Dahlia Paper Flower on Color Block Card Base

Hi, this is Laura, and I have made a card that goes beyond what my “style” is — it truly is one of a kind and out of my comfort zone — for the cutcardstock.com design team challenge this month. I chose to do the color block challenge, and I decided that I would begin with making a  color block woven card base with a paper flower that would be in the center of the card and its focal point. 

I started on the card mat first, which looks like a checkers mat. I cut two 4 x 5.25 pieces of paper in different colors. I choose some “matching” colors to my patterned paper, which is part of a discontinued Basic Grey line. It’s important to use double-sided patterned paper for the flower although you could use single-sided paper where one layer would be white. This won’t work for all papers though as white can clash with some prints. 

Making the checkered paper mats was easy — you cut the papers in one inch wide strips — one sheet on the vertical and one on the horizontal. Then you weave them through each other using repositional tape on the ends to keep the layers down. 

I made made a few samples to see which set of card base colors looked best on the busy patterned paper that I would use  for the coordinating paper flower. 

I wove the card stock colors together — and you can see that I have used:

DCS Shimmery Textured Wedding Cake 8.5x11 inch White Card Stock

Stardream Metallic Saturn 126lb 8.5 x 11 Card Stock

DCS Discount Card Stock: Pearlized Textured Jet Stream Blue

Basis PINK 80lb Cardstock

DCS Discount Card Stock: Black Card Stock

It turns out that although my patterned paper has all of the above colors, the patterned paper that I planned to use for the card looked best on the black and white card base.

For the paper flower, I decided to so a paper Dahlia flower. Years ago, I had made these Dahlia flowers, but I needed a how-to refresher. So I hit Youtube and found Connie Stewart of Simply Simple Stamping, and she shows how  to make a paper Dahlia flower the easy way. You should check her out if you are interested in a detailed visual how-to. 

When you have finished folding the petals, you line up the eight petals (I used more than eight) and adhere them in a circle on one of the cut circles not used. You can use repositional or permanent tape or liquid glue on the circle. I use repositional tape to make sure that I could maneuver the petals better and then used Art Glitter wet adhesive when I was happy with the outcome. 

Then top flower with a rhinestone or other round embellishment. I’m a perfectionist — and that makes paper folding challenging for me, but I think the flower came out nice and it looks dramatic against the color block card base. I matted the card base onto some extra patterned paper for a nice trim.

I hope that you enjoyed this project and will try making paper Dahlias too. If you have any questions, I’d love to help — and be sure to share your paper flowers here. I’d love to see your color combinations!

     

Wine Bottle Wrapper

 

Here's my new Cutcardstock.com August Design Team project. I chose an Anniversary theme project and decided to do Dreaming Tree’s Anniversary Wine Bottle Wrapper.

The prep work — cutting cardstock on my Cricut — took some time, but putting together the entire project took 40 minutes. It was easy to do while following Dreaming Tree’s how-to video, which was at a great pace. 

I chose Silk Glitter Card Stock in Black Prince for the wine bottle wrapper because I love how it elevates the bottle with some bling. 

I coordinated the colors using Stardream Metallic Bronze Card Stock, DCS Shimmery Textured Wedding Cake 8.5x11 inch White Card Stock in Wedding Cake, DCS Discount Card Stock: Textured Japanese Maple Red Card Stock, Lessebo Colors in Hunter Green, and Bright Foil Cardstock in Gold.

I think they create a nice contrast between the white and the other colors that blended.

The bottle is topped off with a bow and ribbon tails. There is an option to customize or personalize the ribbon, but I prefer to keep it blank so I can gift the bottle for any occasion that may come up. 

My favorite part of the bottle wrapper is the flower.

I coiled the gold flower stamen and popped a rhinestone on a 3d glue dot — and I love how that bling raises it a level. 

I hope you enjoyed this project — and if you try it, let me know!

 

Nothing is better than a picnic!

Nothing is better than a picnic, so says Zooey Deschanel. And I have to agree!

Picnics say summer, and what’s more summery than a picnic with a red checkered tablecloth and wine and cheese?

This is Laura — and I knew this darling file, Picnic Basket Box Card, by svgcuts.com would be the perfect project for cutcardstock.com's summer design team challenge. 

Like any project, I first gathered my CutCardStock materials:

DCS Discount Card Stock: Pearlized Textured Jet Stream Blue. This 80-pound cover cardstock has a pearlized texture on one side and a matte color on the back. The shimmer and the light color made it look “realistic” for the wine glass. 

For the flowers, I used Basis PINK 80lb Cardstock. It has a slight texture to it but is mostly flat. I used this for the tiny flower bouquet.

I also used DCS Discount Card Stock: Textured Japanese Maple Red Card Stock, which has a subtle linen texture on one side and was perfect for my wine bottle, the wine in the glasses, and the grapes. 

I also used DCS Shimmery Textured Wedding Cake 8.5x11 inch White Card Stock, which is textured and shimmery on one side and smooth matte on the back side. This was perfect for the “China” plates in the back.

I also added basket weave patterned papers from KaiserCraft’s Salty Kisses 12x12 paper pad for the base of the card and the handles with silver metallic paper (for the utensils and wine bottle label) and red checkered patterned papers (for the tablecloth, tops of the box card panels) from Hobby Lobby.

I sized the SVG file down, maybe a little too small since the project is only one inch wide on the box of the box card, but being this small makes the card even cuter. I then altered my layer colors to represent my supplies. As far as embellishment, all the card needed was some Stickles on the glasses and grapes.

I think it turned out great — minus the ants that show up at a picnic! Let me know what you think below!

Congrats to Mr. & Mrs.!

This is a short and sweet Congratulations design team prompt for CutCard Stock.com. I knew I wanted to use their Bronze specialty paper on a project: Stardream Metallic 8.5 x 11 BRONZE (brown) 105lb Card Stock.

The paper’s finish is Mica-coated metallic+ pearlescent & iridescent — and it is double-sided with 105# cover thickness, which is perfect for formal wedding and special occasion cards. I used Kolette Hall Studo’s Wedding Split Design Card found on the loriwhitlock.com website.

And I had to use a shimmer cardstock to match the look and feel of the bronze paper. DCS Shimmery Textured Wedding Cake 8.5x11 inch White Card Stock is now my favorite cardstock for my paper projects. It is textured and shimmers on one side.

My Cricut cut the sentiment, and I was happy that it was a clean cut, but that’s what you get when you use good paper!

I also made more cards using DCS Discount Card Stock: Textured Japanese Maple Red Card Stock, which has a subtle linen texture, and a grey cardstock that I bought from CutCardStock, which is no longer available.

Hope that you enjoyed looking at my projects -- and will try it yourself. Let me know below if you do!

Let's Go To Coffee

For the friendship CutCardStock challenge today, I made this box card for a friend who needs a bit of cheering up -- and what's better than a card inviting her to coffee?

Sized at 2 x 2 3/4 (not including the steamed milk), this box card fits in my hand — and a custom-cut 3 1/2 x 3 1/8 envelope. The SVG image is from SVGCuts.com and is called To Go Coffee Box Card.

I used DCS Shimmery Textured Wedding Cake 8.5x11 inch White Card Stock for the coffee top and the steamed milk.

The brown card stocks I used for the coffee cup base and the coffee layer were papers I had on hand. The print is from a patterned paper stack from Recollection's Farmhouse.

The “I’m here for you” stamp by Stampin’ Up! is the perfect sentiment for this month’s design challenge: Friendship. I added a tiny jewelry heart to the side of the sentiment and it fits perfectly.

I love the steamed milk cut that peeks out from the top — and you can see from the side angle too.

I finished the cup with a copper brad and brown paper flower attached to the back. Now it is ready for the mail — who would you send it to?

“Just Because” Wildflower Box Card

For Cutcardstock's DT challenge, I used the Wildflowers Box Card SVG from svgcuts.com. For those of you who use SVGs, there are individual image files or the entire image in one file. I use the latter because it is less complicated and easier to shrink down. I could have made this even smaller, the cuts would have held up at that size. 

I used card stock that I had on hand as well as cutcardstock.com papers:

DCS Discount Card Stock: Textured Japanese Maple Red Card Stock, which is by far my favorite red.

Astrobright Solar Yellow 8.5x11 Discount Card Stock, which is a great, bright yellow.

Lessebo Colors HUNTER GREEN 83lb Cardstock, also a must-have deep green.

I also inked all of the flowers and leaves in similar colors, using Color Box Flower Petal inks. I love the shimmer, which gave the bright card stock, and how it muted some of the colors, like the green. I also used contrasting inks on the yellow rose — so the tips were a lovely pink.

The trunk is based on dark brown card stock as well as a wood grain patterned paper that I also have on hand. The file image had holes for brads, and I love that touch. I bought the brads from Amazon — just search mini brads and you will have your choice of colors. 

There is an oval shape that lends itself to personalization, so you can write what you want, just because. 

This may seem like a complicated file, and at first, I questioned if I could do it justice, but once you get going, it was easy. And svgcuts.com also gives a video how-to and a PFD of all the cut pieces, making it less overwhelming. 

Let me know what you think and if you will try this project!