Oh my whiskers!

Are you a cat person or a dog person? Both? Neither? I love dogs and cats, but I grew up having cats as pets. So if I had to choose, I'd say I'm a cat person. And as a cat person, I think these cards are pretty darn cute.

Supplies:
Stamps: Oh My Whiskers, Purrrfect Sentiments (Honey Bee Stamps)
Paper: Basic Black, Coastal Cabana card stock (Stampin' Up!); watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Coastal Cabana (Stampin' Up!); Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaFine Onyx Black (Tsukineko); Gansai Tambi watercolor paints: 32, 42, 50, 61, 139, 20, 10, 51, 34 (Kuretake); Signo white gel pen (Uni-Ball)
Accessories: Oh My Whiskers dies (Honey Bee Stamps), Mini Clouds Stencil (The Crafter's Workshop), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), clear embossing powder (Stampamania), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), blender brushes (Picket Fence Studios)

Pretty adorable, right? I love this image from the Oh My Whiskers stamp set, so I stamped it several times on watercolor paper. Then I painted the images and cut them out with the coordinating dies.

I decided to keep the backgrounds fairly simple. For the first card, I chose a Coastal Cabana card base. Using a stencil, blender brush and Coastal Cabana ink, I created a cloud background. I stamped a sentiment at the bottom of the card and then used foam tape to add the focal image. I finished off with a few clear sequins.

For the second card, I used a panel of watercolor paper. I created a light watercolor wash, meant to resemble the sky and a grassy hill, and adhered it to a Basic Black card base. Using foam tape I attached the kitten with balloons as well as two stamped and watercolored butterflies. And, of course, I had to add a few of my favorite sequins, too.

I also made a set of clean and simple note cards with several of the cat images in this stamp set, and I'll be back to share that next week. Thanks for stopping by!

June Christmas card: Over the river

We're getting into some hot, humid weather around here, so a wintry scene is a nice change of pace. (Remind me of that in January when I'm tired of below-zero temperatures and shoveling feet of snow.) So for my June Christmas cards I created a sweet little scene with a cozy mountain cabin.

Supplies:
Stamps: Over the River (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Esspreso card stock (Stampin' Up!); cold press watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: VersaFine Clair Nocturne (Tsukineko); ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers: 050, 091, 036, 065, 044, 024 (Kuretake)
Accessories: Over the River dies (Essentials by Ellen), Wood Frame Infinity Dies (Hero Arts), Bead Board embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Aquqpainter (Stampin' Up!), clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen (Kuretake), Real Red satin ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!), Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), foam tape (3M)

First of, I have to say that the VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink is amazing. Normally when I stamp on watercolor paper, I use a stamp positioner because it's hard to get a good first impression on the textured paper. But I didn't want to use a stamp positioner for these cards because of the overlapped images, so I decided to give it a try with the blocks. And it worked perfectly! Dark, solid images, and they didn't smear. Awesome!

Now on to the card. I used the Over the River stamp set from Essentials by Ellen, which I just love. (This set has been on my wish list since last Christmas, and I finally grabbed it during a recent sale.) I used some scratch card stock to play around with where I wanted to stamp the different elements. Once I was happy with the layout, I stamped the images on the watercolor paper and colored them with ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers. And although you can't see it in this photo, I used my Wink of Stella brush pen to add some sparkle where I made the shadows for the trees. I die cut the cabin and smoke and used Dimensionals to add those pieces in the scene.

To frame the panel, I used the Wood Frame Infinity Dies from Hero Arts. I actually die cut two frames for each card. I glued the two frames together, turning one of them 180 degrees, to make the frame a little thicker and sturdier. I used foam tape to attach the frame to the watercolor scene.

For the card base, I wanted to add a little texture. I embossed a 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" piece of Crumb Cake card stock with a Bead Board embossing folder. I wrapped a piece of ribbon around the embossed layer and taped it down in the back. Then I attached that piece to a Crumb Cake card base. (For the first version of the card, I tried just embossing the front of the card base. That worked OK, but I decided I liked the extra layer instead.) I adhered the focal panel to the middle of the card base and then added three clear sequins as a final touch.

I love the way these cards turned out, but they took a lot longer than I thought they would  because of all the stamping, coloring, die cutting and embossing. I think my July Christmas card might be something nice and simple!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pocketsful of joy

Well, look at that - two blog posts in two days! What is the world coming to? But before I get to the craftiness, I have a quick garden update. The thunderstorms that were forecasted for today held off, so we were able to finish weeding the garden and planting the sunflower seeds. We also planted a few other packets of flower seeds we had hanging around, so I just hope something sprouts!

Now on to the cards. Today I'm sharing two creations using a cute stamp and die combo from Taylored Expressions.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Pocketful of Sunshine Stamp and Die Combo (Taylored Expressions), Just Jeans
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Night of Navy, Poppy Parade card stock
Ink: Night of Navy, Memento Tuxedo Black; Blends/Blendabilities alcohol markers: Rich Razzleberry, mango Melody, Poppy Parade, Bronze, Mossy Meadow, Granny Apple Green
Accessories: Frame in Frame 2 Cutting Plate (Taylored Expressions), Happiness Blooms enamel dots, linen thread, clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, foam adhesive strips, Mono Multi liquid glue, Dimensionals

I love this little stamp and die set. It's very versatile, and the die even makes the stitching lines on the pocket. I wanted this card to be clean and simple, so I stamped the flowers on a thick white card base and colored them with alcohol markers. I die cut the pocket from navy card stock and stamped it with a denim-texture stamp to give it a little more detail. I added a little red card stock "tag" to the pocket and adhered it to the card base. I die cut a white scalloped frame and used foam strips to attach the frame around the pocket.

To embellish the card, I used my clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen to add a little sparkle to the flowers. I also tied a tiny linen thread bow and glued it to the pocket and added three navy enamel dots around the frame.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Pocketful of Sunshine Stamp and Die Combo (Taylored Expressions), Just Jeans
Paper: Night of navy, Whisper White, Grany Apple Green card stock; Carried Away Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Night of Navy, Memento Tuxedo Black; Blends alcohol markers: Granny Apple Green, Old Olive, Poppy Parade
Accessories: Burlap trim, googly eyes (unknown), Dimensionals, Mono Multi liquid glue

For a change of pace I made the second card one that would be perfect for a little boy's birthday. I stamped and colored the frog on a panel of white card stock and then glued on the die-cut pocket (again stamped with the denim texture stamp). I stamped the frogs feet on a scrap of card stock, cut them out and adhered them to the top of the pocket. I gave the frog googly eyes and matted the white panel with Granny Apple Green card stock.

For the card base I used Night of Navy card stock. I wanted to pull out the red color of the frog's tongue, so I used a piece of red patterned DSP along the bottom of the card. For a little texture I added a strip of burlap trim along the top of DSP. I used Dimensionals to attach the focal panel to the card base and stamped the sentiment in the lower right corner.

So far I've only used this pocket die with the images that come in the stamp set (there are two other images and two additional sentiments). But one day I'll have to look at the other stamps and dies in my stash to see what else I could use to fill this pocket. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks for stopping by!

A change in the garden

This is about the time of year when I post our first garden update. Well, the update this time is that we're not planting a garden, at least not a vegetable garden. We just didn't have the energy or motivation to plan, plant, and maintain the veggies. But we still have to do something with the garden space -- other than let it be a giant patch of weeds. So we're going to plant a variety of sunflower seeds instead, and with any luck we'll end up with a mini field of blooms. I don't know how it will turn out, but it looks really pretty in my head! We did a little work weeding and clearing this week, and we were planning to finish that and then plant the seeds this weekend. But now we might me getting rain and thunderstorms, so we'll see what happens.

At any rate, since I don't have pictures of real flowers to post, I thought I'd share a couple of sweet, cute flower cards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Petite Pairs
Paper: Lovely Lipstick, Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green, Pool Party, thick Whisper White card stock
Ink: Lovely Lipstick
Accessories: Outside In Stitched Flower, Stitched Flower Frame, Large Stitched Rectangle Stackables, Stitched Hillside Borders dies (Lawn Fawn; Princess assortment sequins (Craft Medley); Bitty Blooms punch pack; Dimensionals; Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

I kept this card very clean and simple with a two-tone flower and a green hillside on a light blue background. I had a lot of fun combining various stitched dies from Lawn Fawn to add some visual interest and the idea of texture. I couldn't leave the card completely unadorned, so I added one pink sequin with the stamped sentiment in the middle of the flower.

I wanted to fill up some of the white space inside the card, so I decided to add a few little flowers. I looked through my dies and punches trying to find something that was similar to the flower on the front of the card. The Bitty Blooms punch pack had a perfect little flower - and a leaf to boot.

I punched three flowers -- two light pink with a dark pink center and one dark pink with a light pink center -- and and leaves, glued the little pieces together, and added them inside the card. I think it's the perfect little detail.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: It's Your Birthday
Paper: Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive card stock; Brights 6" x 6" Designer Series paper (DSP)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Stitched Flower Frame and Outside In Stitched Flower dies (Lawn Fawn), Daffodil Delight double-stitched ribbon, Sparkling Clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Dimensionals

I stuck to the bright colors for this card, but switched to a blue and yellow flower instead of pink. And I added a little die-cut smiley face to the center of this flower, which I think is pretty cute.

For the background I used two pieces of patterned paper on a black card base: Bermuda Bay stripes on approximately the top three-fourths of the card and Daffodil Delight polka dots on the bottom portion. I covered the seam in the paper with a strip of Daffodil Delight double-stitched ribbon. I stamped the sentiment on the yellow patterned paper and adhered the flower and leaves near the top of the card. I finished off the card with a few of my favorite clear sequins.

Thanks for stopping by today for a little flower fix!

Blast from the past

Do you remember when stores or restaurants had promotions when they sold collections of products, like books or dishes? (Star Wars glasses from McDonald's, anyone?) I was young, so I have fuzzy memories of it, but I know you had to go to the store every week to purchase the latest item in the collection. Well, one of the collections we got at the grocery store was cassette tapes featuring rock 'n' roll oldies. My sister and I each had a special plastic case to store the cassettes, and we (or more accurately, our parents) managed to collect quite a few of them. I still have those cassettes, along with a number of others, and probably even a Walkman tucked away somewhere, too. So these cards were a little blast from the past for me.

Supplies:
Stamps: Mix Tape (Concord & 9th)
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Whisper White, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!); Oh My Stars Collection Kit (Bella Blvd)
Ink: Mango Melody (Stampin' Up!), Strawberry Milkshake (Taylored Expressions), Tuxedo Black (Memento), Balmy Blue Blends markers (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Mix Tape dies (Concord & 9th), black washi tape (Handmade Modern), Tutti-Frutti Adhesive-Backed Sequins (Stampin' Up!), foam tape (3M)

For this card I wanted some bright colors, and this bold, graphic pattern was perfect. I die cut "you rock" from the bottom of the paper, glued black card stock behind it and then adhered the panel to a card base. I applied a strip of black polka dot washi tape along the left edge to pull out the black in the paper.

I cut the tape and music note out of black card stock and added the white label stamped with "birthday mix" and colored stripes to match the patterned paper. I attached the tape to the card with foam tape and then added the music notes and a few sequins.

The Mix Tape stamp set also has a stamp that looks like the playlist on the tape, so I stamped that inside the card and added a few party-related "songs." I love the little stamps for side A and side B. I also added a few die-cut music notes.

Supplies:
Stamps: Mix Tape (Concord & 9th)
Paper: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Pool Party, Mango Melody, Smoky Slate card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Pacific Point, Pool Party, Mango Melody, Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Mix Tape dies (Concord & 9th), Brights Candy Dots (Stampin' Up!), foam tape (3M)

For my second card I wanted to make one with a more masculine feel. I started with a Pacific Point card base and stamped the cassette image in a tile pattern using Pacific Point ink. I adhered strips of Pool Party and Mango Melody card stock diagonally across the card front.

For the focal image I used a stamped tape instead of a die-cut one and added details using ink that coordinated with the card stock colors. I die cut a tape out of Smoky Slate card stock and adhered it to the card over the stripes. Then I cut out the stamped image and attached it with foam tape just slightly offset from the Smoky Slate layer. For a simple embellishment and a touch of texture, I added three Candy Dots along the right side of the card.

Supplies:
Stamps: Mix Tape (Concord & 9th)
Paper: Thick Whisper White, textured Melon Mambo card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Smoky Slate, Powder Pink, Flirty Flamingo, Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!); Tuxedo Black (Memento); Stardust Gelly Roll Pen (Sakura)
Accessories: Glitter Enamel Dots

I kept this last card pretty simple and focused on just stamping. I went for a feminine color combo of pinks and gray and stamped the tape on a white card base. I stamped the loopy hello sentiment below the tape. I love how it was designed to look like the actual tape was pulled out of the cassette. (Oh how I remember trying to wind up those unraveled tapes!)

I wanted to add a little sparkle, so I used a Stardust Gelly Roll pen to add accents to the letters and placed three glitter enamel dots around the focal image. Finally, I matted the white card with textured Melon Mambo card stock to create a narrow colored border around the card.



Thanks for stopping by!

Celebrate with streamers

This weekend I'm headed to the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo with my best crafting buddy. I've been looking forward to this for ages, and I'm so excited to take classes, do make-and-take projects, and (maybe most of all) buy all kinds of new crafty toys. So before I get too caught up in all the stamping excitement, I figured I'd better get at least one blog post done for the week.

Supplies:
Stamps: Simply Said - Birthday (Taylored Expressions), Party Pals Stamp and Die Combo (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Shimmery White, Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Lemon Lime Twist card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Streamers embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), Curly Q Cutting Plate (Taylored Expressions), clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen (Kuretake), Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!), Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal)

I love the Curly Q Cutting Plate from Taylored Expressions -- all those twisty streamers are just so fun and festive. But for this card I wanted to try making the streamers different colors so they really popped.

I started with a Shimmery White card base and embossed the front with the Streamers embossing folder. I cut the Curly Q Cutting Plate out of black card stock and adhered it to the card base. Then I die cut the cutting plate three more times -- out of Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay and Lemon Lime Twist card stock.

I used a detail scissors to carefully cut out a few of the streamers in each color and glued them over the same part of the black cutting plate on the card. I left a few black streamers, and I love how it adds depth and looks like those are in the shadows.

I wanted a sentiment on the front of the card, so I stamped "celebrate" on a strip of Shimmery White card stock and trimmed the right side into a V shape. I attached the strip to the card so the left side was flush against the edge of the cutting plate, and I added a Dimensional in the middle to make it look like it was waving.

To add a little sparkle to the card, I applied clear Wink of Stella glitter to the lightest blue streamers. (If you click the photo to enlarge it, you can see the sparkle better.)

Once I was finished with the card front, I still had several colored streamers left. So after I stamped the sentiment inside the card, I cut off some of those extra colored streamers, trimming some of them to make them shorter, and glued them along the top edge of the card. I love how that carries over the theme from the front of the card and also helps fill in some of the white space around the small sentiment.

Supplies:
Stamps: Make a Wish Stamp and Die Combo (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Shimmery White, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up!), Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Confetti embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), Curly Q Cutting Plate (Taylored Expressions), Go Green sequins (Craft Medley), Mini Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

For the second card, I decided to keep the cutting plate one color, but I added a different little twist. First, I started with a Shimmery White card base. I stamped a sentiment near the bottom of the card and then embossed the card front with a Confetti embossing folder.

Then I die cut the Curly Q cutting plate out of black card stock. But before I glued the cutting plate to the card base, I cut tiny pieces of Dimensionals and placed them behind a few of the streamers. I used liquid glue to cover the rest of the cutting plate and adhered it to the front of the card. Now a few of the streamers are popped up, which adds a little depth to the card.

You might be able to see the dimension a little easier in this second photo.

To add a little pop of color to the card, I stamped the sentiment on a scratch piece of card stock using Bermuda Bay ink. I cut out just the little banner part of the sentiment and attached it over the stamped sentiment on the card. A few scattered sequins in a matching color finish off the card.

Thanks for stopping by today!