Technique Tuesday {One Sheet Wonders}

Card #9

Have you heard of a card sketch? It's basically a layout or blueprint for a card. You can use whatever papers you want, but it gives you the layout, shapes, and basic sizes for the pieces of paper you use. It's a good way to try something different. 


I came across something pretty cool that involves card sketches on Splitcoaststampers a couple years ago. This was before I had discovered Pinterest, so I printed it off, put it in my idea binder...and forgot about it. I found it again this weekend and finally gave it a try. It was a great way to get several cards started. It is a template to cut out accent pieces for a total of 12 cards all from one piece of paper...some call these a "one sheet wonder".

Card #3

I tried and tried to find the original source for you to download on Splitcoaststampers and using Google but couldn't find it for anything! I decided to try Bing and found it in about 30 seconds. Seriously? I've never been a huge fan of Bing, but this experience may make me have to rethink that.


Enough rambling...you can find the original template and examples to download here. They are Word documents, so I can't show you the images here. :-( You can find a lot of these "one sheet wonders" on Splitcoaststampers, and I even found a few on Pinterest (though I didn't find the actual templates on Pinterest-just example cards).

Card #4

The template is for an 8.5x11 piece of paper, so I cut down a 12x12 piece. Then I was able to use the scraps to go with the other pieces I cut according to the template. According to the template, you can make 12 card, but I ended up combining some of the pieces and made 10. Two aren't pictured here though. I was photographing the cards outside in the wind and didn't get a good picture of one and I'm not sure what happened to the other one! :-(


NOW...if you were able to get through all my ramblings, here are the rest of the cards! The above cards are also below with a little detail about how they were made. You may have noticed above that the cards are numbered. The numbers correspond to the numbering in the original. I flipped all my cards to they were portrait. There were portrait and landscape cards in the original.

Card #8

 Card #8 is self explanatory. It's nice to put your layering pieces at an angle sometimes to create a little more interest.

Card #6

 I used a scallop punch and flower punches on card #6

Card #1

 I used a sponge to add color to the edges of card #1. Just ink up the sponge with your stamp ink. Also, the leaves of the flower are stamped directly onto the card and the flower is layered on top of them to create a little dimension.

Card #10,11,12

 The flowers on card #10,11,12 were stenciled using the leftover paper from punching out the flowers on card #6. I just held the paper in place and used my inked up sponge again like with the edges of card #1.

Card #5

I used the scalloped punch again for card #5.

Card #9

I used twine instead of ribbon on card #9, so I wrapped it around the paper several times to make it look a little thicker.

Card #3

 The edges on the background piece were torn to create the effect in card #3. If your card has a white "core" it looks best, but it works great with any paper.

Card #4

Card #4 is pretty self explanatory. Those "stripes" are just paper scrapes, but they look a little like ribbon.

I'm having a blast at these lovely linking parties.

Technique Tuesday: Men's Birthday Card {Masking Tape Layering}

I've been MIA due to internet problems. :-( I do have a quick post to share with you though!

To create the effect of the background layer on the card above is really very simple but a bit time consuming. It's worth it though! It creates a nice effect that can even be a little rustic if you like. Here's the original.


Start with a piece of card stock and layer pieces of masking tape until the entire piece is covered as you see on the pieces below.

Once all the layering is done, do a little distressing (put a little ink on a cotton ball and rub it over the masking tape.


You're going to emboss over the entire piece, so ink up the making tape with Versamark.


It may work with just regular embossing powder, but I used a thick, clear embossing powder. Do multiple layers of embossing powder until you have the desired amount of embossing powder. You probably won't get a smooth surface, but that adds to the effect.

That's it! It is pretty simple, but tearing the masking tape does take a little while. My little guy sat next to me and layered his own masking tape (sort of :-)), so it's a good way to keep a kiddo busy too. :-)


You'll have to either use a lot of glue or some type of adhesive strips to layer on top of the embossing powder. It's a great technique to use for a guy's birthday card.

I'm having a blast at these lovely linking parties.  

Technique Tuesday-Ladies March Birthday Cards

Every month I make birthday cards for everyone in my family. March had a lot of birthdays (18 or 19 if I remember right)! Making cards is my favorite craft. It's what got me interested in crafting in the first place. My favorite thing about making cards is using different techniques. It's always fun to see how a different technique will turn out. 


I love learning a new technique and thought you might too, so I'm starting a new series: "Technique Tuesday". If you enjoy making cards, I hope these cards will inspire you to make your own. :-)

Pin It This first card uses a couple techniques. One is dry embossing. I'm not sure if you'd call the other one a technique, but it is kind of fun to make. It's a simple folded paper flower.

Dry embossing creates a raised image on paper. Use a stencil and a dry embossing stylus to make an impression of the stencil. See those little raised dots under the flower? That's where I did the dry embossing.

You can find the tutorial for how to make the flowers here.

Pin It

The two cards above use a technique that creates different shades of color from the same ink pad. You ink up the stamp, stamp the image, and then stamp the image again (one or more times) without re-inking the stamp.

Pin It

This last card also uses dry embossing and a variation of the last technique. I layered the images from two stamps, but before I stamped the base of the flower, I stamped on a scrap piece of paper, so the image would be lighter for the actual card.

I'm having a blast at these lovely linking parties.