One of the most difficult things for many crafters is coming up with ideas for their crafting and I’m often asked where I find mine from. One of the answers is that I’m not actually coming up with anything new (sshh, don’t tell anyone!).

In fact I often recycle different elements of my cards to create new ones. Today’s card is based on the distressed version I made last weekend.

I swapped out the distressed layers for some Specialty DSP and instead of the rock ‘n’ roll technique for the leaves I used heat embossing. Crimped card and plain ribbon help to give a more masculine feel to the card than the fraying and the bow that I used last time.

Recipe
Stamp set: French Foliage (W120845 or C121166), Happiest Birthday Wishes (W122615 or C122617 Hostess)
Cardstock: Basic Black (121688), Soft Suede (119982) Very Vanilla (106550)
Ink: Versamark (102283)
DSP: Mocha Morning Specialty (122366)
Punches: 1-1/4″ Square (119865), 1-3/8″ Square (119877), Extra-large Oval (119859)
3/8″ Taffeta Ribbon: Soft Suede (122967)
Other: Gold EP (109129)
Tools: Crimper (101618), Heat Tool (110197), Embossing Buddy (103083)

 The base card is a DL size in Basic Black, matted with Soft Suede card and Mocha Morning Specialty DSP. After sweeping some Very Vanilla card with the Embossing Buddy, the leaves were stamped in Versamark ink, heat embossed with Gold EP and then portions of them were punched out with 1-1/4″ Square. These were matted onto 1-3/8″ Squares of Basic Black. A strip of Basic Black card was put through the Crimper and then Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon was wrapped around it before adhering direct to the card front. The birthday sentiment was stamped in Versamark, heat embossed with Gold EP, punched out with the Extra-Large Oval and popped up on dimensionals over the ribbon.

Recipe

Stamp set: French Foliage (W120845 or C121166), Happiest Birthday Wishes (W122615 or C122617 Hostess)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla (106550)
Ink: Soft Suede (115657)

The sentiment and leaves were simply stamped with Soft Suede ink onto a Very Vanilla card insert.

Why not take a look at the cards you’ve made recently and have a go at recycling ideas from them. It may be the layout, the colour scheme or just the stamp set but whichever it is, it’s a great way to kickstart the mojo.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Sara xx