Tag Archives: Carta Bella

Spellbinders Home Sweet Quilt Cards

Hello, Friends! It’s been a chilly week here in North Carolina, and that has inspired me to make these Spellbinders Home Sweet Quilt Cards. Growing up in Vermont, we always had at least one quilt over piles of blankets or afghans on our beds during the winter. The weight of the bedclothes, and my mom saying “Snug as a bug in a rug” as she tucked me in at night are sweet memories. Maybe that’s why I sleep under a weighted blanket now, who knows?

I’ve never been a quilter, but a while ago, I started saving diagrams for various quilt squares in a Pinterest file. My intent was to replicate the patterns with paper. Spellbinders must have been reading my mind, because this die set allows you to do just that, without all the geometry and measuring it would have taken for me to do it on my own.

Home Sweet Quilt Filigree 8 Point Star Square

This 5 1/2″ square card uses the Filigree 8 Point Star pattern. There are a lot of little parts that come with this die set, and at first it can seem a bit overwhelming to figure out how they all go together. So first, maybe try die cutting from inexpensive cardstock to get the feel for how the pieces fit together. I, of course, did not do this. For fools rush in where angels fear to tread. But even with my harum-scarum approach to creating, I managed to produce a very pretty design. Bottom line: it’s not hard to do, but it gets easier with practice. And the end result is so pleasing that I think I probably will take this die for another spin.

Here’s a peek at the inside. Winter plaids make me think of pajamas…and that is a cozy thought, indeed. You could put on your flannel pj’s and enjoy a hot cuppa of Winter Spice tea while watching Dr. Zhivago for the ultimate cozy winter experience. (The winter scenes are epic!)

Quilted Stained Glass Window

Next I created an inlaid mosaic design with the Quilted Stained Glass Window dies. I will not lie to you: this was a lot of work because of all the little pieces. But it was very rewarding to see the design come together. If I did t his one again, I would probably just die cut the outline from white cardstock and lay it over a sort of calico patterned paper. That would be a quick and easy way to create the same effect.

Adding machine stitching to the Carta Bella Gather Again patterned papers really amped up the homespun vibe of this project.

Here’s a peek at the inside. The cozy farmhouse vibe is perfect for winter cardmaking.

There are 6 different quilt square dies in this release along with an embossing folder and sentiment stamps. You can take a look at all of them along with some pretty samples HERE.

You’ll find a linked supply list below this post.

I hope you’re staying warm and cozy this winter!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST

Spellbinders Home Sweet Quilt Dies
- Filigree 8 Point Star
- Quilted Stained Glass
Carta Bella Welcome Winter Collection Kit
Home Again 12×12 Collection Kit
- ephemera frames and tags (retired)
Blue/Ivory/Gold Plaid Ribbon (3/8″ and 1/2″)
Champagne Wrinkled Ribbon
Bits and Bobs from my stash
49 and Market Salmon Flowers

Welcome Fall Tiered Tray Tutorial

Carta Bella Welcome Fall Tiered Tray Tutorial with Spellbinders Becky Roberts Tiered Tray Dies

Hello, Friends! This Carta Bella Welcome Fall Tiered Tray tutorial is such a fun bit of autumn home décor! A few days ago, I introduced you to this fabulous die collection, but I used it to make a Christmas Tiered Tray. It was such an enjoyable crafty adventure that I decided to create another version in fall hues.

Look at all the fall goodness tucked into this tray! We have another fall gnome, a fall banner, acorns, autumn leaves and pumpkins. These are all cut from scraps of patterned paper using the Tiered Tray Décor Dies, as are the little prim house, pitcher and coffee mug. This is a great way to use up little bits and pieces of pretty patterned paper!

Once again, I combined fussy cut elements from the 6×6 paper pad with the die cut pieces.

If you like to decorate for each season or special occasion, this die would be a fun addition to your stash. The video tutorial below will show you how to assemble the tiered tray in a way that creates lots of depth and dimension on your finished card.

A Peek Inside

Here’s a peek at the inside of this vibrant fall card. I sure do love this paper collection from Carta Bella. The autumn hues are so warm and cozy, and it’s filled with delightful patterns. I could not resist adding a flap page and a pocket inside the card.

Open the flap page to reveal a little photo spot and….a tiered tray! How fun is that? The pocket if filled with a 4×6 notecard, some tasty fall chocolate, a honey stick and a tea sachet.

This sweet little tea sachet is tucked into the pocket. Remember when I made the Stitched Diamond Shaker Card? Well the die cut on the front of the sachet is left over from that crafty adventure. It really dresses up a tea bag!

Welcome Fall Tiered Tray Tutorial on You Tube

If you’d like to learn how to assemble and decorate your tiered tray, I hope you’ll enjoy this little video tutorial.

That’s it for me today, my friends! I hope you are all enjoying some beautiful fall weather. Just a few more days, and I’ll be sharing LOTS of Christmas tutorials and projects with you. I’m also working on a fabulous recipe album kit for Button Farm Club. That will be released shortly. And, the Heartfelt Creations Blog Hop is this Friday! So lots of good things to look forward to!

You’ll find a linked supply list below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST

Layered Stitched Diamond Shaker Card Tutorial

Carta Bella Welcome Fall Layered Stitched Diamond Shaker Card Tutorial with Reneabouquets

Hello, Friends! It’s Make & Take Tuesday, and I have a delightfully different Layered Stitched Diamond Shaker Card Tutorial to share with you. Are you ready to get your craft on?

Spellbinders Layered Stitched Diamond Die

Although the Layered Stitched Diamond Die is part of Spellbinders Holiday Stitching Release, I wanted to use it in a fall project. Why? Well, because I had just purchased Carta Bella’s gorgeous new “Welcome Fall” collection.

It was very easy to modify this die to suit my purposes.

First, die cut the outer frame and main die from orange metallic cardstock.
Next, use your craft knife to cut out the small rectangle piece that is attached in the center of the die cut.

TIP: If you have a glass cutting mat, or an old piece of glass from a picture frame, use that as your cutting surface. A craft knife glides more easily when you are cutting over glass. This gives you a cleaner cut.

Now cut a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ panel of clear cardstock (acetate sheet or window sheet).
Adhere this to the back side of the die cut frame.
Then add 3 layers of 1/8″ foam strips around the back side of the prepared die cut panel.
Next, cut a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ panel of plaid paper from Welcome Fall. Adhere the “Hello, Fall” ephemera circle in the top half of the plaid panel.
Finally, place your shaker mix in the center of the plaid panel, center up the prepared shaker frame and press in place to seal.

Delightful Details

You have probably noticed that I did not stitch a thing on this frame. That’s because the etched lines on the metallic paper looked so fabulous that I did not wish to cover them up. The lines are meant to be a guide for stitching on the card. But it’ s OK if you don’t stitch! The frame still looks amazing!

Dress the frame up with a gorgeous fall pumpkin from Reneabouquets. Then tuck in some leaves, create a bow cluster, and add some sweet copper acorns to finish the card front. So simple, but so pretty!

A Peek Inside

Naturally, I created a pocket inside the card.

Then I created a little 4 3/4″ x 4 3/4″ photo folio and a bookmark to tuck into the pocket. So many families take portraits in the fall that I thought it would be nice to create a special spot for one.

Layered Stitched Diamond Shaker Card Tutorial on YouTube

Here’s a little step by step tutorial to help you put this card together. We start with a tour of the paper collection and a good look at the Spellbinders die. Then I show you how to create a 5 1/4″ x 7 1/4″ top fold base using 8 1/2″ x 11″ cardstock. After that, we are off to the races! I hope you enjoy!

You can find a linked supply list below the post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST

Spellbinders Layered Stitched Diamond Die
Carta Bella Welcome Fall
Reneabouquets Fall Pumpkin and Fawn Roses
Buttons, Sequins and Charms from my stash
Rust/Ivory Plaid Ribbon (substitute Ivory/Rust/Gold Plaid)
Burlap String

Carta Bella Halloween Market Shaker Card

Carta Bella Halloween Market Shaker Card with Reneabouquets Beautiful Board

Hello, Friends! I don’t like spooky Halloween, but this Carta Bella Halloween Market Shaker Card is too cute to spook! When a long-time customer from my Etsy shop placed an order for a special Halloween card, I had to dig through my stash to see what papers I had in house. These cute papers and some sweet Reneabouquets Printed Beautiful Board seemed like a perfect match. And just like that, I was off on another crafty adventure.

What to Do When You Have No Focal Image

Almost all the focal images in this collection had been used in previous projects. (You can review them HERE. There are even some video tutorials that you might like to watch again!)

Since I depend on images to tell a story in my card designs, I had to do some thinking. Thankfully, I had some adorable Reneabouquets Printed Beautiful Board images in my stash along with a die cut clock. The printed Beautiful Board was small, but what if I used these adorable images to adorn a shaker element? This could work!

Creating the Shaker Element

Here’s how I made the shaker element:

First, die cut the Tim Holtz Timekeeper Clock from heavy black cardstock.
Next, ink the clock up with Versamark Embossing Ink. Be generous!
Now cover the clock with Stampendous Aged Black Embossing Enamel. Let the excess powder roll off the die cut, but do not tap the paper!
Then heat emboss from the underside of the die until the powder starts to melt. Hold the die cut with tweezers to protect your fingers.
Once the embossing powder has started to melt, you can finish the job from the top side. This prevents the embossing crystals from rolling all over your work space.
While you are heat embossing, go ahead and finish the spider web corners Beautiful Board with the same technique.
Now die cut an acetate (clear cardstock) circle to fit the back side of the clock and adhere with Dries Clear Adhesive.
Then add 3 rows of 1/8″ foam adhesive around the outer perimeter of the acetate circle.
Next, place your shaker mix in the area where you plan to place the clock. Line the clock up over the shaker mix and press firmly in place to seal.
Place foam tape on the Reneabouquets Scarecrow and attach to the side of the clock.
Place 3 layers of foam tape to the little witch image and adhere at the base of the clock.
Add your bow cluster, flowers and a dangle charm at the top.

A Peek Inside

Piece patterned papers together to finish the inside of the card. Of course, you need a pocket for treats!

Use scraps of patterned paper to dress up a tea bag and honey stick. Turn to your scraps again and make a cute little chocolate wallet/notecard to add to the pocket.

You can find a linked supply list below the post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST

Carta Bella Halloween Market (papers sold out)
- Cardstock Sticker Elements
- Ephemera
Tim Holtz Timekeeper Bigz Die
Clear Cardstock (Acetate Sheets)
1/8″ foam strips
Buttons Galore Creepy Sparkletz
Reneabouquets Beautiful Board
Aged Black Embossing Enamel
Clear Embossing Ink
Really Reasonable Ribbon
- Halloween Baker’s Twine
- Russet Orange Taffeta
- Silver Metallic String
- Flowers, Charms and Buttons from my stash

Amazing Paper Grace Christmas Flourish Cards

Spellbinders Amazing Paper Grace Christmas Flourish Cards

Hello, Friends! Today I have a couple of super cute Spellbinders Amazing Paper Grace Christmas Flourish Cards to share with you. These dies are so much fun to work with! Spellbinders sent me both the Let It Snowman and the All Hearts Come Home Flourish dies. I spent a delightful day in the studio with them, and I’m excited to show you what I came up with. There are loads of pictures coming, so you might want to grab a snack and a cuppa before we proceed. Go ahead! I’ll wait for you!

Let It Snowman Shaker Easel Card with Carta Bella Christmas Collection

Snowmen are probably my favorite Christmas image to work with. I could not resist making this sweet Let It Snowman die set up into a shaker frame. Do you blame me? The finished 6 1/4″ square card feels like a snow globe. Here’s how I created that effect.

First, die cut the Let It Snowman frame from white and red metallic cardstock. Layer the red metallic die cut over the white so that they are slightly staggered. This creates a sort of drop shadow effect.
Next, trace around the outside of the die onto a piece of clear cardstock (acetate sheet). Don’t worry about cutting around the leafy edges. Just cut the circle shape at the top of the die. Adhere this panel behind the frame. You will need 2 of these clear panels.
Now add 3 layers of 1/8″ foam adhesive to the back side of the frame.
Then flip the frame on its face and fill the center with your shaker mix.
Next, line up the 2nd clear cardstock panel over the foam tape and press firmly into place.
Finally, trace around the snowflake/woodgrain patterned paper and adhere it behind the snow globe frame.

Let’s Make a Snowman!

Snowmen are probably my favorite holiday/winter theme. They always look so friendly and welcoming on a card. Die cut this snowman and snowflakes from heavy white cardstock. The jaunty hat is cut from a scrap of dark green suede paper that I had in my stash. Cut the hat band from a scrap of red metallic paper. The nose is a scrap of old Authentique Spectrum orange cardstock lined patterned paper. Snowman assembly is super quick and easy! Back with foam tabs and attach to the snow globe as seen in the photo.

A Peek Inside

Create a pocket to go inside the card base. This doubles as a stopper for the easel mechanism. Dress it up with some pretty holiday flowers and leaves. Then tuck some rusty jingle bells underneath to add that special Christmas sound. Vintage buttons look great tucked into the flower cluster. A miniature Christmas ornament topped with Baker’s Twine and a tiny posy are the perfect finishing touch.

Seems like everyone gives gift cards at Christmas now, so I like to include a gift card wallet with my cards.

It’s a lovely way to present cash or a shopping card.

All Hearts Come Home Christmas Card

All Hearts Go Home at Christmas is a very popular holiday sentiment. And this sweet little prim house is so cute tucked inside the die cut frame. This card may look complicated, but it actually comes together very quickly. The best part? You can pull out that glitter paper from your stash and put it to good use here!

First, die cut the frame from white glitter paper. Glue it onto a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ panel of green glitter paper.
Next, die cut the house 3 times: once from white glitter paper, then from black cardstock, and a third time from red metallic paper. (You can use a scrap left over from making the snowman card!)
Now, cut the door, the chimney and the roof from the black die cut and adhere over the door and roof area of the white die cut.
Then adhere the remainder of the black die cut behind the white.
Next, adhere the red die cut behind the other two houses. Pop out the red heart and adhere it in the “window” area.
Back the house with foam tape and adhere in the center of the frame.
Create faux snow with Dries Clear adhesive, Crystal Clear Glitter and Mini Pearls Prills.

A Peek Inside

Simple Stories Simple Rustic Christmas papers are the perfect pairing for this cute card.

Vintage Santa images tie in with the Santa Sleigh on the die cut frame. I love the sweet Santa expression on this gift card wallet.

Scraps of designer paper fill in all the gaps inside the gift card wallet.

Are you still with me? That was a lot of photos and a lot of information. These dies are all part of Spellbinders new September release. I’ll link to them on the supply list below this post.

Have you gotten a head start on your Christmas cards yet? We are just about 100 days out from Christmas Day, but you’ll want to get your cards in the mail much earlier than that date! There’s no time like the present to start!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST

Spellbinders Amazing Paper Grace Christmas Flourish
- Let it Snowman
- All Hearts Come Home
Glitter Specialty Paper
Red Metallic Paper
Green Glitter Cardstock
Clear Acetate Sheets
Bakers Twine
Forest Green Taffeta
Carta Bella Christmas Collection Kit
Simple Stories Simple Vintage Rustic Christmas
Buttons Galore
Bits and Bobs and flowers from my stash

Kathy by Design

Handcrafted Paper Art for All Occasions

Tag Archives: Carta Bella