Category: Creative Tips

Hi Friends!

Let’s check out some ideas for shaker cards today. These cards from camp were quick & fun to put together.

You can turn just about any shape die into a shaker card fairly easily. Peruse your die stash & imagine which dies you already own that may make fun and unique shaker cards. Don’t forget to keep the cutouts for other fun projects.

Be generous with the foam tape when creating the “well” for your sequins, confetti or embellishments you plan to add to your shaker. Make sure to seal the opening edge to edge. You can also foam off several wells and highlight the area with different colors if you like. Each row of letters in the Celebrate card above is it’s own well. It also keeps the sequins front & center instead of at the bottom of the window.

Not all shaker cards have to be “fluffy”. Try your hand at the newer style of full front shaker cards. Shaker cards with less bulk are still fun and easier & less expensive to mail.

Using patterned paper will use up some of your scrap pile and add lots of interest to your card when you mix patterns that work well together. The Balloon card could easily be created with all scraps or make a stack of them with a 6 x 6 paper pad.

What kind of sequins or bits & bobs do you have that can make the shaker element fun? Confetti left over from a party, small seed beads from your bead stash, tiny flowers from your dies or flower collection, tinsel, chunky glitter or snow for a Christmas card, the possibilities grow when you look at your supplies with a new eye. This set came with a die that cut confetti shapes. If you have something similar in your dies, you could spend an evening watching TV and cutting out shaker bits from scraps.

Shaker elements are also fun for mini albums, junk journals, and scrapbook pages. Are there other art projects you can think of that you can add a shaker to?

Go on a creative adventure with your art supplies and see what you have that could make fun shaker elements. You might be surprised & come up with a few ideas for other projects when you look at your supplies with a different point of view.

Blessings!

Hi Friends!

I broke out my group of cards from Concord & 9th Summer Camp into their individual classes and will try to share some tips & ideas to recreate a similar look with what you may already own. Especially since these are exclusive sets only for the campers. Class 1 was taught by Laura Bassen, who always shares great creative inspiration.

This Cardscapes set of dies, stencils & stamps offered a lot of variety for the class but also should translate well to similar items we already own. Let’s explore:

If you already own hill, mountain, wave, cloud or similar dies, it will be easy to duplicate this style of layered scenery. Look at your cover plate dies and see if they lend themselves to a decorative frame or check out your foliage & tree dies to be able to add in natural elements. Tree line dies were really popular a couple years ago so you may already have one. A simple circle makes an excellent sun or moon and it’s easy to make stenciled rays even if you don’t have a stencil. Blending between sticky notes works well when laid out in a ray pattern. Here’s a few more tips:

Tip #1 from class – if your die allows it, use it right side up and upside down to vary your hills, mountains, clouds, waves more.

Tip #2 – you can use edge stencils or torn paper to add the shading you see in the card on the right. It was blended with the same color ink that matches the cardstock. Shading & highlights add depth to the card without bulk.

Tip #3 – to create the tree shadow in card one, we used a matching stencil to the tree die placed upside down. If you don’t have a matching stencil you can use the negative die cut left from cutting out the trees as a stencil to create the same effect.

Tip #4 – add some playful fun by mixing patterned & solid cardstock

I hope these tips & tricks provide some idea starters for your next scenery card and allow you to look at your supplies with a new eye to possibilities.

Blessings!