Spellbinders Around the World Card Kit
Wow! It’s been awhile since my last post. But… I have been making cards. After making a bunch of Easter cards I wanted to work on something were I could make a few cards and not feel like I needed to finish the paper pad. A Spellbinders monthly card kit was a great option. With 40 sheets of paper, tons of die cuts and ephemera and stamp and die sets there was no way I could finish the kit in one “sitting.”
Having used a couple Spellbinders card kits in the past, I can’t resist picking them up when they are on sale. This year Spellbinders changed the contents of the monthly card kit dropping the stamp and die sets. Since I really like those components I made sure to purchase any of the “old” format kits during the last few warehouse sales. I now have quite a collection. I organized the kits by date and have started working my way through them. Skipping the out of season holiday kits I started with the August 2020 Around the World card kit. At first I thought the “around the world” theme would be limited to planes, trains, boats, etc. but the kit also includes fun tropical images, exotic animal, plants and more.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I find using the card kits challenging (in a good way). Using all of the die cuts, ephemera and embellishments helps me step away from my usual clean, streamlined style. To get into the layered, more is more mindset I started by making one of the sample cards shown on the instruction sheet.
I challenge myself to use at least 3 pieces of ephemera on each card. This forces me outside of my comfort zone but keeps the cards still having a “me” feel to them. For this card I paired the fun tropical drinks die cuts with the beach umbrella, me time ticket and relax sentiment die cuts. For a bit more texture and shine I added a few of the pink iridescent sequins included in the kit.
I really liked the layout of the sample card and decided to try it again this time moving the circle panel to the left side of the card to accommodate the cheetah die cut. I added 3 of the palm frond die cuts around the cheetah since they matched the theme of the background paper and added a nice pop of color. For some more color I added the pastel camera and tiny ticket.
Focusing on the “travel” theme, the next card was all about Paris with the Eiffel Tower dies cuts and chipboard piece. I added the scooter and the French fashion sunglasses for bring in more of the pink that appears on the Paris Eiffel Tower die cut. For some dimension I popped up the scooter and one of the die cut pieces.
I liked all the fun colors of the mini tag paper. It has a travel feel but would work with anything in the kit. I paired it with the tone-on-tone pink print, using a wide gold metallic strip to separate the 2 papers. I added the hanging plant, potted plant and stack of book die cuts as the focal point. A subtle pink chipboard arrow and a few more sequins finished the card.
After making several cards I hadn’t even made a dent in the kit but the goal was just to make a few cards and this kit was perfect. Everything was bright and cheerful.