Rose Are Red … and Yellow … and Easy

I am addicted to these Rose Flurries dies from Altenew. Absolutely addicted.

Now, you know nothing makes me happier than using up my paper scraps. And then making pretty things. These dies let me do it all.

First, check out the card:

(Cover die is Altenew’s Watercolor Stripes over a watercolored background. Sentiment is from Altenew’s Persian Motif set. Gems from Studio Katia.)

As you can see if you look at the dies, there are a LOT of them in this set. So here’s what I did to keep them straight:

First, I used a Sharpie to label the back of each die (yes, they are skinny!) according to their set (1, 2, 3, etc.). Then I added letters to show the layering order (a, b, c, d). So it looks something like this:

While I was cutting, I separated the dies and the pieces in a box top. This helped me keep track of the dies and the pieces:

After all that cutting, I stored them in little baggies, which makes putting them together so much easier!

And now I have a nice stash of dies for easy card making!

Turnaround is Fair Play

Just a quick post today to mention a great stamping concept. The “turn-around” stamps from Concord & 9th are brilliant. With four turns of the stamp you have a fast-and-easy image.

The concept is so unique (it helps if you have a stamp positioning tool). You ink, stamp, then rotate your card and do it again… four times. I have only just begun to explore these stamps … and want more!!!

That’s it for today … told ya it was quick!

Altenew Floral Congrats Card

I am having so much fun with these dies from Altenew!

This card is almost all Altenew — the floral dies are from the Fantasy Floral 3D die set, the background texture is thanks to the Watercolor Stripes Cover die. The sentiment is from Altenew’s Persian Motifs stamp set. 

This card was so easy to put together, especially since I had a frenzy of die cutting of the floral dies (a great way to use up my scraps!). See here for more on this die. It’s so easy and fun to make the flowers ahead of time … and then you are ready to rock and roll when you need a card. They were layered with Therm O Web Zots.

The gems are from Studio Katia. I also added Nuvo Glitter Gloss to the top later of the front flower — but oddly enough, it changed the color and made it more orange. Hmmm…. interesting.

Thanks for stopping by!

More Valentines, 2018 version

I love these unique dies from Altenew and couldn’t stop making flowers:

The layering die (this one is Fantasy Floral, but you bet the others are on my wish list!) comes in three pieces, plus the leaves. I just went wild cutting pieces out of various card scraps, then I matched up colors:

 

I even played around with embossing and tone-on-tone:

These two were cut from some painted background pieces. The one on the left has Nuvo Aqua sparkle; the one on the right has about three layers of clear embossing powder.

Here’s a close-up:

And a white-on-white (one with sparkles, of course):

Have a lovely Valentine’s Day!

I (heart) Valentine’s Day

Christmas is long gone …. the new year is a week old … which means it’s almost Valentine’s Day! I love making Valentines to send to my besties, so let’s get this party started!

This one-layered card is relatively easy, and the reveal (when you pull of the mask) is so much fun! I created a heart mask, which I placed in the middle of my cardstock. Then I used some small flower and leaf images to stamp around the mask. Easy peasy. When I removed the mask, ta dah — a heart-shaped spot to stamp a sentiment! The sentiment above is from Stampin’ Up’s Bloomin’ Love set, as are some of the flowers.

Here’s another in the same mode:

I could do this all day! The XOXO is a Teresa Collins/Fiskars punch.

Altenew Cards

In my last post, I showed some of my practice pieces made using the Altenew Amazing You set.

Here are the results:

These cards are all 4Bar sized (4 5/8 x 3 1/2 folded)

The backgrounds are made using Papertrey Ink’s  Mix & Mat Flourishes set.

The hello die is by Simon Says Stamp.

So much fun to mix and match the backgrounds and the images!

Cool Cats from Waffle Flower

Here are two quick, easy cards using stamps from Waffle Flower:

 

Just some simple stampin’ and colorin’ here! I stamped a bunch of the cats from the Flora Cat Play set, colored them and cut them out, so now I have a stash. All I had to do was stamp the Enveloper Little Birdie, color it in and add my cut out cat (using foam tape) and the sentiment. (Watch a Waffle Flower video here.)

A similar card:

The pretty dots are Dew Drops from the Robins Nest; the hello is a Simon Says Stamp die colored with black Wink of Stella.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp, Color, Cut with Spellbinders

Today I’ll show two cards (that I teased in my last post) using the lovely floral bouquet from Spellbinders’ Designer Series Feather from the Earth Air Water Collection by Stephanie Low. (There’s also a cool feather in the set, which has stamps and coordinating dies.)

I stamped the bouquet in VersaFine black ink (from Imagine Crafts), then painted using various markers. (And cut it out with the matching die.) To get my color, I scribbled the  markers on a palette, then picked up the colors using my water brush. (I use this technique a lot when I want a watercolor look without a heavy saturation of water.)

When using markers, I use a variety, including Ranger Distress Ink, Faber Castell’s PITT Artist brushes, Tombow markers, etc. I also will dab water-based ink pads on my palette and pick up the color with the water brush. The sentiment was cut using a Technique Tuesday die from the Celebrate set.

Here’s a variation:

The components are mostly the same, but the frame is from Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks for coming back!

 

More Fabulous Finds from Creativation

Here’s another look at some of the Fabulous Finds found at the Creativation craft and hobby show in Phoenix last month:

 

(Layering stamps clockwise from top: large roses, Hampton Art; koi and rooster, Hero Arts; small vintage roses, Altenew)

Stamp layering (images you layer to create depths of color and design) is so pretty … and still oh-so popular, with more and more companies producing layering images. And ditto for stamps with coordinating dies. I became a huge fan of Altenew stamps, a company that elevated the stamp layering technique, when I first saw the company a few shows ago. They really ignited a trend.

Also fun, Hero Arts (love the koi and rooster and … a croissant? Whaaaat? So yummy); Waffle Flower  (marble, cross stitched cacti and roses, and more); Hampton Art, and more.

Here’s a cute layered/stitched cactus from Waffle Flower:

… and a nifty marbling stamp, also from Waffle Flower.

I also love the flower border stamps!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pretty Poseys

I’ve always loved this big, bold, beautiful floral from Stampendous! And it makes an easy, fast card:

It’s just perfect for watercoloring. The image was stamped on Ranger Specialty Watercolor paper (love it because one side is smooth, great for stamping, but it still holds up to watercolor!) in VersaMark ink, then embossed with black powder. (By the way, before stamping with VersaMark, I used I used my  ScraPerfect Perfect Embossing Pouch to eliminate static and stray powder), and  Zig Kuretake Clean Color Watercolor markers for coloring. And of course, a dash of clear Wink of Stella … why not?

After it dried, the panel was trimmed, edged with a black permanent marker, and mounted on a moss green folded card. The sentiment (Technique Tuesday) and stamped in VersaFine black on piece of white scrap, edged in black, then mounted with foam tape. The sequins are from Doodlebug Design.

Here’s to a great weekend!