The Ultimate Inspiration Calendar for Card-Mailersis ready for FREE download! As always, this calendar is full of ideas for card-making and card-mailing. Use the days to inspire you to create a card, like for Pink Day. Or use the calendar to remind you of someone who needs a card. Like Onion Ring Day. It makes me think of my friend who LOVES onion rings! I will be sure and send her a card that day!
Keep mailing your cards. And join our growing community on Instagram @MailItMonday. Joining in is FREE and our community is full of encouragement and incredibly thoughtful people!
This calendar is available for FREE download. Feel free to open the link and save, print, or share this calendar!
Each month for our Mail It Monday community at Instagram, I share this calendar as inspiration for your card-making and your card-mailing! Use this to inspire you to take out a forgotten set of stamps, use it to remind you of someone who could really use a smile, or use it to be an encouragement to send your cards!
The Mail it Monday community is exploding with new members each week! It is a wonderful place of joy and my heart is full these days as I see everyone stepping up and spreading love into the world. I am blown away by the number of cards being sent. Card-mailers you are making a difference in the world with your hobby! Wow! What an amazing thing to be able to say!
We would LOVE for your to join us. Click here to become a part of Mail It Monday!
Die cutting and embossing are my two favorite card-making techniques! And while I love using them for cards, they are also awesome for scrapbook layouts as well! We R Memory Keepers has a new manual die cutting machine out called the Revolution. It is really smooth and creates clean cuts and deep embosses!
The plates and platform are so easy to use. The base is also magnetic, making it easy to keep your dies in place while passing everything through the machine.
See how clearly everything is labeled? So smart! So easy!
Check out the details on the white card stock circle! Visit the We R Memory Keepers Blog for way more details and visit me on Instagram @kimberlystamps for a video look at the Revolution!
Thinking of you all in these unusual days. Stay healthy. Stay safe. Stay home. Praying for everyone in the days ahead. Sending you much love and a massive, socially-distant, hug!
Sincerely Yours,
Supplies used. Affiliate links shared here. Thank you for supporting my family in this way!
The final calendar of 2019 is here! Can you believe it?! I hope this year has been an amazing one for you and your card-mailing goals! Each and every card that gets sent spreads love and kindness and goodness into a world that so desperately needs it!
The Ultimate Inspiration Calendar for Card-Mailers will continue into 2020! So many of you have shared about how you enjoy it and how you enjoy using it. Thank you for sharing your stories! There will be some exciting changes for the calendar this year. Changes that will bring a bit more beauty and a change that will bring ease for my digital-loving friends!
This calendar is FREE. To download the calendar, simply click the link below. You can save the image, print the image, use it how it best suits you! If you want, you can even save the image in this blog post when you want it on your phone or tablet.
The Ultimate Inspiration Calendar for Card-Mailers is here! Whew! That's kind of a lot to say, but I truly hope that this calendar inspires you to not only create cards, but also to send them! This project has been quite a long time in the making, and I know that my fellow
card-mailers will love it!
One of the topics often discussed in our community over at Mail It Monday on Instagram, is that people are looking for more reasons to send cards, and for more people to send cards to. The Ultimate Inspiration Calendar for Card-Mailers will bring plenty of ideas your way, all year long!
By clicking the link above, you will be taken to a PDF file that you can download and print. The first link is to the cover page. Then, each month, I will be releasing another calendar. The calendar will be full of special days of the month, along with special weeks. Some might be silly, some serious, but all there to inspire your card-making and then card-mailing fun!
Click here: JANUARY for the downloadable PDF. Feel free to print it out. Also, feel free to share it with others!
In January there is Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, Pharmacist's Day, Cuddle Day, and so many more. Let these days help you discover people to whom you can mail cards. Or use the days to inspire you to create cards for another time. Or just use the days to make yourself laugh and bring a smile to your own day!
If you are new to Mail It Monday, first of all, welcome! Mail It Monday began with my need to remember to mail the cards I was making. Each Monday, using the hashtag #MailItMonday, we all encourage one another to send love, send cards. Join in our growing community by following along on Instagram. There is no charge, no fees, no commitment. Find other card-mailers like yourself to connect with. We share cards, card tips, products, card drives, and a ton of encouragement. People have connected, begun friendships, and even started card exchanges. I would LOVE to see you join in!
There isn't much better than getting new dies to play with, is there? Yes, I am a stamper, but there is something about using a die to cut a piece of paper that gets my creative juices flowing! The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to dies. Today I am sharing the Spellbinders August Large Die Kit of the Month. Spellbinders has fantastic options for their different kid clubs. If you love new products and especially new dies delivered to your door each month, visit their website for more information. You can find a link by clicking the names or by using the list at the bottom of this post.
How pretty is this image?! A flower and vines? Perfection! This intricate image can truly stand up on its own on a card. It really is a stunning focal point.
To help accentuate this gorgeous image, I created a background using my Color Block Stencils. The top was inked though the stencil. The rest of the layers were created by masking beyond the first line. I love the look! Its modern, elegant, timeless, and makes that die cut floral pop even more!
After die cutting the floral image from watercolor paper, I applied gold watercolor to the image. I used a smaller amount of water than normal because I wanted a more solid coverage. I also applied two coats of color, to cover up any white spots showing through.
The image was adhered with foam to more lift and life. A few sequins were also added for sparkle. I am obsessed with this color palette for fall, so yes, my next card is also the same colors. Why not go with what works, :D
When I get a new set of dies, I cut the image out several times. It allows me to move it, rearrange it, layer it, cut it, whatever to it. By doing that, I see what the die can do on a card. While playing around with more watercolored floral images, I saw that they came together, almost like a wreath.
I masked the background with Spellbinders Classic Ovals and inked in the same colors as above. Two floral images where adhered with foam, and again, those sequins in the perfect palette were added. I love the sequin in the center of the large flower, don't you?
I finished this elegant card of with a sentiment from my With All My Heart stamp set. It seemed like a wedding or anniversary card to me. So much warmth and rich color!
Speaking of anniversaries, today is our 19th wedding anniversary! Wow! Time does fly. But I can say, without a doubt, that I love my husband a little more each day. Its been a wonderful life so far! Looking back, its a beautiful thing to see our story unfold, and to see how God has held us and led us all these years. Here is to many more adventures together!
It is the wedding season. Time to make those extra-special cards for an extra-special day. My card above features not only letterpress, but also a handmade wire-shaped word. I created the word using the new We R Memory Keepers Happy Jig. The tool is very cool! It comes with all the pegs, the board, and a wire cutter. Plus, there are many colors of wire that can be purchased as well. The Happy Jig even has its own Instagram account, full of instructions on how to make all sorts of designs. Check out all the information on the We R Memory Keepers Blog.
P.S. Yes, that is my veil from my own wedding day. It means so much when things like that get to come out and be useful. The roses are from my grandmother's funeral, and the necklace from my dearest friend and roommate, that I wore at her wedding. The love here is very, very real.
I have been playing with the Spellbinders Small Kit of the Month for May! Play time is always the best! This month's set of dies includes 4 dies that cut words away from your cardstock. It allows for some pretty cool and unique card designs! As I looked at these dies, I thought it would be fun to create a matchbook folding card, so the words would be the highlight of the card!
These bright and fun cards were easy to make, especially with how smoothly these Spellbinders dies cut! One pass, no problems, even with the tiny parts!
Click play above to get a super fast look at how the matchbook fold card opens.
Because of the folding, I used 12x12" card stock to create my bases. It gave me more room to cut the words. You could certainly do this with a standard A2 base, but your closure will be much smaller. The final dimensions of these cards are 4.25" x 5."
To begin with, cut your cardstock to 4.25" x 12." Then score the cardstock at 2" and 7."
If you only have a smaller score board, here is a short cut to get the scores in the correct location. Score your cardstock at 2", then fold that part over. Place the fold against the left edge of your score board. Then score at 5." (2+5=7) I am terribly proud of the math I used to make this happen. Its the little triumphs each day, my friends! :D
To cut the flaps, I placed the dies, making sure the words were facing the correct direction, on the flap. Using tape, I secured the die in place, so that it will not slide during the cutting process in the machine.
Place the die and paper on your cutting mat, making sure to leave the flap exposed, and not covered by the rest of the card. If that happens, you will cut through your base.
On the portion of the card under the die cut flap, I added some watercolor designs I made the other day. I am taking a watercolor course via a book, but that's a post for another day. :D Anyways, why not use the fun things in front of you?! :D
How cute are these cards? Best part is, these cards stay within the standard A2 size, allowing you to use basic envelopes.
Each word in the set of dies has a different font, I love that!
This will make someone smile when they receive it in the mail! Plus, there is a ton of room on the inside for writing a special note!
What do you think? Have you made cards with a fold like this before? I am always late to the cool folds party, so catch me up! And don't miss out on this fantastic kit! Each month the Spellbinders Small Kit of the Month has great dies that will build up your collection!
One stencil, that is all it took to create these 7 unique and different cards. Pretty amazing what you can create with one awesome tool like a stencil! I fell in love with the Art Stencil Floral from Gina K Designs and I had more fun playing with it! So, I made a video tutorial for you on all the techniques I used. Each card has its own section in the video that is quick and short, but hopefully inspires you to give a few of these cool looks a try!
First up, color pencil. This one doesn't need much explaining, Simply color and add details!
This card above is embossing with highlights from wax paste!
Gold foiling on clear transparencies? How elegant is this?! Special products from Therm O Web create this amazing look! All the supplies used are listed below.
Light modeling paste and the fabulous new ink colors from Gina K Designs. So easy, and so much pop! After adding the ink, I trimmed the image away from the cardstock it was upon for even more impact.
Copper metallic paste on navy blue paper. Stunning! And easy! Look at all the texture it creates.
The two-tone watercolor technique makes another appearance. Of course this could be done with basic watercolors as well, but why not add a twist for even more beauty?!
And finally, the basic inking technique. Nothing wrong with good, old-fashioned, perfection on a card! I hope you enjoy the video and reference for ideas for the next time you grab a stencil and start creating a card!
Welcome to the first day of the Spellbinders™ Paper Arts Holiday Hoppin’ Blog Hop! Spellbinders, along with Spellbinders are showcasing th...
All content, including text, photographs, and samples are copyright 2020 by Kimberly Crawford. They are shared here for your personal, non-commercial use, this includes contests, submissions, and publications. Any other use requires my written permission. Thank you.
