Unicorns and rainbows

I know it hasn't been very long since I posted my last card set, but I've been giving a lot of them as gifts, so I need more. But today's card set is a little different (at least for me), and it makes me so happy. I hope you think so, too!

Gah! Aren't they too cute? To make the unicorns I used the Whittle Happy Unicorn die (Poppy Stamps) with shimmery white card stock for their bodies, colored card stock for manes and tails, and silver foil card stock for their horns. The card bases are Pool Party card stock with iridescent shimmer splatter and a scalloped rainbow frame (die cut with Frame in Frame 2 cutting plate, Taylored Expressions).

But definitely one of the best parts of this card set is the sentiments, which are from the Pure Magic stamp set (Essentials by Ellen). I completely adore these sentiments, and I don't have nearly enough opportunities to use them. I made this set for a teacher I worked with last year and during summer school. She has a fun personality, works with kids, and well, she just seems like the kind of person who would appreciate unicorns, rainbows, and a little humor.

I finished these cards with some sparkling clear sequins for a little extra bling. All-in-all this was a pretty easy card set to create; the most time-consuming part was die cutting and gluing all the unicorn pieces. But I think I might just have to make a few more to use myself ...

Thanks for stopping by!

Llama-palooza

Last week I was making birthday cards (because I'm always making birthday cards), and I had a crazy idea -- to make cards with all the llama-themed products I have and post them all together. A llama-palooza! Now, I've made llama cards and projects before, so these aren't anything terribly new or different. In fact, some of the cards are very similar to ones I've made before. But if I really like a design, why reinvent the wheel? (I just hope I don't give those cards to the same people.) So without further ado, bring out the llamas!

These two cards were made with the Birthday Fiesta stamps and dies (Stampin' Up!), and they may be my favorites of the bunch. I love the colors, the streamers, and the llamas' blankets. To color the blankets, I used five alcohol markers. I just made one stripe across of each color, close together, and they naturally blend together. Super easy, and it totally reminds me of colorful South American textiles.

For these next two cards I used the Llama Set 5458 (Art Impressions) along the Skinny Mini Party and Fiesta border dies (Taylored Expressions) for the streamers. These llamas definitely have some personality! I minimized my coloring by leaving the llamas white, but I think that makes them get a little lost on these cards. I should have used a different color background on the left card and added a layer of colored card stock behind the llamas on the right card. (I did add a die-cut vellum oval, which helped, but I'm not sure it was enough.) But they're still fun cards.

The llama images on these cards -- as well as the background papers -- are from the Llama Love card stock stack (Craft Smith). I fussy cut the large llamas from some of the paper designs -- and I've now used almost all the large llamas in the stack! There is still plenty of paper left, though, and I think many of the pages are small and/or tone-on-tone prints, so they shouldn't be too hard to use on other projects. For the sentiments, I used the Whole Llama Love stamp set (Taylored Expressions) to get some good llama puns.

Alright, these two cards might have to tie the first two for my favorites. I used the No Drama Llama dies and the Whole Llama Love stamps (both Taylored Expressions) and the Fiesta Forever card stock stack (Die Cuts With a View), and I love how these products work together. I used papers from the stack to cut out the llamas' accessories, so I know they'll match. And the printed pages make such fun backgrounds. I added some sparkly gel pen on the llamas' accessories for a little bling, but it doesn't really show up in the picture.

And that concludes today's llama-palooza. Did you have a favorite in the bunch?

Thanks for stopping by!

Deco Florals

When I went to the stamp show a couple of weeks ago, I got some fun new goodies. I put a few of those items together -- the Deco Florals stamps and dies (Pink and Main), the Mod Stitched Rectangle dies (Pink and Main), and the Tim Holtz Distress Spray in Peeled Paint (Ranger Ink) -- to make a couple of quick cards.

I chose eight of the flower/leaf shapes from the Deco Florals stamp set and stamped each image on white card stock using a different color from the Urban Oasis ink collection (Catherine Pooler). I die cut the images with the coordinating dies and split them into two groups.

Using the Mod Stitched Rectangle dies, I cut two of the second-largest shape from white card stock. (I did notice that the dies, which are pink, left a faint pink tinge in the stitched lines on the card stock. I'm not sure if it's because they're new or because the card stock was thick and therefore my die-cutting "sandwich" was too tight, but I'm hoping that doesn't keep happening.) I spritzed one panel with Peeled Paint Distress Spritz and the other with Iridescent Shimmery spray (Altenew), which you can't really see in the photo.

When the panels were dry, I added the die-cut flowers and leaves. On the Distress Spritz panel I used foam tape, and on the other card they are glued directly on the panel. I stamped the "Happy Birthday" sentiment from the stamp set on two strips of white card stock, trimmed the strips, and used foam tape to add one strip to each card. I attached the panels to white card bases (foam tape for one, glue for the other) and finished them with clear droplets.

To be honest these are not my favorite cards, but sometimes when I get new stamps, I just need to make something to get a feel for the images and to get some creative juices flowing. Next time I use this set I hope I'll have more ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

Life is 'tweet'

When I saw the Tweet Life stamp set and layering stencils (Concord and 9th) last year, I knew I would get them. I had to wait a while -- they never seemed to be both in stock when I thought about ordering -- but now that I have them, I know they'll make some adorable cards. Here are my first two:

I wanted to keep these first cards clean and simple, so I used white card bases and did my stenciling directly on the cards. For the large bird, I went with a bright, bold magenta and purple -- not a usual color choice for me. When the stenciling was done, I used the stamp set to add the black beak and eye, brown legs (though I think I should have made those black, too), some tone-on-tone details, and the sentiments. I felt like I needed some white on the bird, so I used a gel pen to draw a few accents. The purple ink on the wing was so strong that it absorbed into the white. I went over those parts again, but they still have a little purple tinge. I finished the card with three purple sequins.

For the second card I used a more familiar color palette -- yellow, green, and blue. The stencils make all nine birds at once, but it would be easy to do just one row or even a single small bird. I used sticky notes to cover parts of the stencil so I could make the birds in each row and column a different color. After stenciling, I again used the stamp set to add details and a sentiment. The final touch again was a few sequins.

These products are really fun, and I'm looking forward to trying them with other layouts and color combinations. Thanks for stopping by!

  

July Christmas cards: Cranberry Christmas

I try to limit the patterned paper I buy (simply because I already have more than enough), but recently my aunt asked me if I wanted any of the paper she was no longer using. When I saw the Cranberry Christmas stack (Die Cuts With a View), I knew it would make really pretty Christmas cards.

I decided to use the All Planned Out 1 die set (Taylored Expressions), which has been a go-to for me lately. I chose two pieces of patterned paper that I thought worked well together, but after I picked them I realized that the red piece has silver foil and the floral one has gold. I don't usually mix metallics when I'm making cards, but I figure Christmas cards is the perfect opportunity.

I cut the main die (to make the background pieces) five times from each 12" x 12" piece of paper. Then I adhered one piece of each pattern to a light gray card base. I had enough patterned paper leftover to make two more cards, each with just one of the patterns. (For the card with only the gray floral paper I used a Cherry Cobbler card base.) I die cut the strips from gold and silver foil card stock (six of each color) and used one strip for each card.

For seven of the twelve cards I used focal images from the the Cranberry Christmas paper, trimmed or die cut to fit the card layouts. I did add three die-cut "merry"s to the piece that looked like a journaling card (top right card in photo). For the other five cards I used a couple of dies from my stash: Nordic Tree (Erin Lee Creative) and Big Joy (Simon Says Stamp). I die cut each image two times for each card and glued the die cuts together to make them thicker. To finish each card I added sequins in either gold or silver to match the decorative strip.

I don't know if I've ever made gray Christmas cards before, but I think they elegant, especially with the metallic accents. Thanks for stopping by!