ThePowerOfACard: April 2023

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Alphabet Soup!

We have plenty of options for making cards, but sometimes, you just need the ability to personalize it! That's where the idea for this video came from. I am using three different alphabets - one is a bundle with a stamp set and punch (Alphabest), another is just dies (Alphabet a la mode) and the last one is just a stamp set (Classic Letters). All three have both numbers and letters, as well as punctuation. Let's dive in!

Gather your supplies:

Cardstock: Garden Green 8-1/2" x 5-1/2", 2.5" square; Basic White 4" x 5-1/2", 4" x 5-1/4", 2" square
Stamp Set: Classic Letters
Ink: Basic Gray, Garden Green
Dies: Stylish Shapes, Elegant Borders
Adhesive and Tools

The Classic Letters are perfect for making monogram items. The set comes with a variety of leafy stamps to fit on top of your letters. The first card I made used an S for my last name, but in the video, I used another letter (for my daughter's last name) and a different card design.

Turn the white square so the points are up and down. Stamp the letter of your choice in Basic Gray. I chose this color over black because I knew the leaves would show up better than if I had done my letter in black. Add the appropriate leaves cluster in Garden Green wherever you want on the letter.

Cut out the monogram with the second smallest square die and use the next larger size to cut out the green square. While you're at the Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine, use the border of your choice to cut the long end of the larger white rectangle.

To assemble, layer the two squares - either like I show in the video (offset by 90 degrees) or as a traditional mat. Adhere the white piece on top of the card base (which has been folded in half) so that it goes right to the top of the card. Position the monogram with dimensionals in the center. Add a few more leaves on the inside white panel and on the envelope corner and you have a classic looking monogrammed note card. Wouldn't a set of these make a great gift?

Graduation cards are perfect for customization, whether you add the year, graduate's name or school. Here is one where I used the Alphabest bundle. After punching out the letters to say dream big, I attached them to a length of Baker's Twine and draped them on the card front. So easy and cute!

My next card uses the dies - I cut the word out of rectangle of striped DSP and adhered it to the white rectangle. Keep the rectangle and you can make the inverse version of this card too! To keep the stripes theme going, I added some scraps of Parakeet Party on the card front and stamped Father's Day from the He's All That stamp set. I'll give this one to my son-in-law as he celebrates his first one in June.

For my next two cards, I went back to the Classic Letters. I love having a vertical sentiment and these make it easy to do. The letters are 1" high, but if you overlap them like I did, you can easily fit a six letter work vertically. The Potted Geraniums set adds the perfect pick-me-up for this beauty.

This was the card I almost demonstrated - maybe I'll do it another time if you're interested. I love this sweet baby girl card and the pop up letters on the inside are a nice surprise!

Lastly, I combined two sets of letters. I used the rectangle left over after cutting out the letters in my daughter's name and added a piece of white behind it to make her name pop against the DSP. The small letters make it quite easy to say what you want to make just the right card for the right person. I will be giving this card to her to congratulate her efforts for raising money for Miles for Migraines. As I mentioned in my video, our whole family is participating in the 5k race (or walk), but Kristin is also fundraising for the event too. Here is the link in case you are interested in either joining us on race day or contributing.

I hope I've inspired you to get at least one of these alphabet sets and make some "soup" of your own!

Karen

ThePowerOfACard@gmail.com

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Product List

Classic Letters Photopolymer Stamp Set

[161267]

$25.00

Garden Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[102584]

$9.25

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

$10.25

Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad

[149165]

$8.00

Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

[147089]

$8.00

Elegant Borders Dies

[161593]

$32.00

Stylish Shapes Dies

[159183]

$30.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

[110755]

$4.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$25.00

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

[149653]

$125.00

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Zig Zag Pocket Cards

My upline, Dena Rekow, showed this layout a few weeks ago and I fell in love with it! It is so perfect for featuring Designer Series Paper (DSP) and is fabulous for giving a gift card or little surprise present! Because we have so much beautiful DSP, I just kept making more and more samples to show you! Quite a few of the stamp sets I use were made before I learned about the retiring products - so check out the retirement list and last chance products before they are gone!

Gather your supplies:

Cardstock: Flowers & More Host DSP 12" x 5-1/4"; Starry Sky 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"; Parakeet Party 2-1/2" x 3-3/4"; Basic White 3-1/2" x 4-3/4", 1/2" x 1", 3/4" x 5/8"; Vellum 3" x 3"
Bundle: Cup of Tea
Ink: Parakeet Party, Sweet Sorbet, Orchid Oasis, Tahitian Tide, Pale Papaya
Dies: Stylish Shapes
Small Blending Brush
Adhesive and Tools, including Scotch Tape

To begin, select your DSP. Pay attention to your design with one directional patterns - I point this out in the video to help you cut the paper the correct way to have the designs show properly. You also want to make sure the back side looks good with the front side (usually they do, but sometimes... well just be sure before you cut). Once you have the 5-1/4" length cut, score it at 4" and 8". Next make a small pencil mark on the far left side about 2-1/4" from the lower left corner and at the top right most score line. This will help you line up those two points to cut off a triangle of paper.

Now it's time to fold along the score lines. The left most score line will be a mountain fold and the right most score line is a valley. Add a small amount of glue along the two edges to form the first pocket and repeat for the second pocket. It's a little hard to describe, but you'll see what I mean in the video. This can now be attached to the Starry Sky base.

Stamp the enjoy sentiment on the 1/2" scrap of Basic White and the tea bag tag on the other scrap of Basic White. Trim the sentiment and cut out the tag (you could use the die, but it's so small and easy to cut, I find it quicker to just use my Paper Snips).

Cut out the two tea cup dies and the stitched circle with the Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine. With the small Blending Brush (what a great new addition!), blend on Parakeet Party ink onto the leafy tea cup. This adds dimension without adding another color to the tea cup. Add a little glue to the back and layer the two cups together. Attach the tag to the cup with a small piece of Baker's Twine and Mini Glue Dots and Scotch tape. Attach the tea cup to the vellum with Dimensionals and then the vellum to the card front with glue, keeping the glue behind the tea cup. Attach the sentiment with another Dimensional.

For the pocket card piece, stamp the sentiment with Orchid Oasis ink and add flowers around it in Pale Papaya, Tahitian Tide and Sweet Sorbet. Tuck this into the back pocket and add a packet of tea to the front pocket. This is the perfect little pick-me-up card for someone feeling a bit under the weather!

These next two cards are also from the Flowers & More pack. As you can see in the Birthday card, I tucked a gift card in the front pocket - it fits just right! For the other one, I just had two inserts - the smaller one measures 2-3/4" x 4".

Mother's Day will soon be here and this card will be the perfect one for my oldest daughter, Kyra, who had her first child in November. I used products from the Hues of Happiness Suite, which was one of my favorites from our current catalog and I'm very sad to see it is retiring! I tucked in a pair of earrings (made by a customer of mine) into the pocket. In case you're interested, Licia does great work and I would highly recommend her jewelry: Licia Young Studios.

In my next two samples, I used Happier than Happy (retiring) and Playing in the Rain (not retiring!) The first one is great for a baby shower - I used a little bit of ribbon on the insert since it wasn't obvious that you need to pull it out. For the rainy day card, I didn't put anything in the front pocket and added a little ribbon before attaching the pockets to the card base.

For my last sample, I wanted to illustrate that you don't have to use this layout for pockets at all! It is simply a wonderful way to show both sides of our DSP. For this one, I glued the first side down, but left the other unglued so that the card opens normally. I love the result, don't you?

As I've mentioned, I am sad to see some products retire and I hope that if you want anything I've shown in my video, you'll hurry to my store and get them before they are gone. At the same time, I'm excited about the new products being released in our new annual catalog, coming in May. So stay tuned... you'll get a glimpse into the new colors in my next video!