Welcome to Valley Oak Paper
I design handmade greeting cards.
Sizzix Holiday Giveaway
I made these cards for a giveaway on Instagram.
Giveaway Products
Sizzix Tim Holtz Merry & Bright
Sizzix Tim Holtz Dash Away All Diecember 2021
Sizzix Olivia Rose Mistletoe Leaves
Reindeer Shaker Card
I’m still charmed by Simon Hurley’s Woodland Wildlife Stamp and Die Set. So for an Instagram challenge with a snow globe theme, I watercolored the reindeer from it. I also submitted it to Simon Says Stamp’s Monday Challenge.
Yeti Anniversary
I created a felt yeti with Rocky, the Dancin’ Yeti for his launch. But I also wanted to color him with Distress Watercolor Pencils. This time I created a friend for him. 💗
So Very Merry 3
On Day 3 of Online Card Classes So Very Merry, Jennifer McGuire showed us how to create Hanukkah cards. The basic idea is to cut ¼” blue cardstock strips to act as candles.
Chrysanthemum Thanks & Smile
I chose sentiments, so I can use these cards when I send off giveaway prizes. Having received giveaway prizes that didn’t even come with a post-it, I’m even more determined to always include a handmade card!
So Very Merry 2
The first teacher for Day 2 was Laura Bassen. She created eight cards, four that use a triangle as a stylized tree shape and four that use the negative. What was special about her trees is that she first constructed her own pattern paper by gluing strips that are 1 ¼” wide onto paper. Then she cut out the tree shape from the panels. I like that she has a wider white border around her panels than I usually leave.
So Very Merry 1
This week I’m participating in OnlineCardClasses.com’s holiday class. It’s Monday through Saturday, so there will be a lot of cardmaking this week. You may remember that I participated in another class about embossing folders back in May.
Snowdrop Shaker
The snowdrop plate is part of the January Set of Spellbinders Florals Through the Year Collection. So I created a snow-themed shaker card with it. This was very easy, using the Spellbinders Arch Shaker Dome.
First I foiled the snowdrops and the January plate with silver foil, then I foiled the negative with a solid hot foil plate. I added some green ink blending on the leaves and the tips of the petals.
Chrysanthemum Sympathy Cards
I associate chrysanthemums with cemeteries. So it was natural to use the November Chrysanthemum BetterPress Plates in the Florals Through The Year Collection for sympathy cards.
Christmas Boutique
When I got this die set I felt kind of meh about it. But now that I’ve created a card with it, I think it’s super cute! It was fun to put together, too.
A Yeti Christmas
I’m now designing for Spellbinders. If you’ve followed me on Instagram or here on the blog, you know I love their products. So it’s a great fit for me! Super happy!
Flamboyant Fall Wreath
The theme of this month’s YouTube hop was Out of My Comfort Zone. So I tried alcohol inks.
Giveaway Statistics
I created a simple spreadsheet of my giveaway posts. The purpose of my giveaways is twofold - to clear out products I don’t use and to increase my Instagram follower count. On the question of if giveaways increase follower counts, I can definitely say yet. My follower count increased on average by 3.78 with each giveaway. The best one increased the count by 15. Given that I currently have 697 followers, that’s significant.
Felt Owl Friend
Felt on cards seems to be having a moment. I wanted to use it on an upcoming project, so this is a practice card. For detailed instructions on how to put together this owl, see my post Wise Vintage Owl. This post is mostly about what I learned about using felt in cardmaking.
Sepia Cauldron
I started by creating the shaker. For this I used the two cauldron dies in the Kat Scrappiness Witches Brew Die Set. The background I cut from the lightest color in Kat Scrappiness Coffee Faux Glitter 6x6 Paper Pad and the foreground from the darkest color. I also used the background die to cut my acetate and the foreground die to cut two layers of Kraft cardstock. I sandwiched the acetate between the two Kraft layers and then added the dark cauldron frame die cut to the front. Then I placed a double layer of foam tape on the back.
Green Craftmas
I created three cards for a recycling-themed Instagram challenge. First I used my Pinkfresh Solid Hot Foil Plate with all the cool-toned leftover foil to make my own foiled cardstock. This time I foiled on cardstock colors that matches the foil.
No Tricks
I started by stamping the two witches from Trinity Stamps Hocus Pocus Gnomes Stamp Set and coloring them with my Ohuhu Alcohol Markers. See the tables below for the markers I used. In addition to alcohol markers I used white and silver gel pens.
Then I cut out my witches with the coordinating dies.
A Monster Study in Teal
I’m still trying to reclaim Halloween tropes from the overdone, traditionally-discordant colors. Halloween cards can be tasteful, really! This time I picked cardstock in teal tones from my scraps. Once you’ve figured out which dies from the Scream & Sugar Die Set belong to Frankenstein’s Monster, it’s pretty straightforward to put together.
For the Love of Paisley
Paisley is my hands-down favorite abstract pattern! So of course I needed the Glimmer Kit of the Month for June ‘22. It’s called Paisley Glimmer and it’s on sale for less than $10 right now.
Blue Halloween
Today’s card is a watercolored Halloween card with a witchy little quokka. I’m starting by mixing the paint I need. Today I’m going to use my artist-grade watercolors. I’ve written down the paints I’m going to mix on this little palette and I mostly followed my plans.