4.12.2015

Layering cards // Avery Elle

I'm a guest over at Virginia's View challenge!


This month's challenge is layers and dimensions, and for me, layering cards are a bit like piecing together a puzzle.
I love pulling random elements lying around on my desk (pros of being a messy crafter!) and making them all work on one 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch canvas.
Sometimes I'll begin by pulling those random pieces together, and sometimes I like to make a focal point, and arrange everything around it.
For this card, I knew I wanted to use the sweet little fawn from Avery Elle's Storybook stamp set, so I first stamped that, die cut it, and began to arrange everything around it.


Before I pulled all the elements of the focal point together, I found a piece of patterned paper that worked well with the fawn. The striped paper from the Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm 6x6 paper pad worked very well, because when I do layered cards, I usually try to make sure the largest piece of paper that is exposed on the card is a basic, lighter feel.

If you use a very busy pattern as the main paper, then it tends to distract from your focal point, so for the busier patterns, I use smaller pieces of and tend to concentrate them in one spot. Using papers from one company or paper pad usually makes it easier to make sure the layered papers flow together well.


Once I had my patterns picked out, I looked for textures.
On the focal point, I started with a piece of fabric that was a tag on a pair of pants in its previous life. Then I slipped a light piece of doily underneath the smaller, layered busy patterns, to lighten them up.
I used a wood veneer frame to set the stage for the fawn, and once the fawn was placed, I added some orange butterflies and pearls to add a pop of color to the card.


To make sure the card didn't get too heavy, I embossed the sentiment on vellum and cut it out for an airy feel.

Thanks so much for sticking through this long post, and thanks to Virginia for inviting me! Head over to the challenge blog to see all the amazing entries, and play along for a chance to win a Simon Says Stamp $25 gift card!

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4.06.2015

Watercolor Wreath // Avery Elle

Christ is risen! Alleluia! I hope you all had a beautiful Easter!
I'm just popping in today with a quick card for the AEI{heart}U challenge...


This was a pretty quick and easy card - I simply stamped the sentiment and smaller images from the Storybook stamp set in a wreath shape, then brushed over it all with some green Tattered Angels mist. I stamped and die cut the fawn and butterfly, colored then, and popped them up on the card base behind a black circle die cut.

Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful day!

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Not shown: PTI "Rustic Wreath" 

4.01.2015

Embossed Handwriting // Crate Paper

Just stopping in real quick with a real quick card, featuring some embossed handwriting.


If you've made cards with gold or silver on them, then you know how hard the darn projects are to take pictures of! For this card, I took some Maggie Holmes paper that I wanted to shine, and used a Versamark pen to write the sentiment out. Fortunately for me, this rather messy scripty style is, well, stylish right now, so I didn't bother with being perfectionist about it.
I embossed everything with gold embossing powder, then after the embossing had cooled, I went over it again with the Versamark pen, just because the coverage wasn't as defined as I wanted. You could probably use some thicker embossing powder and be fine with embossing just once.

Anyways, thanks for stopping in and have a beautiful day!

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Supplies not shown
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft
Gems: Darice
Embossing powder: Hampton Art

3.30.2015

Papertrey Ink // City Scene

Popping in with a card for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (Anything Goes) and the Michael's Springtime in Paris contest.


I love Papertrey Ink's City Scene stamp set, and decided to ink it up for a quick and easy card. I didn't stamp the center of the sun quite right, so I covered it up with some punched out clouds. An easy way to spice up the clouds from the Fiskars cloud punches is to trim off the bottom half of the clouds, and oila! some adorable little flat-bottomed clouds!

I topped it off with a little Hero Arts gem for some more "spice", gave the Parisian street a road, and called it a day.

Thanks so much for stopping in and God bless!

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Supplies not shown:
Cardstock: Canson, Core-dinations, DCWV
Stamps: Papertrey Ink "City Scene" and "City Scene Sentiments"
Other: Hero Arts heart gem


3.28.2015

Avery Elle // Oh Happy Day

You guys are all really nice.
And for that, I...


A simple die cut and stamped card, topped off with some pearls. The "thank" was cut using my Silhouette Cameo using the Varsity (I think?) font, and then I added the "you" with the Oh Happy Day stamp set from Avery Elle.
I just love that Dear Lizzy paper - I've said it before, but seriously, Lucky Charm is one of my all time favorite paper lines!

Thanks so much for stopping and being so sweet! God bless and have a lovely weekend!

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