An Inside to my Heart...

SHARED FROM CTMH'S BLOG...

Crisp Cards for All Occasions

When you want to communicate feelings of love, gratitude, excitement, joy, or sympathy, you can never go wrong with a beautiful card. Today, we’ll be focusing on techniques we used to create the gorgeous cards that grace the cover of our July–September catalog.

These autumnal-themed cards feature a refreshing combination of patterned papers, stamps, Thin Cuts, and stickers from our Crisp Air collection and represent a wonderful example of how a beautiful art piece can be easier to create than it may appear on the surface. To begin, let’s discuss the initial steps we took when creating these cards.

Every card starts with a card base and a base design layer. For these cards, we selected various options from the Crisp Air paper packet to provide a starting point for our designs. With so many beautiful colors and patterns to coordinate with, this assortment of vibrant papers offers bases that accommodate multiple design directions.

Another common element across the board is the addition of a message or opening sentiment. Our cards on display today include a variety of sentiments, with some being achieved with stamped images, one with a sticker addition, and even one embossed die-cut title accent! Each of these options for adding a card sentiment comes with its own advantages—for example, using a stamp allows you to tailor the image to your liking through the use of different stamping techniques and colors.

Incorporating a sticker into the sentiment, like we see with the “Beautiful Change” card above, is a quicker and easier way to add some polished flair to your card.

While the stamped and sticker titles are fairly straightforward, the embossed die-cut title takes a more technical approach. To create this title, we used a die from our Gratitude Thin Cuts set to create two “thankful” die-cuts and glued them together for extra dimension. After gluing, we pressed our die-cut into a VersaMark™ ink pad, placed it flat on a piece of scratch paper, coated it with Princess Gold embossing powder, and gently picked it up with tweezers to shake off the excess powder.

Once the excess embossing powder was removed, we used a Heat Tool to heat-set the remaining powder while still holding the die-cut with the tweezers. This technique offers a more 3-dimensional result with an eye-catching metallic finish, making it a beautiful accent for this already gorgeous card!

After selecting your color palette, papers, and sentiment, a great way to complete your card is to select a few accents to finish off your design. For our cards today, we’ve turned primarily to our selection of Crisp Air stickers and stamps, a handful of Thin Cuts, some ribbon, and a few coordinating cardstock colors to help tie all the design elements together and make each one unique.

One of our favorite accents for these cards is the light orange ribbon used on the “Celebrate” card, pictured above. To achieve this shade, we used an orange TriBlend™ marker  to color a length of white ribbon using long, steady strokes to achieve uniform color distribution. Once the ink dried on the ribbon, we cut dovetailed the ends, tied a loose knot, and attached it to the card to finish off the tag behind the title piece.

Another standout feature of these Crisp Air cards is the use of embellishment clusters. To create these embellishment clusters, we combined several individual elements into a cohesive grouping and attached it to the card as a larger accent. One of our favorite ways to do this is to gather multiple stamped die-cuts, created with a Stamp + Thin Cuts set. By using stamps and dies from the Crisp Air—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts set, we were able to create this vibrant embellishment cluster that matched the paper designs perfectly!

Looking for a quicker option? Like the title piece discussed in the “Beautiful Change” card above, using stickers to create embellishment clusters like the one on this “Love You” card can be done in just a couple of minutes!

To create the background behind the darker outline of our pumpkin, we traced the overlay and hand trimmed a plain background to create a stable base. We then used our Thin Cuts die to cut the shape again on a piece of Nectarine cardstock, sponged Paprika ink around the edges, and carefully inlaid the pumpkin overlay with the sponged orange pieces, resulting in a dimensional accent piece!

Once you’ve found an accent method that works for your card, you may want to add a few smaller touches to finish it all off. For this selection of cards, we’ve used Crisp Air dots, glitter gems, dabs of glitter glue, gold embellishing thread, and even a couple of detail stamps like the splatter stamp from our Crisp Air—Scrapbooking stamp set. A few well-placed features like these are the perfect finishing touches as you complete your own unique cards.

No matter what your card communicates, it can be easy to create a meaningful piece of personal artwork with just a few simple techniques and a handful of coordinating products like those in our Crisp Air collection. Remember, card creation doesn’t have to be complicated to be meaningful—when you craft from the heart, you can’t go wrong! What do you dream of creating with the Crisp Air suite? Tell us about it in the comments below!

---

Recipes:

4¼” x 5½” Love You Card (Vertical)
Z8028 Crisp Air—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts, C1945 My Acrylix® Language of Flowers Stamp Set, X7284S Crisp Air Paper Packet + Sicker Sheet, X7283B Backyard Bliss Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6515 Paprika Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6502 Peach Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2848 Sapphire Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6530 Shortbread Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6521 Sundance Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z3560 Golden Rod Stickles™ Glitter Glue, X7284E Crisp Air Dots, Z5017 Rose Gold Shimmer Trim, Z3886 Mini Ink Blending Tool, Z2089 Glue Dots® Micro Dots, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine  

4¼” x 5½” Autumn Beautiful Change Card (Vertical)
Z8028 Crisp Air—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7284S Crisp Air Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X7283B Backyard Bliss Paper Packet, X6070 Pine Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6531 Mocha Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6510 Nectarine Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2835 New England Ivy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6515 Paprika Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, X7284E Crisp Air Dots, Z2089 Glue Dots® Micro Dots, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine

4¼” x 5½” Thankful Card (Vertical)
Z8028 Crisp Air—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7284S Crisp Air Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X6052 Cinnamon Cardstock, X6033 Paprika Cardstock, X6070 Pine Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6515 Paprika Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z891 VersaMark™ Ink Pad, Z3560 Golden Rod Stickles™ Glitter Glue, Z2066 Princess Gold Embossing Powder, X7284E Crisp Air Dots, Z8043 Maple Leaf Thin Cuts, Z8045 Gratitude Thin Cuts, Z3886 Mini Ink Blending Tool, Z4220 Anti-static Pouch, Z4252 Heat Tool, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine

4¼” x 5½” Celebrate Card (Vertical)
D2108 My Acrylix® Crisp Air—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, C1945 My Acrylix® Language of Flowers Stamp Set, X7284S Crisp Air Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X7282B Beach Party Paper Packet, X6059 Shortbread Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6522 Cinnamon Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6515 Paprika Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6521 Sundance Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2828 Toffee Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2517 Burnt Orange TriBlend™ Marker, Z3312 Gold Glitter Gems, Z3886 Mini Ink Blending Tool, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Ribbon

4¼” x 5½” Thankful for You Card (Vertical)
D2106 My Acrylix® Crisp Air—Cardmaking Stamp Set, X7284S Crisp Air Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X6052 Cinnamon Cardstock, X6043 Nectarine Cardstock, X6059 Shortbread Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6522 Cinnamon Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6531 Mocha Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6515 Paprika Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6521 Sundance Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2828 Toffee Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z3560 Golden Rod Stickles™ Glitter Glue, X7284E Crisp Air Dots, Z4054 Gold Embellishing Thread, Z8044 Pumpkin Thin Cuts, Z3886 Mini Ink Blending Tool, Z2089 Glue Dots® Micro Dots, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine