Halloween cards with collage cutouts

As I mentioned in my last post, I made some Halloween while on a recent crafty road trip. I didn’t have anything planned out, unlike my Christmas cards, so I brought a few coordinating supplies to play with: card bases, twine, sequins, two small ink pads, and a package of Photoplay Collage Cutouts for Halloween.

Here are all the pieces I cut out. I love the variety of images in the pack, as well as words and accents like banners and strips. The package had sixteen sheets — two each of eight designs — so I cut up one sheet of each design. Now, I don’t mind fussy cutting, and the images had cutting lines to follow, but my fingers were definitely sore by the time I was done!

With all that work finished, it was time to start creating. In addition to the supplies I brought from home, I also used the 8” x 8” Charcoal Palette Collection papers (Tim Holtz Idea-ology). I’d wanted to get some of Palette Collection papers, so when we hit the scrapbook store during our trip, I couldn’t resist. I picked up a few packs, and the Charcoal one worked perfectly with these images.

Here are the cards I created:

I’m pretty pleased with how these cards turned out. I only brought eight card bases with me, but I probably could have made another eight with all the collage cutouts I had left. Not to mention the rest of the package that I haven’t cut out yet. I guess that means more Halloween cards to come!

Thanks for stopping by!

August Christmas cards: Holiday cheer

Last week I took a crafty road trip with my aunt Terry and my friend Lisa to visit Taylored Expressions and Memory Bound scrapbook store in Ankeny, Iowa. We knew we would have some down time for crafting, but I didn’t want to pack a bunch of random stamping supplies. Instead I planned ahead, designed my August Christmas cards, and did a lot of the prep work at home.

Here is the card layout I designed for August. It’s a different layout for me because I was also working with a sketch challenge. When I saw the sketch, with the space for three images along the right edge, I knew this snowman would be perfect. (This is actually one wood-block stamp with the right-facing snowman on one side and the left-facing one on the other side.) I used some patterned papers for an easy background and coordinating alcohol markers to color the images. I added the sentiment on a white strip above the images and finished the card with silver sequins. It’s hard to see in the photo, but I also used a gel pen to add sparkle to the white parts of the hats.

To prep for the trip, I cut, scored, and folded eight white card bases and stamped the sentiment inside them; stamped and punched out 26 snowmen (enough for eight cards and a couple extra); cut two pieces of patterned paper for each card (background panel and strip) and tucked the pieces inside the card bases; and stamped the sentiment on strips of white card stock. I packed all the pieces, as well as the coordinating alcohol markers, the sparkle gel pen, and the sequins, in a small plastic box (an old Stampin’ Up! stamp case). The other supplies, like glue, foam tape, and scissors, went in a zippered pouch. Here is a look at my paper-crafting supplies all packed up:

I also decided to bring a few things to make some Halloween cards, which is the box on the left. (I’ll share those cards in my next post.)

Once we sat down in the hotel lobby to craft, all I had to do for my Christmas cards was color the images, trim the sentiment strips, adhere everything to the card bases, and add sequins. I did make one change from the original card: I decided to use foam tape to adhere the snowmen and then tuck one of the sequins behind the image instead of gluing it on top. Here are the nine finished cards:

I think they turned out pretty cute! If/when I go on another craft retreat, I might consider prepping some cards like this. It was nice to just sit down and get to work without having to think about what I wanted to make. It was much easier to pack, too! I don’t typically make multiples of card designs (except for holiday cards), but I could plan out some card sets or something like that.

We definitely had a good time on our trip, and I came home with waaaay more crafting supplies than I left with! After I share the Halloween cards I made, I’ll do a post with some pictures of the trip. Until then, thanks for stopping by!

Multitudes of mushrooms

I am a sucker for mushrooms in crafts. I just think they’re adorable, and I love the forest and fairy themes that often accompany mushrooms. So earlier this summer I decided to make a card (or two) with each of my stamp and/or die sets that prominently feature mushrooms. It will take me a while to get through all of them (especially since I seem to keep collecting more), so today’s cards are the first installment.

I made these two cards using an old My Monthly Hero kit (Hero Arts). For the card on the left I used the stamps from the kit. I created the scene with masking paper (so some of the images look like they are behind others) and colored the images with colored pencils. I die cut the finished panel with a deckle rectangle die, inked the edges, and adhered it to a green card base. I finished the card with clear droplets and a bit of striped ribbon.

For the card on the right I used the dies from the kit to create a terrarium. It’s a shaped card, so I used the arched die to also cut the card base, leaving a small portion of the fold intact. The blue layer on the card front hides the flat fold. I also had to consider the bottom of the card because the piece for the base of the terrarium has little feet. In order to get the card to stand up correctly, I needed to die cut a base piece for the inside of the card as well as the front.

The most time-consuming part was creating the gravel layer at the bottom. I cut that piece out of dark brown for the dirt and two light colors for the stones. I glued the brown piece to the blue background and then pieced in the “stones,” trying to mixup the two colors. But I love how the card turned out, so I think the extra time was worth it.

Here is another terrarium-like card. Or maybe it’s a little fairy habitat. Either way, it’s cute.

I used two die sets to create the focal image: Cottage Terrarium and Mini Forest Plants (both from Poppystamps). I die cut the pieces in the mat from water color paper and then painted them. I used a white Posca paint pen to add the spots on the mushrooms and the lines on the left side of the jar. The lid of the jar is metallic card stock, and I used hemp twine to add a bow around the lid.

For the background I used the retired Tree Rings background stamp (Stampin’ Up!) and stamped it on a kraft card base. I think it’s the perfect background for this card.

This card and the next one were both made with the Nature Walk stamp and die combo (Ellen Hutson). To make this card I stamped the fronds and moth images on the card base for the background. I stamped the mushrooms and snail on white card stock and die cut them. I liked the idea behind this card, but I don’t love how it turned out. Something feels off with the background; I think maybe I should have stamped just one moth.

I decided to make this a belated birthday card, so I stamped “sorry I’m late …” on the front and “I took the scenic route” on the inside.

Now this card I really like. I used the Nature Walk stamp set again for the images and the Organic Elements stamp set (Ellen Hutson) for the solid shapes in the background.

I stamped six shapes in a grid on a white card base using four colors. Then I stamped five images from the set on white card stock, using the “filler” stamps to add color to the moth, mushrooms, and snail. (The filler stamp I used for the snail was actually the one for the smallest mushroom. I think it’s works for the snail, too.) I kept the frond and the flowers white. I adhered the images over the shapes, using foam tape for the colored images. I added a sentiment strip in the bottom right corner over the sixth shape. I finished this card (and the previous one) with some gold confetti.

I hope you enjoyed this first batch of mushroom cards. I’m not sure when the next batch will be ready, but I have quite a few other cards to share in the meantime. Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers to fifteen years

Today marks fifteen years of my blog. Crazy. That simultaneously seems like so long and no time at all. I wasn’t sure how to mark the occasion, so I decided to do what I do best: make a card.

This card is perfect for the occasion for a couple of reasons. First, this shade of blue is one of my favorite colors. And second, the panel with the fireworks is upcycled from an old desk calendar. I love to find ways to reuse things, especially cool or pretty papers.

I don’t think this card needs much explanation, but here are a few details. I used gold foil card stock to die cut the frame, the scalloped circle, and the numbers. I die-cut the word “hooray” twice and layered them together to give the sentiment a little more heft. And the pennants on the award ribbon are also trimmed from the desk calendar, which is great because I knew it would perfectly match the background panel. 

Whether this is your first time here or you’ve been following along for years, thanks for stopping by!

Kaleidoscope collection

A couple of weeks ago I needed to make a birthday card for a friend’s mom. She loves hummingbirds, and I thought of the perfect products — several items from the Kaleidoscope collection (49 and Market) that I’d purchased as a bundle, but never used. I have rub-ons, ephemera pieces, layered frames, and washi tape. And since I was making one card, I figured I’d make a couple extra. Here they are:

I think they turned out really pretty. It amazes me when I see other people do collage so (seemingly) effortlessly because I always struggle with this kind of layering. My brain wants to do it the “right” way. It’s helpful with a collection of products like this because everything coordinates, so at least I don’t have to second guess that part.

Everything on these cards is from the collection except the gray card bases, the linen thread used for the bows, and the word “birthday” on the pink card. That’s a stamp and the only stamping I did on the front of the cards.

For each card I started by using the rub-ons to add interest to the solid-color panel. Then I chose which ephemera pieces I wanted to use and played around with the arrangement. Before I glued them down, I added two or three washi tape “stamps” to the background. I finished each card with a linen thread bow to add a different texture.

I had a lot of fun making these cards, and I’m looking forward to creating more. I think these would make great card sets, too.

Thanks for stopping by! 

July Christmas cards: Splendid stockings

Recently I purchased the Stocking Stamp and Stitch bundle (Concord and 9th) on clearance — $6 for the stamp and die set together. I’d looked at the bundle in the past and thought it was cute, so I couldn’t pass up that deal. (As of the date of this post, it looks like they still have some in stock if you’re interested.) I especially love that the dies are versatile: you can use them to cut out the stamped stocking, without the stamps to make stockings with card stock or patterned paper, or with the special die insert to create stockings with small holes for stitching. For my July Christmas cards I created all three kinds of stocking and combined them to make nine cards.

I started by choosing a color palette: Poppy Parade, Calypso Coral, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Bordering Blue, and Dapper Denim (Stampin’ Up!). Then I stamped and cut out stockings in each color. I also cut out accent pieces from those colors as well as white and a darker green for the holly leaves. (It was a lot of die cutting. Whew.)

I stitched the stockings with the holes and adhered all the accents on the stocking bases, trying to mix and match the colors. (I ended up not loving the coral color in the mix, but I went with it anyway.) Then came the difficult decision of pairing up the stockings and picking a color for each card base. I thought about doing kraft card bases, but I’ve used a lot of kraft on my Christmas cards this year, so I wanted to go brighter.

I embossed the card bases with the Geo Blooms embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), but in hindsight a brick pattern would have been fun, too. I used the Wood Grain Planks die (Memory Box) to create the “mantle” on each card. I adhered the stockings with foam tape and added a mini metallic brad just above each stocking to look like a nail. To finish off, I added a banner with the sentiment “Warm Wishes” near the bottom right corner on each card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stenciled birthdays

I love the different things you can do with stencils and ink blending, but I seem to use my stencils more often with texture paste or for gel printing. So a few weeks ago I decided to pull out some stencils and my Taylored Expressions inks and create a collection of backgrounds to use for birthday cards.

Here are the completed backgrounds. I tried to use stencils that I either hadn’t used yet or hadn’t used in awhile. The only stencil I used for more than one background was a layering tie dye stencil because I wanted to try a couple of different color combinations. And one of the backgrounds — the multi-colored floral in the bottom row — uses more than one stencil. Before I stenciled the flowers, which I knew would leave a lot of white space, I used a script stencil with Crumb Cake ink to add light text.

I decided to focus on my Taylored Expressions inks for a couple of reasons. First, I only have about two dozen colors, so I wouldn’t be so overwhelmed trying to decide on color combinations. And second, all those ink pads live in one storage basket, so it was easy to bring the basket to the table and have them all right at my fingertips.

My initial goal with these backgrounds was simply to adhere them to card bases and then add die-cut birthday sentiments for quick cards. That worked out for a couple of the cards, and then, of course, I started to make things more involved. But ultimately, I was pleased with all of the cards. Here they are:

When I finished turning the stenciled backgrounds into cards, I had a couple of leftover birthday die cuts I hadn’t used. So I pulled out some patterned paper and created two more cards.

I’ll just have to do this a few more times, and I’ll have a good stash of birthday cards!

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer postcard art

This year my local art supply store, Wet Paint, is doing their 13th annual Summer Postcard Project. All you have to do to participate (from anywhere!) is make a postcard and mail it to the store (postmarked by Aug. 15, 2026). Today I made two postcards for the project.

I absolutely love how this one turned out. I started with a watercolor postcard, glued a gel print to the front, and trimmed the edges. Using bits and pieces from other gel prints, I cut out petals, leaves, and a center for a flower. I played around with the layout for awhile; the flower was too big to add a second one, but too small to be the only thing on the front of the card. I finally settled on adding a quote, and this one — “Where flowers bloom, so does hope” — was the perfect length and the perfect sentiment. Using a Micron pen, I drew a border around the postcard and all the flower pieces. Then I held my breath and started the lettering for the quote. A few places were a little tricky because the paint on the gel print was bumpy, but I did it! I used a ruler to help with spacing and keeping the words straight. I added a few little hearts and covered the postcard with Mod Podge to help protect it in the mail.

For my second postcard (which I actually made first), I created something in the style of neurographic art. I started with a watercolor postcard and used a Sharpie permanent marker to trace different-sized circles. I let the circles overlap and go off the edge. Then I rounded off every place where two lines intersected (so the V shapes look more like U shapes). Then I started filling in the shapes. First I did the doodles, three different styles and four shapes for each style. Then I used ZIG Clean Color brush markers to add the color. Working one shape at a time, I “painted” water on the shape with a water brush, outlined the shape with the color, and then used the water brush to pull the color into the middle of the shape. And since I like to do things evenly, I filled in nine shapes for each color. :)

I’m ready to drop these in the mail tomorrow. The store displays all the postcards they receive in their front windows, so I’m looking forward to stopping by in the coming weeks to admire all the summer postcard art. Thanks for stopping by!

A banner day

Since I have some time off this summer, I want to work on some art/craft projects other than card making. Today I decided to make a banner for our kitchen. We have banners that we use during the fall and for Christmas, but I’ve been wanting to make something for the spring and summer. Here it is:

I apologize that these aren’t great photos. I should have taken pictures before I hung it up, but I was excited to put it up, and then I didn’t feel like taking it back down. Just ignore all the kitchen clutter. :)

The canvas banner pieces and the pompoms are from a couple of old kits from Stampin’ Up! I’d used parts of the kits for other things over the years, but I’d saved the pompoms specifically because I loved the colors. So I used those colors as the palette for the banner.

I rummaged through my crafting supplies and found a variety of buttons, brads, ribbons, and flowers in green, coral, aqua, and a few neutrals. I used linen thread to sew the buttons on to the narrow canvas pieces and to attach trinket keys in the heart cut-outs of the rounded pieces. I used hot glue to the adhere the other pieces to the pennants.

I added large eyelets to the banners and strung them with a thick twine. Using a needle, I strung the pompoms on linen thread, grouping them in pairs between the banner pieces. I finished with pieces of ribbon tied around the twine in several places along the banner.

Thanks for stopping by!

June Christmas cards: Nature sings

Earlier this month I was thinking about what to do for my June Christmas cards. I asked my sister for a suggestion, and she said “purple.” It wasn’t much to go on, but I liked the idea because I haven’t made any purple holiday cards yet this year. So I went with it, and decided to combine the themes of nature and music with purple. Here are my finished cards:

I made a total of ten cards with this design. Well, technically I suppose it’s eight cards of this design and two with slight modifications. If you look carefully at the photo, you might notice two cards that are just a tiny bit different. Here they are by themselves:

The card on the left was the first prototype. I liked the way it looked, but I really wanted to add the sentiment “Let heaven and nature sing.” Unfortunately, I only have that saying on one stamp (how?!?), and it wasn’t the right shape to fit anywhere on that layout. So instead I held my breath and hand wrote it around the edges of the focal layer. The result was okay, but I didn’t really want to hand write on all the cards (too much pressure). I decided to make a new prototype with all the same elements but in a portrait orientation instead. Then I added the sentiment on a small tag in the lower right corner. It was okay, but I didn’t love it. Back to the drawing board. And with a couple of tweaks — and an overnight break — I finally had a layout I was really happy with.

First off, I moved down the sheet music just a little. That gave me enough room to stamp the sentiment in the upper left corner of the card base. The second change was to use a lighter shade of purple for the card base so you can actually see the stamped sentiment.Yay! And I love the results.

Here are a few more details: The sheet music is vintage choir music I got when a church was clearing out some old things. I splattered the card bases with gold watercolor. I colored the birds with alcohol makers and blended Toffee ink (Taylored Expressions) along the scalloped edges to age that layer a little bit.

I think these might be my favorite Christmas cards so far this year. Thanks for stopping by!

Simple joys for Father’s Day

Today I’m sharing the card I made my dad for Father’s Day. I know Father’s Day was last weekend, but really this is a great masculine card that could work for a variety of occasions (birthday, retirement, anniversary, etc.) just by changing the sentiment on the front. And here is the front of the card:

To make this card, I used the Cabin Circlet Mini Tryfold stamp and die set (Art Impressions). I posted a similar card several years ago in my 1,000th blog post. I started out making this card the same as the previous version — plain white card base and even similar coloring on the images. But I wanted to step this card up a little.

Choosing what to add to the card was tricky. I wanted the layered focal image to remain the star, so I didn’t want to use additional stamps or patterned paper. That left me with texture. I looked through my paper stash and came across some crinkly, textured paper, and this tan color seemed perfect. I cut two pieces slightly smaller than the card base (one for inside the card), determined where to die cut the circular opening, and glued down the layers.

To finish off the card front, I stamped “Happy Father’s Day” on a strip of white card stock, trimmed the ends into Vs, and used foam tape to adhere it below the focal image. I also added a hemp twine bow and three clear droplets.

Here is the card with the first flap opened. After I added the textured paper to this panel, it still seemed too blah. I finally settled on adding a die-cut white Adirondack chair in the lower right corner and two die-cut bird silhouettes in the upper left corner. I like how the die cuts enhance the serene feeling of the image (and the birds look similar to the ones in the background).

Finally, here is the inside of the card, with both panels open. I didn’t add anything here since this is where I wrote a message.

As a side note, I really wish I was in this scene, at a cabin sitting by the water. I’m on my summer break from school, and while I’m definitely enjoying the time off — crafting, relaxing, and reading a lot — I have an urge to “get away.” When I was growing up, my family spent a week at a resort “Up North” (aka Northern Minnesota) every summer. There weren’t any mountains, like this scene, but the feeling was similar. We’d fish, swim, play games, and visit the small nearby towns to buy souvenirs and do fun touristy things (one town had turtle races). I’d love to have a few days like that this summer. I don’t think it’s likely, but who knows. Anything can happen, right?

Thanks for stopping by!

Snarky birthday cats

Recently I did a card sketch challenge with the theme of Polaroid photos. I had an idea for a birthday card Tim Holtz’s Snarky Cats stamps, so I went with it:

Ha ha ha! These cats crack me up. For this card I started by stamping the cat on a piece of a piece of white card stock, making sure I had enough space around the image to add the frame. I also stamped the bow tie, party hat, and balloon on scraps of card stock. I roughly colored in the images, not worrying about blending or leaving little white spots. (The sketchy style of the stamps lends itself well to this type of quick coloring.) It’s hard to tell in the photo, but I also colored around the cat with a very light blue so the background wasn’t just white. I fussy cut the three accessories and set them aside.

To make the Polaroid frame, I simply took a rectangular piece of black card stock and used a square die to cut out the middle part. I embossed “happy birthday” in white along the bottom of the frame and then glued it on to the panel with the cat image. I glued on the accessories (letting the hat and balloon go over the edge of the frame), drew a line from the balloon to the cat’s tail, and set the completed panel aside.

I chose a card base to coordinate with the color of the bow tie and then stamped balloons all over the card front. I finished the background with a splatter of Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White. When that was dry I used foam tape to adhere the focal panel to the card base at an angle. I added a few blue sequins for a little bling.

But what really brings the card together is the inside. I used a panel of white card stock and stamped the sentiment “Look, I’m not saying that you’re old, but if you were milk I’d sniff you first.” Ha ha! Of course I had to stamp a little milk bottle in the corner, and for fun I added a few more balloons around the sentiment.

I really liked how this card turned out, and since I already had the stamps out I decided to make one more Snarky Cat birthday card:

I used the same images for this card, but I skipped the Polaroid frame this time. Instead I used an old gel print for the background. I trimmed the gel print to the size I wanted and then stamped the cat near the middle. This was just for placement and to make sure I didn’t lose the details of the cat’s fur sticking out. I also stamped the balloon string on the gel print, as well as multiple “happy birthday”s. Finally I spritzed the background with some turquoise Dina Wakley Media Gloss Spray and set it aside to dry.

Meanwhile I stamped the cat, hat, bowtie, and balloon on white card stock and colored them using alcohol markers. I did a little more blending this time, but my coloring was still pretty casual. Then I fussy cut all the pieces and adhered them to the card front, placing the cat over the image I stamped earlier. (I guess I didn’t wait until the spray was completely dry because I got a little smudge on the cat’s face.) I glued the panel to a black card base and added three pink sequins. Inside this card I stamped “Get your party on!” It’s not really snarky, but it seemed to fit the colorful card front (although I’m not too sure this cat is ready to party).

Thanks for stopping by!