This is what got me hooked on cards....

Welcome everyone! I'm so glad you had time to stop by. Today I'm going to share with you what got me started on card making. I go to the Scrapbook Expo that comes to my area every July and this year I decided to invite my neighbor. We both picked a couple classes and had a great time. One of the classes was working with vellum. To my surprise it was a card making class! The card was beautiful!! I was HOOKED to say the least...It was so much fun. Here is what we made.

So I ran to the vendor and used my coupon and bought both the Birds of Bloom Stamp and Die set from Heartfelt Creations. I immediately began to buy things to make cards while I was there rather than Scrapbooking supplies. I'm sure it was funny to watch me. I was so excited about this new craft and I wanted to dive in with both feet. I still scrapbook, but not very often. I love the creativity in making cards. A card is a way to let a person know how you feel, how important they are to you, and it gives me a chance to brighten their day. It's so easy to see why there are so many people making cards.

Today I decided to step away from Holiday cards and make a card using the Birds of Bloom set. All of a sudden I decided to do a CASE card. This is what I made today. There are a lot of steps but they are quick and easy so please try something like this and share it so I can see.

I don't have background stamps BUT I do have embossing folders. So I inked the raised side of my embossing folder with Sea Foam Powder Puff Chalk Ink and hand pressed a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of card stock on to it.

I then used my Ranger Medium on the Birds of Bloom stamps and stamped it onto a scrap piece of vellum. I used WOW white embossing powder and then ran my warm embossing gun on the back of the vellum.

After this it was time to use the coordinating Dies and cut the branch and birds out with my Big Shot.

I don't have the colors of ink that we used so I had to use Powder Puff Chalk Ink. I used Warm Sand on the branches, Hydrangea on the birds, and Fuchsia on the Blooms. This is done on the back of the vellum so you don't stain the white embossing.

While that dried I started on the center of the card. I took the same embossing folder and inked the raised side with Fuchsia Powder Puff Chalk Ink and pressed my white card stock 3 1/2" x 2 1/2" onto it. After the chalk ink dried the piece was still to light, so I took some Spun Sugar Distress Ink and distressed the piece from the edges inward. Instead of using foam tape to adhere it to my card front I glued two pieces of fun foam, cut slightly smaller, together and then glued it to the center piece and then onto the card. (fun foam is so much cheaper than foam tape and I'm frugal...haha)

I found a sentiment that I wanted to use and used white embossing powder on a scrap piece of vellum. I cut the vellum the same size as the center piece. You have to be very careful how you glue the vellum onto the center piece. Make sure you glue where the branch will cover it up, otherwise, you will see the glue through the vellum.

Before I glued the branch onto the vellum with the sentiment I placed a few layers of fun foam under the branch and used a small round tip to gently rub the center of the flowers. This will make them form a small cup like shape. Then I added drops of glue to the centers of the blooms and sprinkled some very very small pearls onto them.

When gluing the branch onto the center piece of the card you want to just add glue to the branch and not the leaves and flowers. This is the fun part because you can play with the placement of the birds and decide where you like them best. I added glue to the back of their feet and adhered them behind leaves.

Then to finish the card of I used Star Dust Stickles under the birds wings and on its chest. It was fun making this card.

I didn't think I would be able to do it on my own because I don't have all of the same things in my craft supplies that we used in class. A little thinking and I managed to pull it together. I approach things I see on the internet the same way. I figure out what I DO have that would be close so I can try to make some of the cards I see out there. I'm finding ways to do things without all of the expensive supplies and its so rewarding! Do you try to find a way to make things without the expensive equipment also? I would love to hear some of the things you have learned. Leave a comment below sharing some of your tips and tricks so we can all learn them. I appreciate everyone of you every single day. Thank you so much for stopping by and have a blessed day!