Valley Oak Paper - Handmade greeting cards & gifts

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This is a Test Card

Cecilia Huster

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Yesterday I created a card, partly to test some design elements, partly to try out the process for posting official influencer cards.

I created four shaker elements with the star-shaped dies from Christmas Shaker Ornament Craft Dies. I colored the frame layers and shaker bits with my Ohuhu Alcohol Markers:

  • Y030 Lemon Chiffon

  • Y4 Quince

  • Y5 Rouge Orange

  • G420 Green Shadow

  • B220 Pale Grayish Blue

Because I knew I was going to cram in all four stars on my A2 card, I took care to place the foam strips near the inside edges of the star frames.

The sentiment is from the Simple Sentiments Stamp. I heat-embossed it in gold on vellum. Then I used the same Ohuhu markers to create a rainbow on a scrap bit of white cardstock. I adhered the vellum with double-sided tape.

Design Learnings

I really like when the color of the shaker bits and the frame match. I have a couple of confetti dies, but most of them are no-name brands. I’m going to keep looking for dies that can be used like this from brands I’m partners with.

  • Cutting off shaker frames neatly is hard — avoid it as much as possible. Create a larger card or “kill your darlings.”

  • Strong contrast between the shaker frame and background helps lift up the shakers I’ve spent so much time on.

  • I’m still not a big fan of rainbow color schemes, even when they’re modified. It’s hard to pull off without getting too busy for my liking.

  • Attaching vellum with double-sided adhesive works well. OTOH the vellum will be less bright, so take that into account for legibility of sentiments.

Process Learnings