Spring Daffodils

 FINALLY, Spring is here!  At least officially......So today's card was made to mark the occasion, using some favorite supplies.

 

supplies: white, aqua, cream, and shades of yellow cardstock, Craft Consortium Wood Textures woodpanel paper, The Greetery Just Mason Around canning jar layering stamp set, Altenew Sea Shore inks, Spellbinders Rainboot Bouquet Daffodils and leaves,  sentiment from Pocketful of Spring dies, Impression Obsession Ornate Oval Frame die

Daffodils are the flower for March, and since this month is my birthmonth, they have always been special to me.  And these little Spellbinders ones are probably my favorite daffodil dies.  This time I decided to add them to a canning jar and put them against a wood panel background.  The ornate frame was a last minute addition, as I came across it while looking for something else in my scrap basket.  

Here are a couple pictures of our own daffodils in the last few years - so many varieties!

Has Spring arrived for you yet?

Some New Goodies!

 When I saw PTI's Build a Bouquet dies, I knew I "needed" them!  They are a wonderful set, with lots of different flowers and leaves to mix and match each time.  After constructing my bouquet, I decided to set it against this lovely Tim Holtz Doily embossing folder.  So this is a mix of something old and something new.

supplies: white, black, and colored cardstock, Tim Holtz Doily embossing folder, PTI Build a Bouquet dies, sentiment from Spellbinders, adhesive foam squares to raise bouquet

I'm getting lazy already in my "retirement"; I really did try to find the source for the sentiment die I used.  But it was in my scrap basket, and after spending about 5 minutes searching, I decided that it was probably already retired anyway, so why bother?  Whatever it is, it was just the right size!

As always, I thank you for stopping by today - hope you have a good day!

Sketchbook Roses

 Here are some older supplies mixed together for a feminine birthday card.

supplies: white cardstock, Whimsy Stamps Mix-n-Match 2 dotted paper, The Greetery (retired) Sketchbook Roses stamps and matching die, Spellbinders (retired) Picot Petite Oval die, Curved Everyday Sentiments, adhesive foam squares

I was in the mood for some layered stamping, and went through my The Greetery collection.  This one is retired, but so easy to stamp, and I got the matching die (still available) more recently.  I enjoyed looking through my frilly oval dies, too, and tried some different combinations, but ended up with this Picot one, also retired.  And those curved everyday sentiments come in handy for when you want a smallish sentiment to not cover up too much of your design.  It's a glimmer plate, but today I used my BetterPress machine and black ink to make it.  The matching die comes with it, and it's one of those that does multiples at one go!

How is your week going?  Thanks for stopping in!

Some Valentines, inspired by Tim

It's February, the month for Valentines! 

I was inspired by Tim Holtz's Valentine video last month to pull out my Valentine supplies and make some cards.  

supplies: watercolor cardstock, various pink and yellow cardstock, Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations (retired) Doily embossing folder, Spun Sugar distress ink, Altenew Mini Flower Cluster Layering die set, stamped leaves from my scrap basket, Tim Holtz Sentiments Label sticker

Isn't this embossing folder a treasure?  The dimension is wonderful!  I took Tim's example and inked the flat side of it with spun sugar distress ink before embossing it in my machine.  I wanted to simulate a kind of tussy-mussy, a little bouquet of posies wrapped in a lacy doily, and I think this mini flower cluster does the trick.  Then I just added a sentiment label.  

Next, I left my heart do the choosing, picking things from my stash that have meaning to me: script, gingham, blues, lace, lilies of the valley and forget-me-nots.  

supplies: white card base, unknown script patterned paper, Tim Holtz Idea-ology Lace Baseboard Frame, ephemera from Botanical Layer , SmallTalk Occasions sentiment strip, blue gingham ribbon, blue pearls

After I'd glued the largest ephemera piece to the lace baseboard, I glued the smaller one to the script backing, then added adhesive foam pieces to the frame to make it stand up even more from the card base.  I wanted to accent the blues, so I added a small blue gingham bow and some blue pearls.

These Lace baseboard frames are really lovely, and I'm so glad that they're still available!

Thanks for stopping by!  Will you be making some Valentines this month?

Hope Your Day is Full of Joy

I haven't done a glimmer card for awhile, so I went back through my glimmer plates and pulled out the one that came with my machine.  It has no name that I'm aware of, and it isn't being included anymore with the machine, so I guess it's retired. Story of my life!!

supplies: white cardstock, (retired) oval doily frame and Anytime Sentiments glimmer plates, champagne glimmer foil, (retired) English Garden and Fluttering Butterflies washi tape

I chose this sentiment because it was a vertical one, something I don't have many of.  I thought I was making a possible birthday card, but the more I look at this with the pretty gold foiling and accents in the washi elements, it would work for a wedding or anniversary card, too, don't you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by today - I hope you're enjoying your day!

Spring Tulips

 Here I am again with another spring flower card.  I will continue on this path until we actually have spring outside - this year seems to be taking forever!  Today's card features a Hero Arts set of dies that I have had my eyes on since its release, but have just now gotten around to bringing home.

supplies: white and Memory Box Fresh Aqua cardstock, Hero Arts Watering Can and Flowers dies, markers to color, Spellbinders (retired) Floral Oval Doily die, Simon's Reverse Sentiment Strip

The details in these dies are wonderful - there's even a slit at the top of the watering can to fit your tulip stems and leaves down inside.   I haven't used this doily for awhile - I like the lovely details on it also.

Has Spring sprung for you?  It's currently snowing here!  Nothing that sticks, and it's pretty, but my patience is wearing thin!!  Thanks for stopping by today - enjoy your weekend!

Eyelet Lace Frame

 Spellbinders is releasing a new Becca Feeken collection called Garden Shutters today.  I fell in love with this beautiful large Eyelet Lace Frame, and I have 3 cards for you.  This die set has 7 separate dies to make a large 5" X 7" card.

First, I used pink and added some washi tape flowers and a foiled sentiment to adorn it.

supplies: white and Cotton Candy card, rose gold metallic kraft card, Eyelet Lace Frame dies, washi tape flowers, a foiled birthday sentiment that came with my glimmer machine, rose gold glimmer foil, Hero Arts leaf die, adhesive foam squares

For my 2nd card, I cut from yellow and added some daisies.

supplies: white and yellow card, Spellbinders Eyelet Lace Frame dies, Tim Holtz Wildflower Stems 1 dies, Simon reverse sentiment strip, yellow enamel dots

And my last card.

supplies: white, black, and Cotton Candy card, Eyelet Lace Frame dies, butterflies from December 2021 Card Kit of the Month, Simon retired Beautiful Day sentiment

Isn't that eyelet gorgeous?!  I used just 4 of the dies to make my card front and lined it with pale pink.  There's a natural place for a sentiment.  

You could also use these dies to make an actual frame to show off a prized photo of someone special - so many options!

Many thanks to Spellbinders for sharing this lovely set with me!  I know it will become a classic!

Old and New

 I appear to be obsessed with the beautiful rolls of washi tape that PinkFresh Studio has been giving us, and I just ordered and received 2 more of them: Hydrangea and Rose, and Blossoms and Berries.  I pulled out an old oval doily die and mixed everything up for today's cards.

supplies: white, Cotton Candy, and gold metallic cardstock, vellum, Sunny Studio Quilted Hearts embossing folder, Impression Obsession Ornate Oval Frame die, PinkFresh Studio Hydrangea and Rose washi tape and Phrase Builder: Sending sentiment die, Doodlebug heart sprinkles

The Ornate Oval Frame die is 1 piece, but it cuts out 4 parts, plus a negative.  Here I used 2 of the inner elements it cuts, along with the ornate frame.  I just assembled everything, then stacked them, no lifting on this one.  The Washi gives you a total of 7 floral elements - I chose 3 of the small to medium ones for this card, concentrating on the hydrangea parts.  

Next, I started with the negative of the Ornate Frame, added the small oval from it, and some washi elements from Blossoms and Berries.

supplies: white and metallic gold cardstock, a very pale pink dotty dp, Impression Obsession Ornate Oval Frame die, PinkFresh Studio Blossoms and Berries washi and Phrase Builder: Sending sentiment die, gold sequins, adhesive foam squares to lift main panel

This time I used the negative die cut, lifting it and the washi elements above the inner oval and sentiment.  This washi has a little less gold highlighting, mainly just on the roses, so I added gold sequins to bring in more gold.

PinkFresh now has 9 different rolls of wide washi tape like these - I have 6 of them!  Do you think that's enough?  One nice thing about them is that the ones that have mainly pinks in them can be mixed with each other.  And lately, I've found that a matching die is not necessary at all if you enjoy fussy-cutting.  

Thanks for stopping by today - hope your weekend is a lovely one!  Come back tomorrow and I'll have a couple more cards using the largest images from these washi tapes.

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!

How About Some Pink?

 I pulled out some older supplies that have been neglected for today's card.

supplies: white cardstock, MFT (retired) Lucky Prints dp, Impression Obsession Ornate Oval Frame die, PinkFresh Studio Floral Elements stamps and matching dies, Zig markers and water, Doodlebug enamel heart, sentiment from The Greetery Lovely Blossoms, adhesive foam to lift florals

PinkFresh Studio recently had a new release and it reminded me of this set that I've had and only used 2 or 3 times, so I stamped a few of the small floral sprigs and die-cut them.  Being spring, I wanted to use pinks and lavenders.  This patterned dotty paper went with them nicely, and then all I needed was something to hold my sentiment.  I can't believe I haven't used this beautiful ornate frame more often - what lovely details it has!  Now that I've "found" it again, you'll be seeing it more often.

Thank you so much for stopping by today - enjoy your week!

March Daffodils

 These daffodils are still one of my favorite Simon Says Stamp flowers; they're from 2016 and are sadly discontinued; such a shame!  To me, they're a classic.

supplies: white and pale yellow cardstock, Simon Friendship Blooms stamps and Spring Blessings die, Zig markers and water to color, Sunny Studio Eyelet Lace Frilly Frames dies, yellow enamel heart, adhesive foam to lift flowers

This year I paired them with this lovely doily lace die and the perfect sentiment.

I always know that spring is here when our daffodils bloom.  Over the years we have popped them here and there in our gardens.  I'm eagerly awaiting some new plantings that we put in last fall - will share them when they bloom; it'll be a little while yet, as I'm only seeing a bit of green poking through the soil.

Thanks for stopping by!

3 Wreath Cards

I've been trying to use supplies that have seen little action, and came across this PinkFresh Studio Floral Elements clear set.  It's a big one, with a lovely floral wreath (HERE is a card using it) as the main element, but there are also 11 much smaller floral stamps in this set.  I decided to stamp and color up most of them and see what I could do with them as a starting point.

Turns out I like them to dress up wreath dies.  Here are my results.

supplies: white, black and green cardstock,  MFT (retired) Spring Wreath die, Floral Elements and matching dies, Memory Box Big and Little Words, Tim Holtz (retired) Doily embossing folder

It's such a shame that this doily embossing folder has been discontinued - I love the subtle effect it has to make a lovely frame around something on the smaller side like this wreath die. BUT, if you have a doily die, you could emboss it for the same effect!

I always like a wreath against planking, so that's where card #2 went.

supplies: white and kraft cardstock, Craft Consortium Wood Textures plank dp, Tim Holtz Funky Wreath die, Floral Elements and matching dies, Memory Box Big and Little Words 

This grapevine wreath cut from kraft and the planked background gives this a bit of a masculine look.

This last card is definitely not masculine!

supplies: white, dark green, and pink cardstock, Sunny Studio Eyelet Frilly Frame cover dies, Tim Holtz Funky Wreath, MFT (retired) bow die from Spring Wreath set, Floral Elements and matching dies, Memory Box Big and Little Words

The wreath I used on this one is from the same Tim Holtz Funky Wreath set, except it has leaves, so I cut it in green again.  And I added a little die-cut bow to the mix on this one.

I had a fun couple of days putting these together - do you have a favorite?

Tammy's Poseys

I am beyond thrilled that Tammy Tutterow is starting up a new design team to showcase her newest venture with Crafter's Edge!  I received her products today and couldn't wait to dive in and play!  Her products with Crafter's Edge are made mainly to work with fabric, felt, wool, etc, which jives nicely with my quilting background.  But being away from home right now I used what I have here, which is paper, and made a card using just one of her TEN new die sets.  I love how it turned out!

supplies: white card, dps from Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper pad, Crafter's Edge Posey Flowers Set 1, Tim Holtz Doily embossing folder, Doodlebug Spring sprinkles for flower centers, Tammy's From Hand and Heart Etched Metal Embellishment, natural twine

The dies cut like a dream - in fact they can cut through up to 6 layers at one time, (perfect for quilt appliques) and they work in most standard die-cutting machines.

Tammy also has several variations of these darling etched metal embellishments, and this one worked perfectly for my design!  Here's a closer look at it - it's about 3/4 " wide by 1" long.  There are 5 different designs of the metal tags.

I'm really looking forward to playing with more of Tammy's products - hope you'll give them a closer look, too!

Simon Says Stamp Fluttering By Release Blog Hop

Welcome to my little stop on Day 1 of the Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop, featuring our newest release, Fluttering By!

You should have arrived here from Melissa Phillips' blog.  If you have just happened upon me today and want to start the hop from the beginning, go to the Simon Says Stamp blog.  We'll be giving away a $25.00 gift certificate at every stop on the hop, so don't forget to leave a comment!  The winners will be announced at the Simon Says Stamp Store Blog next Wednesday, April 18.

My first card features the sweet Center Cut Flowers.  This is a large cling stamp with a square border of flowers and this smaller circular bunch inside it, which is removable and can be stamped separately.  When I first looked at this stamp, my mind went immediately to an old-fashioned tussy-mussy, a little handheld bouquet of violets encircled in a doily.

supplies: white, periwinkle, and black card stock, Bristol paper, Simon's Center Cut Flowers and Hope dies, Spectrum Aqua markers and water, Tim Holtz Doily embossing folder, purple adhesive genstones

Since we've been having an extended winter, my "hope" is that spring arrives soon!

My next card uses the Stitching Butterflies dies.

supplies: white, black, and pink cardstock, dps from MFT Plaid Patterns Merry & Bright and Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes pads, Simon's Stitching Butterflies dies, Stitched Rectangle dies, and sentiment from Beautiful Day, adhesive strips

 I carried the stitching theme throughout the card by using the Stitched Rectangles.

And finally, I received a new stencil, called New Beginnings.

supplies: white and Green Apple cardstock, Simon's New Beginnings stencil, sentiment from Beautiful Day, Stitched Rectangle die, gathered twigs, twisted citron, and worn lipstick distress inks, finger dauber and Fantastix to apply inks through the stencil

That's it from me - your next stop is at the amazing Kathy Racoosin's blog.  I know she'll have something scrumptious to show you!

Here's the Hop order for today:

Simon Says Stamp Blog 

Kristina Werner

Cathy Zielske

Nina-Marie Trapani

Nichol Spohr

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Kelly Latevola

Suzy Plantamura

Heather Hoffman

Melissa Phillips

Lin Brandyberry

Kathy Racoosin

Birthday Posies

Another Rose Flurries card.......I mixed the colors this time.

supplies: white, black, and lavender card stock, Altenew Rose Flurries dies, paint chips, PTI Mix & Mat Scallops dies, (retired) MFT Blueprints 20 scalloped rectangle die, Brush Strokes Messages sentiment, VersaMark and white embossing powder

I like this combination of elements and colors for a spring birthday!  

Sharing a Christmas Card.......

.........a mix of old and new.  I'm winding down the year and will be around mostly for assigned DT posts, but I may sneak in and out to share some Christmas cards you haven't seen yet for this year.

supplies: Schoolhouse Red, green, white and gold foiled card stock, PTI Mix & Mat Scallops dies, Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia dies, (retired) The Craft Meow sentiment, gold pearl, adhesive foam strips

I love the elegant effect that this rectangular doily set of dies gives to my card.  In my mind I can imagine them as snowflakes.   It is actually a set of 3 dies, but I've left them attached to cut them and this is the result.  I was afraid that my black ink would smear on the gold foil paper, so I quickly heat embossed it with clear powder to avoid that problem.  This set of poinsettia dies cuts and also embosses some detail into the petals; I used 3 of the smallest sizes.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.  I'm listening to some wonderful music on PBS tonight!

Simon Says............Thinking of You

Happy Wednesday!  Welcome to another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

Our theme this time is "Thinking of You"; the design team are playing with Memory Box products.  We'd love to see you using your Memory Box products, but it's not a requirement to enter the challenge.

Here's my first card, using this sweet little lacy butterfly duo:

supplies: white and pool card stock, design papers from Pebbles Garden Party (floral, pink grid, and aqua gingham), Memory Box Calais Butterflies, Simon Expressions for You die and stamp set and Stitched Rectangle die, pink and aqua pearls

I first cut out my stitched rectangle, then die-cut the butterfly duo twice from that, and inlaid the butterflies back in.  I purposely cut the butterflies to hang out over the stitched panel just a bit.  Separately I die-cut the butterflies again from design papers, and separated out the larger butterfly to pop above my card surface.

Next, a card with flowers and an embossed doily:

supplies: white, Simon's Green Leaf, Doodlebug Cupcake cardstock, pink plaid from Doodlebug Gingham/Linen Rainbow petite prints pad, Memory Box Bella Bouquet, Sizzix/Tim Holtz Doily embossing folder, MFT Blueprints 20 scalloped rectangle die, and (retired) bow die from their Spring Wreath die set, (retired) The Craft's Meow sentiment from Potted Garden, adhesive foam squares

A hint about mixing stamping and dry-embossing - stamp first, then emboss over that - as you can see, the embossing doesn't mar the sentiment done this way, but it would be almost impossible to get a good impression if you tried to stamp over an embossed surface.....

Now it's your turn!  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!

Anemones & Lace

I recently bought myself a pretty rectangle lace/doily die and here's my first play with it:

supplies: ivory, black, and Cotton Candy card stock, Bristol paper, PTI Mix & Mat Scallops dies, Wplus9 Modern Anemones, Spectrum Aqua markers and water, My Favorite Things Beautiful Blooms sentiments, Winnie & Walter Audrey cutaway, adhesive foam squares

This little doily is actually 3 separate dies, but I left them attached for this card, and popped it above the pink backing.

I'd like to jump into Kathy's current 30 Day Coloring Challenge with this one!

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Just Because

I finally got myself a wood plank background stamp and here is it's first use.

supplies: white cardstock, Carnation layering paper, Impression Obsession Wooden Plank, MFT Flashy Florals stamps and dies, Hero Arts sentiment from Hello Sunshine Daisies, DieNamics Oval Decorative Doily (retired), Simon Stitched Rectangle die, enamel dots to match

This is a 6" square cling stamp, so it can make vertical or horizontal planking.  I like the subtle pattern it adds to this card.

Hope your week is off to a great start!