Ellen Hutson Design Team Blog Hop

Even as a seasoned card maker, I enjoy learning tips & tricks from other crafters. My favorite tip/trick is something I actually learned recently. When I get a new set of dies, I keep the major dies connected together, and remove any smaller dies attached inside the major dies.

When I need to cut an image, I put the connected set of dies face down on my MISTI and then carefully lay the corresponding stamps face down on top of the dies. Once they're all perfectly centered, I close the MISTI, open it back up, and start stamping. Now it's super easy to line up the dies over the stamped images and cut them all out at once. Since the stamps are already set up I'll usually make a couple additional sets of die cuts before putting the stamps away. If I don't use all the die cut pieces I'll store them in back of the stamp set.

Folks, I am SO PLEASED to be a part of this hop, as it means that I'm officially on the ELLEN HUTSON DESIGN TEAM!!! Can I get a "heck yeah"?! I'm so thrilled to work with this amazing company led by Ellen, one of the kindest and sincerest people around. Then, as you know, the design team members are all crazy-talented. What an unbeatable combination! We put this hop together as a way to get to know everyone a little more. You may have come from the awesome Justine Hovey but if not feel free to start at the beginning in the CLASSroom.

We're sharing a project that represents our style and/or what we enjoy doing. One of my favorite things is to come up with different ways to use the same product.

Today I had a ton of fun playing with different ways to use the Essentials by Ellen Envelope Slider Dies. These pretty papers are all from some of Lawn Fawn's recent Spring releases.

Once they were all cut I ran a very fine line of glue along the flap edge to adhere them together. Tip: put an empty acrylic block on top of the envelopes until the glue is dry for a permanent bond.

Now that the envies are done, let's take a look at the different ways we can use them on cards ... 

1. Hide your sentiment - This is handy when you just want the focus to be on your images and/or you don't want to add any more business to your design.

Here I still wanted to say a little more than just "hugs" so I added a longer sentiment from the Oh Frappe! stamp set and inserted it into the magic envelope.

Quick tip: the two coffee rings were made by inking up the ridge of my milk carton top and spritzing it with water before stamping it onto the paper. I think it's pretty realistic looking! And fills the space. Here you can also see the slot where the sentiment will disappear into the envelope.

2. Make several different envelope/sentiment combinations for a very interactive card. Seeing the strings coming out of the envelopes is a clue to the recipient that something's inside. Are you curious to see what it is?

Birthday wishes! It was fun using most of the words from Essentials by Ellen Totally Awesome to make three different sentiments that can be pulled up and read in any order.

Here's another tip: to make sure you have enough room for the sentiments to disappear through the envelope and behind the panel, place it on top of your card with the top of the sentiment inside the envelope. Then just make sure the bottom of your sentiment does not extend past your panel. Also, this picture shows the little stopper bar I added to the bottoms so the sentiments cannot get pulled completely out of the envelope. 

3. Use the envelope to store several different trinkets that go along with the theme of your card. I think of this as being very similar to collage-style cards, only you can't necessarily see all the different elements.

This envelope holds many of the dies from a recent release, the Essentials By Ellen Leading Ladies: Dog Lady. It's a collection of things that a dog may be happy to see (like the sentiment says): his bone, a baseball for playing catch, and the love his family has for him. The envelope also holds a die cut "Hello" which is meant to be the first part of the sentiment, "Hello, Always Happy to see You." It makes me happy thinking of all the different treasures that can be tucked away.

The sentiment is from the Leading Ladies: Dog Lady set. I had the doggie sign it by putting his little paw print underneath.

4. Just use the envelopes for decoration. Not every card has to be interactive. These adorable plaid envies from the Lawn Fawn Petite Paper Packs really stand out on their own.

I decided to leave the top envelope flap loose since they looked pretty neat like that. It gives the card extra dimension without adding any additional bulk.

Just because I could, I tucked a few hearts inside some of the envelopes. It's not super important that the recipient sees them right away, but I'm guessing they'll come upon them sooner or later for a fun surprise.

Hope you enjoyed seeing some different ways the Envelope Slider die can be used!

Being the fun team that this is, we are all answering the following questions:

1. Coffee or tea? Would you believe neither? I grew up only drinking water and that's my preference (which is odd because we had such awfully rusty water). I'm kinda scared if I start drinking coffee that I'll become seriously addicted to it. So I don't.
2. How did you come up with your blog name? I initially started my blog as a home/lifestyle blog so I could share my antique finds, upcycled furniture, home decor, crafts and recipes. I wanted "Nest" since it related to home, and then I went down the list of other "N" adjectives until I settled on "Notable." It's funny, and a little disheartening, that my most popular posts are not at all related to cards. My most popular post is my son's Pirate Party, and second is a recipe for Good Lookin' Grapes that I spent about 5 minutes putting together. My first card post was for the Papertrey Ink monthly blog hop and I was so encouraged by all these wonderful bloggers who left comments. After that, I quickly turned into a card blogger : )
3. Tell us one silly/random/interesting tidbit about yourself! My old neighbor and I are huge Green Day fans and traveled to see them in 5 different venues on their tour last year. When I met Wanda Guess at Creativation this year I found out that she's a die-hard fan as well!

Your next stop on this hop is the wonderful Kittie Caracciolo!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Kelly


Affiliate links: 

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Envelope Sliders by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Bitty Envelope by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Leading Ladies - Dog Lady by Brandi Kincaid

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Leading Ladies - Dog Lady by Brandi Kincaid

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, All Inside by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, All Inside by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Oh Frappe by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Oh Frappe by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Mondo Hydrangea by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Totally Awesome by Julie Ebersole

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker, Set of 48

Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy

ATG Kit, Advanced Tape Glider

ATG Double-Sided Refill Tape, 2 pk, 1/4"

My Sweet Petunia Mini MISTI Laser Etched Stamping Tool (6-1/8 X 7)

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

Sizzix Accessory, Magnetic Platform for Wafer-Thin Dies

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 250 Sheet Ream

Ranger Ink Blending Tool, 1 Inch Round

Ranger Ink Blending Tool Replacement Foam, 1 Inch Round

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Black Jack

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Rose Petals

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Lime Rickey

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Tutti Frutti

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Juniper Mist

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Party Dress

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Grass Skirt

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Melon Ice

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Aquatini

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Seafoam

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Bellini

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Mint To Be

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, It's A Girl

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Icing On The Cake

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, It's A Boy