Not a Card

It's Friday, which means Pink by Design will be posting ABC projects. What's ABC? It's not projects with alphabets. It's Anything But a Card. Today, we are showing gift card holders.

I made this gift card with my Silhouette Cameo. If you pull the chimney, the center piece holding the gift card comes out. I will be giving away this file on my blog later today. All I ask is that you follow my blog. You don't have to, of course, but I would really like it if you did. :-)

Steampunk Bangle

Well, I did it. I made my first ever steampunk project. I gotta say, I kinda love it. This fun adornment is for the Stampendous co-hop with DIY Bangles. The bangle started off as an unfinished piece of wood. They sell for under $5 at the DIY Bangles store. You get to add your personal touch by finishing it any way you want.

I started mine off by brushing on some watered down acrylic paints in silver, copper and a little black. Then I adorned the flat oval-shaped areas with various steampunk-style oddities like gears and keyholes. The flower and bee are from the Thoughtful Wishes and Queen Bee Perfectly Clear Stamps, respectively.

The bee pictured in the third photo, uses a faux metal embossing technique with Sterling Silver embossing powder. Just poor some embossing powder on a piece of paper and heat emboss it from the back. When the powder is still hot, stamp the image in the molten powder. It creates a great debossed effect that looks like stamped metal. However, I have a couple tips. First, ink your stamp with VersaMark and have it ready because once the powder is melted, you have to work fast. Second tip - use a clothespin to hold your paper. I burned my hand a couple times. In fact, I think my middle left finger no longer has a print!

Anyways, I used some Fast Finish by Beacon Adhesives to seal it and then wrapped some wire in a few spots.

I hope you enjoy it. Please check out the other gorgeous projects.

Scrappy Holidays!

Hi again. I'm here to share the Pink by Design Tip of the Week. We are sharing projects made with scraps. Because I had a lot of fun (and a lot of scraps) I made three Christmas cards.

The first two cards are pretty self explanatory. I cut Christmas scraps into squares and rectangles, tied some scrap ribbon and twine to them and voila, you have a card with Christmas presents. I stamped some tag images just to add some extra appeal and to show off one of the new releases by Pink by Design.

  The second card uses a similar process, except I cut the scraps to form a Christmas tree, tied some scrap ribbon into a knot and glued it to the base.

The last card is a little trickier, but not really. LOL! To make the wreath, I cut some paper into a donut shape. It doesn't have to be perfect because it will not be visible. Next I made the "leaves" by folding paper in half and hand cutting out the leaf. I glued them onto the "donut," added a ribbon and the Merry Christmas tag.

I hope you and your loved ones have a happy holiday season. Don't forget, there is a sketch challenge going on over at the Pink by Design blog. Your entry could win you a gift card to Pink by Design.

Pink by Design Sketch Challenge

Well, my friends, if you haven't already heard, Pink by Design has introduced a new platform on its blog. Here is the schedule:

Monday -  Participate in a new challenge
Wednesday - Learn a new crafting tip
Fridays - See and get inspired by some fabulous non-card projects!!

This week's challenge is based on this sketch:

 My card is below. You can get even more inspiration from the Pink by Design blog, where some of my team members posted some gorgeous projects.

And because we want you to participate in this challenge, we are giving away gift cards to the Pink by Design store. You can add your link below.

Vintage Step Card

Hi everyone. Annette here with a step card featuring these adorable new vintage-like images of children riding wagons, scooters and bicycles. In fact, the set is called Children Play.

I decided to break out my Prismacolor pencils to color these images. I felt like the look of colored pencils complemented the vintage images. To give them an even more aged look, I distressed it with yellow and brown tones. The sentiment is new, too, and can be found in the Thoughtful Wishes set. I added some some lace and gems for the final vintage touches.

CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge

I thought I'd try a new challenge I recently stumbled upon. It's called CAS(E) this sketch! The sketches are clean and simple designs, just the way I like them. This challenge ends in a few hours, but if you stay tuned, more will be coming. I encourage you to check it out, too!

Here is my card:

It's based on this sketch:

I just happened to get some new stamps from A. Jillian Vance Design that includes the image of the three pumpkins. I colored them with Copics and fussy cut them. Before adhering them to the card base, I applied a technique called Fran·táge. Created by Fran Seiford, owner and creator of Stampendous stamps, this simple technique involves sprinkling a bit of embossing powder and heat setting it from the back of the card so the powder doesn't blow away. Pretty neat, huh! I love the extra texture and bling it offers. It also helps draw the eye to the pumpkins, which are the main focal point of the card. Here is the full recipe:

Stamps: A. Jillian Vance Design
Paper: Recollections and Echo Park
Markers: Copic
Inks: Memento, Versamark
Embossing Powder: Stampendous!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a crafty day!!

Make it Pop!

 Hello there. I am excited to share with you a technique I used to give more dimension and add that little "pop" to your jumbo flowers.

Have you ever closed your eyes and all of a sudden an idea "pops" in your head. That's exactly what happened with this card. First, I stamped the Jumbo Cling Dahlia on card stock with Versa Mark ink and then heat embossed with Stampendous Pirate Gold embossing powder. Next, I fussy cut the flower with scissors. Then, with a finger knife, I carefully cut each petal starting at the tip and working down midway to the base. I didn't cut all the way to the base because I wanted the flower to remain in tact. After I finished all the fussy cutting, I curled up the tips to give it a more realistic, three-dimensional effect.

 

Here is the entire recipe:
Stampendous Stamps: Jumbo Cling Dahlia, Happy Messages Perfectly Clear Stamps
Ink: Versa Mark, Memento
Stampendous Embossing Powder: Pirate Gold
Designer Paper:  My Minds Eye
Ribbon: May Arts