Masculine nature-inspired cards

When I need to make masculine cards, I often turn to my nature-themed stamps. I know not all guys are interested in nature and animals -- and plenty of women are -- but the images and colors often seem to lend themselves to masculine cards. So here are four nature-inspired cards made with two Stampin' Up! sets: Rooted in Nature and Nature's Beauty.

I had a fun surprise when I sat down to make these cards: I opened up the stamp case and found almost all of these pieces already stamped and die cut, ready to go! (Even the Crumb Cake card base on the left was already stamped.) I just added the birthday banner on the left-hand card and the card base, frame, and brown background for the right-hand card.

I love all the different tree elements in this stamp set, but I'll admit that I have a hard time combining them in a way I like. (That probably explains why all the pieces were in the stamp case -- I got frustrated and put everything away.) For these cards I just played around and layered pieces, trying to keep everything balanced. And all-in-all I think they turned out pretty well.

When I used the Nature's Beauty stamp set, I wanted to combine the images with a birch tree embossing folder. For the fox card, I embossed a piece of blue card stock and then lightly rubbed my Soft Suede ink pad over the card stock so the raised trees caught the ink. I stamped the fox using Soft Suede ink and I wanted to add some color without actually coloring. So I used copper metallic watercolor and quickly painted it over the fox. (I wasn't particularly careful, but I did try to limit the water I used so it didn't cause the Soft Suede ink to bleed.) Then I used the paint brush to splatter some copper ink on the embossed background piece.

When the paint was dry, I adhered the background to a Soft Suede card base. I die cut the fox with a stitched circle die and lightly sponged Soft Suede ink around the edges of the circle and the edges of a birthday sentiment strip. I adhered those two pieces to the card with foam tape and finished the card with a few metallic dots.

For the deer card, I wanted the trees to be white, so I applied white ink directly to the side of the embossing folder with the tress raised up. Then I placed a piece of Soft Suede card stock inside the embossing folder and ran it through my Big Shot. Because I applied the ink to the raised part of the folder, that meant the trees were pressed into the piece of card stock.

For the focal image on this card, I stamped the deer and a few of the grass images on a piece of white card stock. I stamped a birthday sentiment on a strip of white card stock and sponged ink around the edges of both pieces. To add a little more texture, I stapled a small piece of burlap trim to the upper left corner of the focal layer. I added both pieces to the card base using foam tape.

I made most of these cards into birthday cards, but they would be good for many different occasions -- just change or omit the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rainbow vibes

During a card-making session a few weeks ago, I decided to use some die-cut rainbow pieces that were sitting on my desk (left over from some of the calendars I made as Christmas gifts). Here is the finished card:

I wanted a layer of patterned paper for the background, but I didn't have anything that matched the same colors I used for the rainbow. So I made my own! In my stash I found a paper that was just white with black circles. I cut a piece of that paper and then used coordinating markers to color in some of the circles. (And since the circles look hand-drawn, I wasn't careful when I colored and went for a scribbly look.) I often forget about adding ink to patterned paper, but it's a great way to get exactly the color(s) you want.

I rounded two opposite corners of the patterned paper -- to mimic the curve of the rainbow -- and adhered it to a black card base. Using little strips of foam tape I attached the rainbow pieces and a black sentiment strip to the card. I finished it off with a few small clear droplets glued over some of the un-colored circles on the paper.

I've been busy making birthday cards lately to replenish my stash, so I'll be sharing those in my next several posts. Thanks for stopping by!

Plaid birthdays

While I was making cards this weekend, I came across some plaid backgrounds I made ages ago. (Did you have the old Plaidmaker stencils from Stampin' Up!?) I decided to use them to make two birthday cards, and here are the results:

The bold backgrounds were a challenge for me, but I think the cards turned out pretty good. For the pink and brown plaid, I used a pink card base and added a stitched frame that I happened to have sitting on my desk. (I love using up the pieces I've already cut out and/or colored.) I used the Cupcake Builder punch to create a pick and brown cupcake, which I glued to a white stitched oval and then attached to the card using foam tape. I added a sentiment on a strip and finished the card with a few sequins.

For the second card I wanted to create something that was a little more masculine. I used a blue card base and die cut several balloons out of blue, plum, and orange card stock to match the plaid. I used a white paint pen to add accents on the balloons and glued most of them to the background. I stamped and embossed a sentiment on a large blue balloon, tied a crochet thread bow around the neck, and then added it to the card with foam tape. Three blue sequins finish off the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Colorful wildflowers

We've had a bit of warmer weather lately, and the snow has been melting. I know it won't stay that way -- we get plenty of snow in March and April -- but it has me thinking of spring. So here are a few cards featuring colorful wildflowers.

These flowers (and the cute mushrooms!) are all from the Wildflower 2 stamp and die combo from Erin Lee Creative. I don't usually just stamp and die cut a bunch of images without an idea for a card, but that's what I decided to do with this set. I chose a color pallet and then stamped three of each multi-step image. I used the coordinating dies to cut them all out and sorted the pieces into four groups so I could make four cards.

I used woodgrain-textured kraft card stock for the card fronts; I love the woodsy feel. After stamping or die cutting a sentiment for each card, I played around with the placement of the flowers until I had a layout I liked. I finished each card with a few clear droplets or white enamel dots.

Thanks for stopping by!

February Christmas cards: Festive faux postage

For my February Christmas cards I knew I wanted to use the Ringed with Nature stamp set (Stampin' Up!). After a little trial and error, I ended up with a festive faux postage layout. 

I haven't made a faux postage card in quite awhile, but I love the way they look. To make these I used the Master Layouts 11 die set from Gina K Designs, which was a Christmas gift from my sister. I cut the postage panels out of white card stock, and used another die from the set to make a mask out of masking paper. I placed the mask over one of the postage panels and used a blending brush to apply a light layer of Crumb Cake ink around the edges of each "stamp." Before removing the mask I stamped the images using two shades of green ink and two shades of red. Then I carefully removed the mask, applied it to the next panel and repeated the process.

Once all the panels were stamped I used a thin paintbrush to add gold details to the images (the inside of the poinsettias and the ends of the berries). I wish I had taken a close-up of the gold so you could see it better. I also spattered gold paint on the upper left and lower right corners of the mint green card bases.

I glued each panel to a card base -- after a lot of debate over whether they should be placed straight or at an angle. I stamped the sentiment (from a past My Monthly Hero kit) using dark green ink on white card stock and cut it out with a strip die. I used foam tape to add the sentiment to the left side of the card, with a couple of die cut sprigs (one gold, one dark green) tucked behind. I finished the design with three small clear droplets.

After I finished the six cards I planned to make, I used a few leftover pieces to make one more. Bonus! This time I cut apart two of the faux postage stamps and combined them with a die-cut, embossed wood slice. As with the previous cards, I used gold paint, die-cut sprigs, a sentiment strip, and clear droplets.

So far the Christmas cards I've made this year have had traditional colors and images. I think I'm going to have to mix it up a little next month! Thanks for stopping by!

Inspired valentines

After making all my valentines for Meals on Wheels, sometimes it's hard to decide what I want to create for my own valentines. But this year I knew exactly what I wanted to do:

I was inspired by an artist named Andrea Nelson. Her website and shop is A Dream or a Day Art, and her Instagram account is @andreanelsonart. On Instagram, she shares all kinds of ideas for fun, non-intimidating, and often kid-friendly art projects. This bold heart-themed idea jumped out at me a few weeks ago.

For this project, I used three empty toilet paper tubes cut in half to make six short tubes. Then I bent each short tube into a heart shape. I chose six colors of acrylic paint and put some of each color onto a flat surface (e.g., paper plate, piece of cardboard, etc.). Using one tube for each color, I dipped the heart-shaped end into the paint and then pressed it onto a piece of heavy black card stock sized for a card front. I overlapped the hearts and didn't worry if the paint dripped onto the paper -- I even added some extra paint splatter when I was done with the hearts.

Halfway through I decided to adjust my color pallet. The dark green and magenta were difficult to see against the black, so I switched to light pink and light blue. I used the same paint tubes; since the previous paint left on the tubes was dry, the colors didn't mix.

Once the panels were dry, I adhered each one to a light colored card base, and using foam tape I added a valentine-themed sentiment strip near the bottom of the card. The final touch was three little gems.

I hope your Valentine's Day is filled with love and friendship. Thanks for stopping by!

2023 Meals on Wheels valentines

Earlier this week I dropped off my box of valentines for my local Meals on Wheels organization. I made a total of 102 cards in thirteen designs. Here is the whole batch:

And here are close-up photos of the different designs:

For these cards I used some pretty patterned paper with watercolor-style flowers. I wanted to enhance the paper instead of covering it up, so I decided to embellish the flowers. I punched small flowers and glued them onto the painted blue flowers; I added gold paint in the centers of the purple and large pink flowers; and I used a black marker with sparkle to color the inside of the small pink flowers.

These two designs also use large layers of patterned paper, although this time as more of a background. For the paint card I stamped and colored the focal image and sentiment. And for the heart card, I stamped the sentiment on a strip of white card stock and added, appropriately, several small textured die-cut hearts.

In my book, Valentine's Day always calls for puns, and the cactus card was one of those designs. It's also definitely non-traditional, so I added a tiny white heart to the large cactus to make it seem more valentine-y. The milk bottle card looks a little more traditional, but it also could be used for a variety of love, friendship, or thinking of you occasions.

For these two designs I stamped a background stamp in the same color as the card base. Then I added the focal images on a die-cut or stamped white layer just above the middle of the card. I added some cute little envelope embellishments on the snail mail card, and the lightbulb card was another "punny" design. (The sentiment on that card is from a stamp with multiple phrases all related to lights or lightbulbs. The sentiments get cut apart with a die, so each card I made in that design has a different sentiment.)

For the card on the left I cut four coordinating pieces of 6" x 6" patterned paper into nine 2" x 2" squares. I adhered one square of each pattern to the card base at different angles and added a large heart with a stitched border in the middle of the card. To make the mushroom design, I first determined what size heart I wanted and then cut them out of white card stock. I placed one of the hearts on my work surface and placed my largest clear block on top of it. I arranged all of the mushroom stamps on the block and then I was able to stamp each heart just one time instead of having to stamp each mushroom individually. You also could do this technique with a stamp positioner, but my acrylic block was easier to grab. :)

These two are the most feminine designs of the bunch because of all the pink (although I did try to keep them from being too frilly). On the typewriter card, I paper pieced the heart on the stamped image. And it's hard to tell, but the light pink behind the typewriter is a piece of patterned paper with a text print. On the mod floral card, the pieces that look tan are actually a gold card stock. I struggled with whether I should add embellishments on those cards, but ultimately I liked the clean layout with the deckled edge.

The last card designs are two more puns. To make the records I used four different circle punches: 1/8", 1/4", 3/4" and 2". And the sentiment on the bumblebee card is another one from a sentiment-strip stamp, so each card has a different bee-related sentiment.

I've really enjoyed making valentines for Meals on Wheels over the past several years. (To see previous designs, search "Meals on Wheels" or click on the "Valentine's Day" category.) I hope each card brings a little joy to the recipient.

Thanks for stopping by!

Customized name banner

Last year a friend of mine and her husband were finally able to adopt a baby after years of waiting. Their daughter, Madeleine, turned one this week, so it seemed like the perfect time to share the name banner I made for her last summer. (That makes it seem like I purposely waited to share it on a special occasion, right? Not just that I never got around to posting it before.)

The colors of Madeleine's room are lavender and gray, so that’s the pallet I used. For the banner pieces, I die cut white card stock that was printed with an emboss-resist flower pattern. Using a blending brush, I applied lavender ink to each piece so the color was darker at the top and lighter at the bottom. (It’s fun watching the pattern “pop” while you add the ink.) I punched a hole and placed a silver eyelet in the top corners of each pennant.

I die cut the letters out of gray card stock and glued them to the center of the pennants. To embellish each piece, I punched a small lavender flower, folded up the petals, and added a pearl in the center. I strung all the banner pieces on a length of thick gray twine.

At each end of the banner I added a tassel made with different purple, gray, and white ribbons and trims. I didn’t make any knots or anything for hanging the banner so length and spacing between the letters can be adjusted as needed.

I don't make a lot of décor pieces, but it's fun to mix it up once in awhile. And I think this banner turned out pretty cute. Thanks for stopping by!