Hack: Prevent wet paper from wrinkling when dry using a sticky mat

As a lover of multiple forms of media when I do my crafting, I thoroughly enjoy using Tim Holtz’s distress mediums, adding water, watching the inks react. I also enjoy water coloring on my cards and projects. But the worst thing is when your wet media wrinkles the paper you’re working on.

Here’s another trick I discovered to prevent your paper from wrinkling.

1. Obtain a Silhouette Cameo, Cricut or Sizzix adhesive cutting mat.

1. Use either watercolour paper or multimedia paper. These can be purchased from any art store.
   
   Here is an example of a watercolor pad. I recommend getting the ones without the coil binding or getting the ones with the easy to rip little dotted cut marks on the inside. I forget what those are called.
2. Apply your watercolor paper to the sticky mat. Make sure the edges are tacked down. If your mat is old, use a little temporary double sided adhesive on the underside of your paper to stick down the edges. Make sure ALL THE EDGES have adhered to the mat otherwise you’ll get wrinkles. The body of the paper does not need to be sticking to the mat so don’t worry if you have an older mat.
3. Apply wet media. Inks, paints, water, etc.
4. Let dry completely.
5. Carefully remove the sheet from the sticky mat.

Troubleshooting:

1. The paper wrinkled when I applied wet media.
   Solution: This is normal, the paper will wrinkle as it absorbs the liquid and expands. Just let it dry, it will contract and shrink back to be flat again just as long as you do not remove the paper from the mat before it fully dries.
2. The paper is still wrinkly even though I let it dry completely on the mat.
   Solution: Always ensure the edges of the paper are all completely adhered to the mat. Check the paper you’re using. Watercolor paper is a heavier weight paper, unlike most cardstocks that don’t work very well with wet media even if you use any variety of methods to prevent wrinkling. The paper just wasn’t designed for media work like watercolor artist paper is.
   Solution: Try ironing it with a cloth between the paper and the iron to prevent burning.

Post a comment below if you have any questions or need help with this method!

Kitty Cat Silhouette Christmas Card

I’ve been meaning to upload a few last minute christmas cards that you could whip up really quickly. If you’re anything like me, you’ll likely be trying to pump these out the night before you meet your loved ones and friends so burning the midnight oil well into the night isn’t ideal. But not to worry this next card is so simple to complete, it is literally just choosing a design, some pasting work, add a little bling and you’re done!

For this project I used my silhouette studio with the following design from the design studio: Cats on stack of presents.

I cut it out on shimmery black cardstock to give it some vibrancy for the holiday season. Likewise my scalloped border was punched out using the same shimmery cardstock.

Then I selected a festive background from my stash of Christmas papers and applied the cat silhouette on top and scalloped border on the back. I then wrapped the piece in pink baker’s twine.

Afterwards, I stamped merry christmas with one of my hero arts christmas stamps using clear versamark and heat embossed with fine silver powder. I adhered this sentiment on a back piece of silver cardstock and then used foam dots to apply the sentiment on top of the baker’s twine.

Finally, I applied the whole piece to a 4.5×5 inch cream card using double sided tape.

This card was so simple and easy to make using my Silhouette Cameo and quite frankly a lot of fun since I love cats. I had a great time being able to incorporate some of my favorite pets in a craft project.

But if you don’t like cats or you don’t have this particular sihouette cut out on hand, essentially any silhouette shape can work with a patterned background. Then a sentiment placed on top using foam dots to make it more 3D.

Have fun making this card, it’s great as a last minute card creation!

Calendar Style Birthday Card

I made this card for my BFF a few months back for her birthday but just got around to uploading it. Sorry for being MIA for a while, my studies have been so super busy! I went away to present my research at a conference and although it was probably one of the best experiences of my life, it also left me very little free time for a while.

But I’m back in the game and super excited to share with you all my most recent creations, starting with the least recent haha!

I really wanted to showcase when my BFF’s birthday was which is the 29th of December so I printed out, stained and distressed a calendar that I found online.

I used some glimmer mist in Rouge and Cork using my technique on how to prevent paper from wrinkling after soaking it in wet media and letting it dry. You can find that tutorial here.

Once it dried, I stamped some swirls using Versamark and transparent embossing powder. You can see the glimmer mist underneath of it that way.

Then I just finished up the card by adding a gemstone over the top of the 29th of December because that’s the date of her birthday. And then I just embellished with a flower (I don’t remember what it’s called, an accordion flower? Somebody help!) I cut out with my Silhouette Cameo, but you can also use a Tim Holtz die to do that.

I mounted the calendar onto another piece of cardstock which I punched with a Martha Stewart doily punch just on one edge and then distressed the edges with Vintage Photo. 

Finally I mounted everything onto a card with a pretty pink background I dug out from my scraps stash from DCWV Garden Tea Party Stack.

Share your comments below!

How to make vintage manly holiday cards tutorial

I made a series of vintage-styled Christmas cards that would be perfect for a male recipient if ever you needed a Christmas card for a dude or maybe just a manly female?

These cards deviate from my normal use of scraps to make cards as the only scraps I used were for the inside of the card for writing a message. However many of the embellies you may want to use for these card styles.

Tools you’ll need:

1. Christmas printed paper

2. Black cards and envelopes

3. Scissors

4. Glue/ATG gun

5. Paper cutter

6. Foam dots

7. Border punch – EK success film strip punch

8. Corner punch

I used a paper stack from Recollections called “Joyful Christmas“. I’ve really been enjoying a lot of the recollections prints, their Christmas collections are really quite well done, maybe better done than many other designer brands out there. So if you’re looking for a versatile paper stack where all the papers just match up really well, try a Recollections stack.

All these cards were made using black cardstock for the card base which I bought at Michaels.

I made three different card styles and 4 cards using just one sheet of 12×12 striped cardstock for the background of all 4 cards! To decorate the background pieces, I used a corner punch from Fiskars.

Style 1: 

I used a fat strip of border paper but then realized that it was too…cream-colored and blended in with the background color. So to make it pop, there was a paper in the collection that was black with white polka dots and I used 2 strips of the black to border the strip of cream. I cut V’s into the ends of the each of the border papers.

The “Joyful Christmas” stack has many sheets of tags and frames that can be cut out. Many of them  have holiday sentiments that just fit so perfectly for a card front. You can also make your own, but I really liked these tags that I didn’t bother making my own.  

style 2:

This card just has a fat band through the middle and a sentiment tag slipped into the middle of the band at an angle. I then cut out a glittery santa and used 3D foam dots to adhere it to the band. Super easy right?

Style 3:

Notice that the background of this card is a little different as it has a strip of red printed and glittered paper at the bottom. Go ahead, mix it up a bit!

For this card, I used my EK success film strip punch to punch long black strips of film to overlay the general card template of sentiment tag over background. Then you I used a “tis the season” sentiment on foam dots to add a sentiment to just above the middle of the card.

And there you are, 3 gorgeous, easy, simple and fast vintage cards for all your vintage needs! 

Have fun making these and please LIKE MY FACEBOOK PAGE if you enjoyed this tutorial!

Until next time!

Merry Christmas Ornaments Card

This week I present one of my favourite Christmas cards, which is a great way to use up some chunks of scrap printed papers from other projects as you only need bits and pieces of prints. I recycle this style of card pretty much every year because it’s just so versatile and helps to creatively recycle pretty bits of papers.

I cut the card front out of green metallic cardstock using my Silhouette Cameo by just cutting out circles of different sizes. This can also be achieved if you have movers and shapers die from Sizzix or a circle cutter from EK success or Martha Stewart.

I used a Martha Stewart punch to punch out white sparkly snowflakes out of a white metallic paper by Recollections.

And all the papers I used are from the Recollections Sugar Plums paper pad which I purchase from Michaels last year and created a cute Christmas mini album. I adhered medium silver gems onto the centre of the snowflakes.

One of the papers was this quilted pattern, I glued these tiny silver gems on the crosses of the paper. I bought these silver embellies from the Michael’s 1.50 rack. Wish I’d bought more hahaha! They’re so versatile!

Finally, I stamped “Noel” on the last ornament and embossed it in silver. This is a Studio G stamp which I purchased on sale for a dollar at Michaels last year. Then I tied a sparkly green ribbon on top. I wanted to tie a silver one, but I realized that I don’t have silver ribbon haha!

Then to finish everything off, I used a silver sharpie and just embellished the tops and bottoms of the ornaments and drew curly string so that it looks like it’s being hung from a tree. I guess taught string would have been more realistic but I’m not good at drawing straight lines hahaha!

So that’s it, so simple and versatile. You can do just about anything with the ornaments and use any variety of papers. Be creative and have fun with it!

You know those little strips of patterned paper that we often just toss away? Save them! Next up is a holiday card that highlights the use of scrap strips of pretty patterned paper. Look forward to it!

Thanks so much for enjoying this card and please “LIKE” my Facebook page in the upper right hand corner if you enjoyed this card and support my blog!

Sparkly Layered Snowflake Card

This week’s card tutorial brings a fusion of sparkly elegance and vintage chic. I really wanted to do something with layered snowflakes because they are just so lovely layered up with different shapes and sizes. My Silhouette Cameo came in so handy for this because I could pick and choose a variety of different snowflake shapes, resize them however I want to and bam! A layered snowflake haha!

I’ve been taking advantage of my scraps of white and mint cardstock to make my snow flakes.

This snowflake card has 2 different types of embossing, the card background with a sizzix embossing folder and heat embossing for the “Merry Christmas” tag.

The supplies are as follows:

1. One 4.25 x 5 inch card in white with envelope

2. 3x snowflakes of varying sizes cut from scrap white and mint green cardstock. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut mine which I purchased from the Silhouette store and edited the size and shapes to suit my needs. If you need help with this step, please don’t hesitate to contact me for details. Also, you can always download a few snowflakes and print them on cardstock, then cut them by hand. But if you don’t have a cameo, I highly suggest you add that to your wishlist. Honestly the best machine I’ve ever owned! And hope to own again and again and again!

4. Stamp pads: VersaMark embossing stamp pad and a silver metallic stamp pad

5. Stickles in Star Dust

6. Ultrafine Gold Crystal Glitter

7. “Merry Christmas” stamp and acrylic block if needed

8. Snowflake stamp

9. Make-up sponge

10. Die-cut machine christmas themed embossing folder, I’m using the Sizzix Swirls Ribbons and Snowflakes

11. Ranger Sticky embossing powder

12. Heat Tool

13. Bejewelled brad

14. Hole punch

15. Quick-dry wet glue

16. Foam dots

Instructions

1. Cut a 9.5 x 5 inch card out of white cardstock. Score it down the centre at 4.25 inches. Then place the front flap of the card in the embossing folder, fold the back half around the back of the embossing folder and then run it through your die-cut machine.

2. Take the make-up sponge and ink up the sponge with the silver metallic stamp pad. Gently rub the sponge across the raised embossed front surface of the card. This gives the the front of the card a silvery and wintery sheen and also makes the embossing really pop!

3. Cut out the 3 snowflakes of different sizes. Use a different shade of cardstock for the middle snowflake, like a mint green or baby blue. Decide how you are going to layer the snowflakes on the card. Punch a hole through the centre of each snowflake.

4. Take the snowflake that is going to be the top-most layer. Use the versamark stamp pad and ink the entire surface of the card. Generously sprinkle the Ranger sticky embossing powder over it. Gently tap off the excess. Use the heat tool to heat the powder and then immediately sprinkle white glitter over it. I used Crystal Glitter in Gold which is really just a white colour. Tap the back gently to release loose glitter. I accidentally overheated my sticky embossing powder and it left a burned reddish colour. I tried to cover it with the gltter but it still showed through…which is fine because the reddish colour adds to the vintage effect so it actually worked out for the best!

5. Take the middle layer snowflake and place it on a piece of scrap paper. Ink up the snowflake stamp with silver metallic ink and stamp it randomly over the front of the snowflake. The design won’t show up really well but it looks really cool and shimmery with the silver stamping. Don’t worry about being neat or using the same consistency of colour. Sloppy stamping will actually enhance the vintage effect.

6. Use Ranger stickles, put dots of glitter glue all over the snowflake. Set the snowflake aside to dry for at least 15 mins. You can blast it with your heat tool after the first 5 mins if you want to speed up the drying process. But it won’t look as lovely as letting it dry naturally.

7. Cut a half inch-wide strip of scrap blue cardstock in green. Cut the length to the length of your “Merry Christmas” expression stamp plus an extra half inch. Stamp the Merry Christmas expression with versamark on the little blue tag and sprinkle silver embossing powder over it. Then melt the powder with the heat tool. Snip the corners of the tag with a “V” shape. See picture below if this doesn’t make sense. Punch a hole in the opposite end of the tag.

Layer the green tag and snowflakes as follows starting with the top-most snowflake: top glittered snowflake, blue tag, middle green snowflake, bottom-most white snowflake. Take the top layer snowflake, blue tag and the middle snowflake and glue them together with dots of wet glue making sure to match the punched holes. Then put foam dots on the back of the middle green snowflake, avoiding the punched hole, and then adhere that to the bottom-most snowflake making sure to match the punched holes of the snowflakes.

8. Use the wet glue and adhere the layered snowflake to the embossed white card halfway down the card and to the left towards the folded edge. And then you’re done! Easy peasy!

And that’s it, a great way to use white and green scraps from other Christmas projects, or if you’re like me and can’t bear to part with scraps, then perhaps scraps from last year lol!

Hopefully you have as much fun making this card as I have and I would love to see your layered snowflake cards as well!!!

As always, if you liked this tutorial, please like my facebook page located on the top right hand side of this page.

Up next week, I’ve been meaning to do something with ribbons so look forward to a ribbon card project!