Harvest Easel Card

Back before my last craft fair, I discovered that I really like to make intricate cards. I worked on this harvest card the week before the fair, it took me several evenings of crafting to finish it, but I dare say it is my favorite of all the cards I have made yet.

I actually made two of these exactly alike. I wanted to sell one and then send one to someone special. I never did either, they are both still stowed away for next year, but this is the card that inspired me to be more intricate in my work. It also inspired me to stop duplicating my work. I have never liked doing the same thing twice, plus I thought, "what a better way to sell than advertise that all of my cards are one of a kind." (I have since learned that the official abbreviation on Etsy for one of a kind is OOAK.)

On this card I used the diagonal easel fold. This particular fold is one of my favorites because it makes displaying the card super easy, and the card becomes more of a gift than a card. It also makes any card look super fancy, and I love fancy things. With this card I also tried my hand at mini handmade paper roses. This is where the bulk of my time was spent. It takes me a few hours to make just a few roses. I like being able to say that the roses are handmade by me, and if I am in need of a certain color I will still make them, but I have found that it is way easier to buy them online than to make them.

The image I used was from MelJen's Design, you can purchase your own digital stamp here. I colored the image with my prized Prismacolor pencils.

Here is what the card looks like when the easel is open.

I put a verse on the inside along with more roses and then I lined everything with  beautiful harvest themed paper and lace. I cannot wait for fall so I can whip this baby out and give it to someone.

Thanks for reading!

Nikki

Using Scrapbook Layouts for Cards

After my craft fair in November, I had hit a very dry spell in my crafting. I had no inspiration, and I could not figure out any designs for cards. I think part of the reason was because I did not do as well at the craft fair as I hoped, but at the time I chalked it up a learning experience. I love crafting so much, there is nothing more special to me than being able to spend time in my craft room making something pretty, but what happens when you have no pretty ideas flowing through your head?

After Thanksgiving my good friend Tasha came back from her last scrapbooking retreat that she ran and gave me a binder full of printouts from pinterest of different scrapbook layouts. I thought to myself, "Maybe I should catch up on my scrapbooks for a bit and put my cards and gifts on hold." The first day I went to tackle a scrapbook I spent a good hour or more flipping through the look-book that Tasha gave me. I still couldn't get my creative juices to flow. There were tons of really neat layouts, but what I really wanted to do was make cards. So then I started browsing through my many cardmaking pinterest boards. I still couldn't get the juices flowing so I resorted to organizing my thousands and thousands of pictures on my computer. I figured that if I ever did get the itch to catch up on my scrapbooks, It would help to organize pictures.

I organized pictures for weeks, then my computer started acting funny. In the process of waiting for my computer to get fixed, I was browsing pinterest one morning on my phone and saw a post that sparked my creative interest. It was a scrapbooking post, but the inspiration started for a card I was going to make.

Here is the original link to scrapbook page that rekindeled my creative flame.

And this is the card that I made with inspiration from it.

With my computer out of commission, I had to hand write the sentiment, and I hate my handwriting, but I guess it's cute. This is what the inside looks like.

After my last craft fair I started making the insides of my cards blank so there is room for people to write their own sentiments. I loved putting verses into them, but a lot of people mentioned that they would rather put their own verse in them. So I am stating that I can customize with a verse and other things like names, dates, and ages if people would like me to.

After I made this card, I got inspired with the look-book and decided to make one for cards. I then ended up putting them in the same binder because Both cards and scrapbook layouts can inspire me for either cards or scrapbooking.

Another thing I decided after my craft fair is that I want to make more cards for people in my family and church as gifts of encouragement rather than selling. I will still sell them, but I want to be able to use my talents for good and to help others, and this is a way I can do it. This card in particular was made for Bee who is gone to college and I miss her tons!!

Once again thanks for reading!!

Nikki