A set of Glimmered Christmas Cards

Today I have some cards made using some favorite Spellbinders Christmas products: the Holly Background Glimmer plate and its matching stencils, part of Yana's De-Light-ful Christmas Collection, released back in July.

I love the effect that the foiling gives to the card when it's tilted just a bit, like an extra surprise!  I originally did it in traditional Christmas colors with a green glimmer foil, (lower right in picture below), but recently I made 3 more cards using 3 different foil colors: blue, gold, and silver.  Here are all 4 of my cards.  

Here are my 3 newest designs using this combo.

supplies: white cardstock, Holly Background glimmer plate and matching stencils, gold glimmer foil, pink and green inks (Rose Quartz, Fuschia, Lime, Green Field), (retired) Elegant Holiday Glimmer Sentiment, adhesive foam squares

supplies: white and royal blue cardstock, Holly Background glimmer plate and matching stencils, Cobalt Blue glimmer foil, Lapis Lazuli and Sea Side ink cubes, Hero Arts (retired) woodblock Beauty of the Season sentiment, embossed in white

supplies: white and pink cardstock, Holly Background Glimmer plate and matching stencils, Silver glimmer foil, Cotton Candy, Aqualicious, Volcano Lake, and Ocean Waves ink cubes, Joyful Christmas glimmer plate

I heartily recommend this particular glimmer plate - having used it several times now, I can attest that it foils like a dream every single time!

Happy Halloween!

 Here are 3 cards for Halloween that are made of almost all long-retired goodies.  I started with this black cat silhouette from die a 2018 Spellbinders club kit.

supplies: black, Green Apple, Orange Peel, Doll Pink, and Royal Purple cardstock, Pink Fresh Studio Color Block Diagonal Stripes cover plate die, Spellbinders Trick or Treats die set (Large Die of the Month from September 2018), a scalloped square die, Hero Arts Happy Halloween sentiment, Cuttlebug embossing folder

I haven't done this strip-piecing technique for a long time, and rarely using solid papers.  Having the stripe cover plate saved me lots of time this time around - I used to just slice my papers in random sizes and widths.  I had seen a Halloween card using oranges and bright pinks, so I started with those colors and then added the traditional orange and lime green to the mix. I thought adding the swirly embossing made it a little creepier, but not scary.

This was fun, and I ALWAYS like it when I can use old supplies!  I'm not a big Halloween fan, but once I make one Halloween card, I always have to make 2 more so that none of our Grands feel slighted.  They are getting a bit old for my kind of Halloween cards, so this may be the last ones they'll receive going forward.

So, here are 2 more for this set, using the same strips, just changing up the main motif, and doing a little paper-piecing within each one.  There are sentiments built in for these, so I didn't need to add any more.

supplies: black,  Green Apple, Orange Peel, Sunshine, and Royal Purple cardstock, Pink Fresh Studio Color Block Diagonal Stripes cover plate die, Spellbinders Trick or Treats die set (Large Die of the Month from September 2018), a scalloped square die

I kept these strips all going the same way for my final one.

supplies: white, Green Apple, Doll Pink, and Royal Purple cardstock, Pink Fresh Studio Color Block Diagonal Stripes cover plate die, Spellbinders Trick or Treats die set (Large Die of the Month from September 2018), a scalloped square die

Thank you for stopping by!

Note Card set

I really enjoyed working with my new goodies from The Greetery, so today's post features a set of cards that use the same elements, just changing up the colors and backgrounds.

A simple process: stamp the floral spray and cut it out.  Trim white cardstock to 3 3/4" x 5" , then stamp your sentiment and emboss/use cover die for detail.  Mat that panel on a colored cardstock to match the flowers, then attach to a card base and add your flowers.

Here are the cards separately:

supplies: white and Sunshine card, The Greetery Floral Delicacy and Opposites Attract stamp sets, Golden Sunset and Spring Bouquet greens mini ink cubes, an old Darice dotty embossing folder

Next I used a cover plate for my background and stamped part of my sentiment in one of the colored inks. 

supplies: white and Lavender cardstock, The Greetery Floral Delicacy and Opposites Attract stamp sets, Enchanted Garden and Spring Bouquet greens mini ink cubes,  Simon Detail Ringlet die

For this next one, I decided to try a 3D embossing folder.  I was a bit worried that it might distort the stamped sentiment a bit, since it's more dimensional than a "regular" folder, but I was wrong - all good!

supplies: white and Doll Pink card, The Greetery Floral Delicacy and Opposites Attract stamp sets, Altenew Spring Bouquet mini ink cubes, Simon Blossom Field embossing folder

And finally, a blue version.

supplies: white and Azure card, The Greetery Floral Delicacy and Opposites Attract stamp sets, Altenew Deep Blue Seas and Spring Bouquet greens mini ink cubes, Sunny Studio Quilted Hearts embossing folder

Enjoy your Sunday - thanks so much for stopping by!

Wildflower Fields

 Simon's new Wildflower Fields is my favorite new thing!  Here are 2 cards that I will be expanding into a set using other pastels.

supplies: white and a green from Memory Box Lush Green Collection paper pad, Simon Wildflower Fields embossing folder, white pigment ink, Just Because die, white pearls

My first thought was to use this sage green, and after finishing it, I think I'll try it in lots of different colors, just switching up the sentiments.  Here's a pink version.

supplies: white and pink cardstock, Wildflower Fields embossing folder, white pigment ink, Sending Smiles die

For both cards, I embossed the colored cardstock, then gently rubbed on white pigment ink.  The hearts in the daisy centers are part of the sentiment die.  I added white pearls to the green card.

Envision this in yellow with a Hello Sunshine sentiment.

Hope you have a great day, thanks for coming by!

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!

A Set of Cards

Today I'm playing with The Greetery's Botanicut Sunflower dies.  After I'd made the first card, I really liked how the color looked so much richer against the kraft cardstock, so I decided to make a set of 4 cards, each using the common element of kraft cardstock plus another pastel, and changing up the sentiments for each.

supplies: kraft, Cotton Candy, yellow, Lavender, Surf Blue, and Green Leaf cardstock, plus darker shades of pinks, yellows, purples and aquas, The Greetery Botanicuts Sunflower dies, Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangle die, sentiment dies from My Favorite Things and Winnie & Walter

Here are my cards one by one.

Each of these uses the same recipe, to start with the palest of each color, and use it for the base of the flowers, the sentiment, and the card base, then use darker shades of that color for the flowers.  The Hemstitch Rectangle, a workhorse for me, helps to break up the kraft just enough.

We're off to a new week, another week closer to returning to normal, I hope!  Stay home, please!

When Autumn Leaves.......A Set of Cards

Can you feel the change in the air?  Fall is on the way, and I am delighted!  I've been itching to start some cards for the season,  so I decided to use this pretty heart-shaped leaf die and pair it with a favorite sentiment.  And HERE's my favorite rendition of that music!

supplies: cream cardstock and vellum, Concord & 9th Layering Leaves die, distress inks and blending tools, Impression Obsession Autumn Leaves sentiment, VersaMark ink and Ranger copper embossing powder, sequins

I used the leaf die to cut out a pattern of swirling leaves from my card stock, then re-inserted the leaves back into place.  My background is simply a sponging of fall distress inks, spritzed with water.  And I used the sequins mainly to cover the places where I applied glue to the vellum, and then outwards from there.

I made that first card yesterday and this morning, decided I wanted to play with the same elements again, moving that sentiment down to the right corner.  So I started off by doing just that - stamping the sentiment and embossing it in the same copper I used yesterday.  I did it 3 times, but the powder just blew away when I heated it.  So then I changed my powder to another copper one, and you can see the results.  It isn't a fine-detail powder, and it has more glitter in it, and although it is embossed better to begin with, the chunky glitter in it has been knocked off as I worked on the rest of my design......sometimes you just can't win!  Maybe I need another VersaMark pad?  I decided to share it anyway.

supplies: cream and Simon's Orange Peel card stock, negative die-cut from Concord & 9th Layering Leaves die, fall distress inks, Concord & 9th Give Thanks clear stamps,  Impression Obsession Autumn Leaves sentiment, Zing Copper glitter finish embossing powder, Simon Stitched Rectangle die, copper sequins

I like the little starry seed stamp from the set that I added to the open spaces this time.  The leaves were "stenciled" on using the negative heart leaf die-cut, and then I over-stamped the veins.  If you compare my results with the next card, where I used a stamp to make the hearts, stenciling allows you to shade with different colors, whereas stamping with multiple distress inks just looks kind of blotchy.....

Looking through my fall stash of stamps, I rediscovered this text background, and started with that one for my final card.  It trims nicely using Simon's largest Stitched Rectangle die, and then I used the heart leaf and matching veins stamps to randomly scatter the leaves over it, again using the same distress inks.  This time I added gold sequins.

supplies: cream and yellow card stock, Stampendous Autumn Words woodblock stamp, Concord & 9th Give Thanks clear stamps, same distress inks, Simon's Stitched Rectangle, gold sequins

Thanks for reading all the way down to this point, and for bearing with my experiments today!  I think I've gotten fall out of my system - for a week or so!

Simon Says........Let's Do the Polka!

Happy Wednesday!  It's time for another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog!

We are playing with Lawn Fawn products this week, and our theme is Let's Do the Polka: make something using dots/

Dots have always been a favorite motif of mine, so I decided to make a set of birthday cards, using some common supplies on all of them: Let's Polka 12" paper pack, Sophie's Sentiments, and Stitched Scalloped Borders.  I did 4 monochromatic cards using each of 4 colors, and a 5th card using all of the 4 colors.

additional supplies: a Prima Flower

additional supplies: Simon's Leanna Butterfly and a sequin to match

additional supplies: Lawn Fawn Scripty Hugs die, enamel dots

     

Additional supplies: Lawn Fawn Our Friendship Grows flower

Additional supplies: Lil' Inker Perky Posies dies and sequins to match

Now it's your turn - I can't wait to see what you create!  Heidi has provided another $50.00 gift voucher

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for 1 lucky random winner of this week's challenge!

350 Cards & Gifts Week: the Card Set challenge

At Moxie Fab World, Cath has challenged us to create a coordinated card set and matching container, and she's kindly allowed us to re-enter anything we've done within the last 4 weeks.  So I'm using this card set that I posted on April 23, and decorated a little basket container to hold them.

If you'd like the supplies for the cards, please visit my blog post referenced above.
My friend Mary Anne gave me this cute basket awhile back, and I can just fit the cards inside (I think Ill put some Easter grass or colorful tissue paper in the very bottom where it's too narrow for the cards to fit).  To decorate it, I embossed the cuttlebug Poppy folder on white cardstock, then pounced my distress inks, spritzed with water, dried and then cut out the largest Nesties Labels 20, and attached it to the basket.  I made a little banner using a stamp from Simon's Flower Friend set.  I stamped, colored, and die-cut another butterfly, and used some silk ribbons and a colorful yarn to wrap around the handle.

  

I'll probably give this to my Mom or sister as a Mother's Day gift.  Thanks, Cath, for this great challenge!  I can't wait to see what's in the gallery for this challenge!

CASE-ing Cindy

Last Friday, Cindy hosted our 46th 90-minute scramble at the Hero Arts flickr group, and one of her sample cards was this gorgeous one.  I fell in love with it immediately and could not wait to CASE it.

I used what I had on hand: CG405 Leaf & Floral Background, AC005 Untitled Word Shadow, Cup 'o' Joe mid-tone ink, Grass and Splash chalk inks, Layering Papers from the Earth, Foliage and Pool sets, Art Flowers, and Mixed Buttons from several sets, all Hero Arts products, plus Colorbox Frost White ink.  I plan to add some other colors and then I'll have a nice gift set for someone special.

Thank you, Cindy, for your wonderful design!

Four Seasons

Awhile back in the spring, on the Hero Arts flickr discussion board, I mentioned that I was looking for a retired Hero Arts wood-block text set, called Seasonal Memories.  A very special lady named Robyn found a set on sale in her local store and offered to buy and send it to me!  I used the "spring" one almost immediately, but the rest of the set has been unused ever since.  Yesterday I decided to try and use all of them and make a series of cards, 1 for each of the seasons.  For 3 of the 4 of them, I used cling negative image stamps, inked with distress inks and spritzed with water before stamping.  For the fall one, I masked the square and stamped the Maple Leaf cling several times in various fall hues of distress ink.  Here is a collage of all of them, followed by closer-up views of each one:

 supplies: LL007 Seasonal Memories, stamped in Versafine onyx black ink

supplies: white card stock, CG165 Silhouette Bells, worn lipstick distress ink, spritzed with water, CL184 Thoughtful Messages, versafine onyx black ink, K5185 Wallpaper Flowers, stamped on yellow card stock, punched fern, yellow pearls

supplies: white card stock, CG176 Butterfly Field, shabby shutters distress ink, spritzed with water, CL431 Just Find Me ("smile"), digital Flutterbies, lavender and aqua card stock, pearls

supplies: white card stock, CG228 Maple Leaf, scattered straw, wild honey, mustard seed, spiced marmalade and barn door distress inks, CL361 Season of Giving (sentiment), CL119 Happy Thanksgiving (tiny leaves), various autumnal card stocks, autumnal gemstones

supplies: white card stock, CG224 Starry Night, faded jeans distress ink spritzed with water, CL460 Joy to All, versafine onyx black ink, punched snowflakes, clear gemstones


Because these are all stamped, I'm entering them into the Stamp It! Cards Week Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.

Rainbow stationery set

Over at the Hero Arts Blog, one of the multiple challenges this month is to make a stationery set.  And Shari kindly shared with us some nice digital lined papers.  So I printed them out, trimmed them, and stamped away!  Here are my results. 

The folder started out as a 12" piece of Bazzill dotted cardstock, folded in half, and then I folded up the lower edge to make a pocket to hold everything.

This is the Garden Bouquet cling stamp, CG172, inked in markers and spritzed with water before stamping.  Each of the papers was done in one color and green, and the presentation card was done in green and all 6 of the colors on a gingham background.  I did the same thing for the cover of the folder, stamping the image twice and bordering the panel with more green gingham.   I found coordinating envelopes for each.  The sentiment is from one of my favorite clear sets called Truly Appreciated, CL380.