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!

More Lilacs

 Just sharing a card I made for my sister for Mother's Day, this time using stamped lilacs.

supplies: white, mint, and an aqua/grey cardstock, Sunny Studio Lovely Lilacs, Altenew Spring Bouquet and Green Meadows mini inks, sentiment from (retired) Simon Mom & Dad Icons, Hero Arts (retired) Watering Can die, Spellbinders (retired) Branching Out embossing folder and Hemstitch Rectangle die

My Dad gave us starts of lilacs that are these pink/purple color; he just called them double reds, so I tried to find inks that would approximate this color.  After inserting them into the watering can, I tried out various colors for a background, and ended up with this mint - always refreshing!  It's a shame this leafy embossing folder has been retired - I find myself reaching for it often.

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

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!

Altenew June Inspiration Challenge

 I'm sneaking in at the last hour with my entry for this month's Altenew Inspiration Challenge.  Those colors were my Mom's favorites, so how could I not play?

supplies: white cardstock, Altenew Beautiful Day flowers and leaves, Rose Petal, Green Meadows, kitsch flamingo and Picked raspberry inks, orange enamel dots, Four Petal Floral 3D embossing folder, Hexi Gems glimmer plate sentiment, Pink glimmer hot foil  adhesive foam squares

The Beautiful Day multi-step stamping set was among my first from Atenew; I love the big abundant flower it makes.  I thought the embossing behind it mimics it pretty well, too, so I could reinforce the  inspiration picture, which had lots of flowers in these colors.  And that orange is a nice addition to them - I used enamel dots for that color.

It just now occurred to me that maybe the reason I love embossed backgrounds is that it's like the quilting on a quilt - wonderful added texture!

Bluebirds of Happiness?

 I have been watching Aaron Leventhal's Hanging with Hero series, and I highly recommend it if you haven't already seen it.  The first episode was with Jennifer McGuire, and the second with Tim Holtz, and they have been so interesting, and really makes you proud to be part of this industry!  I highly recommend that you watch them.  There are more to come, also!!

Recently Simon Says Stamp had a stamp/die set on sale that has been on my wishlist, so I jumped and got it home.  Here's a card I made after watching Aaron's videos, and also being inspired by Yana Smakula's use of these same supplies.  She made her sentiments vertical, which reminded me of one of my all-time favorite Hero Arts sentiment stamps, from 2011.  So I dug it out and here's my first card with my new (to me) goodies!

supplies: white, orange, and blue cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Printmaking Birds stamps and matching dies, medium and dark blue and orange inks, sentiment from (retired) Hero Arts Made with Love, MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle die

Following Yana's example, I stamped my sentiment to one side, then perched 1 bird on top of the vertical element and then dispersed the other birds all around it.

This stamp set consists of a set of these 8 birds in outline form, plus stamps for the bodies, the tummies, and the wings and tails.  Once you get set up, you can easily make sets of all different colors of birds, and then use the matching dies to cut them out.  I already have a bag full of 4 other different colors of birds, which I can group all together like this, or use just 1 or 2 combined with something else.  And I really like the sentiments that are included in the stamp set; since I love my birds so much, I know they'll be used lots!

Here's a 2nd card that I made after unearthing this previously stamped plaid background.  I had already stamped birds in aquas and yellows, so all I needed to do was to choose a sentiment from this set!

supplies: white and Surf Blue cardstock, Printmaker Birds and matching dies, aquas, yellows, and black inks, The Greetery Tartan Builder Diagonal layering plaid stencils, squeezed lemonade, tumbled glass, and vintage photo inks

Thanks for visiting me today - and I hope you'll take the time to watch those videos I referenced above!

Altenew April Inspiration Challenge

I need to be doing more challenges, so I found this one from Altenew, their monthly inspiration challenge.

The beautiful inspiration photo was taken at Gooch's Beach in Kennebunkport, Maine, a place that holds my heart!  We try to get to the area at least once a year.  Here's my entry, inspired by the colors, of course, and the horizontal lines..

supplies: white and slate grey cardstock, Altenew Lush Garden stamps and matching dies, Golden Sunset, Tea Party, and Rock Collection inks, sentiment die from (retired) Flower Arrangement die set, enamel dots, Spellbinders brush stroke stencil

Keep your fingers crossed for me!  And enjoy your Sunday!  I think spring has finally arrived here, and we plan to be outside as much as possible! 

Edited to add: this card was one of 4 winners at the Altenew April Inspiration Challenge!

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!

Thinking of You

 March is the month of daffodils, and I try to feature them during the month every year.  Here's this year's version!

supplies: white, green, yellow, and pale orange cardstock, The Greetery Sprinkled with Kindness layering stamps and die, Spellbinders Rainboot Bouquet daffodil dies, Sunny Studio Eyelet and Lattice Frilly Frames dies, (retired) Tammy Tutterow Sweet Petite Sentiments, adhesive foam

So pleased to see that these daffodils fit into the watering can perfectly! 

Adding this to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Spring/Easter.

Thanks for visiting! 

Autumn Blessings

I have such a lovely collection of stamps for the fall - here's a combination of goodies from The Greetery that haven't seen much love lately.  

supplies: white cardstock, The Greetery Just Mason Around,  Altenew Sea Shore ink cubes, Mason Jar Fillers stencils, Budding Beauties Autumn, Autumn Sketches, and Bittersweet Bouquet stamps, Altenew Golden Sunset, Warm & Cozy, and Coffee Break ink sets, also Just Green and Heart Beat ink cubes

I REALLY like the combination of the Sea Shore inks mixed with the yellows and oranges of the leaves and berry sprigs!  

Are you enjoying the season?

Pink and Grey

I was do-less, as my husband terms it, recently, and was looking through my Greetery goodies, and came across a stencil set that, again, has hardly been used.  So I decided to pick some colors that I don't usually use: pink and grey, and have some playtime!

supplies: white cardstock, The Greetery Square Dance stencils, kitsch flamingo and hickory smoke distress inks, The Greetery Sketchbook Roses stamps, Pink Fresh Fairy Dust and Altenew Rock Collection mini ink cubes, Wplus9 (retired) Hand Lettered Hello sentiment stamps, pink enamel dots

This stencil set looks like woven ribbons to me.  This Sketchbook Roses stamp set has sadly just been retired last year; too bad, it's always been a favorite of mine.  After stamping, I trimmed it out by hand and then popped it above the stencilled background, adding my (also retired) sentiment and some enamel dots. 

This has a moody look to it, which is interesting to me.  What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Winter Blues

Can you stand another card using these Antique Rose stamps?   I had stamped them in various colors, but never used these aqua ones, so I decided to do a monochromatic version.

supplies: white, and aqua foil cardstock, dotty dp from Whimsy Stamps Mix n Match 2 paper pad, Altenew Antique Roses stamps, Sweet Dreams and Green Valley inks, Fine Frames die, foiled sentiment from Birch Press Design Sugar Script Hot Foil Plate and Die set, teal glimmer foil, adhesive foam

I started with this paper with a mix of different sizes and shades of aqua dots.  Then I cut some fine frames from aqua metallic cardstock next, to reinforce my foiled sentiment, then arranged my florals and sentiment and popped them above everything. 

I didn't think of it until after I'd named my post for today, but those dots do look a bit like falling snow!  

Thanks for stopping by - have a good day!

Flowers and a Smile

 February is the month I most dislike because it is almost always dreary.  Spring is always on my mind, so I pulled out a multi-step stamp set and made myself some spring!

supplies: white and a pale green cardstock, Altenew (retired) Hope stamp set, Cherry Blossom, Green Fields, and some yellow mini inks, Sunny Studio Eyelet and Lattice Frilly Frames dies, foiled sentiment from Spellbinders Glimmer of the Month kit: Tulip Border, magenta glimmer foil, adhesive foam squares and strips

This stamp set has a date of 2017 on it, and I'm ashamed to say it's only been used once before this; AND it's probably not the only set that I can say that about.  My New Year's resolution should be to play with what I already have instead of buying new.  I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking along those lines.

Anyway, I'm pleased with the results of this card and it brought me some sunshine while I was working on it.  Wishing you some sunshine, too!  Thanks for visiting.

With Love

 Here's my card to you for Heart Day!

supplies: white, cream, slate, and a script dp, Altenew Bountiful Bouquet stamps, Red Sunset and Green Fields inks, Pink Fresh Studio Fancy Oval Frame die, sentiment from Simon Floral Garden, cream embossing powder, adhesive foam

Hope you can spend the day with someone you love!  

Floral Arches Birthday Cards

 I have 4 birthdays at the end of December, and I decided to make them all the same.  One was completed earlier this year, and here are the other 3.

supplies: white and Island Blue cardstock, The Greetery Floral Arches stamp/stencil set and matching die, Altenew Deep Blue Seas and Spring Bouquet greens mini inks,  Arched Sentiments stamps and matching die

supplies: white and purple cardstock, same supplies from The Greetery, Simon Trio 17 purple inks and Altenew Green Valley inks

supplies: white and Lipstick Red cardstock, same supplies from The Greetery, Altenew Red Sunset and Sea Shore inks, VersaMark and white embossing powder

After stencilling the arches on white cardstock and adding details with the matching stamps, I trimmed the panel as close as I could so that I could mat it with a solid color.  I also cut an arch from the floral panels, and after attaching that to my matting, stamped the sentiments.

On the first 2 cards I used one of the same inks to stamp the sentiments, but on the 3rd red card, I couldn't find an ink that would show up, so I stamped everything in clear ink and embossed it in white.  

These are all absolutely flat for mailing, but the floral panels could be raised, along with the "Happy Birthday" sentiments.

Which is your favorite?  I'm partial to the purple one today!

Yellow Roses

 Our roses this summer were spectacular in June, but their subsequent bloomings  were pretty much ruined by Japanese beetles and a bright green little worm ....it was always a race to cut them before the insects started munching.  So before summer ends, here's a rose card.

supplies: white and pale gold cardstock, Taylored Expressions Garden Party embossing folder, The Greetery Sketchbook Roses clear stamps, Altenew Chamomile, Snapdragon, Firefly and Grass Field mini ink cubes, Pink Fresh Studio Perfect Sentiments clear stamp and matching die, mini adhesive foam squares

The rose spray was fussy-cut, but I love the ease of stamping these sentiments all at once and then die-cutting them with 1 die - so nice to have the extras for future projects!  And I'm really warming to the new Simon smaller and less deep adhesive foam squares.  They were just what was needed to make the sentiment stand out a bit from the rest of the card .

Hope you have a great week - thanks so much for stopping by!

Ornate Wreath and Painted Flowers

 Altenew's Painted Flowers stamp set is still a favorite of mine, and they recently brought out a little add-on flower.  And I finally got myself this pretty Ornate Frame from Pink Fresh Studio - here's their first play together.

supplies: white and slate cardstock, an unknown patterned paper from a card kit, Altenew Painted Flowers multi-step stamp set, Painted Flowers Add-on stamp and matching die, (retired) Flower Arrangement Hello die, Pink Fresh Studio Ornate Oval Frame die, Pink Fresh Studio mini ink cubes in Rise & Shine and Fairy Dust, Simon Pawsitively Saturated Ink Trio #15 (Spring, Dublin, and Lucky) inks

Thanks for stopping by - have a great week!

Easy and Fun Daisy Cards

  Playing again with my new Daisy Days suite.  Today I'm using the Fill in the Blank papers that coordinate with the stencils and stamps.  

For my first card, I was heavily influenced by Melissa's sample card that she made for the release of these products in May; loved the red and yellow color scheme she used!  It's something I'd never have come up with on my own......This one starts with a beige/taupe Fill in the Blank base.

supplies: Lipstick Red cardstock, The Greetery  Daisy Days Fill in the Blank paper, Daisy Days stencils and matching stamps, Altenew mini ink pads and a blending brush, Heffy Doodle Bold Banner Sentiments and matching die, sunshine enamel dots

After stencilling the background card, I attached the large flowers stencil and ran it through my machine with an embossing pad and plate to give it some extra dimension, then added enamel dots to the flower centers and my sentiment.

Next I started with a pink Fill in the Blank card base.

supplies: The Greetery  Daisy Days Fill in the Blank paper, Daisy Days stencils and matching stamps, Daisy Days matching dies, Pink Fresh Studio Rise & Shine yellows and Altenew Grass Field and Shadow Creek greens inks, Simon Reverse Sentiment Strip

I added some extra die-cut and stamped flowers for a little dimension on this one.

This suite makes for a fairly fast card when you need something in a hurry - and it's a fun process, too!

Have a great weekend!

More Lilacs

 Here's another play with my new Lovely Lilacs stamps.  I was hoping they'd fit into this Hero Arts watering can, and I 'm pleased that they do!

supplies: white, grey, and doll pink card, Sunny Studio Lovely Lilacs stamps, Spring Bouquet, Lapis Lazuli, and Enchanted Garden ink cubes, Hero Arts Watering Can die, Tim Holtz Lumber embossing folder, silver ink, Altenew Fine Frames die, Simon Reverse sentiment strip, adhesive foam squares

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday - thanks so much for stopping by!

Blue Roses

 I haven't played with these lovely multi-layered stamps in quite awhile.  Today is the day!

supplies: Audrey Blue and white card, Altenew Antique Roses stamps, Sweet Dreams and Green Meadow inks, Maker's Movement/Tammy Tutterow Sweet Petite Sentiment, Sunny Studio Frilly Frames Lattice dies, adhesive foam squares

These layering stamps are pretty easy to line up, and also to fussy-cut when they're finished.  I also did the same with the sentiment.  They would look lovely in any color, but today I was in a blue mood.

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

Spring Mix

 Here's my first play with the amazing Print Shop Spring Mix set of stamps, stencils, and dies from The Greetery.

supplies: white card, Spring Mix stamp and stencil set and matching dies, Altenew Spring Bouquet pinks, Summer Afternoon yellows, and Green Valley greens mini ink cubes, white pearls, adhesive foam squares

I started by cutting out the large design from the die set, then placed the stencils over it to color in the individual flowers and leaves.  The details on the flowers are stamps, and took but a minute to add.  That panel was popped above my card base, on which I'd stamped a sentiment from the stamp set.  There are also individual stamps and dies for the flowers, so I layered a few of those for more dimension before adding little white pearl centers.  

Doesn't this make a pretty presentation?  It reminds me of a seed packet!  

Here's a 2nd version using cool colors this time.  I made it into an easel card like Betsy demonstrated.

supplies: white and Green Apple cardstock, Spring Mix large die, stencils, and stamps, Altenew Spring Bouquet greens, Sweet Dreams, Lapis Lazuli, and Shades of Purple inks, enamel dots, (retired) Impression Obsession In a Garden sentiment

Here it is closed.  The only dimension here is the enamel dots on some of the flowers, and the fact that the panel is lifted from the card base.  

It was really fun to put these cards together - if you're a gardener or enjoy flowers, I know you'd love this set also!  Thanks for stopping by - have a wonderful week!