Painted Pencil Mushrooms

I love mushroom-themed craft products, so I was excited when a friend gave me the Painted Pencil Mushrooms stamp and die set (Sizzix, 49 and Market Collection). I combined the set with Apothecary ink collection (Catherine Pooler Designs) to create four all-occasion cards.

To create each of the focal image mushrooms, I used mini ink pads to apply color to the stamp. Then I lightly spritzed the stamp with water before stamping it on white card stock. I stamped the outline in black and cut it out with the coordinating die. For these two cards, I used the silhouette images from the set to stamp the card bases. I added a stamped sentiment, wrapped twine around the card front, and finished with gold sequins.

For the second two cards I used embossing folders to give texture to the card bases and then added gold splatter. I added the sentiments on strips of white card stock and finished with gold sequins. The card on the left had a lot of empty space on the top so I attached a little ribbon flag along the top edge with a mini stapler.

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Picture Perfect Birthday

I can't believe we're already approaching the middle of April. This month is turning out to be busier for me than usual, so I've fallen behind on my posting. I'll do my best to get back on track, and we'll see what happens. Today I have a short post with a few birthday cards I made using the Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set (Stampin' Up!, retired).

I wanted these two cards to be a bit more masculine, so I chose a yellow, green, and blue color palette (with a touch of orange on the card with the candles). I added texture with faux-stitched and embossed die-cut layers and stamped the backgrounds to add visual interest. To embellish the cards I used linen thread with the candles and white enamel dots with the party blowers.

I went a little more feminine for this card, so I chose pink, purple, green, and teal for my color palette. To plan the placement of the stamped bows, I used a die designed to cut out evenly spaced circles. I placed the die on my white card stock and used a pencil to make a light dot in the center of each circle. Then I removed the die and stamped the bows. I adhered the panel to a pink card base and finished with a sentiment strip and enamel dots.

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Talking in Circles

Last month I purchased the Talking in Circles cardmaking kit from Taylored Expressions. The kit included dies to cut circles, half circles, and quarter circles, as well as preprinted card stock "maps" in A2 and mini slim card sizes. You can glue the die-cut pieces directly on the maps so you don't have to worry about getting everything perfectly aligned. Yay! When I sat down to play with the kit I had fun cutting a bunch of pieces from card stock scraps and creating several cards.

If you look at just the arrangement of the die-cut pieces on these two cards, without paying attention to the colors, you'll notice that they have the same layout. Using different colors of card stock creates totally different patterns!

These two cards also have the same layout, but for the card on the left the circles are composed of quarter-circle pieces. For the card on the right I didn't glue the circles onto the map because I wanted to have them on a different color background. I did use the map to lay them out, then I picked up the circles with Press and Seal, applied glue to the backs and adhered them to the gray card base.

I also tried making a few mini slim cards. For the card on the top, I die cut the word "celebrate" out of the middle of the glitter card stock that's layered behind the main panel. I drew a border around the focal layer on the bottom card because it seemed like it needed a little "something."

For my last two cards I decided to make something other than birthday cards. I want to try to send more cards "just because," and I think these fit the bill nicely.

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March Christmas cards: Holiday Blocks

For this month's Christmas cards I had fun with dies, specifically the Holiday Blocks die set by Tim Holtz (Sizzix).

The die set has twenty-seven pieces; twenty-three of them cut out shapes, and the other four cut detail designs into the card stock. I chose four colors of card stock -- Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo, Gumball Green, and Poppy Parade (Stampin' Up!) -- cut each shape once from each color, and then started arranging the pieces. I challenged myself to use all the pieces, and I did -- no leftovers from this project!

Ultimately I assembled ten focal panels: six for A2-sized cards and four for note cards. In the process I discovered that I didn't like all four colors together, so I used three colors for each panel. I also used one or two of the detail pieces on each panel.

For the card bases I used Crumb Cake card stock splattered with Liquid White Snowflake Paper Splatter (Picket Fence Studios). (Two of the card bases are plain because I forgot to splatter them and didn't feel like getting the supplies back out again.) I stamped "holiday cheer" below the focal panel and finished each card with three clear sequins.

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Retro Swirls card set

Last year I shared two card sets made with the Retro Swirls A2 die (Erin Lee Creative): one rainbow and one with beachy colors. I recently needed to make a card set, and I decided to pull out this die again and try another color combo.

This time I used just three colors for the swirl -- a bright green, pool blue, and teal -- so each card has one color for the middle of the swirl and the other two colors above and below the middle. I also stamped the sentiments directly on the white card bases instead of die cutting them. I finished each card with three sequins, and then I made three more (with the same sentiments) to make a set of six cards.

So far I really like using this die to make card sets -- it's neutral, has a big visual impact, and looks cool with all different colors. That's a win for me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Waterfront masculine cards

Masculine cards can be a challenge to create, so I always appreciate new ideas. If you're like me, here are a couple of clean and simple masculine cards I created with the Waterfront stamp set (Stampin' Up!):

I used earth tones to create a mountain scene with several images from the stamp set. (I liked how the scene turned out, so I went ahead and made a second one.) I cut out the scenes with a stitched square die and then stamped each sentiment in the lower right corner. I adhered each panel near the top of a navy card base, leaving an equal border around the left, top, and right edges of the panel. To add a simple embellishment I wrapped a length of burlap trim around the front of each card base and secured it with two mini staples.

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Reverse birthday cards

A while back I got some old stamp sets from a friend who had received a bunch of stamping supplies from another friend. (Sharing is caring, especially with craft supplies!) One of the sets was a small set of Hero Arts wood-mounted stamps with bold, birthday images. The images are negative style -- when you ink the stamp, the image stays white and the background is colored. I decided to combine that stamp set with a line-art background stamp (also from Hero Arts) to make a couple of birthday cards. 

For the first card, I stamped the small images in black ink and then cut them out. Using ink cubes, I applied stripes of color to the background stamp and stamped it on white card stock. I used foam tape to add the focal images in a three-by-three square, added a few clear sequins, and adhered the panel to a black card base.

For the second card I used the same layout, but in reverse: I stamped the background in black and the small images in color. (With the ink cubes I applied two colors to each image.) I embellished the card with a few orange sequins and adhered the panel to a yellow card base.

Which style do you like better? Thanks for stopping by!

Wildflower card set

We had the weirdest winter storm last night. It started out as rain and ended up as about eight inches of heavy, wet snow. And just when all our snow was gone, we were having mild temperatures, and it looked like spring was on the horizon. Ugh. So to keep the feeling of spring alive, I'm sharing a set of floral notecards.

I used the Wildflower Background stamp (Taylored Expressions) and stamped it with black ink on eight pieces of white card stock. I chose eight colors of ink and, using a detail blender brush, I colored the flowers on each panel with one color. I die cut the panels with a stitched rectangle die, matted them with black card stock, and adhered them to card bases to match the flowers.

For the sentiments, I decided to use the Simple Strips Background stamp and die (Taylored Expressions). I chose ten sentiment strips and adhered foam tape to the back. I attached one of the sentiments to one of the cards and placed the rest of the strips in a little baggie to package with the cards. That way the recipient can choose which sentiment to use on which card -- with a couple of extra, just in case -- or they can use the cards without sentiments.

Thanks for stopping by!

Time to Party trio

I have another group of birthday cards to share from my October craft weekend. Today's festive trio was made with the Time to Party stamps and dies (Simon Says Stamp).

I love the graphic style of these bold, solid images. For the first card (left), I stamped, die cut, and glued together the pieces for three cupcakes, complete with cherries on top. I die cut a white stitched rectangle, stamped "happy birthday" in the lower left corner, and adhered it to a dark brown card base. I arranged the three cupcakes on the white panel and added a red card stock flag.

For the second card I used a kraft card base and stamped the asterisk/star images across the background using kraft and white ink. I stamped four balloons on white card stock, die cut them, and decided where I wanted to place them on the card front. When I was happy with the arrangement, I stamped the balloon strings with black ink on the card base and adhered the balloons. I added a sentiment strip and finished with three white enamel dots.

For the third card, I stamped and die cut three polka dot party hats: one pink, one purple, and one teal. I used black card stock for the card base and added a die-cut, stitched white panel in the middle. I die cut "celebrate" from black card stock a few times and layered them together to make the sentiment thicker. Then I arranged the hats, sentiment, and a sentiment strip on the card base and finished with several sequins scattered to look like confetti.

Thanks for stopping by!

A bunch of Birthday Stacks

I need to catch up on posting some cards I made a long time ago, so today I'm sharing a bunch of cards made with the Birthday Stacks stamp set (Concord & 9th). The stamp images include rows of four different shapes -- candles, triangles (pennants or party hats), circles (balloons or ice cream), and presents. You can also get coordinating dies that allow you to make cool, dimensional cards, but I decided to skip the dies and just focus on the stamped images for these cards.

For the candle image, I created two cards by repeatedly stamping the row of candles to make a background; one of the cards was stamped with black ink on white card stock, and the other was  tone-on-tone with the same color ink and card stock for a more subtle look. I added splatter, a sentiment, and a few embellishments to finish the cards. For the third card, I stamped a single row of candles in the middle of a piece of white card stock. I used the fill-in images from the stamp set to add color to the candles, then stamped a sentiment underneath and finished with three clear droplets.

For the triangle image, I created one card with pennants and one card with party hats. To make the pennants I curved the stamp before placing it on an acrylic block. Then I stamped the image three times on a piece of white card stock. For the party hats, I used a stamp-alignment tool to stamp the straight row of triangles five times on white card stock. I also stamped the little pom-pom image at the top point of each triangle for the hats. For both cards I used the fill-in stamps to add the color to the images. I finished the cards with sentiments and enamel dots.

For the circle image, I created one card with ice cream cones and one with balloons. (The stamps for the cones and balloon strings are also part of the stamp set.) For the card with ice cream cones I wanted to add a little white to the ice cream after I had stamped the solid fill-in circle, so I used a white paint pen to color in some of the stripes and dots (maybe it's strawberry swirl ice cream?). I embellished each card with some small clay circles to look like confetti.

The presents were surprisingly the hardest image for me to use. For one of my cards I went very clean and simple by stamping a row of the presents near the bottom of a white card base. I stamped the solid square in different colors to create a rainbow of presents, added splatter, a sentiment and a few sequins. For the second card I went back to the tone-on-tone technique I used with the candles, but it's really hard to see on the red card stock. This closer shot makes it a little clearer:

Once the background was done, I struggled with how to finish the card. Finally I settled on using gold accents, so I added gold splatter and a die-cut gold border and sentiment. The final detail was three red enamel dots. (To be honest, this was my least favorite card of the bunch. I think the red was just too much.)

Thanks for stopping by!

February Christmas cards: Vintage style

After my vibrant, colorful northern lights cards in January, I decided to do something completely different for February. So I used one stamp set and a couple of ink pads to make these vintage-style Christmas cards:

I made eight of these cards (and one prototype that had a few differences), and I think they turned out pretty good. I always try to have different styles in my Christmas cards, and I like the slightly masculine feel of these cards.

I used the Home for Christmas stamp set (Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz) and stamped the car and tree image on a piece of cream card stock using Soft Suede ink. Using a blender brush, I applied Crumb Cake ink to the panel around the outside of the stamped image. Then I blended a bit of Soft Suede ink just around the edges of the panel for a little more depth. I matted the panel with a piece of Early Espresso card stock and set it aside.

For the card base, I used Crumb Cake card stock and stamped pine branches and a pine cone with Soft Suede ink in the upper left corner. I stamped more branches and pinecones around the card base with Crumb Cake ink to add subtle interest to the background. I also blended a bit of Crumb Cake ink around the edges of the card base.

I wanted a little something else in the background, so I added some Liquid White Snowflake Paper Splatter (Picket Fence Studios) to look like falling snow. I adhered the stamped panel to the middle of the card base and then stamped the perfect sentiment -- "Dashing through the snow" -- in the lower right corner. For the last touch I added two metallic enamel dots on the focal panel.

I didn't take a picture of the inside of the cards, but I added a layer of cream card stock stamped with a sentiment in Soft Suede and a couple of pine branches and a pinecone in Crumb Cake.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lots of hearts

I'm back to share the rest of my valentines. This year I was more interested in doing mixed-media projects than making "cute" cards, so that's what I did. (I love cute cards, but that's what I usually make for Meals on Wheels, which I didn't do this year.) Today's cards have stamping, texture, drawing, and definitely lots of hearts.

These are the first three mixed-media cards. They are 5" x 7" rather than the usual A2 size (for the U.S.), which I think is easier for me when it comes to mixed media. I used lots of supplies, and I even tried to keep a list this time, which is at the end of the post. The middle card in this group has clear glossy hearts. Here is another view:

It's hard to detail the steps for making these cards. I started by stamping the hearts on the tan panel and then just started applying different "stuff." I tried to just create and not overthink anything, but I'm a chronic overthinker, so I don't know how well I succeeded with that. Most of all, I just wanted to enjoy the process, which I did.

These are the last two cards in this style. For these two I covered the middle panel with clear gesso after I was done with the stamping. I wanted to try adding water to the Distress Crayon (the red and pink) instead of just smudging it with my finger. It didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped, but the nice thing was that I could just wipe it off the gesso'd surface. It did leave a hit of color, though, which is why the card on the left has a bit of a red tint to it. I tried using rub-on transfers on the right-hand card, but it was really hard to get them to stick, and I think that may have been because of the gesso. There's always something new to learn!

Before I go, I meant to include these cards in my last post, but I forgot. Oops!

I guess they are mixed media -- at least in terms of the textured backgrounds made with stencils. The two outside cards used foil with Deco Foil Transfer Gel Duo. The middle card used a glitter texture paste. Die-cut hearts and sentiment strips make up the focal images. And that's it for this year's valentines!

As I mentioned, here are (most of) the supplies I used for the tan mixed-media cards:

Stamps: Love Notes (Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz), Well-Read (Altenew), Beautiful Soul (Taylored Expressions), Zen Messages (Hero Arts)

Paper: Tan mixed media paper and tan cards (Strathmore), black card stock (Taylored Expressions), Poppy Parade card stock (Stampin' Up!), white card stock (Neenah)

Ink: Toffee (Taylored Expressions), Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), Abandoned Coral and Worn Lipstick Distress Crayons (Ranger - Tim Holtz)

Accessories: Sketched Hearts dies (Taylored Expressions), gold Hero Paste (Hero Arts), transparent gloss texture paste (Ranger), clear gesso (Prima Art Basics), white Collage Backgrounds Hero Transfers (Hero Arts), Fluttering Hearts stencils (Honey Bee Stamps), clay hearts (HAI)

I'm going to try to get back to a more regular blog-posting schedule. Nothing set in stone, but I'm planning to do one post each weekend and at least one post during the week. That should help me catch up on the back log of cards I have to share and hopefully keep me on track. Thanks for stopping by!

Gel print valentines

Happy Valentine's Day (just a little late)! However you spent the day, I hope it was lovely and filled with kindness. I had hoped to share the valentines I made before the actual day, but here we are. File the ideas away for next year -- or modify them to make a card for a different occasion.

This was the first year in a long time I didn't make cards for our local Meals on Wheels organization. I had planned to, but I never heard back from my contact after reaching out to her three times during January. So instead I focused on my own cards and a festive project for work (and I still ended up rushing at the last minute).

Last year I made some inspirational hearts for my coworkers, and I decided to do that again this year, with a few tweaks. This year I used gel prints for my hearts and added phrases to the hearts instead of just a single word. The rest of the process was basically the same: make heart templates, trace on gel prints, cut out, adhere coordinating card stock on the back, add sentiment, finish with twine.

I chose twelve different sentiments and used each sentiment on five hearts. So there's some variation, but I didn't have to spend time trying to find sixty different phrases.

I put out containers of hearts in our office and break areas. I debated whether it was too similar to last year and thought maybe people wouldn't take them. There were still quite a few left at the end of the day on Friday (I left them out for next week), but I know some people enjoyed them.

After I had cut out all the hearts, I used various heart punches on the left-over parts of the gel prints so I didn't waste them. I used the larger punched hearts to make eight valentines with my all-time favorite layout for Valentine's Day cards.

There's something about those six hearts lined up that just speaks to me. I've used this layout with different textured papers, different colors, different prints, etc. Sometimes I worry that it's too simple, but that hasn't stopped me. I think I could make this card every year. I had planned to make something similar with the smaller hearts I punched out, but I ran out of time. I saved them, though, so maybe next year.

I needed a few more cards after this bunch, so I went looking through some pieces I'd saved to use "sometime" and found a few that worked perfectly for valentines.

The card in the left is the only one that uses gel prints (see Crazy Quilt Scrap Papers for more details). I think the backgrounds for the other two were from a play session when I first got some Distress Oxide inks. But any colorful background -- patterned paper, gel print, ink blending -- would work. I just added die-cut hearts, a sentiment strip, a few black heart embellishments, and a doodled border.

I have a few more valentines to share in my next post, so stay tuned! Thanks for stopping by!

January Christmas cards: Northern lights

We made it out of the deep freeze last week, and I certainly hope we don't get that cold again this winter. But I think the cold inspired me for this month's batch of Christmas cards. I decided to use alcohol inks to create the northern lights on paper. I watched a tutorial by Lunar Sun Creations to help me get started and then I just went for it.

I started by cutting sheets of white Yupo paper into 4-1/2" x 6" panels. I created the panels one at a time, first coating the panel with alcohol ink blending solution, adding the ink in various spots around the panel, tilting the panel until the colors were blended a way I liked, and then setting it aside to dry. I love how each one is unique. 

For my alcohol ink colors I used a few different shades of magenta, blue, and green. Some of the inks I used were alcohol ink pearls (Ranger - Tim Holtz), so they add a pearlescent effect. This isn't the greatest photo, but I think you get the idea.

Also, if you are concerned about mess with the alcohol inks, I would definitely recommend wearing disposable gloves. I didn't because I'm more comfortable working without them, but I had some serious blue and purple fingers. (A couple of my fingernails still have a slight blue tint.) But that didn't bother me, and I work in an elementary school, so it wasn't a big deal. Hand sanitizer does help, since it's alcohol-based, but it won't get off everything.

Once the ink was dry, I used a white Posca paint pen to add splatter for snow or stars. On some of the panels I added larger droplets, and on the others I went with very fine splatter. To create the splatter, hold the uncapped paint pen over your surface. Then firmly tap the barrel of the pen with something hard (another marker, bone folder, non-flexible ruler, etc.). For the larger splatter, first press the nib of the paint pen onto scratch paper to build up the ink at the tip. Then use the same tapping method.

Once the splatter was dry, I trimmed each panel down to a finished size of 4-1/8" x 5-3/8". You could trim them to this size to start with, but I like to have a slightly bigger panel to work with so I can trim off any funny edges later.

Using the Forest Shadow dies (Sizzix - Tim Holtz), I cut the two tree images from black card stock. I glued the longer piece (with shorter trees) along the bottom of the alcohol ink panel and then trimmed off the excess card stock. Using black foam squares (Gina K Designs) I added the larger die-cut trees over the others.

I stamped "peace on earth" from Tiny Words Christmas (Simon Says Stamp) on a strip of white card stock and used foam tape to attach it along the left edge of the panel near the top of the card. I glued three die-cut silver stars around the sentiment for a simple embellishment. (The star die is included in the Forest Shadow dies.)

I matted each panel with a 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" piece of black card stock and glued it to a heavyweight white card base. I didn't take a picture of the inside of the card, but I stamped the sentiment "This season and always." I had some silver stars leftover, so some of the cards also have a few tiny stars inside.

I so love how these cards turned out. I usually don't make 12 cards of one design because I get tired of the repetitive stuff (which I definitely did with all the die-cut trees), but I was having too much fun making the panels. And I'm glad they turned out so well, because I'm going to try hard this year to make sure I really like all my Christmas cards instead of making them just to get them done. That may change as the year goes on, but I'm off to a good start!

Thanks for stopping by!