Now it’s week three of my Card Service Project. Here are the new cards I made this past week to add to my giveaway stash yesterday:

And this greeting:

First, I cut the card from one of my custom AccuCut die sets, in Bazzill Basics Hillary. The coordinating mat is cut from my favorite cardstock, French Papers Speckletone True White, which you can read about on this blog post. Then, I used a few old Stampin’ Up! ink pads, Old Olive and Close to Cocoa. The stamp set used is Unity Stamp Company JS-989A Country Pumpkin Chowder, the “just saying hello” greeting is from Hero Arts CL380 Truly Appreciated set and the “thank you” greeting is from the Stampin’ Up! Wonderful words set.

This is one of my favorite A2 card dies, so simple to make a card! It’s AccuCut’s A2-Gift Card NC215 die. Now, I have a little secret. Shhhh, don’t tell. I altered my die! Yes, I know it voided my warranty, but to me it was totally worth it. This is what I did:

I took my scrollsaw and cut the gift card shape out of the card die. I made it the Series 3 Convertible size, so that I could insert it in other A2 card and mat dies. Now I can use this die as a regular card die (LOVE a fold-and-tuck card shape!!), as well as a gift card die, and also make gift card mats for all my other A2 cards! Awesome, right?! I thought so, too. But if you don’t want to alter your die, just cover up the gift card slots with a mat.

For this card, I used BoBunny patterned paper, Ocean color Double Dot Double-Sided Textured Cardstock 12″X12″ (not pictured, but is the same color as the Journal line), and the Ocean color Journal Double-Sided Textured Cardstock 12″X12″. The Double Dot paper line is still available and going strong. Love this stuff, go get some. I also used AccuCut’s Nameplates #12 N1056 die to stamp the greeting on French Papers Speckletone True White cardstock, and also Flowers #19 F1028 die to make the pink flowers. I used a plain circle punch for the flower centers. The ribbon is one I ordered from JKM Ribbon. The greeting is stamped from the Stampin’ Up! set Simple Sayings II. The inside mat is also cut from the French Papers Speckletone True White cardstock and is from a custom die I had AccuCut make for me.

I die cut this one from my custom AccuCut A2 Pocket Card die, which I had made for me several years ago because I loved AccuCut’s A7 Pocket Card. AccuCut now has a nearly identical one in their catalog, the A2 Card-Easel. I love the pocket card shape! It’s totally a staple in my card-making. I cut this from Bazzill Basics Granny Smith cardstock, used the A2 Card-Bands NC223 die to cut the card band from Doodlebug 4129 Colorful Kites patterened paper. The flower was cut from AccuCut’s CR632 Frames-Scalloped Circle die, in Bazzill Basics Pinata cardstock. The insert tab, cut from Bazzill Basics Lagoon cardstock, is from a custom shape I had done, but you could improvise with a 3″ circle shape, by placing a folded piece of cardstock about 5/8″ over the inside of the circle, and it would give you that rounded circle wedge/moon shape. AccuCut has two 3″ circle dies, either the Circle Convertibles Insert (Series 1) CV109 die or the Circle CR200S die. The greeting is stamped from the Hero Arts CL434 Just Find Me set, using an old Stampin’ Up! Pink Passion ink pad.

Week #3 is done, let’s do some more for next week!

Now it’s week two of my Card Service Project. Here are the new cards I made this past week to add to my giveaway stash yesterday:

First, I cut the card from the AccuCut A7 Jacket Card #1 die in a smooth navy blue cardstock. Then, I cut the center mat from the AccuCut Vintage die. Then I embossed it with the Darice Woodgrain 5″x7″ Embossing Folder Background. The light blue cardstock is Via Periwinkle. The center white mat is cut from a custom mat die I had made by AccuCut, measures 2-1/2″ square. But you could substitute a die cut from the AccuCut Accents-Antique die, the inside shape of the 3″ frame is 2-3/8″. The tab is cut from the AccuCut Tabs die and I decorated it with a Creative Impressions silver medium heart brad. The white card liner is cut from the AccuCut A7 Pocket Card die. I trimmed it a bit short so it wouldn’t be taller than the card with the tab added on. The ribbon is Morex 5/8″ Sheer Organdy ribbon, French Blue. The stamp set used is Stampin’ Up! Elegant Greetings and the ink is an old Stampin’ Up! pad, Night of Navy.

I love the simplicity of this card! I can see I’ll be making a ton of these, as well as adapting the design with a variety of stamp sets. Easy to make one-layer card, yet it is still pretty and elegant. I die cut it from the AccuCut A2 Card-Scalloped #3 die. The cardstock is French Papers Speckletone Cover – True White. I love this cardstock! I use it in almost all my cards. It’s a fiber-flecked smooth cardstock, a visually pleasing texture that is just the perfect off-white color, just barely neutral. It stamps well and works with both bright and neutral color inks. I buy it directly from French Papers online, though I wish Bazzill Basics or American Crafts would add it to their collection so I could get it in 12×12″. I should see what it would cost to have French Papers custom-cut a batch of 12×12″ for me. Might be worth it. Seriously, you need to have some of this! For this card, I stamped the butterflies from the Stampin’ Up! set Flight of the Butterfly, in an old Stampin’ Up! pad, Lovely Lilac. I sponged the scallops in the same ink color. The greeting is from the Hero Arts Clear stamp set CL380 Truly Appreciated.

I handcut this card, just cut a regular 8.5×11″ piece of cardstock in half, 8.5×5.5″, then scor and fold in half. I rounded the corners with the Large Corner Rounder Punch I sell in my eBay store. Again, this is the French Papers True White cardstock. The stamps used are Hero Arts CL351 Friends greeting set, Hero Arts CG526 Large Notebook Paper stamp, and the Stampin’ Up! Flower Factory set. I used old Stampin’ Up! Ink pads, Close to Cocoa, Rose Red, and Rose Romance. The ribbon is Morex 3/8″ Sheer Organdy Dusty Rose and the brown twine is from Creative Impressions.

Can’t wait to see what I come up with this week ahead!

I was sitting in church on Sunday, February 23, a few weeks ago, and just listening to the speaker. My mind was kind of wandering, and an idea occurred to me that lit up my brain and percolated for a few weeks. I’d become disconnected from my love of crafting and making cards, and it occurred to me that what would really make it fun again would be to make and give away cards for other people to use in their daily lives. It would be a great way to give back, to be of service to other people, to show my gratitude for the gifts of my creativity and the material possessions that I have. Plus, there’s all that paper that needs to be used up so I can buy pretty new paper! Paper crafters, you know what I’m talking about.

So, yesterday was the first day I brought my stash of cards to church and passed a box of them around for ladies to take. They can use them to give to other women in our ward/church that they visit (it’s call Visiting Teaching in the LDS church), to use as a greeting, birthday, or pick-me-up card. Or, take one to give to a neighbor, friend, or family member. I was glad to see nearly all of them taken. Part of the stash were ones I’d received in a card swap years ago. I’m glad that’s not collecting dust anymore. It felt great to give them away, and it made me energized to make more for the next week. My crafter’s brain is coming alive again!

Here are pics of some of the cards I’ve made, that were part of the giveaway yesterday:

In case you don’t get the pun of the card, it’s a play on words. All the missing letters are the letter “u”, for “missing you”. I totally copied the idea from a pin I found on Pinterest. Here is the original link to the listing in the etsy store Beside The Willow Tree. I stamped it on a tan fiber-flecked cardstock, which I think originally comes from French Paper, called Oatmeal cardstock. Bazzill Basics calls it Kraft and American Crafts has a shade lighter called Kraft. I cut a regular 8.5×11″ piece of cardstock longways into 2 pieces that were 4.25×11″, then scored them in half. I used a 1/2″ corner rounder punch on the corners. I sell this punch in my store: Large Corner Rounder Punch. I also carry the Small Corner Rounder Punch. The stamp set I used is Hero Arts LL931 Signature Lowercase Letters. The ribbon comes from Creative Impressions, 1/4″ Black with Magenta Stitch.

I die cut this one from my custom AccuCut A2 Pocket Card die, which I had made for me several years ago because I loved AccuCut’s A7 Pocket Card. AccuCut now has a nearly identical one in their catalog, the A2 Card-Easel. I love the pocket card shape! It’s totally a staple in my card-making. I cut the card from Bazzill Basics Beeswax. The green scalloped circle was cut using the EK Success 2″ Scalloped Circle punch, and the cardstock is Bazzill Basics Hillary. The inner circle was cut using the EK Success 1.5″ Circle punch. Both the inner circle and the pull-out insert were cut from French Paper’s Speckletone True White. It a subtle off-white fiber-flecked cardstock. It’s my favorite off-white cardstock! I use it on nearly all my cards. Go get some! I bought it directly from French Papers, though I wish Bazzill Basics or American Crafts would add it to their collection so I could get it in 12×12″. I should see what it would cost to have French Papers custom-cut a batch of 12×12″ for me. Might be worth it. Seriously, you need to have some of this! The green ribbon on this card is unknown, but you might find something similar from Morex.

This is another one of my custom AccuCut card die sets. It’s made from a long-cut A2 card, with a jeans-pocket shaped flap that is idential back and front, and glues on the back, and then is tacked down on the front with a self-adhesive velcro-dot closure, which is also sold in my eBay store, Becky’s Craftroom. Do a search for velcro and you will see several options. While not strong enough for office or industrial applications, they work beautifully for cards! The cardstock is Bazzill Basics Tangy Taffy, which unfortunately is discontinued. It pairs so well with the ribbon, which I think is Creative Impressions. A good paper substitution would be American Craft’s Geranium. It’s a shade lighter, but also workds well with the ribbon. The front white mat, also from my custom die set, is stamped with the Stampin’ Up! Wonderful Words set and the Stampin’ Up! Small Sayings set. Then I chalked around the edges of the white mat, a magenta color from an old Decorating Chalks set.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my cards for this week. I hope this is a tradition that continues for a long time to come!