Focus on the Good - Easy Z Fold card

Making this card is actually very easy and it's fun to decorate. I made this for the Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Summer Travel 2025 Curation. 

To begin, take an A2 side folding card and fold the front of the card back towards the fold. Then measure each secotion and make patterned, stamped or stenciled papers to fit on those sections,

For my card I stenciled my own patterned paper using the stencil in the Mixed Media Set Bold Sayings THMM140I used Uncharted Mariner and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks.

On the backside of the front flap (which would normally be the front of the card) I taped off the edges and stenciled right on the Mixed Media Heavystock card base. You don't really see it, but if it is sitting on a desk, from the left side you would be able to see these panels and they would be plain so you do want something on them. This is a quick and easy solution but you could also use the other side of the papers you used on the front of the card.

To make it easier to pull the front panel out, I added this tab from one of my die sets and stamped the word Focus from the Focus on the Good sentiment in the Noteworthy 2 THMM162 Mixed Media Set.

The focal point is the camera from the Travel Blueprints CMS148. I stamped it in Black soot Archival Ink and colored it with Distress Inks.

The main sentiment is from the Bold Sayings Mixed Media Set and is also stamped in Black Soot Archival Ink.

I added a few retired metal embellishments from Idea-ology and there is my first Z Fold card. So fun!

 I sure hope you enjoyed that. Thanks so much for visiting. Now let’s go shine brightly, and have a creative day! 😃

Tami  

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Tropical Is a State of Mind

There’s nothing more vacationy (my word) than a drink with a little umbrella. This tropical drink Blueprint Stamp reminds me of my favorite fruity drink at Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar at Disneyland.

I started by inking up the Botanical Background Stamp CMS327 with several green colors and one blue, then spritzed it with water and stamped it on Distress Watercolor Paper. Once it was dry I stamped the large Tropical Drink from the Cocktails Blueprint Stamp CMS336 in the center of it in Black Soot Archival Ink.  I also stamped a sentiment - “is a state of mind” from the Pennants CMS330 set to go with the word tropical.

I stamped a second blueprint onto another piece of watercolor paper and then watercolored the image and fussy cut the image. Then I adhered it over the other image on the background with dimensional adhesive.
I colored a third piece of watercolor paper with the same color as the umbrella for the bottom mat.
The yellow cord is Crafters Thread by the Tim Holtz Eclectic elements.

Beer and Pretzels

I found some inspiration online for this card in the form of pub signs. I really wanted it to feel more like an artistic sign than a card, so to do that I added several layers, including a corrugated base from the Textured Surfaces, a layer of stenciled Distress Heavystock using the large  stencil, and a layer of Distress Woodgrain Cardstock cut with the new Stacked Arches dies from Sizzix Alterations.

The stamps used were the Beer Blueprints CMS334 for the bottle and mug, and the Mini Blueprints10 CMS336 for the title and pretzels. I stamped them all on Distressed Mixed Media Heavystock, and then water colored them and cut them out. 

I popped several of the shapes using dimensional adhesive, including the foam. The different levels adds a lot of interest, but is so simple to do. 

Off the Vine Card

The Blueprint Stamps from Tim Holtz through Stampers Anonymous are some of my favorite stamps from Tim (and MJ3rd)! I love to pair the full size with the mini's and that's what I did on this card. I used the Wine Blueprint CMS333 and Mini Blue Prints 10.

I started by making the background which is made by putting Chipped Sapphire, Pine Needle, and Aged Mahogany on the Batik CMS327 background stamp. Spritz with water and then stamp. Sew it on a slightly larger piece of cork from the Ideaology Textured Surfaces. 

Stamp the full size grapes, bottle and word corkscrew as well as the mini corkscrew. Watercolor them with the same or coordinating Distress colors.

Cut the words and images out and then adhere with dimensional adhesive.

This is another very simple, straight forward design for a card that can be used for any occasion.