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!

Layering With Dies

In the final issue of Craft Ideas Magazine, I wrote an article about layering stamps and dies. While layering stamps have been around for a while, layering dies are relatively new. I was wowed when I saw these layering dies from Birch Press Design. There are so many ways to use these three piece sets (which are sold separately or in a bundle. Spring for the bundle! Totally worth it!)

Here are two examples:

This uses the Sevilla set. The pieces were cut from peach, pale yellow and dark grey, then placed over a light grey A2 card (4 1/4 x 5 1/2″). Celebrate was die cut using a Technique Tuesday die.  (see that set here) You can’t really see the shimmer in the photo above, but using the Nuvo Aqua Shimmer brush pen on the die makes it sparkle. Yum. (And you can use the inside, leftover pieces, for other cards.)

This card uses the Dazzle die set. The sentiment circle was stamped with a Technique Tuesday Talking in Circles set. The design was stamped in Wendy Vecchi Archival Watering Can ink, the sentiment embossed in white.

I love playing around with different color combinations!

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

More Eastern Beauties

Here are three more cards using Stampin’ Up!‘s Eastern Beauty set and matching dies:

I love the way this die pops out, adding such pretty and unique dimension.

(See the earlier cards here and here.)

Here’s the same die, different colors:

(I’m a sucker for grey and yellow!)

And one more, using just the stamps from the set:

And a close-up, showing a Wink of Stella glimmer:

Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Stories … Cards

Almost a year ago I received some journaling stamps from Simple Stories. These papers sat … and they sat … and they sat some more. This week I decided enough is enough! Use these! Since I am a cardmaker at heart, that’s what I did. And I found these journaling cards  made quick, pretty backgrounds.

I trimmed some the papers to fit the front of my A2 card, then I looked around for images to adorn them. I looked first in my stash of pre-stamped images. Here are two using the Stampin’ Up! layered cupcake set:

(Gave it some bling with yellow Stickles.)

And another using Tim Holtz’s Crazy Bird set (watercolored and hit with some Wink of Stella clear sparkle.)

And one more, using two of the same journaling cards, just using the opposite sides:

These are so easy I’m going to make a few sets to give away as holiday gifts.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fast & Easy Layered Card

Who can resist a card that is fast and easy to make, and uses up some scraps? Heck, not me.

Stamp set is Hero Arts Color Layering Bird CL866. For the blue flowers in the background, I stamped the first layer with Hero Arts’ Unicorn white pigment ink, then over-stamped with ColorBox Stephanie Barnard blueberry blue die ink.

Tip: When I stamped the blue layer on top of the white, the stamp picked up a bit of the white pigment. To prevent the white from contaminating my pretty blue pad, I off-stamped it before re-inking with the blue. I started off-stamping on scrap paper, then saw how pretty it looked, so went for scrap card stock and created some tags:

Fun, huh?

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Sweet Swirly Bird Stamp Set

I’m having fun experimenting with Stampin’ Up’s new Swirly Bird stamp set (and the matching dies, of course!) This stamp set has so many possibilities!

As you know, the first thing I do with any new toy, er, work product, is play … randomly stamping images on scrap paper, trying different colors, etc. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t!

Here’s a group shot after play time:

Very simple cards! Here are more detailed looks:

First I stamped the solid round base in Ranger/Tim Holtz’ Distress Ink Spun Sugar, then topped it by stamping the swirl in Abandoned Coral. The smaller daisy, from the same set, was stamped in Imagine Crafts’ Kaleidacolor Bouquet, using the pink/orange colors. (Tip: Using the Kaleidacolor rainbow inkpads gave me easy access to several colors at once! I’m a long-time fan of these rainbow pads.)

The leaves were stamped first in Hero Arts Lime Green; my old (very old! Very, very old!) Marvy Matchable Bottle Green was used to stamp the veins. A dot of Ranger Stickles was added to the center of the daisies.

Simply changing the colors gave me a different look — a softer, pastel feel:

I used a very old gold inkpad to stamp the swirls (You can barely tell it’s gold!) and added the smaller flower using ColorBox Stephanie Barnard bubble gum pink. The base leaves were stamped in Hero Arts Pastel Mint and the stem in Hero Arts Lime Green.

And a matching envelope:

(I added a bold base for the pink swirls)

Switching it up, I went for blues: (starting with this discontinued bluebell card stock from Paper Source.)

I stamped the solid base in Hero Art’s Unicorn White pigment ink, then over-stamped used Stephanie Barnard’s Blueberry for the swirl and the smaller flowers. (I did a second generation stamping on a few of the smaller flowers to get a slightly lighter shade.)

The leaves were stamped in various greens, toped by that Bottle Green vein.

Fun, right?

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

More Layering

In my last post I used a new layering die from Hero Arts. The company also has some lovely layering stamp sets, which is a popular technique today and adds depth to stamped images.

I love these layering stamps.

Normally, I would stamp these on white card stock with inks in pretty floral hues. This time, I took a slightly different path, starting with a white base (Hero Arts Unicorn white pigment ink) on darker card stock:

I started with the white pigment base, heat set it, then added the pink and purple layers (Stephanie Bernard’s ColorBox die inks). I created a mask (using just the bottom layer stamp) to add the leaves. The sentiment (Hero Arts) was stamped on a scrap, cut out and edged with a white Faber Castell PITT pen. I added some dots of Viva cream Pearl Pen to the centers.

The next one is a slight variation, but the same technique, same stamp set:

The black piece was cut using a pierced rectangle die from Richard Garay’s Celebra’tions line (Spellbinders).

Happy Craft Month!

March is National Craft Month! Imagine, an entire month to celebrate making things!

I’m starting the month right with some cards featuring new “layering” items from Hero Arts.

First up is this great layering die, Large Lotus (Hero Arts DI 161). This die, like the other layering dies in the release (pineapple, star, etc.) is designed to just partially cut an image. (Although it doesn’t have to be limited to  a partial cut, as I’ll show you below.)

In this card, I used the die as it was meant to be used, with just certain portions die cut so you can pop up the leaves. Cute, eh? After cutting the panel, I decided I wanted to layer on some color, so I created a mask by cutting the die on plain copy paper.

To get the center “hole” I simply cut the flower out by carefully snipping the edges of the outer petals.

Which led to an aha! moment … wait for it…

I colored the lotus using Stephanie Barnard’s ColorBox die inks Banana, Tangerine and Guava. Here’s a close-up:

I couldn’t resist adding some clear Wink of Stella for extra sparkle.

I edged the white panel with gold Delicata ink and glued it on this Stampin’ Up! card stock (being careful not to put glue on the popped up petals! I added some Doodlebug Designs sequins and the sentiment. “Sending,” (Simon Says Stamp die SSSD111432), was cut from white card stock then colored using a black Wink of Stella pen. The rest of the sentiment is from an old Hero Arts Mini Message set CL307.

OK, now I can show you how I cut out the lotus and used it as I would any other die cut piece:

I die cut the lotus from some watercolored scraps leftover from another project, carefully snipped where the petals were connected to the paper and layered it over this embossed background, the new Em-Bossing Fold’ers Grid from Spellbinders®… such a contemporary pattern! Love it! I edged that panel using a gold metallic marker, added a sentiment (Hero Arts) and some gems.

Here’s another version, again using leftovers (old alcohol ink coloring), and put it on a gift tag using Glue Dots™:

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy a month of crafting!

 

Crazy With Collage and PaperCraft Inspiration

As we all know by now, I am a scrap hoarder. I haven’t met a scrap I don’t like (or try to keep.) They sit on my desk, sometimes for what seems like decades, because I KNOW I will use them … eventually.

So imagine my joy in reading an article in the recent issue of PaperCrafts magazine talking about making a “messy collage.”
Well, THAT spoke to me!
The premise is that you just toss things together, and somehow, if the paper gods are smiling, you actually have a cute card.
Let’s see if it worked.

I started by dabbing two colors of Distress Ink onto my craft mat, misting, then picking up the ink with my water brush and splattering it on my cardstock. After drying with my heat tool I began adding paper bits. I finished with a rosette (see this blog entry for more on rosettes!), a sentiment (Hero Arts) stamped on a die cut piece (Sizzix Framelets set) and attached with my Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz). It still needed a little somethin’ somethin’, so I added Dew Drops from The Robin’s Nest (attached using Zots minis) and a leftover bit from a Stampin’ Up’s Mosaic Medly (previously stamped and embossed, discussed here.)

Here, the background was stamped using an old splatter stamp from Endless Creations, in ColorBox Butter and Hero Arts Wet Cement. Then I just grabbed pieces. (Recognize the happy birthday paper?) Gee, surprise, I found a use for a rosette. The special wishes image (Hero Arts) was one stamped a while ago for another project, but I never could find something else to use it on. The embellies are from the Robin’s Nest.

You’re So Special:
Splotches stamped using Marvy Matchables Terra Cotta and #12 grey. Pieces are from a Core’dinations sampler. Sentiment from Hero Arts.

Bird Cage:
Not crazy about this one. It started with the dry embossed piece (Tim Holtz embossing folder colored with sponged on Distress Inks) and the bird cage (Hero Arts?, embossed in Stampendous! PearLustre). But then I decided it needed a background. So I sprayed ColorBox’s Stephanie Barnard Blueberry and Chocolate inks). And it was truly awful. So I just kept adding things. Not sure it’s much better, but I decided to include it anyway. Thanks for not laughing.