Making a Card Kit Your Own

Don’t be afraid to use a card kit as the starting point for your creativity! Why would you use a card kit if you already have everything you need and you are perfectly capable of creating your own cards from scratch? Sometimes, it is nice to have most of what you need already selected and gathered together! If you are like most everyone I know, you already have a lot on your plate, and you may not always feel like that creative spark in glowing. However, it can feel so good to put yourself into doing something creative. Grab a kit, and with a few touches you’ve made it your own!

Layers on a card creates dimensional interest

Building layers adds dimension and interest on your cards.

 

This card was made from a Crafter’s Companion kit which featured layering pieces for two or three types of flowers. Each of the floral layers is smaller than the one below it. I used foam squares to add even more dimension.

By tearing and inking the edges of the text paper layers, it looked totally different than leaving the paper naked. Follow with a solid color paper for the matting, with inked edges, and you have added interest.

After die cutting the “Thinking of You,” I realized the letters were thin and looked too small on the card. So instead of looking for a different die I decided to cut one or two more and glue them together, one on top of the other. It was rather tedious, but it worked out. I forgot to keep the paper cutouts that were to dot the i’s, so I used small pearls. Perhaps the way I personalize my creations is not by planning, but by fixing my mishaps! In the end I was happy with it, and hope the recipient was, too.

I am sorry that there are not more photos, showing the layers, but I had not intended to write a post. Yet we need reminders that it is okay to start with a kit, a sketch, whatever gets us doing instead of just thinking! Why not think of a kit as inspiration?

What have you “fixed” that ended up personalizing a project even more than you planned?

Cheers to Your Artful Adventures!

KS

Mini-album Fairie Dust

Mini albums can be so satisfying to complete. They can be finished rather quickly and don’t take that many supplies. Find a few coordinating papers, a few embellishments, and you are well on your way to completion!  They even make perfect gifts.

Curved spine 6"x8" mini-album using Graphic 45 Fairie Dust collection

Curved spine 6″x8″ mini-album, Graphic 45 Fairie Dust papers.

Should you decide to make your album own from scratch, you can decide on any size you like. If you are purchasing an album, there are a variety of sizes available, depending on the vendor. Some prefer to offer albums with square pages, and others offer rectangular. I really like the curved spine albums with metal rings which I found available at Pinecone Press, who was a vender at Scrapbook Expo. They are chipboard, which allows you to paper or paint them. I used Perfect Paints to create a coordinating spine, inside and out. Pinecone Press had a number of kits available for cards and albums, and although I love creating things from scratch, I also enjoy a good kit if the paper catches my eye! I will also tell you that their album kits had great directions, which is a plus! This particular album has 6″ x 8″ pages.

Back of 6" x 8" mini album.

Back of 6″ x 8″ mini album.

Do you find there are certain paper lines you are drawn to more than others?  Graphic 45 is one of the lines that always has something I adore! This older Graphic 45 Fairie Dust collection really caught my eye. I adore whimsical things and I have enjoyed the number of fairie and mermaid items available!

Adding tip-ins will give you added areas for adding more to the album such as journaling, photos, etc. A sheet of paper designed with cut-aparts create great tip-ins. You can either cut your piece a little larger on one side, and adhere one edge under another piece to hide the edge, or you might use washi tape to make a little hinge.  Either method works well.

A closure of cords or ribbons is a great finishing touch. Selecting some charms to tie on them can be another way to personalize your creation — even if it started out from a kit!  I love the way that this sheer ribbon ruffled by carefully applying light heat to it. That will definitely be a trick I keep in mind for future projects.

Here are some photos of the inside pages.

 

Have you created any mini albums lately? Were they created for someone or something specific?

Cheers to YOUR Artful Adventures!

KS

 

 

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