A Birthday Card

Our oldest Grand turned 15 this year - here's the card I made for him.  It's getting more and more difficult the older they get!

supplies: white, black, and black glitter cardstock, Doodlebug striped DP, Spellbinders Candles for Every Birthday embossing folder, Stitched Numbers dies, Simon Groovy Happy Birthday dies

I started by embossing the birthday candles folder onto brightly striped design paper, then just added my sentiment and the glitzy numbers, which are actually stitching dies, but work well on their own, too.

Do you have any hints for birthday designs for teens?  

Thanks for your visit - enjoy your day! 

Altenew June Inspiration Challenge

 I'm sneaking in at the last hour with my entry for this month's Altenew Inspiration Challenge.  Those colors were my Mom's favorites, so how could I not play?

supplies: white cardstock, Altenew Beautiful Day flowers and leaves, Rose Petal, Green Meadows, kitsch flamingo and Picked raspberry inks, orange enamel dots, Four Petal Floral 3D embossing folder, Hexi Gems glimmer plate sentiment, Pink glimmer hot foil  adhesive foam squares

The Beautiful Day multi-step stamping set was among my first from Atenew; I love the big abundant flower it makes.  I thought the embossing behind it mimics it pretty well, too, so I could reinforce the  inspiration picture, which had lots of flowers in these colors.  And that orange is a nice addition to them - I used enamel dots for that color.

It just now occurred to me that maybe the reason I love embossed backgrounds is that it's like the quilting on a quilt - wonderful added texture!

Woodblock Wednesday

 Here's my entry for this month's Woodblock Wednesday at Amy's blog, heavily inspired by April's winner there, Dawn Turley.  She used one of the stamps in this set and built her card around it.  What I really liked was that she fussy-cut out the inner square around the flower.  I never in a million years would have thought of that idea on my own!  

supplies: white and Audrey Blue cardstock, Hero Arts PEEKING POSIES set from 2006, Tammy Tutterow (retired) sentiment from Maker's Movement Sweet Petite Sentiments, adhesive foam squares

The original idea was to make a grid card, using 3 of these flowers with a sentiment in the 4th quadrant, but because the blocks are not quite square, when I turned them to stamp, the squares did not line up nicely as I'd planned.  I didn't let that deter me, however, and just went with the flow. After cutting out the inner squares, I popped the panel above a slightly larger piece of aqua cardstock, then onto my A2 card base that had been chopped at the bottom to accommodate these sizes.

Thank you so much, Dawn, for this fun idea - I enjoyed making my card, and putting these oldies to use once again!  

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.

Hope Your Day is Full of Joy

I haven't done a glimmer card for awhile, so I went back through my glimmer plates and pulled out the one that came with my machine.  It has no name that I'm aware of, and it isn't being included anymore with the machine, so I guess it's retired. Story of my life!!

supplies: white cardstock, (retired) oval doily frame and Anytime Sentiments glimmer plates, champagne glimmer foil, (retired) English Garden and Fluttering Butterflies washi tape

I chose this sentiment because it was a vertical one, something I don't have many of.  I thought I was making a possible birthday card, but the more I look at this with the pretty gold foiling and accents in the washi elements, it would work for a wedding or anniversary card, too, don't you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by today - I hope you're enjoying your day!

Little Blooms

 As promised, I have another set of dies to share with you; they are part of the newly released Out and About Collection, designed to work with the new Scout mini-machine!  I made 2 cards with this set, first with summery colors on black.

supplies: black, various pink, orange, yellow, and green cardstock, Little Blooms dies, sentiment from Sending Sentiments, embossed in white, Spellbinders gems in Berry and Peach Blush

I cut the leaves from 2 greens, and the flowers from 2 pinks and 2 peach/oranges, and centers from mostly yellows.  After constructing the flowers, I played around with arrangements and this is what I came up with.  I used my new gems on the little flower clusters, plus just to fill in some spaces and spread a little sparkle. 

Here's a 2nd card, in softer colors.

supplies: white, black, purple, pink, aqua, yellow, and greens cardstock, Little Blooms dies, Wonderful Script Sentiments dies, Flower Frenzy 3D embossing folder, Capri Blue gems

I put my arrangement of posies onto a floral embossed background this time - they're a good match, I think.  I added a simple die-cut sentiment and some blue gems this time.  

There's everything you need here to go on and on making flower arrangements, but don't forget that you can also mix them with your existing larger flower dies, too!

Thanks for visiting today - I hope your day is a good one! 

Out and About!

 Here's a brand new collection releasing today that was designed to work with the new Scout mini-machine!  It's called Out and About, and there are 15 different die sets!  I have 2 cards for you today using 2 of these sets, and I'll post a 3rd one in a few days.  

Before I get started, I wanted to make sure that you know that Spellbinders has a wonderful giveaway that you can still enter through the end of this month - a Platinum 6 AND a Scout machine, all done up in Lilac Shimmer!  

First up is Sprinkle and Grow.

supplies: white, aqua, pinks, yellows, and greens cardstock, Sprinkle and Grow dies, Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops dies, sentiment from Typewriter Adventure Sentiments

And here is the Love Note Bird set.

supplies: white, teal green, grey, aqua, and pinks cardstock, Love Note Bird, sentiment from Typewriter Adventure Sentiments, Branching Out embossing folder, Spellbinder gems in Berry and Capri Blue

I also used some of the new Color Essentials Gems that are being released this month, too, in the centers of the flowers, and sprinkled along the branch.  And one of the new Typewriter Adventure Sentiments fit perfectly onto the sweet little envelope!

I'll see you in a couple days with one more card using a die set from this new collection.   

An Anniversary Card

In this month of weddings and anniversaries I wanted to share a card I made for my husband. Earlier this month, we celebrated our 53rd anniversary.  This card is a CASE of one I found on Instagram.

supplies: white, pinks, and greens cardstock, Spellbinders Floral embossing folder, heart die, leaves from Spellbinders Mini Blooms and Sprigs, (retired) Simon heart dies, sentiment from (retired) The Craft's Meow Side by Side

We had a lovely day in Cleveland, taking advantage of the University Circle museums and gardens, with a nice dinner in Little Italy.  

Are you enjoying your summer?  It's been a good one here so far!  Thanks so much for visiting.

Be Fearless

 I haven't had anything new from Pink Fresh Studio in awhile, so after their latest release, I grabbed a new stamp and stencil combo and a set of peach inks.

supplies: white and Peach Sorbet cardstock, Pink Fresh Studio Be Fearless stamps and matching stencils, Chasing Sunset and Forest Glades mini inks, blending brushes, (retired) Paper Smooches Fab Frames die, sentiment from Mama Elephant Paola's Wishes, Peach Blush gems

This peach and sage combination is cooling to me today, as it's humid here.  After stamping and stencilling my flowers, I fussy-cut them out, which is a calming thing for me, too.  Of course, if you're not into that, Pink Fresh always obliges with matching dies!

Here's another design switching up to a cool aqua.

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, Be Fearless stamps and matching stencils, Morning Sky and Lime mini ink cubes, blending brushes, sentiment from (retired) Simon Says Stamp Summer Garden, Spellbinders Floral embossing folder, Capri Blue gems, adhesive foam squares

I used just 2 of the floral sprigs this time, with an extra bunch of leaves at the very bottom.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend - thank you for stopping by!

Tunnel Scapes

 Vicky Papaioannou has a new collection at Spellbinders which she has named Tunnel Scapes!  I used 2 die sets and her sentiment stamp set for my card today.

supplies: kraft, black, 2 greens, 2 blues, white, a blue watercolor dp, Perched Birds, inks and blending brush, Tunnel Clouds, Typewriter Adventure Sentiments, adhesive foam squares and strips

This was fun to make!  It's composed of 3 layers, separated by adhesive foam.  The bottom layer is merely a blue watercolor design paper glued to my card base.  The second layer is a pale blue, with the upper branch and smaller bird and 2 extra small branches attached along its window opening, and lifted with adhesive foam.  The 3rd layer is the lower branch, a small branch, and the large bird attached across the opening of the top layer.  And then I added my sentiment strip.

Vicky's collection also has sets that feature skyscapes and marine life, if you're so inclined, plus more! The sentiment set has phrases to work with all of them, plus some good basics, too.  I hope you'll check out her collection!

Hope your day is going well - thanks for stopping by!

Arched Labels

Here's another new release, part of the Sealed 3D Botanical Collection; it's a set of arches and a tag, too, in lots of die sizes.  I paired it with a layering stencil, and here is my card.

supplies: white and bright pink cardstock, Spellbinders Layered Sunflower Stencil, Arch Labels dies, Curved Everyday Sentiments glimmer plate/die set, black glimmer foil

These arches are slightly narrower at the top than the Essential Arches that I've used before; isn't it nice that we have these choices?  

The stencil comes in 1 large sheet, which you just shift around for each layer.  It came out last autumn and is meant to be sunflowers, but I'm making it into gerbera daisies for today!

Hope your day is going well - I thank you for taking the time to visit me today!

Fair Winds by Dawn Woleslagle

 Dawn has a lovely release, called the Fair Winds Collection, which all revolve around the ocean!  I chose a set of landscaping stencils and some dies to make a lighthouse, and here's my card..

supplies: white, red, 2 greys cardstock, Uncharted Waters stencil set and distress inks, Guiding Light dies (lighthouse, rocks, and seagulls),  this month's Summertime Sentiments glimmer plate and dies, satin pewter glimmer hot foil

I attempted to recreate a scene in Maine, on of our favorite places on earth.  I didn't have any appropriate sentiments on hand, though Dawn has a set in this release ("I'd be lost without you" would be a good one), so I cut down one from this month's Glimmer Plates set, foiled with satin pewter foil.  

If you love the ocean, I think you'll want to take a look at Dawn's collection!  

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sealed 3D Botanicals: Floral for You

Spellbinders has a new release called Sealed 3D Botanicals, and 1 of the items is this Floral for You 3D emboss and cut folder!    This set is available now to Club Members, but will be available on the 10th to everyone. 

The details are amazing on all 3 of the arched designs that this makes, and I wanted to try a kind of Delft pottery look for my first play with it.  Then please scroll on down to see it colored in with markers.

I embossed and cut the largest motif from white cardstock, then gently rubbed on some blue ink to help the details pop out.   Before attaching it to my card base I surrounded it with some arches cut from blue cardstock.

supplies: white and blue cardstock, Florals for You emboss/cut folder, All You Need Sentiments glimmer plate/die, Cobalt glimmer hot foil, Essential Arches dies

Next I chose the middle-sized design, and applied the same blue ink to the folder before adding the die and some white cardstock.

supplies: white and blue cardstock, Floral for You emboss/cut folder, blue ink, All You Need Sentiments glimmer plate/die, Cobalt Blue glimmer foil

Next, using the same middle size die, I cut it from cream cardstock, colored in the details with my alcohol markers, then framed it up with a rainbow of arch dies..

supplies: cream, green, pink, yellow, and purple cardstock, Floral for You emboss/cut folder, alcohol markers, Essential Arches dies, Happy Hello Floral sentiment and matching die

And here's the larger image done in the same way, and paired with an embossing folder for the background.

supplies: cream and mint cardstock, Floral for You emboss/cut folder, alcohol markers, Essential Arch die, Four Petal Floral embossing folder,  Happy Hello Floral sentiment and matching die

And finally, here's the smallest image, a little tag that measures 3" long by 2" wide.  It has it's own sentiment built right in!

Hope you'll check out this unique embossing folder, along with it's sister, which features mushrooms!

Spellbinders June Club Kits

 The Club Kits for June are here!  They have a summer theme this month - so fun and nicely varied - something for everyone!

I'll start out this month with the stitching dies, because when you say summer, I say ICE CREAM!!

supplies: white, cotton candy, mint, red, green, and a kraft cardstock, Stitched Ice Cream stitching dies, 3 strands of pink, mint, and light brown floss, Peppermint Stripes embossing folder, distress inks in spun sugar and cracked pistachio, adhesive foam squares

Isn't that cherry a cute touch?  After stitching and constructing my double-scoop cone, I decided to add some old-fashioned candy stripes to the border of my card - they just seemed to "go".   I made them by masking off every other set of stripes and rubbing distress inks across only the edges of the embossed panel.  There's a 2nd sentiment in this set which says "Have a Cool Summer".

Here is a card using the Large dies of the Month: Summertime Vacay.  I recreated the scene I see in Florida with my husband when we go to the beach as snowbirds.  I also used one of the Glimmer of the Month sentiments and Satin Pewter glimmer foil to simulate writing in the sand.

supplies: white, bright yellow, 2 aqua, 2 kraft, 2 blue cardstock, Summertime Vacay dies, Summertime Sentiments glimmer plate, Satin Pewter glimmer foil

Next up are the Dies of the Month: Summertime Wade Pool - I have 2 cards for you with these, mixing in various other clubs with them: Summertime Waves embossing folder, and Summertime Graphics stencils.  

supplies: white, black, yellow, 2 greys, orange, and pink cardstock, Summertime Wade Pool dies, Summertime Graphics stencils (beach balls), Summertime Waves embossing folder, adhesive foam squares

supplies: kraft, white, aqua, 2 greens, pink, and black cardstock, turquoise glitter cardstock (sentiment), Summertime Wade Pool dies, Summertime Waves embossing folder, adhesive foam squares

These dies have a little hinge mechanism that allows the bodies to swing back and forth.  And the set includes the sentiments I used on these cards - fun font!  The stencils this month give you 3 different choices - these beach balls are just one of them!

Here is the 3D embossing folder: Summertime Citrus Twist.  When it's a hot summer day, my beverage of choice is limeade, so I used a lime cardstock to emboss with, then swiped the panel with lime ink to bring out the details.  I added some citrus flowers and leaves to frame the sentiment.

supplies: white, lime and kelly green cardstock, Summertime Citrus Twist 3D embossing folder, sentiment from Stitched Ice Cream, flowers from last month's Tropical Friends dies, leaves from Vintage Floral dies

I've already used orange and lemon cardstock to emboss more panels using this folder for some future cards!

Here is a card using the Stamp/Die of the Month: Paradise Resort, along with another of the stencils.

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, Summertime Graphics (clouds and sun) stencil, distress inks, Paradise Resort stamps and matching dies, Postage Edge Rectangle dies

And finally I have a card using the Caboodle bonus item for this month: Summertime Slice.  It's another one of those die sets that have a hinge so that the legs can swing.  I equate watermelons with picnics, so I brought in a red check tablecloth and a basket weave background to go along with this one and used a sentiment from the stitching dies again.

supplies: white, black, red and greens cardstock, Doodlebug Buffalo Check design paper, Summertime Slice dies, Stitched Ice Cream sentiment dies, Woven 3D embossing folder

Aren't her heart glasses too cute???

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available for new subscribers 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 each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all, plus a free bonus, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

Bayfair Hugs

I wanted to play again with the lovely Bayfair floral dies and I added the new woven lattice to the mix, too, this time.  I used a favorite color combo of blue and yellow.

supplies: white, blues, soft navy, pale yellow, and greens cardstock, Spellbinders Floral Spray dies, Woven Lattice dies, and retired sentiment from Log Cabin and Flower Mini Quilts dies, yellow enamel dots

As you can see, the flowers can be layered many times over if you wish, mixing and matching elements.  If you're looking for a versatile flower set, this may be the one for you!

Hope you're having a great day - thank you for your visit today!

Blue Butterflies

It's June - Happy Summer!   

Here's a card featuring the lovely Twilight Butterflies released last month at Spellbinders. I love these blues!

supplies: white cardstock, retired brushstroke stamps from Simon Says Stamp Brush Stroke Messages and Avery Elle Brushed, a mix of inks from Pink Fresh Studio Morning Sky and Altenew Lapis Lazuli mini ink cube sets, sentiment from Mama Elephant Paola's Wishes, Spellbinders Twilight Butterflies,  sequins

If this looks familiar, this card is a CASE of one of my own  made back in 2015!  Still love those brushstrokes!!  Mine are retired, but if you search "brush stroke stamps", you'll find some other options.  Also, there are stencils out there that will give the same results, too.  

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful summer ahead!