Another Fall Birthday

 Here's my second birthday card for this month.

supplies: cream and black cardstock, Clearly Besotted (retired) Autumn Flowers, My Favorite Things DieNamics (retired) Happy die, Honey Bee Stamps Bitty Buzzwords die, adhesive foam

On an A2 panel of cream cardstock, I repeatedly stamped the maple leaf in reds, golds, and oranges, then cut out the big "happy" from it about 2/3 of the way down.  Next I glued on my birthday setiment, then added lots of adhesive strips and dots to pop the panel above the card base.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Oak Leaf Thanks

Here's a card I made with a freebie I got from a Poppy Stamps order I placed in late August.  This is a set of 2 dies called Adornment Oak Leaf, and contains a large oak leaf outline and another the same size with veining details.  It would make a lovely paper-pieced design, but for my first card with it, I just cut out the leaf from an embossed background, and used the second die to add the leaf details. 

supplies: cream, 2 krafts, and rust cardstock, Birch Press Design Adornment Oak Leaf dies, Spellbinders Oak Forest 3D embossing folder and (retired) acorn dies, sentiment from (retired) Sugar Pea Designs Fall Fox stamps, twine

Oaks were my Dad's favorite tree in the fall, preferring their duller colors to the maples.

Thanks for stopping by today - have a lovely one!

Woodblock Wednesday!

It's time for Woodblock Wednesday!  October means pumpkins, so I pulled out these Hero Arts 2009 stamps and paper-pieced them this time.

supplies: cream cardstock, patterned papers in orange, aqua, and brown, Hero Arts Traditional Pumpkin and Tall Pumpkin, Darice (retired) embossing folder, sentiment from Spellbinders All Seasons Autumn Press Plate/die set, die-cut leaves

You can see more cards using woodblock stamps at Amy's blog HERE.

I'd like to enter this into the Love Those Pretty Papers challenge for this month.

For a Fall Birthday

 We have 2 birthdays this month for which I send cards - both of them are Davids, both have last names beginning with B, and now both of them live in Georgia!  I'm a broken record, but I always make them a card that uses autumnal tones and subject matter.

Here's my first card of the 2 for this year.  

supplies: cream and orange cardstock, a dotty orange printed paper (Amuse), Rosewood Canada/FrogsWhiskersink (retired) cling stamp called Bittersweet Wreath, (retired) MFT Dienamics Spring Wreath bow die, sentiment from Simon Says Stamp (retired) Joys of Spring set, Spellbinders Perfect Touch rectangle die

Bittersweet has always been a favorite of mine, and I chose this wreath way back in 2011 or so when I was part of the Lily Pad Designs team.  I wanted to use some orange nuvo drops to make the berries dimensional, but I don't have the strength in my hands anymore to squeeze them out of the bottle.  Darn!  

We've been seeing Bittersweet vines here and there on our daily walks in the parks here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn Leaves

 I recently took advantage of a great deal at Poppy Stamps and got myself this Harvest Oval Frame.  Here's my first play with it.

supplies: cream cardstock, Poppy Stamps (retired) Harvest Oval Frame die, Zig markers and distress inks, sentiment from (retired) Impression Obsession Autumn Leaves

I believe this was included in a Labor Day sale.  Poppy Stamps, Birch Press Designs, and Memory Box all come from the same source, and when they have a sale, they include free shipping and throw in some freebies - how generous of them!  I'll have another card soon using the free die that they sent along in my order.

This sentiment has a special meaning to me, as it is one of the recurring themes that our Bluecoats drum corps often play as an encore after their performances.  

Also this season is special to me also because of family outings in the fall, that we took growing up,  packing a picnic lunch and exploring the woods in Pennsylvania for a day every fall.

Hope you're enjoying the season!

New Wendy Vecchi Collection - Tabbed Classics

I was lucky enough to get some of Wendy Vecchi's newest collection from Spellbinders!  I really love her 3D folder, matching dies, and stencils called Thank You Bouquet.  You can buy them as a bundle, or just the folder/dies set.  They are easy to work with and I love the results, so I made 2 cards with them.

supplies: white cardstock, Thank You Bouquet bundle, sentiment from (retired) Curved Everyday Sentiments glimmer plate

The embossing folder includes this bouquet, plus 5 separate flowers and a sentiment that can be layered on top.  I added a large flower popped above everything else.  There are matching dies for everything.

Next I played again with more pastel colors and added the bouquet to a splattered background paper.

supplies: white cardstock, splattered patterned paper, Thank You Bouquet bundle, sentiment from (retired) Sending Sentiments clear stamp/die set

I'd like to enter these 2 cards above into the October Triple B challenge: Birds, Butterflies, and Blooms., and into the Stencil Fun Challenge.

My last card today uses Wendy's Essential Envelope and In and Out Sentiments set from this new collection.

supplies: white, yellow, blue, dark blue, and green cardstock, patterned floral paper, Essential Envelope Everyday Add-Ons, Tabbed In & Out Sentiments stamps

Think of these dies as library pockets, .  After cutting and assembling my design, I centered the pocket on an A2 panel, gluing it only along the sides.  Then I inserted the tabbed card, which I trimmed a bit on each side to ease its sliding into the envelope.  

Here it is with the tab pulled up.

The Tabbed  Sentiments set has has 6 larger words to be stamped on the tab, and then 4 sets of sub-sentiments to be used inside, deeper down.  Here I used 2 tabs, Pull, and Sending, and a sub-sentiment "a huge hug".  And there are matching dies for everything.

The envelope set also includes these dies to make the flower and leaves..

Thanks for stopping by today.

October Spellbinders Club Kits: Glimpses of Christmas, part 2

 The Spellbinders Club Kits for October are now available until October 27; the overall theme is Glimpses of Christmas.

First I played with the Large Dies: Window Wonderland.

supplies: greys, cream, green, red, and white glitter cardstock, Window Wonderland dies, Brick by Brick 3D embossing folder, sentiment and matching die from To You and Yours set

This is one of the most intricate die sets I can remember working with - 35 pieces!  There's also a child pulling a sled included, which is coming up next.  And it works nicely with the brick embossing folder.

Here's a card to show you the child pulling his sled full of gifts, mixed with several of the other Club Kits.

supplies: colored cardstock, Window Wonderland large dies, Snow Day Friends small dies, Magic Wonderland glimmer plate and Moondust glimmer foil, sentiment from To You and Yours

Here is the Caboodle Bonus for this month, mixed with the embossing folder and some greens.

supplies: red, white, and green cardstock, Magic for You dies, Holiday Flurry embossing folder, Christmas Wreath Add-Ons greens

My last card shows you the biggest stamp in the Stamps/Dies: To You and Yours. mixed with the Glimmer plate, Magic Wonderland.

supplies: green and white cardstock, To You and Yours tree stamp and matching die, Magic Wonderland glimmer plate, embossed, red and yellow enamel dots

I stamped the tree in green ink, cut it out with its matching die, and added some "berries" and a star using enamel dots.  For the background, I embossed the glimmer plate; I wanted just some subtle texture.

Edited to add my card using this month's BetterPress plates, called Made with Snowflakes.

supplies: white and red cardstock, Made with Snowflakes (includes sentiment), red marker to color hats

What an easy card to make - I just pressed the snowmen image using black ink, then carefully colored in their hats.  There are 3 sentiment plates in this set.  I pressed this one using red ink, matted it with red cardstock, and affixed it to the card front.  

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!

October Spellbinders Club Kits: Glimpses of Christmas

The Spellbinders Club Kits for October are available, now until October 27!  The theme this month is Glimpses of Christmas!

The Stencils, called Frosty Wishes, make a big A2 card-sized snowman!

supplies: white, red, and green cardstock, Frosty Wishes layering stencils, inks in black, grey, red, pink, orange, and blue, Spellbinders holly leaves and berries dies

I added some holly leaves and berries to his hat, and left off a sentiment.

Next I combined the Dies of the Month, Snow Day Friends, with the Glimmer plate, Magical Wonderland, and one of the sentiments from the Stamps, To You and Yours.

supplies: white and colored cardstock, Magical Wonderland Glimmer plate and silver foil, Snow Day Friends dies, To You and Yours sentiment, red ink, gifts from Window Wonderland (large dies of the month)

This was a fun little scene to put together!  The dies also include a snowman, but I chose to use the tree first.  The little gifts are part of the Large Dies of the Month.  The Glimmer Kit includes a roll of Polished Brass glimmer foil, but I thought silver looked better on my blue background.

Here's the snowman from the set, mixed with the Emossing folder, Holiday Flurry, another sentiment from To You and Yours, and a string of lights from the Large Dies, Window Wonderland.

supplies: white and teal cardstock, Holiday Flurry embossing folder, peacock feathers ink, Snow Day Friends snowman, WindowWonderland lights, To You and Yours sentiment, circle die, adhesive foam squares

I started by trimming a white panel, then cutting a circle in the center, then embossing the panel.  I then lightly swiped on some peacock feathers ink, and added it to my teal mat.  The wnowman and lights were constructed and popped above the circle, and the sentiment was added to finish.

My last card for today shows you the Stitching dies, Peppermint Prancer, the 3D embossing folder, Brick by Brick, and another of the stamps.

supplies: colored cardstocks, Brick by Brick 3D embossing folder, Peppermint Prancer stitching dies, red, white, and beige emboidery floss, To You and Yours stamp

Please come back again in a few days to see the rest of the cards I made with this month's Club Kits.

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!

October Hero Studio - Merry Era

The Hero Arts Studio Kits for October are now available through the 27th of this month.  The overall theme this month is Merry Era.

I always play with the stencils first.  This month they are called The Tree.

supplies: white and dark teal cardstock, The Tree layering stencils, pink, silver, and blue-green inks, sentiment and matching die from Merry Era Card Kit, dewdrops, adhesive foam squares

As always, the stencils are 4 pieces, 3 for the tree and 1 for the baubles.  I added some dewdrops over some of the pink areas amidst the branches, for a little sparkle and dimension, and popped up the sentiment for the same reason.  I trimmed the A2 panel just a tad so that I could mat it with dark teal.

Next up are the Fancy Dies, Twinkle Lights.

supplies: white, gold metallic, red, blue, green, and gold glitter cardstock, Twinkle Lights fancy dies, sentiment from Merry Era Studio Card Kit and die to match, circle dies

This is a set of 5 strings of Christmas lights, and dies to cut out the lights themselves.  The sentiment was the one that I thought worked the best from the Card Kit.  I used gold metallic cardstock for the strings and 4 different glitter cardstocks for the lights.

The Card Kit contains a set of dies to make this big disco ball.  It will fit onto an A2 card, but I chose to make a Christmas Ornament out of it.  It is 4 1/4" in diameter, and has a separate die to make a hook so that you can add a thread to hang it by.

supplies: matte and mirror silver metallic cardstock, red cardstock, Merry Era dies

And finally, here are some of the stamps and matching dies featured in this month's Studio Card Kit.

supplies: metallic silver, teal and white cardstock, Merry Era Card Kit, red and grey inks, clear ink and silver embosing powder, prisma glitter and glue pen, adhesive foam squares

The stamp set and dies to match are all about disco balls, so I stamped and embossed with silver against a teal background, then stamped the sentiment and Santa hat in red, adding a bit of glitter on the hat for some more glitz, and popped them up.  The card front is matted in metallic silver.

The Studio Collection is available now through the 27th of the month.  This is subscription-based, discounted from retail, and includes FREE shipping (for US customers)!

You can subscribe anytime and cancel hassle-free.

Currently the Studio includes 5 separate kits: a Card Kit, Layering Stencils, Fancy Dies, a Cling stamp, and a Clear Set of Stamps and matching Dies.  You can also get The Whole Studio, which includes all of the kits at a discount, plus a bonus item each month.  

A really nice perk is that, once you subscribe to any of the kits, you also will get free shipping on all orders that you make at Hero Arts between the 1st and 5th of each month!