April Christmas cards: Vintage ornaments

This year is just flying by! I can't believe it will be May in a couple of days; it seems like it was January just a few weeks ago. So I almost forgot to make my April Christmas cards. When I realized that last weekend was the last weekend of the month, I knew I had to pull something together. I made a small batch of clean-and-simple cards featuring a trio of stenciled vintage ornaments.

I decided to use the Layering Vintage Ornaments stencils (Honey Bee Stamps), which I ordered a few months ago, and I combined them with Catherine Pooler inks. I settled on three ink colors -- Rouge, Green Tea, and Skylight -- and chose one ornament shape for each color.

I used a stamp positioner to stamp the sentiment "merry & bright" in the lower right corner of 4" x 5-1/4" pieces of white card stock. Then I ink blended the ornaments, using more pressure when stenciling the circle and stripes so those areas are darker. For the accents and ornament toppers I used gold Hero Paste (Hero Arts). I had to apply the paste a little at a time and let it dry so I wouldn't smear it when I had to stencil other areas. So even though I only made six of these cards, they took a good bit of time.

Once all the paste was dry, I added strings to the ornaments with a gold gel pen. I used a Corner Chomper to round the upper right and lower left corners of the panels and then adhered them to white card bases. For embellishment I added several gold sequins. A couple of the red ornaments also have twine bows to hide little mistakes on the ornament toppers. And on one card there is a sequin covering up an ink smudge. Opportunities for embellishments!

I did end up with one additional Christmas card for the month:

I cut out my "practice" ornaments and added them to a white card base. I used foam tape on some of the ornaments to create dimension, and I drew the strings with a black pen instead of gold. (Turns out I like the gold better.) And now I need to start thinking about my May Christmas cards!

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Masculine flowers?

I'm back with a couple more cards I made in October during craft weekend. This time I used the Lovely Blossoms Turnabout stamp (Concord & 9th). I challenged myself to see if I could make a masculine card with flowers. Here are the results:

If you're not familiar with the Turnabout stamps, it's one image that you stamp four times, turning the stamp ninety degrees with each impression. When you're done you have a fully stamped panel. For my first card (left), I used the same color for each impression (Toffee from Taylored Expressions). I trimmed the panel with a stitched rectangle die, matted it with black card stock to create a narrow frame, and adhered it to a Toffee card base. I die cut a "happy birthday" sentiment out of Toffee and black card stock and added a sentiment strip just below. I finished the card with two black enamel dots.

For the second card, I used a different color for each stamp impression: Toffee, Sweet Basil, Blue Corn, and Cinnamon (Taylored Expressions). I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die, matted it with Cinnamon card stock, and adhered it to a Sweet Basil card base. For the greeting I stamped "it's your day," die cut it with a stitched circle die, and placed a strip of Cinnamon card stock and a bit of hemp twine behind it. I finished this card with two white enamel dots.

I think the colors of these cards and the fact that the flowers aren't too "flowery" make both of these good masculine cards. They might not work for every guy, but then no card is right for every person. What do you think? Would you give a card with flowers to a man?

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Sending smiles

I was looking through some photos of projects I never posted and found a fun card made with the Happy Mailbox Cubbies stamp and die set (Art Impressions):

I'm not exactly sure why I never posted this card -- I made it several years ago, so if I had a good reason, it's forgotten now. At any rate, better late than never.

Seeing this card reminds me that I need to use this stamp set again; I've only ever used it to make this card. It's a cool set, though, because the die that cuts out the mailboxes creates several doors and openings, so you can add whichever letters and packages you like. There is a fair amount of coloring, which isn't always my thing, but it's not too detailed.

Since there's a lot going on in this focal image, I kept the rest of the card simple. I used patterned papers for the background then wrapped linen thread around the card front several times and tied it in a bow. I finished by adding the sentiment "Sending smiles across the miles" on a banner near the bottom right corner.

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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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