This weekend I shared this amazing technique with the ladies at the Scrappin’ Escapes Retreat in San Diego, CA. We certainly had fun putting these cards together. This is a great way to give someone a gift card!

TO MAKE YOUR SLIDER CARD:

All you need for this is:

TOOLS:Paper Trimmer, Exacto Knife or scissors (maybe if you can’t do it with your trimmer), tape runner or strip adhesive, Scoring tool (if you have it)

SUPPLIES: 12 x 12 piece of card stock (heavy duty – bazzill or thicker), a cellophane bag 4″ to 5″ inches wide, and it has to be taller then 2 inches, and  scraps for decorating

DIRECTIONS:

Click Here for the template. The template has been created to scale, and can be printed on 8.5 x 14″ Paper.

Start by cutting your paper to 6 inches wide. Keep one piece this width.

The other piece, you need to cut out TWO – 5 5/8 x 2 5/8 inch rectangles.

Now with the remaining piece… starting at the bottom with the bottom being a 6″ long side, measure up and mark a line at 2 7/8″ here you will make your first fold. Then 3/8″ from there you make your second fold, then repeat this from that fold line making another 2 7/8″ rectangle, with a 3/8″ fold after. Then make one remaining fold at 2 7/8″ from the last fold line. This top piece, you need to trim as shown with a taper, and a smaller middle portion. The smaller middle part needs to be a tad smaller then the bag you will be using. I cut my middle part about 4 3/4″ inches.

Next you need to make the super secret slider!

Take your baggie… and cut a strip 1 1/2″ wide… see the photo for the orientation. The middle piece in this photo will become our slider. Note that the edges of the bag are still SEALED. The bag now makes a “loop.”

Next I decorated the two rectangles I previously cut out. I left one edge on each one (one left side, and one right side) with a slightly larger margin, about a 1/2″ since we will not see this part and will be gluing there.

Next we need to install the slider mechanism. This part can be a bit tricky, so look closely. Place your inside cards as shown below. This will help you get the slider placement correct.

On the right hand card, start by placing a strip of adhesive in the middle of the card in the wide margin area,  just wide enough for the plastic to adhere to. Use your strongest tape runner or “strip” like adhesive.

Adhere the seam of the bag to the adhesive.

Now take the left card and flip it to the left (be sure the paper you glued on the front still has the top of the paper facing up!). Now on the back of the left piece, put a strip of adhesive on the LEFT side of the cardstock in the middle. Then scoot the right side over and adhere the seem to the adhesive strip.

Now you can turn the left card back to the right, and the plastic “slider” should be sandwiched inside and the patterned papers should be facing the same direction.

Now look at the back side (or the side you want on the inside) of your template, and the back sides of your “sliders” and slide the plastic piece over the notched end of the template.

Now flip the whole piece over and push the sliders in and it should look like below.

Fold the card inward, so you can not see the decorative paper on the sliders, as shown below.

Now add a final strip of adhesive along the remaining edge of the card. This will hold the whole unit closed.

Now if you pull the little tags on the inside it will look like below, and should “slide” freely.

Now the outside is ready for decoration… here is what I did. I also put a bit of string on one of the sliders to “encourage”  and make it easier for people to pull.

Good luck! This card is a lot of fun. And just think you could put a gift card in here on one side and a message on the other! Now isn’t that cool.

Another way to use those fun different paper shaped papers that are out right now ….us it as a mask …either use the backside of the paper if you do not want the mist on the right side of the paper or as I did I cut mine out of chipboard …..have fun with this one!!!!

***********NOTE: PLEASE SCROLL DOWN PAST  THIS POST FOR VOTING! Thank you! ***********

For today’s technique I decided to play around with string.
I traced a nested star shape in graduating sizes on my page and then placed mini brads at each tip of the star.
Next, I used black string to “connect the dots”. I added some pearls and gems to the tops of the brads for some color.
Infact, I went a little crazy with those pearls . . . so much fun! Hehehehehe!

Here’s another sample using string on a card I did a few years back.

Give it a try and see what you can come up with! It’s lots of fun!
Jana

Here’s how I add a quick vignette to the edges of my photos without any type of photo-editing software.

First, you need some ink, a slick writer, and a photo.

Ink all the edges of your photo, and on the corners apply more than on the straight edges. You also want to make the ink curve in the corners.

the inked photo:

Next, go back with your Slick Writer (fine tip), and draw a line around your photo, again getting thicker and darker on the corners.

And then when you’ve finished you’ve got a custom made vignette in about 2 minutes or faster!
(much better and faster for me than any editing system or site!)

Final photo:

And then on a LO made with Sept.’s kit “Oops I did it again!” “One of our Family Favorites”

You know I normally do not do simple but this is distressing 101 ….sanding …..get out a few pieces of chipboard that will work for the design of your page ….

Then i used the chipboard cut out that came with this months kit …and just started sanding the edges of it with this cool paper (Core’dinations) so that you could see the outline of the leaf ….pressing down firmly …

Then i cut out the leaves to make this cool tree ….


And then i did not stop there …I found this scolloped piece of chipboard in my stash and sanded around the edge of the layout and then outlined it with a black sharpie …and the cool clouds also ….thanks for looking …have fun playing with this paper!!!

Here is the completed LO:

What we are going to be doing is creating a watermark look with clear embossing powder and spray ink.

First, gather your supplies. You will need: Smooth cardstock, a background stamp (this one is by Green Grass stamps), watermark ink (like VersaMark), clear embossing powder (mine is by Ranger), a heat gun, paper towels, and spray ink (I am using Bed Of Roses Spritz by Shimmerz)

Stamp your image on your cardstock using watermark ink. I stamped mine twice to create a row of my dot pattern. I wasn’t too concerned about lining up the pattern exactly because I knew I was going to be building my layers on top of the watermark.

While the ink is still wet, pour clear embossing powder onto the stamped image. Shake off the excess and melt the powder using a heat gun. Your paper will look something like this.

Next, spray your ink over the image. The ink will soak into the cardstock, but not into the clear embossed pattern. Use a paper towel to blot the ink off of the clear embossed powder.

You will now have a watermark type image showing through your spray ink.

Build your layout for a really neat look! Page created using the Urban Anthology August Tea for Two kit.

I love how Kari includes whole packages of product in each kit, don’t you?
Because we get whole packages, we’re able to use the product packaging as well as all the goodies inside it!
Well, this week, I thought I’d show you how I’ve used the Prima flower packaging that came with the white flowers inside the August kit.

First I decided to alter it just a tad so that it wouldn’t look quite so much like packaging.
I added some crackle medium to the green, then brushed white paint on top of it.
I cut out a snippet from the Basic Grey doily, and adhered it to the card.
Then I slit an hole in the spine of the card, and threaded my ribbon through both the split and the ready-made opening, tying it in a bow.
In all the whole card took less that 15 min. most of that waiting for the crackle and the paint to dry.
It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s frugal, and it’s “green”.  Can’t get better than that, huh?

1. You’ll need a stamp set, ink, a stamping block, and scrap strips of paper. Here I used the bottom edge of some pp.

2. Choose your word and mount it on your stamping block.
3. Block off the extra letters that you don’t need by covering them with the scrap pp. In this case I only wanted to use the
letters “arty” because I was making the word “Party”. With the strips well attached, ink the remaining letters that are not covered up.

(before inking)

(after inking)

4. REMOVE the strips with the ink on them, and then stamp your image. Be sure you remove the extra strips BEFORE you stamp!

5. For the word “Party” I repeated steps 2-4 to get the letter ‘P’.

Now, I have the word I need, and I made it out of a stamp I already had!! I simply handcut the word out of my paper, attached it to the
stamped oval (which I actually used this same process to cover up part of the stamp) and Voila! I’ve got a custom made image!