~Cardmaker's Anonymous~

It starts with a piece of white cardstock. a rubber stamp, scissors, glue and a sentiment.  Then, you want to add color; so more ink pads and colored papers.  As you look for a few ideas, you find Pinterest and you see the most beautiful cards being made by other crafters.  Now you must have a die cutting/embossing machine so that you can add all those neat shapes and textures; so you get a Cuttlebug.

This leads to more designer papers, colored papers, rubber stamps, sticky strip, paper punches, embossing folders, dimensionals and embellishments~LOTS of embellishments.  What began as 2 boards of saved "ideas" on Pinterest is now 11 boards.   You find Youtube tutorials for making fancy folds, tying bows and then making mini-albums.  You become obsessed!  And, you are making pretty cards.

All of the watercolor supplies have been put 'away' to make room for cardmaking supplies.  Like most craft supplies, my cardmaking stuff multiplies (exponentially) as I find more ideas and supply sites.   I think the good thing is that I have almost everything I need now, except paper of course.

On my previous blog entry, from March, I posted a few of the first cards that I made .  I was fascinated by the layouts and neat folds and cardmaking techniques.  They took time to make and I used a lot of paper (I made a lot of mistakes) but the end product was so satisfying.

So I searched for more of these interesting folded cards.  You would not believe how many different ways you can cut, score & fold a piece of paper.  Here are a few more of the first cards I made.

 This is a 'double pocket card', there are tags with ribbons attached in each pocket.  Notice the textured background layer, that was made with an embossing folder using the Cuttlebug.

 This is an 'easel card'.  The paper flower and ribbon are ''embellishments" as is the little button that keeps the card propped up.

 A 'double Z-fold card' made with 3 co-ordinating designer papers.  The scalloped backing on the tag closure was made with a die on the Cuttlebug.

 This is also 'pocket card'.  The pocket is made with a torn paper.  The stringed button adds a bit of interest.

 Another 'pocket card'.  They really are one of the easiest cards to make.  I love the paper butterfly and chose the paper so that I could use it.

 This is one type of 'slider card'.  The card starts with a flat front, when the tab is pulled, the card slides up and reveals the message inside the window.

 Another 'easel card'.   Owls are very popular!

 A 'sunburst card'.  Very easy once all the papers are cut into triangles.  I made the flower to co-ordinate with the colors in the papers.

This is what cardmakers call an 'Inchie Card'.  Each little square is a one inch square or close to it.  This card was made using a combination of techniques.  The background floral design was stamped on a sheet of white cardstock.  Then I colored it with "gelato" crayons.  Then, I cut the colored design into the pieces & glued them on the paper in rows of rearranged flowers.  The flower was a pre-cut die~I "punched up" the color a bit to match the card colors.

Now you have an idea of what cardmaking entails.....but there is SO MUCH more.

(to be continued)