May 2021

Echo Park Summer Dreams Collection Kit

With Graduation and Father’s Day cards done for my booth at Touch of Country Mall, I decided it was a good time to make some cards to donate. With summer just over a month away I pulled out the Sumer Dreams Collection kit from Echo Park. It’s full of bright colors and fun summer images. All of the cards, other than a couple with birthday sentiments, are either blank (no sentiment) or use summer themes like “vacation”, “stay cool”, etc.

I wanted to focus on the fun images, so I looked for sketches that featured large focal panels. For the first card I used the bikini paper as the focal panel and a small scale aqua paper for the background. For an embellishment I wrapped thin pink and silver ribbon around the top portion of the card. The “Vacation” sentiment was stamped in blue ink and embossed using clear embossing powder.

One of my favorite papers was the ice cream and popsicle print. It made me think of birthdays and was perfect for a few birthday cards. I used a couple different dies to create the scalloped border on the printed paper and the pink cardstock. A few aqua epoxy dots were added to the white boardwalk print to bring a bit of color to the lower portion of the card.

I think my favorite cards used a few of the ferris wheel stickers as the focal panel. A watercolor stripe paper was used for the lower panel on the card. A solid color cardstock, which picked up on the most prominent color on the ferris wheel stickers, was used for the upper panel. To separate the panels a coordinating ribbon was added. A fun “Enjoy the Ride” sticker fit perfectly under one of the ferris wheels. A few “ticket” stickers worked great with the teal and yellow ferris wheel. To finish the cards a couple coordinating epoxy dots and rhinestones were added.

The sticker sheet included a few “sunglasses” stickers. I wanted to use them with the sunglasses print paper but didn’t want them to get lost on the busy print. I decided to make the stickers the focal panel by placing them on a white die cut circle but the contrast between the stickers and the white cardstock was too much. Using a blending tool, I applied some ink to the cardstock to tone down the contrast and add a bit of color. I then reattached the stickers. A few Love from Lizi peel-offs for embellishment and a simple “Relax” sentiment finished the cards.

For the next batch of cards I decided do an assembly line process and make several cards using the same layout and papers. This wouldn’t be something I’d do for cards I’m placing in my booth, but for donation this is a great way to make a lot of cards. And since the charity sorts the cards and creates bundles from several card makers, the recipients always receive a large selection of themes and sentiments. For the layout I used a sketch which has 3 main pieces – a background, a focal panel and an accent strip. It was easy to quickly cut several of each piece and the coordinating matting. For the sentiments, more stickers were used. As a finishing touch on all of the cards a few epoxy dots or rhinestones were added.

At this point I was ready to move on to some new paper but before I put the kit away I decided to make a few more cards with the remaining scraps of paper. By using 3 different papers a background panel was created. A scallop border punch was used to create a fun edge on some of the strips. A “Stay Cool” sentiment and a few more stickers completed the cards.

Although the kit included 12 sheets of paper I ended up only using 5 sheets to make 21 cards. There’s plenty of paper and even a few stickers left which I can pull out later to make many more cards. While most of the cards will be donated, I’ll probably slip a couple into the booth.

Graduation Cards

Most of my recent posts have focused on what’s been going on with my little card/antique booth and this post isn’t any different. LOL.

I haven’t really sat down and just created random cards. Everything has been geared toward the booth – getting Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Graduation cards made. I’m still trying to get into the rhythm of having multiple cards available just a few weeks before the holiday/occasion. When I make cards to donate there isn’t really a “due date” on them. The charity starts sending out holiday cards several months in advance and if I miss the deadline, the charity just stores the cards for next year.

So far I’ve done pretty well. The Mother’s Day cards were out at the booth 1 month in advance and Father’s Day cards are ready to go. Based on the Easter and Mother’s Day cards a 1 month lead time might be too much. So instead of Father’s Day cards, the next “featured” cards at the booth will be Graduation cards. Which of course I hadn’t started on. So the past week has been all about Graduation cards.

In fact, I was so focused on getting the graduation cards ready that I completely forgot to take pictures of the cards before I “bagged and tagged” them to put out at Touch of Country Mall. Instead of unpackaging the cards, I took a few pictures with them in the cellophane bags. There’s a bit of glare, but I think you can still get an idea of what will be available in the booth.

I only made 1-2 of each card as I didn’t want local graduates to possibly receive duplicates. A few cards feature local school colors, but I kept most of them more generic. I had a lot of fun using some glitter paper that I’ve had for several years (glitter is not allowed on the cards that I donate). I also pulled out a few star-shaped dies and punches that I don’t frequently use. Lots of Love from Lizi peel-offs and die cut borders were added for embellishments on many of the cards, and I did add a bit of ribbon on some of the busier prints. For a bit of shine and texture the sentiments on several of the cards were heat embossed. The cards are all on display in my booth and I’m looking forward to seeing which cards get the most attention.

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