Birthday Cards

I embossed white cardstock and yellow vellum at the same time using SSS Blossom Swag folder.  The pieces were attached together and trimmed with scissors to fit on the card.  

There's Yellow Stickles in the flower centers and Frosted Lace on the berries.  The birds from Poppystamps Nordic Majestic Bloom were inked with PTI Spring Rain and Blueberry Sky.  I brushed the wings with shimmer.  You can see the sparkle and shimmer in my IG post.  Fun to use the PTI patterned paper for a different look.  The sentiment from Altenew Modern Dahlia Bunch was stamped in Versafine Clair Blue Belle and embossed with matte clear ep.  I brushed the sentiment diecut and the card front edges with PTI Lemon Tart.  Finished with a few tiny blue pearls that matched.  I'm entering Die Cut Divas, SSS Wednesday via IG and SSS Flickr.

I often use generic sentiments on the outside of cards, like the Hello from PTI Essential Sentiments.  That way I can use the card for any occasion.

In this case, I knew it would be a birthday card, but none of those sentiments fit as well as Hello.  Stencil Week for JUGs inspired me to get out my favorite Taylored Expressions Modern Eucalyptus.  I have Foil-It cards that go with the stencils, but I've used up the one with circles.  Decided to see if I could make my own using a circle die and Sparkle Pop gold pen.  Have to say, I love the result!  I also used the pen on the darkest green sprigs and the flower centers.  You can see the gorgeous sparkle in my IG post.  The inks brushed through the 4 stencils are Altenew Silver Sprout, Sagestone, Olive Grove and Mossy Granite.  Poppystamps Little Layered Asters were brushed with Altenew Strawberry and Dusty Pink.  Hello was stamped in Olive Grove, die cut and stacked 2 high.  I brushed the card front edges with the Olive Grove.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday and Color Hues.  I'll let the CH team decide if my flowers are close enough to a soft coral. 

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Flowers and a Butterfly

Altenew April Inspiration Challenge has a beautiful color combo.  Once again I used my favorite Sweet Bouquet stamp/die/stencil products for an entry. 

The coloring was done with Rouge, Lime and Fresh Leaf inks brushed through the matching stencils.  I brushed Dew Drops in the center of the card front.  Sparkled Frame, another favorite, was embossed with matte clear powder so it would be more visible.  This card does have a different look from the others I've made with Sweet Bouquet because I added some Branches and Berries diecuts.  I really like this version.  Hard to see the Stickles in the flower centers and on the berries.  

The sentiment is from the same set and I used matching enamel dots.  I'm also entering WAW.

I combined Poppystamps and Color Hues challenges for my next card.  A friend recently gave me a sack of beautiful patterned paper sheets.  I picked out one with shades of green and used MB Texture Distressed Grid stencil with Distress Oxide Lucky Clover. 

I randomly inked and stamped an old woodblock text stamp with Distress Oxide Pine Needles.  It's subtle, but definitely changed the look.  I wanted just a bit more interest in the background, so used 2nd generation stamping of the flower from Poppystamps Friends and Flowers inked in Versafine Clair Grass Green.  Again, subtle, but visible in person.  If you enlarge the picture, you might be able to see that I used a PFS blanket stitch rectangle and splattered white gouache.  Poppystamps Dream Butterfly was die cut twice.  The outline layer on top was inked heavily with Distress Oxide Abandoned Coral.  I used a lighter hand for the bottom layer with the inside pieces kept in place and brushed with shimmer.  MB Just a Note Posh Script shadow was inked with the Coral and the words were die cut from the same patterned paper piece.  Finished off with white enamel dots.

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Birthday and Friendship

When I saw the Time Out Challenge Sweet Treats, I immediately thought of PTI Your Beautiful Birthday.  It's such a fun mini set that lets you build an artsy cake--totally different than most of my stamp sets.  I pulled out my sack of die cut panels and frames--determined to use some of them.  

Many friends send me die cuts and unfortunately, I'm not sure who gave me the heart bordered panel.  I love it and still have a couple more to use.  I did have to trim down the silver metallic panel to the size I wanted, but one less in the sack!  Really happy to be able to use one of the many smaller rectangles left from die cutting frames.  

I silver embossed the cake plate and then double stamped the solid cake layers in Altenew Pale Mauve.  The dots were stamped in Amethyst and the center of the candles in Grape Agate.  The flames were stamped in Amethyst and the glow in Delicata Silvery Shimmer.  I inked the card front edges in Grape Agate to show through the hearts.  The sentiment from PTI Scripted was stamped in Grape Agate and I silver embossed the edges.  I'm also entering DCD and SSS Wednesday. 

The challenge at JUGS is Spotlight Technique.  That is basically what I did for the first card in my last post, so I wanted to do something different.  IO roses background stamp is a favorite I haven't used in ages.  I black heat embossed a panel of Bristol cardstock so I could use another neglected product--Zig Watercolor brush markers.  

After diecutting the small label, I colored it with Light Carmine and Pink Flamingo, using the Zig blender brush and no water.  Then I spritzed with shimmer, added a cardstock layer for dimension and glued it into place.  SSS Painted Hugs and the mat were cut from glossy black cardstock.  Finished off with a tiny black wooden heart and 3 clear sequins.  I'm also entering WAW. 

Edited to add:  I am not a "radical left lunatic" but I'm absolutely repulsed by Trump's blasphemy, as well as his speech and actions.  Not all Christians support this administration. 

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Butterflies

Here are my latest cards--both with one or more butterflies, thanks to the SSS IG Challenge theme for April.  First is the card I made using the piece of cardstock I embossed at the same time as the vellum card in my last post.  The folder is Altenew's Dreamy Daylilies.  

I messed up part of the panel, so switched gears and die cut a small rectangle from the center that was fine.  I ink blended with Altenew's Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart and Purple Wine.  The raised edges were swiped with Brilliance Starlite Black--a soft Pearlescent black.  I added silver splatters and attached it to a black mat.  Then I glued it in place--lining up the image on another embossed white panel.  Love the look of the wide white border.  The double vellum butterfly is from SSS Stitching Butterflies.  I added matching ink to the center and covered it with Silver Stickles.  The sentiment is from SSS Anna's Flowers and I added 3 silver glitter dots.  I'm entering DCD, WAW from Flickr and SSS Flickr.

Next is my card inspired by the new combo of Fuchsia and Navy at Color Hues.  Hopefully my Lindy's Magicals High Maintenance Magenta works for fuchsia. 😊

I silver embossed PFS Small Butterflies and die cut them.  Then I watercolored them with the Magical powder mixed with water.  After they dried, I added more color.  The shimmer is so beautiful, as seen in my IG video.  For the card front, I white embossed PFS Lush Vines, brushed on the Sapphire ink and then wiped ink off the embossing.  Lush Vines is definitely one of my favorite stamps!  The butterflies were glued to PFS Elongated Oval Blanket Stitch, stacked 2 high and brushed with the same ink--darkest on the edge.  The sentiment is from PFS Perfect Sentiments.  I added navy dots to the background and silver glitter dots to the butterflies.  I'm also entering Pinkfresh April Challenge and WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Easter and Birthday

Happy Easter Sunday.  I have many happy memories of Easter's growing up.  Often it would rain, so my folks would send the 3 of us to the basement while they hid the eggs inside our house.  Our church youth group always went to the community-wide sunrise service together.  Then we met at one kid's house for Easter breakfast prepared and served by the parents before church.  Such love I probably didn't really appreciate at the time.  Today, I wake to an unhinged rant including an expletive by the US president.  I can only pray that God opens the eyes of my fellow Christians.  The character of our president does matter.

A friend recently sent me a card she made using multiple thin Washi tape strips.  That inspired me to pull out my box of tapes I pretty much never use.  I didn't find a variety like she used, but I did see 3 beautiful ones with gold foil.  So I switched gears and made a card with my new SSS Nested Eggs.

I covered a scrap of cardstock alternating the 3 designs.  I had already planned which egg dies I wanted to use for the focal point, knowing the Washi egg would be the top layer.  I dry embossed the white egg and cut the largest one from a soft gold glitter paper.  The very old sentiment was gold embossed, including the top and bottom edges of the strip.  I can't wait to make some more cards with this die set and be ahead for next year.  I'm entering JUGs, SSS Monday, WAW and SSS Flickr.

I watched Jo Simons video a long time ago, thanks to someone referring to it in their blog post.  Unfortunately, I can't remember who it was.  Finally decided to make a card using her technique of embossing cardstock and vellum at the same time.  It truly did work perfectly.  Here's one of the cards I made using Altenew's Dreamy Daylilies folder with a satin vellum.  Soon I'll show you what I did with the cardstock embossed in the same run through my machine.

I used the matching lily stencils and very lightly brushed on pink, green and yellow inks.  I added Champagne Stickles to the ends of the stamens and used a PTI frame diecut.  Altenew's Essential Sentiment strip was die cut from matte champagne and white cardstocks.  Another Spring BD card ready to mail.  I'm entering DCD and WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Card Chain Challenge and Easter

I signed up to send my March CCC card to my friend, Mia.  Knowing it takes a long time for her to get mail from me, I sent it pretty early in the month.  So far, she hasn't gotten it, but hopefully she will soon.  

The card front is cardstock covered with a piece of rice paper from an older SSS kit.  All I did was splatter the beautiful paper with light gold watercolor.  I randomly brushed the Alexandra Renke wreath with the same watercolor.  

The Memory Box word shadow was lightly brushed with Distress Oxide vintage photo.  After I added the cream cardstock letters, I brushed the whole thing with the light gold watercolor.  I'm entering WAW.  

I made a couple of blue and white Easter cards this year.  When I was a kid, navy and white was a popular color combo for Easter.  The first card was made with the reverse piece after I foiled a Unity toner card front with a beautiful blue specialty foil.  It foiled perfectly to a white Poly-Glaze sheet.

I'm entering WAW from another platform.

My other card was made with SSS Cherry Blossom embossing folder.  I simply added a dot of blue Stickles to the center of each flower.  As you've probably noticed, Poppystamps Proper Happy Easter got a lot of use this year!

I'm entering SSS Monday.  

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Birthday and Easter

I seldom make shaker cards, but here's my second one this year!  Arlene recently posted a card made with a large balloon die.  That reminded me that I have an old one by Winnie and Walter.  I didn't use her design for this card, but that will be coming.  I got a wonderful surprise when I pulled out my die set.  Stuck to the back was a small poinsettia die set I lost at least 3 years ago.  I accepted that I'd never see it again and now it's back in my stasht!  I have several poinsettias, but I was really sad to loose this one because it's size is just right for many cards.

Anyway, my shaker is for Time Out's In the Clear Challenge.  I wanted more of an elegant look, so I die cut the balloon from SSS Matte Champagne cardstock. 

The background is a beautiful printed paper a friend gave to me.  I used an assortment of goodies for the shaker element and a piece of packaging for the cover.  

The bow and the Altenew Essential Sentiment Strip were cut from a scrap of the same printed paper.  Now to make something with the pretty metallic balloon diecut!

I'm also entering SSS Wednesday and WAW.

This is one of the quick Easter cards I made using the other panel of gorgeous Washi from The Ton that my friend Betty gave me long ago.  

I used a scalloped Elizabeth Craft Design rectangle die, SSS butterfly die cut from vellum and Poppystamps Proper Happy Easter.  I'm entering SSS Monday since I heat embossed the sentiment letters with Avery Elle Rose Gold powder.

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