Making Your Own Embellishments-CAS-style

I'm all for finding ways to use the supplies I have on hand to make other embellishments. I thought it'd be fun to share a few make-it-yourself embellishments.Some products that are ideal for making your own embellishments: felt, fun foam, chipboard,plastic, and paper

To make embellishments with any of these items, all you need is a die, die-cut machine, or scissors. Run the media through your die cut machine and you're set. Or, if you are feeling like something a bit more unique, freehand a design and cut it out!

Now, to keep things clean and simple, use these embellishments as the focal points on your card. After all that work to make something cool and unique for your card, show it off!

Threes & Triangles

A concept I'm sure many people are already familiar with, but is always worth talking about is the concept of the rule of threes and using visual triangles in your designs.

When talking about the rule of threes and card making, I typically apply that to grouped items. If I'm stamping a few flowers for instance, I try to either have a group of three, an odd number, or in some cases, multiples of three. I have found that a grouping of 6 can work, simply because it's 2 groups of 3. Basically, it's just tends to be more interesting to the eye to work in odd numbers, especially threes.

Now, when I talk about the visual triangle, I usually refer to the actual layout or placement of elements. Any 3 points (there's that number again) can form a triangle, the shape of the triangle doesn't usually matter. I find that this triangle is achieved easiest by using similar items or colours. Something as simple as a black outline of an image stamp, a black sentiment, and some black ribbon or matting; or repeating a visual item, such as flowers in pattern paper, in your images, and in your embellishments. Once you start to look for these triangles though, you really start to see them everywhere!

The only problem with these concepts are that they seem overly technical and stamping is about the fun and the creativity. So try not to overthink it. However, if you come upon a design that just isn't coming together, step back and assess things. Once you get used to this idea, it starts to come naturally.

Okay, so here's my card. I went with some of my favorite paper and this fun font- it's a Quickutz die called Chocolate. Love it!

In case you are having a hard time seeing the triangles, or what exactly I mean by visual triangle, here's a diagram. I'm using the colour orange as my triangle/group of 3. You could even draw a triangle based on the vanilla items (the ribbon, the paper behind "you rock", and the background part of the flower).

Supplies:

Paper: Haiku DSP, So Saffron, Tangerine, Vanilla

Accessories, etc.: Chocolate Alphabet, Vanilla grosgrain

Stamped Backgrounds

This is clean and simple stamping to create a background instead of using patterned paper. Since I already had this Flower Garden (PaperTrey Ink) set out I decided to use a whimsical flower and stem. I like to use flowers with the sentiment "Thanks a Bunch". I think I will quickly make another one with grapes and use the same sentiment! This is another under 10 minute card! Supplies: Stamps - PaperTrey Ink Flower Garden; Ink - SU! Real Red, Memento Ivy Cottage; Paper - PaperTrey Stampers Select, Prism

Stamped Backgrounds

I may have covered this topic already, but it's still a good topic, especially for those CAS stampers out there. It's nice to rely on patterned paper, but sometimes that just doesn't do it. In those situations, it's great to be able to make your own! Another thing that's great about doing this- you can ensure that there's the perfect amount of white space left on your "patterned paper" to stamp your sentiment. For these sweet and simple birthday cards, I stamped the sentiment first, then stamped the flowers. I've been seeing a lot of poppy red with chocolate and light pink lately and I've been meaning to use that combo. I love! Supplies: Stamps: Garden of Life (PTI), Ink: Burnt Umber, Sweet Blush, L'Amore Red Paper: Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate, White

Layering Identical Cuts

I like layering parts of an image for that little extra dimension but still keeping the card clean and simple. For this card I just layered the wing of the bird. I stamped the bird on the image panel and then stamped it again on another piece of paper. I cut it out and attached it to the main image with a pop dot. This sketch is by Julee Tillman - one of the Verve anniversary sketches. Supplies: Stamps - Verve Anniversary Birds; Paper - Prism CS, MME dp; Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa; Misc - Pearl Stickers, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Fancy Corner die

Tips- Layering Identical Cuts

This tip is a really easy way to add a little bit extra dimension to any card creation! You'll need a decent pair of scissors though. Stamp your focal image once on your cardstock. Stamp the image again on another piece of the same kind of cardstock. Cut that one out and place over top of the original image with pop dots. It gives a neat, subtle shadow effect. This effect in more complex layouts is often called paper tole. It can be as simple or as complex as you wish, so it's a really great technique for all types of cards and skill levels! *photo removed for publication* Supplies: Stamps: Sweet to the Core (gel-a-tins) Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Pear Tart, Bamboo Leaves, Cottage Ivy Paper: Chocolate Chip, Spring Moss, Old Olive, White Accessories, etc.: Regular and Long Rectangle Nestabilities, Double Stitched Ribbon

Borders

I used the spiral punch to create the punched edge border. The circle and main pieces are both popped up with dimensionals.

Supplies:

stamps - Pocket Silhouettes, Live Your Dream, All Holidays

paper - kraft, perfect plum, pale plum, white

ink - pink pirouette, perfect plum

acc - pink pirouette gg, spiral punch, 1-3/8" circle punch, dimensionals

Tips: Using Borders, Edges, or Boundaries on Cards

This tip was completely inspired by PaperCrafts 101. I was looking for some fun clean and simple ideas and loved all the ideas involving borders. Borders are just a fun way to add a little something to your card without taking away from a focal point. You could go with scallops, a series of cut out images on the side of your card, a cut fringe, a line of punched out shapes, you get the idea!

I went with a line of punched out shapes using a punch I had to have- the Spiral Notebook punch. I wanted something really simple, so I adhered some striped paper to a 4.25 square base, punched all along the side, added some ribbon, then a little sentiment circle.

Supplies: Stamps:Holiday Mail (gelatins) Paper: white, dots and dashes, olive Accessories: Notebook punch, circle punches, ribbon

Tips: Change up your dimensions!

This week's tip is to change up your dimensions! By this I mean step outside the 4.25x5.5 box. No squares either! Making cards with different dimensions really allows you to use your supplies differently. Maybe you have a large alphabet set you are dying to use, but it's too big for a standard size card. Try a bigger style card. Maybe you have some really big primas that would work well on a larger format. On the other side of the spectrum, maybe you have some cute, but tiny stamps. They would go nicely on a smaller format, perhaps you'd want to look into using the notecard size. Popular sizes include the 6x3 or 7x3.5, the 3.5x5, I've even had fun with 6x5 cards. For my card today I went with an A Muse 4 bar blue notecard. These ones measure 5 1/8"w x 3 5/8"h. They work really well with the slightly smaller size of the A Muse stamps. This card was definitely on the quick side. I cut a 2 inch vanilla square, stamped my scene and sentiment (both from the Sushi clear set) . I coloured in the leaves and flowers with Copics and then applied a thin coat of stickles.

Tips: Using black cardstock or embellishments

One thing I have found, is how using just the smallest bits of black cardstock can really bring extra dimension and 'pop' to a card. This applies to other media as well, like ink or embellishments. The darkness of it helps to separate elements which seems to make things more exciting to our eyes. When I am stuck on a design, sometimes I find that a thin black mat, a touch of ribbon, or a black sentiment can really bring it up to that next level. *photo removed for publication* Supplies: Stamps: Birds Clear Set by Inkadinkadoo, Three for You Punch set by Stampin' Up! Ink: Bamboo Leaves, Rhubarb Stalk, Tuxedo Black (Memento) Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Cranberry Crisp Accessories, etc.: pop dots

Some more blue and orange

Here's another card featuring my favorite complimentary colour combination. I was in the the mood for glittery flowers, so I inked up some chipboard, covered them with Mod Podge, then sprinkled on the glitter and went from there.

Supplies: Stamps: Stampin' Up! Chipboard: Stampin' Up!, Colorbok Ribbon: American Crafts Patterned Paper: Scenic Route Ink: Bahama Blue, Tangelo by Memento ,Accessories, etc.: Glitter (some Michaels brand)

Complementary Colors

I love purple so I decided when I was casing the featured stamper on SCS last Sunday that I would make a card using purple and yellow so I was ready for this post. I used watercolor pencils and my aquabrush to color the image and then went over the image with a Stardust Gel pen though it isn't very obvious in this photo. I used the faux stitching technique here as well. Supplies: Stamps - Rubbernecker; Ink - Versafine Black Onyx; Paper - PaperTrey, Bazzil; Misc - SU! Mat Pack, white gel pen, black marker, watercolor pencils, aquabrush, Stardust Gelly Roll pen

Tips:Complimentary Colours

Colours can really be a wonderful starting point when you're having a motivation slump. Complimentary colours are one of those nice combinations that you can rely on. If you choose 2 colours that lay across from each other in the colour wheel, it will generally be pleasing to the eye. One of my favorite complimentary colour combinations is orange and blue. I cannot get enough of it! When I saw this Scenic Route paper from last season I had to have it because of its lovely blue and orange tones. Something to keep in mind, be sure to keep things in the same tone. If you're going with a dark green (say hunter green), it will pair better with a dark red (like crimson). If you're going with an earthy orange or rust, they will look better with an earthier blue. It's important to keep those undertones and brightness in mind when going with that colour selection!

Tips: Repetition

Repeating an element on a card is a really quick and easy way to unify your theme. There are several different ways you can do this, listed below are just a few ways to use repetition to your advantage.

• You can use a shape, such as circles or squares, for your repeated element.
• You can use a specific theme as a repeated element, say all flourish type stamps.
• You can use the same stamp over and over to make a background, then use it again for your focal point.
• You can even use a monochromatic colour scheme as your repeated element.

For my card, I went with the third option. I used the cat head stamp and paws several times to make a fun background. The cat head is also stamped once in a brighter colour as my focal point. One thing to keep in mind if you are doing a random type background with more than one image- start with the biggest image first. You'll be able to fill in spots with your smaller images. Supplies: Stamps: Inkadinkadoo Cat clear set, Sun Spirit Studio Sentiments Paper: Summer Sun, Only Orange, White Ribbon: American Crafts Ink: Canteloupe, Tangerine

Tips- Sponging a masked area

This tip/technique goes quite nicely with the CAS style. Basically, start out with a neutral card base, then get a piece of scrap paper that is the same size as your card front. Cut or tear a shape out of your scrap paper. Using temporary adhesive, attach the reverse mask to your card front. Decide on a colour palette and start sponging colours into your shape. Next, add in some images and a sentiment. Remove the mask, finish off with ribbon if you like. The effect makes quite the impact. This has been a favorite technique of mine for some time now, so I thought I'd show you a few items I've made over the years.

This first one is really not much of a CAS style, but I wanted to show you that you don't have to make your reverse mask be card front size. Also, this shows how a torn shape can make a very effective look.

This next one is card I made for last year's Dare to Get Dirty celebration at SCS. For this one, I cut out the rectangle free hand, sponged a few greens, and stamped over with leaves and definitions. I went with a rectangle on this one as well. I kept with browns and nature themed images again. So even though each of these card has a more elaborate collaged type look, they come together quite quickly and look really impressive. If you need a gift set for someone, I highly recommend doing something along the lines of the bottom two.

Cute as a Button

I really like the look of a word border and with acrylic stamps it is so easy to create. This is pretty straight forward - I centered the 3D sticker in the middle of a 4x4 card and stamped the sentiment around it. Then I added the buttons in the corner and an Amuse Micro Dot Twinkler sticker on the sail. Supplies: Stamps - Studio G; Paper - PaperTrey Stampers Select; Ink - SU! Real Red; Misc - MM 3D sticker, buttons, glue dots

Word Borders

Word borders are a quick and easy way to jazz up the area surrounding your main image. With all the clear stamps out there, this concept is even easier than ever to use! On my example, I didn't have a sentiment that was the whole length of the main image. Instead I used the small one twice, using a cute flower as a spacer.

Supplies:

Stamps: Nature Set (a muse)

Ink: Memento

Accessories, etc.: brown flock, copic markers

Color Blocking

This may not look simple but it was a really quick card to make. The 9 blocks of patterned paper is really one piece of paper - I downloaded this patterned paper from PaperTrey and it was already in blocks. I trimmed one piece to just 9 blocks and adhered it to my card base. I stamped the smaller square using a stamp from PaperTrey's Gridlines stamp set and embellished with a brad and some Amuse Twinkler Micro Dots. Supplies: Stamps - PaperTrey Gridlines; Paper - PaperTrey; Misc. - Amuse Twinkler Micro Dots, Brad, pop dots

Tips: Colour Blocking

Colour blocking can be a really fun and quick way to jazz up a card. If you're looking for a quick way, I suggest sticking with squares. Different sized rectangles look quite neat, but the measurement calculation can be a bit annoying at times. For this card, I stuck with 2 inch squares and a 4-1/4 square card base. I call it colour blocking, but really, you can use cardstock or patterned paper. It's the same effect! I ended up stamping the cardstock on my sample. Supplies: Stamps: Pretty Flowers by Inkadinkadoo, Little Lady Ink: Groovy Guava, Cool Caribbean Paper: Guava, White, Caribbean Accessories, etc.: brads, double ended tag die

Outside the Box Hibiscus

At least, I think this is a hibiscus! I stamped the flower on white cardstock, masked it, and stamped two more flowers around it. I then placed my oval cutting template (Creative Memories) on the paper and cut the oval, stopping short of the flower petals. I hand-cut around the flowers that were hanging off the edge of the oval. I colored the flowers with copics. The entire oval layer is popped up with dimensionals, as is the sentiment tab. Supplies: (SU except where noted) stamps - Embrace Life paper - black, ww, ruby red, river rock dsp ink - Palette black acc - copics, oval cutter (CM), black gingham, large oval punch, dimensionals