Lots of Love

In the world of card making florals are always very popular and this challenge brings out the best in florals! Welcome to my Design Team card blog for The Card Concept #154 Happy Mother's Day:

I was inspired by the jar of flowers and the colors of pink and green for my Clean and Layered Card. 

The overall size of this card is 8 1/2" X 3 1/2". I used Whimsy Stamps Slimline Scenic Countryside Die Set to create the frame with mitered corners!

I made the background (using the center panel of the slimline die) with Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Cable Knit stencil and Scrapbook.com's Diamond Stitched Stencil. I had to double up the Cable Knit stencil since it is 6 1/2" long, but I knew the jar and flowers would cover any mismatching. Ink blended Distress Ink Twisted Citron with Altenew's Large Ink Blending Tool:

I only have one of these large ink blending tool and find it works very well. I save it for when I have a large area in basically the same color. In this instance it was perfect.

The jar was cut with Sizzix's 2 pc. Jar Framelit #664890. I used The Stamp Market Bubble Gum Premium Dye Ink to ink blend in from the sides in an attempt to make it look more rounded. The sentiment was from The Stamp Market Most Wonderful 8 pc. stamp set that came with a recent card kit and is unfortunately no longer available.

The flowers are from The Stamp Market Field Flowers Stamp set and coordinating die.

To stamp the flowers and leaves I used all 5 of my colors from The Stamp Market: Cotton Candy, Peach, Bubble Gum, Raspberry and Leafy. I love pink and green together and was so pleased with the way the flowers turned out. This stamp set has 21 pieces with 2 to 3 stamps for each flower. By layering colors you can give more dimension to the image.

My one suggestion for these type of flowers with long stems, is to die cut the flower first before stamping. Use a stamp positioner such as the MISTI to place the negative piece in the corner and then the put the positive piece back. Line up the stamp on top of the positive/negative set, close the lid, open and ink and stamp. 

Why this way? Long images in photopolymer or clear stamps are flexible and may not get stamped perfectly to fit the die. If you like to mass produce images, the is a quick way to get the job done perfectly. 

I tied some gold twine around the jar and adhered a tiny bow cut from gold glitter card stock. Lastly the 2 cute little butterflies came from SugarPea Designs Floral Envie set. Don't overlook the tiny images in your sets. They can add so much to the overall design of a card.

Thanks for sticking to the end with me. I hope you have a chance to play along with us at The Card Concept #154 Happy Mother's Day!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Father's Day Cards with Sizzix

Welcome friends to my first Watercooler Wednesday Challenge!

This Group has a fun challenge for us created by Dawn called All About Occasions:

I used my Sizzix World's Best Dad stamp set, along with Ranger Watercolor Paper, The Stamp Market Color Crush Watercolor set and a Silver Black Velvet brush to create these cards:

Here is a close up of the Sizzix stamp set called World's Best Dad designed by Katelyn Lizardi. If you want a good deal, as of this post, it is on sale for $2.00!

For me it doesn't matter whether you watercolor first, then stamp and heat emboss or visa-versa. But for these card (I made 2) I did stamp with Altenew Obsidian Black ink and sprinkle with Altenew's Crisp Clear Embossing Powder and heat set. When totally dried, I wet some of the area of the A2 card front with water and dabbed in the beautiful watercolor blues from The Stamp Market Half Pan Watercolor set.

I mounted both cards to a A2 sized card base made from Hero Hues Premium Dove White Card Stock. For me, this 120 lb. card stock is much easier to score and fold as opposed to other brands.

The fun inside sentiment is from Taylored Expressions' Punny Man Stamp Set. I believe this was a free stamp set for purchases over a certain amount. When you can, it's nice to take advantage of all the free offerings.

Well, that's my post for today and I hope you get a change to visit the Sizzix website for all the amazing sales going on now. Always nice to get a good quality product for a reduced price and thanks for stopping by.

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

SugarPea Designs Mix It Up Challenge April 2021

Welcome to my post for the SugarPea Mix It Up Challenge for this month - April 2021:

Also, playing along with NBUS for most of the products I used today were used for the first time on this card:

For this card I used the sketch only:

This was so fun to put together. I had colored and cut all the images from the SugarPea Designs Hey Summer stamp and coordinating die set earlier this year. Love to use items from my "already created" pile to pull a card together. This makes it quicker, but there is still a lot of thought that goes into each card in terms of color and design. 

The images were stamped onto Ranger Watercolor Paper and colored with  Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. I love using these markers especially for browns and flesh colors. And the good thing is you buy the set and then can buy the individual markers to replace the ones that you use the most. Next, using my Big Shot, cut out with the coordinating dies:

The fun feature of the die cut for the standing bear is that it cuts around the arm, so that the bear can be holding something - flowers, a present, a heart...you can mix it up to suit the occasion.

The balloons are from the SugarPea Designs Birthday Balloons Stamp set and matching die called Party Balloon. What drew me to this particular balloon set was the way the stars, hearts and dots are concave giving the balloons such great dimension. The balloons were stamped with Scrapbook.com's Hybrid Inks: Cyan 2 Oasis and Orange 3 Orange Spice. A good coat of Scrapbook.com's Glitter Brush Marker was added to the balloons. Because the ink used were hybrid inks, they dry very quickly and you can add a liquid sparkle over it without bleeding.

I also really like the font for the sentiments in the Birthday Balloons. Whimsical but not too childish.

The Party Balloon die can be used with many other mediums, too and you can tie a thin strand of string on it for a 3D effect on your card. In this case, I didn't but will for the next time I use it! This is under $3.00 and can really be used in many, many ways.

Let's talk about the background. I used my all time favorite, SugarPea Designs Card Front Builder II for the tiny dotted edge and the horizontal stripes cut out of the front. It's fun to have that cut out so you can add a pop of color through the slats.

The sentiment, Yay! came from the SugarPea Designs Seeing Stars stamp set:

Love this card. Could be masculine by changing out the flowers for something else - like the beach ball and using the stamp "DUDE" from the same Hey Summer set. Lots of possibilities.

Thanks for joining me today and thank you to SugarPea Designs for their amazing stamps and dies and to NBUS for continuing to challenge me to used my "Schtuff"!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Carrot Cake & a Spellbinders Sale

Hi friends! If you love a great sale, there is one going on now at Spellbinders:

I created this Carrot Cake Birthday Card using the Large Die of the Month set from September 2020. 23 dies all together and really easy to put together.

On sale now as of this post for $15 from $35!

The dies include: a carrot, a cherry, a strawberry, an orange/lemon/lime slice along with frosting and a layered candle. So many options to create with this set. If you go to the Spellbinders site you can see so many project made. Really inspiring!

Here are the dies on my magnetic storage sheet. I thought you'd might be able to see them better:

My carrot cake was for my husband's birthday since that is his favorite cake. I stayed with cream colors, taupes and oranges to recreate the look of carrot cake. A little ink blending around the edges, too to give it some dimension. When I was finished it felt a little blank, so brown/gold glitter was perfect to give it the specs you see in carrot cake.

I think the glitter was the perfect touch!

Just a side note, the Spellbinders Club Kits are some of the best value out there in the crafting world. I belong to 3, the Large Die, the Small Die and the Hot Foil clubs. The good thing about this monthly club is that you can see the kits in the beginning of the month and opt out for the month if you choose. That is allowed a few times, just in case you really don't like or want the set that month. The Frequently Asked Questions will give you all the details. But I can tell you when you see what is created each month with the Club Kits, they are hard to resist!

Here are a few of my favorite cards I created with Spellbinders Club Kits -

Always Welcome:

Truckin Through the Seaons:

Thanks for joining me today with a little walk through time with my Spellbinder creations. Hope you get to enjoy the sale!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Flowers with Tim Holtz Sizzix

Welcome friends. Today I am playing along with 3 challenges: The Flower Challenge #55:

NBUS: 

This is the first time using this die set from Sizzix, Brushstrokes Flowers #1 by Tim Holtz:

And the 3rd challenge is Happy Little Stampers, Anything Goes with Dies:

Sometimes you just fall in love with a card when it is finished and I did with this one. My plan was just to die cut all the pieces to try it out and see how it worked. First time out with a new set isn't always my favorite, but not in this case!

To begin, I die cut all the pieces out of Bristol Smooth card stock with my Big Shot because I knew I want to ink blend the colors and I have the most success with Bristol Smooth. I used various Ranger Distress Ink Colors (not the Oxides) because I love their vibrancy: Cracked Pistachio, Bundled Sage, Crushed Olive, Tumbled Glass, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord and Rusty Hinge.

I popped the die cut pieces back into the negative slot and used Scrapbook.com's Foam Blending Tools, even in the small areas to ink blend. If you use the edges of the foam tool you can get into corners, etc. I do have smaller tools, but when I am working in front of the TV with hubby, most times I do not want to run upstairs for a tool.

Ranger has just come out the domed replacement foam heads. They were out of stock for a while, but are back in stock and I just received mine. Anxious to try them out.

I used Studio Katia Square Brick Stencil with Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink onto a panel of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80 lb. cardstock:

I turned the Square Brick Stencil on its side and lightly ink blended so that it faded out towards the edges. Of course, I always use Wendy Vecchi's Make Art-Staytion to hold the stencils! So much easier than spray adhesive.

Next, I almost always like to use a frame die to give the edges a little interest. This is my go to from SugarPea Designs - CF Element Builder II. I just love the tiny little dots all around the edges.

To put the card together, I created the floral images exactly as the packaging shows using some foam squares and some liquid adhesive. I positioned it on the card without adhering, so I could get a sense of what sentiment I wanted to use. I choose the Hero Arts/Gina K Designs collaboration set called Friendship Blooms:

I've used this set many many times and particularly love the font on the sentiments. I stamped with a nice crisp black ink, Altenew's Obsidian Black so that it stood out from the background.

Then I simply adhered the floral bundle to the front. I debated about some bling, but decided to leave it all pastel and matte in tone.

I can't wait to try more colors for this die set and maybe watercolor, too! Thank you for joining me today and thank you to the challenge sponsors.

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.