Time to say goodbye!

Ok, that was a bit dramatic. But, charcards.blog is going to be no more in a few days.

Better and greater things ahead
I launched my very first website last year but had to step back and work harder in the hospital, navigating the new normal during this pandemic. It didn’t leave me a lot of time to make samples for my teams and keep up with building the site.

But now, I feel I need to live with intention and really focus on what I want to achieve this year.

https://charcards.net is where you will still see my weekly blog with either a video or step-by-step guide on how to make a card or a show specific technique. It also has a dedicated page for all the videos I have made. The “Where I Shop” page contains affiliated links to the stores where I shop but earn a small commission if you make a purchase.
I am planning to set up a shop for my greeting cards for purchase soon.

What do I need to do?
Please head over to my new site and sign up for my newsletter. This will pop up on the start page.
If you have any trouble with signing up, please reach out to me at charcards@yahoo.com so that I can manually enter your info.

I am so excited for this year as I plan to delve deep into Bible Journaling, Mixed Media projects and let that style flow over to my greeting cards.

I appreciate all of your help and support. Thank you for liking and commenting on blogs and posts, which helps small businesses and artists reach more people like you. We have to fight new changes to algorithms daily!

Check out my page and let me know what you would like to see added throughout the year! My Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube platforms are all still active and thank you for supporting those as well.

Happy New Year and I wish you lots of Life and Love to you and your family.

Charmaine

Hello…in a different way!

Happy Friday !

I am using the “Say it with Love” January 2020 Sentiment kit created by Lisa Arana. The other day I made a bunch of gel press backgrounds/monoprints and was wondering how I could use them or incorporate them with my cards.

They are pretty bold in color and pattern so I decided to make these into envelopes instead. All I need now is a toned-down card with a sweet message.

This an A2 card in landscape orientation with the words stamped with a Misti for good allover coverage. Next, I used a black Micron pen and connected the words with squiggly lines. I used black, gold, and silver pens for a different look. Add the panel to a card stock color that matches the envelope for cohesiveness.

Add some visual interest with “Dots only” dies from Gina Marie Designs. These dies don’t cut the paper but deboss them instead. She has a whole series of these “dots only” dies in all shapes.

These are very simple cards that you can mass-produce and keep handy. Keep the stamp in the Misti and make multiple panels at a time without moving the stamp each time.

Until next time then!
You can still find all my cards on Facebook or Instagram. 

Much Love,
Charmaine

Slimline Possibilities

Happy Friday!

It is such a happy Friday because Unity Stamp Company is releasing RUBBER STAMPS today! I am so happy to show you one of the fabulous stamp sets available for purchase.

I am also trying something new for me, a Slimline card. I don’t have any fancy dies for this so anyone can make this card today. This stamp set is named Possible not Easy and designed by our newest team member, Sandhya Iyer. Make sure to show her some love!

Here is what I did:
Slimline cards are 8 1/2″ tall by 3 1/2″ wide and they will neatly fit into Number 10 envelopes with room to spare. Fold one 8 1/2″ x 11″ Neenah 110lbs cardstock in half and cut off the excess card stock.
Now, let’s add a pretty and dimensional background by using an embossing folder on a separate 8 1/2 x 3 1/2 piece of card stock. So how are you suppose to emboss an entire 8 1/2 long piece of paper with a 6×6 embossing folder? After I used an Echo Park diamond weave folder and ran it through my Gemini Jr, I just turned my paper around and lined the paper up with the existing embossed diamonds. Adhere this to the front of the card base with double-sided tape.

Now for the fun part. Stamp several flowers on heavy card stock, like110 lbs paper, because once these are cut out, they tend to be a little flimsy. Good card stock prevents the flowers from curling. I also used Copic friendly ink like the Gina K Designs Amalgam ink. Choose a patterned paper that is not too busy but will still make your flowers the main attraction. Stamp and cut these frames, three to be exact.

I colored the flowers with Copics using three shades of yellow (color dark to light) and I used two shades of green for the leaves. 

The “Joy” sentiment is part of the Simon Says Stamp “Joyful” die and I cut three of these, stacked and glued together. Adhere the three squiggly squares evenly spaced to the card base. Finally, position the flowers offsetting two of them and one smack in the middle.

Two more cards were made using this stamp set and I must say, this set is definitely going in my favorites pile.

I want to spread some joy to celebrate Unity’s joy today. In the spirit of joy and giving, I am gifting this slimline card to someone leaving a comment on the blog post posted by Unity Stamp Company on the Show and Tell Page. Tag me to tell me what you think of this card! 

Try something new today!

Charmaine
CharCards

No coloring Mother’s Day card

Happy Friday!

I had a request to remake a card I posted this week on the Unity Stamp Company Show and Tell page, and I am happy to tell you that I even made a video to go along with it!

This card does not involve any coloring, but rather uses your colorful stamp pads instead. This card is very simple to put together once you have all your pieces ready to go.

Supplies: Another name for Love stamp set
Gina K Designs ink pads; Sea Glass and Passionate Pink
 Versafine Clair Cheerful yellow.
Altenew Obsidian Pigment ink for the flowers
Altenew Dotted Swirls Debossing Cover plate
Lawn Fawn Stitched rectangle frame
Reverse Confetti “Mom”

(affiliated links with no cost to you)

Thank you for watching!!! Have a great weekend.

Charmaine
CharCards

Foiled Interlocking card made with a digital stamp

Happy Friday Unies!! It is Friday, right?

Hope you are all doing well and are enjoying these fabulous digital stamps!!! I woke up yesterday (at 2am) and wanted to make this card immediately, but I had to wait for the rest of the household to wake up first!! Let me show you the video first, then I think it’s easier to understand what I am trying to say.

Cool, huh? I downloaded and printed this Germs and Jesus stamp with a laser printer onto 110lbs Neenah card stock. The toner ink is important if you want to foil the stamp, like I did here. You can fussy cut the floral image but I used my Brother Scan ‘n Cut with an 0.08″ white border.

I wanted the sentiment a different color from the floral image. To do this, carefully cut along the inside of the frame’s border with a sharp craft knife. If the edges of the sentiment are jagged after the cut, use a paper cutter to achieve a clean and straight cut. Also, since the sentiment will be separate from the front card base, slightly trim all sides by 1/8. This will ensure that it doesn’t get caught when opening the card. You are now ready to foil the frame and the floral image.

I used Summer Rainbow for the flowers and green Therm O Web Decofoil for the sentiment. Make sure to add another piece of paper underneath what you want to foil as this serves as a shim and the foil adheres better when run through the laminator.

The next step can be done two ways. I first embossed a pink shimmery paper with an Altenew Cover plate and traced the inside of the floral frame onto it. Or, skip that step and take the flowers and add one layer of foam tape to pop it up and adhere it to the pink paper. Adhere both to the card base. Either way, you have to cut that same frame out of the pink and out of the upside down card base.

For the actual card base, I tried to take a photo to explain what I did here. This card requires two landscape A2 cards. These are also 110lbs Neenah card stock. They are glued together in such a way that the “upside down” base opens up first. Remember to cut about 1/8 off one of the “top” base’s edge. This will help to keep the card closed and open up without it sticking. Once you have your bases glued together (I used double sided tape), line up your sentiment through the front frame. Add TWO layers of foam tape on the back of the sentiment. This will help to “lock” the card in place.

I hope this make sense, that is why I made the short video! But please let me know if I can help you with this card. I will show you another card today on the Unity Show and Tell Page.

Happy Easter!

Charmaine

www.Facebook.com/CharCardsCharmaineCanham

Peony Hugs for you

Good Morning Unies!

 This beautiful Gracielle Designs Peony Hugs stamp set released last weekend! isn’t it gorgeous? I’ve put my Copics away and tried a new medium I am very uncomfortable with: PrismaColors. We have to try new ways to do the same things to chase these fears away!

I don’t have as much practice in colored pencils as I have with Copics, but here we go! After stamping the flower on Neenah Desert Storm paper, I started  coloring the whole peony with the lightest yellow and filling in the shadows with two darker shades of yellow. I then took two shades of orange and added color to the bases of the pedals. To finish, I added “light” with a white pencil and a white gelly pen. I took the same “light to dark” approach with the pedals.

 The light blue background closest to the peony made the yellow flower just pop off the paper. I then used a checkerboard stencil from Gina Marie Designs and added color with Distress Oxide. Be mindful of where your flower is to not put color all over it. I was very surprised how dimensional the flower looked after applying just a little grey coloring at the edges of the flower. Yes, I was THAT surprised!

Finish off your card with a raised sentiment and some gems. I layered this top folding card with navy blue and white card stock.

Try something new this weekend, even if it scares you!

Charmaine

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Pretty Digital Unity Stamp Co on Vellum

Happy Friday Unies

Did you see what Angela has done now? Did you see all the delicious digital designs? See what I DiD there? Ha! Yes, I am slightly delirious with all these gorgeous digis!! Ok, being all serious now, but Angela has released digital stamps for us during this awful time. Thank goodness for a small business that loves us and t hank you for showing her love as well.

So, I hope we are getting more comfortable with printing and coloring stamps. Have you tried printing in color or on colored card stock? Now what about printable vellum? Here are a few examples:

In This Together digital stamp is just gorgeous. I printed the digi on Clear printable vellum that I bought from Hobby Lobby a year ago. For the base, I used 110lbs Neenah Desert Storm at 4 x 5.25. Then I die cut a black frame and used Connect adhesive glue to  adhere it to the vellum. Cut off the  overhanging vellum. Under the black frame and vellum, I added a thin line of dimensional foam and adhered it to the base. The sentiment was also printed on vellum and I used ICraft Tape Runner underneath the vellum and applied it on top of a piece of white card stock. Add some gems and your done.

All the “pretty paper hoarders” this card is for you. I used the white “letterboard” looking paper from the Rustic Wood Paper pack underneath the sentiment digi stamp printed on vellum from the Pray More set. I used Neenah Desert storm for the frame and popped the whole thing up with dimensional foam tape.

So we come to my favorite card for the blog, the girls on the swing.
I printed the girls from the There will be sunshine stamp  and placed a silver frame on top. I added two more white frames underneath the vellum to give the card some dimension. Use adhesive glue that dries clear and for the ability to move it into the right spot. You can add clouds with distress oxide or Gina K ink right onto the top folding A2 card.

I love using these stamps even though I am a red rubber girl. But since this is only available for a limited time during all this mess, I ask that you would at least give it a go. Everyone at Unity and the girls on the design team will help you, even if we have to get Nic involved to fix a problem. 😉

I love seeing all your digital creations!!!

Charmaine

His and Hers

Happy Germ-Free Friday

In the midst of all the panic and unknown, we can always come to our craft rooms and create a safe space and some awesome cards! Also, I am now addicted to foiling so let’s make two cards with one toner card front!!

I am using one card front from the Circles a Plenty pack and will show you two ways of foiling.

Card with dress

After letting the laminator heat up for a little bit, feed the printed cardstock with foil (shiny side on top) inside a folded piece of printer paper. Take note of the lines on the back of the foil; you want the lines to be horizontal as you are feeding it through the laminator. Also, add another piece of cardstock underneath the card front for extra pressure. This will give you excellent results every time.

The dress (from the new Kit of the Month, March 2020)  is heat embossed with silver and fussy cut, layered over a circle die (I believe from Spellbinders?) cut out of vellum. The sentiment “Hello beauty” is from the “…every single day” sentiment kit which is also heat embossed with Hero Arts Silver Sparkle embossing powder. Layer with white and blue cardstock and place dimensional foam tape under the dress for a pop of interest.

Card with Jeep

Now that you are left with the negative foil from using it above, let’s make another card! But first, we have to play with Deco Foil Transfer Gel Duo. Apply gel evenly to an A2 piece of 110lbs card stock (Neenah Desert Storm). I have found that 80lbs paper does not hold up as it curls and tears easily. Leave for it for at least an hour to dry! This is very important! If i’s still wet, the foil and paper will tear off together.

Once it is dry, place the negative foil on top of the gelled card and repeat the process through the laminator. You can also run this panel through your embossing machine. The gel makes the paper sticky in a way so the foil will adhere. Then take two top folding A2 cards and cut a circle through the front of one. Cut the same size circle through the foiled panel. Flip the other A2 around so the fold is on the bottom.

Stamp the Jeep, from the Scout Adventure stamp set, on the upside down card so that is shows through the circle. Color with Copics and stamp the sentiment. I used Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide for the sky. Cut 1/4 inch off the ends of this upside down card because this will help the card fold better and not get hung up on top. Use liquid adhesive to wiggle the card in place.

I hope you enjoyed this post! You can make Him and Her sets for weddings, showers and… boy/girl twins! 😉 Have a great weekend!!

Charmaine
CharCards

Therm O Web and Unity Stamp Company Blog hop

Good Morning

I hope you can join us on Instagram today at 10 am ET for a fun blog hop with the Unity and Therm O Web design team.

Unity Stamp Company has these fabulous A2 Toner Ink Card fronts that are just begging for pretty foil!

Start the hop with me http://www.instagram.com/CharCards.Charmaine.Canham

Have a great day!

Charmaine