Category: Christina Rannow

  • Masculine Nautical Scene | by Christina Rannow

    Masculine Nautical Scene | by Christina Rannow

    Hi friends! Christina here to share a masculine nautical-inspired card featuring the most delightful pelican from the new Block Print Pelican die set. He makes the perfect focal point for this little coastal scene I created using the Corner Waves and the Waterfront Pilings. To really play up the nautical theme of this design, I framed up the scene with a porthole window that was a breeze to make with just a couple of nesting circle dies. Let’s dive into the details of this card!

    I started by die-cutting all the elements for my scene from colored cardstock. I chose ivory, slate gray, and orange for the pelican, and two shades of brown and matte silver for the waterfront pilings. I chose leaf green for the tiny fish from the Sea Kelp and Mini Fish die set and classic blue for the water. I assembled the diecuts and arranged them in a scene on the center of a light blue cardstock panel. 

    To create the porthole frame, I first die-cut a large circle from the center of a kraft woodgrain cardstock panel to be the porthole window. I attached this over the scene with foam tape. Then, I die-cut a circle frame from matte gold cardstock using two nesting circle dies. The smaller, inside circle is the same size as the porthole window, so it would match up perfectly. I attached this to the woodgrain panel and added a few matte gold pearls to complete the porthole look. 

    Finally, I heat embossed a sentiment with cream embossing powder on a slate gray sentiment strip and added a shiny black pearl to the pelican’s eye.

    Thank you so much for reading about this masculine nautical-inspired card I created using new dies from the latest release. See you soon!

  • Koi Pond | by Christina Rannow

    Koi Pond | by Christina Rannow

    Hi friends! Christina here to share this vibrant pond scene featuring the gorgeous new Block Print Elegant Koi die set. I paired this elegant fish with the Block Print Koi Duo and created a fun bokeh-inspired background using just a few circle stencils. This card is perfect for any occasion and would surely brighten anyone’s day. Keep scrolling to find out how this card design came together!

    I started by creating the bokeh-inspired background. This is such a simple technique, and it creates a really versatile background that can be used for many different card designs. Plus, it can easily be customized to coordinate with the color palette of your card design. All you need are circle stencils in different sizes, two to three inks of the same color but different shades, and a white pigment ink! Here’s how I did it:

    First, I trimmed a white cardstock panel to 4 x 5 ¼ inches. Then, using multiple circle stencils in different sizes and a trio of teal ink colors, I stenciled circles across the panel, overlapping some of them. I started with the lightest color and the biggest circle and then added smaller circles in darker colors, slightly overlapping some as I continued to stencil the entire panel. The inks I used are reactive with water like Distress Inks, so my next step was to splatter the panel with plain water for some texture and interest. Lastly, I used white pigment ink and two smaller circle stencils to add the final bokeh effect. 

    With the background completed, I got to work on the focal point of my card – the koi fish. First I die-cut all the pieces from white cardstock. Then I inked the pieces using two shades of orange and two shades of yellow ink. Before assembling the fish, I wanted to give them some added texture and interest too. I splattered all of the pieces with coordinating Mica Stains to give them some sparkle. Then I splattered the smaller koi with white spatter and the large koi with black spatter. Finally, I assembled the diecuts and attached them to my background with glue. 

    The last couple of steps were to add a sentiment and some embellishments. I die-cut the Big Hello Sugar Script from white cardstock and inked just the shadow portion with the darkest ink color that I had used for the background. I attached the sentiment and chose light blue crystal droplets as the finishing touch. 

    Thank you so much for reading about my vibrant koi pond card design featuring the new Block Print Koi dies with a bokeh-inspired background technique. See you again soon!