Woodblock Wednesday

 It's time for Woodblock Wednesday over on Amy's blog!  This month I chose a Hero Arts stamp from 2006 called Stitched Flower Trio.  I love that the index on the front is colored; it makes the stamp that much prettier!

I took the stitching theme and ran with it and here's my card.

and another shot all by itself.

supplies: white cardstock, Doodlebug green buffalo check design paper, Hero Arts Stitched Flower Trio, Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangle die, green embroidery floss, sentiment from Spellbinders (retired) Quilty Hugs clear stamp set, tiny buttons, glue dots

After stamping and coloring, I cut the panel with the medium size of the Hemstitch Rectangle die, then backstitched in using the holes it created.  I love these teensy buttons, so attached a few along with the sentiment.

I really enjoy seeing these wood treasures being used again.  I hope you'll play along too!

You can see all the other entries at Amy's blog HERE.

Beautiful Butterflies

 It should be no surprise that I love embossing folders; even without any manipulation on my part, they make a lovely background for our cards.  And in the scheme of things, they are pretty inexpensive.

Somewhere down the line I missed this Spellbinders Beautiful Butterflies 3D folder, so I used a holiday sale to add it to my collection.  I have 2 cards using it for today.

supplies: white cardstock, Beautiful Butterflies 3D embossing folder, alcohol markers to color, black ink pad, sentiment from All Seasons Spring PressPlate and Die set

I used the blackout technique, which works best with these 3D folders: emboss a white panel, turn it upside down so that it's debossed, color in the details with markers or inks, then rub a dark ink across the entire surface.

Next I embossed again on white, then gently rubbed a pink ink pad across the surface.  I didn't get pristine results this time, but it does bring out the lovely details in this folder.  

supplies: white and pink cardstock, Beautiful Butterflies 3D embossing folder, Carnation ink, A Little Hello Sentiments dies

All Spellbinders embossing folders are a big 5.5 by 8.5 inches, so you can move your paper around inside and get slightly different results each time.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today - hope I've brightened your day in a small way!

Floral Thank You

 Today I'm using a stencil set from Honey Bee stamps that was designed for the holiday season.  It includes 2 large floral designs that I think will work year-round.  

supplies: white cardstock, My Favorite Things pink and green plaid design paper, Honey Bee Stamps Floral Noel stencils, Altenew Lime and Cherry Blossom mini inks,  Penny Black Stitched Stackers dies, Pink Fresh Studio Perfect Sentiments stamp and die, Spellbinders Berry color essentials gems

I've used this sketch before, several years ago, and I like the bit of plaid peeking out and the subtle edging on the smaller panels.  

Thanks for stopping by today - hope your day is going well! 

Nature's Blooms

 I recently got a new die from Papertrey Ink called Nature's Blooms Elegant Edges.  Here are  some cards I made with it.

supplies: white, blue, and green cardstock, PTI Elegant Edges: Nature's Blooms dies, The Greetery Tartan Builder Diagonal stencils, tumbled glass, cracked pistachio and prize ribbon distress inks, Pink Fresh Studio Phrase Builder Sending sentiment dies

The plaid panel was already stencilled and in my scrap basket, so I just had to find some cardstock to match the colors and a sentiment.  I really liked using a plaid with these dies as I saw Brenda Noelke do when they were introduced at the end of December.

I wonder when they'll figure out how to make a blue rose?  I'll be the first in line to have one!

Next I matched it up with an embossing folder.

supplies: pink and white cardstock, PTI Elegant Edges: Nature's Blooms dies, Tim Holtz (retired) Roses embossing folder, Simon Sending Smiles die

I used the edging die to cut an extra piece of pink cardstock to line the white detailed panel, which was then put atop the embossed roses panel with a large sentiment die. and the negative die-cut of the long leafy sprig.

And one more, because I like mixing stripes with florals, and I had to have some yellow roses.

supplies: white, yellow, green cardstock, unknown green stripe patterned paper, PTI Elegant Edges Nature's Blooms dies, Spellbinders A Little Hello Sentiments stamp/die set 

Thanks for hanging with me for this long post today - have a good one!

Time for a Wreath!

 You know I love making wreath cards, so here's one that features some heart berries for this month!

supplies: white, pink, 2 greens cardstock, Hero Arts (retired) Envelope Accessories leaf sprig, Memory Box (retired) heart sprigs from Scrollwork Heart Circle Frame, bow from Spellbinders Garden Wreath Add-Ons, Pink Fresh Studio Perfect Sentiments stamp and matching die, Simon Peony ink

This would work for so many occasions: Valentine's Day, of course, and because of the sentiment, birthdays, girlfriends, etc.  

I lightly traced a circle onto my white panel, then glued down the leaf sprigs only at the bottoms so that they sprung up a bit.  This gives me dimension, but also room to tuck in the next leaf or heart sprig.  

As always, thanks so much for stopping by today.

Sharing a Valentine

 My friend Mary Anne sent me a Memory Box die and we decided to use it for each other's Valentine cards this year!  Here's mine for her:

supplies: white and grey cardstock, Doodlebug tiny floral dps, Memory Box Scrollwork Heart Circle Frame, sentiment from Tammy Tutterow (retired) Tiny Sentiments

This is a retired die from 2019; it cuts out all that you see, including 2 of the little wispy heart sprigs, plus a large stitched circle, which I didn't use this time.  I cut it multiple times to paper-piece in the hearts and "leaves", then affixed it to a 4 1/4" square card base and stamped my sentiment.  

Those heart sprigs are perfect for adding to a wreath.  You'll see that idea in an upcoming post. 

Here is Mary Anne's card that she sent to me - so elegant!

She used a red foil paper with gold marbling, red glitter paper (little heart sprigs), and both shiny and matte gold metallic papers for this beauty!

Mary Anne was the person that got me interested in making cards, about 20 years ago now, and she still inspires and teaches me today.  Thank you, my friend!

Spellbinders Club Kits for February: Luxe Damask BetterPress

 My BetterPress kit came a little later than my other Club Kits this month, but it was worth the wait!  It's called Luxe Damask; here's what I made with it.

supplies: pink and grey cardstock, Spellbinders Luxe Damask BetterPress Plates, Hero Arts Soft Granite and Charcoal inks, rectangle dies, Be Bold Blooms, Floral Spray dies, enamel dots, adhesive foam squares

This lovely set has a registration template to help place the design all over your card, or you can just center it.  Along with the pretty damask design, there are 3 sentiments: the Easter one you see here, plus one for Spring and a Thank You.  This is a keeper!

After completing my design in grey ink on pink card, I cut a rectangle out from its center, matted it in a darker shade, then popped it back into place with foam squares.  Then I added my flowers and sentiment.

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 item each month, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

Happy Valentine's Day

 Today is one of my favorite holidays!  

supplies: white cardstock, green gingham dp, Penny Black (retired) Flower Teddy, sentiment from Simon (retired) Only Have Eyes for You, Spellbinders Perfect Touch rectangle die

Penny Black has done many Teddies down through the years; this one is dated 2019.  Today I colored the flowers in various colors, the way I like my real bouquets to be, and added a bit of gingham in the background for some added color.  Who couldn't resist this little cutie?

Thanks for stopping by - hope your day is a special one!

Butterfly Heart

 Today I have a Valentine's card using a lovely, but sadly retired, stamp.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Stampendous (retired) Laurel Burch Butterfly Heart cling stamp, sentiment from Hero Arts (retired) Sending Love Mail, tiny colored gems

It's always fun for me to color this one, because everything is so small scale.  This time I added some tiny sparkly gems to the centers of the flowers.

I'll enter this into the new Neglected Stuff Challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Spellbinders Club Kits for February: Stencils, Clear Stamps and Dies, 3D Embossing Folder

 Today I have several cards to share with you.  First are the Stencils of the Month: Nature's Canvas.  These layering stencils are always favorites of mine; add a spring theme and I'm all in!  Unfortunately this month's set is already sold out.  

supplies: white and yellow cardstock, Nature's Canvas set of 5 stencils, pastel inks, sentiment from Spring Canopy glimmer plate

Next up is a card made with the Stamps/Dies of the Month: Spring Smiles and the 3D folder Petite Bow.

supplies: white, pink, and green cardstock, Spring Smiles stamps and and dies, Petite Bow 3D folder, white pigment ink, Essential Arches dies

The stamp set consists of 2 bunnies, 2 chicks, and 4 floral sprigs, plus 6 sentiments, all in a petite size.  I chose a sampling to stamp and color, and used the matching die to cut out the floral sprig.  I cut the panel with the critters with an arch die, then cut off a good part of the bottom.  This gave more room for the Petite Bows to show in the background.  

Here are the Kits I used for my cards today:

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 item each month, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

Spellbinders February Club Kits: Large Dies, Stitching Dies, and Embossing Folder

 Here are some more cards using more of the Spellbinders Club Kits for this month: Large Dies, Dancin' Happy Bunnies Everywhere, Stitching Dies, Stitched Scallop Card Front, and the regular Embossing folder, Wicker Basket.

supplies: white, blush, and various colored cardstock, a printed design paper, Stitched Scallop Card Front die, white embroidery floss, teeny Peach Blush gems, Dancin' Hoppy Bunnies Everywhere dies

The Stitching set comes with a smaller frame, and a tag.  

Don't you love those flirty little eyes we got this month?  Here's a little boy bunny to go along with her, paired with this month's embossing folder..

supplies: kraft cardstock, various colored cardstock, Dancin' Hoppy Bunnies Everywhere dies, Wicker Basket embossing folder

There are so many fun accessories in this Large Die kit: clothes to dress your bunnies, or bows, this fun chick, a carrot, flowers. I adapted the paint can to a little basket for the bunnies to collect their flowers or carrots. And I didn't even use the eggs that you can decorate!  The bunnies are called "Dancin'" because they are made with a separate die for their legs, with the hinged dancing feature that Spellbinders has used before.  Today I chose not to use that feature, and just glued the legs on to their bodies.

Here are the Kits I used today: 

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 item each month, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

Spellbinders Club Kits for February: Glimmer and Small Dies

 Time to share my cards using this month's Spellbinders Club Kits!  Today I have the Glimmer of the Month: Spring Canopy.  It comes with Lavender Petal foil. And keep on scrolling to see what I did with the Small Dies of the month, Step into Spring.  

I tried the glimmer plate first with Rainbow Confetti foil.

supplies: white cardstock, Spring Canopy Glimmer plates, Rainbow Confetti glimmer foil

The glimmer plate is actually half of what you see above - there I foiled it at the top, then again at the bottom.  The sentiment is one of 2 this size, with some smaller straight ones included, also.

The set also includes a cutting die to trim the end of the branches.  Here's a 2nd card, using the Lavender Petal foil included in this month's kit.

supplies: white and purple cardstock, Spring Canopy Glimmer plate and matching die, Lavender Petal glimmer foil, sentiment and flowers from Dancin' Hoppy Bunnies Everywhere dies

You'll just have to take my word that the branches are foiled lavender on this one.  Here you can see the die that cuts out the edges of the branches.  I used a die from the Large Dies of the Month kit for my sentiment, cutting it directly into the purple panel and then allowing the white card backing to show through instead of making a banner out if it.  It looked a bit too small, so I added some flowers from the same set.

Next I used just a part of the Small Dies and made a little bouquet, borrowing the bow from the Large Die set.

supplies: white and colored cardstock, Step Into Spring floral dies, Dancin' Bunnies bow, Spring Smiles pieced sentiment

I did a Jennifer McGuire, and cut apart "spring" from one of the small sentiments from the stamp set to make my customized sentiment here.

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 item each month, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

Happy Heart Day!

 February is the month for Valentines, so I'll be sharing some cards all month with that in mind.  For today's card, I dug out a clear stamp from Wild Rose Studio dated 2016.  I collected Teddy Bears for many years, so this one tugs at my heart.

supplies: white and pink cardstock, Wild Rose Studio (retired) Teddy with Flowers, Spellbinders Wendy Vecchi Scalloped rectangle die, Taylored Expressions (retired) Flower Power embossing folder, sentiment from Simon (retired) Just a Love Note

I'd like to enter today's card into a new challenge called The Neglected Stuff; my neglected item is this Teddy stamp.

Do you make cards for Valentine's Day?

Some Valentines, inspired by Tim

It's February, the month for Valentines! 

I was inspired by Tim Holtz's Valentine video last month to pull out my Valentine supplies and make some cards.  

supplies: watercolor cardstock, various pink and yellow cardstock, Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations (retired) Doily die, Spun Sugar distress ink, Altenew Mini Flower Cluster Layering die set, stamped leaves from my scrap basket, Tim Holtz Sentiments Label sticker

Isn't this embossing folder a treasure?  The dimension is wonderful!  I took Tim's example and inked the flat side of it with spun sugar distress ink before embossing it in my machine.  I wanted to simulate a kind of tussy-mussy, a little bouquet of posies wrapped in a lacy doily, and I think this mini flower cluster does the trick.  Then I just added a sentiment label.  

Next, I left my heart do the choosing, picking things from my stash that have meaning to me: script, gingham, blues, lace, lilies of the valley and forget-me-nots.  

supplies: white card base, unknown script patterned paper, Tim Holtz Idea-ology Lace Baseboard Frame, ephemera from Botanical Layer , SmallTalk Occasions sentiment strip, blue gingham ribbon, blue pearls

After I'd glued the largest ephemera piece to the lace baseboard, I glued the smaller one to the script backing, then added adhesive foam pieces to the frame to make it stand up even more from the card base.  I wanted to accent the blues, so I added a small blue gingham bow and some blue pearls.

These Lace baseboard frames are really lovely, and I'm so glad that they're still available!

Thanks for stopping by!  Will you be making some Valentines this month?