Framed pine cones card

Hello there! 

In this tutorial I’ll be sharing how I created this sweet card framing some pine cone sprigs. A cute A6 sized card to welcome the autumn season, it’s also a great greeting card to celebrate thanksgiving. 

TUTORIAL: 

I started off by die cutting the frames, using Claina palmer’s A6 nesting dies. Picking out the largest, then the 2nd, 3rd And 4th dies. I used the largest to create a matting base out of some Maroon card stock  and the 2nd die to die cut a background layer out of some golden beige textured cardstock. With the 3rd & 4th die I made a frame out of the same maroon cardstock. 

I taped off the sides of the golden beige texture card  with some washi tape to ink blend some shade at the top and bottom before embossing the panel with some falling leaves folder that I received as a freebie from a crafting magazine. Then with a brayer, I applied some Bronze pigment ink over the top with a light hand. I like this technique as it only covers the raised areas, an old technique that I had forgotten about but picked up again. 

I then adhere the die cut frame onto the embossed panel with some foam tape. This creates a dimensional frame for the pine cones. I also decided I wanted my sentiment to pop up too, so I cut a strip of acetate to sandwich between the foam and maroon frame at the bottom.

Once all the background and frame is done, I moved on to the pine leaves and cones. I had die cut 3 pine leaves and 2 pine cone pairs from Claina’s Christmas collection  with a pokey tool I pushed out the Pine cone ‘tabs’ for a little dimension and added little taps of glue to adhere some ultra fine glitter on it by dipping the cone into the glitter pot then shaking off the excess. For the pine leaves I did some simple ink shading and manipulated the shape to my liking. 

Finally arranging the sprigs and putting it all together with some strong liquid glue. I then added the bow from the same collection to hide the connection hoops of the dies. Adding a gold Rhinestone to the bow and a ‘greetings’ word die onto the acetate strip to complete the card.

As always I appreciate your visit today, stay well & safe. 

x Ali x

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Disclaimer: This card is created as part of my DT work and the die set featured are sponsored by Claina Palmer Designs. Other Products & Tools used to produce this card will be linked and highlighted (if available) with no affiliation or sponsorship. 

Golden poinsettias on creative backgrounds

Hi all! 

Today I have another Christmas card to share. I wanted to try something different with the background, so I created an autumn colour palette to team it up with Claina Palmer’s Christmas poinsettia dies. There’s still a lot of Christmas card preparations to make, just like birthday cards, you can never have enough. 

TUTORIAL: 

I created the background using the smooshing technique with some oxide inks, I had chosen spiced marmalade, ripe persimmon and red door. To create the watercolour effect I rub the inks onto a glass surface and mist some water to it and smooshed some white cardstock onto it, then spritz on some more water directly onto the paper for some lighter spots. I did this on to two full A4 sheet then let it dry naturally. Once the sheet has dried, I got out my poinsettia rubber stamp and gold heat emboss the image in various positions. 

Next step, I die cut the poinsettias from a matte gold card stock and the holly leaves from some printed vellum that matches the autumn theme. Then I trimmed the A4 background into 4 panels. I also trimmed some maroon and gold glitter card stock to mat or layer the panels and a 1 inch strip for the sentiments. 

Now putting it all together, I arranged the leaves first. Then the sentiment strip, which is white heat embossed and the poinsettia petals are curled for dimension. I glued the layers together from large to small then attached them to foam dots. I then added the large Christmas greeting word dies with its matching shadow using some very slim foam strips behind for a raised look. 

Finishing off, I adhered some clear AB gems into the centre of the poinsettias. And a few extra on the background, then mount the panel onto an A6 card base. 

Christmas cards doesn’t always have to be traditional colours. It is fun to experiment with different colour palettes to create something new. Here I kinda played it safe with warm matching colours. 

x Ali x

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Disclaimer: This card is created as part of my DT work and the stamp & die set featured are sponsored by Claina Palmer Designs. Products used to produce this card will be linked and highlighted (if available) with no affiliation. 

Gold Outlined Tulip Birthday Card

Hello there! 

I’m back this week using another floral digi image from SBD. Today I’ve made a birthday card, as you can never have enough of them. I had an image or idea to create a tulip edge with a hazy sunny background. And as I was in the midst of crafting, little ideas popped up which took forever to decide what wanted to do. In the end, the results was better than I had imagined. 

Read on if you want to know how I created this card. 

TUTORIAL: 

Starting with the background. On An A5 Bristol smooth card stock, I used Antique Linen and Fossilised Amber to ink blend and leaving the top partially white. I had added some Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment ink and blended the ink using the circular motion first then the swiping technique for a more seamless smooth colour transition. I then I watered down some white gauche as well as some fossilised Amber to create some splatters then left aside to air dry. 

Before printing out the Tulips I resized them enough to fit perfectly horizontally along a 5x7 landscape card base. To colour them in, I used my Spectrum noir tri-blend markers in hydrangea and Dull Green. I then took my gold gel pen and decided to go over the outlines and details of the tulips. 

Back to the background that’s dried. I wanted a bit more interest to the background,  and so I used a cover plate lattice die to create a contrast background then mat the panel onto some stitched edge gold mirror card stock. The shiny gold coming through the dies just makes it more pretty and almost foiled

Assembling time, I attached a pre gold embossed sentiment tag with a brad onto a stitched edge gold strip on to the left side of the panel. Then, placed the tulips along the bottom of the panel using some foam dots. And before finishing off with a few matching namel dots / liquid pearls. I decided to add an extra sentiment under the tag to complete the panel, then mount the design onto a 5x7 card base. 

And there you have it! A beautiful tulip birthday card to add to your greeting cards stash,  ready for when you need it. Thank you for stopping by and do check out SBD amazing floral images available. These designs can create endless designs. The beauty of digital images is the fact that you can resize and use the images in any way you want to. 

x Ali x

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Disclaimer: This card is created as part of my DT work and the Digi Image featured are sponsored by Sunshine & Bee Designs. Products used to produce this card will be linked and highlighted (if available) without affiliation. 

Christmas Spiced Orange Gift Pouch

One of my fave scents during the festive season is the citrusy spiced aroma. Whether it’s in warm wines, puddings or candles, it just navigates your senses to a comforting homely feeling for me. So today I’m channeling those vibes to make this sweet gift pouch. 

TUTORIAL: 

Using a pillow box die, I made two die cuts out of some orange textured paper and shaded the edges in with some Harmony ink to create a vignette effect. With one of the pillow box panel, I die cut the corner using one of the Sizzix mixed media dies to create a window. 

I had die cut a bunch of oranges, holly leaves and Berry branches from Claina Palmer’s Bloomin ‘Ansom Christmas collection. For the holly leaves I shaded them in with some iced spruce oxide ink. The Orange slices has two attachments, the circle and the rind. I had die cut the circles out of the same orange card stock then shaded the centre with WD Orange ink. With the rinds I had die cut out then of cream card stock. Once the orange dies are assembled, I applied some glossy accent on the orange segments only, for that nice glossy effect. 

Now we have to assemble the pillow box panels, do so by gluing the side flaps to the opposite straight sides and push the tops in, one flap on top of the other to create a curved shape base. I decided to only close and glue one end of the box, and keep the top part open, to add a hole for a ribbon to sew through. I arranged the leaves, hollies and orange slices on one side of the box until I was happy, I also add some twine, splitted cinnamon sticks and a star anise to give it a nice touch and somewhat spiced scent. Then, to complete the pouch, I added red half pearls onto the berry branches and applied some glitter snow paste. 

 

This gift pouch are great to gift Christmas teas, spices, sweet treats or to be used to hang some Christmassy potpourri on the tree. How about using it as a gift tag containing a couple of chocolates? However you chose to use it, I’m sure it’ll lift anyone’s Christmas spirits. Please note, the Bloomin ‘Ansome Christmas release are available on Hochanda or Claina Palmer Website from August 20th. 

x Ali x

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Disclaimer: This card is created as part of my DT work and the Die set featured are sponsored by Claina Palmer Designs. Products used to produce this card will be linked/highlighted (if available) and are not affiliated.  

SBD digi Gerberas Card

Hello! Today I’m sharing a card using  a floral digi image from Sunshine and Bee Designs  I chose this beautiful bouquet of Gerberas as a large background image on a 5 x 7 base. This is the first time that I’ve ever used a digi image to create a card, so this design is quite straightforward.

TUTORIAL:

To begin, I printed out the image onto an A4 sheet of Canson Bristol paper. Then, I masked off the flowers by using some art masking liquid. I only applied the fluid onto the Gerberas and once the masking fluids are dry, I then very light handedly blended the background with Catherine pooler inks in Sweet Sixteen and Flirty Fuchsia (both inks available through the little paper tree). 

After the background Is nicely blended, I rubbed off the masking coating with a sand eraser and start colouring the flowers. I used my spectrum noir tri-blends to shade and add details to the petals. The colours I used were FS6 and Coral Blend for the petals, TN2 ,TN5 CR3, FS6  for the centre of the flowers with a gold pen. Then with the Colour PL4 to fill in the whites or gaps of the purple background. 

To add some dimensions, I decided to to die cut the image using the 3rd die from Claina Palmers 5x7 double stitch nested dies. I then assembled the outer layer directly on to the card base and foam mounted the centre piece in place. Finally I added a gold heat embossed sentiment from my ready made stash and a few rhinestones on to the sentiment strip to complete the card. 

Personally for me, using digi images is very straightforward, I think I need to gain more experience to try and experiment with what I can do with digi images. I do find it to be convenient to have a perfect clear image to work with, and I did enjoy colouring them. 

x Ali x

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Disclaimer: This card is created as part of my DT work and the digi image featured are sponsored by Sunshine & Bee Designs. Products used to produce this card will be linked and highlighted (if available). 

Dimensional Broderie layers for Masculine cards

Hello there!

I have a great masculine card idea to share today, using some stencils and nesting dies. I find using a certain colour palette can really sets the tone. Grey hues are my chosen palette for this Brother card . 

TUTORIAL: 

Starting off, I die cut 4 different tones of grey panels out from the centre. For each panel I die cut 2 sizes down from largest to smallest  nesting die set.  I used Claina Palmer’s A6 Nesting dies  Then, I layered them together to get an even spacing to create an inverted ‘window’ panel and secure them with some washi tape. 

Once the panels are evenly taped, I stencilled the Broderie design on top of all the layers with some Midas Platinum metallic ink. Since the pigment ink takes a while to dry, I decided to add some silver embossing powder for more definition to the pattern. Now that all the panels are heat embossed, I begin stacking the layers using some foam tape, Trying my  best to match up the patterns as best as I could

 

I finished off the card by adding a brass embellish of an anchor to the top centre of the card. Beneath the anchor, I adhered an embossed sentiment and the Die cut word and shadow set ‘Brother’. Both the sentiment and word dies are from Claina Palmer Designs.  

 And there you have it. If you ever need an idea or any inspiration for a masculine card, I hope this tutorial has helped you and I would love to see your version with a  #inspiredbyaliscove. 

x Ali x

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Disclaimer: This card is created as part of my DT work and the stamp set featured are sponsored by Claina Palmer Designs. Products used to produce this card will be linked and highlighted (if available) unaffiliated.  

 

Ink blended Sweet pea Slime line card

Hello there! 

I got out the sweet pea stamp set to create another slime line card, creating slim line cards are really addictive at the moment. And today’s card is a quick and easy design. 

TUTORIAL: 

With Catherine Poolers mini inks in Lime Rickey, Melon, Tiara, Bellini and Tutti fruity I created 2 ink blended panels.  

Once the ink is completely dried, I dusted one of the panels to prep for embossing. Then I stamped and black embossed the sweet pea image onto the centre. I then drew some flicks on the petals with my black fine liner pen, and coloured in some parts of the small folds of the petals. This creates a bit of detail without going overboard. 

Next I trimmed the stamped panel down to 3 x 7.5 and mat it on to some gold mirror card stock, creating a thin border. Then I flipped the second inked panel and matting it on to another gold mirror card stock. Now that each panel has a frame or border, I can start layering them with some foam tape. 

Before I finish of the card with some gold rhinestones, I stamped and gold embossed a thank you sentiment from clearly besotted and Matt that on to gold card as well, then foam mounted it on to the bottom of the card. 

Now how quick was that? It’s such a good feeling when you can create a byeautiful card in less than an hour (considering ink drying technique used).  When life gets busy and having time to craft gets lesser and lesser, this is a great card to make, I hope you’ll have a little bit of time to give It a go! 

x Ali x

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Disclaimer: This card is created as part of my DT work and the stamp set featured are sponsored by Sunshine & Bee Designs. Products used to produce this card will be linked and highlighted (if available). 

Quick and simple medal shaker card

Hi all, 

It’s been awhile since I last made a shaker card, so today I’m bringing it back with today’s quick and clean design. I’m using the medal dies from Claina Palmer Designs as a shaker window and as the main focal point. 

TUTORIAL:

Starting with a 5x7 stitched frame panel, I inked up the top left and bottom right corners of lilac card to create a diagonal blended background using seedless preserves and wilted violet oxide inks. 

Then, I die cut the wreath medal design and the birthday girl awards die on the inked panel to create a window. I also die cut the wreath and birthday girl dies out of silver Mirri card stock. Once the background panel is done, I embossed the inked background using a diagonal stripe embossing folder before layering the wreath and words on top.  

To create the shaker panel, I adhered a 4x4 sheet of thick acetate underneath the die cut window and proceed to create a shaker pocket with foam tape. I then place the sequins or shaker elements on the matting pink glitter card  being mindful of where the window is positioned, and carefully place the window panel over on top using an L acrylic positioning block to help even out the panel.

I add a couple of strips of sentiments and sayings to the top and bottom of the shaker window with foam squares and to complete the card I adhered some sequins for some extra sparkles before mounting it onto a 5x7 card base. 

This card took me less an hour to make, and today’s blog tutorial and inspiration is about making quick and simple cards that is also just as gorgeous, I hope you give this a try. 

x Ali x

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_{Disclaimer: This card is created as part of my DT work and the Die sets featured are sponsored by Claina Palmer Designs. Other Products and tools used to produce this card are my own and will be linked and highlighted (if available) with no affiliation.} 

Vibrant Echinacea on Kraft Card

Hey everyone, 

I have a card design to share today and I have to say, this is my first time creating a card this style and I absolutely love the result. I kept this design quite simple as I wanted to let the colours of the echinacea to ‘speak’. 

TUTORIAL:

I first created masks of the flowers from some printer paper and washi tape to hold the masks in place I did the masking and stamping technique to create a floral bundle image on to some Neenah desert storm card stock with my versamark grey ink. You can use any light neutral coloured ink to do this. Then, using my Arteza pro colour pencils I took my time colouring the images with some help with image references online. To bring out the colours, I used a white pencil to colour the base before adding the vibrant colours on top.

Once the colouring was done I wanted to add some highlights. To do this, I used my white gel pen. I add light short strokes on the petals and with my finger I swipe it off very lightly to create fine streaks. 

I re-masked the images and splattered some gold, black and white paint. I didn’t mind the smudges as I feel it gives the design a more organic look and I kinda like having some imperfections on the design. Once the paint has dried, I trimmed down the panel to 5x5 and mat it onto a slightly bigger ivory hammered card stock with foam tape. 

Finishing off, I add some slim gold mirror strips that I found In my scraps and decided to place them behind my gold embossed sentiment and add some metallic rhinestones before mounting the finished panel onto a 5 1/2 kraft card base.

This stamp set can be yours if you order this through Kickstarter, which is ending very soon. The new release is a great set of wild flower stamps, check out sunshine & Bee Designs website for more info and The little paper tree for all your crafting essentials & needs. 

x Ali x 

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SBD ECHINACEA SLIM CARD

Hello everyone it’s Ali and I’m back to share another floral card from sunshine & Bee Designs’ latest wild flower release. Today I’ll be using the beautiful echinacea flowers. 

TUTORIAL: 

I begin by creating an ink blended background with some Oxide inks in Fossilised Amber, Antique Linen and crushed olive. Then cutting the panel down to 3 x 7 1/2. 

I then die cut some random rectangle windows and inked up my sizzix 3D texture ‘Lumber’ embossing folder with my Harmony quick ink in Pumice and embossed another 3 x 7 1/2 panel out of sparrow grey card stock to create a white wash wood panel. Using the same pumice ink I did some shading around the windows and outer edges of the slim panel. I also shaded another 3 x 8 slim panel for matting. 

I coloured the echinaceas using my spectrum noir tri-blend markers (coral blend, pale pink, dull green, golden brown & earth brown) then drew in the details using my coloured fine point pens. Once all the colouring is done, I then fussy cut the flowers as close to the lines as I can. 

For the final touches after adhering the echinaceas in position with some foam tape and matted the panel and adhered to a slim card base. I then heat embossed the sentiment in black on to some heat resistant acetate and added some embellishes. 

And there you have it! My inspiration for this card card came from seeing a herb box made from wood scraps and somehow got an idea to recreate the image with wild flowers overtaking the herb box. If you would like to recreate this design you can obtain this echinacea stamp set through Kickstarter from sunshine and bee, some products used to make this card are available from The little paper tree. Also check out their new range of wild flower stamps that’s also available through Kickstarter and as always I appreciate your visit today. 

x Ali x 

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Anglaise Broderie background congratulations card

Hello everyone, 

Today I am sharing a sweet and elegant design using a matching stencil and die combo for the background with an added rosette feature for that delicate touch. This card is not only great for weddings but can be given to congratulate the recipient for their achievements or for an arrival of a new baby. 

TUTORIAL: 

I start by taping the  Doily Stencil on to some A5 sparrow grey card stock and spreading some embossing paste on as evenly as I can. Then I carefully remove the stencil to reveal the stencilled design before I quickly clean my tools and stencil, I then pour some gold embossing powder onto the wet stencilled paste, making sure I’ve covered all the sides of the patterns and I left the paste for a couple of hours to completely dry before heat setting it (letting the paste dry before applying heat will prevent bubbling).

Next I die cut the Doily Nested Dies from some grey Sparrow card stock, then I die cut some foam sheet and gold glitter with the outline die. I layered the Glitter on top of the foam then the doily on top of the glitter before I adhere the foam panel onto the centre lining up the stencil background design. 

I then created the rosette feature with some some vellum (Check out Claina’s video for detailed instructions on how to assemble a rosette.) and placed the feature in the centre of the die cut doily. I created another paste embossed stencilled disc for the top layer of the rosette, applying a few layers of foam tape to avoid having a dip in the centre. 

Lastly I stamped and gold heat embossed a sentiment onto some banners and adhered some ivory rose embellishes to the embossed discs to add some floral detail and mat the design onto a stitched square base before I attached the completed design onto some white 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 square card base. 

If you ever give this card a go, let me know your thoughts on heat embossing over a paste. My thoughts are, even though it’s a well practiced technique it’s new to me and I love how the stencilled design looks and the dimension it gives is so much more raised and defined, I am beginning to do this more often whenever I chose to stencil my backgrounds. 

x Ali x 

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_{Disclaimer: This card is created as part of my DT work, the Anglaise Broderie Nested  Dies and Stencil set featured are sponsored by Claina Palmer Designs. Other Products used to produce this card are my own purchased items and will be linked and highlighted (if available).}

My favourite Dad Slim Card

Hi everyone, 

It’s been a while since I shared any personal makes so today I am sharing a slimline masculine card ready for the coming Father’s Day on Sunday. Slimline cards are all the rage lately, there are many slimline layout dies on the market right now but I made mine without and with some partial die cutting involved. My slimline folds measures at 3 1/2  x 8 cm. 

TUTORIAL: 

I start with two panels out of a centura pearl card stock I picked out a shimmery green that resembles a duck egg colour and using my stitched rectangle die I did some partial die cutting, one panel at 8 cm and the 2nd panel at 3 cm. I then ink blend the smaller panel from the bottom up to create an ombré effect using some distress ink in chipped sapphire and faded jeans. I left the top part of the card plain as I wanted the colours to fade into the green. 

With the same ink colours and a bit of black soot I did some fine splattering all over the small panel to create some sort of haze. Once the panel is completely dried from the blending and splatters I stamped some cattails images at the bottom of the panel in black then clear embossed the images, I did not want a very dark impression and so only stamped the image once. 

I then die cut a solid hexagon out of a copper metallic card stock and then with my craft knife, manually cut out the centre to create a hexagon thin frame. I then die cut the dragonfly 4 times and stack the layers. 

Finishing off I matted the main panel onto some metallic copper card stock leaving 1/4 space all around and laid it onto the bigger panel with some foam tape and then onto the slim card base. I stamped and embossed the sentiment in black and added some clear sequins to complete the design. 

Thanks for visiting and I hope today’s card will inspire you to give the slimline card a go without needing slimline card dies. 

x Ali x

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SBD You’re the Sweetest stamp by Ali

Hi there! 

I’m so excited to share the latest stamp release from Sunshine & Bee Design with you this week, Jenni has yet again conjured up a collection of beautiful floral stamps that is just a pleasure to work with. This week I’ve chosen the Sweet Pea stamp set to share with you, which is on pre-order now. 

TUTORIAL: 

I start out by ink blending some iced spruce distress oxide ink on to an A5 matte black card stock in a circular motion to create a foggy spot light centre with an oval blending brush. 

Whilst the background is drying, I stamped the floral images and it’s leaves with my harmony black ink on to some white card stock using my stamping platform. I then coloured the images with my spectrum noir markers and then fussy cut the images using scissors and a craft knife to get around the smaller areas (be very careful not to cut yourself if you chose to do what I do, as I’m not great at fussy cutting).

I used a chandelier cake stencil to apply some paste on it then I poured some gold embossing powder over the chandelier and heat set it for a nice additional feature to the background. I find cake stencils are just as great as they are the same durable material, sometimes a little thicker but personally I like it as it gives a more raised effect. 

I assembled the sweet pea buds and leaves on to the centre of the spotlight under the chandelier with some foam strips and dots  I then gold embossed the sentiment from the same stamp set and mat it on to a grey blue paper and adhered it with some foam dots on each side. I then laud the card panel onto some grey blue paper and attach it to an A5 grey card base with some wide double sided tape, and finished off with some hematite rhinestones for a bit of sparkles. 

And there you have it, you’re the sweetest Sweet Pea Stamp set created. This design was inspired by the glowing rose scene from Disney’s beauty and the beast... Kinda explains the chandelier image in the background. I want the image of the  sweet peas to glow or keep them in focus since it is a dark coloured card.  

This stamp set is definitely worth a play, it’s great for colouring with any chosen medium and so versatile for many styles! You can pre-order this stamp set through Kickstarter.

use my code: ALI for 10% off on other sunshine & Bee Stamps 😜. 

x Ali x

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