Izbzee

2020 12 Tags of Christmas - Tag 3

Tag three was a blast to make.  I'm in love with shaker cards and thought I would adapt a design to create a shaker tag.  

I used the rounded square from the basic shapes library and the half circle with a cutout.  Union command in eCal3.  Copy and paste a 2nd shape on the mat. HIghlight one of shapes, choose contour cut from the Effects menu.  Create an inset shadow, that would leave about 1/4 inch of an edging on the basic shape of the frame. Click okay.  When you get back to the mat, move the shadow to the top of the layer palette.  choose Path > back minus front.  This piece will become your shaker front.*  Open the library again, choose the rounded square.  Make it a little bit larger than the opening of the shaker front.  This will be the cut for the transparent window of your shaker front.  

Add a snowflake to the mat.  Size as needed.  

Create the sentiment using a favorite font**, place on the shaker back.  Set the letters to draw.  Using the foil quill, foil the lettering.  If you're not using a single line font, you'll need to use line fill (effects tab) to fill the lettering.  

Cut the shapes.  Place the transparency on the back of the front and secure in place.  To create the shaker:  Add some narrow foam tape to the right side of the back shape of the shaker card.  Add the shaker bits -- in this case, I used some holly and berries mix from Kat Scrappiness.  Place the shaker top in place.  

 

*I used a digital print from and old Echo Park Christmas collection to fill the shape with the holly and berry paper.  And print 2 cut.  You could also set the sentiment to print to cut if desired. I also set all strokes on the shapes to none.  

** Font, Hello Blushberry Sans Serif is from CreativeFabrica

2020 - 12 Tags of Christmas

It's that time of the year again... and we're celebrating the holidays on the eclips/eCal FB page with our annual 12 Tags of Christmas reveal.  

Tag 1:  Playing with basic shapes in the eCal 3 library - place a circle and half circle on the  mat - using the union command, create a single shape for the ornament base. Fill using a buffalo plaid* using the pattern fill command.   The smaller circle has a foil quilled sentiment. 

Fonts (Charming and Charlotte) from CreativeFabrica.  
Buffalo plaid from CreativeFabrica.  

playing with paper in June

Just a couple of cards for the past couple of weeks, but at least there was a little bit of time spent at the craft table.

Digital image from Creative Fabrica.
Colored pencils (Rembrandt)
Paper (AC Cardstock and Bazzil)
Fixative (Krylon)

 

Queen & Company Special Delivery kit
Nuvo Crystal Drops
AC cardstock scraps

 

Gradient lettering done in eCal3 (Font: Impact)
P2C 
Lettering and base cut on the eclips2

 

Tag 5 - Spring Tag Challenge 2020

Well, it's Friday and it's been a fun week. Thanks for dropping by and sharing a bit of your day  or evening checking things out. As you can see I decided to make another shaker card - a perfect way to round out the week.  

The background is an image I purchased on Dreamstime.com - I've used it for a couple of cards and have plans to use it for another couple of projects in the days to come.  I loved the colors and thought they would serve well as the background for this tag.  

Printed on photo paper (4x6 -borderless setting).  

The sentiment is written in the Walking Wind font and is from CreativeFabrica.com  I used the foil quill and some pink glimmer mist foil from Spellbinders.  I think it turned out quite lovely.   

Stack 5 ovals cut using the eclips and ecal and adhere them to form your shaker box, centering the stack around the sentiment.  

Add the sequin mix.  Adhere an oval cut piece of transparency and the top card stock oval.  If desired add a few more sequins to the oval and the tag base.  Add some ribbon or fibers to hang your tag.  

Thanks for joining me this week.  It's been a fun week.  Don't let COVID-19 get you down .... I hope you'll be able to find a few minutes, hours or more to craft as you can.  Be safe, stay well.  

the music box

It's been a while -- and this project has been in the making for several months.  Just kept hitting some snags with the build. I do need to thank Sandy Stark from SimplyCraftySVGs.com for the hexagon box and base.  They're perfect!

 

 

You'll need
Hexagon box and base file (currently not available for retail sale)
African Violets (Dreaming Tree - Alluring Floral Bundle)
Cyclamen Leaves (Lia Griffith)
Wood Texture Background (digital file)
cardstock
printer
electronic die cutting machine and software (eclips2 and eCal3)
WRMK's Foil Quill
Gold Foil
4 x 2 round styrofoam
box knife
Music box with turntable (the forks for the music box in this instance have been disabled) NationalArtCraft.com
EZSound Box - Front Play from InvitebyVoice.com
Audio file (MP3 - MelodyLoops - Spring Flowers)  or track of your choice (make sure you have the appropriate license for use)
Lineco Bookbinder Glue

Print, foil, cut and assemble the box and base, leaving the top of the box off. Do not glue the box and the base together yet.  You'll have two pieces. 

Add music to the EZSound Box according to manufacturer's directions from the instruction card in the packaging or from the video on the website.  It's really easy!   

Position the music box without the turntable attached on the top of the foam, with the turntable spindle as near the center of the foam as possible.  The spindle should be facing up.  Trace around the box with a pen. 

 

Place the EZSound Box on the top farthest from the music box and trace.  Using a craft knife or box knife, trim out that area.  Trim out the area for the turntable as well.  The foam and boxes should fit snugly in the foam. 

Secure the foam and boxes in the hexagon box.  Glue the hexagon box to the base.  Using a little dye or pigment ink pad, apply a little ink to the top of the spindle of the turntable box.  Carefully lay the top of the box centered and press lightly.  This will mark the placement of the hole in the top.  Using a punch, place that hold and glue the top to the tabs of the hexagon box.  Secure the turntable to the music box spindle.  you will need to turn the turntable to wind it up so it will spin.  I have about 1/4" of space between the top of the box and the turntable.  




Add your choice of decor to the turn table.  

Spring always reminds me of my Grandmother's yard and the violets that grew wild in the grass.  I'm using a file from Dreaming Tree from the Alluring Florals Bundle - African Violets (file pieces were reduced by 50%).  The leaves were from a file from Lia Griffin's site (paid membership).  

 

Hope this inspires you to do a little Spring crafting.  Nurture your heart and soul with creativity this week.  

2019 12 Tags of Christmas Tag 8

Happy Llama-Days!  Tag 8 is another quick and easy tag to complete.

Fill the tag with the background pattern of your choice.  My pattern is from CreativeFabrica.com.  They have a huge selection of backgrounds you can choose from (a few are even free!)

I added a little color to the print2cut llama also available from CreativeFabrica.com. I used Tombow markers and a little bit of glaze to add a little dimension and interest.  The sentiment is made using the WRMK Foil Quill (Black foil, fine tip, D adapter*) This section was added as an extension to the original tag cut.  The llama is secured to the tag base with some pop dots. 

Additional details for the foil quill and settings using the eclips2 and eCal3 software can be found here. 

Lots of good ideas for tags are filling the 12 Tags of Christmas album on the Facebook group page.  Don't forget to stop by there to see the rest of the makers' tags. 

Thanks again for stopping by!  Enjoy your creative time! 

 

tendonitis vs crafting

And the tendonitis is winning at the moment.  So bummed!  And a visit with the specialist is still a month out!

Every now and then, I can get a few minutes in - ice and then a few more minutes.  I did sneak in a little bit of time to create this playful "get well" card for my brother-in-law who just had some shoulder surgery. 

I used eCal3's library of basic shapes to create the band-aids and fill a card shape. I used a square and a half circle to form the sides of the band-aids.  Place a few circles and center a square over the bands and you've got the shape. Add a few other details as desired. Group all the pieces in the band-aid and then set the lines to Print2Cut Print.  Copy and paste to fill.  Print and then follow the step by step directions to cut your card base to size. 

Color with a couple of swipes of a Tombow marker, the coloring is done.  Adhere the card front to the base, add your sentiment and it's ready to deliver.

I think I'll print a full page or two for future cards. I imagine we'll need a few more cards this coming winter. 

Hoping to be able to share a few more projects in the coming weeks.  Hoping you've set aside a bit of time in your studio or craft room.  Celebrate your creative spirit! 

 

 

celebrating Dad!

Only two weeks until Father's Day is celebrated here in the US.  This project was inspired after a stroll through some images on Pinterest.

All cuts were made using the eclips2.  The eCal3 software and library provided a few of the basic shapes (triangle, tie, tag) used.  Lots of digital paper and themed cards were used  (Carte Postale, Carta Bella - Our Family, Lori Whitlock Life Cards, MSC Moustaches, and a free download for the library card digital) and the Print 2 Cut feature in eCal made it so easy to fill the shapes, print and cut. 

Close ups of a few of the pieces below:

Lots of fun and a relatively quick project to mat and put together. 

Thanks for dropping by.  Hoping you've scheduled some creative time this weekend.  Enjoy and nurture your creative spirit this week. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

brushing off the dust and cobwebs

It's been a busy sort of spring with all sorts of fun projects .... however, I haven't published a post in nearly a month!  And here's the reason why:  I have an agreement with Invite By Voice not to publish anything I create for them until they have published it on their social media.  It's hard to sit on so many fun ideas for this long, but I hope you'll agree that it will be well worth the wait once they publish....

AND:  Mom care has sort of taken over our lives too.  Things are changing a bit here and we have had to "up our game" to stay on top of things regarding her care. 

Now back to crafting again so let's see:  a recent ATC Challenge brought this little goodie forth.  I'm still hoping to add a few little details, like a book and some reading glasses, but for now, this project was a fun create using the eclips2 and eCal3. 

The adirondack chair is a free file from SVGCuts.com and the umbrella is from the Summer folder in the Basic Library on eCal.  I purchased the vintage label shape from the eShape Store and the sentiment is from Creative Fabrica.  The blanket is a rectangle and just folded and crunched a bit.  The background image is a photo I purchased for commercial use and modification -- I used photoshop to add the watercolor filter.  and removed a couple of people from the photo.  Then placed the image on the mat in eCal and created a clipping path using a rectangle the size of the ATC card and used the print 2 cut option in eCal3.  So much fun! 

I really enjoy playing with the ATC size cards -- and here's the link to a grouping  of ATC's I made last year. 

Father's Day is just around the corner - a couple of weeks away.  Haven't sent out this year's cards yet, but they are made and I'll create a separate post for those in a couple of days.  In the meantime, how about checking out the cards we sent out a couple of years ago....  the post is here. 

And lastly, as we gear up for summer holidays, last year's fun included a fun 4th of July marquee --all the details are here. 

Thanks so stopping by and I hope you'll enjoy revisiting some of my past posts and will be looking forward to what's coming in the next couple of weeks.  It just might turn into project OVERLOAD! 

Keep on creating and nurturing your soul. 

 

 

 

 

Foil Quill results

I finally was able to pick up a Foil Quill here locally. 

I'd pre-ordered from another company back in January, but they weren't able to secure all of their order and were still waiting for their first shipment.... so grateful they were willing to completely refund and I could go pick one up at one of the local craft stores.

I'm very impressed.  My first samples were near perfect.  Using cross-hatching or line fill and just adjusting it a bit will fill in most of the lettering. 


Just a little more tweaking and I think the fill will be perfected on the lettering.  In the meantime....

I found some really neat svg/png files to cut, but decided to use them as foiling patterns.    Using the Foil Quill fine tip and no additional adjustments to the draw/pen settings in eCal 3 and cut using the eclips2. 

I used Inktense watercolor pencils and a waterbrush to apply the color.  Love the results and hope you do too.  The background is an altered digi background (PhotoShop Elements) print of a "faux watercolor" piece I shared in this post

Thanks for stopping by.  So looking forward to my next bit of creative time.... hoping you have some time carved out in your busy schedule too!