What's Up Wednesday - One Layer Cards

Hey peeps! 

I've been on Pinterest a lot lately and I'm SO addicted to looking at pins and searching for ideas. Are you?  [have you pinned your favorite PaperWings stamps yet?] I have been seeing so many great ideas for Christmas cards, and I thought I would try a few ideas using our new and previously released stamps, but I gave myself a challenge.....ONE LAYER CARDS!  I have to say, it was definitely a challenge at first, but when I started thinking about a few card layouts I had seen, plus some techniques I know (but sometimes forget to use), then putting these cards together was easy!

Krafty Christmas - This idea came from to me when I remembered how much I like colored pencil on kraft paper.  I used to do these types of cards with Ms. Liz Allen all the time.  This card reminds me of her!  First I started with the Scallop Border to set my color scheme.  When I started this I made some ink choices that let me down.  I was able to restamp these clear stamp images using chalk inks and line them up perfectly! The green one was not as bright as I wanted, so I went in with a green prisma pencil to bring it up to the perfect shade I wanted to use. Next I stamped the hanger from the Hanging Stars set using gold pigment ink. Then I added the cute elements stamped in Memories Artprint Brown, from the Christmas Mix it Up and Holiday Tags sets. I colored all of the images with prisma pencils and the stars were using a gold prisma pencil - it is a really nice metallic!  Finally, I added the sentiment from the Little Christmas set and added the white dot border from the Louise set, inking only the dots I needed. I could have drawn the dots, but I like using the border so they are lined up and evenly spaced. It takes the guess work out of the equation. Cute, right???  I thought so!

Christmas Collage -  I came across a collage card that had a red Christmas sentiment in the middle of a collage card with green music in the background.  I started thinking, how could I recreate this look with our stamps?  Here is my rendition!  Images from Music Cling, Flourish Fun 2,  Holiday Greetings  /  Holiday Greenery,  Jolly Old St. Nick  /  St. Nick Cling and the Merry clear sentiment. I accented some of the images with prisma pencil, and the sentiment is stamped in Versamark with Festive Berries ink before embossing in red embossing powder.  The Christmas is added with Chestnut Roan chalk ink.  This came out better than I thought.  I am intimidated by collages like this sometimes, but I think it turned out well.  What do you think???



Winter Peace - This one is inspired by a few things.  The new cold weather that we are finally getting down here in Texas, and all of the cute cards I've been seeing that are masked off, stamped and embossed in white and then inked with rich colors.  First, I used some low tack masking paper to mark off the sky scene.  Using Stampin' Up! Whisper White craft ink and embossing powder, my trees from the Pines set and snowflakes from the Winter Mix It Up set come to life in the blue twilight sky.  I used Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Stormy Sky and a little bit of Faded Jeans.  After all of the inking, I wiped the embossed images off to remove any remaining ink and then removed the masking paper.  The handwritten "peace on earth" sentiment from the Little Christmas set is stamped in Faded Jeans and I think it is the perfect way to finish off this card.  I'm pleased at the effect and will be trying this again with other Christmas stamps  - it's really fun when you see the images pop off the card!

So that's my take on One Layer Cards.  I hope you give these techniques a try.  Even though Christmas is going to be here in a blink of an eye, these cards could be put together really quick for a last minute gift, or mass produced in a jiffy!

Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Peace

Julie

What's Up Wednesday: Easy Mass Production Christmas Cards

Hello there peeps!

It's Shay here today.  First, did you see our cool new contest: pin it to win it?  You could be one of three to win!  And if you need some inspiration on which stamps to pin, did you see Norma's ornament HERE or Julie's canvas HERE?  Keep on checking back all month for more amazing holiday projects from Norma and Julie!

I know that the holidays are almost upon us.  Perhaps you need a little help with getting some pretty cards out pronto?  With a single stamp, ink, patterned paper, a punch and a little bling you can mass produce several cards and have them ready to mail or give out in no time.

I chose solid block type images: the snowflake block from Holiday Greetings cling stamp set or Snowy cling stamp set; the holly block from Holiday Greetings cling stamp set or Holiday Greenery cling stamp set; and wise men block from Wise Men cling stamp set to stamp in three colors which coordinated with the patterned paper I picked out.

For these cards I wanted to play with non-holiday patterned paper in non-traditional colors.  We all have beautiful patterned paper that with a holiday stamp can be transformed for the holidays.  I went with a white cardbase to make these cards even more streamlined and inexpensive.

I found with the snowflake and holly stamps I could cut a strip of 2" height from the patterned paper and still have plenty of the patterned showing.  I adhered three blocks onto my strip of patterned paper and then adhered a strip of coordinating punched paper to the bottom.  Next, I adhered the whole strip to the cardbase and cut off any overhang.  Last I added some jewels to the blocks for that holiday sparkle (a slightly larger jewel was placed on the center block).

The Wise Men card is a bit different in that the stamp is taller than the snowflake and holly block stamps and has more negative space.  Because of the differences, I cut a strip of  3" from patterned paper and also added a banner style sentiment strip cut from white cardstock to place over some of that negative space.  The sentiment comes from Holiday Greetings or Holiday Script--excellent stamp sets for this time of year!

Snowflake card (bonus: could be used for any winter holiday):

Holly card:

Wise Men card:

Without a doubt you could stamp the cardbase for more color and interest, but this design is so easy and quick that you could crank out a ton of cards without much trouble and then add your own touches and embellishments as you desire.  Buttons, sequins, sprays/mists, pearls and brads are just a few things you could use.  If you love to sew, sew your layers with matching thread or be even more bold by using metallic thread!  You can also add a sentiment of your choice or put the sentiment inside.  Merely change up the colors and patterned paper each time for a unique card each and every time!

I hope you ink up some Paper Wings Productions stamps and create your holiday cards!  We would love to see what you make with Paper Wings Productions stamps.  Add your projects to our flickr group, to Pinterest, comment with a link on this post or even email pictures to us!

Take flight,

Shay.

Supplies:

Snowflake card

Stamps: Holiday Greetings or Snowy

Ink: Jenni Bowlin for Ranger in lemon drops, stick candy and chewing gum 

Cardstock: Georgia-Pacific in white

Patterned Paper: Neapolitan 6x6 paper pad from Dear Lizzy by American Crafts

Other: border punch by EK Success; clear jewels

Holly card

Stamps: Holiday Greetings or Holiday Greenery
Ink: Jenni Bowlin for Ranger in lemon drops, seed packet and chicken feed
Cardstock: Georgia-Pacific in white
Patterned Paper: Sketchpad 6x6 paper pad from Amy Tangerine by American Crafts
Other: border punch by EK Success; clear jewels

Wise Men card

Stamps: Wise Men and Holiday Greetings or Holiday Script

Ink: Jenni Bowlin for Ranger in seed packet, chicken feed and cough syrup; Tim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger in broken china

Cardstock: Georgia-Pacific in white

Patterned Paper: Memoir 6x6 paper pad by Studio Calico

Other: border punch by EK Success; clear jewels