Aug 6, 2017 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
The Lemon Zest stamp set has the cutest sayings, and I wanted to use “To My Main Squeeze” for my husband. Plus,Tropical Fruit was the theme at the Less is More Challenge #340, and would be a perfect opportunity for using my Lemon Builder punch.
I used the colors of Lemon Lime Twist (card base and lime fruit), Pear Pizazz (DSP and leaves) Daffodil Delight (lemon fruit) and Whisper White, white, white.
The layout was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches #299.
After stampin’ and punchin’ the lemon, lime, and leaves, I chose the patterned paper from Whole Lot of Lovely DSP. I cut two strips 3/4 X 3″ to match the sketch. For the short pieces, I cut two strips 3/4 X 2″ in Whisper White and embossed them with the Layered Leaves embossing folder. I discovered that the leaf pattern coordinates with the DSP. How about that!
This was the first time I’ve combined two challenges, and it was double the fun!
Thank you to all for the inspiration!
Any aspiring card makers out there? I’d love to show you how easy it can be!
Aug 5, 2017 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
When I think of a colorful and happy card, my mind goes to the Birthday Delivery Bundle. I’ll explain how I turned this easy-peasy card into a “stand-out” card by adding dimension, (no pun intended.)
My card was inspired by this week’s CAS(E) this sketch, and Chris’s (the guest designer) colors and happiness.
I began by fussy cutting bunny from the Birthday Memories Designer Series Paper. Can you see bunny in the DSP? This was the hardest part of the card, but pretty simple once I learned to keep the scissors still and turn the paper. I used a large circle die to cut the grassy hill for bunny to hop along. The Birthday Delivery stamp set provided the banner and “It’s Your Big Day!” which I stamped with Pacific Point ink. I used a die from Birthday Friends Framelits to cut the banner. As you see in the pic, there is also a banner you can crop right from the paper.
Not much is more colorful than Lemon Lime Twist, so I chose that for the card base, and topped it with a piece of embossed Whisper White cardstock. Embossing adds dimension, but I wasn’t satisfied with my easy-peasy card. To make this a “stand-out” card, I raised the grassy hill on Foam Adhesive strips. Since it’s thicker than regular dimensionals, I doubled those for bunny and the banner. Now bunny is ready to wish someone a very, happy birthday.
Have a great day everyone! (even if it’s not your birthday).
Aug 4, 2017 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
I was anxious to use the new, trendy, Holiday colors of black and olive green, so that was my starting point for this week’s Tic Tac Toe challenge #009. After looking at the squares, I definitely wanted to use a black silhouette, and I chose our Fabulous Flamingo.
I stamped the flamingo in Basic Black ink on Old Olive cardstock, and I chose “thanks” from the At Home With You stamp set, plus a sentiment for the inside from the Thankful Thoughts stamp set. Top left, and middle left squares, check.
But, a stumbling block occurred when my flamingo asked to be fussy cut and popped up on dimensionals. The third square was “one layer,” and this eliminated the left row down, forcing me to change midstream to right row down.
I used the Layering Circles dies for the stacked sentiment, “thanks,” killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. I also added a layer of black and white stripe DSP on the Basic Black card base, since I was free to layer now. For plants I used my favorite die from the Botanical Builder set, cutting the fern shape from a piece of Delightful Daisy DSP.
Before placing my fabulous “finicky” flamingo, I stamped her long legs.
I really like this sentiment for the inside, especially since the flamingo is a silhouette, and you can’t see her face.
As it turned out, I added black sequins, and completed the top row across also. It was making me think about those black rhinestones from the Holiday catalog that everyone is wanting. Sequins will have to do, for now.
Thanks for visiting my blog, and thanks for the inspiration Tic Tac Toe designers!
If you would like your very own Fabulous Flamingo, I have connections.
Aug 2, 2017 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
I’m not a seamstress, but I love using the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies to easily create stitching on paper. When I saw the challenge over at Less Is More, I wanted to participate. I needed to keep it clean and simple, while adding stitching.
I decided to stamp the deer from Carols of Christmas in five different colors: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Lemon Lime Twist, Real Red and Chocolate Chip. Isn’t he cute on the Very Vanilla cardstock? He fit perfectly in the smallest of the Stitched Shapes square dies. I arranged the squares on the Tranquil Tide card base, leaving one spot for “With Love,” which I found in Tin of Tags. I used it quite a bit last Christmas, so I knew it fit this square. “From All of Us” fit the length of the largest Stitched Shape square.
TIP: Turn the die around to get the right size rectangle with stitching on the bottom.
I attached the squares and sentiment with dimensionals, and that’s all there was to it. I didn’t even use the die for the deer that is pictured, keeping the requirements of the challenge in mind. This card would be an easy one to replicate.
Thanks for the challenge, Less Is More. I enjoyed playing along. And, thanks for visiting my blog!
Aug 2, 2017 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
I have Christmas on the brain while waiting for my Holiday pre-order to arrive. So, I decided to Deck the Halls with Pretty Pines, using what I already own. Did you know that “deck” means to decorate? The Carols of Christmas stamp set has some pretty hanging ornaments that I hadn’t used, so I began to “decorate.” I used the Card Front Builder Thinlits Dies to cut the ornaments from Gold Foil, and they did not disappoint.
I thought the gold ornaments would look pretty on Sahara Sand, layered on a traditional Christmas color, Cherry Cobbler. I stamped “Deck the Halls” with Cherry Cobbler Ink in the middle, and the ornaments on each side for a symmetrical look. The pine boughs and berry sprigs were cut from Tranquil Tide and Cherry Cobbler cardstock using the Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies. The Garden Trellis Embossing Folder was used for the wallcovering. Wanting to keep the bottom half smooth, I just put the paper in halfway. Before gluing, I wound several strands of Gold Thread around the middle, peeking from beneath the pines.
The final touch was the Natural Trim bow, which I tied without too much difficulty, and attached it with a glue dot. If you like this pretty ribbon, it’s available in the current catalog.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I appreciate all of your comments.
P. S. I’d love to be your demonstrator!
Jul 31, 2017 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
I haven’t used many banners on my cards, so this week’s Global Design Project #098 would get me to use my Triple Banner Punch. I first decided to use the Birthday Memories Designer Series Paper, because it would make nice, bright banners. As I was looking through my selection, the turtle grabbed my attention, so I knew he would be the star of the show. Some of the characters have dies to cut them out, but turtle was fussy cut. Isn’t he cute?
I chose the multi-colored dot paper for the 2″ banner, and finished the bottom with the Triple Banner Punch. Thick Whisper White was used for the 1 1/2″ banner, and I made sure the “Happy Birthday” from Vertical Greetings would fit before finishing the bottom with the punch. I stamped the sentiment with Pacific Point ink to match the color in the widest banner. Plus, I had decided to use Pacific Point DSP layered on the Whisper White card base. I like how the diagonal paper makes a neat border. The smallest, multi-striped banner was 1 1/4″, and I hand-cut the bottom. TIP: For hand-cutting banners, find the center of the strip (eye-ball it) cut straight up, then from each corner, snip to the top of the cut. Does that make sense?
I ran the top Whisper White layer through the Big Shot using the Large Dot embossing folder for a cheery pattern. All that remained was adhering with glue and dimensionals. The largest banner was glued to the white dot layer, the medium “Happy Birthday” banner was put on dimensionals, and the smallest banner was half glued and half on dimensionals. Turtle wanted dimensionals, and I let him have his way.
This picture makes me dizzy, but I wanted you to see where the turtle was found. Do you see him?
Oh, and before I glued the top layer down, I tied some Whisper White Baker’s Twine around the top of the card, as it is in the sketch. Thank you GDP designers for the inspiration!
