Another Z Fold and Friendship

Decided to make another simple Z Fold card.  This time I used the 2007 Penny Black Woodblock stamp called star dance.  Surprise, surprise--another wreath! 😉 

I stamped in Versafine Clair Green Oasis.  Then I drew over the bow and stars with Pentel gold Sparkle Pop pen.  You can see the beautiful sparkle in my IG post.  Here's a view where you can see the Z.  

The sentiment and scalloped circle frame are Pinkfresh.  I used SSS Fluted Forest Decor 3D folder for the dry embossed panels.  I'm entering DCD, SSS Wednesday and WBW.   

I'm also sharing my August exchange card for CCC a couple days early.  I love stencils, including SSS Layered Flowers.  

I tried to use the color option of Fuchsia, Tangerine & Violet.  As soon as I tried a small area with my orangy ink, I knew it wasn't what I liked.  So instead, I used CN9 Grape Soda, Fig, Tidepool and Oceanside.  Luckily, I had enough good area to use with my new Penny Black Curvature die.  Thought this little 2013 Penny Black sentiment was perfect.  I added some Stickles and tied on white crochet thread.  I'm entering JUGS 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.

Christmas, Anniversary and Birthday

I decided to make a card from a leftover 2024 tag.  I added a gold glitter layer to the poinsettias from TH Seasonal Sketch dies.  I removed a green cord bow and left the TH Funky Wreath on vellum with Scrapbook.com words as it was. 

The focal point was attached to a circle dry embossed with TH Texture Fades Poinsettia folder.  That was attached to a slightly larger circle card.  Have to say, I like the card much better than the tag because of the glitter poinsettia layer and the dry embossing.  There's still time to join Jo and me at Christmas Kickstart: Wreath it Up.  I'm entering Word Art Wednesday.

Our 46th anniversary is next week and I wanted to make something different for hubby's card this year.  I HAD to have TE Create in Quads: Mistletoe, but hadn't yet opened the package. 😊 Thought mistletoe in his favorite colors would be perfect!  

The Altenew inks are Grass Field, Mountain Pine, Caribbean Sky and Sapphire.  I die cut AJVD "love" die from a vellum panel to use as a guide for where to place the die on my stenciled panel.  The word was stacked 3 high, covered with glaze and glued in place.  I die cut MB Parker Lowercase Alphabet letters to spell "you" and stacked them 3 high.  The card front edges were inked to match.  If you look close, you'll see 2 tiny Gina K white heart embellishments where a bow often goes.  Fresh and simple with interest, so I'm happy and think hubby will like it, too.  I'm entering Just Us Girls and SSS Wednesday.

I saw that my cardmaking friend, Linda, is the hostess at Seize the Birthday.  Her theme is Black & White, which I haven't done in quite awhile.  Always fun to combine challenges and FMS gave me a great layout.

The black and white mats were die cut with Gina K Master Layouts 1 & 2.  I used partial diecutting with a long stitched AJVD rectangle die to get the size I needed for my flowers which are from PTI Simple Stems.  I actually used acrylic blocks and Versafine Clair Nocturne ink for the stamping and had no problem.  The card looks very crisp and clean in person.  Took a bit, but I finally found exactly the sentiment I wanted in Uniko's Simply Said Blocks.  I added a tiny clear gem at the base of each bloom. 

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

Square and Z Fold

I'm grateful Your Paper Insider sent me Box 12 to use and show you.  I'll post my first card later.  Today's card was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches #700.  The first time I entered was November 2013, Challenge #111.  Here's that card:

This is really still my kind of card.  No surprise I used dry embossing for the background.  Those MFT rolled roses made from felt would be on my cards today if mailing costs weren't so high.  

Back to my current card.

I cut 4 squares of the beautiful White and Red Flowers: Yuzenshi paper and matted them with dark brown cardstock in my stash.  The little branches were die cut from the same brown paper.  To keep from covering up much of the background, I used a scrap of my vellum for the shadow of SSS Happy Autumn die.  The Gold Diamond Glitter paper in the box was perfect for the card front and letters.  You can see the sparkle and shine in my IG post.  And yes, I'm ready for Autumn's cooler weather!

Next is my first Z Fold card--yay!  I'm a slow cardmaker, so I don't usually make fun fold cards.  However, I watched a video recently and thought the simple version was something I could do.  Here's what I came up with using some favorite Altenew products.

I cut a white panel in 2 and lined the pieces back up in the Flower Bed embossing folder.  Sweet Bouquet was colored with the matching stencils using Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart, Cosmic Berry, Firefly, Forest Glades, Shadow Creek and Citrus Burst.  I splattered the bouquet with SSS Splatter Medium and added yellow Stickles to all the flower centers--focal point and background.  The sentiment from the stamp set fit perfectly inside.  I did add cardstock layers to the bouquet to make it sturdy enough to have only the left side attached.  You can see details and sparkle in my IG post.  This is another card for the Altenew August Challenge and I'm entering DCD where Altenew is the sponsor.

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

Poppystamps and Pinkfresh

Fun to use some favorite older dies to enter Poppystamps August Summer Daze Challenge.  My card was inspired by all the green leaves and butterflies we see in summer.  No, I haven't seen a pink glittery butterfly--artistic license! 😀

I used Freida Curve, Dotted Curve and Scribble Hello along with Memory Box Moonlight Butterfly and Kaleidoscope Butterfly.  The green cardstocks are from Memory Box Greenery Cardstock Pack and the shimmer pink is from Vintage Pastel Mirror Pad.  The detail butterfly was cut from pink glitter tape attached to copy paper.  Scribble Hello is stacked and clear embossed.  I added white paint pen dots in the background, which do add interest and texture in person.  You can see details in my IG post video.

My next card is for the August Pinkfresh Challenge and to remind you there's still time to enter Christmas Kickstart Wreath it Up.  I loved PFS Layered Wreath die the first time I saw it and eventually I added it to my stash.  I use it every year and this time I added it to a panel of the 2015 Christmas Wishes paper pack.  I'll probably cry when I use it up, but that will be awhile.  I definitely admire it a lot more than I use it! 

The bottom wreath is vellum and the top is PTI Ocean Tides--almost a perfect match.  This is my first card using the new SSS Splatter Medium.  It's very liquid and I need to try it some more.  Not sure my results are much different than when I add water to white gouache.  Definitely have to be careful not to spill the little jar.  I used 2 different dies to get 2 sizes of berries.  I had just enough sheer, red ribbon to make the bow.  You can see details in my IG post video.

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

Elf Duties--Reminder Post

I'm back to remind you that there's still time to play along with Jo and me at Christmas Kickstart: Wreath it Up.  The gallery is filling up with such wonderful cards and it's amazing how many have wreaths that are also in my stash!  

My first card was made with stencils, so this time I wanted to use one of my wreath stamps.  I settled on a much loved 2004 Art Impressions woodblock stamp.  Luckily, I still have an old fashioned stamp positioner.  

I started by inking the entire stamp in Altenew Misty Mint.  Then I used a sponge dauber to randomly add Mountain Pine.  I went back and forth until I was happy with the results.  I used an old set of circle dies to cut my wreath, a red cardstock circle and a circle inked in Mountain Pine.  I attached everything to a circle card made with the same die as the green mat.  One of my favorite sentiment stamps is a little 2003 Hero Arts woodblock stamp and it was just the right size for the center of my wreath.  Decided I needed a bow, so die cut 2 old PPP bows from red and white.  They're so thin, I stacked both colors 2 high.  Amazing how much better they looked!  I added Christmas Red Stickles to the berries and the center of the bow.  Be sure to stop by the blog to check out Jo's card and why not join the gallery?!

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

Memory Box, Altenew and Stamps Happen

I just could not make my first idea for the Memory Box August Animal Themed Cards Challenge work.  Luckily, I realized birds are in the animal kingdom!  That let me use the wonderful Backyard Wren die. 

First I ink blended Distress Oxides bundled sage, lucky clover, speckled egg and broken china.  Then I smooshed over the blended areas with lucky clover and broken china to add more texture.  Love the look.  Instead of a tree branch, I decided to put my bird in a bush using MB Tall Frilly Leaf Stems brushed with several green metallic sprays.  Many of my old spray bottles clogged, so I just pour some out and use a paintbrush.  You can see the sparkle in my IG post.  I brushed the bird diecuts with DO vintage photo, fossilized amber and antique linen.  The oval frame was made with Elizabeth Craft dies and I inked it with DO antique linen and a touch of vintage photo--purposely not making it a solid color.  Poppystamps Scribble Hello was stacked and inked with the vintage photo.  Not sure about embellishments, so left them off for now.  I'm also entering Tic Tac Toe 276 using Any Color/Free/Sentiment.  

My next card is for the August Altenew Inspiration Challenge.  I had fun using some of their older products along with a new one. 

The Fresh Flowers diecuts were ink blended with Puffy Heart, Rose Quartz, Citrus Burst, Maple Yellow, Forest Glades and Frayed Leaf Altenew inks.  Watercolor Stripes Cover Die was cut from vellum and attached to a soft yellow textured cardstock panel.  The sentiment letters from Essential Sentiment Strips were ink blended to match and inlaid into the vellum base which was matted with the same yellow cardstock.  I finished off with tiny yellow gems.  I'm also entering JUGS.

I finally made a card with this beautiful woodblock stamp called Rose Parade.  It's by Stamps Happen and I bought it over 20 years ago at a stamp convention.  

The image was embossed in SSS Rose Gold powder before I watercolored with Distress Oxides kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry and pumice stone.  I failed to leave enough lighter areas, so I added a bit of white metallic watercolor.  That helped, I think.  You can see the shimmer and shine in my IG post.  I added a very soft watercolor wash around the image using kitsch flamingo and finished off with pink sequins.  I entered the last Woodblock Wednesday challenge and I'm entering Color Hues Pink and Gray.

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

On Elf Duty!

Yep--I'm so happy to be Jo's Guest Elf for Christmas Kickstart: Wreath it Up!  If you know me, you know I LOVE wreaths.  I honestly can't even count how many wreath stamps, dies and stencils I have!  And I just got another one! 😄  Plus, I love to use small stamps or individual diecuts to make wreaths.  For today's card, I used one of my newer products: CN9 Boughs & Holly Stencil Pack.

The inks I used are CN9 Evergreen, Clover, Cranberry and PTI Cocoa Bean.  It's a fun stencil to use.  You ink it once and then turn it 180 degrees and ink again.  The bow is from Pinkfresh Artistic Bows which I got for $3 from a crafter's destash sale.  The bow was brushed with a shimmer pen and the berries were covered in Christmas Red Stickles.  I tried several sentiments and decided on this one from PTI Joyful Florals.  I hope you'll check out Jo's card with a darling unexpected image and join the challenge.  I'm entering 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.

Altenew

Decided to squeak in with one more entry before the Altenew Inspiration Challenge ends.  I used some of their products I really love.

I've used the Flower Bed embossing folder a lot.  One of my favorite techniques is to add color to white cardstock before embossing.  I put the panel into the folder so I can see approximately where the flowers and leaves will be.  Then I add my colors, but not precisely.  For this card I blended Persian Blue and Fresh Leaf until the entire panel was inked.  After embossing, I experimented with lightly rubbing an off white pad across the raised areas.  Didn't like the result, so just wiped it mostly off with a paper towel.  Then I did the same thing with a gold pad.  It was subtle, but pretty.  Decided to add gold embossing powder--just wanting a bit here and there.  A lot of powder stuck!  So I used a small paintbrush to remove a lot of it.  Still ended up with more gold embossing than I'd planned, but I actually like it.  Sparkled Frame is another favorite product.  I used the same beige cardstock as my first entry, since it's very close to the color in the graphic.  Most of the time I use the Happy Birthday die from Essential Sentiment Strips, so it was nice to make use of a different one for this card.  I inked the card front and sentiment strip in the Persian Blue and used the same SSS Antique Gold embossing powder for the letters.  The medium shade of Deep Sea Sapphire Gem Sparkles finished off the card. You can see the sparkle and shine in my IG post.  I'm also entering SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday 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.