Tag Archives: Craft Mat

Create a Coffee Themed Father’s Day Card

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by Jowilna Nolte

Create a Coffee-Themed Father's Day Card

You are a Special Blend! This two-toned coffee theme card with its fun sentiment could make for a nice Father’s day card for the special dad that loves his coffee. I know in our house that sure is true. This card boasts shades of blue ocean with a hint of dramatic black all using one of my favorite inks—VersaFine Clair. Continue reading to see how I made this card!

Skill: Advanced
Time: 1 hour

Directions

using your VersaMagic DewDrops. Start with your lightest color first moving to the darkest color
Step 1

Use the direct to the paper method to ink a piece of cardstock from top to bottom in sections using your VersaMagic DewDrops. Start with your lightest color first moving to the darkest color. And let dry completely.

Misti Stamping Tool and stamp the background image in Versamark ink and then sprinkle with clear embossing powder
Step 2

Position your stamp and cardstock piece in the MISTI Stamping Tool and stamp the background image in VersaMark ink and then sprinkle with clear embossing powder. Remove excess and heat set image.

Nocturne VersaFine Clair ink and ink over the entire embossed piece
Step 3

Use Nocturne VersaFine Clair ink to ink over a portion of entire embossed piece. Use a soft damp cloth to gently wipe the embossed areas clean from the black ink and reveal the colored image underneath. Ink the card only one-third of the way. I am using a band to mask the area area where it is ink over and where it is not. But you could mask off a line with washi tape if you wanted a strong edge.

Stamp "You're A Special Blend" sentiment from your Coffee Lovers set repeatedly in VersaFine Clair Warm Breeze across the paper band.
Step 4

Trim a piece of specialty paper to 2 inches tall and 5 – 6 inches—long enough to wrap around your card. Stamp “You’re A Special Blend” sentiment from your Coffee Lovers set repeatedly in VersaFine Clair Warm Breeze across the paper band.

VersaFine Clair Fallen Leaves onto white cardstock
Step 5

Stamp the coffee cup twice in VersaFine Clair Fallen Leaves onto white cardstock. Then stamp the heart inside it using VersaFine Clair Warm Breeze.

Cut out the coffee cup and ink the edges using VersaMagic
Step 6

Cut out the coffee cup and ink the edges using VersaMagic. On your second cup, cut out a band and layer it on top of the colored cup using foam tape.


Step 7

Trim the embossed panel to fit onto a plain inked matt and add sewing detail. Adhere the panel to the front of a card using foam tape. Wrap the stamped band around the card and adhere the colored cup in place. Finish off the card with pearl and diamanté in the same shades as the inks used.

Supplies

Imagine

Other

  • Cardstock – white, kraft
  • Joy Clair Stamps – Coffee Lovers Clear Stamps
  • Sewing machine
  • Heat tool
  • MISTI Stamping Tool
  • Foam tape
  • Embellishments of choice

See How to Make a Glass Pebble Votive with StazOn Studio Glaze

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by Roni Johnson

See How to Make a Glass Pebble Votive with StazOn Studio Glaze

When I saw the Color of the Month for June was Seabreeze, my first thought was beach glass being tossed around deposited on land by the endless waves. Sadly I live in a landlocked state so I don’t have the opportunity to find or collect on the beach myself so I decided to improvise. Flattened glass marbles are easily found at many retailers so they were an easy choice to create this faux beach glass votive holder.

Skill: Beginner
Time: 45 minutes + dry time

Directions


Step 1

Gather about 50 or so flattened glass marbles, and StazOn Studio Glaze in Blue Hawaii and Emerald City.


Step 2

Dispense a dot of Studio Glaze onto one of the marbles and spread the medium over the top and sides of the marble with a paintbrush or your fingertip. Vary the application of the medium so there are areas with thinner and thicker coats which will produce a number of color variations.


Step 3

Repeat until you have roughly one-third of the marbles covered with Blue Hawaii. Let these marbles dry naturally.


Step 4

Apply Emerald City Studio Glaze to approximately one-third of the marbles as in steps 2 and 3. Leave the remaining third of the flattened marbles uncolored.


Step 5

While the flattened marbles are drying, cover a mason jar lid with Rinea Silver Starstruck foiled paper.


Step 6

Adhere a piece of cork to the bottom of the lid. This will become the base for the candle holder.


Step 7

Place a votive candle in the center of the lid base to use as a guide for placement of the flattened marbles.


Step 8

Use a hot glue gun to adhere the marbles to the base.


Step 9

Continue to build layers of flattened marbles until the walls reach their desired height. There are 6 layers of 8 marbles used in this example. Adhere decorative jute ribbon around the edge of the base of the votive holder. Enjoy!

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Flattened Marbles
  • Mason Jar Lid
  • Rinea – Silver/Silver Starstruck Foiled Paper
  • Cork
  • May Arts – Jute Ribbon
  • Battery Operated Votive Candle
  • Hot Glue Gun

Project Swap: Create a “Dear Friend” Greeting Card

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Welcome back for another Artist Project Swap with Martha and Steph.

Welcome back for another Artist Project Swap with Martha and Steph. For the Month of May, we challenged our artists to exchange tutorials and create each other’s designs in order to see how each of our artists interprets style and choices. The receiving artist did not know who designed the project, nor did they receive any images! In today’s post, Steph writes the directions and recommended supplies list and Martha created the project.

Create a “Dear Friend” Greeting Card by Martha Lucia Gomez

This month the Artist in Residence team made a wonderful exercise or swap project challenge. Each designer created a project and send the instructions and photo to our coordinator. Then we received another project to follow the instructions, without a photo or who exactly created it. This is the swap project I received and can you believe that after made the card I discovered who was the author of the instructions…I recognize the style!

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes + dry time

Directions


Step 1

Create the base of the card using olive card stock. The size of my card is a regular size 4-1/4″ x 11″ with a score at 5-1/2″ for the centerfold. Cut a white cardstock of 4″x 5-1/4″. Place a background pattern stencil on the white panel and ink with Brilliance in Pearlescent Lime.


Step 2

Ink sheer ribbon with lime ink. When dry, wrap around the matted panel. Knot with twine on the right side of the panel. Added the panel to the card with foam adhesives.


Step 3

Using a stamp positioning tool and a flower stamp, ink the steam and leaves with the Brilliance in Pearlescent Lime. Ink the flower with the Memento Marker in Angel Pink. Stamp image onto white cardstock. Re-stamp the flower using the Memento Marker in Rose Bud around the edges. Fussy cut the flower.


Step 4

Die cut brown and white cardstock shapes with graduating sized dies. Adhere together with Tear It Tape. Place on left side of the card with foam adhesives, overlapping the ribbon. Trim shapes as needed to align with a patterned piece on the left edge. Adhere the stamped flower on top. I used square cross stitched die cuts from Gina Marie Designs. Stamp “Just For You” sentiment. Ink edges and mat with brown cardstock. Add near the top of the card with foam adhesives. Reading through Steph’s instructions I realized I didn’t have a “Just For You” sentiment so I replaced with “Dear Friend” which is just as nice.

Definitely, it was a very good experience to swap projects and the best part that was I could replace materials and give to the project my personal touch.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Cardstock – Whisper White, Old Olive, Early Espresso
  • Hero Arts – Honeycomb Stencil
  • Stampin Up – Birthday Blossom Stamp set
  • Gina Marie Designs – Square Cross Stitched dies
  • Big Shot die cut machine
  • Sheer ribbon
  • MISTI or Stamparatus stamping tool
  • Double sided foam tape or Dimensionals

Original Design by Steph

What did you think of Martha’s interpretation of Steph’s design?

Comment below!

Project Swap: Create a Summertime Hello Card

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Welcome to another set for our Artist Project Swap with Nadine and Roni. For the Month of May, we challenged our artists to exchange tutorials and create each other’s designs in order to see how each of our artists interprets style and choices. The receiving artist did not know who designed the project, nor did they receive any images! In today’s post, Nadine gives the directions and recommended supplies list and Roni created the project.

Summertime Hello Card by Roni Johnson

We had a little fun here recently at Imagine by challenging ourselves to an art swap. Each of us created a project, wrote up instructions and then Imagine swapped out all of the projects with a fellow Artist in Residence. I had the pleasure of working with Nadine Carlier’s project, as you can see it turned out amazing. It’s funny when we compared finished projects we even chose to use the exact same “hello” stamp!

Skill: Beginner
Time: 30 Minutes + dry time

Directions


Step 1

Cut a strip of white cardstock so it fits the width of a card and about 3 inches wide.


Step 2

On the strip, stamp a leaf image and a hello sentiment using VersaMark and then emboss and heat set it with white embossing powder.


Step 3

Kaleidacolor Fresh Greens and a brayer work best for this step. Use sponge daubers and individual green ink colors in varying tones as long as they are a water-based ink, for example, Memento inks.


Step 4

Slide the Kaleidacolor inks together and roll a brayer over the ink pad. Make sure to keep rolling in the same spot to not mix the colors up on the brayer.


Step 5

Using the cardstock strip roll the brayer lengthwise so the lightest ink color is in the center of the cardstock strip. At this point, only half of the cardstock strip should have color on it. Don’t worry about getting full coverage on the strip, this is normal especially around the embossed areas. You actually want some white areas showing.


Step 6

Flip the cardstock 90 degrees and repeat the steps from 4 and 5. Once cardstock piece is completely rolled, you should have an ombre effect with the lightest ink color in the middle and with it getting darker towards the top and bottom of the strip. Because my brayer width was wider than my cardstock strip I had the darker ink colors rolled on my craft mat. Spray the ink left on the craft mat with water and use the mix as an ink or lift technique. This will create a texture effect. Repeat until you have the look you desire. Using a dry paper towel rub over the embossed areas to remove extra ink. Let your cardstock strip dry.


Step 7

Finish the design by adhering the cardstock strip to the front of a card base with Tear It! Tape. Add sequins, dew drops or tiny dots of irRESISTible Pico Embellisher in Clear or Wedding Dress. Enjoy!

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Joy Clair – “Hello” stamp
  • Just For Fun Rubber Stamps – Stamptangle Leaf
  • Brayer
  • Sequins
  • Cardstock – white
  • Heat Tool

Original Design by Nadine

What do you think of Roni’s interpretation of Nadine’s tutorial?

Comment below!

Make a Card with VersaMagic Mango Madness

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by Iris Rodriguez

Make a Card with VersaMagic Mango Madness. cardmaking tutorial. Spring time blooming flowers theme.

This month’s color at Imagine is Mango. Do you like mangoes? They are delicious. I like plain mangoes, mango juice, even mango in my summer salads. After creating today’s project, I can add to my list of mango appreciation VersaMagic Ink in Mango Madness. As I started using this beautiful color, I soon realized I could not stop at just coloring my tree; I also colored white paper flowers and a butterfly with this ink as well. You could say I had a Madness for this Mango Ink.

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 1.5 hours

Directions


Step 1

Spray the paper with water. Spray with Fireworks Shimmery Craft Spray in Summer Sky. Dry paper.


Step 2

Ink the paper with VersaMagic in Aegean Blue, Thatched Straw and Memento Luxe in Wedding Dress using the Sponge Dauber, Inkblusher, and Smudgee.


Step 3

Using a Sponge Dauber ink through the flowering tree stencil with the VersaMagic in Mango Madness. Emboss using Clear Embossing Powder. Place the stencil over the image again and ink through the stencil with the VersaMagic in Mango Madness. Emboss the image with the Sparkle Embossing Powder.


Step 4

Ink a scrap piece of watercolor paper on one side ink with VersaMagic in Thatched Straw and the other half ink the VersaMagic in Mango Madness. Emboss both colors using the Clear Embossing Powder. Punch out the butterfly with each ink color.


Step 5

Layer one butterfly over the other, adhere together with On Point Glue. Stamp the word “hello” on a piece of paper, cut a tag shape around the sentiment. Punch a hole in the center. Tie a piece of embroidery thread on the butterfly and tag.


Step 6

Ink VersaMagic in Thatched Straw on the Craft Mat, spray water and dip paper flowers in it, ensuring to completely color the flowers. Dry the flowers.


Step 7

Ink VersaMagic in Mango Madness on the flowers. Glue the flowers, butterfly, and tag onto the tree background using On Point Glue. For the yellow background paper, cut a piece of paper a little bigger than the main card, and ink the out edges with VersaMagic in Thatched Straw. Assemble the card by mounting the flowering tree stencil card panel to the yellow background card base.

I hope you are mad about this month’s color the way I was and give this project a try.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Watercolor paper – 12 x 9 inches Cold Press, 300 GSM – 140 lbs
  • Deco Arts – Flowered Tree stencil
  • Paper flowers
  • Martha Stewart – Butterfly paper punch
  • Paper hole punch – 1/16 inch

Make a “Celebrate This Day” Card

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by Jowilna Nolte

Every day is a gift! As a way to celebrate this notion, I created a handmade card with the theme “this day celebrate this life” to share this powerful message. See how to use layered ink to create a soft delicate effect with Tsukineko inkers. Create a beautiful effect on quick and easy cards using layered inks with a single stamp design. This effect is so easy but looks amazing against the yellow inked background, fitting right in with our color of the month–Mango. Take a look how I created this easy and effective stamped look.

Skill: Beginner
Time: 1 hour + dry time

Directions


Step 1

Create a watercolored style background using Tsukineko Dye Inkers in Golden Brown and Mustard. Add a few drops of both of the inkers onto your craft mat, mist or dilute with water and dip a piece of white cardstock into the ink. This ink is very dense and will coat the entire piece of cardstock. Leave to dry.


Step 2

Position the flower stamp and cardstock piece with the Misti Stamping Tool and stamp using VersaFine Clair in Pinecone.


Step 3

Clean the stamp and while keeping it in the same position, ink the image with VersaMagic Mango Madness. Stamp over the same image with the yellow to soften the brown ink color and create an additional layer.


Step 4

Stamp the sentiment “this day celebrate this life” overlapping the flower images using VersaFine Clair in Nocturne to make it stand out against the brown and yellow tones.


Step 5

Above is another version of this design. You can play with these ideas to create several cards. From here detail the design in your own style with brads, sequins, diamanté, and mount to the card base to finish the card.

Thank you for stopping by the Imagine blog and if you enjoyed this tutorial then please comment below or share on social media! 

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • White cardstock
  • Flower stamp
  • Altenew – “celebrate this life” stamp
  • Brad
  • Misti Stamping Tool
  • Sequins