mount the whole set onto the base card.

Then mount the rust colored scalloped oval to the left of the card, and the image on the oval.

Tie a blue bow, and mount it to the right of the image, on the blue ribbon stripe.

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by.

Never Enough Sparkle!

Inspiration
I received a card order for a woman who could “never get enough glitter, all the sparkle you can put into it!”, and this is what I designed.  A little over the top for me, but I do think I achieved the goal!  All the glitter is “embossing glitter” from PK Glitz, as well as the “sticky paper” I used for the small flower centers.  I’ll explain how it works below.

This card has a ton of ingredients, but is still pretty easy – just lots of steps.  Stick with it through the list, and I think you’ll like it, too.

Ingredients

CARDSTOCK: Pink Pirouette (SU!), Whisper White (SU!), Rose cardstock from Core’dinations

STAMPS: Looks Like Spring (SU!), Warm Words (SU!), Flourishes(Clear Art Stamps)

INK: Pink Pirouette (SU!), Certainly Celery (SU!), Tempting Turquoise (SU!), Emboss It (Ranger)

ACCESSORIES: Impressabilities Flowers(Spellbinders), sandpaper, Cuttlebug, Perfect Pearls (Ranger), mister bottle, heat gun, Xyron 5” sticker maker, pink sparkle ribbon (Michaels), Scallop oval punch (SU!), Small oval punch (SU!), Spring Flower Bouquet punch (SU!), 1/8” circle punch, Embossing Glitter: colors are Squash blossom (blue), Burgundy, Honeycomb (gold) (PK Glitz), Quickie glue pen (Sakura), Clear Star Gelly Roll pen (Sakura), Sticky paper (PK Glitz), gold brads, scissors, Scor-Pal, Adhesive Transfer Gun 714 (Scotch), Rotary trimmer with straight blade (Fiskars)

Instructions

BASE CARD: Cut a light pink card measuring 8 1/2” x 5 1/2”, and score it in half at 4 1/4”.

SANDED BACKGROUND LAYER: Cut a rectangle of the dark pink core’dinations paper, measuring 4” x 5 1/4”.  Use the Impressabilities to emboss the flower pattern in the paper (I use the Cuttlebug, but any die cut machine that embosses will work).   Then use the sandpaper to lightly sand off the top layer of the embossed image.

Mix a small amount of Perfect Pearls with water in a mini mister bottle, and lightly spray the sanded paper.  This will give the background an overall glittery shine. Let this layer dry thoroughly – I slipped mine between paper towels and inserted it in the middle of a large stack of magazines to make sure it was nice and flat.  Unfortunately, this is pretty subtle – it doesn’t really show in the photograph.

After it is dry, stamp flourishes in two corners using the embossing ink. Cover one corner in burgundy glitter powder, and the other in squash blossom powder, then emboss with a heat gun.

LEAVES: Stamp the leaf image in green ink on white cardstock.  Outline the veins of the leaves with the glue pen, and cover in the honeycomb glitter powder, and emboss with the heat gun.

After cooling, run the cardstock through the Xyron machine, and closely trim the images.

FLOWERS: Stamp the large flowers in blue and pink on the white cardstock, closely trim the images.

Using the flower punch, cut 3 small flowers to use as the centers from the PK Glitz sticky paper.  For two centers, peel the protective paper off, and sprinkle with squash blossom embossing powder.  Emboss carefully with the heat gun to adhere the glitter to the shaped flower.  Repeat with the third center, using the honeycomb powder.

For the brads in the center, these are made with embossing glitter, too!  But BE CAREFUL – they get HOT!  Use tweezers or an alligator clip to pick up the brad.  Heat the top with the heat gun, then stick it in the embossing powder – it will stick right on.  Then heat it again from the bottom to seal it in.  Don’t heat it too long or it will lose its color.  I made one in blue, and two in burgundy.

After the brads are cool, assemble the flowers by punch an 1/8” hole in the middle of a big flower and the glitter flower center, and joining them together with a glittered brad.

RIBBON LABEL: Stamp the “sparkle” sentiment on white cardstock in the clear embossing ink, and sprinkle half with burgundy powder, and half with blue.  Emboss with the heat gun, and punch it out using the small oval punch.

Punch a light pink scalloped oval, and decorate each scallop with the glitter pen.

Mount the sentiment oval on the pink scalloped oval.

FINAL ASSEMBLY: Tie a bow using the sparkly ribbon around the sanded layer above the embossed flourishes.  Secure it on the back with a small piece of tape. 

Mount the ribbon label to the right of the bow using a piece of foam tape. 

Mount the sanded layer on the base card.

Arrange the leaves and flowers until you find a pleasing layout.  Then peel the backing off the leaves and mount them.  Add the flowers using foam tape for dimension.

Hope you give the embossing glitter a try – it’s not nearly as messy as regular glitter, both for the card maker and the recipient.

Thanks for stopping by!