Enjoy the Little Things!

 Last year in March I noticed a tiny clump of snowdrops that I had not planted under a Japanese Maple.  I've always admired pictures of them, but never got around to planting any.  So where did this one come from?  I still don't have a clue, but this year it was joined by a 2nd plant nearby, and I'm thrilled to think that someday I may have a clump of these to welcome spring! 

So when I saw Simon's Snowball Bouquet dies, which are snowdrops, I had to bring them home, too.  Here's their first outing.

supplies: white, blue, and greens cardstock, Simon Snowball Bouquet dies, Pink Fresh Studio (retired) Folk Edge Rectangle, sentiment from Newton's Nook Little Lilies, adhesive foam squares

The snowdrops were easy to put together; I used 2 flower dies for each blossom, layering them, and pulling the topmost layer forward.  Since this design is so simple, I decided to add some dimension by securing each stem only at the bottom and allowing the flowers and leaves to stand away from the backing.  I also popped the folk edge panel up above the rest of the card, using adhesive foam.

Now I have another sign of spring to look for each year!

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!  

 

Some Postage Collage Cards

 Playing with Waffle Flower Postage Collage goodies today, using the main die as a novel background and foregoing the postal details just this once.  I have 2 cards.

My first card is inspired by a childhood memory of watching a momma wren teach her babies to fly.  It uses a potpourri of supplies from lots of companies; unfortunately, many of them are discontinued.  The good news is that you can almost certainly substitute something that is current with a little searching.  I really love these birds with the heart wings from an old Wplus9 set.

supplies: white and colored cardstock, Waffle Flower Postage Collage die, Postage Collage Coloring Stencil, tumbled glass distress ink, Spellbinders (retired) Sweet Birds on a Branch (branches and leaves), Paper Smooches (retired) Birdhouse die, Wplus9 (retired) Folk Art Florals birds, a tiny flower die, sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Butterflies, natural twine, Doodlebug tiny heart sprinkles, tiny pearls for bird eyes

My second card uses my new Wildflower Silhouettes stamps that I finally got.  I love the idea of making various colored backgrounds for them!  

supplies: white, black, and gold cardstock, Postage Collage die, Postage Collage Coloring stencil, scattered straw, carved pumpkin, and seedless preserves distress inks, blending brushes, Wild Flower Silhouettes, sentiment from (retired) Impression Obsession In a Garden

Do you have any of these postage collage goodies?  They certainly bring a breath of fresh air to our designs!

I'll enter these cards into this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Spring

 I'm still playing with my new Hero Arts February Fancy Dies, this time using more of the other flowers in the set.  And I added some Greetery things to the mix this time.

supplies: white and colored cardstock, Hero Arts February Fancy dies, The Greetery BotaniCuts Pussy Willows and Fit to Be Tied, sentiment from Newton's Nook (retired) Woodland Spring

I cut 3 daffodils and 3 crocus flowers plus some leaves and arranged them along with the pussy willows and a pretty bow to make my spring bouquet.  

Hopefully spring won't be too long coming now!

Woodblock Wednesday

 I really enjoyed making my card for this month's Woodblock Wednesday!  The idea of mixing a collage postage die with small floral Hero Arts woodblocks came to mind as I was looking through my woodblocks to use this month.  Then I saw Linda's cards (rcwidow on IG) doing the same thing, and Colleen's cards from last month, and that made up my mind.  Here's my contribution for this month.

I had to do a wee bit of masking, but these smaller stamps fit into the openings perfectly! Here's a picture with the stamps I used, all of them Hero Arts from the early 2000s.  The "first class mail" and postage amounts are from  a Waffle Flower Postage Collage stamp set.  As you can see, I used the same colors that Hero Arts suggested on their stamps: yellow, pink, lavender, and green. 

supplies: white and purple cardstock, Waffle Flower Postage Collage die and stamp set, Hero Arts Angels in a Vase, Artist's Heart Leaves, Happy Spring (I believe part of a 2-piece set), Garden Blooms set of 3, punched butterflies

It was such a joy to use these again, as they were all favorites way back then!  Since the Simon Wednesday Blog is featuring Waffle Flower this week, I'll enter this into their challenge.

And because I had to know what these would look like cut apart, here's a bonus card.

supplies: white and green cardstock, Memory Box Pinpoint Leaf cover plate, Waffle Flower Postage Collage die and stamp set , Hero Arts Garden Blooms stamps, Winnie & Walter Spring cutaway

This time I only used the 3 stamps from Garden Blooms set, coloring each one in only one of the same colors I used above.  Then I arranged them on a panel of green cardstock cut with the Pinpoint Leaf cover plate, and added a die-cut sentiment.

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

A Felt Bunny!

 Nichol Spohr and Spellbinders have a new Spring Felt Collection, and I was tickled to be able to play with the Felt Carrot Companion set!

As you can see, the set makes this cute bunny and a carrot.  Nichol's dies are made to be used with felt, and I was lucky to have these colors still on hand from past projects.  

Here's a closer shot.

Nichol's dies include some to make a little bow for around the bunny's neck, but you know me and gingham, I thought this thin pink ribbon worked perfectly.  I also added my own flowers at her ear, using some Spellbinders flower and leaf dies, and used adhesive black pearls for her eyes.  The carrot tops are really cute with their fringes!  I tied some twine through them for a little country feel.

Nichol also designed a second set called Cozy Cluck, a sweet hen.  I look forward to what she has coming for us in the future!  These little felt projects are a nice break from cardmaking.

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your day!

Spring Hyacinths

 I recently ordered Hero Arts Fancy Dies of the Month for February.  It's full of tulips, crocus, daffodils, and these hyacinths, along with several different pots to plant them in.  Unfortunately the set sold out. Here's their first outing, mixed with some pretties from other companies.

supplies: white and colored cardstock, Spellbinders/Wendy Vecchi Heartfelt Scallops Rectangle, Neat & Tangled (retired) Hello Spring stamps, Surf ink, Hero Arts February 2025 Fancy Dies, Simon Four Seasons die, adhesive foam squares

There's nothing like that sweet smell that hyacinths give off!  And these dies represent them beautifully!  Can't wait to play with some of the other flowers in this set!

Thanks for stopping by.

Birdhouse Shaped Cards for Spring

 Today I'm playing with a pop-up birdhouse die set, and once again I used products from a bunch of companies to complete my projects, so fun!

supplies: colored and kraft cardstocks, a blue woodgrain dp, Scrappy Tails Birdhouse Pop-up dies, Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers Dogwood dies, Spellbinders Tweet Cardinal dies, The Greetery Opposites Attract stamp and matching die

The birdhouse set has dies so that you can make your card into a pop-up one.  The birdhouse die is actually quite a bit taller, so that you can make a slim-line card, but I chopped it off at about 6" tall today.  The set gives you options for the opening in it: a circle or a heart.  That was a no-brainer for me!   I haven't played very much with this cute cardinal either, so that was my second choice, and then because of the blue color I chose for the birdhouse, I thought that some neutral cream flowers would look best, so that's where the dogwoods came in.  And I always like to use this sentiment when I make cards that have birds featured.

Here's another one with spring in mind.

supplies: colored cardstock, Honey Bee woodgrain dp, (retired) Distress Grey two-tone woodgrain cardstock, Scrappy Tails Birdhouse Pop-up dies, Pretty Pink Posh Spring Foliage dies, PTI Feathered Friends 2 bird dies, Simon Heart dies

This time I put the sentiment on the back of the card.

supplies: Simon Spring Blessings, Doodlebug enamel heart

These are so much fun I made another version, using the scalloped circle opening this time and yet another bird, colored with markers like a bluebird.  I left the flowers off this time so that I could send this to a guy.

supplies: white and kraft cardstock, Honey Bee Stamps plank design paper, Scrappy Tails Birdhouse Pop-up dies, Tim Holtz Feathered Friends and (retired) Funky Foliage dies, markers to color

Once again, I put my sentiment "Just Because" on the backside of my card.

I'm entering my first card into this month's Double D Challenge: Birds.

Do you enjoy watching the birds?  It's a favorite past-time for us!  We even made a garden devoted to our little visitors!

A Spring Hello

 I used some favorite little dies for today's card, and a mix of companies again.

supplies: white and dark green cardstock, Distress Grey Two-Tone Woodgrain cardstock, Lawn Fawn Magic Iris Floral Wreath Add-On, bird from Magic Iris Birdhouse, Fancy Scalloped Rectangle dies, Memory Box Pinpoint Leaf cover plate, My Favorite Things (retired) Home Tweet Home birdhouse, sentiment from Newton's Nook (retired) Woodland Spring stamp set, adhesive foam squares

This wreath has extra flowers and leaves to affix to the main image, but today I just used some markers to color a white cut of it, then added the birdhouse and bird popped above a bit.  And this time I set it against a subtle leafy background.

Are you seeing any signs of spring in your neck of the woods?  My husband put out our birdhouses last week and we couldn't believe the birds they attracted immediately!  

Petal Pushers

 Here's a beautiful set of goodies from The Greetery that needs some love.  I used some pretty pastel colors for spring.

supplies: white and mint cardstock, The Greetery Petal Pusher Background plate and matching stencils, Pink Fresh Studio Sparkling Rose, Lemon Whip, and Sky Blue, Altenew Sweet Leaf mini ink cubes, gems and glittery stickers in flower centers

This cover plate cuts out the design as you see it, but the flowers and leaves are not cut all the way through; you can pull up their edges for dimension while the centers remain attached.  The 5-piece stencil set  colors everything.  

It turned out so pretty I didn't want to cover up anything with a sentiment, so I've left that off for now. 

This satisfied my need for spring for at least 1 happy afternoon!  Hope it makes you smile, too!

Simon's March Card Kit Tweet Friend

I couldn't resist the March Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp. Here are my first 3 cards using the wonderful elements inside!

First I played with the darling stamp set - so many cute birds and sentiments!

supplies: white and Surf Blue cardstock, Tweet Friend stamp set, Blossom Field embossing folder, Spellbinders Perfect Touch rectangle die, adhesive foam squares

Besides the 2 flowering branches in this set, there are 3 separate and different flowers (and a leaf, too, if you need an extra one), which I  stamped twice each, then used them to add to the branches for a place to pop up my birds.  I popped 2 of them up also amidst the flowers on the branches, and added some tiny pink gems to some of the flowers.  I wanted more color, so I put my panel onto an embossed Surf Blue one.  Isn't that baby bird in its nest adorable?  The sentiment is also part of the kit, just 1 of 5 large ones, not to mention bunches of smaller ones to go with them.

I'm always drawn to printed papers, and in this kit we have some from Paper Rose called Flower Shoppe.  One of the papers has 11 little scenes that can be cut apart and used.  I decided to make them my focal point for my next 2 cards.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Paper Rose Flower Shoppe design papers, Four Seasons Spring die, stamped sentiment from Tweet Friend stamps, Pink and Main (retired) Postage dies, adhesive foam squares

The pretty tone-on-tone paper is also from the papers in the kit.  And I was happy to see that the Four Seasons dies are still available!

Here's another, a 4 1/4" square card this time, and I used one of the Pretty Bows that is in the kit.

supplies: white and Cornflower cardstock, Paper Rose Flower Shoppe design papers, (bottles and blue stripe), sentiment from Tweet Friend stamps, a Pretty Bow die, MFT (retired) Stitched Mini Scallop Square Stax dies 

As you can see, there are so many ways to go with this kit.  I haven't even touched the embossing folder yet!  For more ideas, don't forget to look in Simon's gallery HERE.  The kit is sold out, but many of the elements in it are still available.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blooming Circle

 Today I brought out a favorite Simon Says Stamp floral wreath die that is still current to make my card. 

supplies: white, black, and Surf Blue cardstock, Simon Blooming Circle die, Tri-Blend markers to color, Lawn Fawn Fancy Scallop Rectangle die, Spellbinders (retired) Pocketful of Spring die

This wreath die cuts out the flowers and leaves, so I cut it first from an A2 panel, saving all the bits and pieces that fell out, then cut that panel with the fancy scallop rectangle.  I used my markers to color in all the pieces in rainbow order, then reinserted them back into the design.  I toyed with adding a bow, but didn't want to cover up any of the colors, so I kept things clean and simple and added only this little die-cut sentiment.  

This card makes me happy - hope it does the same for you!  Thanks for coming by today!

Spring Blessings

 Here's a mix of Honey Bee Lovely Layers dies and a Spellbinders embossing folder and sentiment.

supplies: white, soft aqua, green, pale yellow, and 4 different kraft cardstocks, Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers Dogwood, Lovely Layers Nest, Spellbinders (retired) Branching Out embossing folder, (retired) sentiment from Lily Arch

I really enjoyed making this card - as their titles suggest, the florals and the nest are composed of many layers, and I added another with the leafy embossing folder background.  After all that, I liked this sweet little sentiment to finish things off.

I hope we get to see this for real soon!  

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!

Spellbinders Club Kits for February: Stencils, Clear Stamps and Dies, 3D Embossing Folder

 Today I have several cards to share with you.  First are the Stencils of the Month: Nature's Canvas.  These layering stencils are always favorites of mine; add a spring theme and I'm all in!  Unfortunately this month's set is already sold out.  

supplies: white and yellow cardstock, Nature's Canvas set of 5 stencils, pastel inks, sentiment from Spring Canopy glimmer plate

Next up is a card made with the Stamps/Dies of the Month: Spring Smiles and the 3D folder Petite Bow.

supplies: white, pink, and green cardstock, Spring Smiles stamps and dies, Petite Bow 3D folder, white pigment ink, Essential Arches dies

The stamp set consists of 2 bunnies, 2 chicks, and 4 floral sprigs, plus 6 sentiments, all in a petite size.  I chose a sampling to stamp and color, and used the matching die to cut out the floral sprig.  I cut the panel with the critters with an arch die, then cut off a good part of the bottom.  This gave more room for the Petite Bows to show in the background.  

Here are the Kits I used for my cards 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!

Spellbinders February Club Kits: Large Dies, Stitching Dies, and Embossing Folder

 Here are some more cards using more of the Spellbinders Club Kits for this month: Large Dies, Dancin' Happy Bunnies Everywhere, Stitching Dies, Stitched Scallop Card Front, and the regular Embossing folder, Wicker Basket.

supplies: white, blush, and various colored cardstock, a printed design paper, Stitched Scallop Card Front die, white embroidery floss, teeny Peach Blush gems, Dancin' Hoppy Bunnies Everywhere dies

The Stitching set comes with a smaller frame, and a tag.  

Don't you love those flirty little eyes we got this month?  Here's a little boy bunny to go along with her, paired with this month's embossing folder..

supplies: kraft cardstock, various colored cardstock, Dancin' Hoppy Bunnies Everywhere dies, Wicker Basket embossing folder

There are so many fun accessories in this Large Die kit: clothes to dress your bunnies, or bows, this fun chick, a carrot, flowers. I adapted the paint can to a little basket for the bunnies to collect their flowers or carrots. And I didn't even use the eggs that you can decorate!  The bunnies are called "Dancin'" because they are made with a separate die for their legs, with the hinged dancing feature that Spellbinders has used before.  Today I chose not to use that feature, and just glued the legs on to their bodies.

Here are the Kits 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!

Spellbinders Club Kits for February: Glimmer and Small Dies

 Time to share my cards using this month's Spellbinders Club Kits!  Today I have the Glimmer of the Month: Spring Canopy.  It comes with Lavender Petal foil. And keep on scrolling to see what I did with the Small Dies of the month, Step into Spring.  

I tried the glimmer plate first with Rainbow Confetti foil.

supplies: white cardstock, Spring Canopy Glimmer plates, Rainbow Confetti glimmer foil

The glimmer plate is actually half of what you see above - there I foiled it at the top, then again at the bottom.  The sentiment is one of 2 this size, with some smaller straight ones included, also.

The set also includes a cutting die to trim the end of the branches.  Here's a 2nd card, using the Lavender Petal foil included in this month's kit.

supplies: white and purple cardstock, Spring Canopy Glimmer plate and matching die, Lavender Petal glimmer foil, sentiment and flowers from Dancin' Hoppy Bunnies Everywhere dies

You'll just have to take my word that the branches are foiled lavender on this one.  Here you can see the die that cuts out the edges of the branches.  I used a die from the Large Dies of the Month kit for my sentiment, cutting it directly into the purple panel and then allowing the white card backing to show through instead of making a banner out if it.  It looked a bit too small, so I added some flowers from the same set.

Next I used just a part of the Small Dies and made a little bouquet, borrowing the bow from the Large Die set.

supplies: white and colored cardstock, Step Into Spring floral dies, Dancin' Bunnies bow, Spring Smiles pieced sentiment

I did a Jennifer McGuire, and cut apart "spring" from one of the small sentiments from the stamp set to make my customized sentiment here.

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!