For those of us who make, it's definitely time to craft holiday essentials.
This shaped card is for the Christmas Craft Creations September challenge.
The challenge is to make a shaped card, and I thought round would be fun First, have a look at the finished card, then I'll talk technque.
Here are the supplies I used.
We R Memory Keepers Precision Press. This is the early version. I was reminded why I don't like it as well as the newer one, but I wanted to play with it, since it's been a while. I like it much better for stencils, which you can attach to it via the stencil holder. It's really great for that. For the stamping, it lacks the magnetic platform and magnets period and washi just never seems to hold the card down properly.
Aleene's Tacky Glue is my adhesive of choice for this card. I like to have a minute to get something in place in case I don't get it quite right on the first go.
Ink: I used metallic ink, but you certainly don't have to.
Circle Dies: I'm not sure where the circle dies are from but there isn't anything particularly spectacular about them. If you put the edge just slightly off your paper, you will get a folded card that is in the shape of your die. It really doesn't matter what shape it is, as long as you can make it work to have enough stability when someone opens and shuts the card.
Crafter's Companion Beautiful Baubles: This is a stamp and die set, but I only used 1 of the bell dies and 2 of the sentiments for this card. I got mine from HSN.
Card Stock: I used black, white, and red. I'm not one to tell you "do it just this way," so do as you like. I love this deep red paper, so perfect for a Christmas card. I honestly don't know where that came from because a friend gave me this hodgepodge stack of paper and that was in it. For the base card, I used black cardstock and put a piece of the red over it so that the top would have the full circle and not the nicked Edge circle.
I cut out a white circle just slightly smaller for the writing surface on the inside because it's just too hard to write on black and be able to see it. I mean how many people have white pens? My
The sentiments and the bell are from Crafters companion. I got a set of layered stamps with coordinating dies period in this case, I only used the top layer of the bell. I know it doesn't make a full bell, but I really love the effect!.
Assembly
For the beginner card-maker, here are the steps I typically take when making a card. I like to do several, or at least two, at a go and set things up in stages.
1. Die cut: I like to cut all my pieces and set it all up assembly-line style.
2. Stamp: I like to stamp my elements before affixing them. That way, if there's an ink catastrophe, I can just cut another bit of card. It's only paper, after all, but who wants to mess up a half-or-fully-formed card?
3. Glue layers: I made a full red circle so you don't have that nicked-off bit where the card folks visible. I wanted an absolutely round card in the end. So, once the cutting and stamping are done, just poop everything together.
I will be able to use my we are memory Keepers envelope guide to make an envelope of the appropriate size to fit this card. I didn't measure it but I think it's about 4 in.
I will be adding it to the challenge list and I might make a couple of other shaped cards. We're allowed to do up to three of them. I hope you will check out the rest of the challenge posts!
Cheers to your blissful life!
Ronda Del Boccio, the Crafty Blind Girl
You can see my crafting and planning vids on my Crafty Blind Girl YouTube Channel.
Ronda Del Boccio is an award-winning and best-selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. She has been mostly blind since birth, but she never lets that stop her from doing what she wants to do. She tells transformational tales and helps visionary authors turn their dreams and imaginings into published books. See and order Ronda's books on Amazon at 
Ronda Del Boccio is an award-winning and best-selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. She has been mostly blind since birth, but she never lets that stop her from doing what she wants to do. She tells transformational tales and helps visionary authors turn their dreams and imaginings into published books. See and order Ronda’s books on Amazon at 
