Cardinals in the Snow

As much as I complain about winter, one thing that is pure joy at this time of year is watching the birds at our feeders.  In the last few years it seems like there aren't as many cardinals as in past years, but when we get a snow, then they appear, almost always in pairs, and 3 or 4 pairs at a time!  They are gorgeous at this time of year, all the redder against the snow!

So I decided to make a card to recreate those times.

supplies: colored cardstock, white glitter cardstock, a snowflake embossing folder, rubbed with white ink,  Spellbnders Tweet Cardinal and branch from Sweet Birds on a Branch, Simon Says Stamp Four Seasons die and stamped Winnie & Walter Big Bold Seasons sentiment, several small snowflake dies

What's your favorite bird to see at this time of year?  I love the chickadees and woodpeckers.

Summer Roses

Last month when there was so much Christmas in July going on, I thought I'd use some Christmas supplies and try to adapt them to everyday.  This BetterPress Winter Rose plate was an easy one for that transition.  It's a beautiful rose background, so I colored it in pinks and yellows, my favorite colors for roses, using the matching stencils in the bundle.

supplies: white, pink, and vellum cardstock, Spellbinders Winter Rose pressplate/stencil bundle, Pink Fresh Studio Fairy Dust and Rise and Shine, Simon Spring and Dublin, and Altenew Sand Dunes inks, Winnie & Walter (retired) Noelle Scalloped Rectangle die, Simon A2 Frames die, Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice Sentiments

Summer is going fast - hope you're enjoying it!

Woodblock Wednesday

 Woodblock Wednesday time!  This month I used a big Hero Arts woodblock called Silhouette Grass, dated 2010.

supplies: white and black cardstock, (retired) Hero Arts Silhouette Grass woodblock, Newton's Nook Retro Sun & Palms stencil set (sun and birds), distress inks, (retired) Winnie & Walter Summer Cutaway 

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

Woodblock Wednesday!

 "Tis the season for picking posies from my garden to bring inside to enjoy and I often pop them into a canning jar to sit on our kitchen table.   So this month I chose a Stampendous stamp dated 2013 and a Hero Arts sentiment dated 2009 for my Woodblock Wednesday entry!

supplies: white and pale aqua cardstock, Stampendous Jar Bouquet, Hero Arts To Be So Nice woodblocks, Spellbinders Perfect Touch rectangle die, Winnie & Walter (retired) Audrey's Cutaways scalloped rectangle die, tiny punched butterfly from my scrap basket

 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.

Sunny Thoughts

 Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a challenge blog named The Play Date Cafe.  One of my favorite recurring challenges there was called "Black and White and a Splash". Here's a card inspired by that challenge.

supplies: white and bright yellow cardstock, Winnie & Walter (retired) Audrey's Cutaways scalloped rectangle, Honey Bee Stamps Daisy Layers Bouquet stamps and matching stencils, yellow inks, a Simon reverse sentiment strip, adhesive foam 

The stamp set includes 2 stamps, the large one which makes the full bouquet, and a smaller one which duplicates most of the flowers in it.  I stamped each of them on white card, then colored in the smaller with the matching stencils and 4 yellow inks.  This sentiment strip continues the black and white theme, but it's nice and skinny so that it doesn't cover up much of the design!

Wishing you a sunny day!

Spring Breeze Hello

I thought the Waffle Flower Spring Breeze stencils would be a fun addition to my collection, especially because of the butterflies.   I enjoyed bringing the design to life, and then gave it an overnight to decide how I wanted to proceed with my card.  

This morning I decided to try the eclipse/hidden message technique.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Waffle Flower Spring Breeze stencil set, Simon Saturated inks trios 3, 9, 12, 15 and 17, Winnie & Walter (retired) In a Word: Hello die, Wplus9 (retired) Hand Lettered Hello stamp

Can you see the hidden "hello"?  There are 6 layers of it, the topmost cut from my stencilled panel, then layed back into the design.  Here's another shot.

Hopefully this will brighten someone's day!  

Enjoy your weekend - it's turned chillier here again, after an 80 degree day recently.  That's too hot too soon for me, so I'll take this moderation. 

March Daffodils

Happy March!  I take this month as my okay to bring on the spring stuff! Daffodils are the birth flower for March; who can resist their sweet faces? 

supplies: white, yellows, green, and aqua cardstock, Sunny Studio Gingham Pastels dp, Winnie & Walter (retired) Audrey's Cutaways scalloped rectangle die, Spellbinders Rainboot Bouquet flowers and leaves, PTI Tuck It Sentiments stamp and die, sentiment from Simon (retired) Love and Friendship stamps

I had so much fun making this one; love the yellows with aqua!  I have a feeling there are more daffodils in my future.......

I just saw the current Inspired By.....  challenge is spring and gingham.  Their inspiration photo has daisies and gingham, so fresh!  I love a mix of spring flowers and some gingham!

Thank you for stopping by!  Hopefully we'll start seeing these for real soon!

In the Garden

Oh my, I love my new set of stencils from Taylored Expressions!  They are one of their Triple Slim Layering sets, and they are perfect for this time of year!  It was fun to make some mini-slimline cards again, too.  

These sets are designed to make 3 different designs all at one time, using these large stencils, then cutting the large finished panel into thirds.  Here are my results.

supplies: white and pink cardstock, In the Garden stencil set, mini inks in Pink Fresh Fairy Dust, Rise & Shine, and Morning Sky, Altenew Lime, Fresh Leaf, Lavender Fields, and Snapdragon, blending brushes, Simon Says Stamp (retired) Best Mom Ever sentiment

supplies: white and lavender cardstock, In the Garden stencil set, same inks as above, Winnie & Walter (retired) Big, Bold, and Happy sentiment stamps

supplies: white and Audrey Blue cardstock, In the Garden stencil set, same inks as above, Simon Says Stamp Vintage Garden sentiment

Isn't the font on this last card beautiful?

These came just in time to make some Mother's Day cards, with an extra that will work for many occasions.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Spring Hugs

Here's a card using the Petal Pusher stand-alone floral dies from the Greetery,  paired with a heart splatter stamp and a die-cut sentiment.

supplies: white, Green Apple, purple, dark aqua, and black cardstock, The Greetery Petal Pusher Blooms dies, unknown Hugs die, Your Next Stamp Mini Heart Ink Splatter, Altenew Ocean Waves and Hydrangea inks, (retired) Winnie & Walter Noelle Scalloped Rectangle die, adhesive foam squares

I like this combination of aqua and purple with a bright green.  And it was fun to pull out the heart splatter stamp and the Scalloped Rectangle die to give them some love!

Once again, thanks so much for coming by today.

October Birthday cards

 Here are some birthday cards for October.

supplies: kraft cardstock, plank dp from Hobby Lobby, DecoFoil Endless Leaves clear toner sheet, orange foil, laminator, Simon stamped sentiment from Best Year Yet

I cut this aqua plank design paper into 4 A2 pieces with the planks running horizontally, foiled the leaves toner sheet, and glued it directly on top.  Then I used another trimmed piece to stamp my sentiment, and then paper-pieced it into place over the foiled piece. 

Here's another card that is a CASE of this one, but done in Candy Corn colors for fall.

supplies: white and orange cardstock, Hero Arts (retired) Leaf & Floral Background cling, Altenew Chamomile and Marigold inks, sentiment from (retired) Essential Messages, Winnie & Walter (retired) In a Word Happy die, cut 3 times and colored with markers to match inks

I'll have the a couple more cards for birthdays up in a few days.  Hope you'll stop by then.

One Big Hug

 I was in the mood for some turnabout stamping, and pulled out this Blooms Turnabout.  I did it in pinks and yellows this time.

supplies: white, Green Leaf, Green Apple, Doll Pink pale pink and pale yellow card, Concord & 9th Blooms Turnabout stamps, sentiment from (retired) Simon's Happy Every Day set, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry, squeezed lemonade, and mustard seed oxide inks, Altenew Lime and Fresh Leaf inks, Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms dies, Winnie & Walter (retired) Noel scalloped rectangle die, adhesive foam squares

This turnabout set actually has 2 turnabout stamps, one for the leaves, another for the flowers!  The turnabouts are fun to play with and always give pretty results, no matter what colors you choose!  And I think this Be Bold Bloom flowers are a nice match with the floral stamps..

Thanks for stopping by today - have a good one!

Ever in Bloom Quads, take 2

Happy Memorial Day for those of you in the States!  Be safe, and remember what we're celebrating.

Here are 4 more cards in a different colorway using the Taylored Expressions Create in Quads Ever in Bloom stencils.

supplies: white, purple, Audrey Blue, and pale yellow cardstock, Ever in Bloom Quad stencils, Altenew inks in Aqualicious, Hydrangea, Fresh Lemon, Forest Glade, Evergreen, and vintage photo distress, various stamps and dies as sentiments, see below

sentiment from (retired) Simon Beautiful Day, embossed in white

Paper Rose Sending Love and Hugs die

Wplus9 (retired) Handwritten Hello stamp, Winnie & Walter (retired) Noelle scalloped rectangle die

Hero Arts Thinking of You Stamp and Cut clear stamp

HERE's a link to my first set of cards, done in warmer colors.  These are so fun to work with, and I love that you get 4 different designs each time you sit down with this set!  All you need is a sentiment to finish!

Thanks for stopping by!

Little Things

I'm not done playing with these PTI stencils yet - I wanted to do them in blue, and emboss them this time.

supplies: white and blue cardstock, PTI Wild Blooms Stencil set, altenew mini inks and blending brushes, Impression Obsession (retired)  Little Things cling sentiment, (retired) Winnie & Walter Audrey's Cutaways stitched scalloped rectangle die

I did a wordy sentiment again as I've done before.  This simple design works well with them, I think.  I don't need too much pushing to use this darling one, and I'm glad when I can!  After finishing the stencilling, I stamped the sentiment, trimmed it into a smaller scalloped panel, then added the large flower stencil over it and ran it through my Spellbinders machine with an embossing pad and plate. It adds a subtle dimension to an otherwise flat card. 

On a personal note, today would have been my Daddy's 103rd birthday!  We had him for 95 years, and there still isn't a day that something doesn't remind me of him!  He sure does take up lots of room in my heart!

Thanks for coming by today - have a good one.

More Blues for Spring

Something I really enjoy about this time of year is being able to open our windows and enjoy all the sounds and smells from outside.  Judging by the birdsong I hear, they are just as excited to have Spring back as we are!  So today I pulled a bunch of some of my favorite things and mixed them up for my card.

supplies: white cardstock, Tim Holtz Grey Two-Tone Woodgrain cardstock, Lawn Fawn Floral Wreath and bird from Magic Iris Birdhouse dies, My Favorite Things Home Tweet Home Birdhouse die, Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend True Blue and Light Green markers, The Crafts Meow (retired) Happy as a Lark sentiment, Winnie & Walter  (retired) Noelle Scalloped Rectangle die, adhesive foam mini squares

All of these elements have stitching in them, so I went looking for a cover plate die that had stitching also.  I had a few things to choose from, but I liked the scallops on this old Winnie & Walter one.

As always, thanks so much for coming by - have a beautiful day!

Pink Dogwood on Plaid

Happy May!!

Playing still with some plaid backgrounds that I made earlier this spring.  I paired this one with a branch of pink dogwood.

supplies: white, kraft, Cotton Candy, Banana, and Green Apple cardstock, vellum, (retired) Tammy Tutterow plaid stencil, (retired) Winnie and Walter Scenery Stripes and Kitchen Sink Gingham and Plaid stamps, spun sugar, squeezed lemonade and vintage photo distress inks, Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers Dogwood dies, Spellbinders scallop oval die, sentiment from Newton's Nook Little Lilies, microdot adhesive

I cut 2 layers of the scallop oval from vellum to serve as my base for the dogwood branch, and to dull the background there a bit.  Microdot adhesive held everything together.  

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Boughs & Holly

 Concord and 9th brought out another set of layering stencils, this time for Christmas, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on them!  Here are 4 cards resulting from my first play with them.  

supplies: white and Lipstick Red cardstock, Concord & 9th Boughs & Holly wreath stencils, twisted citron, mowed lawn, rustic wilderness, abandoned coral, and festive berries distress inks, (retired) Winnie & Walter In a Word Merry die, My Favorite Things Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, micro dot adhesive

On card #2, I attached my sentiment to a vellum circle

supplies: white,, dusty pink, and Audrey Blue card, vellum, Concord & 9th Boughs & Holly Wreath stencils, Sea Shore, and Floral pink inks, Penny Black Joy to the World die, Lawn Fawn Fancy Scalloped Rectangle die, 2 shades of pink pearls, micro dot adhesive

On my next card I stamped a sentiment in the center and cut it out, then popped it above a snowflake background.  

supplies: white card, Concord & 9th Boughs & Holly Wreath stencils, twisted citron, evergreen bough, rustic wilderness, abandoned coral and candied apple distress inks, (retired) Simon Merry & Bright sentiment, (retired) snowflake embossing folder, adhesive foam to raise wreath, enamel dots to match

There are 2 different designs in this stencil pack - I preferred the wreath which I used above, but here is the other design which, after finishing, is quite growing on me!  You just need to find a sentiment that will fit in the 3 areas that it creates, or use a really large sentiment to cover that area.  Here I used an old set of Tim Holtz sentiment dies.

supplies: white and Lipstick Red card, Concord & 9th Boughs & Holly background stencils, same ink colors as card #1, Tim Holtz Holiday Words dies, Pink Fresh Studio Folk Edge Rectangle die, red pearls, micro dot adhesive

These stencils fall into the turnabout category because you use each of 3 stencils twice, turning it 180 degrees to complete each area of the design.  As someone who is not skilled at coloring with markers, I much prefer these stencil or stamp turnabouts!  The fun is all about choosing ink colors!

Thanks for sticking with me for my long post today!

Thankful Leaves Turnabout

 Today I have 3 cards that all start with the same Turnabout set called Thankful Leaves.  I haven't played with it for ages, and today I thought I'd stamp it with colors I haven't used before.  

supplies: white and a lilac from the Vibrant Violet paper pad, Thankful Leaves Turnabout stamp and a sentiment from the same set, Turnabout Jig, Wplus9 Blossomsberry and Wild Mango, Simon Audrey Blue and Khaki inks, espresso distress ink, embossed in clear, Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangle die

I love the effect the hemstitch rectangle die adds to a plain card front!  I got this color mix from one of my Pinterest boards.

After stamping the panel for this next card, I cut out a leaf shape and them popped the stamped panel above a solid backing, adding a stamped sentiment inside.  I like this mix of warm and cool colors.

supplies: white and Audrey Blue cardstock, Thankful Leaves Turnabout stamp, Turnabout Jig, sentiment from Harvest Wreath Turnabout set, peacock feathers, carved pumpkin, salvaged patina, and abandoned coral oxide inks, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, (retired) Neat & Tangled Maple Leaf Thanks die, adhesive foam to pop up stamped panel

And finally, my last card was made with a guy in mind.  The desert storm and kraft helps to tone down the bright colors I used on it.

supplies: kraft and desert storm cardstock, Thankful Leaves Turnabout stamp, Turnabout Jig, peacock feathers, ripe persimmon, mowed lawn, and mustard seed oxide inks, retired Winnie & Walter In a Word: Hello die

Turnabout stamps are some of my favorite things to play with when I'm low on mojo - they practically make themselves, once you've chosen colors!

New 3D Embossing Folders

 Spellbinders is launching a line of 3D Embossing Folders, and they were kind enough to send one of the 10 new ones to me.  It's called Puff Dotty - here's what I did with it.

supplies: white, 2 shades each of aqua, blue, and green cardstock, Spellbinders Puff Dotty 3D embossing folder, a daisy and leaves from a 2019 Small Die of the Month kit, retired Happy die, Tim Holtz Sentiment label sticker

To begin I cut some strips from 6 shades of blue to green cardstock, and glued them diagonally onto a 1 3/4" X 5 1/2" strip, then attached that to my white card panel and ran it through my Big Shot machine with the complete platform and 1 cutting plate.  Then I simply added my stacked sentiment and a daisy!

Be sure to check out all 10 of these new 3D folders - they are a generous 5 1/2" X 8 1/2" size, so you can use them for slimline cards too!

Green!

 I recently got some of the new Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated ink pads.  I chose these 3 greens because they look like they will work well for leaves with all my flower creations.  After doing a swatch test on white cardstock as I always do, and since I'm craving green,  I thought they would look nice also on a minty background.  So I pulled out an older Concord & 9th Turnabout stamp set and a Winnie & Walter sentiment die, and here is my result.

supplies: Mint and a darker green cardstock, Pawsitively Saturated inks in Trio 15:  Spring, Dublin, and Lucky, Concord & 9th Wreath Turnabout stamp, Turnabout Jig, (sadly retired) Winnie & Walter In a Word Hello die, adhesive foam

This turnabout makes a smallish wreath, so I didn't want to cover it up any more than I had to.  So I decided to add my sentiment using the eclipse/hidden sentiment technique.  I cut the hello out of my stamped design, then cut it 2 more times from adhesive foam and stacked them all before reinserting the word back into place.

Hopefully this will hold me awhile longer until spring actually shows itself around here!  

Gingham and Dots for Spring

 Here are 2 more cards using the sketch that I found on Norine's blog last year.  I'm looking towards spring already, so I used some sweet pastels on these ones.

supplies: white, pinks, yellows and Green Apple cardstock, dps from Echo Park Spring Dots & Stripes and Spring Dots & Stripes Gingham pads from 2018, The Greetery Sunflower Botanicuts dies, Hero Arts leaf die, (retired) Winnie & Walter hello die

What I most liked about Norine's card was her use of ginghams and dots in 2 sizes, and I've again followed suit for these cards.  It helps that I have 2 older Echo Park paper pads in my stash that coordinate nicely with each other.  Here's a yellow version.

supplies: white, kraft, yellows, and green cardstock, dps from same pads as above, The Greetery Sunflower Botanicuts, Hero Arts leaf die, (retired) Winnie & Walter hugs die

I've used this sketch before, first HERE for an autumn card, and HERE for a winter one.  And I plan to do a summer version when that gets closer.

Thanks for your visit today - have a great one!