Creating a Scene with Multiple Elements | Card making Tutorial for Beginners

This was a very fun card to make. I used stamps and dies from different sets to compose this scene. And my cat, Bimini, wanted in on it so she made an appearance in my card.

Rarely do I have the luxury to buy complete sets that include rubber stamps, dies and stencils. Those large sets tend to include a couple complete scenarios that you can choose from. 

Most of us have smaller sets; either single rubber stamp elements or just die cut sets. It is up to us to put these together to create a nice scene.

I used four sets to stage this whimsical scene of my cat getting into mischief. The hanging shelves were one set of rubber stamps. The planters with greenery was another set. My cat came from a die set and the champagne glasses came from yet another set.

Aside from visualizing how different elements will fit together, you will need to plan carefully. Work from the bottom up; so that the items further back are inked or glued first. Aside from overlapping elements, light shading adds to the three dimensionality.

Supplies

• Altenew Potted Shelves stamp and die set
• Altenew Sentiment Strip 2
• Kokorosa Cat with Telescope die set
• Bathtub scene die set
• Altenew pigment ink in Permanent Black
• Altenew fresh dye inks in Evergreen, Mocha and Espresso
• Altenew Solar White card stock
• Altenew glue
• Die cutting machine
• Tweezers
• Alcohol markers

1. Measure, cut and fold A2 card out of white card stock.
2. Lay out elements that you will use to make the scene and determine the order in which you will stamp and glue.
3. Stamp the shelves and table in mocha and espresso inks.
4. Use die cutting machine to cut all dies from white card stock.
5. Color die cuts with alcohol ink markers.
6. Glue all die cuts in the proper order so that the items furthest back are glued first.

I take you through most of these steps on my You Tube video here. If you visit my You Tube channel, VanGoghChica Studio, please help me grow by liking the video and leaving me a comment! Happy crafting!

 

A no-frills, non -floral card design: Clean & Simple Cardmaking Tutorial | Easy Handmade Card Idea

 

In this Clean and Simple (CAS) cardmaking tutorial, I share a fun geometric card design suitable for anyone who is a no-frills type of person. Yes, cardmaking does include many floral designs, but that is not all we can make.

If you want to make your card along with me, watch my You Tube video, complete with a blooper right at the end! 👉 The blooper shows up around the 27-minute mark, so you can either craft along with me as I stamp and assemble my card or skip ahead for a laugh. If you enjoy DIY cardmaking, stamping, or beginner-friendly handmade card tutorials, this video is for you! Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to help my channel grow—I’d love to connect with fellow crafters.

Supplies

• 
• Altenew's Doodled Triangles Stamp set
• Altenew's pigment ink in Permanent Black
• Fresh dye in in Aqualicious, Warm Sunshine, Frayed Leaf, Sweet Leaf, Limestone
• Altenew white card stock

1. First you are going to cut and fold your white card stock into a fold-open A2 (4.25"X5.5') card.
2. Observe the design in the picture and begin stamping. Some elements should be stamped first and you will need to make a mask (as easy as a scrap piece of card stock) so that some elements look further back. It may be helpful to watch my video if you have any question as how to do this.
3. Lastly, stamp the sentiment.

And there you have it.  A CAS (clean and simple) design that relys on geometric shapes for pattern instead of florals and embellishments. Who says card making is just for frilly women!

Clean & Simple Cardmaking Tutorial + Funny Blooper | Easy Handmade Card ...

#Ever messed up your handmade card at the very last step? 🙈 You’re not alone! In this Clean and Simple (CAS) cardmaking tutorial, I share a fun geometric card design—and yes, you’ll see my real-life crafting blooper happen right on camera. 👉 The blooper shows up around the 27-minute mark, so you can either craft along with me as I stamp and assemble my card or skip ahead for a laugh. If you enjoy DIY cardmaking, stamping, or beginner-friendly handmade card tutorials, this video is for you! Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to help my channel grow—I’d love to connect with fellow crafters. 💬 Are you a cardmaker too? Share what you’re working on in the comments—I’d love to see your creations!

CAS card - letterpress at home

 Have you ever received a fancy card with letterpress type?

With letterpress, the paper is textured and you can literally see the printing process. It denotes an important and special feel to the card. Letterpress is officially done at a printers; but I have a trick to make a faux letterpress card. 

This trick is actually multi-step, requiring agile fingers and patience. I will show you a tip to make it go smoother. It took me several tries to figure it out but I am happy to pass it along. But first:

 Supplies

• White cardstock
• Altenew Butterfly Dreams layering stamp set
• Altenew Fancy Hello Die
• Altenew fresh dye ink sets in Golden Sunset and Sweet Dreams
• Die cutting machine
• Spray adhesive
• Vellum

1. The first thing you will do is die cut five fancy hellos from card stock.
2. Then you glue each fancy hello on top of each other, making one thick fancy hello. For me, this was harder than it sounds. I have neuropathy in my non dominant hand and this creates numb fingertips and lack of dexterity in that hand. Usually it does not interfere with my art, but this stacking of such delicate die cuts was frustrating. Until I figured out a way to make it easier. Take two sewing needles and stick 
   
   them into something softly solid. Then line up the die cuts using the needles as guides (see photo). Letting the die cuts fall onto the other dies, with the two needles holding them still, allows you to fuss and get them exactly lined up. Voila! I got this idea after many failed attempts of glueing 5 hellos onto each other and then printing (step 5) with them. Since those were not lined up as well, they created a fuzzy mess of a hello on my card. 
3. Die cut a fancy hello out of vellum and stick that to the bottom of your five glued-together hellos. So, now it is six layers, and the bottom layer is ink resistant.
4. Ink the bottom of the hello (onto vellum side) and then carefully situate onto the card where you want it to rest. 
5. Now run that through your die cutting machine (you will probably have to fuss with the number of layers of plates you put on the stack). Your card is now imprinted with the fancy hello and it is pressed into the paper making an indent in the paper. Faux letterpress.
6. Now the fun part - stamping and playing with colors. Using my Butterfly Dreams layering stamp set, I stamped three butterflies. I used the two sets of mini cubes in yellows and teals. You know I could not resist and several times combined more than one color in inking the same stamp. 
7. With my butterflies flying happily, I used those same ink cubes to make irregular splatters of color on the card front. To do this, I pressed a brush onto an ink cube. I transferred the color to a palette. Then I sprayed water onto the ink and made the ink watery; so I could pick it up it with my brush and splatter the watery ink onto my card.

I like the look of this card, I am glad to know this technique. Stay tuned and I will show you other card making techniques that create interesting textures as well. Happy stamping.

Easy card : clean and simple

 

My first class in the Clean & Simple (CAS) style of card making was basic. I admit, that I had to hold myself back while creating this card. Basically, I stamped the images and colored in two spots that I felt balanced the composition and injected a little pizazz. It is pretty straight forward. 

Supplies

• Altenew Many Thanks stamp set
• Altenew Healthcare Heroes stamp set
• Altenew fresh dye ink in crimson
• Altenew pigment ink in permanent black
• Staedtler watercolor pencil no. 124
• Hangfan alcohol marker in carmine
• No. 6 round brush

One item that I did not list in the supplies is Altenew Stampwheel 2.0. I did not list it because it is absolutely not necessary. But I am writing about it because it makes your life so much easier if you're going to be making cards regularly. I love it! If you are into making cards, put it on your gift wish list now. A birthday or celebration anytime soon?

This detail shows how thorough my black ink stamped. Without the Stampwheel 2.0, I would probably not have such crisp lines without breaks. The Stampwheel 2.0 is a tool to help you line up your stamps so that they always land in the exact same spot; this way you can keep stamping until your image is perfectly rendered. It has many other benefits, such as keeping your stencils in place and creating circular patterns or wreaths. I plan on doing a video about the Stampwheel. 

Keep on crafting.