Mudra Craft Stamps: Guest Designer - Ketki

Wednesday, 14 February 2018

Guest Designer - Ketki - Cards with Surprise

Namaste,

I am so excited to share a lovely post on this special day!! I wish every creative crafty soul “Happy Valentine’s Day”.. On this beautiful day I am here with a Guest Designer - Ketki. She is an avid card maker, has a elegant and simple style. She explores various techniques with her own style! I cant wait to show what she has for us!!

She has some very well explained post with detailed photos of her pretty cards, so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!!

"Hi! I’m Ketki.

I’m a Crafter, Stamper, DIY Enthusiast and the author of keancrafts.wordpress.com. I began my crafting journey at a very young age. My mum has always encouraged me to explore art forms and that took me from painting and paper quilling to wood carving!

I got the cardmaking bug a while ago aand I’ve loved every minute of it. I’m a student and I divide my time between studying and cardmaking. When I’m doing neither, you’ll find me curled up on the couch with a book.

CARD #1

Word Windows:

A slight departure from the classic circle and rectangular window cards (I've done those on my blog as well!), I thought word windows would be fun to make.

I began with a white notecard measuring 4.25"x5.5" along with two mats of white cardstock each measuring 4.25"x5.5".

I inked the edges of the notecard front in Violet pigment ink and dried it with my heat gun. I inked one of the mats with Lavender pigment ink and stamped flowers from Floral Fantasy stamp set in the Violet ink. I used my heat gun once again to dry all the pigment ink, so that it doesn't smudge.

To make the word window, I stacked the white mat on top of the inked notecard front and placed the stamped mat on top of the two. I taped all 3 layers together with scotch magic tape and cut through them with Thanks die, saving the die cuts.

Now that the word was die cut from the same spot on all three layers, I trimmed off 0.25" and 0.5" from each side of the white and stamped mats respectively.

To assemble the card, I glued the die cut words on top of each other, inked them with Violet ink and proceeded to clear heat emboss the word. Using the die cut negative on the notecard front, I aligned and adhered the heat embossed word to the inside of the notecard and popped in the negative pieces between the,’h’, ' k’ and 's' as well.

To finish the card, I centered and adhered the white and stamped mats to the notecard front, alligning the die cuts.

CARD #2

Shaker Windows:

Shaker cards are probably the most popular kind of window card. With the Harvest Mix Couture Sequins, choosing colours for the card was a breeze!

I began with a white notecard measuring 4.25"x5.5" and another piece of white cardstock measuring the same.

I began with inking the rectangular white cardstock (not the notecard) in Tangerine and Cherry Pink colours. I blended the two with a blending stump and used a heat gun to dry the ink. I've exclusively used pigment inks for this card, so I'll be reaching for the heat gun often to make sure that the inks don't stay wet and smudge.

To make the acetate for the window, I stamped the larger flowers and stalk from the Floral Fantasy stamp set and heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I choose white embossing powder because it tends to expand a bit when heat set, thus making the image a tad bit bolder. This would help visually, when the sequins would be placed below these flowers.

Once heat set, I adhered the acetate window to the stamped cardstock piece from behind, alligning the stamped stalks along the way.

Once the window was ready, it was time to make the shaker part of the card. To do that, I adhered together three layers of foam. Once dry, I die cut a circle from the foam. I chose a circle die one size larger than the window so that the foam wouldn't show from the window. Then, I adhered the foam to the notecard front.

I centered and adhered the circle that I had saved from the inked piece inside the die cut foam 'cavity'. Once that was done, it was only a matter of adding the sequins and adhering the window front to the foam!

If you're using liquid adhesive, remember to let it dry completely before adding the sequins.

CARD #3

Peek-a-boo Windows:

Everybody loves surprises! When you open this peek-a-boo window, there's a surprise sentiment inside.

I began with a white notecard measuring 4.25"x5.5" and stamped the vines from the Hummingbirds stamp set in watermark ink and white heat embossed them. Then, opening the notecard, I masked off the top half and stamped the vines in exactly the same spots as the vines on the notecard front but this time, in black ink. With that done, I painted the vines on the notecard front with watercolours.

I also stamped and white heat embossed the larger hummingbird twice on another piece of white cardstock. Since the flowers on the vine were pink, it seemed like a good idea to paint the hummingbirds in cooler shades. Once they were completely dry, I hand cut both birds with a craft knife.

Now that all the card components were ready, I began with assembling the card.

I die cut a circle from the notecard front and stamped the sentiment inside the notecard so that it would show completely through the cut circle. If you’ve seen my work, you know I like to clear heat emboss card components because they get a smooth mirror-like finish which I absolutely adore! Continuing the trend, I clear heat embossed the sentiment as well!

The birds have to be adhered such that they completely hide the sentiment inside when the card is closed. To do that, I shut the card and aligned the birds. Then, I adhered them by their tails, wings and beaks to the notecard

For finishing touches, I added some enamel dotties for the birds' eyes and stamens. Like that wasn't enough, I randomly adhered some pearl coloured dotties over the notecard front as well!

I'd love to see your window cards on Instagram. Feel free to tag @keancrafts!

Happy Crafting!”

I am completely Impressed with such a detailed explaination of step by step instruction by Ketki!! I am sure you all enjoyed the post too.. Every card in the post has some special technique, that everyone should try!!! You can follow Ketki Instagram Page for more pretty cards!