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.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Odds & Ends

So many fun and fabulous things happening in the craft world … here is a quick round-up:

There are two fun new products from Scotch Brand — the above Scotch Expressions Tape comes in vibrant blue, pink and purple. It’s colorful AND repositionable. You can also write on it. I haven’t tried stamping on it, but I bet you could easily stamp using a permanent ink such as StazOn.

Then there are new Scotch Restickable Dots:

According to the company, these double-sided adhesive tabs remove cleanly from walls, desks, windows, mirrors, etc. When you’re done, wash them with soapy water and they’ll be sticky again.

Spellbinders has pretty new additions – from elegant to whimsical – in the Die D-Lites™ line. What I love about these is that they are sized for cards, tags and Artist Trading Cards.

New dies include flowers, holiday and decorative pieces. Check them out here

The colorful world of Tombow is a little brighter thanks to an expanded website that features more than 50 craft projects using Tombow products. Projects include art frames, coasters, gift tags, mixed media projects and more. Check it out at www.tombowusa.com (where you can link to a blog, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) Besides the nifty pencils, markers and adhesives, Tombow also has a line of recyled products.

BasicGrey has a fun a flirty new collection coming out … Fresh Cut. Perfect for a spring bouquet of stamping. Check out the fresh ideas here. http://www.basicgrey.com/files/catalog/FreshCut_Catalog.pdf

Have a crafty weekend!

Oh, Baby!

It’s been a while since I’ve made a baby card…. so this was fun!

I love the bright colors in this card that I sent to a former co-worker on the birth of her first child. From Close to My Heart we have the coordinating papers (Baby Cakes collection), the stamped letters (framework alphabet E1027), the ink.
The letters were filled in with Art Glitter’s Designer Dries Clear glue (I love this for glitter — I love the thin tip and the consistency) and covered with Stampendous! Sunflower and Orange micro glitters. (Yes, I missed a few spots. But it’s still pretty glittery!) The “congrats” is from an old Inkadinkado set and the scallop punch is from Stampin’ Up!

Here’s another baby card that came together by accident:

The pretty leafy background is a lovely Spellbinder’s die that I have had for a while. I played with it when I first got it and made the pretty background. I got so far as to stick it to a card front. And then it sat. And sat. And sat some more. Along comes this cute Little Sprout stamp from Art Impressions. The sprout image seemed like the perfect time to play with another new acquisition — these cool Irojiten colored pencils from Tombow. I love the way the colors blend (and now I want all the other sets, of course.) Now I just need to add a cute sentiment and find another baby.