Three card sets

I'm back to squeeze in one more blog post for July, and today I'm sharing three card sets (two of which I made quite awhile ago). Card sets are a fun way to try a card layout in different color combos or with different sentiments -- and they're a great item to have on hand for gift giving.

For this first set of cards, I used a rainbow-themed kit from Taylored Expressions. I know the kit is no longer available, but some of the individual products still may be around. I've also noticed that several stamp companies have similar rainbow stamps, dies, and/or stencils, so there are lots of options out there.

I started with light blue card bases and added a subtle background using a cloud stencil and the same color ink as the card stock. (I believe it's the retired Soft Sky from Stampin' Up!, which is one of my all-time favorite colors. It really is the perfect soft color for a sky, and I wish it was still available.) Then I die cut the rainbow out of six colors of card stock; I chose bright colors rather than the more traditional rainbow colors. I sorted out the different pieces, arranged them into six rainbows, and glued each rainbow to a card base.

I die-cut the clouds from white card stock and adhered one to each end of the rainbow using foam tape. Some of the clouds have a pierced border because the kit came with two different style cloud dies. I used both dies to cut my die-cutting time in half.

The sentiment stamps were shaped to fit over the top of the rainbow, so I just picked one sentiment for each card and stamped it in black ink. The final touch for each card was three clear droplets, which were perfect since they look like little drops of rain.

 

If you're looking for something a little more all-occasion, check out the second set of cards:

The starting point for this set was actually the washi tape (the colorful strips on the focal panels), which you could easily substitute with strips of card stock or patterned paper. I made this set for a friend who really likes washi tape, so I wanted to include it on these cards. I chose three styles of washi tape: a wide, colorful pattern; a narrow solid color; and a medium-width gold polka dot. For each focal panel, I placed a strip of each tape on a piece of white card stock and wrapped the ends around to the back. I stamped a sentiment above the strips and then tore off the top and bottom edges of the card stock.

For the card bases, I used thick white card stock and added splatters with gold watercolor paint. The paint does need a little time to dry, so you may want to create the bases first then set them aside and make the panels.

Using foam tape, I attached a focal panel to each card base near the right edge and slightly lower than center. To bring in one more metallic element, I finished off with a few gold sequins on each card.

 

The third card set I made on a when I was playing with watercolor paints this spring:

The colorful butterfly background on these cards was made with a watercolor resist pad from Brea Reese. It's an 8" x 8" pad of watercolor paper preprinted with white designs. When you apply paint to the paper, the design resists the paint and stays white. It's a fun and easy way to play with watercolor. You could even make your own resist paper by embossing a design on watercolor paper using embossing or watermark ink and white or clear embossing powder.

I used three colors of liquid watercolor and applied them very loosely, letting the colors do their thing and blend together in some spots. I blotted up the excess water and paint, and when the paper was dry I cut it into four 4" x 4" pieces and mounted each on a bright yellow card base. (The finished cards are about 4-1/4" square.) I added black die-cut butterflies (Stampin' Up!), a small strip sentiment (Simon Says Stamp), and a few sparkly sequins (Gina K Designs) to finish off each card.

 

 I used to make card sets often, and I always seemed to have a few on hand. I need to get back to making them regularly so I can replenish my stash.

Thanks for stopping by!

July Christmas cards: Pine cones and berries

I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that for my July Christmas cards I was going to use the stamp set I got with my card-contest winnings at the stamp show in June. As promised, here they are!

I used the Winter Bouquet stamp set and three sets of the Color Fuse inks (sets 3, 4, and 10) from Rubbernecker Stamps. It did take a little time to play around with lining up the stamps and finding a layout I liked for the images, but once I had that, the rest of the stamping went faster than I expected.

I did all my stamping on white card stock panels die cut with a stitched rectangle die. I couldn't decide on a color for the card bases, so I went with a few different ones. For the green and red cards, I used the colored card stock for the whole card base, and I used a quilt-style embossing folder on the card front. (I actually used the de-bossed side of the embossing folder because I wanted the pattern but not the raised texture.) For the third group, I die-cut panels of printed kraft card stock with an A2-sized stitched rectangle die and then adhered the panels to white card bases.

After I attached the focal panels to the card bases, I adhered a piece of gold ribbon diagonally across the upper right corner of each card. The final touch was three gold glimmer dots in the center of each pine cone cluster. I like the subtle gold touches, but looking at the cards now, the white panels seem a bit too stark; I think maybe I should have added a bit of gold paint splatter. Something to keep in mind for next time. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

A little pet parade

 I've got a quick post today with a few cards featuring some cute pets - cats, dogs, and even a little parrot.

I used the April 2021 My Monthly Hero kit from Hero Arts to make this card. The kit included a stamp set and a few geometric stencils, and I used one of the stencils to make the background. The stencil has rows of quarter circles, and you can rotate the stencils to add more. I ink blended two colors (orange and kraft) for the first pass, alternating the color for each row of quarter circles. Then I rotated the stencil and ink blended with navy and olive, again alternating the color for each row. I trimmed the panel and added it to a white card base.

I added a die-cut wood-style frame (also Hero Arts, but not part of the kit) and two stamped and die-cut images. I debated the sentiment on this card because I wanted to use it as a Father's Day card for my uncle. But I thought the "hello" worked well since the cat and dog are looking at each other, so I just wrote a happy Father's Day message on the inside of the card.

I made this card ages ago but never got around to posting it. Better late than never! I stamped and embossed the images (from the Oh My Whiskers set by Honey Bee Stamps) on watercolor paper, colored them with, I think, ZIG Clean Color Real Brush watercolor markers, and then cut them out with the coordinating dies.

For the card base, I lightly ink blended a polka dot background using the same color ink and drew a simple border. I added the images with foam tape, glued on a little twine bow, and stamped the sentiment along the bottom of the card. (The sentiment is from the Purrrfect Sentiments set, also by Honey Bee Stamps.)

Here's another older card that's been waiting to be posted. Oops! For this card I started by die cutting a card stock panel with the Speech Bubble Backdrop die from Lawn Fawn. I used an embossing mat, so the speech bubbles were embossed instead of being cut out. Then I used the Critter Chatter stamp set to stamp a word in each bubble, using the same color ink as the card stock. (I need to try this die for a birthday card. It would be fun to fill the speech bubbles with all different birthday sentiments.) I attached the panel to a white card base.

The little critters and focal speech bubble are from the Say What? Pets stamp set (both stamp sets are also from Lawn Fawn). I stamped the images on white card stock, colored them with alcohol markers, and cut them out with the coordinating dies. I used foam tape to attach the images near the bottom of the card base.

Thanks for stopping by!