Beach vibes

 This die-cut sand dollar and shell patterned paper have been sitting on my craft table for a while now.  I was finally inspired to use them after seeing a video of this fun fold. I didn't catch the name of the fold, if it has one. Cut paper at 5.5 x11, score at 4.25 and 8.5. Cut circle in front flap of card, and attach the circle to the inside flap.

I have a variety of seashell stamps, so I used them to decorate the inner flap and inside of the card. The sentiment sticker is from Stamplorations. 

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- monochrmatic

The Paper Funday #90-- fun fold

CRAFT #786 -- summer/vacation

Word Art Wednesday #764-- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2632   -- anything goes

Digi Choosday  -- anything goes

Pollkadoodles challenge  -- anything goes 

Inkspirational #373 -- beach vibe 

Sunshine and sunflowers

 The inspiration photo for Inspiration Station challenge #88 shows a beautiful field of sunflowers. To me, sunflowers and sunshine go hand-in-hand, and this lovely image and sentiment from Stamplorations conveyed that idea perfectly. The image is popped up on a stitiched oval, and backed by a sunshine-colored pattern paper.

 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Inspiration Station #88 -- inspired by sunflowers.

A Cut Above -- fall flowers

Stamplorations Never-ending Challenge -- feature Stamploration products

Word Art Wednesday #764 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2631-- anything goes

Polkadoodles challenge -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes 

CRAFT 786 -- summer 

 

Spotlight on morning glory

 The last spotlight card I posted, maybe a year and a half ago, is by far the most popular blog post I've ever made. It's been viewed like double the next most popular post, and more than 10x the average post. I remember  being super intimidated by the technique when I first came across it, but it's so easy. 

For this card, I used a morning glory image. I picked out the area I wanted to color, cut it out with a circle die, and referred to an online photo of morning glories when choosing the purple, pink and green colors. Die-cut a slightly larger circle in purple, placed it over the spot the image was diecut from, then placed the colored circle on top, making sure the image lined up. Easy peasy.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms # 43 -- florals

Double Trouble # 222-- 3 layers, 2 colors, 1 sentiment plus optional twist of "more" (4 layers and three colors)

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- birthday

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2631 -- anything goes

A Cut Above -- include diecut

Triple B -- include blossom, bird, or butterfly

Paper Funday #90 -- anything goes

 

Ice cream time

 It's still very much summer, so how about some ice cream? 

This fun cone and sentiment are from Stamplorations. The cone is heat-embossed in black, watercolored with dye ink, and die-cut with the matching die. For the background, the same inks were swiped across an ice-cream-themed EF, creating a fun and colorful debossed side.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Can you Handle the Pressure -- use embossing folder

The Paper Funday #88  -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2630 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #762 -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes

Polkadoodles challenge -- anything goes 

 Stamplorations Never-Ending Challenge -- showcase Stamploration products 

Pressed flowers

 I tried a new-to-me technique that mimics the look of pressed flowers. I started by creating a possibly vintage-looking background by stamping script on tan cardstock, figuring out where to place the paper flowers, and lightly stamping in some leaf shapes around them. The flowers were then adhered to the panel and run through a flatish-pattern embossing folder. (The folder, from Marianne Designs, is a Never-been-used- supply (NBUS) that I have had for at probably 10 years. I can date it because I purchased it at the Atlanta Stamping Show, and it's been a decade since I've been able to attend.) The panel was then mounted on a slightly larger mat, placed on the top-fold card, and accented with dimensional paper flower held on with a brad.

This card is for these challenges:

NBUS #88 -- never before used item is the embossing folder

Beautiful Blossoms #43-- anything floral

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- make your own background 

Word Art Wednesday #762 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2629 -- anything goes 

 

Summer butterfly

I

 I have a lot of butterfly stamps and I've kind of neglected them recently. (I miss Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge, which was always a reason to use a butterfly.) 

So, I've made a new butterfly card. The butterfly is black-embossed and colored with watercolors and reinker. After the paint dried, I stamped the butterfly on a Post-it note, cut it out and masked the butterfly to stencil the chevron pattern. Completed the card with a simple sentiment and a few sequins. Used foam tape to attach panel to topfold card base.

This card is for these challenges:

Pick 3 Challenge #7 -- purple, chevron, sequins

Stencil fun challenge -- patterns 

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2629 -- anything goes

Crafters Cafe #332   -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #760  -- anything goes

The Paper Funday #89  -- anything goes

Polkadoodles  -- anything goes

DigiChoosday  -- anything goes 

Presents under the tree

.

 Another Christmas card in July. This one is a Zfold, with a focus on die-cuts. I combined a tree from one set with gifts from a birthday set to create this little scene.  All the die-cuts were stamped, black-embossed and cut before being colored with markers.

This card is for these challenges:

Christmas Kickstart #112 -- grace us with your presents

Die-cut Divas -- Christmas in July

Double Trouble #220 -- Christmas in July recipe -- 2 layers, 3 colors, Christmas image

A Cut Above -- anything goes

The Paper Funday #89  - anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #760 - anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2628 - anything goes

 

Waving 'hi"

I made a "wiper" card -- when you pull on the left side of the folded card (see smaller photo to right), the little "wiper" hand pops up with a message. 

This card features a really sweet set of stamps from Simon Says Stamp -- The little tin-can telephone setup cracks me up.  I used silver gel pen on it to add a little metallic sheen, which you can see quite clearly in the pop-up wiper part of the card. The kitty is colored with pencils, and the greenery around him includes both stamped bits and blades of grass I just drew in with markers.  The message goes on the back of the card. (Instructions for the card are found in the SCS tutorials section.)

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- 4-legged friends

Word Art Wednesday #760 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies 2628 -- anything goes

 

Pattie's Creations #244 -- use  stamped or digi image

 

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes

 

 Crafts Galore Encore #149 -- -- anything goes

 

Polkadoodles challenge -- anything goes 

 

Wish I were there

 Oh my gosh, it is SO HOT. A nice sea breeze would be quite welcome. At least I can create one on paper.

This card features a beach scene from Purple Onion Designs, colored in pencils. The striped segment is stenciled. 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2626 -- water

Creative Inspiration -- Summer sunshine

Paper Funday #89 -- Splash 

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- stripes

Word Art Wednesday #758  -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore -- anything goes

 

Christmas candle

 

 The Jingle Belles have a sketch challenge going on.  This is a digi from The Stamping Boutique, colored with pencils and sparkled up with Wink of Stella on the snow on the window mullions and a silver glittery gel  pen on the candle holder. The sentiment is red embossed ( I have two different glittery red EPs, but decided plain red would be better... two sources of sparkle are all this card called for.)

This card is entered in these challenges:

Jingle Belles -- sketch

The Paper Funday -- stripes option

Creative Inspiration -- Christmas in June

Word Art Wednesday#758 -- anything goes 

CRAFT #782  -- anything goes 

Polkadoodles -- anything goes 

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

One-layer roses

 I find one-layer cards intimidating, but I challenged myself with this one.  I masked off the central area and ussed blending brushes to apply yellow and coral inks. (The colors look so much smoother in person, I don't know if the eye just smoothes the colors out or what). After removing the masking, I stamped the beautiful roses (Studio Katia) in Memento Black.  I die-cut the sentiment from another piece of cardstock where coral ink was blended.  Added a few gems for a little sparkle.

This card is for these challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms #42 -- florals

Crafter's Cafe -- blooms optional

Pick 3 Challenge #6 -- ink blending, sparkle, sentiment, yellow

CRAFT #782 -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #243 -- use an image

Word Art Wednesday #756 -- anything goes

 

Snowflake wreath

 A friend shared the idea of using die-cuts to create a wreath. I don't have a snowflake-shaped die, but looking through my stash of embellishments, I discovered a baggie full of snowflake-shapes in a white/slightly iridescent plastic. They have a tiny hole in the middle, so I guess they are sequin-esque? Anyway, I figured they'd work as well as die cuts to create a wreath. The center of each is embellished with a red gem. The sentiment is green embossed. (I don't normally buy EP in colors, but I bought a big box of stamping goodies at the thrift store a few years ago, and it included green EP. I don't think I've used it before today.)

This card is entered in these challenges: 

ABC Christmas -- L is for Let it Snow

Christmas Kickstart #111 -- Snow day 

Creative Inspiration -- Christmas in June

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2624 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #756 --  anything goes

CRAFT #782 -- anything goes

Camping fun

My family, especially my husband, loves camping (although, tbh, we gave up tent camping a while ago and enjoy a little travel trailer.) When the Double Trouble challengers asked for a card representing what "my guy" likes to do, camping was the  obvious choice. I created a starry night sky by blending inks and splattering a shimmery white water color, then die-cut the tent and a few trees to finish the scene of camping under the stars. I used the Try a Sketch on Tuesday layout and incorporated some plaid scraps (plaid = outdoors, right?)

This card is for these challenges:

Double Trouble #218 -- 3 strips, 2 die-cut items, masculine project; TSOT,; my guy twist

TSOT #697 -- sketch

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- add a sentiment

Die-Cut Divas -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2624 -- anything goes

The Paper Funday #88-- anything goes

A Cut Above -- use die-cuts

Word Art Wednesday #756 -- anything goes 

 

Masculine texture

 I purchased this plaid EF a while ago, but life intervened and I hadn't used it yet. Plaid is good for a masculine card, as is kraft. To add some color, I did a little color blocking with a mustardy strip and a drak green strip, then added a striped ribbon. I've had these burlap leaves forever, and they added a contrasting texture that worked well. 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Make My Monday -- embossing

Double Trouble #217 -- masculine with kraft

Word Art Wednesday #754 -- anything goes 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday  -- anything goes 

Polkadoodles challenge  -- anything goes 

Digi Choosday  -- anything goes 

Pammie's Inky Pinkie's #2622  -- anything goes 

Crafts Galore Encore #148  -- anything goes  

The Scenic Route

 

 I really enjoy hiking. I thought this Sheepski Designs image was perfect for a masculine card. The image is colored with pencils. The sentiment is heat-embossed in copper-EP on card stock with stripes of masculine colors including kraft and khaki. A few copper-colored sequins add a little sparkle.

This card is for these challenges:

Double Trouble #217 -- masculine with kraft-like element

The Paper Funday #87 -- optional mountain

Inkspirational # 368 -- word prompt: for the guys

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2621 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #754 -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore #147 -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #242 -- must use an image

Digi Choosday -- anything goes 

Cute lion

 I have a drawer full of handmade backgrounds that I've decided I need to use. This particular one was was made with distress inks and a gold sparkly spray. I can't remember the exact technique, but it involves cling wrap. I think you put the medium on the wrap, spritz with water, put water color paper on top and sort of squish it around? 

Anyway, I used the background to create a little scene of a lion on the savanna, I guess. This is a really old set,  called Mindy's Zoo from Autumn Leaves. (I just checked, and it's available on Ebay.) I love the adorable animals it includes.

This card is entered in these challenges.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- cute critters

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2621 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #752  -- anything goes

Polkadoodles Challenge -- anything goes

Gem of a Challenge -- anything goes

Digi Choosday -- anything goes 

Flurry of butterflies

 I know there are a lot of names for this technique, where you cut a die-cut shape from a panel and elevate it on foam tape. This is the first time I've tried it, and I'm pleased with the results. The butterfly is popped up on two additional layers of cardstock cut with the die, plus foam tape. (The video I saw called it two-tier technique or something similar.) 

The butterfly die is from SSS, the butterfly stamp is Hero Arts (I think), and the ink is a fluid chalk ink.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- things with wings

Stamplorations spring fling blog hop -- spring 

Word Art Wednesday #750 -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #242 -- use a stamped or digi image 

 

Gem of a Challenge  -- anything goes

 

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes

 

Crafts Galore Encore #147 -- anything goes

 

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2619 -- anything goes

 

Stamplorations Monthly Challenge -- anything goes 

 

 

 

 

30 years? Really?

 I'm not sure how my son is getting any older when I'm not aging, but here we are. I'm not really sure the big 3-0 is the milestone it used to be, but it seems like a big deal to me. 

 To create the card, I computer-generated the sentiment on white card stock. I selected a range of snippets in different colors and die-cut balloons. To attach the strings, I wrapped the string around the balloon, put a glue dot on the back,  and pressed one end of the string into the glue dot. 

The confetti is stamped in a variety of colors that are close to the balloon colors. (Anyone want to take my bet that he asks "what are all those squiggles?")

After getting that far, I realized my sentiment said "welcome to the big 30" instead of big "3-0". So, printed it out again, cut it with circle die, and cut another snippet into a circle so I could cover up the mistake. No one will ever know.

This card is for these challenges:

Die-cut Divas -- celebration

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- colorful

The Paper Funday #87 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #750 -- anything goes

Pammie's inky Pinkies #2619 -- anything goes

Snippets Playground # 532  -- use Snippets

Polkadoodles Challenge -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday-- Challenge anything goes 

 

 

So many die-cuts

 I rarely think to include scoring on my card, but SCS showcased a scoring technique that allows you to create a shaped scored area. (I used washi to hold the larger of the label dies in place, scored the white panel, then used two sizes of dies to create the frame and adhered it so the scoring showed through the frame.)

To decorate the frame, it was run through a Swiss dot EF to give more texture. Many flowers were die-cut from snippets of yellow, lavender, pink and green cardstock, then layered on top of each other to create the flowers and leaves. Snippets were also used for the blue frame and mat under the sentiment. The white panel was attached to a blue base card.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Double Trouble #215 -- 3 layers, 2 shapes, 1 dry-embossed element + option of flowers + entered in Beautiful Blossoms Challenge 

Beautiful Blossoms #40 -- floral

The Paper Funday #86 -- die-cuts or punches

A Cut Above -- pastels/die cuts

Snippets Playground 531-- use snippets (all the elements from colored card stock are cut from snippets)

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2617 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #750   -- anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday  -- anything goes 

 

What cat isn't quirky?

One of my favorite techniques is paper piecing, demonstrated here with this cute cat. I stamped the image on cream card stock, then again on striped paper.  The cat's body, minus the tail, was cut from the striped paper and applied to the main image. Also stamped the mouse and sentiment. The floorboards were dran by hand. The Try a Sketch On Tuesday sketch provided a chance to add some more funky patterned papers to the mix. The main panel is cut with Stamplorations funky stitching die for just another layer of quirky. 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - quirky

Double Trouble #214 -- 3 patterned papers, two colors, 1 image + TSOT 

Try a sketch on Tuseday  #693 - use sketch

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2615 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #748   -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #241 -- use an image

Digi Choosday  -- anything goes

Gem of a Challenge  -- anything goes

Polkadoodles challenge  -- anything goes