One of my favorite things to do in cardmaking is to stamp my own floral arrangements like I have done on today's cards. I love to mix and match individual floral and foliage stamps to create a layout for the focal point of my cards.  It is so satisfying and no matter how many times I use the same images each composition is always unique. The secret of being able to build bouquets like these is masking, a basic stamping technique that will make your work look like art.  Masking lets you layer stamped images over each other creating depth to your design.  In this case it will appear that the ..read more

It's Fall Y'all and that means cooler weather and glorious colors.  Raise your hand if you love fall!  For ten years I lived in the Midwest and nothing beat the changing of Summer to Fall; well except maybe the ice covered trees in winter which looked so much like the trees were made of crystal.  What glory nature can bring.   I now live in coastal southern California and I don't get to enjoy the changing of the season quite as much but I always try to bring the memory of the beautiful Autumns that I enjoyed so much into my stamping.   This year I have been creating cards using the Autumn Sp ..read more

Hello Crafters,  Today I have a quick tip video tutorial showing you how I used a Hot Foil Stamp Die to letter press with.  It's quick, easy and a fun way to get more mileage out of those dies.   I hope you enjoyed the video.  If you have any questions or comments please leave them below. Thank you for stopping in. Happy crafting, Dawn Disclosure:      All products used in my blog posts and videos are my own and purchased by me.  My blog posts, videos and opinions are not sponsored, and I am not paid by the product companies to create these posts and videos. The information provid ..read more

Hello, Yesterday I shared a video on how to make a Center Step card from scratch and today I am back to show you how I embellished my card with a wreath made from paper. You can create a wreath like this using any branch, twig or leaf die that you have in your crafting stash.  You can even scale this wreath up to one large enough to use as home decor if you have an electronic die cutting machine. Thanks for visiting and please stop by again for more card making inspiration and techniques.   Until then...Happy Crafting! Dawn Disclosure:      All products used in my blog posts and vi ..read more

Welcome to my new Blog.  I have chosen to rename my blog to better identify its theme and my passion.   I have a love for cardmaking and I really enjoy creating scenic backgrounds for my cards, so I decided to name my blog from the three steps that I find most enjoyable: taking a piece of Paper putting Ink onto it whether that is by sponging or stamping, and then turning that into a greeting Card As you will see, I have migrated some of my old blog posts to my new home here at Paper-Ink-Cards.  In the coming months I will be adding blog posts, pictures, video content and inspiration ..read more

(Originally posted on 06/06/2018) Today I would like to share with you a step-by-step pictorial on how I created these unique cards.  I think they are different and quite pretty but even better is that they fold flat for mailing, depending on the embellishments that you choose, of course.   I started with a sheet of 5 1/2 x 11" piece of heavy cardstock scored at 5 1/2".  I like to use Neenah Solar White Card Cover for my card bases but you can use whatever heavy weight card you have.  I wanted to have a lacy edge on the diagonal so using a Crafter's Companion Lacey Edge'able die ..read more

(Originally posted 01/28/2016) Hi!  Today I’d like to share a couple of cards that I made this week using some dies that were created by Gina Marie Designs.  This was my first purchase of her dies.  I received the dies in about a week’s time and had to test them out right away, of course!  I have to say that I am really enjoying the trees background but my other favorite is the Calligraphy Sympathy die.  It’s so elegant, delicate and beautiful. For the first card I created a sky background by using Broken China Distress ink.  I pounced my ink pad onto my craft mat then sprayed it with wate ..read more

Hello, I am back again with some easy but elegant Christmas cardmaking inspiration.  These cards were all made with a new assortment from Crafter’s Companion called Poinsettia Perfection which is part of their Nature’s Garden collection.  This first card is a traditional 5x7"card layered with beautiful patterned paper from the 12x12" paper pad included  in the collection, a die cut frame using the Victorian Frame die and a couple of paper poinsettias.  I cut the frame from a foam green glitter card and using the Grande Poinsettia die set I cut multiples of the petal layers out of white ..read more

Welcome back!  Today I have three cards that I made with simple stencil techniques, but all three cards have a different sense to them. This first card, I used the stencil to create a cool underwater effect.  I stenciled a medium blue ink onto white cardstock then after removing the stencil, I inked all over the entire piece with a lighter blue ink.  This softened the stark white that was left by the stencil.  I finished by stamping a scene with silhouette stamps of underwater fish and seaweed in solid black, then added some die cuts and a sentiment. For this project the same sten ..read more

(Originally posted 10/11/2015) While others are putting away their Bird Crazy Tim Holtz stamps and dies I finally found some time to do a little card with mine. The background of this card was sprayed with Glimmer Mists and blended.  It was created on glossy paper but I also added a clear shimmer and although the pictures doesn't show it, it shimmers.  Then I cut and lightly inked the Crazy Bird and her hat and broom with Stardust and Dew Drop inks.  Finally I layered her and her pumpkin companion, bat and spiders for a crazy Halloween night.  Inside I stamped one of the Dylusions "I am ..read more