Shop ’til You ….

…. Can’t stop making these adorable shopping bags from Hero Arts!

These are made using the Fancy Dies 3-D Shopping Bag.  As you can see, I couldn’t stop making them! The bag is open enough to let you add things, but not so puffy that it won’t easily slip into an envelope.  I love that you can put anything in these bags!

Check it out:

For the background, I did a soft watercolor wash using Hero Arts’ liquid pigment watercolors. The greenery was created from Spellbinders’ Fern Dies. The dots are Nuvo crystal drops.

For this card, I first stamped Hero Arts’ Floral Mandala Bold Print in Unicorn White onto the gray cardstock. The flowers are from Hero’s Coloring Layering bird CL866, and the stems are an older stamp from Art Impressions F3022.

This one is a particular favorite — I love the ombre bag and the balloons!

The paper for the bag was colored using Ranger Distress Oxides; the background is Lawn Fawn’s Quilted Backdrop die, and the balloons are from My Favorite Things,  the Bundles of Balloons card kit.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cardmaking Catch-Up

I’ve been so busy crafting (yay!) and teaching crafting (double yay!) that I’m falling behind on blog postings. Let’s catch up a bit.

I’ve been having lots of fun with this pop-up box die from Lawn Fawn. I was always so intimidated by the idea of a pop-up … until I got the Scalloped Box Card Pop-Up die and  watched this terrific video.  Surprise! It’s really easy, thanks to the die (which does the hard part of cutting the pieces.)

What I love about this card is that it folds flat so you can stick it in an envelope:

Everything used on this card is from Lawn Fawn, including the patterned paper. The stamps are from the Stuck on You set, with matching dies.

Here’s another card using the same die, with the Elphie Selfie set:

 

(Here are my earlier attempts using this die)

Thanks for “popping” by!

Pop-Up Housewarming Card

Love this pop-up die from Lawn Fawn! Here’s one I used for a housewarming card:

The little houses are from a set from Stampendous! The plaid paper is also from Lawn Fawn. Look how easily it fits into the envelope:

I did a flat version of the card for another housewarming:

This card was so easy to put together because I had already stamped, colored and cut out a bunch of houses: (sorry for the blurry photo!)

The card base was also something made earlier, using a Hero Arts brush stroke stamp.

You can see my earlier report on this die, with other photos, here.

Thanks for “popping” by!

Fabulous Finds Friday: The Cats’ Meow

Today, I’m obsessed with cute cats.

Here are two quick and easy cards using two different kitties:

I love this playful cat set from Waffle Flower. Above is just one of the cute kitties from Flora Cat Play.

I die cut the Stitched Journal die from Lawn Fawn then painted a soft blue watercolor wash rectangle. I stamped the kitty in black VersaFine and lightly colored in the images with a bit of grey. Gel pens added color to the cat’s flowers and a Wink of Stella added a touch of glitter.

The background was stamped in Hero Arts Unicorn white pigment ink using images from Spellbinders Designer Series Feather stamp and die set. When everything was dry, I mounted the cat panel with foam dimensional tape.

I’ve always loved Laurel Burch designs, so I was delighted to find that Stampendous! has licensed her images for stamps. This was also fast and easy, and came about as I was playing with the stamp, testing it out. (This cutie is from the Indigo Cats set.)

I stamped the cat on watercolor paper with VersaFine black ink, then colored with a mix of Ranger Distress yellow and mustard markers (which I first scribbled on my palette, then picked up with a watercolor brush.)

I added some color with sparkly gel pens. I did a light wash of blue watercolor around the cat and decided it needed more interest, so I used the stencil that comes with the stamp set to add a bit of Ranger Distress blue ink. I trimmed the panel, edged it with black permanent marker and attached it to a top-folding yellow 4Bar card. A few sequins finished the deal.

Have a great weekend! Meow!

Fabulous Find — Lawn Fawn

I’ve always been a fan of Lawn Fawn stamps and dies, but the latest entries are sending me over the moon!

I love this pop-up box die:

The box folds flat to fit into an A2 envelope. Genius!

Here are some other fun finds from Lawn Fawn:

Clever dies to create boxes and stitching guides….

… and just overall cuteness…

Thanks for checking in!

 

 

Easy-Peasy Gift Card Holders

‘Tis the season to give gifts … and gift cards.

I couldn’t stop making these fast and easy gift card holders from Lawn Fawn. So easy to make using this great Small Stitched Envelope die.

Take a look:

The set also comes with the label (which makes a very cute tiny note card or gift tag), three word dies and some hearts!)

Here’s the inside:

You just die cut, fold, glue and decorate. Easy-peasy!

I have another adorable mini-tote die-based project, also from Lawn Fawn, so stay tuned.

(*This die was provided to me by Lawn Fawn for a magazine project.)

Fabulous Finds Friday: Easy Pop-up Card

Would you believe I have never made a pop-up card? My goodness! It seemed so complicated to me … until I got the Stitched Hillside Pop-Up die from Lawn Fawn:

Of course, I had to play with it ASAP … so I started this card completely backwards with no idea of what I wanted to do. I just wanted to see how the pop-up was created. I cut the die from white card stock and attached it to a white card base, just to see how it fit together and how easy it was to construct. It was so cute I decided to go ahead and create a winter scene.

Here’s the inside:

I stamped and fussy cut trees using some old Hero Arts stamps and stuck them on. Of course, it was still too plain so I added some silver snowflakes (also from Hero Arts). And then the greeting. Totally unplanned; I just kept building the card.

I felt kinda dumb, because now I had a plain white front that would be difficult to stamp on. But then … ta da! … I watched this great Lawn Fawn tutorial and I loved the way Kelly Marie created a belly band for the front of her card! So simple!

And now I’m hooked! It’s not the greatest card, but it was fun and surprisingly easy — a good learning experiment!

Thanks for tuning in.

 

More Camellia Cards

My obsession with Technique Tuesday’s camellia stamp continues….

This is pretty straightforward stamping, very fast and easy (no fussy cutting!)
The camellia was stamped on white card stock in VersaMark ink, then black embossed. The sentiment (Technique Tuesday Swanky Sentiments) was stamped in black VersaFine. The panel was trimmed, edged with Delicata Golden Glitz ink (Imagine Crafts), layered on black, then on the yellow card front.

On this card, I first did a watercolor wash, using the smooth side of Ranger/Tim Holtz Watercolor Cardstock. (I love the way this holds up to water coloring but is still smooth enough for quality stamping.) I first wet the paper, using my water brush to paint clean water in a swath. I then spread some Ranger Distress Stains (Victorian Velvet, Milled Lavender, Broken China).

When the background was completely dry, I swiped it with my Embossing Buddy powder, then stamped the camellia with VersaMark ink and added white embossing powder. I used the same Distress colors to color in the flower, adding Forest Moss and Shabby Shutters for the leaves.

The sentiment was stamped with VersaFine black ink. The panel was mounted using Xpress It tape; Lawn Fawn sequins were added using Glue Dots micro dots.

Stay tuned for my last set, when I used mostly black and grey.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Lawn Fawn

I’m usually a “clean and simple” kind of stamper, but when I got this Let’s Play set from Lawn Fawn, I couldn’t resist creating a scene! (All products from *Lawn Fawn.)

Here’s my first card:

Who could resist?

The first thing I did was stamp everything (mostly on scrap pieces). The birds, dog, butterfly, swing and flowers were stamped in black VersaFine on white cardstock, colored and cut out using the matching dies. (Usually, I’m an avid “fussy-cutter,” I love to sit in front of the TV and cut out images! But the dies made this project so much easier!)

The tree was stamped twice — once on the brown paper, once on the green (from Let’s Polka. Mon Amie pad.) The tree and the top were hand cut (as opposed to die cut) so I could trim them as I wanted. The swing set and slide were stamped and embossed in black powder on silver cardstock. The flags were die cut using Stitched Journaling die, the grassy hill die cut using Stitched Hillside Borders.

Then came the fun part — putting it all together on blue cardstock.

First, I glued down the grassy hill shapes. Then I played with the pieces to see where everything fit. Once I was happy with the layout, I glued everything down. I popped up the tree top with foam tape, stamped the tail of the butterfly directly on the card front, and drew in the lines for the banner.

I don’t often create scenes, but this was fun. Stay tuned for another card using Lawn Fawn’s Stuck on You cactus set (which is featured in this month’s Craftideas magazine.)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

*Disclaimer: product provided by Lawn Fawn.

You Saw the Beginning … with Avery Elle

In my last post, I showed my first experiments using Avery Elle’s nifty Custom Panels die set, which has so many possibilities!

Here are more finished cards:

To finish this top-folding card I stamped and embossed (in white) two flowers and a butterfly (both from Stampendous!). One flower was stamped on vellum, the other flower and the butterfly were stamped on a patterned paper from Bazzill Basics. They were adhered with Tombow Power Adhesive Tags, which I like because they are clear and not too thick. I stamped Celebrate! in the lower right hand corner using black ink. A little Ranger Diamond Stickles was the finishing touch.

This one was fun to build. The thank you sentiment is from Technique Tuesday’s Smile Borders (A fun set that I will soon be using with a pull-tab die!), stamped in Marvy #12 grey ink (an oldie but still one of my faves). The flowers were punched using Tonic Studios flower punches on scrap cardstock and the leaves are from a new Tim Holtz/Sizzix punch. I just punched and layered, adding tiny Candy Fix and Stix 2 foam squares for dimension. I added some Ranger gold Liquid Pearls to some of the flowers, which I regret (although it looks a bit better in person than in the photo.)

Here’s the last of that batch! Whew! And a very simple card, indeed. Using a Spellbinders Rose Creations die, I cut the three smallest petal shapes, plus the leaves, from the Core’dinations Gemstones paper, held them together with a brad from Eyelet Outlet, and attached to the card using Pop Up Glue Dots.

Bear with me … just two more cards

First, I gold embossed on scrap paper, then cut three pieces using the pie shaped die. I stacked the pieces on the left side of the card. Ad a sentiment (Hero Arts) and bam! Done!
The chevrons are from Lawn Fawn backdrops, the text from Hero Arts Old Letter stamp. I believe the sentiment is also Hero Arts.

Last one:

First, I die cut a piece from white scrap paper using the Avery Elle curved die, then dry embossed it with a Cuttlebug pattern. (Tip: Die cut first so you don’t flatten out the dry embossed portion when you run the piece through the die cutting machine.) The balloon animal and sentiments are alsofrom Avery Elle. The balloon animal was stamped in a denim blue, fussy cut, and popped up with foam squares. The embellishment pieces were die cut with that same Avery Elle die and glued randomly.

That’s a lot of dies in one package! Check it out.