Just Because

Here's another set that was meant for Christmas, but I wanted to get some more mileage out of it, so I changed up the colors.  

supplies: various oranges, blues, and greens cardstock, vellum, Concord & 9th Festive Blooms dies, Memory Box Just Because posh script die

Blues always make me happy, so I borrowed the colors from THIS card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peony Smiles

May is peony season here, though this year, I have a knockout rose that bloomed before the pink peonies did - it's been a weird spring!  We have old-fashioned peonies, transplants from a neighbor, in white, red (really dark pink), and pale pink, but I've seen pictures of yellow ones, so today I brought out an old favorite die set that is amazingly still available and made a card with them.

supplies: white, blue, yellows, and greens cardstock, blue gingham dp, Altenew Peony Dream dies, Pink Fresh Studio (retired) Phrase Builder Sending dies, Lawn Fawn Fancy Scalloped Rectangle dies

Peonies are one of God's miracles!  The amount of petals in a single flower blows my mind!  Here's a photo of one of our white ones.

Have a lovely day!

Gorgeous You Launch

Spellbinders just launched a collection called Gorgeous You, a Pink Fresh collaboration event held last August.  I used a 3D embossing folder and a set of floral dies for my card today.

supplies: white cardstock, plaid design paper, Doodlebug printed papers in blue, aqua, purple, green, and yellow, Gorgeous You Florals dies, Cross My Heart 3D embossing folder, sentiment from (retired) Sending Sentiments clear stamp set

I love the added interest that I get when using printed papers, especially these nicely-scaled Doodlebug ones.  They come in a lovely array of colors, too!  

Here's a 2nd card that uses the other flower in the Floral dies set.  I switched to reds for a change.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Doodlebug printed papers in reds, yellow, and green, Gorgeous You Florals dies, Cross My Heart 3D embossing folder, sentiment from Smooth Lines Mix & Match Sentiments

This Gorgeous You collection also includes a BetterPress sentiment set, and dies that depict a perfume bottle, makeup bag, and makeup to put in it - very fun!  I hope you'll give it a look!

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!

January Club Kits: Elliptical Weave Glimmer Kit

 This month's Glimmer of the Month kit from Spellbinders is called Elliptical Weave. It comes with this large A2 plate, plus 4 small sentiments, and a roll of Aura glimmer foil.

supplies: 2 blues, navy, green, and pale yellow cardstock, Elliptical Weave Glimmer kit, (which includes Aura glimmer foil), flowers and leaves from Botanical Atrium, sentiment from Nature's Dance, embossed in gold

After foiling the design, I cut out just one of the flowers and a leaf sprig that's in this month's Large Dies of the Month: Botanical Atrium, and attached them, following the foiled lines.  I felt that a simple centered statement was all that was needed; this one comes from the Stamps of the Month, Nature's Dance.

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!

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!

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!

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!

Willow Snowflake

 Here are 2 cards that features the Willow Snowflake die from Simon's Season of Wonder release back in October.  I love snowflakes, and don't have many this large, so I scooped this one up!

supplies: white cardstock, silver glitter cardstock, vellum, various Christmas print dps in pink and green, Simon Willow Snowflake dies, pink heart gem

I used a sketch that my friend Mary Anne shared with me recently - it's a great way to use up leftover scraps!

Here's card #2.

supplies: Surf Blue and aqua glitter card, Willow Snowflake die, Snowflake Visions embossing folder, sentiment from Warmest Wishes clear set, white pigment and High Dive inks

This die is very delicate!  It comes with a matching shadow die that you see on my first card in vellum, but for this card I wanted only the snowflake by itself.  Adding the small circle sentiment in the center gave me a place to put an adhesive foam square so that I could lift it above my card base.  

Wish I could capture the extreme sparkle the glitter card adds.

Hope your week goes well - thanks for stopping by today!

Blog Hop - My Favorite Spellbinders 2023 Club Product!

 Welcome to my stop on the Spellbinders Blog Hop featuring our favorite 2023 Club Products!

To celebrate, we are giving away a $25.00 gift certificate to 3 lucky blog readers, selected from the comments on the Spellbinders Blog!  The Giveaway closes on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 11:59 PM MST.  Winners will be announced on the Spellbinders Blog Hop post the following Wednesday, Dec. 12.  Winners are responsible for shipping costs, duties, and taxes.

You should have arrived here from Michelle Woerner's blog, and your NEXT STOP will be Alanna Moses' blog.

If you know me at all, you'll know that I'm a flower girl, and so I've chosen the January 2023 Large Dies of the Month as my favorite club kit from this year.  They are named Club Blooms, and I've chosen this set because of the lovely variety of elements Spellbinders has provided us in this set.  The single flowers are lovely and can be used singly or layered, and there is a wonderful variety of leaves, but I really enjoyed having the berry sprig and the mini-flower sprig to work with!  

For my new card today, I used a dark background embossed in a favorite 3D folder, and a favorite color scheme of blue and yellow.

supplies: Soft Navy, Cornflower Blue, light blue, Green Apple, and 2 yellow cardstock, Club Blooms dies, sentiment from Snowflake Wishes Stamp/Die set, Flower Frenzy 3D embossing folder

I'm also sharing 2 cards using this set that I've previously blogged back in January when this set was released.

supplies: white cardstock, Club Blooms, Spring Bouquet and Chamomile mini ink cubes, finger daubers, January Embossing Folder of the Month: Stylized Trellis, sentiment from Sentimental Greetings clear stamps

supplies: cream, yellow, pinks and greens cardstock, Spellbinders Club Blooms, Embossing Folder of the Month: Stylized Trellis, and sentiment from Log Cabin and Flower Mini Quilts

The complete list for the Hop can be found HERE at the Spellbinders Blog.  Thanks for visiting me today, and enjoy the Hop!

Kaleidoscope Arch Collection

 I was pleased to receive a stamp set and a die set from the new Kaleidoscope Arch Collection, and I made 2 cards with them!

supplies: cream, 2 peaches, yellow, and sage green cardstock, Kaleidoscope Arch dies and Kaleidoscope Sentiments stamps, Flower Frenzy 3D embossing folder

I used 2 of the arch dies, the flower and leaf dies, and one of the large sentiments from the stamp set, along with a stamped banner sentiment, arranged, and placed over my favorite floral embossed background.  I really like the way the large sentiments fit into the arches!  There's another one, too, that says "Thanks So Much", plus 2 other smaller supporting sentiments to fit on the banner. 

On the 2nd card, I used only the dies.

supplies: white, blues, aquas, purples, and green cardstock, Kaleidoscope Arch dies

As you can see, there's 1 stitching die included in this set, which can be added to the main arch, and there's also a die-cut sentiment: "From Me to You".  Since I did my first card in warm colors, this one got cool ones.

The collection also includes a new stencil and a press plate, so do be sure to check them out, also.

Let's enter both these cards into Simon's Wednesday Challenge: Thinking of You!

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

Spellbinders Club Kits for August, part 2: Clear Stamp and Die and Embossing Folders

 The Spellbinders Club Kits for August are now available! 

My first card features the Clear Stamp and Die of the Month, Happy Hello Floral, and the Embossing Folder, Arches and Dots.

supplies: white, purple, and dark green cardstock, Spellbinders Happy Hello Floral stamps  and dies, Arches and Dots embossing folder

I stamped and colored the floral image with markers, then used one of the dies to cut out the right side of the image, trimming the left side closer.  Then I embossed on a purple cardstock to match the flowers, added a thin strip of dark green, and a sentiment to my floral panel, and glued all to a card base.  

The stamp set has a total of 5 sentiments along with the large floral, and there are dies to match everything. 

Here is the 3D embossing folder, 3D Stylized Floral. I made 2 cards with it.  On the first one, I simply embossed it on a white panel, and then carefully colored it with alcohol markers, adding my sentiment to a vellum circle.

supplies: white and mint cardstock, vellum, 3D Stylized Floral embossing folder, markers to color, sentiment from Happy Hello stamp set

For my final card today, I just gently rubbed white pigment ink over a panel embossed on blue, then trimmed it and added a pre-printed sentiment strip.

supplies: white and cornflower cardstock, 3D Stylized Floral embossing folder, white pigment ink, sentiment strip

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available 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 the kits separately, but there are also lots of ways to combine several of them (scroll down and look under Value Clubs).  And you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty.

Stitched for Christmas

 Spellbinders has released a new collection of stitching dies, called Stitched for Christmas!  Here are my samples.

supplies: white, cream, pink, yellow and greens cardstock, pink metallic cardstock, Stitched Poinsettia and Holly dies, cream, pink, and green embroidery floss, 3 strands, Holly & Foliage 3D embossing folder, sentiment and pine sprigs from Mix & Match Holiday Greetings dies, pink metallic sequins

I've always loved pink poinsettias, so that's the direction I went for this first card, and I made a cream flower, also, then used cream and pink floss for my stitching.  After arranging the elements, I decided to bring in some glitz with a metallic sentiment, matting, and sequins.

Next I have 2 cards using the fun Stitched Starry Argyle plate.

supplies: red and teal green cardstock, pewter metallic kraft cardstock, Stitched Starry Argyle stitching plate, holly and berries from Stitched Poinsettia and Holly set, Joy dies, adhesive strips to lift word and holly

I love this argyle plate!  I used 6 strands of a teal green and a wheat floss to stitch it, then trimmed it very slightly so that I could mat it with a peacock green card.  I used the same cardstock colors for my holly and berries, stitching tone-on-tone for them.

Next is a winter card using the same Starry Argyle plate, done in blues this time.  After stitching in 2 shades of my favorite blue, I pulled out 4 ancient snowflakes from my scrapbasket and layered them as the focal point.  I left off a sentiment for now.

supplies: white and 2 shades of blue cardstock, white glitter cardstock, 2 shades of blue embroidery floss, Stitched Starry Argyle Stitching plate, a dark blue gem 

It doesn't show up here, but the largest white snowflake was cut from white glitter card, so between that and the blue gem in the very center, this is very sparkly!  I separated the 4 layers with adhesive foam squares for some dimension, but everything compacts back nicely when put into an envelope.

This plate is called "Starry" Argyle, but I think it looks like teensy snowflakes in between the stitches, so I changed to blues for something a little different.  Of course, this plate doesn't have to be holiday or winter themed, either - choose other colors and make a masculine card.  

Hope you've enjoyed my take on these new dies - thanks so much for stopping by!

Woodblock Wednesday

I've been enjoying finding a woodblock stamp to play with each month for Amy's Woodblock Wednesday challenge!  This month I have a Penny Black stamp called Scented Message, dated 2012, with a bonus sentiment from Paper Inspirations (no date shown). 

supplies: parchment cardstock, faded jeans distress cardstock and another in a slightly lighter blue, Penny Black Scented Message, Paper Inspirations Forget Me Not, Pink Fresh Studio Folk Edge Rectangle die, blue, green, and yellow markers

Everything I used to make this card is old - I used 12" cardstock for the blues, and a mottled creamy cardstock that I term "parchment" that I get at a local paper store, plus the 2 woodblock stamps.

Here's a picture of the stamps.

I hope you'll dig out your woodblocks, old or new, and play along too - you can find all the info here.  

Heavenly Blue

 .....that's the name of the Morning Glory seeds we plant each year to share a bean pole with a clematis.  The seeds take a while to germinate, and a little longer to climb, and set their flowers, but when they open they live up to their name in spades!!

supplies: white, Fog, blues from a Memory Box Ocean Blue 6" paper pad, Green Apple, Green Leaf, and Bazzill Gumdrop green cardstock, Altenew Climber Flowers layering dies, Simon Mini Slimline Lattice die, sentiment from Poppy Perfection, adhesive foam strips

Here's a photo taken in our garden in years past of these morning glories.  Isn't the color amazing?

Last year DH made the mistake of fertilizing this plant once it popped up from the soil, and we got a huge crop of leaves only, with maybe 5 flowers total!  Evidently they thrive on neglect, so this year, all they'll get from us is some water now and again!

Thanks for your visit today - I hope yours is a great day!

Woodblock Wednesday: Hydrangea

 Here's my entry for this month's Woodblock Wednesday challenge........for those of you who know me well, it was only a matter of time before I used this one!

supplies: off-white cardstock, reverse of a Crafter's Companion Delightful Daisy dp, Spellbinders (retired) stitched label die, overstamped with Tammy Tutterow (retired) Dear Ruby cling background stamp, vintage photo distress ink, Hero Arts Hydrangea woodblock, colored with alcohol markers, Simon (retired) Birthday Flowers sentiment, hand-dyed seam binding

This Hero Arts Hydrangea woodblock stamp is dated 2010, and I have probably used it dozens of times, but not recently.  I used a combination of blue and purple markers to color it.

Here's a photo of the card alone.

And HERE's a link to the Woodblock Challenge - it's such a good idea to get these beautiful stamps out again and give them some love!  Be sure to visit the gallery there to see the other entries, and I hope you'll be inspired to play along, too!

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!