My Favorites from August

 This month had something that represents every season!

Woodblock Wednesday!

 I was thrilled to be asked to be a guest designer at Amy's Woodblock Wednesday challenge this month!  

I had fun trying to decide which of my wood stamps to play with, and in the end, I chose this one by Hero Arts from 2010, and updated it by making it into a mini slim-line.  Since it's almost officially the end of summer, I thought I'd showcase this lovely stamp that features a summer hollyhock.

supplies: white card base, peach and black cardstock, Doodlebug peach gingham, and a script pattern paper, Hero Arts Garden Silhouette woodblock, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, peach and green inks, blending brushes, sentiment from Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments

Starting with a skinny panel of a script pattern paper, I stamped using VersaMark ink, and white embossed the image.  This particular stamp inks the negative of the image, leaving the details alone so that the background paper shows through.  Then I used small blending brushes to add peach ink to the flowers and green to the leaves and bugs.  The panel was then matted in peach cardstock, and affixed to a mini slimline card base 3" X 6" on which I'd added panels of peach gingham and the same script I used to stamp on.  To finish I added a simple script sentiment embossed in white on black.

Since woodblock stamps are how most of us began stamping, I think it's genius that Amy gives us a forum for bringing back these beauties!    I hope you'll play along, too - you can find more information HERE.

You Make Me Smile

It's the unofficial end of summer and I have a card today that reminds me of the season.  I've wanted these Gerbera Daisy dies for awhile, and scooped them up in a sale at Spellbinders earlier this month.

supplies: lime, clementine, coral, yellow, and cream cardstock, Gerbera Daisy dies, Taylored Expressions (retired) Leafy Vine embossing folder, Hero Arts (retired) sentiment

I love how the centers of these flowers were designed - they are a great representation of the real flower, and they are fun to put together!

Have a great rest of your summer!

Bibi's Snowflakes: Delicate Snowflakes

 Here is the last instalment of my cards featuring some of the Bibi's Snowflakes Collection.  This last set of dies is called Delicate Snowflakes, and they are just that, 4 different 'flakes with dies to accent them with, and shadow dies, too; 17 dies total.  Here are my 2 cards. 

supplies: white and silver metallic cardstock, oxide inks, white paint splatters, Delicate Snowflakes, Snowflake Wishes sentiment die and stamp, blue ink, a retired snowflake embossing folder

I inked a panel using oxide inks and splattered it with white paint, then embossed some small snowflakes on it.  Then I simply cut out 3 of the snowflake designs from silver metallic cardstock and a sentiment to match.

The next card uses the largest snowflake, along with some coordinating dies to add some color to it.

supplies: white and Audrey Blue cardstock, various Doodlebug christmas patterned papers, Delicate Snowflakes, stamped sentiment and banner die from Snowflake Wishes, red enamel dot 

I started with a square panel and cut out the snowflake, then matted the negative with Audrey Blue.  I pulled colors from the heart paper to add details to the snowflake, then turned it and popped it above the square panel.  The little sentiment worked well with the hearts, I thought!

I hope I've given you some ideas for using these fun dies - they can be as simple or as detailed as you like, and they're a good size also! 

Thanks for visiting me today!

Bibi's Snowfakes: Snowfake Ornament Stencils

 I have another couple of cards that I made with the stencil set from the newly released Bibi's Snowflakes Collection.

supplies: white and metallic gold cardstock, Bibi's Snowflake Ornament stencils, festive berries distress ink, Grit Paste and Festive Berries distress glitter, transfer gel and gold foil, laminator, Snowflake Wishes sentiment die and stamp, embossed in gold

The stencil set contains 2 sizes of these snowflake ornaments, plus lots of details.  Here I used the largest snowflake motif and the largest bow.  This card took a bit more planning; I first foiled the gold element in my laminator, then stencilled the bow and string, and used a circle mask to raise emboss a circle shape for the snowflakes to fit into.  Then I used grit paste and red glitter to stencil on the snowflake pattern.

Here's a picture to show you the gold foiling I did on the top of the ornament.

The stencils also include some details and a 2nd bow to make some sleigh bells.  

supplies: white, green, and red cardstock, silver metallic cardstock, red plaid dp. Bibi's Snowflake Ornament stencils, greys and festive berry ink,  Make It Merry Floral dies (holly and berries), Make It Merry Sentiment dies

I used the smaller circle opening and details to make sleigh bells, incorporating the mask stencils so that I could put one slightly on top of the other.  Again, I embossed the top one with a mask and an embossing mat to give it a bit more dimension.  Then I added holly details, my sentiment banner, and matted the panel with silver metallic cardstock, and then a red plaid.

And another close-up shot so that you can read the sentiment better - it says Jingle All the Way.   

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'll have 1 more post in a day or so with more snowflake dies from Bibi's collection.

Bibi's Snowflakes: Card Creator and Snowflake Wishes

 Spellbinders has a new collection designed by Bibi Cameron - it's called Bibi's Snowflakes!  It contains lots of sets, all revolving around a snowflake theme.  Today I have 2 cards that start with her Snowflake Card Creator and also feature her Snowflake Wishes die/stamp set.  This lovely snowflake would make a wonderful large ornament for your Christmas tree, too.  

The Snowflake Card Creator is a set of 12 dies: a big 6" snowflake die and its shadow, and some floral dies that you can use to embellish the snowflake.  The Snowflake Wishes die/stamps set contains 3 word dies with a separate banner die, and a sheet of lots of sentiment stamps for all occasions to fit on the banner.

Here are my cards.

supplies: white, red, green, blue and yellow cardstock, Snowflake Creator dies, Snowflake Wishes dies and stamp, red ink

supplies: white and royal blue glitter cardstock, Snowflake Card Creator and shadow die, Snowflake Wishes die and stamp, blue ink, (retired) Tiled Motif embossing folder

I used a lovely royal blue glitter paper from which to cut my snowflake, and also the sentiment die.  After using an embossing folder that looks like snowflakes for my card front, I added as much of the blue snowflake as I could fit onto my A2 card.

Hope you'll join me again in a few days to see more of my samples using other elements from this new collection!  

Envelope of Wonder Collection

 A new collection of dies was recently released at Spellbinders, called Envelope of Wonder.  I have a few samples to show you what that collection is all about.  

The "base" die set contains dies to construct an envelope and some flowers to decorate it with; 31 dies in all.  The finished envelope measures 4 1/2" wide by 6" tall with the envelope fully open, as I've first used it.  It is a true, working envelope, with a slit to hold it closed.

supplies: white, 2 greens, pastel cardstock, Envelope of Wonder dies, foiled sentiment from Sentiments of Wonder Press Plate and die set, black glimmer hot foil

I had requested the sentiment stamps to go with this collection, but received the Better Press system sentiments and dies instead.  Not having a Better Press machine yet, I decided to try foiling the plate using black glimmer foil, and was pleasantly surprised to see how well it worked, and then was able to use the matching die to cut it out!

As you can see, there's a lovely variety of flowers and leaves to put together as you'd like to make your own arrangement.

Next, I played with an accompanying die set called Autumn Wonder, and made 2 cards.  This set, along with a Halloween set and a Christmas set, are meant to be used with the envelope die above, but they can stand alone and can be used on their own, too.  For this first one, I pulled out 4 mushrooms and some leaves.

supplies: cream, various beiges, burnt orange, and red cardstock, mushrooms and leaves from Autumn Wonder, an old Spellbinders label die, retired fall sentiment

And for my 2nd card using this set, I chose leaves, acorns, and some berry sprigs.

supplies: aqua, krafts, and fall colors of cardstock, leaves, berry sprigs, and a small acorn die from Autumn Wonder set, a woodgrain embossing folder, circle die, and a retired fall sentiment

I love using this bright aqua, embossed in a woodgrain folder with fall colors, and made a kind of wreath

There are 24 dies in this Autumn set, and I still haven't used them all! 

Thanks for stopping by - hope I've inspired you in some way. 

Poshta Design Sewing Kit Essentials Introduction!

Here I am again to showcase Poshta Design's introduction to the Sewing Kit Essentials being released tomorrow, Saturday, August 19!

Today's items include:

Sewing Kit Essentials Scissor Keeper Die (retails for $32)

Sewing Kit Essentials Needle Book Die (retails for $50)

Sewing Kit Essentials Thread Bobbin Die (retails for $6)

(not shown) Sewing Kit Essentials Floss Drop Die (retails for $4)

Here are my makes, starting with the Scissor Keeper.

supplies: Sewing Essentials Scissor Keeper dies, Cascade and Dahlia Blossom felt and floss (from Trick or Treat color story), my own pink button

I was SO impressed with the engineering for the closure of this scissor keeper - there are tiny magnets sewn into the body and the closure!  And I really love the combination of these 2 colors; they are scrumptious!  I haven't done this lazy daisy stitch for eons, and you can see how my stitching improved as I went on.  There's a little die included in this set that gives a guide for stitching, as well as 2 flower dies, 1 of which I used here.

Next is the Needle Book and the Thread Bobbin.

supplies: Sewing Essentials Needle Book and Thread Bobbin dies, Dahlia Blossom and Cascade felt and floss (from the Trick or Treat color story), my own ribbon, button, and white cardstock and floss

Here you can see both flowers on the cover of my book.  The die set also includes large and small pockets and an inside page die, plus more, to accessorize the book.  Here you can see the inside page with a small pocket and needle channels.

supplies: Sewing Essentials Needle Book dies, Shortbread felt (from the By the Bushel color story) and Dahlia Blossom felt and floss (from Trick or Treat color story), white cardstock and floss

I love how these turned out!  The scissors case measures about 5 1/2" from tip to top, and the Needle Book is 3" by 3 1/2 " closed.

Lizzie is doing a $50 gift certificate giveaway over on her blog HERE, the winner chosen from comments there.  Winner will be announced on Saturday, Aug 19 at 9 am.

Many thanks to Lizzie for inviting me to play with her wonderful designs!  I thoroughly enjoyed doing so!  

Once again, everything you see, plus the autumn and Halloween items I showed you in the past 2 days, will be available for sale at Poshta Design tomorrow, August 19 at noon Eastern time.  

Poshta Design New Halloween Product Introduction!

Welcome back for Day 2 of Poshta Design's introductions for the new release on Saturday, August 19! Today I'll be showing you the Halloween products.

Here are the new products in the Halloween release:

Gingerbread Friends Skeleton Details Die (retails for $18) (to be used with previously released Gingerbread die)

Poison Apple Details Die (retails for $20) (to be used with yesterday's Autumn Apple die)

Eerie Apothecary Die (retails for $32)

Trick or Treat Color Story (Inkwell, Dahlia Blossom, Clementine, Gecko, and Cascade) (retails for $53)

Here are the Gingerbread Friends Skeleton Details dies.  They start with the older Gingerbread Friends basic die and then you can add these new bones!  How fun!  I made some ornaments for a Halloween tree, or just to hang on a gift.  They'd also make a great banner in different colors, wouldn't they?

supplies: Gingerbread Friends and Skeleton Details dies, Trick or Treat Color Story felts and flosses (Inkwell, Dahlia Blossom, and Clementine), my own white felt and floss

Next up is the Poison Apple die.  You use yesterday's Autumn Apple Die as your base, adding on this new die.  I had fun with the colors and couldn't resist adding some sequin eyes (which are included in the Trick or Treat color story pack).

supplies: Autumn Apple die, Poison Apple Die, Dahlia Blossom pink felt and sequins from Trick or Treat color story, Pea Pod felt and floss and Gingersnap felt and floss from Autumn Apple color story

And finally, here are the Eerie Apothecary dies.  This is a large set of dies that includes 3 sizes of bottles, with either a stopper or a cork closure, and 3 shapes of labels with fun details for them.

supplies: Eerie Apothecary dies, Cascade, Clementine, and Inkwell felts and flosses (from the Trick or Treat color story), Gingersnap and Shortbread felts and flosses (from By the Bushel color story) and my own white felt and floss

And here they all are together, once again, to give you an idea of the various sizes.  The largest bottle measures a bit over 4 1/2" tall by about 2 1/2" at its widest point.  The skeletons are 4 14" tall by 3 14" wide.

Lizzie is doing a $50 gift certificate giveaway over on her blog HERE, the winner chosen from comments there.  Winner will be announced on Saturday, Aug 19 at 9 am.

Thanks for your visit; I'll be back again with the last installment of the new release tomorrow, and then everything will be available at Poshta Design on Saturday, August 19 at noon Eastern time.

Poshta Design New Autumn Product Introduction!

I am so honored to share that I will be Guest Designing with Poshta Design for the new release this week!  I had the best time playing with my new goodies, and was VERY impressed with the quality of  everything in the kits.  Let's get started!

Today is the introduction of the Autumn products!  Fall is a favorite season for me, one that I look forward to each year, and Lizzie has it well-represented in this release!

The new products being released on Saturday, August 19 are:

Autumn Apple Die (retails for $38)

Mighty Acorn die (retails for $32)

Statement Alphabet dies (retails for $14, $17, or  $20, depending on the letter, or the whole set for $375)

By the Bushel Color Story: Red Currant, Pea Pod, Gingersnap, Shortbread, and Weathered Moss (retails for $53)

Here are some photos of what I made with this release:

supplies: Autumn Apple die, Mighty Acorn Die, By the Bushel color story felts and embroidery floss (Red Currant, Pea Pod, Shortbread, Gingerbread, Weathered Moss), Clementine felt and floss from upcoming Trick or Treat color story pack, and my own orange felt, wooden buttons, twine, a cinnamon stick

The oak leaves are part of the Mighty Acorn set.  I used matching floss for one cluster, and a contrasting floss for another, then sewed them together in groups of 2 with a wood button and some twine.  The Autumn Apple die can make a whole apple, a sliced apple, like I made here, plus a candied apple.  For my whole apple, I cut off the stem and substituted a piece of cinnamon stick, just for something different! (and it smells good, too!)

How fun are these Statement Alphabet letters?!

supplies: Statement Alphabet dies, By the Bushel (Weathered Moss, Red Currant, and Gingersnap) and upcoming Trick or Treat Color Story (Clementine) felts and flosses, Mighty Oak leaves, my own wooden heart button and floss

These letters are 4 1/2" tall.  I stitched 2 of each letter together with matching floss and they are quite sturdy, ideal for Christmas ornaments, package attachments, or personalized banners!  And, being a card maker, they will come in handy for cards, too!  1 letter fits nicely on an A2 size card.

This is the first time I've worked with Lizzie's designs, and I am so impressed with everything about them!  The felt is wool, and cuts like a dream with the dies.  She has thought of so many fun details, like the extra stitching on the acorn cap, and the seeds on the apple slice!  Her color story packs include a group of 5 felts, flosses to match, and a darling little container that contains sequins and seed beads to match, all packaged beautifully! It was truly a joy to play with these!  

There are inspiration guides that clearly give directions for constructing everything, including detailed pictures.  Not having stitched on felt in quite awhile, they were very helpful to get me going again.  

Lizzie is doing a $50 gift certificate giveaway over on her blog HERE, the winner chosen from comments there.  Winner will be announced on Saturday, Aug 19 at 9 am before the release goes live.

We're not done yet!  I'll see you tomorrow for a Halloween release, and on Friday for the Sewing Kit Essentials goodies!  As I mentioned, everything will be available on Saturday, August 19 at Poshta Design.

See you again soon!

Nutcracker Sweet

Here are my card samples using the newly released Nutcracker Sweet Collection from Spellbinders. 

The paper pad has some lovely designs, and that's where I started for both my cards today, then adding ephemera to match.

supplies: red, green, and white cardstock, holly design from Nutcracker Ballet paper pad, ephemera (sentiment, sprigs, and bow) from Nutcracker Ballet Printed Die Cuts pack, adhesive foam to lift central motif

supplies: white cardstock, background paper from Nutcracker Ballet paper pad, ephemera (florals, bow, and sentiment banner) from Nutcracker Ballet Printed Die Cuts pack, adhesive foam to lift sentiment banner

It's so unusual to see this lovely shade of blue being featured, especially at Christmas, so I had to make a card with these lovely elements. I formed them into a wreath, then just added a bow and the sentiment.

There is also a Chipboard Sticker pack available, but I didn't use that this time.  These bundles really help at Christmas time when we need to produce in quantity quickly!  

Hope I've inspired you to give this collection a closer look.  

Wreathed in Joy

 Taylored Expressions brought out a Christmas kit late last month which I couldn't wait to receive!  Today I have 3 cards made from the elements in the kit.  The kit consists of 2 sizes of wreaths, with layering stencils to match, some extra sprigs (which I didn't use today), and the letters "J" and "Y", plus dies to cut everything out.  The set is engineered very efficiently, as there is 1 large 6" cling stamp to stamp all the elements, then 3 stencils which get layered on next, and finally dies that will cut everything out.

First I made a card with the largest wreath, adding an old sentiment die.

supplies: white and Lipstick Red cardstock, white plank patterned paper, Wreathed in Joy cling stamp, matching stencils, and die, Hero Arts Latte, distress inks in twisted citron, mowed lawn, and candy apple inks, Penny Black (retired) Nature's Best sentiment die, Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangle die, adhesive foam squares

I like finding old supplies that will  work with brand new goodies, and all 3 of my cards are a mix of this new kit and older elements.  Next I used the smaller wreath from the first stamping and stencilling, putting it over an embossed background, and popping the wreath up.

supplies: same papers and inks as above, The Greetery Opposites Attract Holiday sentiment, and Spellbinders (retired) Holly Flourish embossing folder, adhesive foam squares

These same dies can also be used for a portrait orientation, if you bring everything a bit closer together.

supplies: white cardstock, Wreathed in Joy kit, latte ink, evergreen bough, pine needles, and picked raspberry distress inks, a Hero Arts sentiment stamp, Honey Bee Pierced Fancy Flakes cover plate, Lawn Fawn Fancy Scallop Rectangle die

I'm looking forward to making more Christmas cards with this fun set - the sky's the limit!  I hope you'll give this kit a look, too!

Spellbinders Club Kits for August, part 3: Glimmer Hot Foil and Stitching Kits

 The Spellbinders Club Kits for August are now available!  

Here is my card featuring the Glimmer of the Month kit: Overflowing Floral.  This month, you can also add a stencil set to it!

supplies: white cardstock, metallic rose-gold cardstock (to frame sentiment), Overflowing Floral Glimmer kit, Rose Gold glimmer foil, Overflowing Floral add-on stencil set, greens, yellows, and pale orange inks, blending brushes

This plate is oversized, about 6" tall, and I couldn't bear to cut off any of it, so my card is larger than normal, but will bit into a 5 X 7 envelope.  It comes with this sentiment to be foiled, which will go inside my card.   Rose Gold glimmer foil comes in the kit, and I really like the color, a nice pinkish gold.  The stencil set that can be an addition is 4 pieces, and I used 2 shades of each color, plus a bright yellow ink with them.

Now for the Stitching Kit for this month: Stitched Floral Card Front.

supplies: white, dark aqua, 2 greeens, lavendar, light yellow, and pink cardstock, Stitched Floral Card Front, embroidery flosses to match, glue dots, enamel dots to match flowers

This month, the kit is more of a wrap kit than a stitching one!  For each element you bring your needle up through the center, then just wrap around the flower or leaf until complete, then secure the loose ends with a glue dot at the back, which also serves to add it to the pierced panel.  Then I just glued the finished panel to a dark aqua one, and added the center sentiment to finish.  Then I added enamel dots to all of the flowers, and dotted the "i" for continuity.  This was a fun design to work on!

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to the kits separately, but there are also lots of ways to combine several of them (scroll down and look under Value Clubs).  And you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty.  

Spellbinders Club Kits for August, part 2: Clear Stamp and Die and Embossing Folders

 The Spellbinders Club Kits for August are now available! 

My first card features the Clear Stamp and Die of the Month, Happy Hello Floral, and the Embossing Folder, Arches and Dots.

supplies: white, purple, and dark green cardstock, Spellbinders Happy Hello Floral stamps  and dies, Arches and Dots embossing folder

I stamped and colored the floral image with markers, then used one of the dies to cut out the right side of the image, trimming the left side closer.  Then I embossed on a purple cardstock to match the flowers, added a thin strip of dark green, and a sentiment to my floral panel, and glued all to a card base.  

The stamp set has a total of 5 sentiments along with the large floral, and there are dies to match everything. 

Here is the 3D embossing folder, 3D Stylized Floral. I made 2 cards with it.  On the first one, I simply embossed it on a white panel, and then carefully colored it with alcohol markers, adding my sentiment to a vellum circle.

supplies: white and mint cardstock, vellum, 3D Stylized Floral embossing folder, markers to color, sentiment from Happy Hello stamp set

For my final card today, I just gently rubbed white pigment ink over a panel embossed on blue, then trimmed it and added a pre-printed sentiment strip.

supplies: white and cornflower cardstock, 3D Stylized Floral embossing folder, white pigment ink, sentiment strip

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to the kits separately, but there are also lots of ways to combine several of them (scroll down and look under Value Clubs).  And you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty.

Spellbinders Club Kits for August, part 1 - Small and Large Dies

 The Spellbinders Club Kits for August are now available!  

Look at the details in this Small Die of the Month Kit: Breezy Swing!

supplies: various solid colors of cardstock, a tiny Doodlebug print dp, Breezy Swing dies, sentiment from Happy Hello Floral (this month's Stamp of the Month)

How fun is this little scene?!  I'm adding this card to the Simon Wednesday Challenge: Summer.

The Large Die of the Month is called Blooming Pomegranate.

supplies: cream, 2 reds, 2 greens, and blue cardstock, Blooming Pomegranate Large Die of the Month

I was a bit intimidated with this kit at first - lots of pieces!  But I'm glad I took my time - it's a lovely image!

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to the kits separately, but there are also lots of ways to combine several of them (scroll down and look under Value Clubs).  And you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty.