Birthday Cards

I like to have some birthday cards made ahead in my stash and most of the ones left I don't really like.  So, I'm working on fixing that.  I seldom make shakers, but really had fun making this one for Poppystamps January Challenge.  Think my sister-in-law will enjoy something different than I've sent her in the past. 

Poppystamps Soaring Tree Frame was die cut from white cardstock and colored with a gold sparkle pen and green and brown Faber-Castell markers.  The leaves were covered in Peeled Paint Distress Stickles.  I ink blended Altenew's Just Green and Persian Blue for the background which was covered with clear packaging and filled with Shaved Ice and a brown bead mix.  You can see the shaker in action in my IG video.  Poppystamps Nordic Bunny Trio was in my last order and think this cute fellow was the perfect addition to my card.  I added a tiny bit of color to his ears and feet.  The sweater was colored with blue ink left in my brush and a dot of Stickles was put on his tail.  The gold foil chipboard sentiment is from Memory Box.  SSS Dibble Tile folder gave me just the texture I wanted.  I'm also entering Word Art Wednesday. 

Recently a friend gifted me PFS Botanical Bunch stamp/die/stencils.  I was in the mood for a monochromatic card--maybe because of my new Altenew Sea Shore ink cubes.  

I first gold heat embossed the image and then used all the inks in the ink set with the stencils.  I added small gold splatters.  The darkest ink was used for the sentiment from PFS Perfect Sentiments.  The panel was die cut with PFS Postage Edge Rectangle and matted with gold metallic cardstock.  I attached the sentiment over a nest of gold thread and added a few Sea Shore enamel dots.  So happy with how this turned out.  I'm entering PFS January Challenge using April Floral Frenzy and September Monochromatic Magic.  Coloring stencils for stamps and embossing folders are lifesavers for me, as coloring is not one of my talents.  Using matching stencils has become one of my favorite techniques, so I'm also entering my card at Time Out Challenge 305.

Edited to add:  Also entering NBUS since this is the first card made with the floral stamp, coloring stencils, ink cubes and enamel dots.  

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Coffee and Snowflakes

The cup from Stamp Simply's Cup of Java has been waiting to be put on a card.  I die cut both cups in the set from this beautiful paper a long time ago, but only used the larger one.  This cup was perfect for the thank you going to a friend along with a Starbucks card.  

I added glitter glue to the flower centers and used a shimmer pen on the steam and Elizabeth Craft Designs word.  Surprise, surprise--I had pink cardstock to match the little flower! 😊 So proud of myself for thinking of the coffee beans layer in the Miss Ink Stamps Coffee Time stencil set.  It's actually designed to go around all the little cups, but I easily repositioned it several times to get beans where I wanted them behind my cup.  I used a finger dauber with CN9 Ballet Slipper ink.  I'm entering Just Us Girls, SSS Wednesday and Word Art Wednesday.

Lots of people are dealing with snow and ice, but it's just cold and sunny in the PNW.  So, I made paper snowflakes!  I pulled out blue cardstocks I thought went together well and used SSS Snowflake Block die and SSS Fanciful Flurries 3D folder. 

I sprayed the diecut with Lindy's Stamp Gang Fairy Fluff which is beautiful when a light shines on it.  I used a white paint pen to color the tiny dots.  Didn't like the look of adding a sentiment, so I'll just put one inside.  Not sure if this will be a Christmas or winter BD card.  I love the fresh, clean look and decided against embellishments.  I'm entering Color Hues and Inkspirational.

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Valentine and Christmas Card

Continuing to escape the awful reality of my country's leaders by making and sending cards.  Here's my second Valentine and this time I used AJVD hearts.  

I inked them with Altenew's Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart and Purple Wine.  Love their ink sets, so I don't have to guess about shades that go together.  Couldn't resist brushing the hearts with a shimmer pen--so beautiful in person.  You can see the shimmer in my IG post.  Taylored Expressions Swiss Hearts embossing folder was used for the background.  I inked a gray panel and Alex Syberia Friend diecut with Versafine Clair Morning Mist.

I'm entering WAW.

The JUGS Mood Board challenge inspired me to stamp an Evergreen forest using three Trinity Stamps silhouette trees with Altenew Hunter Green and Fresh Leaf ink pads.  The photo second from the left in the bottom row of the mood board is what caught my eye.    

I spread Tim Holtz Snowfall Grit Paste at the base of the trees and added snow with a white paint pen.  My new Waffle Flower sentiment shadow was die cut from vellum and the words were die cut twice from white cardstock.  Hard to see, but they were layered so that the lighter green is visible on the left side of the letters.  The top layer was covered with glaze. 

I finished the card with a variety of translucent green enamel dots.  A simple card that is just my style! 

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

Valentine and Birthday cards

Slow going getting Valentines made this year, but I did make a sparkly one inspired by the All that Glitters challenge at Time Out.  I have tons of glitter products, including Elizabeth Craft Designs loose glitter in quite a few colors.  They're truly amazing as they become totally smooth, beautifully sparkly and non-shedding after you burnish them.

Balloons are fun for any occasion and I thought the cute very old little heart balloon die from Penny Black would work great.  I covered some cardstock with double sided adhesive and die cut the balloon 3 times with the adhesive layer on top.  Then I simply removed the adhesive liner and poured on Purple, Champagne and Ocean Spray glitter.  The Spellbinders Label and the sentiment strip were die cut from PTI Soft Stone.  The Tim Holtz bow was covered with Frosted Lace Stickles.  Decided to see if I could add the glitters to the edges of the mat using a Quickie Glue pen and a ruler.  

It actually worked pretty well.  My pen was juicy, so got a bit more glue than needed in a few spots.  I'm still happy with the look.  Check out the video in my IG post to get a much better idea of the beautiful sparkle.  I stamped the very old MFT sentiment in Versafine Clair Nocturne.

Love that Altenew continues to have the monthly inspiration challenges.  They push me to use some of their products in my stash.  The January color combo is right up my alley and worked great for the wonderful White Cap Peonies stencil set.  

The Altenew inks I used are Rose Quartz, Purple Wine, Cosmic Berry and Lime.  I love the Deck Planks embossing folder which I used with tan cardstock.  Hard to see in the pictures, but I lightly rubbed over the raised edges with a slightly darker ink pad.  It adds detail that is noticeable in person. 

The splatters are done with Altenew gold metallic watercolor which has gorgeous shine that you can see in my IG post video.  The gold embossed sentiment is from Sweet Bouquet and I was delighted to find old enamel dots in my stash that are a great match.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

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Silhouette Stamps

So wonderful that Shery of Stamplorations has no evidence of disease and has reopened the store!  Finally, something to be happy about it in this awful world.  The challenges are starting up, too, with Anything Goes for January.  I was inspired to pull out a stamp set with silhouette images designed by Deepti.  

This basic design is one of my favorites.  I forget to use my Pigment Stamp Company ink pads, but thought of them as I was looking for greens.  Aloe and Eucalyptus are beautiful and so similar you might not notice that my blending is darker at the bottom and slightly cooler and lighter at the top.  The images were stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne using first and second generation stamping.  I added little black splatters and trimmed the panel to fit inside the Pinkfresh Postage Edge panel.  The encouraging sentiment from Altenew's Sweet Bouquet lets me also enter JUGS.  And I'm entering WAW.

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

Snowflakes Again

Here's another card using my new SSS Lea Snowflake die.  This time I cut it from red glitter tape attached to copy paper.  The sparkle is really beautiful in person and you can get an idea from the video in my IG post.  

Really like the SSS Fanciful Flurries folder embossed on rich gray cardstock.  I used silver metallic cardstock for the mat, the little dots and the sentiment shadow.  The Birch Press Vintage sentiment words were cut from the same glitter tape.  A simple, flat card, but I love it!  I'm entering Color Hues and Time Out.

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Winter Birthday Card

Here's the card I made for the January JUGS challenge--use a cover plate die.  I ran Poppystamps Heart Pattern Plate through my machine with a panel of watercolor paper.  It's easy to see in person and the close up photo gives you a little better look.

Next I played around adding Lindy's Magicals Butter the Bread Blue and Tibetan Poppy Teal--spritzing with water and moving color with a paintbrush.  Then I covered the whole panel with Distress Spritz Weathered Wood.  Our dark, cloudy day wouldn't let me get a picture really showing the colors, but I can tell you there's definitely teal shimmer in the darkest areas.  It's beautiful in person and you can see it in my IG feed.  I stamped the very old woodmounted image in black.  Really wanted to add random stenciling, so I used Snowfall Distress Grit Paste through Miss Ink Stamps Square Dance stencil in a few random areas.  In person it gives some fun texture and sparkle.  Amazing the difference brushing the panel edges with black ink made!  I also added some small black splatters--just for good measure! 😊 

My new SSS Lea Snowflake was die cut from vellum 6 times.  I attached 3 snowflakes to the panel and then glued the other 3 on top, but only put glue in the centers.  The stamped images are a softer black, so I used gray enamel dots to embellish the snowflakes.  The Alex Syberia sentiment was die cut from white cardstock.  I stacked the word 2 high and brushed it with a shimmer pen.  I'll put the birthday sentiment on the inside.  I'm also 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.