Happy Birthday

 The little sprigs that are included in the Pink Fresh Tape washi rolls can be very useful.  Here I mixed 3 of them with some gold leaf sprigs and a floral embossing folder to make a birthday card.

supplies: white and gold mirror cardstock, Hydrangea and Rose washi tape, Hero Arts Envelope Accessories leaf die, Simon Picnic Floral embossing folder and sentiment from It's Your Birthday, Super Fine Detail Gold embossing powder

This particular washi tape has fine gold foiled details, so I like to add more gold to my design when I use it.  And let's not forget the lovely effect that an embossing folder adds!  At least for me, it is the perfect finishing touch!

I'm adding this card to the PinkFresh Studio April challenge: Flowers!

Thanks for your visit today!  I hope you have a great weekend!

Sending Love

 I have a card today using an embossing folder and sentiment die set from the newly released Four Petal Collection.

supplies: cream and gold foil cardstock, vellum, Spellbinders Four Petal Floral 3D embossing folder, Thanks Enclosed sentiment dies

These embossing folders are so wonderfully detailed - they need nothing to show off their loveliness!  I love cream mixed with gold, so I made this simple card that could be used for a sympathy card, a wedding, or just a classy "just because".

The new sentiment dies are just what I've been looking for - there are 21 individual words that you can string together for your own phrases, and each has its own matching shadow die.  I like the font, and the size is good, too.

As always, I'm glad you stopped by - have a good one!

Anemone Glimmer Blooms

 Here's another card from Yana's Anemone Blooms collection, this time using a glimmer plate and hot foil.

supplies: cream and peachy pink cardstock gold mirror cardstock, Anemone Glimmer Blooms plate,   matching die, and sentiment die, Gold glimmer foil, Hemstitch Rectangle die, microdot adhesive

This set has a large floral glimmer plate, a die to cut it out, and a sentiment die and matching shadow die (which I didn't use this time).  This glimmer design is very similar to Yana's Anemone dies (seen HERE), except that she's added some delicate baby's breath details to this one.  The gold glimmer foil looks really elegant against cream cardstock, and I wanted to keep the colors soft, so I colored the flowers in a peachy-pink.  

Yana's designs are lovely, don't you agree?  Thanks for stopping by!

Spellbinders Clubs for January: Small and Large Dies and Embossing Folders

I'm pleased to be able to share my cards using supplies from some of the new Spellbinders January Club Kits! 

First up, the Large Dies of the Month: Club Blooms.  This is a huge set of 23 beautiful flowers and leaves!  I went with soft colors for spring on this one.  I have a feeling that this new floral set of dies will become just as popular as the Be Bold Blooms from a last year. 

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

I layered the larger flowers and separated them with adhesive foam for some dimension.  I cut 3 layers of my sentiment.  The new embossing folder for January, Stylized Trellis, is a good basic that will be useful for lots of occasions.

Next is a card that showcases the Small Die of the Month: Sentimental Ampersand.  I  paired it again with a background made from the Embossing Folder of the Month: Stylized Trellis.

supplies: black cardstock, dps from Doodlebugs My Happy Place pad, Sentimental Ampersand dies and Stylized Trellis embossing folder

This paper pad I chose had a darling little floral print on black, so I cut the ampersand from that and centered it on my embossed black panel.  Then I used more papers from the same pad to cut out my sentiments, flowers, and leaves.  The die set includes 2 more sets of sentiments with dies to match and an extra piece to layer onto the ampersand which I didn't use this time.

This year there will be 2 Clubs for embossing folders, 1 a "regular" 2D folder, which you've seen on both cards above, and a new club for 3D folders!  Here's a card using the January 3D embossing folder of the month: Floral Archway.  This is a large folder with gorgeous flowers around the edges of a simple arch, where you can add your sentiment.  

supplies: Cream and green cardstock, Floral Archway 3D folder, Forest Glades ink, sentiment from Mix & Match Holiday Greetings dies

After cutting a cream panel a bit smaller than an A2 size, I embossed it, then gently rubbed on some green ink.  Then I found a green cardstock to match and cut out my sentiment, then matted the embossed panel.  These 3D folders have so much gorgeous detail that you don't need to do much more than let the design shine all by itself!

Next I went in a slightly different direction, covering up the arch with the largest flower, cut and embossed separately.

supplies: pool, foiled gold, and whitewash aqua cardstock, Floral Archway 3D embossing folder, gold foiled sentiment

I embossed first on an old piece of whitewash cardstock, then sanded off the details to appear in aqua.  Next I chose one of the flowers in the folder and embossed it on a scrap of white-core pool cardstock, and cut it out by hand, also sanding it lightly to bring out the details.  These were layered, matted in gold foil cardstock and pool, then the gold-foiled sentiment was added.

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available only until January 28.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the details of each product.

I'll be back in a few days with some more kits; thanks so much for stopping by today

November Glimmer of the Month: Glimmer Edge Stylized Floral

 Here's my card using the new November Glimmer of the Month kit from Spellbinders.

supplies: cream and white cardstock, Polished Gold Mirror cardstock, a scrap of an old Prima dp, Spellbinders Glimmer of the Month kit, Polished Brass glimmer foil, Postage Edge Rectangle dies, 2 glitzy gold enamel dots 

This month's kit is a solid glimmer plate that contains all of the elements you see above, plus a matching die to cut them out.  I did just that, colored them with markers, and then arranged them in this design.  Here's a tilted photograph to show the beautiful gold details.

You can find all the information you'll need HERE to get this lovely kit for yourself.  You'll have until November 28 to join the club, and you can "unjoin" at any time!  And don't forget that each month you'll also get a roll of glimmer foil!

October Glimmer of the Month Kit: Poinsettia Spray

 Here's my card using the brand new Glimmer of the Month kit for October!

supplies: Schoolhouse Red and Gold Mirror cardstock, October Glimmer of the Month glimmer plates and matching dies, gold glimmer foil

This month's kit consists of this lovely Christmas floral swag and 3 different sentiments, all with matching dies.  I foiled them on red cardstock, then cut them out with the dies and affixed them to a red card base, then matted the whole thing in gold.  If you're like me and still a little hesitant lining up these plates to be straight on your card, then I think you'll love that there are matching dies for everything this month!

The sentiments are also a pleasing font, and a nice small size so they can be mixed with lots of other Christmas elements.

You can find all the information you'll need HERE to get this fun kit for yourself.  You'll have until October 28 to join the club, and you can "unjoin" at any time!  And don't forget that each month you'll also get a roll of glimmer foil!

Winter Borders

 Today I'm sharing 2 cards I made with a new Spellbinders Border set called Winter Borders.  There are 8 different borders in this set, several of them stitches, a little scallop, and 2 seasonal borders.  

For my first card, I chose the snowflake border to work with. 

supplies: white, and blue glitter cardstock, a blue snowflake patterned paper, Winter Border snowflake die, a Mix & Match Holiday Greetings die, Eliza snowflake die

For my 2nd card I used 2 more of the border dies: a tiny scallop and a tile design, and layered them together on my card front, then embossed my sentiment in gold and added the spray of Christmas greenery and a gold bow. 

supplies: white, green, and metallic gold cardstock, 2 Winter Border dies, Parcel & Post Christmas Decorations, Pink & Main Holly Jolly sentiment, VersaMark ink and gold embossing powder

There are also 3 different stitched borders that can be used at any time of the year, which I know you'll be seeing me using here often!  Many thanks to Spellbinders for sharing these with me!

CASEing a Commercial Card

 We recently received a "store-bought" card and I was taken with the layout and the colors, so I decided to CASE it!

supplies: white, warm beige, and metallic gold cardstock, Simon's Brushed Flowers clear stamps (flowers, leaf, and sentiment), pink and mint inks, gold embossing powder

The small dots and hearts that I gold embossed are from some older Simon clear stamp sets, and the lacey die-cut was part of a Spellbinders card kit from last year.

The card I CASEd had foiled gold accents where you see my embossed and die-cut gold elements.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday!  Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Traditions Collection

 Once again, Spellbinders was kind enough to send me some new goodies from their new Christmas Traditions Collection!  Here are the projects I made with them.

I was excited to play with these new Holiday Florals Background glimmer plates, so much so that I made 3 cards with them!  

supplies: white and pink card, gold metallic card, Holiday Florals Background glimmer plate set (includes sentiment), bright gold glimmer foil, Hemstitch rectangle die, markers to color flowers and leaves

These florals come as half of the design you see here - just line it up in 1 corner, foil, then line it up at the opposite diagonal corner, and foil again.  There is also a 3-piece sentiment included in the set, and I  foiled the largest in the center.  After trimming my panel so that I could put it on a card base, I used my old favorite Hemstitch rectangle to cut out the design around the foiled sentiment, then matted the whole panel on gold metallic card, then onto a pink card base.

Here's another pink card, using silver foiling, with a die-cut sentiment.

supplies: Cotton Candy and Chrome Silver Mirror card, Holiday Florals Background glimmer plate and silver foil, sentiment from Santa Parade die set, silver sequins, markers to color flowers and leaves

And the 3rd card is much simpler, using a rich burgundy card with gold foiling.

supplies: burgundy and Polished Gold mirror card, Holiday Florals Background glimmer plate and gold foil, sentiment from Joy die set, gold sequins

Next I played with the Rejoice Nativity dies.

This die set has a little die which I couldn't figure out at first, until I saw that it was a piece to make this set into an ornament!  So that's what I did first, using silver mirror cardstock, along with an old piece of polished stone made years ago for the starry background (there's an oval die that makes teensy holes for light to shine through!).  I just cut out all the pieces and assembled them, adding a silver sequin to the center of the star, and some silver thread to hang it with.  If placed in front of a Christmas bulb, I think the effect will be magical!

 

supplies: silver mirror card, my own blue polished stone background, Rejoice Nativity dies, a silver sequin

So then I decided to make a really simple card that this ornament can be placed inside for presentation.  I used silver glitter and soft navy cardstock and silver-embossed the sentiment (which is from another new stamp set in this collection: Three Kings). I didn't use the starry background for this version.  

supplies: Soft Navy and silver glitter card, Rejoice Nativity dies and sentiment from Three Kings stamps set, silver embossing powder

As always, I thank Spellbinders for the chance to play with these lovely products!

English Garden Washi Tape!

Today's cards couldn't have been easier to make!  

supplies: white, Cotton Candy, and metallic gold cardstock, PinkFresh Studio English Garden washi tape and matching dies, The Greetery Fit to be Tied bow, sentiment from Simon Spring Bouquets, gold embossing powder, Lawn Fawn Fancy Scalloped Rectangle die, adhesive foam squares

Can you believe this is Washi Tape?  PinkFresh Studio has a lovely collection of these, and they are easy to apply to cardstock and then die-cut.  For this card I used the wreath, and added an extra bunch of flowers to the bottom right, plus my own gold bow and a gold stamped sentiment.  This design would be suitable for so many occasions, just by changing up the sentiment.

I tilted my card a bit to show the gold outlines in this washi - you can see it best on the right side of the card, but it is across the whole design.

Next, I was wondering how hard it would be to fussy-cut the images after the washi was applied to cardstock.  So I placed the little florals over pink cardstock and hand-cut them out.  No different than cutting out anything else .......this may be a money saver when I get future Washi tapes; those dies to match can really boost up the price, and I enjoy fussy-cutting anyway!

supplies: white card base, Cotton Candy top panel, PinkFresh Studio English Garden washi tape and a gold-embossed Perfect Sentiment, matching sentiment die, Simon Blossom Field embossing folder

I cut a scalloped window in the pink card before embossing it, then attached that to my white card base and added the little florals and my sentiment.  You need to use your imagination to see the gold highlights in the florals, but they are just as lovely as in the photo above.

Thanks for coming by today - have a good one!

Joyful Bouquets

 I treated myself to some new goodies recently. Today's cards show the Joyful Bouquet washi and matching dies that I have been waiting to get.  I love this washi tape!  It was very easy to transfer to some white cardstock, using my stencil pal, and then use the matching die to cut out all the pieces at one time.  Please excuse the wonky shapes on today's cards - I had to tilt them to show you the gorgeous gold highlights.

supplies: white, Cotton Candy, and gold metallic kraft cardstock, Pink Fresh Studio Joyful Bouquet Washi and matching die, Stitched Scallop Rectangle dies, The Greetery Love die, adhesive foam to lift central rectangle and bouquet

This Cotton Candy card is the perfect backdrop for the bouquet.  The scalloped stitched framing makes this card definitely feminine, and the beautiful font of the sentiment only adds to that.

Next up is a card that uses the tiny bouquets that are included in the tape.

supplies: white and Cotton Candy cardstock, Pink Fresh Studio Joyful Bouquet washi and matching dies, MFT Sending You Hugs die, adhesive foam

On this one I used the negative die-cut popped up above the card base, with several small bouquets underneath the "hugs" and another on top of the card.  The lovely gold is so appealing!  

And 1 more, mixed with a new cover die.  The sentiment dies are a part of that set.

supplies: white and metallic gold cardstock, watercolor dp from Lawn Fawn, Ink to Paper Dainty Deliveries border and sentiment dies, Pink Fresh Studio Joyful Bouquet washi tape and matching die, stencil pal, gold thread and gem

This may be too busy for some people, but I really like this new border die also, for its daintiness.  Because of the gold in the bouquet, I added a gold sentiment and a little bow made of gold thread, secured with a gold gem.  I chose the watercolor background because of the single purple flower in the bouquet, but so many colors will work with this washi.  There are 10 yards on the roll, so this will be perfect for last-minute cards I need in a hurry. 

Thanks for your visit today!

Simon Says...........Thank You/Thanksgiving

If you're here to see my 25 Days of Christmas Tags, please scroll down 1 post, or click HERE.  

Happy Wednesday - welcome to our challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

This week our theme is Thank You/Thanksgiving and we're using Hero Arts products.  I chose a large cling background stamp and a floral cover die and made 2 very different cards for today.  Coincidentally, both products are called Flower Garden!

supplies: ivory and Tim Holtz Metallic Kraft cardstock, Hero Arts Flower Garden Bold Prints, stamped in VersaMark and embossed in gold, colored with Yasutomo gold pearlescent watercolor paint, sentiment from Gina K. Designs Autumn Wreath Builder, Sunny Studio Fancy Frames Circle die, Impression Obsession Small Leaf die, adhesive foam to lift sentiment circle

I was completely taken with a card that Betty Keefe made a few months ago, and used her idea for this card.  I stamped the design on ivory card, gold embossed it, then used some gold watercolor paint to add a bit more gold to the leaves.  The panel was mounted on a gold metallic cardstock, which was also used to make a circle frame for my sentiment.

My next card uses a favorite cover die that I got earlier this year.  It is really fun to work with!  Today I used my Zig markers and some water to color all the flowers and leaves, then mounted it onto a white card base and added my sentiment in black.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Bristol paper, Flower Garden die, MFT Thanks die, sentiment from Wplus9 Hand Lettered Thanks, Zig Markers and water

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 gift certificate 

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

Thinking of You

Hi friends!  Today I'm playing again with this pretty die that was released earlier this year.

supplies: white, Audrey Blue and Surf Blue cardstock, Tim Holtz Metallic kraft stock, Simon Carnation Frame die, sentiment from Delicate Flowers, embossed in Ultra Fine Gold powder

I cut the carnation frame from white, gold, and Surf Blue, then inlaid the flower and overlaid just the white frame.

It's weekend!  Hope yours is a great one!

Thankful Flowers

Hi!  Today I have a card using the supplies in the Simon Says Stamp October Card Kit. 

supplies: white cardstock, striped dp from MME My Heritage, Tim Holtz Metallic Kraft Stock paper, Simon's Thankful Flowers and Bold Thanks die

I stamped the lovely flowers onto white cardstock and clear embossed the image, then fussy-cut the bottom half away.  Next I added a thin strip of metallic kraft paper to the bottom and trimmed it closely, following the stamp lines.  This panel was placed over the striped dp on a card base, and to finish I added my die-cut Thanks.  

Here's the kit for this month - very classy!  Note that it includes a pair of mini scissors, perfect for fussy-cutting!

Simon Says.......All That Glitters is Gold

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

Our theme this week is "All That Glitters is Gold", and the team is showcasing Lawn Fawn products.

supplies: green, white, and gold glitter card stock, Lawn Fawn Deck the Halls stamps paired with Gina K's Wreath Builder stencil, a bow die

I got my gold fix with gold glitter cardstock - wish I could capture the sparkle it gives off!  I framed my stamped panels with it, and used it also to make my bow and to add some detail to the wreath.

And I used a gold metallic paper for my sentiment on my next card.  

supplies: Schoolhouse Red, kraft, green, and metallic gold card, birch and stripe patterned papers, Lawn Fawn Scripty Joy and Paper Smooches Holly dies, Simon heart

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 gift certificate 

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for 1 lucky random winner of this week's challenge!  I can't wait to see what you all make this week!

Too early for an autumn card??

We had a couple of gorgeous days this week, a break in our humidity with cool breezes and sunny skies - it made me think of fall.  So I made this card with some stamps I haven't used in awhile.

supplies: kraft and Dark Chocolate card stock, plank dp from Carta Bella Spring Market papers,  Wplus9 Beautiful Bouquets Mums, Spectrum Aqua markers and water to color, sentiment from Simon's Mandy's Flowers, VersaFine Clair Pinecone ink, sequins

Thanks for stopping by - hope your weekend is a great one!

....."One is Silver and the other Gold"........

I'm back with a couple more foiled cards.  This time I trimmed out  Gina K Design FoilMate panels and colored them first with distress inks before foiling.  The panels are not shiny, but there's something extremely smooth about them so that the inks sponge on beautifully.

supplies: Cornflower, Mint, and silver metallic and glitter card stock, Gina K Vibrant Vines Foil Mates panel, cracked pistachio, broken china, and blueprint sketch distress inks, Sparkling Silver foil, Tim Holtz Detailed Butterfly dies, Simon dream die

The bad thing about these cards is that they're impossible to photograph so that they look like the real thing.  This one uses all silver metallics, but you wouldn't know it from the picture.  You'll just have to take my word for it.   That Sparkling Silver foil is to die for!  It was included in a recent card kit, but I'll be getting a whole pack of it asap!  In real life it starts silver, but looks periwinkle in some lights.  I'm sure it will take on the hue of any other color it's put against...

Next up is a rose-gold card:

supplies: cream and rose gold metallic card stock, Gina K Designs Blooming Hearts Foil Mate panel,  carved pumpkin, picked raspberry, and mustard seed distress inks, Rose Gold foil, Spellbinder's Scalloped Heart die, Simon's Heart die, sentiment from Hero Arts With Sympathy, rose gold embossing powder

I again colored my panel before foiling it, then cut out the heart.  The die-cut sentiment was glued to the panel over the "hole" and after stamping and gold embossing the rest of the sentiment on the card base, the foiled panel was popped above it.

Thanks for stopping by - I'll see you again tomorrow, I hope, for a Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge post.