Fun Floral Birthday Card

I'm finding that some of my old woodblock stamps no longer can give a good image--no matter how many times I stamp.  But this old Penny Black stamp from 2008 is a keeper!  My tastes in cardmaking have certainly changed over the past 20 plus years, but I still love this playful, unique design.  For one thing, you don't have to be a great colorist to use it.  

I clear embossed after stamping in Versafine Clair Blue Belle.  The centers were colored with Altenew's Persian Blue brush marker and the dots with Maple Yellow.  I have the same colors in ink pads, so I used them to get the matching MFT stitched rectangle mats.  Couldn't help but fill the dots with Yellow Stickles and then decided the centers needed Blue Bayou.  It really makes for a happy, sparkly card in person.  See the video in my IG post.  This Hero Arts sentiment from 2003 is timeless and still stamps great.  I'm entering Woodblock Wednesday (via IG), Color Hues and SSS Wednesday.

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

CCC Reveal and a Floral Friendship Card

One option every month for CCC is to make a friendship card.  The Memory Box Magnolia Leaf Branch diecut had been sitting on my table for weeks.  Decided to use it for the card going to my friend in Greece, Mia.  We've been on-line friends for quite a few years now, so I was very happy to send her this card. 

The cute SSS Layered Bird Branch had also been die cut awhile ago and stored in the envelope with the die.  Thought it'd be fun to use them instead of flowers on the branch.  I used the same inks to get 3 different birds:  Altenew's Pink Sand, Toasted Mauve, Redwood, Caribbean Sky and Persian Blue.  Really love the bit of sparkle from adding green Stickles to the layered leaves and blue Stickles to the bird wings.  The sentiment from Altenew Sweet Bouquet was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn and I ran a marker along the diecut edges to give it the hint of a shadow.  Amazing how much difference that made.  The card front was sprayed with Distress Spritz Weathered Wood which gives a nice shimmer in person.

My second card is made with Memory Box Floral Bud and Stems and Enchanting Poppy Stems.  I mixed Lindy's Magical Prima Donna Purple and Drop Dead Gorgeous Green in a palette with water so I could paint the white diecuts.  So Beautiful in person and you can get an idea from my IG post video. 

The background is made with Poppystamps Double Diamond Lattice Plate.  Memory Box Friend Daily Script is a die I keep reaching for as I really like the font and it's the perfect size for a card.  The little sub-sentiment is from PTI Simple Stems.  I just added a few black enamel dots for embellishment.  I'm entering Memory Box, JUGS and SSS Wednesday challenges.  

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

Friendship and Anniversary

I was delighted to find PFS Artistic Bows die set at a bargain price from someone purging supplies.  Thought it'd work great with a small bouquet made from SSS Cosmos Stem and Beautiful Buttercup die sets.  

The inks are CN9 Nectar and Grapefruit with Altenew Pink Sand for the stems.  Love the font of PTI Essential Sentiments and the hello word fit perfectly.  So glad I got SSS Dibble Tile embossing folder.  It adds interest and texture, but more subtly than some others I have.  I'll probably cry if I ever run out of Lucy's Iridescent Gems--so beautiful!  I entered SSS Wednesday via Flickr.

Next is my entry for Time Out Challenge #287.  Here's the photo to use for inspiration.

I did have to think about this one for awhile, but I kept coming back to the costume on the right.  I see shiny green fabric with pink flowers that have burgundy centers and green leaves.  The pink card display board made me think of a very old Sizzix embossing folder I have.  

I began by covering white cardstock with Fake Plant Lunar Paste.  When it was completely dry, I used the embossing folder--came out great!  I found some green cardstock just a bit lighter than the background and used it to die cut the branch from Altenew's Fresh Flowers.  PTI Into the Blooms II had the perfect bloom and center to use with textured light pink cardstock and plain burgundy cardstock.  Took a ton of pictures and couldn't get the flowers to look very pink, but they truly are not white!  Memory Box Hello Friend Posh Script was die cut from the same pink and burgundy cardstocks.  I covered the words with a shimmer pen.  You can see the shimmer and sparkle in my IG post.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

I wanted to enter the stencil challenge at Just Us Girls and I need an anniversary card next month.  SSS Heart Mandala stencil caught my eye.  It's really beautiful, but I've had trouble coming up with how to use it.  This time I thought it could work to just ink blend a circle, starting in the middle of the stencil.  Really love how it turned out!  

The Distress Oxide inks are aged mahogany, fired brick and candied apple.  Boy does Bristol smooth cardstock make blending so much easier!  I did cut the panel down so it would be framed by the white card front.  I also couldn't help but give it a spray of Distress Spritz fired brick.  The shimmer is really beautiful and you can see it a bit in my IG post.  I used AJVD heart dies and a sentiment from Altenew's Flower Vine stamp set.  A couple cardstock layers raised the panel off the card.  I may end up making something like this for hubby, as I really love the look.

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

Guest Designer for Word Art Wednesday

It's time for another WAW Challenge and here's what I made as the April Guest Designer.  Sometimes using paste with a stencil comes out great and other times it takes me several attempts.  This time it was challenging, but I'm happy I stuck with it.

I used SSS Floral Borders stencil with beautiful gold Lawn Fawn embossing paste.  The verse was printed and cut with an Altenew oval die.  The glossy black mat was cut with an Elizabeth Craft oval die.  I used black cardstock for the mat and added 3 small gold dots.  All the challenge details and inspiration from the DT can be found at WAW.  I'm entering SSS Flickr 234. 

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

Easter, Friendship, Christmas

Happy Easter Sunday!  I have a fun bunny card I'll send to someone next year.  

I found the Poppystamps Tunnel Tag with the Serene Rabbit die cut from it in the envelope with the rabbit die.  Martina's IG reel using WOW Sparkles and JUGS Mood Board inspired my turning the tag into a card.  It's a bit of a stretch, but the top middle picture with the 3 pastel cake layers is what I used from the board.

I covered a white scrap with 3 strips of double-sided adhesive.  I exposed the adhesive one strip at a time, covering each with one of these WOW Sparkles: Jade, Peachy Keen and Santorini.  Then I glued the tag over the glittered piece and added a tiny gem colored with a black Copic for the eye.  You can see the sparkle in my IG video.  

I used the next size up tag die to cut the pink cardstock mat and added a crochet thread bow.  The light gray textured cardstock panel was stamped with an allover background stamp using Soft Stone.  I wanted subtle, but would have liked it a bit darker.  The sentiment is an old woodmounted stamp.  I'm also entering The Snippets Playground with white and gray scraps used.

Next is the card I made with my newest Altenew die set called Fresh Flowers.  I really like that it has 2 different styled flowers with none of them being huge.  There's also a leafy branch and individual leaves.  It has the keyhole system, but the pieces are so easy to assemble you really don't need it.  

As you can see, I used the current Color Hues lilac and aqua combo.  The inks are CN9 Lilac, Grape Soda, Aqua Sky and Oceanside plus PTI Soft Stone for the leaves and Versafine Clair Morning Mist for the sentiment.  I'm hoping the darker shades on the edges are allowed.  I made the frame with PFS Nested Elongated Oval Blanket Stitch dies.  The card front and sentiment strip are Soft Stone cardstock.  I added Stickles to the flower centers and finished with tiny lilac and aqua gems from my stash.  You can see the Stickles sparkle in my IG post.  I'm also entering DCD.

Yes, I know it's Spring, but I love making Christmas cards year round.  This card was inspired by Christmas Kickstart and Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero. 

HA Paper Layering Poinsettia was die cut from red and green felt with the center cut from CN9 gold glitter cardstock.  The background panel was embossed with SSS Holiday Greenery folder and the raised edges were rubbed with Delicata Golden Glitz.  Birch Press Merry Christmas Vintage Sentiment was die cut from white and the gold glitter cardstock.  The video in my IG post shows the sparkle.  Simple card, but just what I love.  

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

Florals

When I made the Altenew card in my previous post, I also made another panel with their beautiful Flower Bed 3D embossing folder.  Again I inked a white panel with Blush and Velvet, but changed the green to the softer Sweet Leaf.  After embossing, I inked the raised edges with a white pigment pad--same as the last card.  But then, instead of adding a gold spray, I used Heidi Swapp white Color Shine.

It's so beautiful and you can see it in my IG post.  The Sweet Bouquet sentiment was stamped in Blush, embossed in Hero Arts Sparkle powder and attached to a vellum strip.  I wanted the panel to be the star, so I just added Botanical Wreath Builder blooms and leaves die cut from vellum.  Finished off with 3 pearls.  I'm entering Altenew April Inspiration Challenge and DCD.

One of my favorite PFS products is Sweet Friend Floral.  It has a one piece stamp, one piece die and stencils to color the images.  Here's what I made for the April PFS Challenge.

I first embossed the images in SSS Rose Gold powder.  Then I used the stencils with Altenew Inks Blush, Rouge, Velvet, Pink Sand, Toasted Mauve and Redwood.  PFS Nested Rectangles Postage Edge dies were cut from white scraps.  I wasn't happy with the plain white background for the florals, so dry embossed with a very old Cuttlebug folder.  Amazing the difference that made.  The larger rectangle's edges were embossed with the Rose Gold Powder and everything was arranged and glued in place.  Hello from PFS Perfect Sentiments was stamped in the Velvet ink and attached.  Finished off with beautiful PFS gems for a touch of sparkle.  There's a short video in my IG post.  I'm also entering Time Out with floral/stencil and TTTC268 with stencil/free/embellishments.

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

Greta

Altenew and Poppystamps

The April Altenew Inspiration Challenge has a color combo I love with shades of pink and green.  I used several Altenew products for my card.  It was an easy choice to use the gorgeous Flower Bed embossing folder. 

First I covered a white panel with Blush, Velvet and Grass Field inks--putting the Velvet near what would be the flower centers and the green near the leaves.  The rest of the panel was covered in Blush.  After embossing, I swiped across the raised edges with moderate pressure using a white pigment ink pad.  Just love the result!  But I couldn't stop there--had to spray with Fossilized Amber Distress Spritz for a beautiful golden shimmer.  You can see it in my IG post.  Sparkled Frame is one of my favorite products from when I was a guest designer.  Here I die cut it from SSS Champagne metallic cardstock--a lovely softer gold.  The words of the sentiment from Floral Acanthus were stacked 2 high, brushed with the pink inks and covered with Shimmer Pico Embellisher.  The shadow was cut from the Champagne cardstock.  Finished off with TE matte gold enamel dots.  I first put the focal point on a green card front, but felt it was distracting.  Luckily, I was able to cut off my focal point since the frame edge wasn't glued down.  That also meant there was an extra layer of cardstock behind my framed piece, which worked out great for a bit of dimension.  I'm also entering Die Cut Divas.   

I seldom make scene cards, but I ended up with one for the April Poppystamps challenge.  My last Poppystamps purchase included Layered House Globe die.  I thought the snowbank might work for a lake and die cut it from MB pastel blue pearl paper. 

The solid house diecut was double clear embossed for the windows.  The top layer was brushed with light gray ink and I left the top and door white.  The IO trees and grass were inked in Parsley, Clover and Evergreen.  The Poppystamps Serene Rabbit was die cut from white felt and I used a tiny gem colored with a black Copic for the eye.  The sentiment from Poppystamps Grateful Heart was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn.  I'm also entering JUGS and Time Out using water and pastel.

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

Greta