Welcome Little Baby - Baby Cards with Chipboard

Creative Embellishments always welcomes a new challenge on the first day of each month.  The challenges usually have a "twist" to add a little intrigue to the creative process.  

This month the twist is to incorporate your interpretation of the quote, "Every great adventure requires a first step. " 

Below is an image of the starting point for the Challenge found here. 

You may be asking yourself how I went from a black and white image to a bold colorful sample?   I couldn't be further from the target.

Here is my answer.  The challenge is to provide inspiration.  Inspiration takes many forms.  Remember the twist?  Incorporate your interpretation of the quote, "Every great adventure requires a first step. " 

I am taking that literally.  What better adventure in life than to enjoy the adventures of a child - as a parent, grandparent, aunt, cousin...whatever the relationship.

These are the Creative Embellishments chipboard pieces I used. 

Artist Trading Coins - Love, 

Baby Set 

 Valentines Sentiments 

Thanks for stopping here.  I hope your day is filled with the love of friends and family. 

Where to shop? 

Shop for all your Creative Embellishments Artist Trading Coins here. 

Creative Embellishments - Artist Trading Coins -Love

Shop for chipboard, wood and flair buttons from Creative Embellishments here.  

DIY Sweet Valentines Cards

Today I'm here to show you how scrumptiously beautiful Creative Embellishments chipboard (and wood veneer hearts) can be on a Valentines card.  

I created two cards and let the chipboard products do the hard work.  Trust me - they were 100% up to the challenge of gussying my cards.  The gorgeous designs are huge timesavers when creating cards because they are fascinating statement pieces. 

Below is the list of chipboard and veneer pieces used on my cards.  The chipboard was simply painted with acrylics.  

Nested  Shapes - Hearts

Wood Veneer - Conversation Hearts

Flourish Heart Set

I'm going to take a moment to tell you why I adore those sweet Wood Veneer Conversation Hearts.
They are perfectly sized to tuck into floral clusters, just as you would a flower.  They have a plain backside which makes the hearts versatile enough to use year round.

You can see in the image below that one conversation heart is turned to show the plain side.

Another wonderful thing about the wood veneer is that it's clean and light making them fabulous and convenient to use without painting.  Just glue and go.  

This next card uses a piece from the gorgeous Creative Embellishments - Flourish Heart Set.  This set comes with two large main pieces to use on different projects if you choose.  I used the heart shape chipboard piece on a card made for the February Challenge here at Creative Embellishments.  

Check it out and consider playing along this month...just use a product from Creative Embellishments and upload to the blog.  

Here is a close up of the card.  

 Thanks for stopping here.  I hope your day is filled with love. 

Where to shop? 

Shop for chipboard, wood and flair buttons from Creative Embellishments here.  

Creative Embellishments - Nested Shapes - Hearts
Creative Embellishments - Flourish Heart Set

Creative Embellishments - Wood Veneer Conversation Hearts

Wedding Joy Layout with Bows and Love

I'm here today with a Valentine's layout filled with lots of love, pretty bows and banners to celebrate the big day. 

Of course these wonderful embellishments start with Creative Embellishments chipboard pieces.  

My Creative Embellishments chipboard selection on this layout includes: 

Family Banners

chipboard bows ( I layered the bows)

Chipboard Berries 

I'm also using the gorgeous I must share the paper collection I used.  New from Sweden, it's the Celebration collection from Maja Design.  This layout uses the following sheets shown below:

Jubilee (A and B side)

Birthday (B side)

This collection was created to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Maja Design.  Gorgeous  collection with a versatile range of colors.  

I love to make chipboard look soft and wispy.  My technique is quite easy.  Paint everything with cheap creamy white paint - like a french vanilla color.  I do not bother with gesso.  It's too white for my needs and doesn't have enough coverage.  I go straight for the cheap acrylic paint.

Once the paint has dried completely, I went back in and added some pink/red ink for accents using a paint brush ( or waterbrush)  for softness.  The water brush eliminates any harsh lines on the chipboard.  Last step is to add some brown ink here and there as light shading.  

Additional finishing details may be Crackle Accents by Ranger, pearls or Stickles Glitter Glue for pops of glitz.  I'll tell ya, the Stickles really doesn't show well in photos but it has such a bedazzling look in person.

 Not sure how to type this without sounding odd, but I adore the "Adore Banner"  using the  Family Banners chipboard.  Such a sweet and romantic touch.  That was topped with the crackle accents as well. 

Thanks for stopping by to visit.  

Where to shop? 

You can shop for Maja Design papers right here. 

Shop for your Creative Embellishments chippies right here. 

Product List:

Creative Embellishments - Bows

Creative Embellishments - Berries 

Creative Embellishments - Family Banners

Maja Design -Celebrations paper 

Maja Design - Monochromes Shades of Celebration

Stickles Glitter Glue - Crystal

Ranger Crackle Accents - Crackle Medium (big bottle)
Ranger Crackle Accents - Crackle Medium small bottle

Valentines Layout with Hearts, Love and Chipboard

I have a layout to celebrate Valentine's Day and the month of love.  This was created for the February Challenge at Creative Embellishments.    I hope you join us!

A little Valentine's Day love using the brand new collection from Maja Design called Celebrations.  This stunning new collection was created to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Maja Design. 

Tis the season for love and soft touches.  I have added a variety of fabulous chipboard ( and wood veneer) pieces to this layout- some painted a based coat of soft cream paint while the Doodle Circle Frames have been left natural.  This layout has the following Creative Embellishments pieces: Circle Doodle Frames,  Family Banners, Distressed Hearts  and Wood Veneer -Conversation Hearts. 

As I had mentioned above, my page was crafted for the February Challenge at Creative Embellishments.  Based off the image below.  Use your imagination and interpret as you wish.  

The great thing about chipboard is that it comes out of the package ready to be used  - no treatments necessary. 

I left the Circle Doodle Frames untreated however I added a few easy embellishments like pearls and ribbon.  

I painted the  Family Banners, Distressed Hearts   chipboard pieces with inexpensive ivory paint and added only a dab of ink for accents:

 Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxides - Vintage Photo

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink -Walnut Stain 

 Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Barn Door

The adoable Wood Veneer -Conversation Hearts were just washed lightly with a mixture of ivory paint and water.    I love these delicious little hearts. 

This shows the gorgeous layers of paper from Maja Design -Celebration  collection.  Brand new and completely spectacular - one for your "must have list".  

These are the papers I used from the Celebration collection :

The Table is Set (Both A and B sides of paper)

You're Invited

Celebrations Monochrome Collection

One last look: 

Thanks for stopping.  

Where to shop? 

You can shop for  all the Maja Design papers right here. 

You can shop for the new Celebrations collection right here.  

Shop for Creative Embellishments products right here.

Product List:

Maja Design -Celebration paper : The Table is Set (Both A and B sides of paper), You're Invited

Maja Design - Celebrations Monochrome  - Shades of Monochrome Collection

Stickles Glitter Glue - Crystal

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxides - Vintage Photo,

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink -Walnut Stain 

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Barn Door

Creative Embellishments

Maja Design Celebrations - Monochrome Collection  "Shades of Celebration"
Ranger Crackle Accents - Crackle Medium (big bottle)
Ranger Crackle Accents - Crackle Medium small bottle
Creative Embellishments - Circle Doodle Frames
Creative Embellishments - Family Banners
Creative Embellishments - Distressed Hearts
Creative Embellishments - Wood Veneer -Conversation Hearts

DIY Easy Cards for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day - Quick DIY Cards

I made a few cards to send to family members to show I appreciate and care about them.  A Valentine's card doesn't need to be mushy.  Mine were simple, quick and the message I wrote on the inside was also a quick note to let them know I appreciate and value them.  

Lately I have been obsessing over washi tape.  It's fun and it can give any project a pop of color.  Washi tape is the main product on my cards.

  

I bought my washi on sale at Michaels.  

These cards take just a few simple steps to create and you can use the same technique to create cards all year for any occasion.  Just swap out the washi (which means buying more fun colorful washi) 

Start with a die or punched piece of cardstock.  I used a simple heart die that I like.  It's from Cheery Lynn and it's the Heart Shaker Die Set.  

Cover a blank piece of cardstock with strips of tape. Once satisfied go ahead and glue the punched cardstock to the washi covered cardstock.  

It's as easy as that!

You can keep it simple and call it done or you can add other embellishing elements like flowers, sentiment stamps or whatnot. 

I chose to add Petaloo flowers to some of my cards. 

Petaloo Chantilly Hydrangea Red . 

 These flowers have a gorgeous bit of green and I loved how it looked with my bold washi.  

Next - a pink card using the cheery pink tones of washi I snagged.  

For this card, I chose to use Petaloo's Darjeeling Teastained collection -  Petite Blooms in Pink.

Thanks for stopping.  

Petaloo Chantilly Hydrangea Red 1272-192
Petaloo's Darjeeling Teastained collection -  Petite Blooms in Pink
Recollections Brand Washi Tape for Valentine's Day
Cheery Lynn Heart Shaker Die set

DIY Quick and Easy Valentines Cards - So Simple

Create some quick and easy Valentines day cards

I used Simple Stories "You & Me " Collection to whip up the sweetest and easiest cards. Simple Stories helps make it easy with their journal cards.  The key to these cards lies in layering papers.  

Here are the simple instructions

The Simple Stories "You & Me" collection was meant to be layered and to mix up the fun patterns. In addition, this collection has a wonderful fun array of journal cards ands ATC's for pocket pages, cards, fast scrapbook pages and journaling.  

I cut the heart images from this 4x6 journal card.  Set the hearts aside.  These are going to be embellished and given some dimension with foam tape.

I grabbed a glue pen and some glitter to give these hearts a touch of glitz and glam.  The glue pen is easy to use and perfect for making thin lines. 

Drizzle the glitter over the wet glue pen lines and you're all set!  BAM, instant bedazzling.  I like to use a bead funnel as a glitter funnel - makes clean up a  snap. 

Embellishment time! Simple Stories has awesome stickers included in each collection.  I aded a sticker from the Simple Stories, "You & Me" collection, a small flower and a hemp twine bow.

I wanted the hearts to have some dimension so I backed them with  foam tape to make them pop.  

Fun, right?  And Easy too. 

This card is equally easy and primarily consists of a few layers. In addition to white cardstock, I selected a journal card from Simple Stories, "You & Me" collection, and some patterned paper from the collection to use as a mat.

I added some texture using  an embossing folder - this is the Tim Holtz Music folder. 

I tied some hemp string around the card. Then I added foam tape to the back for a raised layer.

Simple and yet lovely. 

In this card,. I used some kraft and red cardstock as matting for the card topped with a 3" x 4" ATC from Simple Stories, "You & Me" collection.

 The ATC has a fun image of a key tied with twine. I wanted to make that "come to life" so I wrapped the ATC in hemp twine and tied the key sticker from the collection to the card.

I wanted to make the heart pop a bit so I pulled out the Inkessentials Glossy Accents. This is easy to use. Just apply evenly to the surface of the heart and let air dry. As the Glossy Accents are drying, you can add sequins, micro beads, glitter and other embellishments as you like. The Glossy Accents act like glue and will hold all those embellishments perfectly. 

 Once the Glossy Accents were completely dry, I highlighted the white polkadots on the heart with a white Sharpie paint pen.

 Here is the completed card with close ups:

Product List

Tape
Kraft Cardstock
Red Cardstock
Stickles Christmas Red
Stickles  Diamond
Glitter Set
Anti Static Pad
Sizzix Alterations Texture Fades - Postcards & Music Sheet
Hemp Cord
Craft Knife
Quickie Glue Pen
Foam Tape
Micro beads - Gold
Petaloo Flowers - Forgetmenots 0 Antique Red
Inkessentials Glossy Accents
Simple Stories - You & Me 12x12 Simple Set

Simple Stories - You & Me 6x12 Stickers 

Petaloo Forgetmenots - Antique Red

Prefolded cards/envelopes

White cardstock - for card 

Sequins 

Bead Funnel - 4.75" x3"