Category: Christina Rannow

  • Lovable Polar Bear | by Christina Rannow

    Lovable Polar Bear | by Christina Rannow

    Hi friends! Christina here to share another card featuring products from the Block Print Christmas release. This release has some wonderful winter and holiday-themed die sets like the handsome Block Print Polar Bear. He’s an adorable addition to your wintertime cards, especially when paired with one of the new Block Print Scene die sets. I decided to combine elements from both scene sets to create a starry Arctic night perfect for our polar friend. Let’s take a closer look at how this wintertime card came together. 

    I started by creating the starry night sky that will peek through the circular cutout from the Block Print Forest Scene die. First, I applied ink to a white cardstock panel, softly blending two shades of navy ink from top to bottom. Then I spattered the panel with a sparkly liquid watercolor to create a starry sky. 

    Next, I die-cut the Block Print Forest Scene from a white cardstock panel and, using whatever ink was left on my teal blending brush, very lightly blended small areas of ink to create an icy look to the panel. There is one tree attached to the forest scene, and I inked this tree along with some other trees I had die-cut with green and brown ink colors. Then I attached this panel to the starry night sky panel with thin foam tape and attached the other trees to the scene.

    With the background scene completed, I moved on to die-cutting the pieces for the polar bear. I used white cardstock and added shading to the body pieces with a light gray ink and inked the eyes, nose, and ears with a little Black Soot ink. Then I assembled the polar bear, layering the pieces and securing them with thin foam squares. This, along with shading the body pieces, gives the polar bear incredible dimension. And to really bring him to life, I added Glossy Accents to his nose and a black glaze pen to his eyes with a tiny white gel pen highlight. 

    To finish up my card front, I attached the bear to the nighttime forest scene and added the star from the Block Print Starry Night Scene. I gave the star some sparkle with more of the sparkly liquid watercolor and then stamped a sentiment in the bottom right corner. 

    Thank you so much for checking out my wintertime card featuring a starry Arctic scene that I created using new products from the Block Print Christmas release. See you again soon!


    Supplies


    57638 Block Print Polar Bear
    57649 Block Print Starry Night Scene
    57650 Block Print Forest Scene
  • Majestic Deer | by Christina Rannow

    Majestic Deer | by Christina Rannow

    Hello! It’s Christina, and I’m excited to share this masculine holiday card with you today. My card showcases products from the latest Block Print Christmas release with the majestic Block Print Deer front and center. He makes quite an impact all on his own, so I kept the background simple with a tone-on-tone diecut technique. I love using this technique because it’s a unique alternative to embossing folders, stencils, or background stamps. Let’s take a closer look at how this masculine holiday card came together. 

    I started by die-cutting the elements for the Block Print Deer from colored cardstock. I used two shades of brown, ivory, and black. After die-cutting, I added shading and dimension to the pieces by inking the edges with a coordinating ink color. Then I assembled the pieces, securing most of them with glue but attaching his head with foam squares for even more dimension. There aren’t very many pieces to assemble for the deer, and they layer together so easily. It’s truly an impressive image when he is complete. 

    Next I worked on the background. I chose pine green cardstock and die-cut multiple Simple Evergreen Sprigs. I glued these sprigs randomly across a pine green cardstock panel, letting some overhang the edges and trimming them after the glue had set. These sprigs are delicate, and applying glue to them without making a mess was a little challenging, but I think the results are worth it. My last step for the background panel was to apply white spatter using thinned white gouache paint. 

    To finish up my card, I attached the Block Print Deer to the center of the panel with thin foam squares and added the Warm Wishes Dapper Script. I chose ivory cardstock for the sentiment and stacked three of the diecuts together before adding to my card design.

    Thank you so much for stopping by to see how this masculine holiday card came together! See you again soon!


    Supplies


    57578 Block Print Deer
    57653 Warm Wishes Dapper Script
    57656 Simple Evergreen Sprigs
  • Autumn Fox | by Christina Rannow

    Autumn Fox | by Christina Rannow

    Hello! Christina here to share a warm and cozy card featuring products from the new Block Print Christmas release. This release is full of festive winter and holiday-themed die sets, but they can easily be reimagined for other seasons or occasions. I did just that by creating this autumn card featuring the new Wise Fox die set. He’s the focal point of this card design, and I have him nestled in a vibrant forest of Evergreen Trees. Let’s take a closer look at how this card came together. 

    I started by die-cutting the pieces for the Wise Fox from white cardstock. Then I used Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Scorched Timber, and Antique Linen Distress Inks to ink each piece before assembling them to create this cute critter.  

    Next, I die-cut the Evergreen Trees and inked them with a combination of Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Forest Moss, and Scorched Timber Distress Inks. I chose to use just the base pieces of the Evergreen Trees and not the decorative layering pieces for this project. 

    With my die-cutting and inking done, my next step was to create a soft background for my autumn scene. I softly blended Speckled Egg Distress Ink on the top half of a white A2 cardstock panel and Scattered Straw on the bottom half. Then I stamped a sentiment with brown ink in the lower right corner of my background panel. 

    Lastly, I arranged the Evergreen Trees and the Wise Fox on my background using a combination of glue and thin foam squares. The finishing touch was to add some highlights to the eyes with a white gel pen. 

    Thank you so much for checking out my warm and cozy autumn card featuring products from the Block Print Christmas release. Happy crafting!

    Supplies

    57640 Block Print Wise Fox

    57645 Block Print Pine Trees

  • Dancing Crabs | by Christina Rannow

    Dancing Crabs | by Christina Rannow

    Hello! Christina here to share one last ocean-themed card with you before we move into some festive holiday cardmaking. For this project, I created a mini slimline card using the Block Print Dancing Crabs dies. These little guys are clawing around on a simple beach background full of sparkle and splatter. Let’s dive into this fun beach scene!

    To start, I trimmed a piece of kraft cardstock to fit my mini slimline card base. The bases I use measure 6 ½ x 3 ⅛ inches, so that’s what I started with. Then I used a simple wave border to die-cut the water from Pool Party cardstock. Next, I pulled out my Distress Inks to blend in some shadows around the edges of both pieces. I also added some ink to the kraft cardstock where the water border will be. After blending in the ink, I also splattered both pieces with more of the Distress Inks as well as some sparkly Mica Stains in coordinating colors and white splatter medium. After a short dry time, I attached the water border to the kraft cardstock and moved on to die-cutting the Dancing Crabs.

    I die-cut the crab pieces from white cardstock and then ink blended each piece with multiple colors before also splattering them with more of the same ink colors. This will bring these little guys to life by adding depth and texture to the pieces. After assembling the crabs, I attached them to my card front with foam squares. 

    I finished my card design by adding a Hugs Vintage Sentiment diecut and a heat-embossed sub-sentiment using the Poppy Stamps Sentimental Banners set.

    Thank you for checking out my mini slimline card featuring a fun beach scene I created using the Block Print Dancing Crabs die set. See you again soon!

  • Majestic Heron | by Christina Rannow

    Majestic Heron | by Christina Rannow

    Hi friends! Christina here to share an elegant CAS card with you that’s perfect for any occasion. I used the Block Print Majestic Heron as my focal point and paired it with the Corner Waves Die for a simple design that comes together in no time. Let’s get started!

    I started with die-cutting and assembling the Majestic Heron. There are just a few pieces to assemble to bring this magnificent bird to life, and I used only four cardstock colors – all of them I pulled from my scrap bin!

    Next, I die-cut the Corner Waves from a dark teal color and attached them to the corner of a lighter teal cardstock panel. Then I die-cut a large circle from a brushed metallic paper to be the moon and attached it over the waves. 

    Using foam squares, I centered the heron on the panel and secured him in place. The last step was to heat emboss a small sentiment from the Sentimental Banners Stamp set from Poppy Stamps with white embossing powder.

    And that’s all there is for this elegant CAS card design featuring the Block Print Majestic Heron Die Set. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you again soon!

  • 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!