Merry & Bright Christmas Card!

Project design ©Sharon M. Reinhart 2013

Wow! We are at one month before Christmas! I am sure many of you are busy creating your Christmas greeting cards and some are even finished and yet others are just beginning. No matter what stage you are at I hope this card will bring you inspiration for a card, tag, scrapbook page, or gift bag décor.
The point of this creation aside from Christmas is to encourage you to make use of those products that you have purchased in the past and don't be afraid to combine them with new ones. Most magazines must stay with current product in their designs, as do I for projects that are being published, but what happens to those products that we all love and still have. Where is the inspiration for our most loved tools? For this design and more to come in the future I have decided to make use of some products that manufacturer may have discontinued but that many of us still have and want to use. After all we all have those favorites!
This card makes use of leftover scraps of paper for the banner/flag pieces, an embossing folder for the embossed dots, a Papertrey Ink stamp (love their stamps, and no I do not work for them), EK Success mini banner punch and a new SpellbindersTM die and an older favorite of mine. The new one, and still available is the Medallion 1 ShapeabilitiesTM  Die D-LitesTM  combined with one of my favorite snowflake die-template sets, the ShapeabilitiesTM Create A Flake 1. It is almost like they were made for each other - but couldn't be as one is current and one is not. The way the largest snowflake can be slipped underneath portions of the medallion is perfect! Perfect if you would like to have a removable ornament on your card or just simply perfect as a design element.
This is a simple card, yet I believe it to be elegant and effective at relaying the merriest of wishes! Keep tuned for another card using similar supplies but with an even frostier look!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Festive Greetings Class!

I am sure many of you are busy creating your Christmas greeting cards and tags and possibly looking for inspiration or a creative break. So, I wanted to share this info about a class that I am teaching at a crop on November 23rd from 1 - 3 pm in Calgary. In the photo above, at far left is a card that doubles as a gift, the ornament in the center is removable and may be used as a magnet or an ornament. Next center bottom is a gift card holder which incorporates Spirelli thread wrapping. Far right is a square greeting card which also incorporates Spirelli wrapping and center top is a festive tag. The fee is $20.00 for the class. You do not have to be registered for the crop to take the class. Participants please bring your basic paper crafting kit with scissors, double-sided tape such as Scor-Tape, runner tape, foam mounting tape/dimensionals, paper trimmer, and bone folder.

Please register for the Festive Greetings class in advance directly through Sharon by email sharonmreinhart@yahoo.ca no later than Nov. 21st, 2013. On site class registration will depend on availability. Register for the crop OR the classes OR both! This crop is hosted by Joanne Liddy-McTavish and is being held at the Woodcliff United Church 5010 Spruce Drive SW. Contact Joanne to register for the crop at jliddymct@shaw.ca. The fee for the crop only is $40.00 per person.  Hope to see you!

Creatively Yours,

Sharon

 

Festive Tag!

Project Design ©Sharon M. Reinhart



Wow - I cannot believe how time has flown, we are already at mid November! I thought I would share a photo of this Festive Tag I recently taught at a crop. It is a mixed media creation making use of paper, paint, stamps, ink and even metal duct tape.
I know many of you are working on your Christmas greetings and may be looking for some inspiration. It's a wonderful way to spend some time with your friends so I encourage you to take a take a creative break!
Hope you like it and that it inspires you to create!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Lest We Forget

Halloween Greetings; Mini Festive Card Class!

©CardMaker Magazine; project design by Sharon M. Reinhart

If your are looking for some Halloween inspiration, head on over to my latest edition of the CardMaker online newsletter. While you are there be sure to sign up for this free resource! Once your signed up it will come directly to your inbox every three weeks. Kimber McGray is the other editor of this newsletter and we switch off writing the different issues. You can find out the editor by looking in the Last Word section. In this issue I am sharing ideas for treat holders and greetings using mostly non-specific Halloween products, the only truly Halloween item is a rubber stamp. Head on over to CardMaker to find out more!

Project design ©Sharon M. Reinhart 2013

Lot's of news today! I will be teaching a Mini Festive Card class on November 9th at a crop benefiting the Tails to Tell animal rescue. The fee for the class is $12.00 with a portion of the proceeds from the class being donated to this worthy cause. We will be creating a card and a gift card holder. Participants will need to bring some supplies and will receive a list upon registration. Please join me November 9th from 1:15 - 2:15 pm at Highwood Community Centre in Calgary (16 Harlow Avenue NW). To register for the card class please contact me through email at sharonmreinhart@yahoo.ca. The crop is from 10 am to 10 pm and the fee of $30.00 includes lunch, supper, snacks and door prizes. I will be donating and teaching a free make and take, Christmas tag, for the crop participants. For further information and registration for the crop please contact Sandra directly at pye.s@shaw.ca. Hope to see you!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Happy Birthday Card!

Project design ©Sharon M. Reinhart 2013

Just wanted to share this birthday card with you that I made for a friend recently. For those of you that enjoy tea bag folding, this design incorporates two tea bag folded rosettes that have been layered. Just use two different sizes of circles when folding. The wonderful layers underneath the rosette were created using one of my favorite Memory Box die templates. The leaf was created using an Elizabeth Craft Designs leaf die set which has three different sizes in the set - it's a go to leaf die for me. The tag is a Fiskars punch with a little flag accent created using an EK Success punch.The sentiment stamp is from Petit Pairs Stampin Up. Lastly, the cardstocks are Bazzill and the printed paper is Recollections. If you would like to give tea bag folding a try or are looking for more ideas I encourage you to take a look at my book Tea Bag Folding Through the Seasons which is currently on sale at Annie's or my online class or DVD Fabulous Paper Folds. Hope you are inspired to create something today!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Any Occasion Card!

Project design ©Sharon M. Reinhart

Thought I would share this delicate any occasion card before I start posting for Halloween and Christmas. This card makes use of a handmade embellishment made with Crayola Model Magic and a Mod Podge mold by Plaid. I have been having fun using this material in a variety of molds such as Martha Stewart, Mod Podge and even Wilton cake decorating molds. You can see some of my little creations below the card project. I simply used white but this material does come in a variety of colors or just color the embellishment afterwards with paints or inks.
This card consists of simple layers of cardstock and the printed paper is from Kaisercraft. A Stampin Up embossing folder was used on the card base, small punched border piece at the right side, which I believe is a Fiskars border punch, sheer ribbon, a die-cut leaf from Elizabeth Craft Designs and a couple rhinestone accents and that is it. The rose embellishment on this card was  colored with Brilliance ink. Hope you like it!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

World Card Making Day!

Project design by Sharon M. Reinhart 2013

Well I hope it's a wonderful day for each of you, full of inspiration and creativity! In honor of this special day I thought I would share this elegant but simple card and the instructions with you. What makes this card so simple is that it makes use of both sides of this beautiful printed paper from Kaisercraft -- Rapture. One side has these great 3 x 3-7/8 inch panels and the other is a beautiful floral print. I chose the Cherish panel for this card. Below are the instructions.
1. Form 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 inch side fold card from Bazzill cardstock.
2. Layer 4 x 5-1/4 inch panel of floral print cardstock.
3. Die-cut ivory pearl cardstock using Spellbinders Fleur de Lis rectangles die template (4 x 4-3/4 inch). Layer to card front.
4. Trim out Cherish panel and layer onto green cardstock leaving a slight margin. Layer this panel to card front using foam mounting squares.
5. Color heart rhinestone and four small rhinestones using Bic Mark-It pen (Tranquil Teal).
6. Adhere small rhinestones to four corners on die-cut panel.
7. Die-cut ivory heart using Stampin' Up Embosslits hearts die, adhere to top of Cherish panel followed by heart rhinestone.
8. Punch three hearts from green cardstock using Fiskars hand punch, adhere hearts to bottom of Cherish panel. *
9. Tie cream sheer ribbon in a bow and adhere to center bottom of panel on card front.
10. Decorate card inside as desired.
* Tip - apply 1/2-inch score tape to piece of green cardstock then punch hearts. Use a straight pin to assist in the removal of the tape liner and then with the straight pin still attached to the punched heart use the pin as a tool to place the heart on project. I like to keep a corsage style pin on hand for this.
That's it! Hope you enjoy it and are inspired to create!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Classes to be rescheduled

 
There seems to be a lot going on for people right now so I have chosen to cancel my mini card and canvas classes scheduled for October 5th and I will look at rescheduling at a future date. My apologies for any inconvenience. If you are interested in taking either of these classes at a future date just leave me a message.
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Mini Card & Mixed Media Canvas Classes!

You are invited to join us for a crop at WOODCLIFF UNITED CHURCH 5010 Spruce Drive SW on October 5th. Register for the crop, the classes below or both the crop and classes!

project design by Sharon M. Reinhart

Join me on this creative adventure! Many of the techniques being used in creating this canvas also work wonderfully for card making and scrapbooking—using embossing folders, embossing on metal, stamping, etc. A variety of items and mediums will be used to create this project on an 8 x 10 canvas (not a square one as shown). Some of the items used in the creation of this project are; stamps, acrylic paints, bottle caps, wire, metal duct tape, and die-cut flowers. CLASS PARTICIPANTS need to bring scissors to be used on metal, craft knife and self healing mat, foam pad or mouse pad, embossing stylus with large and small tip, foam mounting tape or dimensionals, double-sided liner tape such as Scor-Tape (Sookwang) or red liner tape, pierc-ing tool & foam mat. We have blocked two hours for this class from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. The canvas class fee is $30.00 per participant.

project design by Sharon M. Reinhart

I will also be teaching a MINI CARD CLASS from 1:15 to 2:15 pm consisting of the two cards shown below. The rosette card is a card & gift! The rosette is removable, doubling as a decorative magnet or hanging ornament. The fee for the card class is $13.00 per participant. Please bring your basic paper crafting kit with scis-sors, double-sided tape such as Scor-Tape, runner tape, foam mounting tape or dimensionals, paper trim-mer, bone folder.
Please register for these classes in advance directly through myself by email sharonmreinhart@yahoo.ca  no later than Oct 3rd, 2013. On site class registration will depend on availability.
Register for the crop directly with Joanne by email jliddymct@shaw.ca  $40.00
Hope to see you!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Layered Birthday Card!

Project design © Sharon M. Reinhart 2013

This card was created to celebrate my daughter's birthday and I thought I would share it with you -- she hasn't received it yet so hopefully she won't see it until she gets it. I want her to have a fabulous birthday! The inspiration came actually a couple of days ago when I was attending the Scrapbook Carnival that Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine hosts. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces! There was tons of inspiration and excitement at this event! I was inspired by Emma Lou from Heartfelt Creations and the beautiful flowers that can be created with their stamps and coordinating die-templates. This card makes use of the Striped Sun Kissed Fleur stamp. The printed paper is Simple Stories, 24/SEVEN Bingo Cards/Stripe. I allowed myself to play a little bit in the making of this, bringing in a punched border strip, glitter on the word fabulous, brad and center star. A few pen strokes were added to the punched hearts, leaf and around the bingo card. I hope you like it and that you have a FABULOUS day, week, month, year, etc.

card inside

Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Spackle on Cards!

I had a great time teaching a wonderful group of ladies on Saturday at a card workshop hosted by a dear friend --thanks Jennifer! Two of the cards were Christmas theme and the third was this card created with, drum roll, spackle for walls and drywall tape. So hit the hardware store for some of these supplies. The other supplies used were a beautiful leaf stencil by Dyan Reaveley,the Daisy Flower topper die from Spellbinders Paper Arts, leaf set die by Elizabeth Craft Designs, green acrylic craft paint and a stamp from the Michaels bins. This flower was inspired by Becca Feeken's Anemone frilly flower on her Amazing Paper Grace blog, she is quite the talented lady!! Thanks for the inspiration Becca!! The difference here is that I used the Daisy topper and cut off the inner petal of the die-cut piece leaving the center in tact and layered them slightly offset. Then the petals were curled and accented with acrylic paint. For the leaf and the flower center simply apply drywall tape to cardstock then either punch or die-cut. Hope you like it!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Spellbinders at the Emmys!!

Just wanted to put a shout out to the Spellbinders Paper Arts team - they will be at the Emmy Awards Connected Gift Lounge with the Craft and Hobby Association on September 22nd! Way to go!! I am so happy for your accomplishments! I encourage you to visit Spellbinders blog for info on a party and prizes using this link Spellbinders. Love their products and use them all the time, the card below as seen in my most recent CardMaker online newsletter was created using one of their cut, fold, tuck, Shapeabilitie dies. Cheers to all of you at Spellbinders -- Enjoy, you deserve it!!

Card design by Sharon M. Reinhart

Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Cut & Fold Techniques!

Cards designed by Sharon M. Reinhart

Hello All! My most recent CardMaker newsletter was released today and I would love to invite you to take a look. This is a free resource, all you have to do is sign up at CardMaker Magazine and every three weeks a new issue will come directly to your inbox. Kimber McGray and myself are the editors, so one issue will be written by Kimber and the next one by yours truly. This one is all about cut and fold techniques, so head on over using this link CardMaker Magazine.
Hope you like it!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Butterfly Wishes Card!

Firstly, I just want to thank my reader's for hanging in there with me, I know my posts have been few and far between. I am trying to regain my inspiration through a very difficult time. Hang in there with me - it is coming I promise.
For today's post I would like to challenge you to pull out those bits and pieces leftover from previous projects and create a card using them. It's actually kind of fun and is a good little nudge if you are looking for inspiration.
This card is simple but sweet, the butterflies (leftover pieces) are created using a Stampin Up die, a few little gems, the cardstock had pre-embossed dots on it, so no work or supplies needed there. The printed cardstock was a small leftover piece, I think it was Basic Grey probably discontinued. But that doesn't matter as the challenge is for you to use YOUR scraps, using this design somewhat like you would use a card sketch. The decorative square (Spellbinders) was from a previous project and the dotted square was the leftover piece from cutting a frame. A little sentiment from the Stampin Up Petite Pairs set (love this set) along with olive pastel chalk ink and you are good to go! If you are looking for a Stampin Up representative drop me a line I have a friend who is an absolute gem that I would love to connect you with! Hope you are inspired to create today!
Creatively yours,
Sharon

Card Making Using Pastes!

as seen in the CardMaker Magazine newsletter

My apologies for being gone for so long.
A quick post today to invite you to my most recent CardMaker newsletter which is all about using pastes in card making. Pastes such as spackle, modelling paste, embossing paste etc. Head on over using this link http://www.cardmakermagazine.com/newsletters.php and while you are there be sure to sign up for this free resource which once you are signed up it will be delivered directly to your inbox.
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Making Cards with Party Napkins!

Project designs by Sharon M. Reinhart as seen in CardMaker's Newsletter

I would like to invite you to head over to CardMaker Magazine to enjoy this free newsletter about using paper party napkins to create cards with. I am co-editor of the newsletter along with Kimber McGray. We switch off writing the different issues and this is my latest edition. While you are there be sure to sign up for this free resource and the next issue by Kimber, coming out on July 15th will be  delivered right to your inbox. I hope you will head over and check out my latest edition using this link to CardMaker's online newsletter. Hope you like it and are inspired to create!

Thinking of You!

My post today firstly goes out to the people of Calgary and Southern Alberta who have been impacted by the recent unprecedented floods. I have been one of the fortunate ones, yes everyone has been impacted in some way whether it be business, jobs, personal, friends or family that have sustained loss. I say I am fortunate as my home is in an area that if you did not watch the news you wouldn't have known the devastation that was occurring in other areas. I am also fortunate with respect to my family who were also spared. So we do count our blessings today. My thoughts and prayers go out to the thousands who were less fortunate and those families who have also lost loved ones. You have been through a great deal and I know the days to come in the restoration process will be stressful and laborious. On a positive note I would like to extend my appreciation to everyone who has been and will continue to work endlessly for the benefit of the citizens of Calgary and Southern Alberta. Bravo!!

I chose to share this Thinking of You card today as a way of letting the people of Calgary know that "yes, we are thinking of you now and in the days to come as your lives and this city is restored!"

This card has been created using a new line of rubber stamps designed by my friend and fellow designer Ann Butler and manufactured by Unity Stamps. These wonderful gems are collections of one inch and two inch stamps. They are referenced as faux quilting stamps, but as you can see they are great for a variety of techniques, especially tea bag folding. I used a one inch square stamp from the Doily Picnic set along with Chestnut Roan fluid chalk ink for the tea bag fold medallion shown on the left side. Then I used the triangle (half square) for the horizontal decorative strip. Can't wait to get my hands on the two inch stamps as well! Congratulations Ann!
Creatively Yours, Sharon.

Dad's Day Card!

Project Design ©Sharon M. Reinhart

With Father's Day only a week a way I thought I would share this fun and simple Dad's Day Card! When creating cards and often when creating masculine cards, I love to make use of drywall tape to create a textured background. It is one of my favorite products for crafting. Not only is it great to create a mesh look but it is also wonderful used as a stencil in mixed media cards and canvases. The drywall tape is the first layer on this card. Another favorite is smashed bottle caps. I usually purchase the caps at my local grocery store and then I flatten them in my old (lever push style) Sizzix machine, it works perfectly! I have used a Big Shot machine with the Stampin Up bottle caps and it worked great with those. I have not tried the real bottle caps in my Big Shot machine though.
Next, add some layers inside the bottle caps with a punched cardstock circle and stamped letters. Then layer onto a notched strip of cardstock on the card front. To create the notch or tail effect use a die template, square punch or simply a pair of scissors. If I am using scissors I have the most success by cutting a center line about one inch long and then cut from each corner to the center cut, works great. The printed paper is not current but I am sure there are many papers that would work wonderfully with this design. Hope you like it!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon

Happy Birthday Card!



Project Design Sharon M. Reinhart

Do you ever find yourself in need of a card but your inspiration is on a bit of a break? What do you do? My suggestion is to look at past creations and switch them up a bit. Even if it is a different theme than what you are in need of, it is possible to be inspired by the design. Another option is to use a card that may have been designed initially for a different occasion but will also work wonderfully with just a simple addition. This card is a perfect example, it was originally created with Valentine's in mind however with the addition of the Happy Birthday sentiment it conveys not only my love for the individual but also my wishes for a Happy Birthday. I might just use this one for my wonderful hubby's birthday! The theme on this card was originally based around circles and love, with the circles on the printed paper, the pressure embossed circles and even the circles on the XO stamped image - it was kind of fun to choose a theme like that and then run with it. See, themes can even be simple shapes. Next time you are stuck for an idea or inspiration I hope you give it a try!
Creatively Yours,
Sharon