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!  

Summer Solstice Garden: Echinacea

 Here's the 2nd set of dies I received from Susan Tierney Cockburn's latest collection for Spellbinders  These are coneflowers.

supplies: white, Colorwheel Coral, rust, and green cardstock, a plaid dp, Echinacea dies, picked raspberry distress ink, sentiment from Thanks Enclosed Sentiments dies, oval die

Coneflowers used to come only in a bright pink color back when we started gardening, but have since evolved to many beautiful color combinations.  One of my favorites mimics a sunset, with shades of pinks and corals.  So I started with a coral cardstock and brushed on picked raspberry distress ink from the center outwards, then cut my centers from a rust cardstock.  This plaid design paper was subtle enough, yet had the right colors to complement my flowers, and then I just added a simple sentiment, suitable for so many occasions.

I hope you'll give Susan's Summer Solstice collection a look; this one also includes Anemones, Petunias, Begonias, a new sentiment pressplate, and a beautiful 3D embossing folder.

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Summer Solstice Garden: Cosmos

 Susan Tierney Cockburn has designed some more pretty flower dies for us in her latest collection that she calls Summer Solstice Garden.  I chose 2 of them; today I'll be showing you the Cosmos set.

supplies: white and pastel colors of cardstock, inks to match, Spellbinders Cosmos dies, Four Petal Floral 3D embossing folder, sentiment from Nature's Botanical Garden Sentiments BetterPress plates/dies

I've been repeatedly seeing an IG picture of cosmos in a color mix I'd never seen before, called Apricot Lemonade, so I thought I'd try and duplicate those colors for today's card. The Cosmos I'm familiar with are usually in shades of pale and rosy pink and white.  After I'd constructed my flowers, I remembered this gorgeous embossing folder, and sure enough, I think it sets off my flowers perfectly.  I wanted to get as many of the background flowers onto my card, so this is a 5 X 7 card for a change.  The sentiment is also by Susan.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'll be back in a few days with the Echinacea (Coneflower) set that Susan included in her collection.

Nature's Botanical Garden by Susan Tierney-Cockburn

 Susan Tierney Cockburn has a new collection at Spellbinders, called Nature's Botanical Garden.  It includes several floral die sets, plus a large 3D embossing folder and sentiments in the form of BetterPress plates.  

supplies: white cardstock, Nature's Botanical Wreath embossing folder, Nature's Botanical Garden Sentiments plate and matching die, markers to color

My card is 5 X 7 inches.  The sentiment plates (and matching dies) consist of 7 different garden-related sentiments in different fonts and sizes.  I heartily agree with this particular one!  

Next I made an A2 card, simply embossing just part of the design on yellow cardstock, then gently rubbing some white pigment ink over the uplifted design.

supplies: white and yellow cardstock, Nature's Botanical Wreath 3D embossing folder, white pigment ink,  A Little Hello die

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope your day is full of whatever you love!

Adding Texture

Recently, Jennifer McGuire did a wonderful tutorial on adding texture using cover dies and die-cuts.  I loved her examples and couldn't wait to give her technique a try!  So I dug out some of my own supplies and here are the results.

supplies: kraft, Mint, Green Leaf and a darker and a lighter green cardstock, Spellbinders Ferns dies, Simon Detail Bohemian cover plate, The Greetery Opposites Attract stamp and matching die, Hero Arts Latte ink

I followed Jennifer's directions exactly and I love the results!  I think, because of the colors and the leaves, this would make a great card for a guy.  So for my 2nd card I made a card  maybe more suited to a girl.

supplies: white, green apple, orange peel, audrey blue, and sunshine card, Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms and leaves from Stitched Flowers dies, Pink Fresh Studio Floral and Diamond Tiles cover plate and Perfect Sentiments hot foil plate and matching cutting dies, gold glimmer foil, Doodlebug sprinkles

This time I did a simple design with the large flowers and leaves, glued onto a white base, then run through my machine with an embossing mat and folder only so as not to cut out the design, just impress it.  After trimming the panel and matting it, I added smaller flowers and popped up my foiled sentiment.

Be sure to watch Jennifer's video that I referenced at the top - she has lots of ideas for this technique.

New Spellbinders Goodies!

I had the most fun putting together today's card!  It uses some Hollyhock dies and a garden sentiment from Susan Tierney Cockburn's latest collection called Through the Garden Gate, along with a new Becca Feeken slimline die called Half Slimline Bracket from her new Layered Fleur Bouquet Slimline release!

supplies: grey, Surf Blue, Green Leaf, pale yellow, and coral cream card, Susan Tierney Cockburn's Hollyhock dies and Through the Garden Gate sentiment, Becca Feeken's Half Slimline Bracket dies

The slimline bracket die looks like a beautiful wrought-iron gate to me, so I chose a medium grey for that and placed it against a light blue background.  Then I constructed my hollyhock stem and added it along with the sentiment.  

Hollyhocks are another plant that I can't seem to grow well in my gardens, so I was thrilled to be able to play with this paper version!  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Susan's Garden Favorites

Susan Tierney Cockburn is releasing some new dimensional flower dies this month at Spellbinders, and I was lucky to play with 3 of them.  I chose these because they are all sentimental favorites of mine.  I used colored cardstock for all of my cards

First up, Trillium.  I got to know this woodland wildflower up close and personal, as it grew in the woods near our house here in Ohio.  Sadly, that area has just recently been developed for condominiums, so the huge swaths of trillium there are no more.  I was able to transplant a few to our gardens, however.

supplies: cream, bright yellow, and 2 green cardstock colors, Susan's Garden Favorites Trillium dies, Memory Box Pinpoint Leaf Plate, Simon Miss You die

Next up, Lilac, everyone's sentimental favorite.  We had a long line of these growing along the driveway at my Grandfather's house, and we have a double red variety (similar in color to the lilac below on the left) on the south side of our house now, a transplant from my Dad's garden.  Who can resist their unmistakable fragrance?  

supplies: 2 purple, green, kraft cardstock, a script pattern paper, Susan's Garden Favorites Lilac dies, branch from her Dogwood set, (retired) Hero Arts cling sentiment stamp, twine, vintage photo distress ink

I thought this faint script background and the sentiment made a good fit with this spray.

And finally, Dogwood.

supplies: kraft, cream and green cardstock, a watercolor patterned paper, Susan's Garden Favorites Dogwood dies, (retired) Simon sentiment from Beautiful Day, (retired) Hero Arts tiny pale green pearls

This is another plant that I grew up with.  Another native tree, it comes in this classic cream color, also in pinks, and has a lovely graceful way of spreading its branches.  A sign of spring for sure!

Many thanks to Spellbinders for sharing these with me!  

Susan's Spring Flora dies

 Spellbinder's kindly sent me 2 sets of dies from the latest Susan Tierney-Cockburn Spring Flora collection.  Here are some cards I made with my new goodies!

First up, a card featuring one of my favorite flowers: Lily of the Valley.  Here in NE Ohio, ours bloom right around Mother's Day, so I framed them with a pretty doily.

supplies: white and Surf Blue cardstock, Lily of the Valley and (retired) Floral Oval Doily dies, oxide inks to color leaves and stems, sentiment from Newton's Nook Woodland Spring

Aren't these a wonderful representation of this sweet flower?  I didn't do the best job getting the petals cupped correctly; they should look like little bells.  I need to practice some more....

Since my first card is so feminine, I made a masculine card next with another set of dies, called Ferns and Ivy.

supplies: beige and kraft cardstock, Ferns and Ivy dies, sentiment from Sept 2018 Large Die of the Month, mowed lawn oxide ink, Tim Holtz Lumber embossing folder, vintage photo distress ink

I only used 1 of the fern dies for my card, cutting it 5 times; the set also has 2 other fern dies and an ivy one too!   I chose the set because I think it will be invaluable for masculine cards like this, but also the ferns or ivy will work beautifully with any floral die.

Many thanks to Spellbinders!

Pink Poppies

 I wanted to play once again with Susan Tierney-Cockburn's Oriental Poppy dies.  

When we were first planting our gardens, our neighbor gave us seeds from her pink poppies that came from her grandmother's garden.  These were so unusual, because they produced both a simple-petal flower and a multi-petal one!  Over the years they have dwindled, because I haven't saved the seeds, just allowing what seeds on its own from year to year.  This last summer, I think we had only 1 or 2 plants. Here's a picture of them in their heyday, from 2004.  I'm not sure these are oriental poppies, as they had yellow centers when they opened, and no black shading like is usually seen in most other poppies.  They grew 2 or 3 feet tall.

And here's my card in memory of those lovely flowers.

supplies: white, black, Green Apple, and a pink cardstock,  Oriental Poppy dies, Hemstitch Rectangle die, Tammy Tutterow (retired) sentiment, black pearls for centers, sparkle clear sequins

This time I used the bud die that is included in the set.  These flowers take a little bit of time to prepare once they're die-cut, using a stylus to add some veining, and I also used a little blender brush and some ink to darken the centers of the petals.   But I think the results are lovely, and I look forward to seeing more of Susan's lovely dies going forward.  

Did you know that there are blue poppies?  That will be my next project!  

Susan's Autumn Flora Collection

 Spellbinders allowed me to play with 2 of Susan Tierney Cockburn's new floral dies from her latest collection!

Here are my cards using them.

supplies: rust, orange, gold, green, and kraft card, a woodgrain patterned paper, Susan's Button and Daisy Chrysanthemum dies, metallic sequins

These dies come with a number on each one, which tells you how many times to cut it.  The bottom 2  are 14 layers deep, and I used 1 of each of the 6 different sizes on the gold one  I thought they looked pretty against a woodgrain backgound.

Next is Susan's Oriental Poppy set.  Since we're so close to Veteran's Day, I made them red and added some details to make it appropriate for that holiday.

supplies: white, red, green, and black cardstock, Susan's Oriental Poppy dies, red pearl centers, retired Hero Arts sentiment and script background

Also in this Autumn Flora Collection are dies for making hydrangeas, coreopsis, gaillardia, plus 2 sets of foliage, and a set of sentiment stamps!

Many thanks to Spellbinders for allowing me to play with these!  Loving flowers like I do, I know I'll use them often in the years to come.