From Me to You

Looking back at some older cards on my blog, I had completely forgotten about this (retired) Pink Fresh Studio Partial Cut Bouquet and Bow die set.  I've been seeing lots of wild violets in our lawn and where we walk, so I decided to make this little bouquet into them.

supplies: white cardstock, green and purple markers to color flowers, Doodlebug Gingham design paper, Spellbinders/Tammy Tutterow Simple Line Border cling stamp (2016), Pink Fresh Studio Partial Cut Bouquet and Bow dies (2019), Spellbinders A Little Hello Sentiments stamp/die set, purple gems

My picture doesn't show it very well, but the die cuts the flowers and stem out from the background, but leaves it attached at the place where the bow is placed, so that you can pull the stems outwards.  The 3-piece bow die is inluded in the set for even more dimension.  Before doing my die-cutting, I stamped the Line Border Frame onto a trimmed piece of cardstock, then cut out the bouquet.

I addded lots of little purple gems all around the flowers for some sparkle.

It's fun to give these sweet oldies some love again! 

Woodblock Wednesday - NOT!

This was my card for this month's Woodblock Wednesday, but Amy is taking a well-deserved break this month.  I'd still like to share this, though.  

I used a stamp that is identified only with a sticker on it that reads "Anita's 2002, Sugarloaf, Inc., Lithonia, GA".

supplies: white, chocolate brown cardstock, gingham and woodgrain papers, unknown Sunflower stamp, markers to color, Spellbinders (retired) Hello Sunflower sentiment, Hero Hues Sunny enamel dots, adhesive foam squares

Here's what the stamp looks like.

Though that little bug on the stamp is cute, I wanted a portrait card, so I cut out the flowers after coloring them and then rearranged them, popping one of them above the other.

We like to grow sunflowers from seed each year, but this year's growing season was a bust!  Despite planting 3 different packets of seeds back in May and June, not a one appeared above the soil!  

I'll be entering my card into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, Anything Goes.

Dreamy Florals

 Here's the other stamp and stencil suite I got back in April from Pinkfresh Studio.  You know me, I can't resist some pretty posies, and I thought these were a nice mix of flowers.

supplies: white cardstock, soft gingham from Honey Bee Stamps Giddy for Gingham pad, Pinkfresh Studio Dreamy Florals stamp set and matching layering stencils, Blushberry Bliss, Sunkissed Delights, Enchanted Garden, and Jade Dreams inks, Pinkfresh Studio blending brushes, Ornate Oval Frame die, Spellbinders Curved Everyday Sentiments glimmer plate/die set

I have a pretty heavy hand when it comes to stencilling, and I wanted these colors to be paler than my usual, so I used Pinkfresh's little set of 6 blending brushes to do my stencilling, and was very pleased with the results!  I also used the lightest shades of the inks.

These are designed so that the stamps (3 separate groupings) are all connected, and the 5 layers of stencils color them all at the same time, too; a nice time-saver.  I used the largest and the smallest of the floral designs today, and have another single flower finished for next time.

Pinkfresh makes a die set and hotfoil plate to match, if you so desire.  

Thank you so much for stopping by today - have a lovely one!

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!

Spellbinders April Club Kits: Dies, Embossing Folder, and Stamps/Dies

The April Club Kits are now available for new subscribers!  The theme this month is Stay in Touch.

Today I have 3 cards.  The first two feature the Small Dies, Snail Mail Post.  How cute is this idea?  I made my little snail into a post mistress - check out her little mailbag!

supplies: colored cardstock, Snail Mail Post dies, floral from Lock & Key Mailbox, Send & Seal sentiment and small envelope with heart

I decided to make this into a 4 1/4" square card for a change.  

The set also includes a large tulip, which I couldn't resist using for my next card.

supplies: white, pink, yellow, and green cardstock, green gingham dp, Snail Mail Post tulips and leaves, sentiment from All Seasons Spring BetterPress plate/dies  set, my own oval and ribbon dies

My last card today combines the Clear Stamps/Dies called Send & Seal with the regular Embossing Folder, Perforated Stamp Edges.

supplies: white and 3 shades of blue cardstock, Send & Seal stamps and dies, Perforated Stamp Edges embossing folder, Doodlebug tiny heart sprinkles, adhesive foam squares

The stamp set consists of a large panel with different kinds of letters, which stamps all at one time, and 8 different sentiments.  The 14-piece matching die set has all of the sentiments but 1, plus 7 of the motifs from the image.  I just popped up a few of the letters and my sentiment, and added some tiny hearts.

And the embossing folder makes the perfect background to reinforce the postage theme.  

Here are the kits that I used today.

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!  

 

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!

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?

Snowy

 Here's everyone's old favorite snowman from Penny Black!  He's a woodblock, dated 2008.  This time I made a (mostly) 1-layer card, using masking and paper-piecing.

supplies: white cardstock, red and white gingham dp, Penny Black Snowy woodblock, trees from (retired) Mark's Finest Papers All is Calm stamp set, sentiment from Simon Snow Love, unknown (retired) snowflake embossing folder

I stamped Snowy on a white panel, then masked him to overstamp the tree stamp two times.  Then I added minimal colors with markers and paper-pieced his scarf and hat.  Next I stamped my sentiment in red, and then ran the entire panel through a snowflake embossing folder.

How is your January going?  It's winter here, for sure!

Woodblock Wednesday

  I almost missed this month's Woodblock Wednesday, but when I was looking in my Christmas bin today, I found so many options for this month.   I chose this Impression Obsession Snowflake Tree.

supplies: white cardstock, aqua gingham from Honey Bee Giddy for Gingham pad, a retired snowflake embossing folder, white pigment ink, Impression Obsession Snowflake Tree, glue pen and prisma glitter, Spellbinders Perfect Touch rectangle die, Sending Joy Sentiments PressPlate, red glimmer foil, Sticko glitter hearts

This little stamp needs minimal coloring, and I added some of my favorite things: gingham and hearts.  It doesn't show in the photos, but I also used a glue pen and some prisma glitter to add snow to the branches and around the hanging ornament, which was originally a little snowflake.  Then for a pop of color, I found these ancient Sticko glitter heart stickers in my gem drawer, and thought they were just right!

With only 1 day remaining to get my card finished and entered, this felt like an old Hero Arts Flickr Scramble, for those of you who remember those!  But I'm pleased with how this turned out, and more so to see this sweet stamp used once again.

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

The Little Things

 Hello friends!  It's July!  One of my favorite things about summer is that we get to enjoy black cherries - and I can't get enough of them!  I remembered this layering stamp set from Sunny Studios and decided to make a card to commemorate the goodness!

supplies: white cardstock, red and green gingham dp from Doodlebug Gingham/Linen paper pad, Sunny Studio Berry Bliss stamps, Hero Arts Pale Tomato and Red Royal, Altenew Firefly and Grass Field inks, Sunny Studio Fancy Frames Circle die, sentiment from Simon Says Stamp (retired) Beautiful Ride

The cherries are made up of 3 different stamps for the cherries and 2 for the leaves and stems.  And I love mixing them with these happy gingham patterns!  I enjoyed making them almost as much as I do eating them!!

Hope your day is going well - thanks for stopping by!

Spellbinders June Club Kits

 The Club Kits for June are here!  They have a summer theme this month - so fun and nicely varied - something for everyone!

I'll start out this month with the stitching dies, because when you say summer, I say ICE CREAM!!

supplies: white, cotton candy, mint, red, green, and a kraft cardstock, Stitched Ice Cream stitching dies, 3 strands of pink, mint, and light brown floss, Peppermint Stripes embossing folder, distress inks in spun sugar and cracked pistachio, adhesive foam squares

Isn't that cherry a cute touch?  After stitching and constructing my double-scoop cone, I decided to add some old-fashioned candy stripes to the border of my card - they just seemed to "go".   I made them by masking off every other set of stripes and rubbing distress inks across only the edges of the embossed panel.  There's a 2nd sentiment in this set which says "Have a Cool Summer".

Here is a card using the Large dies of the Month: Summertime Vacay.  I recreated the scene I see in Florida with my husband when we go to the beach as snowbirds.  I also used one of the Glimmer of the Month sentiments and Satin Pewter glimmer foil to simulate writing in the sand.

supplies: white, bright yellow, 2 aqua, 2 kraft, 2 blue cardstock, Summertime Vacay dies, Summertime Sentiments glimmer plate, Satin Pewter glimmer foil

Next up are the Dies of the Month: Summertime Wade Pool - I have 2 cards for you with these, mixing in various other clubs with them: Summertime Waves embossing folder, and Summertime Graphics stencils.  

supplies: white, black, yellow, 2 greys, orange, and pink cardstock, Summertime Wade Pool dies, Summertime Graphics stencils (beach balls), Summertime Waves embossing folder, adhesive foam squares

supplies: kraft, white, aqua, 2 greens, pink, and black cardstock, turquoise glitter cardstock (sentiment), Summertime Wade Pool dies, Summertime Waves embossing folder, adhesive foam squares

These dies have a little hinge mechanism that allows the bodies to swing back and forth.  And the set includes the sentiments I used on these cards - fun font!  The stencils this month give you 3 different choices - these beach balls are just one of them!

Here is the 3D embossing folder: Summertime Citrus Twist.  When it's a hot summer day, my beverage of choice is limeade, so I used a lime cardstock to emboss with, then swiped the panel with lime ink to bring out the details.  I added some citrus flowers and leaves to frame the sentiment.

supplies: white, lime and kelly green cardstock, Summertime Citrus Twist 3D embossing folder, sentiment from Stitched Ice Cream, flowers from last month's Tropical Friends dies, leaves from Vintage Florals dies

I've already used orange and lemon cardstock to emboss more panels using this folder for some future cards!

Here is a card using the Stamp/Die of the Month: Paradise Resort, along with another of the stencils.

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, Summertime Graphics (clouds and sun) stencil, distress inks, Paradise Resort stamps and matching dies, Postage Edge Rectangle dies

And finally I have a card using the Caboodle bonus item for this month: Summertime Slice.  It's another one of those die sets that have a hinge so that the legs can swing.  I equate watermelons with picnics, so I brought in a red check tablecloth and a basket weave background to go along with this one and used a sentiment from the stitching dies again.

supplies: white, black, red and greens cardstock, Doodlebug Buffalo Check design paper, Summertime Slice dies, Stitched Ice Cream sentiment dies, Woven 3D embossing folder

Aren't her heart glasses too cute???

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, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

All Scraps!

 The Spring Cleaning bug hit me last month and I attempted to organize my unused but finished flowers and sentiment dies so that they would get used.  It took me 2 days!  (I keep everything!)   

In the process I found 4 of these Club Blooms flowers and paired 2 them with an unknown but probably retired hello die and some gingham cut with some deckle-edge rectangle dies, also retired, from Spellbinders.  The shape was just about perfect for a mini-slimline, so here's what came of it all.

supplies: white, pinks, and teal cardstock, Doodlebug gingham dp, Spellbinders (retired) Deckle-Edge rectangles, Club Blooms flowers and leaves, unknown hello die, adhesive foam 

Pretty simple design, but that pink gingham makes me happy, and it feels good to put these scraps to use!  

Hope your day is a fine one - thanks for stopping by!

Happy Mother's Day!

 Here's a card for Mother's Day.  I said in an earlier post that I associate lilacs with this day, so this time I made them in 3 different colors and put them against some blue gingham.

supplies: white and blue violet cardstock, Doodlebug buffalo check dp, Pink Fresh Studio Ornate Oval Frame, The Greetery Lilac Botanicuts, distress inks in shaded lilac, wilted violet, blueprint sketch, picked raspberry, seedless preserves, antique linen, mowed lawn, and rustic wilderness, finger daubers, MFT Essential Messages

If you're a Mom, I hope you get to spend the day with your kids!  Mine live too far away, so I look forward to some nice phone calls today!  

Adding this to the Simon Wednesday challenge: Use Die-Cuts.

Lilacs in a Jar

 One of the new dies released at the Greetery recently were the Botanicuts Lilacs, and because we were travelling back from Florida at the time, I wasn't able to get these until later in March, but they were SO worth the wait! 

Here's my first card using these dies, mixed with some older goodies from The Greetery.  I made a mini slim-line card.

supplies: white and kraft cardstock, white flocked cardstock, Honey Bee Giddy for Gingham dp, (retired) Spellbinders mini slimline scallop rectangle die, The Greetery Just Mason Around, Botanicuts Lilacs and Pussy Willows dies, shaded lilac, picked raspberry, seedless preserves, mowed lawn, and rustic wilderness distress inks, finger daubers, pale grey marker to shade pussy willows, Hero Arts Sending Love Mail sentiment

I colored and constructed the lilacs and pussy willows, then pulled out my Mason Jar stamp set, to find this already completed and cut-our jar!  I love how this turned out, and it was fun to make a mini slimline card again!  If this doesn't scream spring, I don't know what does!

Both of these Botanicuts sets are easy to put together - cut first, then leave the dies in their backing and color them with a variety of inks.  If you're a lilac girl like me, you HAVE to have them!

Thanks for coming by - enjoy your day!

Spellbinders Club Kits for January: Large and Small Dies,, Stitching Dies, Clear Stamps and Dies

 The Spellbinders Club Kits for January are now available!  I have 4 cards using 4 different kits - it's all about the birds and the bees!

My first card features the adorable Large Dies of the Month: Honey Bee Jar.  I cut the outermost largest die twice and made a shaped card.  It measures 5" tall (to the top of the gingham cover) by 4 1/4" at its widest point, so it can also be put onto an A2 card base.

supplies: Honey Bee Jar Large dies, various colors of cardstock, Sunny Studios blue gingham dp

This month we also have a little accessory which is the free bonus item included in the Deluxe Caboodle Value Club Membership (see graphic below): a wooden honey dipper! It measures just a tad over 4 1/4" long, and would work nicely with the Honey Bee Jar.

Here are the Small Dies of the Month: Sitting Pretty.

supplies: white, 2 blues, 2 yellows, 2 greens cardstock, Sitting Pretty dies, Branching Out embossing folder, sentiment sticker from Tim Holtz

This makes me think of 2 old friends out shopping who run into each other at the grocery store and stop to have a catch-up!

The Stitching Dies for January are called Bee Stitched.

supplies: aqua, pale grey, black, gold, green, and coral cardstock, Bee Stitched stitching dies, black, gold, and silver metallic embroisery floss, Branching Out embossing folder, Just Bee-Cause sentiment, adhesive foam squares to lift bee

And finally, a card using the Clear Stamps and Dies: Just Bee-Cause.

supplies: white and Surf Blue cardstock, Just Bee-Cause stamps and dies to match, adhesive foam to lift bees

I stamped the half-circle of florals twice to make an oval frame, colored it with markers, then fussy-cut it around the inside and outside edges.  There are dies to match the corners of the florals, and the bees, and most of the sentiments.  I used only the large bee die and popped it above the flowers after attaching them to the card base and stamping my sentiment in the center.

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 each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!  

Harvest Blessings

Here's a fall card that uses a sketch I have made in many variations.

supplies: cream, gold, orange, red, and green cardstock, gingham papers from Echo Park's Autumn Dots & Stripes Gingham paper pad, Spellbinders Autumn Leaves and Autumn Wonder (acorns) dies, Simon Stitched Circle die, sentiment from (retired) Newton's Nook Autumn Newton

In the past, there have been flowers where the leaves and sentiment are now, I'm glad to change things up a bit today!  

Woodblock Wednesday!

 I was thrilled to be asked to be a guest designer at Amy's Woodblock Wednesday challenge this month!  

I had fun trying to decide which of my wood stamps to play with, and in the end, I chose this one by Hero Arts from 2010, and updated it by making it into a mini slim-line.  Since it's almost officially the end of summer, I thought I'd showcase this lovely stamp that features a summer hollyhock.

supplies: white card base, peach and black cardstock, Doodlebug peach gingham, and a script pattern paper, Hero Arts Garden Silhouette woodblock, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, peach and green inks, blending brushes, sentiment from Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments

Starting with a skinny panel of a script pattern paper, I stamped using VersaMark ink, and white embossed the image.  This particular stamp inks the negative of the image, leaving the details alone so that the background paper shows through.  Then I used small blending brushes to add peach ink to the flowers and green to the leaves and bugs.  The panel was then matted in peach cardstock, and affixed to a mini slimline card base 3" X 6" on which I'd added panels of peach gingham and the same script I used to stamp on.  To finish I added a simple script sentiment embossed in white on black.

Since woodblock stamps are how most of us began stamping, I think it's genius that Amy gives us a forum for bringing back these beauties!    I hope you'll play along, too - you can find more information HERE.

A Get Well Card

 I was intrigued by the Tuck It dies from PaperTrey Ink when I first saw them, but it took me awhile to get them.  I think they'll be a natural with all my posies, don't you think?  The premise of these dies is that they make a partial die-cut so that you can tuck in something behind what becomes your sentiment label.

Here's my first play.

supplies: white cardstock, a green gingham dp, twisted citron distress ink and a blending brush, Memory Box (retired) Daisy Silhouette dies, markers, PTI Tuck It dies and Sentiments (stamped detail on label), Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments, adhesive foam squares to lift flowers

What is more perfect than gingham and daisies to lift your spirits?  

Thanks for visiting today - have a good one!

Summer Fruits

 I have 2 neglected rolls of washi tape that I thought I should give a little love to; they both feature summer fruits and flowers.

supplies: white cardstock, Doodlebug Gingham dp, Pink Fresh Studio Blossoms and Berries washi sprigs, Sunny Studio Fancy Frame Circle die, sentiment from Berry Bliss

supplies: white cardstock, green dotted dp, Pink Fresh Studio Lemons and Blueberries washi sprigs, Stitched Scallop Rectangle dies, sentiment from Altenew Painted Greetings

I think these little sprigs are perfect for last-minute cards.  I have found that fussy-cutting the designs is pretty easy, though there are dies to match.  I store what I don't use all together.  Then it just takes some color coordination with design papers or inks and you've got a card!

Hope these have given you some inspiration!