Crafted by Nicole LeBlanc

Spreading happiness... one card at a time.

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Mass producing Unique Cards – card making with layering stamps

Quick Tips for mass producing cards that are still unique.

I feel like there are 2 types of card makers out there: those that make one of a kind cards and those that like to mass produce. Usually for me, I don’t make more than a handful of cards of the same design, but this layering stamp set inspired me to challenge myself to make different and unique cards with the same card designs and color combos.

You can find a coordinating video for this project by visiting here.

The easiest way to mass produce cards is to keep your card design simple and your color design the same. Then, add special details.

I began all of my card panels by trimming down some white cardstock to 4.25″ x 5.5″. I then began stamping up the floral images from the floral print silhouette stamp set from Concord and 9th. I kept the color scheme the same by using Coral Reef, Jellybean and Soft Navy ink from Simon Says Stamp and all card bases were made from SSS’s soft navy cardstock. I wanted to use a less feminine color palette so that I could use my cards for either men or women. I used my MISTI to very quickly line up and stamp out my multiple floral panels on white cardstock.

Using a stamp positioning tool such as a MISTI will save you time if you are stamping multiples of the same image.

Completing similar tasks at once will save time. For example, completing all stamping at once.

To continue on with mass producing portion of the project, I then cut out a ton of the hello sentiments from the Hero Arts Hello stamp and cut from white cardstock. I then stacked the sentiments 3-4 layers high using some Tombow Mono Multi Liquid glue.

For the sentiment strips, I loaded a variety of the sentiment stamps from Hero Arts Hello stamp & cut set into my misti and stamped a bunch at once using the soft navy ink on the white cardstock. I also heat embossed some in Gold embossing powder from Hero Arts and Alabaster embossing powder from Brutus Monroe on soft navy cardstock. I trimmed out the sentiments using my paper trimmer and set them aside.

I prepared A2 card bases by trimming my SSS soft navy cardstock in half at 5.5″ along the long edge and then scoring my panels in half at 4.25″. I now completed the mass producing portion of the project and began assembling.

Use an embossing folder to add some texture!

Ways to change up your card design

  1. Use specialty papers as the top layer of the die cut sentiment to give your project some wow. I used both a gold foil paper and some Tonic Holo Waves paper to give my projects some beautiful shine.
  2. Cut out and pop up elements of your card for extra dimension. I used a circle die to cut out the stamped floral image and popped that up on my card panel using some foam tape to add some extra dimension.
  3. Try a cover plate die to give your panel some interest. I used the stitches A2 die from Pinkfresh Studio to add some beautiful stitched details.
  4. Use an embossing folder to add texture. Embossing folders are an inexpensive way to add many different textures to your cards. In my project today I used a Geometric Chevrons 3D embossing folder from Sizzix.
  5. Vary the sizes of card panels used. I used a few different A2 Layers Dies from Waffle Flower when I cut down my card panels to give different looks.
  6. Change the shape of your card. I trimmed down one of my card panels to 4.25 x 4.24″ and made a square card.
  7. Embellishments! This one really had endless possibilities. I used a clear glitter brush marker to add some shine to the coral floral stamps and the hello sentiment in one. These brush markers really add the wow factor to any card. I also added a small coral puffy heart sticker to one of my cards. Adding drops, gems, stickers, sequins, pearls, thread/twine, glossy accents,  etc. would include even more ways to amp up the cards and make them your style.
A cove plate die will add amazing details to your card panels.

Comment below your favorite way to add unique details to your cards!

Disclaimer: This post features affiliate links when possible. All products used in this project were purchased by me for my own personal use. Affiliate links are at no additional cost to you and they help support this website. Thank you!

DIY Easy Birthday cards featuring watercolor backgrounds and washi tape with coordinating die cuts

This card project has a coordinating video tutorial. Click here to watch these projects on YouTube.

I began these cards by prepping the backgrounds on some watercolor cardstock. Background panels were made by painting on watered down distress ink in chipped sapphire. Watercolor panels were dried using a heat tool between layers. Once panels were complete and dry, I ran them though my Minc machine on setting one to flatten them out. If you have a laminator this would also work. If you don’t have a minc, you could help prevent warping by taping down your watercolor cardstock to a board. Panels could also be flattened by placing them in a heavy book. Once the panels were complete, they were trimmed down to varying sizes all slightly smaller than an A2 card panel.

Next, I prepped the washi tape for die cutting. I unrolled the Pinkfresh Studio Indigo Vines washi and stuck it down to some 110lb cardstock and ran it though my Gemini die cutting machine using the coordinating Indigo Vines die. I also die cut some plain white cardstock with the die so that I could stack up the images for some added dimension. I also die cut some of the smaller images from some gold foil cardstock to add some shine and interest to a few of the cards.

I did a mix of embossed happy birthdays using the Pinkfresh Studios Happy Birthday Sentiments stamps and coordinating dies. For the sentiments on the white cardstock, I first stamped in Stargazer Ink from Pinkfresh Studios and very quickly sprinkled some Simon Says Stamp detail clear embossing powder over the top. For the sentiments using the navy cardstock, the sentiment was stamped using versamark ink with Hero Arts gold embossing powder on top.  Sentiments were then die cut using the coordinating dies. I also die cut a few extra happy birthday dies from both the white and navy cardstock to stack up my sentiments for some fun dimension.

A2 card bases were prepped out of some Nautical Hero Arts 110lb cardstock. I cut the cardstock in half at 5.25 inches and scored the cardstock along the 8.5 inch side at 4.25 inches. Watercolor panels were adhered to the card bases with foam tape.

The wreath cards were adhered together using some Tombow mono multi liquid glue.

For the cards with the vines in the opposite diagonal corners, I first glued some offset gold foil die cuts to each of the vine images. The first layer and the sentiment were adhered to the card base using tombow mono multi liquid glue. I added some additional dimension to the top layer of the images by adding some foam tape.

To finish off the cards, a mix of flat gems from Ink Road and some miscellaneous flat backed silver pearls were adhered to some of the card projects.

I would love it if you would drop a comment below and let me know what your favorite card shared today was.

Disclaimer: Please note that this post uses affiliate links, when possible. Affiliate links are used at no additional cost to you and they help to support this site. All products used in this post were purchased by me

Birthday hummingbird card using layering stamps and stencils

Today I am sharing an easy birthday card using layering stamps and stencils. I really like this project because it focuses on some basic card making techniques. It uses stamps, stencils and heat embossing. Machinery such as die cutting machines are not required for this project.

This project also has a coordinating video on YouTube:

I began the card project by first stamping out the hummingbird from the Hero Arts Color Layering Hummingbird stamp set. onto some Neenah 110lb cardstock. I used some MFT hybrid ink in black licorice to create the outline. I used three colors of Pinkfresh Studio ink to make the layers of the bird: ocean breeze, aquamarine and soft lilac. I did find a MISTI to be helpful to quickly stamp out a few multiples of the hummingbirds, but I found these images to line up very easily and could easily be stamped using acrylic blocks. Once the hummingbird image was complete, I cut out the bird using some Tim Holtz non-stick scissors. There is a die available for this little bird, but I didn’t purchase it, so I had to cut it out, old school.

I heat embossed the sentiment using some Versamark ink and some Brutus Monroe Alabaster embossing powder and melted it with my heat tool. I trimmed my sentiment down using a guillotine paper trimmer.

I then moved onto my background. For the background, I used some Pinkfresh Studio layered sunburst stencils and blended on the same colored inks that I used before using some Gina K and Catherine Pooler Blender brushes. I then trimmed down the colorful panels to 4.00×5.25 inches using a paper trimmer.

I prepped a piece of black cardstock trimmed to 5.5 x 8.5 inches, and scored it in half at 4.25 inches. I then adhered my card panel, hummingbird and sentiment using some foam tape. To finish off the card I used some old Hero Arts Hero Hues gems. While I don’t believe these are available any longer, gems could easily be substituted for a variety of gems from other brands, sequins, or even nuvo drops.

Disclaimer: Please note that this post uses affiliate links, when possible. Affiliate links are used at no additional cost to you and they help to support this site. All products used in this post were purchased by me.

Thank You Cards featuring Pinkfresh Studio’s Daisy Wreath stencil & die

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my latest project. Today I have some thank you cards to share using Pinkfresh Studio’s Daisy Wreath stencil and dies. But first a few announcements…

This card project is on YouTube. That’s right. My very first YouTube Video. You can view the video here:

Secondly, on a personal note, I would like to first apologize for the lack of updates lately. After losing a family member in recent weeks, I have struggled a bit with getting my crafty mojo back. I wanted to make some thank you cards to thank some special people for their kindness and for being there for my family during this trying time. Hence, the need for these thank you cards.

Ok, now back to the project…

I began this card by adhering the stencils to the some A2 panels using some low tack tape and inked the layers using a combination of Gina K and Catherine Pooler blender brushes. As a side note, I really love these blender brushes. The white bristles let me easily see which color I have used for which brush. For the leaves I used Pinkfresh inks in mint and meadow. The Pink flowers are ballet slipper and sparkling rose. The Peachy flowers are peach fuzz and apricot. For the center of the flowers, I used a combination of apricot and doe. Finally, in one of the cards you will see that I inked the hoop in a navy ink called stargazer.

Once the panels were inked, I began die cutting. I used the coordinating die to cut out all of the floral wreaths. I also cut some thank you sentiments using the Pinkfresh classic words die set. For the sentiments, I layered a gold foil sentiment on top of three layers of heavyweight white cardstock and a vellum shadow layer. To easily adhere the layered diecuts, I used Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue with the scrapbook.com tweezers.

Card bases were prepared using side fold card bases trimmed to 5.5×11″ and scored at 4.25″. Texture provided to the front of the cards was achieved by using the Pinkfresh stitches die. I decided to change it up and trim down some of the trimmed panels using the A2 Layers die from Waffle Flower. I used a mix of cardstocks to achieve this look. The pink cardstock is Cotton Candy from Simon Says Stamp and the navy cardstock is Nautical from Hero Arts.

Card assembly came together quite easily. Cards were adhered together using a mix of Tombow mono multi liquid glue and tombow mono permanent adhesive runners. I also used some foam tape on the cards which feature the smaller A2 layers die cut from the stitches panels.

To embellish these cards a bit and pull together the gold foiled sentiments, I die cut some tiny hearts using the accents in the scalloped box card pop up die from Lawn Fawn.

Bonus project:

Here you can see that I made another matching card with a very different look, simply by swapping out the nautical cardstock for some Simon Says Stamp cotton candy cardstock…

Disclaimer: Please note that this post uses affiliate links, when possible. Affiliate links are used at no additional cost to you and they help to support this site. All products used in this post were purchased by me.

Easy Birthday cards with Gel Plate Oxide Backgrounds

I have a fun set of birthday cards to share today showcasing some gel plate backgrounds. Like many paper crafters, I recently had to try out the trend of using distress oxide inks on a gel press plate. It was really fun to try different color blends to see what worked or what didn’t. If you are new to the gel press, to create these backgrounds you will need a gel plate of course, a brayer, and some distress oxide ink pads.

Creating Gel Plate backgrounds

  1. Roll brayer on distress oxide inkpad and then apply ink with brayer onto the gel press.
  2. Apply additional colors, using the brayer to roughly blend colors together. I would recommend wiping off the brayer in between color changes. I chose to apply my inks in stripes in rainbow order to get these looks.
  3. Place cardstock on the gel press and lightly rub the cardstock to ensure an even coverage.
  4. Peel the cardstock off of the gel plate.

If you are interested in learning about the gel plates, I would recommend you take a stroll to YouTube and do a search there. You will find tons of different techniques and ideas. Ok, back to the project…

Assembling the cards

These cards came together very quickly once my gel press backgrounds were ready. Rectangular panels were die cut from the gel press backgrounds using the Waffle Flower A2 layers dies. I used the die that was the third largest, because I like a bit of a white frame, but you could choose any size you like.

I then diecut three Greeting Farm happy birthday sentiments from white cardstock and one from a gold foil cardstock. This card design could be easily replicated with any sentiment diecut. The diecuts were stacked on top of eachother and adhered together using Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue. This is my favorite liquid glue for stacking up small diecut images.

Once the die cuts were stacked up, these cards came together very quickly. The sentiment and some sequins were adhered using the same liquid glue. And that’s it. Card complete.

Disclaimer: Please note that this post uses affiliate links, when possible. Affiliate links are used at no additional cost to you and they help to support this site. All products used in this post were purchased by me.

Hello Cards – featuring Pinkfresh garden florals stencils

When I first saw this Pinkfresh garden florals stencil online, it was love at first sight. And let me tell you, when I tried it out for these cards, it did not disappoint. The stencil guides made it very easy to line up and it was quick to make a bunch of multiples.

An embossing folder was used to add interest to the background, while still keeping the focus on the floral image and the gold sentiment.

For these stencils, I used some mini ink cubes by Altenew. In the photo above, you can see the names of the mini ink cubes I used if you are interested in checking them out. I love these mini cubes because they come in color sets that layer perfectly, which saves me lots of time testing different blends. I used some Gina K ink brushes to blend out these stencils and they turned out so beautiful. After blending, I used the coordinating die set to cut out the floral images.

I decided I wanted to make each card unique, so I changed up the backgrounds to give some different looks. On two of the cards I used a quilted embossing folder from Stampin Up and on the other 2 cards I used the Altenew Watercolor Stripes die. I love to swipe the hickory smoke distress oxide ink pad over the watercolor stripes die cut to give a cool woodgrain look. All of the sentiment die cutes were made using the Pinkfresh studio classic word die set. For the sentiment strips, I used the Simon Says Stamp birthday word mix stamp and die set.

All of the dies were then stacked about three layers high to add some sturdy dimension to these cards. For the die cut backgrounds, I glued them to a blue ink blended background so that the background die cuts would pop more from the background. Die cuts were then adhered to a mix of white and colored cardstock card bases.

This photo shows how swiping the distress ink over the cover plate die can give a much different look.

I would love it if you would comment below and tell me which card from today is your favorite! Also, if you have any suggestions for my craft blog, I would love it if you would send me your input using the contact page. As this blog is still very new, I welcome any feedback that you may have to make it better.

For more crafty inspiration, follow me on instagram: craftedbynicoleleblanc

Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored. All items used were purchased by myself. Links provided are not affiliate links and are provided for your information only.