Big Shot Starter Kit | Cards

Just a quick card I made back in 2012 using the Big Shot Starter kit. I love this one!

I used an old map of Paris to die cut the different hearts (larger Framelit die), then I stamped the message using one of my Sentiment stamp and die cut with the smaller label Framelit.

The rectangled were die cut using the Sizzix Framelits Die Set 10PK - Rectangles #2 658610.

I am so happy the Starter kit is back!

Birthday card with butterflies

I made this card for one of my best friends a couple of weeks ago.

the base of the card is die cut using the Sizzix tim Holtz Tag and Bookplate die.

I used the Intricate Butterflies (Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 8PK - Butterflies, Intricate by Paula Pascual 659971),  Sizzix Framelits Die Set - Tab Cards 659970 and the Everyday Tab Messages CICSA6256 (Craftie Charlie | The Glitter Pot | Sir Stampalot).

The base of the card is a patchwork technique done with some of my favourite My Minds Eye papers from a few years ago. Love those pinks and greens together. Simple but made with love

Guest post over at Craftie Charlie

Today I am sharing a card that I have done for Craftie Charlie as a guest post on their blog.
You can see the whole card and what products I used here.

Hoy quiero compartir una tarjeta que he hecho para Craftie Charlie para un guest post en su blog.
Podeis ver la tarjeta entera y cuáles son los productos que he usado aquí.

Relaxing and fixing things

Today Omar and I we are taking it easy relaxing at home and doing some small jobs around the house. Between chores, I realized that i didn't post anything yesterdey either so I am taking a small break to do a post.
As I mentioned on Friday, yesterday I was demonstrating at Stampaddicts which turn up to be even better than expected. Vicky and Sarah are lovely and so are all their customers, they all really make me feel welcomed and at home. Also, I allowed my self to purchase some items that I fell in love with. 
The Scor it Large was one of them. I have been wanting one of them for a long time but I wasn't sure it was for me until yesterday when I used during the day to score a few samples. It is phenomenal. What it is the stand out feature that makes it different from other scoring tools is the rubber base that makes the paper/card not to slide hence enabling you to create perfectly perpendicular score lines. Also the fact that the scoring mechanism is not a groove but a metal mountain makes it perfect for those that can be heavy handed like myself and go through the paper with a bone folder.
I did this card a few months ago for a new magazine that unfortunately never saw the light. I was honestly sadden that this magazine dint make it into print as it was such a good concept. 
The flowers are a background Cling stamp from Hero Arts colored with Copics. The message is one of my Mixed Sentiments on top of a Circle Tag.

Introducing: Simple Flowers

Although by the image above you could think that all the flowers on the left are part of one single stamp it is not the case. They are all individual stamps, perfect to create you own background and borders in one or multiple colors. In this set you also get three small messages.

This set is designed to coordinate with the Circle Tags and Square Tags as they feature the same flowers although in different sizes.

For this card I stamped several flowers both solid and hollow ones in different colors in a random way. I used a mix of Memento inks - Cantaloupe, Tangelo, Dandelion- and Versafine -Smokey Grey, Habanero, Crimson Red, Satin Red-, my two favorite types of ink pads at the minute for great impressions using clear stamps. The message is from Mixed Sentiments which all fit on the Circle Tags, one of which is used here to house the Thank you.

By the way, as I lent my camera to my best friend, I had to take the photos with the little one, so the quality is more than questionable, and so will be for the next couple of weeks.

Tag Book

Still pretty excited and happy about Spain winning the World Cup. Yesterday I made this little ribbon flower so that I can wear it on my shirt this week!

Thanks to everyone who posted comments regarding this success of my fellow spaniards. It really was amazing to see yesterday's celebrations and watching that sea of Spanish flags. For someone like me, who grew up in a time when people were ashamed of the flag and hardly saw anyone be proud of it, to see this is very very special.

Back to Crafting.

A technique tag book, well, is not a new idea by any means. But I always believe that recycling good ideas is key for a good crafter, as long as we don't take full credit for it. I learnt it from Tim Holtz, who taught us a few technique in tags at a trade event quite a few years back.

As you can see on the tag on the left, behind every tag there is a sticker with printed instructions. So, when last week I had a few days that I needed to play, you know, go to my studio and just explore different techniques that I have learnt form some of my favorite crafters and some techniques that I came up with.

Some of the tags. It really is refreshing to have some time to just play, and not have the pressure of having to do a particular card or project!

Mixing up techniques

At first glance my style does not say: distress inks. But that is just at first glance. While I like the finished look of a card to be clean and simple, the elements I use as panels may not be that clean and simple.

Take this card. The panel, which unfortunately the photo does not capture that well, has a two layers distress effect that I learnt from the super talented Jennifer McGuire. The flower is cut from the same paper as the panel, which gives a textured look.

Embossing Folders

Does anyone remember crafting days pre embossing folders? I know that as a die cut fan makes sense that I find them one of my essentials of my crafting, but I am sure than most cardmakers will agree with me that they were an important addition to the paper crafting industry.

When I am asked to do a die cutting class or demo, I am always delighted to do so and the first thing I choose for the samples are of course embossing folders.

A close up to show up the shimmer from the mica powders. In this case I think I used Perfect Gold Pearl. As you can see I have used once again my patchwork technique. I am sorry if I am boring you with cards that showcase once again the same technique. However, I like to share cards that I have done recently that I like -yes, I don't like all of my cards!-, but more importantly, I think that cards using the same technique that have different looks and colors is more inspiring.

The inside features a panel that actually was itself a leftover from the front.

Yesterday I had a blast at Crafability, Vanessa Noonan's shop. The ladies were all a delight to work with and everything went smoothly. A bit manic, of course as all my classes tend to be as I am the kind of teacher that always prefers to give to much than too little.

9 Squares

One of my favorite design layouts is the 9 squares. Funnily enough I haven't done a card using that layout and my square Tags stamps. But it seemed obvious when I was preparing for today's workshop at Craftability.

By the way, on Saturday I will be demonstrating at Colemans Craft Warehouse in Rushden (Northants), which will be my first time there. As always, really excited to meet new faces, so if you are going to see all the demos please come and say hello.

Distressed Tags

Although it looks like three color inks, I actually used six different ink pads for this card. The white lines are actually the same splatter stamp as I used for background in the "Time for a man's card". The difference is that I stamp with VersaMark and then embossed with clear embossing powder over a white tag, then once embossed I applied the inks, making the contrast bigger.

The butterfly is from a Martha Stewart punch.

Gears over the edge

If you want to thank anyone for this card, that would be Jackie Hukstepp from The Glitter Pot. I mean the idea of the card is mine, an off the edge element combined with the shaped card made out of two identical die cut pieces.

No, it is not that that you have to thank Jackie. It is the use of the Gadget Gears, which is one of Tim Holtz Sizzix dies. I mean, I saw it at Stitches, I saw it on the web, I saw it on the Sizzix catalogue, I saw it hanging on The Glitter Pot walls and no creative reaction from me. Then Jackie came by my table to enquire about something and commented how great those elements were and I was like Really? And all suddenly all this ideas came to my mind, you know those cards that I really like to make, like Gap cards, Suspension cards and, of course, case in point, Over-the-edge cards.

They are fun, perfect size, ideal for making cards for men using the gears as a substitute for flowers that you would use for a card for a woman.

Shaped cards

Making shaped cards using two pieces of card that are identical makes me happy. I know, it is not that big of a deal, right? But it does, and that is what crafting is all about, or any hobby for that matter.

For the base of this card I used one Sizzix tag, the Super Crescent, the embossing is one Cuttlebug folder and the flowers are a Spellbinders die, Flower Creations. Mix and matching products, love it!

Of course no card of mine is finished without a little message or a big one form my range, in this case Mix and Match and Mixed Sentiments.

Design, Simple

Sometimes it is good to break some designs rules, you know, like the one that it says that you should not mix more than two typefaces or fonts in one layout. Because sometimes breaking the rules just works!

I just want to point out that the birthday messages are from the Mixed Sentiments -small- and the Big sentiments -the larger one-. Because they are the same design just enlarged, they just combine perfectly.

The flowers are die cut using a Spellbinders die, Flower Creations.

All materials available from The Glitter Pot.

Today, die cutting

So today and tomorrow I will be demonstrating die cutting at The Glitter Pot. One of my favorite shapes are circles, something that can be verified by my stamp designs! So when ever possible I am drawn to dies and punched with circles, like this large scalloped die from Sizzix. The flower is a from a Shapeablities, Spellbinders die.

More distressing

I told you that I love distressing. Well, the reason behind so many cards lately featuring distressing inks and stamping is because I demonstrated them last Saturday. I really got carried away making more samples than i really needed and therefore have loads to share.

It is so much fun, and you still can preserve your own style, you don't need to imitate Tim Holtz vintage, rusty look. You can just keep your pretty, simple, elegant style. Me? I keep it simple.

Love Distress Inks

Really, I do. I know my usual cards don't often are very inky, but give some distress inks and stamps and I am happy. Of course, die cutting machines pop here and there, like to emboss the swiss dots!

Regarding Rukhshana question about yesterday card, the ink was Versafine Vintage Sepia, as explained in this post, Versafine is one of my recommended inks for solid stamps specially if they are clear stamps.

Similar card but with a square background!

Introducing Big Sentiments

Big Sentiments is another one stamp set that I did after some requests for a slightly larger sentiments.

In this set you get 19 -yes, nineteen- general essential messages. They are mostly the same ones featured in the Mixed Sentiments set so they can be combined perfectly but larger, as well as a few new ones -Happy Everything, Good Luck, Welcome Baby, Sorry, Hello, Miss You, Make a Wish.

So, how they compare? Well you have the same message side by side above. The one on the left is obviously from the Big set and the one on the right is from the Mixed Sentiments. Wether the Mixed fit in a 1" circle or square, the Big Sentiments will all fit in a 1 1/2".

-By the way, the little message is all stained as I used Archival inks which are similar as StazOn in the sense that will stain/colour the stamp. It is not dirty, the stamp will still stamp beautifully even with VersaMark. If you want to avoid staining just avoid Archival and StazOn Inks on any clear stamps.

The Big Sentiments fit into a 1 1/2" plain circle or a 1 3/4" Scalloped circle, but also in many more shapes as illustrated in this photo. Some of the messages will even fit into smaller circles and ovals.

INKS, INKS, INKS

If you would like to know which are my favorite ink pads when stamping with my clear stamp sets, click here.

Introducing Double Sayings

This is Double Sayings for Personal Impressions, it is one of those sets that I have designed out of necessity. It may sound a bit over dramatic but it is the honest truth. As you may know I can and enjoy making card without a message, but since I have a thing for graphic design and type fonts, I really enjoy incorporating a sentiment into the main design of the card. But more often than not, I would not find the adequate small sentiment to fit into my card, so i started to design this set by taking note of all those messages I didn't seem to find, the list grew so much that I had to make two sets Mix and Match - which I will featured in a couple of days - and this one, Double Sayings.

The name of Double Sayings comes from the fact that you can combine two messages or sayings in one project, like the one above, as I already had used Mix & Match for the other set, Double Saying seemed like a good idea. I know I am not the best at coming with names and descriptions so I get very literal sometimes. However, most of this messages are good stand alone ones, so if you wish to use them alone you can.

And, because it would be sad to show you the front of the card, here it goes.

INKS, INKS, INKS

If you would like to know which are my favorite ink pads when stamping with my clear stamp sets, click here.

Circle Tag Card

As I wanted to showcase how messages can be the focal point of your cards as well as afterthoughts, I decided to make the message appear to be slightly larger than it actually is. How? Simples, matting and layering and staring out with a larger circle.

First I stamped the tag using brown ink and then, using Versafine Spanish Moss ink, I stamped the message from the Mixed Sentiments set inside the tag. Remember all the messages in positive, the ones that are not in a circle, will fit in every single circle tag!

Then, I punched out the tag using the 1 1/2", layered it onto a dark brown 1 3/4" -from Stampin Up or also known as the original Whale of a punch Circle- circle punch and then all together onto a 2" Scallop circle.

This is the inside of the card, a bit more elaborate as I lately have been favoring.

A close up of the Circle Tag and the Essential Circle. I stamped each on a separate piece of card, I punched both using different sized punches, 1 3/8" for the tag and 1" for the Essential Circle or message.

The thanks for your support message is from the Mix and Match set.

The patterned die cut paper is from My Mind's Eye from The Glitter Pot.