Nasturtiums

Awhile back I came across a gorgeous card on Instagram that was made by Inderjeet at cottage.cards, where she used the Mini Flower Cluster dies to make a kind of frame around her card.  Since the calender has turned to September, I've been itching to start using fall colors, so I thought I'd try her idea, using the colors of nasturtiums for mine.  They have always been a favorite in our gardens, since their colors work right through from summer into fall.

supplies: colored cardstocks, Altenew Mini Flower Cluster Layering dies, Spellbinders/Susan Tierney-Cockburn Thoughtful Garden Gate sentiment, adhesive foam squares

After constructing 6 groups of flowers, I placed them around the edges of an A2 panel, then used the Press n' Seal method to hold them together and then add leaves under and on top of the arrangement.  After stamping my sentiment in the center of the panel, I used adhesive foam squares to lift them above the card.

Since some of the leaves go outside the edges of my card, I needed something to hold it up above my background for a picture, and found that something in a little garden bench on which a little Teddy Bear sits.

Nasturtiums make pretty cut flowers, and are also edible, so I often pop a couple on top of my potato salad in the summer!  They are peppery tasting.

These flower clusters are some of my favorites and are so versatile.  Here and here and here and here and here are some other cards made with them.

It sure doesn't feel like September at the moment - it was 92 degrees here yesterday!  Enough!  

Playing with some Oldies

I saw a card on Instagram recently that made me remember a card wrap die from Simon Says Stamp, and I wanted to play with it once again.   In the past I've used it to make only square cards, but I thought Sharyn's card was interesting in an A2 size.  I also incorporated some old washi tape into the design.

Here it is all put together, with the wrap around a green card base.

supplies: white, green, pink, and peach cardstock, Simon Modern Flowers Card Wrap, a large circle die, Pink Fresh Studio Joyful Bouquet washi tape, Simon Says Stamp Pretty Bows die

And here it is when you slide the card out from the wrap.  On the front of the card I used some smaller elements of the same washi set, and a Spellbinders banner sentiment foiled in gold to bring out the gold foiling on the washi.

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I wanted to line the lacy details, so I cut out a big circle in pink, cut it in half, and glued it under the lacy parts of the wrap.  Then I glued the washi bouquet to that, and a bow.  I trimmed my A2 card just a bit in width to make it very easy to slide the wrap over it.  

This was fun to put together, and makes for something just a bit different!

It's almost September!  Enjoy your week!

Last Summer Roses

 After making my last card, I was putting it away with my other Altenew goodies, and go to looking at what else I had.  This Bountiful Bouquet layering stamp set had only been used once before, so I thought it was time to give it some love.

supplies: white cardstock, Hobby Lobby music patterned paper, Altenew Bountiful Bouquet layering stamps, Sun Kissed Delights and Green Valley ink sets, PinkFresh Studio Perfect Sentiments stamp/die, adhesive foam to lift up sentiment

I'm beginning to feel the changeover from summer to fall, and these shades of golden yellow gave me a slightly autumnal feeling today.  

The finished flower spray was easy enough to cut out to layer over the music paper, and I popped the sentiment above everything.  

Hope your week is going well!  Thanks for stopping by.

Softly Sketched Blooms

 Here is a Build a Garden set recently released from Altenew that I fell in love with from Jen McGuire's blog.  The bundle includes a stamp set with sentiments, a die set, and matching stencils.  Here are 2 cards I made with it.

supplies: white cardstock, unknown pre-embossed background from Michelle, Softly Sketched Blooms bundle, Altenew Blushberry Bliss, Jade Dreams and Coffee Break inks, pewter pearls

These colors were inspired by some in the accompanying information in the bundle.  They remind me of hydrangeas at this time of year.  I used inks that I had to approximate the colors.  The sentiment is one of several small ones included in the stamp set.

Next I used an idea that Jennifer showed us, using only the stencils and partially cutting the bottom only of the bouquet.

supplies: white cardstock, Softly Sketched Blooms stencils and die, Altenew Lapis Lazuli and Green Valley inks, an unknown sentiment from my scrap basket, sparkly gems for centers of flowers

As always, Jennifer makes it look easy, but at least this time, I found it a bit difficult to get everything lined up nicely without the stamp to guide me.  There are 5 pieces in the stencil set, and several of them have more than one step on them.  I'm sure it will get easier as I practice.  I do love the results!

I hope you are enjoying the last of summer wherever you are.  This week the humidity has disappeared and the temps are much more forgiving.  But I'm still looking forward to fall soon!

Thanks for coming by!

Summer Flowers

On our morning walks each morning, the fields have been overflowing with wildflowers.  Right now the colors are bright yellow/gold and different shades of purple.  That inspired me to make today's card.

supplies: white and mint cardstock, The Greetery Spring Mix stencils, stamps, and dies, inks in purples, yellows, pink, and green, enamel dots, adhesive foam squares and strips

This is a set from 2022 that I've only used once before (see HERE),  You cut out the floral design, then use the stencls to make the flowers and leaves, and lastly use some stamps for details.  I popped up some of the flowers and added some enamel dots to some of the flower centers.  The sentiment is one of several included in the stamp set.

Here's a recent picture of the fields along our walk.

                    

This week on 2 different days we've also seen some deer!  There's always something new to find!

Hope your summer is going well, too.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit! 

Heart Smiles

 Happy Wednesday!  Today's card is a remake of one back in 2020.  I'll be sending this to my sister for her birthday.

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supplies: Hobby Lobby plank paper, Tim Holtz Lumber embossing folder, Tim Holtz Wildflower die, yellow and green inks,  Small Talk sentiment sticker, natural twine, Altenew enamel dots, Doodlebug Tiny Heart sprinkle, adhesive foam to raise flowers and sentiment

Growing up, we had an old shed on our grandpap's property and there were flowers growing everywhere there.  I'm hoping this will bring back that memory for my sister, too.

I'll be entering this into Simon's Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.

We have some nice cool breezes and intermittant sunshine here today - lovely!  Hope you're having a good day, too!  Thanks for stopping by.

Coastal Cuttings

The Greetery just had a new release and I couldn't resist this die set called Coastal Cuttings.  I needed 2 more birthday cards for this month, so the timing was perfect!

supplies: colored cardstock, The Greetery Coastal Cuttings dies, a Spellbinders Curved Everyday Sentiments glimmer plate/die, adhesive foam

And here's a 2nd version, this time with an embossed background and pastel colors.

supplies: colored cardstock, The Greetery Coastal Cuttings dies, Spellbinders Curved Sentiments press plate/die, Taylored Expressions Damask embossing folder, adhesive foam

We had several nice rains today here in NE Ohio!  Brought down the temps a bit and gave everything outside a nice drink and a bath.  

Hope you are enjoying your summer; thanks for stopping by!

For Peter

 If I had my way, all of my cards would feature flowers.  Too bad that lots of my recipients are males, so for them, I usually use leaves or birds.  Today's card features both.

supplies: white and Surf Blue cardstock, Spellbinders Sealed Birds dies and Branching Out embossing folder and Essential Arches die, sentiment from Simon Say Stamp Joys of Spring, adhesive foam squares and strips

I've done a card like this before; this time I changed up the embossed frame.  It may not be visible from my photo, but the frame and central motif are popped up with foam.

How are you all doing?  It's been SO hot here recently, more like August weather, and today we have a heavy presence of smoke from the Canadian wildfires, maybe the worst I've seen in recent years.  So we took our walk at 7:30 this morning before it got hot.  There was a slight bit of smoke at that hour, but it's really increased as the hours have gone on today, and the smell is undeniably smoke!  No rain until Saturday, when the temps will go down to more normal ones.  I hope that will rid us of this stuff!

Stay safe!  

Butterfly Time.and Some Wildflower Shares!

I wanted to make another card with this old favorite Hero Arts woodblock stamp called Heart Winged Butterfly, ca 2009.  I made this design a few times before, and I like the butterfly stamped over a small ditzy floral pattern.   Today's card is in honor of those pretty blue swallowtail butterfles.

supplies: unknown blue print design paper, Lawn Fawn  Spring Fling dotty yellow dp, Hero Arts Heart Winged Butterfly woodblock, Spellbinders Postage Edge die, sentiment from Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice sentiments, Altenew Lapis Lazuli enamel dots

The butterfly is stamped twice, fussy-cut, then stacked, securing them only along the body, which allows the wings to be bent upward.  Then I use the same floral print as my card edging.

My husband and I have been trying to walk everyday at a county park very close to us that used to be a 36 hole golf course.  When the owners retired, their kids decided to donate most of it to the park systems here, and over the years, the parks have sprinkled wild flowers everywhere.  Not a day goes by that we don't discover something new.  I take my phone with me, and if I don't know what the plant is, there's an identifier on the phone that usually does a pretty good job of telling me what it is.

Here are some flowers we've seen so far this year.

Dame's Rocket

This is a little lupine!  I was thrilled to find patches of these; I didn't know we had these in Ohio!  They're about 6 to 8 inches tall.

Spiderwort

A tree swallow.  These birdhouses have been placed all over the property and, though we've seen a few bluebirds, this is what we see most often.  Look at that gorgeous irridescent blue!

According to my identifier, these are foxglove beardtongue.  There are great swaths of these in several areas.  

Just in the last few weeks, coneflower, butterfly weed and milkweed have been opening.

The bees were all over these today and they smell wonderful!  AND we've seen several deer now and again.  No fawns yet, though. 

Right now the park has 3 trails, some using the old cart paths from the golf course in places, augmented with mown grass paths and gravel ones, and sprinkled with woods, all going up hill and down dale!  We are SO lucky to have this!  You'll be seeing more pics going forward.

A Bouquet of Hugs

 This card is for someone who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.  I hope the pinks make her smile.

supplies: ivory, various pinks, and green cardstock, The Greetery Botanicuts Sunflower dies, stems and ribbon from PTI Build a Bouquet dies, Simon Says Stamp Daisy Floral Field embossing folder and sentiment from Garden Greetings, ancient Spellbinders Label die, green enamel dots, adhesive foam to pop up bow and one of the flowers

I put together the bouquet and then set it aside for a day to think about how I wanted to present it.  Then I remembered this big fancy label from years ago and it just fit!  So after adding the bouquet to it I placed it against an embossed daisy background.  

We are having a gorgeous June, with blue skies, big fluffy clouds, cool breezes, and temps in the 70s!  Wishing the same for you!

Lots of Texture

 June is the month of roses, and that was a good excuse to make a card featuring them.  I pulled out my Altenew Antique Rose dies for this one.  The details are amazing, aren't they?

supplies: white, 4 pinks, and 3 teals cardstock, Altenew Antique Rose layering dies (includes leaves), Spellbinders Floral Expressions 3D embossing folder

The roses are 4 layers and the leaves are 3.   They would be pretty against a plain white background, but I wanted more, so I put the on a large floral embossed background that is sadly retired. The roses are still available, though!  

Since this will work for many occasions, I decided to leave off my sentiment until I need it.  But I think I'd choose a banner die placed across the flowers.

HERE and HERE are some other cards that I've made using these dies.

How are you enjoying June?

A CASE

Back in 2014 I took one of Jennifer McGuires's online card classes called Stretch Your Stamps 2, and Shari Carroll was one of the instructors.  I CASEd one of Shari's cards then and have always wanted to do another one in a different set of colors.  Here's that card, only 12 years later!

supplies: white and watercolor cardstock, vellum, (retired) Hero Arts Flower Bird Garden cling stamp, picked raspberry, carved pumpkin, and mustard seed distress inks, Simon/CZ Design With Love die, adhesive foam squares, tiny pale pink and peach adhesive pearls

Here's my original card.

Both cards use the same cling stamp called Flower Bird Garden, a 3" by 3 1/2" negative background.  Inking it allows the details to come through as white (or whatever color of cardstock you use to stamp on), and colors the background.  Shari's idea was to ink it in several distress inks, spray it lightly with water to help the inks blend, and then stamp it on watercolor paper.  Then you cut it into 1" squares and mix them back up to make a more random background.  In order to get enough squares, I had to stamp twice, and after cutting them apart into 1" squares, randomly popped them above a backing panel, which was then attached to my white card base.  Then I just added a die-cut sentiment and embellishments.  

If you wish further details on the older card, it's linked at the top of this post or you can also click on its picture here to be taken back to the original post.

How are you all doing?  We've been enjoying the cool sunny weather lately, taking a walk daily.  Thanks for stopping by!

Graduation Card for a Girl

It's the time for graduations, and here's one that I made for a girl.   

supplies: red and white cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Extra Large Congrats die, Reverse Graduation Sentiment Strip, Picnic Floral embossing folder, Spellbinders Mini Blooms & Sprigs flowers

I used the colors of the university she will attend, and made it girly with the embossed floral background and the little flowers.

How goes it with you?  I think spring has finally arrived here, though the temperatures are all over the place.  Still waiting for 2 of our 3 peonies to open their blooms.

Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by today!

Yay for Doodlebug!

Hi Crafters!  Today's card couldn't be easier.  I've long been a huge fan of Doodlebug goodies, in particular their patterned papers and lately their doodle pops.  This one combines them.

supplies: white cardstock, Doodlebug Designs My Happy Place 6" paper pad, Fall Bunch doodle pop, a Simon Says Stamp reverse sentiment strip, adhesive foam to lift central panel

I've used this sketch before; it's a great way to mix several of the patterned papers in these collection pads.  They usually contain a page or 2 of small stripes which you can cut apart and use to separate the larger panels.  The Doodle Pops are 3 or 4 layers deep and make an easy focal point, and then I just pull papers that work with the colors in the Pop.

It's May!  We took a trip to our Amish Country yesterday to visit several greenhouses, and got just about all we need for our plantings for this summer: tomatoes, herbs, some Gerberas and zinnias!  Can't plant them yet until our frost date has passed, but that time will be here before we know it.  

Amazingly, the prompt for this week's Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp is Make It Colorful, and they're using Doodlebug, too, so of course I need to enter this over there!

What are you up to these days?