Today’s card was inspired by 4th of July celebrations, but is meant for a beloved coworker who is retiring after working at my school for over 25 years. She is one of the key people who everyone knew that they could turn to when they needed help and we will sorely miss her, but are so excited for her next adventure.
Skill: Intermediate Time: 1.5 hours
Directions:
Step 1: Die cut a piece of watercolor paper with the second-largest die in an A2-sized die set. Spray Lilac Posies, Angel Pink and Rhubarb Stalk Fireworks! Craft Spray directly onto a fireworks embossing folder, trying to have the colors mix on the folder. Then add the watercolor paper panel onto the embossing folder and run the whole thing through a die cutting machine. The spray will move inside of the embossing folder when it is pressed through the machine, giving some interesting effects on your embossed panel. Allow the sprays to dry.
Step 2: Ink blend the edges of the embossed panel with Neptune VersaColor ink. Press the Neptune VersaColor ink pad onto a piece of scrap acetate and spray with water and then splatter the mix onto the panel with a thin paintbrush. Then spray the panel with Copper Shimmer Spritz. Spray more of the Copper Shimmer onto a clean piece of acetate and use the spritz to paint the raised parts of the panel (the tendrils or arms of the fireworks). Allow to dry.
Step 3: Die cut another piece of watercolor paper with the largest die in the A2-sized die set. Using a sponge dauber, ink blend the edges with more of the Neptune VersaColor ink and then the extreme edges with Medieval Blue VersaFine Clair ink.
Step 4: Splatter Paris Dusk Fireworks! Craft Spray onto the panel and allow to dry.
Step 5: Stamp a sentiment on a scrap of watercolor paper with Medieval Blue VersaFine Clair ink and heat emboss with clear embossing powder. Die cut the sentiment with the corresponding die.
Step 6: Glue the two panels together. Attach the sentiment with foam tape. Then glue sequins on the lower left corner and just above the sentiment. Finally, glue the whole thing onto an A2-sized white cardbase to finish the card.
I wanted to make my Father-In-Law’s Father’s Day Card with a variety of browns and a pop of another color. So I picked Neptune VersaColor ink for a pop of color on the monochromatic background.
Skill: Intermediate Time: 1.5 hours
Directions:
Step 1: Die cut a piece of watercolor paper with the second-largest die in an A2-sized die set. Press a Sand Dune VersaFine Clair Ink onto the watercolor panel.
Step 2: Spray Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray onto an embossing folder and then emboss the Sand Dune colored panel by running it through a die cutting machine between the two sides of the embossing folder. Allow the panel to dry.
Step 3: Glide a Neptune VersaColor ink across the panel. The raised (embossed) parts of the panel will be colored with the Neptune ink, and the debossed parts of the panel will stay the Sand Dune color. Then run the Neptune VersaColor pad across the edges of the panel to color the border of the panel as well.
Step 4: Stamp the card’s sentiments (both the larger “happy” and the “Father’s Day” subsentiment) on another piece of watercolor paper with Dark Brown Shimmer Delicata ink and then heat emboss both of them with clear embossing powder. Set this aside as well.
Step 5: Press the Dark Brown Shimmer Delicata Ink Pad onto the edges of a watercolor panel until achieving a thick, dark brown border. This panel will become the matte layer of the card.
Step 6: Using the largest die from the A2-sized die set, die cut the dark brown panel . Glue the two panels together and set aside.
Step 7: Trim the sub-sentiment with a paper trimmer. Press the edges of the sentiment strip into the Sand Dune VersaFine Clair ink pad and set the sentiment strip aside to dry.
Steps 8 and 9: Press the Dark Brown Shimmer Delicata ink pad onto another small piece of watercolor paper.
Not pictured: Die cut the larger “Happy” sentiment from step 4 with the corresponding die. Then die cut a piece of the Dark Brown Shimmer colored watercolor paper with the same die to create two layers of the die cut.
Step 10: Glue the two die cut sentiment layers together, with the dark brown layer peeking out on the left side of the stamped (top) layer. Using some of the remaining dark brown watercolor paper from the last step, cut a thin strip to glue on the bottom of the sub sentiment. Glue the thin brown strip behind the sub sentiment as well as some scrap cardstock to make the sub sentiment three layers deep for strength and dimension. Set them both aside.
Step 11: Press the Dark Brown Shimmer Delicata ink pad onto a piece of acetate packaging and mix with water. Splatter the panels and the sub sentiment with the dark brown splatter. Paint the large “happy” sentiment letters with some of the remaining brown-tinted water. Set it all aside to dry.
Step 12: Press a Neptune VersaColor ink pad onto another small piece of watercolor paper. Set it asde for the ink to dry.
Step 13: Die cut the Neptune-colored watercolor paper with a leaf die.
Step 14: Assemble the card. If desired, add some twine and attach to the back of the card panels with washi tape and then add foam tape on the back so the card base will lay flat when attached to the kraft A2-sized card base. Then glue some brass-colored sequins near the sentiment to finish the card.
We’re thrilled to introduce our 2025 Artist-in-Residence Design Team! This exceptional group of designers is sure to inspire you with their remarkable creativity and talent.
Clockwise: LV Handcrafted, Anna Escalada York, Ceil Pritchett, Katy Ingram, Helen Gullett, Tracy Fear, Jessica Lin
Hi! I’m Linh – or LV Handcrafted on social media. I live in Seattle, WA with my husband and our two dogs. I’ve been crafting since I was in high school but took a long break as I started my career. Now (many years later) I am my own boss working as a business consultant, so I can balance my time and do more of what I love – papercrafting! There’s always so much to learn in papercrafting, and I find great joy in adding my own twist and sharing what I’ve learned. I love Imagine products. There’s such a wide range of media supplies. It’s so fun to experiment, have a bit of a play and create something exciting. I’m honored to be a part of this amazing team.
Hi! I am Helen. I am a stay-at-home wife and a mom of 2 daughters. I grew up in Indonesia and now live in Ohio with my family. I am working at home part time as a translator. I love paper crafting, Bible Journaling, working on mixed media and DIY projects. I love coffee, tea, and dark chocolate.
Hello crafty friends! My name is Jessica Lin. You may have recognized me or seen some of my previous projects, and I am so excited to be back on Imagine’s design team! I am a crafty gal in my late twenties, but my passion for cardmaking started a long time ago when I was 9. I was introduced to wooden stamps and I haven’t stopped stamping since. Some of my other hobbies include sewing, washi tape collaging, and I hope one day I’ll learn how to crochet, too.
I grew up in Taiwan and speak Mandarin as my mother tongue, so my YouTube channel is mostly filmed in Chinese. This year, I decided to create a bilingual Instagram account. If you are inspired by bold, vibrant colors and enjoy detailed projects with lots of layers, come have a visit! I look forward to meeting and crafting with all of you!
I am Ceal Pritchett and I reside in the mountains of western North Carolina with my husband and our little fur baby Shih Tzu. I have been a crafter in some form since childhood. I fell in love with cardmaking around 15 years ago. I am a clean and simple cardmaker who sometimes dabbles in other things like art journals, bible journaling, and painting.
Anna Escalada York grew up on a farm outside of Phoenix, Arizona and moved to Portland, Oregon to go to college, where she met her husband. They have two children (one in high school and the other in middle school), a cat and two guinea pigs. She is also a proud teacher at her local high school for almost 20 years in SE Portland, Oregon (go Lightning)! Her other hobbies are reading, riding her bike, nerding out to Star Wars, and reading.
Anna has been crafting (almost exclusively card making) since 2004, but stepped away for a while when it was too hard to juggle the demands of being a mom of little children and working full time. She returned to her craft room in 2019 and started blogging consistently in 2020. One of her recent crafty achievements has been creating 700 cards in 2021. Her favorite craft supplies include heat embossing, using splatter, and coloring with markers. Her favorite style is sparkle!
Hi! My name is Tracy Fear, known on social media as Not Afraid of Color, and my friends call me T! I am a Pacific Northwest native living in north Alabama for the past 15+ years. I am retired and live with my retired husband, our 3 dogs, and 8 cats last I counted.
I am a lifelong crafter with skills with stained glass, sewing, quilting, crochet, sculpture, beaded jewelry, macrame, crochet, woodworking, and many others. Most recently I have honed my attentions to paper crafts, specifically making cards.
Hello Crafty Friends! My name is Katy Ingram. I am a wife and mama to 1 son and 4 kitties. I live in southeastern North Carolina off the coast of Topsail Island and I LOVE making handmade cards. I started my card making journey back in 2016 and in 2019 I started my youtube channel and blog Eastwicks Paper and Ink. I wanted an outlet to share and hopefully inspire your creativity with my card making as well as some tips and tricks along the way. I am so excited to be joining the Imagine Crafts Guest Artist Team. I look forward to meeting and crafting with you!
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