Mojo Monday — Page 2

CAS Dahlia Mojo Monday

It’s been a while since I played along with the Mojo Monday challenge. I have to admit, I’ve missed it! I’ve been in a technique zone creating our new VIP Community here at the Grove (click here to find out more), so I threw a fun simple one into this project. Sometimes when you have a cool texture that you’ve created for your card, making the rest clean and simple really allows it to stand out.

Here’s the sketch and my version. You can see, I stayed pretty true this time.

Here are some tips on how to make this card, and join our Creative Tips list (on the right) to see exclusive free videos on how to make cards just like this:

Crumple your paper to create a faux leather look to your cardstock. If you find it’s hard to do this, spritz it lightly with water. Use the sweat from your palms to aid you in crumpling this up really well.
Cut your solid Navy strips thin – just 3/8” wide.
Adhere a thin strip of Cherry Cobbler and your Navy strips with Tombo Multi Liquid Glue. When you alter cardstock, as with the crumpling, it becomes hard to work with.

Snip off the edges of all your strips and adhere your Sahara Sand cardstock to a 5 1/4” x 4” piece of white cardstock.
When adhering your large piece down, keep the same amount of space to the right, left and bottom. It becomes an extended mat.
Cut a 2 1/2” circle with a circle punch, framelits or nestibilities. Stamp your Dahlia image in Cherry Cobbler. Attach to your card front, leaving the same amount of space at the top as the bottom white to balance it out. Use Liquid Glue on textured cardstock, dimensionals or foam tape to attach to the white to adjust for the height variance.

Stamp your greeting and emboss in white on Navy cardstock. Create a banner with your snips or hexagon punch (see video here on how to do that). Attach with dimensionals onto the white, glue onto other parts.
Pierce edges of your card with a paper piercer and a template.
Add large pearls to Cherry Cobbler cardstock to finish your card.
Pop your card front up onto your card base.

You’re done! It’s a fun little project, isn’t it? Let me know what you think! Leave me a comment below. Happy Creating!

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Filed Under: Big Shot, Cards, Challenges, Clean and Simple, Mojo Monday, Techniques Tagged: CAS cards, creative cards, faux leather technique, mojo349, online stamping classes, regarding dahlias stampin up cards, stamping techniques

Spring flowers are in the air

Written by Ingrid Blackburn 3 Comments

Today is Monday, so it’s another Mojo Monday card! I was feeling in a spring mood with all the flowers out and about. The fruit trees have blooms on them, the forest has bright spots of green mixed in with the dark evergreens, and tulips are popping up everywhere. So for today’s card I thought I’d put my touch of spring on my card – a fun little pansy!

Here’s this week’s sketch and my interpretation.

I love this little flower, I hope you do too! I layered a few pansy’s, worked the edges and added a few pearls to the center. Now grab your punches and try a little paper piecing yourself!

The next class in our Creative Cards series is Watercolor! Have you mastered this technique? Learn various ways of water coloring on your card projects and save today by pre-registering for this fun Watercolor class. Click here for more information.

Filed Under: Cards, Flowers, Mojo Monday Tagged: clean and simple cards, Feel Goods stamp set, Mojo341, pansy paper piecings

Water Colored World

Written by Ingrid Blackburn 4 Comments

Do you have a favorite go to background stamp? I do – it’s the world map. Today’s Mojo Monday struck me in a water colored way. The way I approach my cards is to first re-sketch the card with the stamp set in mind. That stamp set pops into my head when I look a sketch for the first time. To see my process, watch my video from last week on how to do this. Click to watch video

The three circles on this weeks sketch made me think of the animals from the Zoo Review stamp set which led to the World Map background stamp – I just LOVE that stamp.

So far, I’ve only used it as a straightly stamped image, today I thought I’d go for a more realistic look by using water coloring techniques. Water color and card making is hot, hot, hot right now. I have a personal love with the look – if you’ve been reading the past few months – that’s been apparent. So much so – that we’re launching a watercolor class in the next few weeks! Click here for class details

I decided to watercolor my images and leave my background a little lighter so that it all blended well together. I just LOVE this card! I hope you do too.

Tips – to get just the right shades for the animals, water & land on the map – I used a color blending technique. If you’re interested in learning water color techniques, definitely check out our class in the classroom. We’ll have several projects in addition to step by step videos that will help you master the fundamentals of water coloring for your card making projects. I hope you join us!

Thanks for stopping by – till next time.

Filed Under: Cards, Mojo Monday, Techniques, Watercolor Tagged: mojo340, online watercolor card classes, watercolor stamped images, world map stamp set

Tall and Skinny Really Good Greetings

Written by Ingrid Blackburn 4 Comments

Today I’m kicking off my creative week with a Tall and Skinny card based off the Mojo Monday Card Sketch Challenge. I’ve had the Eastern Elegance Printed Paper next to me for a week now, so it was easy to build a card around using that element when I saw the sketch this morning. Be sure also to check out my latest video on How to use a Card Sketch

The two key elements for me are the long rectangles. That was my pop on this card. So I wanted everything else to be toned down. I used the color combination from the designer series paper set of Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Whisper White and Smoky Slate. That was the easy part! I’m not a big oval person, so I knew I wanted a tall greeting for my rectangle in the center – Really Good Greetings came to mind. I just love this saying.

To keep your card clean, keep it proportionate. Since the main border was 1/8”, make the smaller border of white – 1/16” for contrast. If you keep it all the same, it takes away from the card itself. Variety keeps the eye interested.

For the greeting – emboss it in Pewter rather than Silver. It will help it to stand out a bit more and then add a little flair with some simple paper piercing. Rather than add an embellishment onto the front of the greeting, I added a little flair behind by trimming down the smallest Deco Label Framelit in Coastal Cabana. Pop the greeting up for a little drama and add a few pearls to the top and some simple paper piercing to the bottom. That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this!

Be sure to check out my latest video on YouTube – how to use a card sketch and get on The Creative Grove Newsletter List to see the video on last weeks card – that’s coming out tomorrow!

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Filed Under: Cards, Challenges, Clean and Simple, Mojo Monday Tagged: clean and simple cards, how to use a card sketch, mojo monday challenge, really good greetings stamp set, Tall and Skinny cards

How to use a Card Sketch

Written by Ingrid Blackburn 10 Comments

It’s Monday, and I thought you’d like to see a Mojo Monday card today. This was an easy one. The sketch provided was rather straightforward and I thought today I’d explain how I create cards using sketches. Thanks for following along this tutorial, if you like what you see, be sure to sign up to learn more through The Creative Grove Newsletter list right here!

You can get card and scrapbook page sketches just about anywhere these days, Pinterest, Magazines, Challenge Blogs and Books. I like to participate in the Mojo Monday Challenge as it gets the creative juices flowing first thing in the week. Here’s the sketch for today and my final project.

To get a clear picture of what to do, I always follow these two rules –

Sketch out my idea
Pick my colors

Once I’ve done this, the rest easily falls into place. I don’t get too crazy with details on my own sketch, but if I think of a particular stamp set or paper that I have, I may write that down too. I find this exercise invaluable in the time saving department. It helps me to lock in on an idea. You already have a starting point with a sketch, now plan a little more on paper rather than cut, cut and cut more paper trying to figure out what you’re going to do! (Believe me…I’ve done that too!)

For todays card, you can use any stamp set you have, I used Too Kind by Stampin’ Up!. I wasn’t 100% sure on the placement, so once I cut out my circle with my circle framelits, I lopped on a tiny piece from the side and stamped my flowers first on a piece of scrap paper, then transparency like a Stamp-a-Majig and then layered it on the circle. It was much easier to make sure of my placement since this is a two-step stamping set.

To properly get the angle right, add a little adhesive, but not too much that you can’t peel it back up. I added a rectangle over my white, then trimmed my three sides. This way, once I laid down my banners, I was able to place my twine in the criss-cross. before putting it down permanently.

Since there are so many little tips and techniques, I thought I’d give you a video to see exactly how I made this card. It’s one of the exclusive videos going out to The Creative Grove list this week, to sign up and get this step by step video tutorial plus other videos and tips… Sign up here And if you’re already on the list – watch your inbox this week!

To create the little banners, use So Saffron cardstock for a color pop. You can add even a little more with the butterflies. To make sure the butterflies aren’t too plain, use the secondary image from the dandelions in Crushed Curry over the So Saffron. It’s easier to do so, before you punch. Add some Pearls and you’re all set!

If you’d like to learn more, check out our online classes here. Thanks for stopping by today and if you liked this card, be sure to leave me a comment below!

Filed Under: Cards, Challenges, Clean and Simple, Mojo Monday Tagged: card sketches, how to use sketches, Mojo338, stampin up stamps, too kind stamp set

Sparkling Holiday Messages

Written by Ingrid Blackburn 10 Comments

I’m bringing a little sparkling Mojo Monday into your life today! Here’s a little word play with a cluster of all the holiday greetings I could get my hands on today. Smile

This card came pretty easily into my mind, then the execution took a bit longer than I thought! Ever had that happen to you? Ironically I struggled with the final sentiment. I did it three different ways, and then changed the banners too…lol! They were originally in white stamped with Real Red and Pear Pizzazz. But that was lost on the background, so a final remedy of color it was. I hope you enjoy this card, it’s really growing on me, and is quite sparkly! This would be actually an easy one to mass produce and it’s quite fun, I have to admit! Here’s the original sketch and my interpretation.

Christmas Messages 007 006 Mojo324Sketch

Christmas Messages 007 026

Creative Tips on Word Clusters –

Create your word cluster onto the largest acrylic block you have. If you are a wood stamper, then you’ll have to stamp it out and use a Stamp-a-Majig to figure out the placement. Once you have your stamps arranged on your block, ink up in Versamark, stamp onto a scratch piece first, then ink up again and stamp onto your background. Mine is 3.5 x 4.25”.
I added Heat and Stick Powder so that the Dazzling Diamonds would really stay put. You can just emboss with straight glitter, but for me, I like to keep my glitter exactly where it belongs, so I use Heat and Stick Powder. It’s an extra step, but the recipient appreciates the glitter on the card and not everywhere else!
Stamp your banners onto a 5/8” wide strip of Real Red and Pear Pizzazz and cut the ends using your Hexagon Punch.
Attach your Whisper White background onto a piece of Real Red – 3 5/8 x 4 3/8” for a 1/16” border. Next, adhere that to a piece of Pear Pizzazz that measures 4 1/16 x 5 5/16”.
Adhere a 5/8” strip of Read Red onto your Whisper White somewhere in the lower third of your project. Trim the edges to match the width of the Pear Pizzazz.
Stamp a Christmas Greeting onto a piece of Pear Pizzazz card stock and emboss with Silver Powder. Make a banner with your Hexagon or Square Punch. Pop up with Stamping Dimensionals and attach to your card. Add a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels for a little interest.
Run a little bit of Snail onto the top of each flag and create a banner with a piece of Linen Thread. Drape across the top of your card and attach to the back of your Pear Pizzazz. Pop your Pear Pizzazz panel up on Stamping Dimensionals onto your Whisper White card base of 4.25 x 5.5”.

It’s a fun little card, right? The greeting background came out better than I expected and really looks great with the subtle glitter. Enjoy making yours!

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Filed Under: Challenges, Christmas, Clean and Simple, Mojo Monday Tagged: creative stamping, Glitter backgrounds, how to make christmas cards, make your own banners, Mojo324

A Mojo Monday Noel

Written by Ingrid Blackburn 12 Comments

Hi there paper crafters! I hope you all are having a fabulous Monday morning! I thought I’d jump right back into life with a Mojo Monday card. My how I’ve missed this little challenge and you all! Smile

In case you’ve been wondering, we’ve been traveling for the past seven weeks, moved out of our home, and visited four countries all in the span of 10 days! We’ve been getting settled and I’m finally able to get back into the paper crafting groove. Check back tomorrow for the personal 411.

So, here’s today’s Mojo sketch and my interpretation – enjoy the tips!

Creative Tips –

Since all my really cool tools (Big Shot, templates, etc…) are still making their way over to Europe, I had to go old school and KISS (Keep it sweet and simple) for this project.
I stamped the three smallest snowflakes from Snowflake Soiree in Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler. I just LOVE this color trio!
You’ll want to punch our your snowflakes with the 2 1/2” Circle Punch.
Sponge the edge lightly with Early Espresso ink and pop that up on Stamping Dimensionals.
Wrap some of the Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine around a piece of Pear Pizzazz Cardstock that is 2 1/2” x 4”.
Paper Pierce seven holes in the top and bottom of the Pear Pizzazz and attach to a 5 1/2” x 4 1/4” piece of Whisper White card stock that has been sponged in Early Espresso.
Next Stamp your greeting in Early Espresso. I used Noel from Greetings of the Season. I used a piece of scrap paper and then trimmed it down to the size I needed.
Sponge your greeting and paper pierce some holes on the right of the greeting to add balance to your project.
Matte your greeting onto a piece of Early Espresso card stock that leaves a 1/16” border so a not to overwhelm your card.
Pop your greeting up on the right side and add regular adhesive to the left so that it matches the height of your popped up circle .
TIP – to achieve balance in your project, sponge your matching white pieces, and have the same amount of space to the edge for the greeting and the circle.
I chose to have my circle and greeting slightly offset to the bottom of the card for interest.

It’s a simple card, but rather cute. You could easily mass produce this card. Stamp strips of white card stock and then punch your circles out. Quite simple! I hope you enjoyed this!

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Filed Under: Christmas, Clean and Simple, Mojo Monday Tagged: diy christmas cards, make your own christmas cards, mojo323, snowflake soiree, stamp your own christmas cards

Warmth and Wonder: Just out of the woods

Written by Ingrid Blackburn Leave a Comment

Today, I wanted to make a simple Creative Scene using advanced Brayer techniques and the Holiday Hostess Set Warmth and Wonder. I have to confess, I slept in today. Usually I start Mojo Monday at 5 am, that’s what time the sketch goes up! So as I began to wake up and saw the sketch, I knew this would take me a while. I’ve been dying to make this card, and today’s sketch was perfect for it!

Many of you have wondered how to make amazing scenes like this. They look so simple, but actually aren’t. They involve many different techniques and steps, but every person can make this card – regardless of your stamping ability. In our classroom, we have a few Brayer classes that teach you step by step with precise videos to help bring the inner artist out in each of you. The advanced class is in pre-release, save $10 until 10/24 here. Similar Brayer Cards:

I needed a custom size card and envelope for this card. I didn’t want the creative scene to be too small. So I started out by deciding how big my scene should be and built my card around that. With the Envelope Punch Board I can make any size envelope I need, so I didn’t have to worry about that! What a stress relief! Click here for a quick video on how to make a custom sized envelope. Here’s the Mojo Monday sketch and my project.

Creative Tips –

Create the scene using Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Soft Sky and Marina Mist, embossing powders, masks, a brayer and some sponges. You will want to pop it up on dimensionals to help set it apart from the rest of the card.
Sponging the various pieces of the card tied it together. Sponging the creative scene draws the reader into it.
The background was sanded using the Stampin’ Sanding System in a random fashion.
The circle was cut out with the Circle Collections Framelits – it’s the 3rd largest.
To get the diagonal stripe on the vellum, use the Stylish Stripes Embossing Folder.
The ribbon is Soft Sky 1/2” Seam Binding Ribbon
The little banner flags are made with paper from the Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack and the hexagon punch. View a video to see how to make banner flags here
It was hard to figure out how to incorporate a greeting. You don’t want to take away from the scene too much, so a simple banner with a greeting from this very set brought out to the circle worked well.
Here is the card height so you can see the height of the various elements.

bundle here

Have a creative day!

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Filed Under: Brayer, Cards, Challenges, Creative University, Mojo Monday, Online Class, Scenic Tagged: Christmas Stampin Up Cards, creative scenery cards, forest scene cards, MOJO316, online brayer classes, warmth and wonder stamp set

CAS Dahlia Mojo Monday

Spring flowers are in the air

Water Colored World

Tall and Skinny Really Good Greetings

How to use a Card Sketch

Sparkling Holiday Messages

Creative Tips on Word Clusters –

A Mojo Monday Noel

Warmth and Wonder: Just out of the woods

Thanks for Visiting!

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Creative Tips on Word Clusters –

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