Die Cut Watercolor // Throwback Thursday

Let's finish out July's Throwback Thursday feature go out with a nice bright pop of color! Some of these Throwback Thursday cards are rather painful for me to share, but I still like this card, two years later. ;)

**************************************
While this is not an outstanding example of orginiality, I still love it - it's even cooler in real life, when you can see the dimension from the negative die cut butterflies.

Thanks for stopping in and God bless! 

**********************************
Cardstock: Strathamore
Stamp: Papertrey Ink "Happy Trails"
Ink: Stazon, Papertrey Ink, Tim Holtz
Other: sequins (Michaels)

Tools: Cuttlebug, My Favorite Things "Butterflies" dies

Coloring Patterned Paper // My Favorite Stamps

Hi there! Today's card is for the My Favorite Things sketch 238 challenge, the Simon Says Stamp Monday "i" (I used ikat) challenge, and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Sparkle and Shine challenge.

Let me just start this off by saying how flipping cute Birdie Brown's Birthday Bears stamp set is. Not only is it possibly my favorite animal stamp set ever, but my younger sister Rosie, who, if you recall, is one of my biggest critics (but also supportive - she's strange that way ;)) saw it and declared it her favorite stamp set I've ever gotten.
How's that for praise? ;)

I used the cute Best Friends stamp set to transform the birthday themed bear set into a baby boy card.
The balloon has Glossy Accents on it, but it's difficult to tell in these photos...

Coloring patterned papers is actually really fun - you just need to use lighter colored papers, with more subtle or less distracting patterns. I colored the bow of my present, then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder for a "satiny" finish to the bow.
The grid background behind the bear, the present and the balloon are all patterned papers that you could easily add color to. If the patterned paper is already colored, it's best to stick with colors that are in the pattern, or the color might look a little funky. For the present, I just used a darker shade of orange.

That's it for me today! Thanks for stopping in and have a blessed Sunday!

***************************************************
Cardstock: Canson, Papetrey Ink
Patterned paper: Crate Paper "Journey" and "Pretty Party"
Stamps: My Favorite Things "Birthday Bears" and "Best Friends"
Ink: Versafine, Versamark, Tim Holtz
Other: clear embossing powder, Glossy Accents

Tools: heat gun, Cuttlebug, My Favorite Things "Birthday Bears" stamp set

Papertrey Ink July Blog Hop Challenge

Hello all! Today I'm sharing a card for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop challenge (my blog post title didn't give it away, did it? ;))

What I took from the photo is pretty obvious - butterflies (of course), pink, and then I thought the sentiment kinda looked like the pictures on the wall.
My butterflies were cut using the Happy Trails die, and topped with a gold embossed sentiment from Sweet Speech.

The bow was a little tricky to tie - the thinner the thread/string, the harder it is for me to get a tight bow. After several pathetic attempts, I solved my dilemma by adding a little ball of temporary adhesive down to the patterned paper. As I twisted the thread around each other, I used the adhesive to keep the little cross in place, then once I had finished off my loops and completed the bow, I was able to remove the adhesive.

Gold is always so tricky for me to photograph, and this is probably the only card I was able to do gold semi-justice.
Oh, and isn't that stitched border so fun? I know I'm gonna be getting a lot of mileage out of THESE stamps.

Here's a video to show you how I made the card.

If you're looking for some stamps to fill up your stash, I'm having a stamp sale HERE.
That's it for me today! Enjoy the rest of the hop and your weekend!

***********************************
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Patterned paper: Crate Paper "Journey"
Stamp: Papertrey Ink "Sweet Speech"
Ink: Versamark
Other: gold string, pearls, gold embossing powder

Tools: Cuttlebug, Lawn Fawn Stitched Borders die, Papertrey Ink Happy Trails die

Collage Card // Throwback Thursday

It's time to shake this month's current Throwback Thursday lineup of masculine card with  whimsical, fun little card.

This one was fun to make - just putting pretty things together, which is one of my favorite things to do! :)

Thanks for popping in and God bless!

********************************
Cardstock: LSS
Stamp: Hero Arts "Sundrifter Love This"
Ink: Tim Holtz
Other: chipboard and die cut (Dear Lizzy 5th Avenue), cabochon (GCD Studios), butterfly (Etsy), pearls (Hero Arts), metal frame (K&Company)

Tools: sewing macine

Escape to Stamping // Blog Redesign

I'm back today with a new blog redesign, and the winner of the Simon Says Stamp certificate from the My Purple Battle redesign!

For my second redesign, I got to work with a long-time blogger friend and fellow card maker, Cindy from Escape to Stamping.

Her blog before the redesign...

...and after! Check out Cindy's blog for the full look, and to check out her lovely cards. :)

And again, a brief of the design process...

Cindy was so fun to work with - it really makes the design process so fun and challenging when the "customer" contributes ideas. With Cindy's vision, and my newbie skills, we were able to make a blog that we are both happy with!

I couldn't shake that pretty green color out of my mind, so here's a sort of coordinating card to, well, celebrate. ;)

Thank you so much for letting me redesign your blog, and for helping me hone my design skills, Cindy! :) Make sure to hop on over to Cindy's new blog!

Before I forget, the winner of the gift card from the first redesign post is...Alice K.! Yay! Alice, please e-mail me so we can work on getting the gift certificate over to ya. ;)

Thanks for stopping in and God bless!

********************************
Cardstock: Canson
Patterned paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Studio Calico, Versamark
Other: embossing powder, gem

Tools: Papertrey Ink dies, Cuttlebug, heat gun, Memory Box dies

Embossed Scene // Avery Elle

I'm enjoying a nice Saturday with friends - I hope you are enjoying your Saturday as well!

I'm just dropping in real quick to share a scenic card for AEI{heart}U Sparkle challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Monday Anything Goes challenge. 

I have to admit, I was inspired after spotting Nicole's I Wheelie Like You card on Instagram a couple weeks back. The idea of the hamster shadows just really stuck with me, and was the basis for this card.
I stamped the stars and sentiment from Storybook using white glitter embossing powder, and some subtle sparkles using clear glitter embossing powder. The moon was die cut from glitter cardstock - I don't think it's full enough to provide enough light to cast such a striking shadow off the bunny, but a full moon didn't really jive with the design, you know what I mean? ;)
Also, please forgive the bunny's coloring - I usually don't color, and when I do, it's typically with watercolors. However, I already had this critter stamped and die cut from kraft, which doesn't work well with watercolor. I tried to use my three random brown markers to color him, but my shading (if you can even call it that) doesn't do Nicole's original card justice.

That's it for me today! Enjoy your weekend!

**************************************
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, American Crafts
Stamps: Avery Elle "Storybook"
Ink: Versamark, Versafine, Memento, Tim Holtz
Other: embossing powder (Hampton Art)

Tools: heat gun, WRMemory Keepers circle dies, Avery Elle Storybook dies

Interactive Masculine Card // Throwback Thursday

My thoughts from around January 2013 (below) are pretty much the same now, looking back on this card.

*************************************

So, I like the color combo of this card, but that teensy sentiment is starting to bug me now.

I'm not gonna lie, the fact that there is nail polish (on the pearls) on this obviously-a-man card kinda tickles me. ;)

Thanks for stopping in today and God bless! 

**********************************

Cardstock: LSS

Patterned paper: Echo Park "This and That"

Other: die cuts and washi tape (Basic Grey), gems (Queen and Co), nail polish, paperclip (Tim Holtz), red gem (Michaels)

Coffee Shaker Card // My Favorite Things

Stealing a moment in between baking THESE scrumptious delectables and studying for calculus to bring you a card for the My Favorite Things Sketch challenge (and missed the deadline by two hours...oops!) and the Simon Says Stamp Monday Anything Goes challenge.

The Perk Up stamp set is SO much fun, and I couldn't resist using the accompanying dies to create a shaker card. I grabbed some instant coffee grounds, and placed them into a glassine bag that I had washi taped to fit the cup. If you wanted, you could actually use the window to use a peek to a coffee packet behind!
I did a little bit of spotlight stamping on the coffee cup wrapper for the sentiment, then backed the front panel with some patterned paper.

I actually only like the super sweet coffee drinks - you know, the kind that are more sugar and milk than coffee. ;)

Thanks for stopping in today and God bless!
**********************************************
Cardstock: Michaels, Papertrey Ink
Stamps: My Favorite Things "Perk Up"
Ink: Versamark, Studio Calico
Patterned paper: Crate Paper
Other: clear embossing powder (Hampton Art), instant coffee

Tools: heat gun, Cuttlebug, My Favorite Things Perk Up dies

Framed Sentiment + VIDEO // Altenew

Hiya peeps! I hope you're having a nice Sunday so far - I'm just coming off an unplanned but totally wonderful two hour nap.

image source

I'm a big believer in naps, just like Winnie Pooh.

Anyways, I'm popping in real quick with a card for the Altenew Video Challenge, and yet another card for Virginia's View 100% Stamping challenge.

This was a surprisingly quick and easy card to make/film. Generally, I sorta have my cards planned out before I turn on the camera, but with this one, I just ran with it.
I knew I couldn't go wrong using Painted Flowers, so I started by using them to create a frame of sorts around a stamped sentiment from Vintage Roses (also another stamp set you can't really go wrong with) that I used as a guideline.

Once all the flowers were stamped, I cut out the original stamped sentiment, and adhered it to a navy cardstock panel that had the sentiment heat embossed in white.
I topped everything off with some pearls and some ribbon (sidenote: it has been forEVER since I've used ribbon!!)

So, if you want to actually hear me say all that, enjoy the video below. ;)

Thanks so much for stopping in and God bless!

***********************************************
Cardstock: Bazzill, Michaels
Stamps: Altenew "Painted Flowers" and "Vintage Roses"
Ink: Studio Calico, Versamark
Other: pearls, ribbon, embossing powder

Tools: heat gun

Tri-fold Card // WPlus9

First off, a disclaimer for the post title - this card actually only has two folds, despite it technically being a tri(three)-fold card.

I don't know if maybe the people who came up with this term were counting the panels of the card, not the folds, because there are three panels. Just not three folds.

Anyways, with that fish out of the boat, the card, using WPlus9's Get Sketchy sketch and for Virginia's View 100% Stamping challenge...

I folded the card as shown, then, using washi tape on the inside of the card to hold the two front panels together, I heat embossed the flower image in gold.

I then watercolored the flowers - I used watercolor cardstock, which works well with watercolors.
But of course.

I heat embossed the sentiment on black, and then adhered one half of it to the top panel of the card, and added a slight bit of temporary adhesive to the bottom, just to make sure the panels stayed down.

This floral image by WPlus9 is so gorgeous - I don't think there's any possible way to not make a beautiful card with it!

Thanks so much for stopping in and God bless!

*******************************************
Cardstock: Canson, Bazzill
Stamps: WPlus9 "Botanical Bunch", Papertrey Ink "Tweet Talk"
Ink: Versamark
Other: embossing powder

Tools: heat gun, water, paint brush

One Layer Wonder // Throwback Thursday

This is one of my favorite masculine cards ever, because a) I have a very short list of masculine cards I've made to pick a favorite from, and b) it's one layer! Love those! Here are my thoughts from around January 2013.

************************

I need to go to bed, and yet, here I am, writing this post.
Wonder of wonders.
Clare up at one in the morning.

However, I shall use the excuse that it's summer and I only have a few weeks left before I have to actually go to bed and get up at reasonable hours. ;)

Anywho, onto the card...

One layer cards are a struggle for me - I mean, they're just so...flat and boring looking when I make them.

But this one - this was fun.
I used the backs of circular stamps with designs for the circles, and used a fun stamp set from Hero Arts for the focal point.

Thanks for popping in and have a great day!

**************************************
Cardstock: Canson
Stamps: Hero Arts "Bam!"
Ink: Stazon, Tim Holtz
Other: gems (Darice) 

Small Stamp Focus // WPlus9

You probably don't remember THIS card.
It's okay - I didn't particularly want to remember it either.
However, to be fair to the pin that inspired it, I gave it another go, which is today's card.

Lots of second and third generation stamping to achieve a light and airy look. I didn't want to try masking again, so I went with a bold die cut sentiment backed with vellum, and kept it simple with just a few gems.

This is for WPlus9's Throwback Thursday #5 - I know I keep using Fresh Cut Florals, but it's my only "old stamp"! The other three stamps sets I have are newbies. ;) This is also for Virginia's View 100% Stamping challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping in today and God bless!

***************************************
Cardstock: Canson, Bazzill
Stamps: WPlus9 "Fresh Cut Florals"
Ink: Papertrey Ink
Other: gems (Darice), vellum

Tools: Cuttlebug, Mama Elephant "Inline Letters" die

Tricky Shooting // Avery Elle

It's been a struggle, peeps.
First off, the cards I'm sharing with you today gave me and the camera the darndest time. They simply would not make themselves decent for the camera. Or maybe it was the camera's problem. Either way, I struggled with both camera and cards for a couple days, and I don't have much to show for it.

Secondly, the girl who loathes math and has not taken any math courses in over five years is starting a summer calculus class tomorrow.

The struggle is real.
Anyways, enough complaining from me, and on to the cards, inspired by THIS pin.

This card was made for the Avery Elle Sparkle challenge and the Virginia's View 100% Stamping challenge.
Sometimes, when you use glitter embossing powder (especially the cheapy stuff I have), the embossing won't quite cover the entire image/sentiment and you'll have some odd spots in the embossing.
To avoid this, I inked my stamp with Versamark first (for extra stickiness), then Brilliance gold ink, and topped it off with the glitter embossing powder.

The second card was actually the forerunner of the second one - I just remembered that it was more shiny than sparkly, so that's how the second card came to be.

Usually my cardstock warps when I do heat embossing, but this Bazzill cardstock stood up well. I think embossing the entire front (with stamps from Oh Happy Day) also helped.
The tips of the arrows were filled in gold embossing powder, and the feathers were colored using some Tim Holtz markers.

Thanks for stopping in and God bless!

*********************************
Cardstock: Bazzill
Stamps: Avery Elle "Oh Happy Day"
Ink: Versamark, Brilliance, Tim Holtz
Other: embossing powder (Hampton Art)

Tools: heat gun

Fabric Spotlight // Papertrey Ink

Happy hump day!
I'm popping in with a card for the Wednesday Simon Says Stamp Dotty challenge, the Monday Simon Says Stamp Summer challenge, and the Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes challenge.

This card is made up of a few key old scraps that all get to shine, in one way or another.
For the background, I used a swatch of fabric from SEI - it was the perfect way to add a little interest to the card, and yet not too bright that it detracted from the bird.
The bird is an old K&Company die cut vellum piece - it was actually pretty thin and got lost among the dots, until I added two more layers of vellum (that I traced from the die cut) behind it.

I love how this sentiment can work with so many occasions - I can add a sentiment inside the card to tie it off, like "...you're expecting" or "you graduated!". Perfect for those quick calls. ;)
A cute little K&Company button finished everything off.

FYI: for a chance to win a $15 gift card to Simon Says Stamp, comment on THIS post.

Thanks so much for stopping in today and God bless!

*************************************

Cardstock: Bazzill

Stamp: Papertrey Ink "Tweet Talk"

Ink: Versamark

Other: die cut and button (K&Company), fabric (SEI), vellum

Tools: heat gun