Stair Step Card Tutorial

Hello! Hello!  I have had a couple of people ask me how to make this card, so I decided to create a tutorial to teach you :).  My finished card is 6 inches wide and 5 1/2 inches tall. I used an 8.5x11 inch sheet of cardstock.  You can play with it and resize if you'd like.  That's the beauty of creating, right?

From my 8.5x11 sheet of cardstock, I cut off 2 1/2 inches from the width leaving a piece 6x11 inches.  You can use the piece you cut off for another project. 

Place your paper in your trimmer and measure (left side) at 5 inches.  This will give you 1 inch on the right side.  I have marked mine with black ink so you can see where I am cutting it.  Do not start cutting on the edge!  Come in 1 1/2 inches and cut until there is 1 1/2 inches left on the bottom.  Your cut should be 8 inches long.

Move your paper farther in until the left side of your paper measures 2 1/2 inches.  Cut starting 1 1/2 inches from the edge and cut until there is 1 1/2 inches left on the bottom.  Once again your cut should be 8 inches long.  I have given the measurements in the photo.  

Now you are going to score between those two cuts you made 1 1/2 inches from the bottom (at the bottom of the cut)  and 1 1/2 inches from that score mark.  In the photo, I have marked these with a dotted line.

The next score mark is at 5 1/2 inches from the edge. Do NOT score between your cut lines.  This score goes outside those cuts.

For your last score line, you will mark 4 inches from the top edge or 7 inches from the bottom.  This score line goes BETWEEN your two cuts as shown in the photo.

Now it is a simple fold process.  Fold and crease the bottom score line down behind the card.  This is the one that is 1 1/2 inches from the edge.  

The second fold goes up towards the front of the card. 

The third fold goes backwards and will give the card its shape.

The final fold also goes behind the card.

Tah dah!  Now you're ready to decorate your card however you desire.  Hope you enjoy this tutorial.  Let me know if you can understand it.  If you have questions, just leave a comment.  Wishing you an amazing day! -Dari

Friend you lift me up card

I had a wonderful time at our retreat this weekend- some much needed me time.  I will be posting several things I created over the next little while.  Friday night I created this wonderful card.  I have never created a stair step card before.  I must admit, it was a little tricky, but after I figured the cutting and scoring portions out, it was FUN!

Here are the ingredients to my card :) :

Craft cardstock (Michaels bulk paper packs)

CTMH White daisy cardstock

CTMH slate dye ink

CTMH lagoon washi tape

CTMH Give a Lift stamp set

CTMH Happy Birds stamp set

CTMH foam tape

CTMH bonding glue stick

CTMH microtip scissors

Fiskars paper trimmer/scorer

Crayola colored pencils

Hope you find some inspiration!!  Thanks for stopping by. -Dari

Scrapbooking Retreat goody bag tags!

I have had a really hard time posting lately.  It's not that I haven't wanted to.  I am adjusting- to my sister being here, to kids in school, to the new rhythm of when to do my own crafting, to fitting everything in.  There are some times in my life that I feel very in control.  There are other times when I feel like I am holding on to the seat of my pants and hope I will not suffocate as I attempt to breathe :). 

Anyway, I wanted to do a scrapbooking retreat a few months ago.  I have been so excited, and it is getting REALLY close (tomorrow)!!  Anyway, I just finished creating the goody bag tags for it.  I LOVE them.  I came across this technique via youtube (my new favorite way to fold laundry).  That may sound a little funny, but I don't watch tv, and I don't like to fold laundry.  I let it pile up and pile up before I get to it.  

Recently, however, I discovered youtube craft tutorials.  I'm hooked!  My laundry is folded and put away.  Yea!  And, I have learned some fun new techniques as well.  I really enjoy Jennifer Mcguire's youtube channel.  Sometime this week she posted a video featuring the technique I used for these tags.  So fun.  I think I modified mine a little, but that is the beauty of creating, right?

Ingredients for my creation:

CTMH white daisy cardstock

Cricut Artbooking cartridge (tag)

Versamark ink

a la mode white embossing powder

water in spray bottle

Black pigment ink

CTMH Happy Birds stamp set C1600

CTMH For a Friend stamp set D1542

CTMH thistle, glacier and saddle dye inks

heat gun

Hope I inspired you today!  Have a fantabulous afternoon! -Dari

Halloween Color Challenge

Hello! Hello!  It has been forever since I posted (at least it feels that way).  I have organized a monthly card swap group.  I love these groups, because I get to know people and actually do something at the same time.  Anyway, this month I am hosting it.  I chose Halloween Colors.  That was it.  Each member can do whatever she wants to with traditional Halloween colors.  As I have been talking with each of them, I realized that the majority are going to do something Halloween related.  I thought I would think outside the box, and the card you see is the product of my efforts.  I LOVE how it turned out!  There are so many "firsts" for me in this card I don't know where to begin (lol).

I have never used the same color card base as the card background.
I have never used Pearl Ex on a card project before (a new found love thanks to Two Peas In A Bucket: Thinking Inking Perfect Pearls Part 1 youtube video).
I have never used an epoxy enamel embellishment on a card before let alone a homemade one.  I am going to learn how to do youtube videos, because the method I used is AWESOME, and I want to share it so others can make some, too :).
I have never used these colors together in a non Halloween theme.
Oh! And, I know my insert isn't all fancy, BUT I actually decorated the inside of my card.

Yea me!  If I have inspired you, leave me a comment and link so I can see your creatiion. :)

Hope you enjoy.  Thanks for stopping by, Dari

Ingredients :) for this card:
Black Card stock
CTMH White Daisy Cardstock
Lime green cardstock
Orange cardstock
Versamark ink
CTMH Your Own Kind of Wonderful stamps (butterfly and sentiment)
CTMH Skylark Scrapbooking Workshop stamp set (flourish on ribbon and inside insert)
CTMH black dye ink
CTMH 3D foam tape
CTMH Liquid glass (epoxy embellishment)
CTMH Bonding Glue Stick
CTMH Artbooking cartridge (sentiment embellishment shape)
Unknown origin background stamp (flourish background)
White organza ribbon
Orange ribbon
scrap plastic from a package
Pearl Ex powder pigments Series 2

I hope I haven't left anything out :).
Paint brush