Hooray for Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite card making holidays. And this time I started early (well, early for me!!!).

Here are a few samples:

Dancing Hearts

I figured I’d start out simple — just stamping, embossing, and cutting out hearts. These hearts are from Hero Arts and Fiskars. The background is a Spellbinders embossing folder. And the sentiment is an old one from Hero Arts. Easy peasy! I made a bunch of these cards in various color combos.

Another easy one, but all that color and glitter pack a punch. The washi tape is from Love + Lemon (the Main Squeeze set), the heart die cut (Cheery Lynn designs) from Cosmo Cricket paper. I added some Fun Foam to the back of heart before adhering it, to give some depth. Sentiment, I believe, is also from an old Hero Arts set.

And this pretty pink card uses Lawn Fawn’s quilted background die and various hearts from my collection.

Stay tuned for more Valentine cards — and thanks for stopping by!

More Topiary Frenzy

In my last post, I went crazy using Vertical Greetings, a nifty new topiary set from Stampin’ Up. I was all about the white embossing on blue.

But had to experiments a bit more, using mostly what was left on my desk.

Still playing with the white embossing:

And trying out two-tone embossing:

(embossed with Ranger’s Lime Green and Tea Rose powders.)

A little different, embossed in gold on vellum:

(Using TapeTastic tape to hide some boo-boos. Not my favorite, but hey, that’s what experimenting is all about!)

And my favorite use, tags:

I stamped the topiary and the sentiment in Ranger’s Wendy Vecchi Archival leaf green, then gold embossed a pot, cut it out and added it on top. This was fast and easy, especially since I had pre-embossed and cut a bunch of pots!

Thanks for sticking with me!

 

 

Wonderful Washi

How wonderful is washi tape? This card was so fast and easy I could easily make a dozen! (In fact, I made about a half dozen in less than 20 minutes, using images I had already stamped and colored.)

I’ve had this Stampendous! image (which I loved so much I bought two of the matching images)for more than a year, but never did much with it. The washi tape did the trick, presenting a perfect platform where the image could shine. First, I used a rainbow Kaleidacolor inkpad (Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko) to brayer color on a scrap piece of cardstock. The image was stamped and embossed in black, then cut and edged with a Krylon gold metallic marker.
The sentiment is from Hero Arts CL480. And the washi is from the K and Company Smash collection.

Thanks stopping by here, where the temperature outside is topping 100, but the stamping is always a cool thing to do.

Wonderful Washi!

Once again, washi tape is the perfect way to make some fast and easy cards. Check them out:

(all sentiments from Hero Arts)

(all tapes from Elmer’s)

(orange tape from American Crafts; Happy Birthday tape from TapeTastic)

(animal tape from TapeTastic; cardstock from Stampin’ up!)

Thanks for coming by! And to all those who have lost loved ones, may your memories be warm, especially today.

Fun Friday Card

What, you say? More neon? Give it a rest already!

See, here’s the problem… when I get a new toy (new ink, new stamps, etc.) I just have to sit down and play. And once I have everything out — my stamps, inks, pens, whatever — I figure I may as well play until I’m either so tired my eyes won’t focus or I have to go work.

Below are two fun cards using Hero Arts‘ Neon ink pads.

This card with the flower background is actually the first card I stamped when I tore open my fresh new pads. I inked just the top portion of this Hero Arts Pom Pom flower

To create this background:

And then it sat. And sat some more. FINALLY… I added some elements:

(It’s brighter in real life. Washi tapes from Happy Tape, “wonderful” stamp from Close To My Heart.)

Then I went crazy stamping owls. I must have stamped a dozen or more of these bad boys.

To make the card, I first ran the card through a Cuttlebug border embossing folder; added a piece of washi tape from Elmer’s (yes, they make adhesives other than glue!) See the green owl? Yup, didn’t clean my stamp very well so he has orange undertones. See the orange owl? Wanted to see if these inks embossed, so I stamped the owl in neon orange on glossy cardstock then sprinkled with clear powder. It worked, intensifying the color but blurring the text a bit. The pink owl? Stamped on matte stock and probably the best of the bunch. “Friends” black embossed on scrap cardstock from my stash. Stamps from Hero Arts.

Have a neon bright weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

More Cards for Soldiers

A quick post … with more cards I made to send to Operation Write Home.

As I did with earlier cards, I was looking for a generic card with multiple uses. This congratulations stamp from Close To My Heart fit the bill nicely.

(Dotted folder from Cuttlebug; washi tape from Elmer’s. Love how the texture even works with the washi tape, a technique I saw on Lisa Spangler’s blog… she has the cutest ideas, you must check her out and look at her pretty cards here! )

Now here’s a bright card, below!

The beautiful, bright cardstock is from Die Cuts With A View, Silky Smooth Brights. The pink piece was embossed using a Lifestyle Crafts folder, then sanded lightly to bring out the white core; the blue piece was cut using a Spellbinders Nestabilities. The flowers are from Hero Arts, the sentiment from Technique Tuesday.

And last…. Love this cute camera paper from Die Cuts With a View — can you see the subtle sparkle on the cameras? The top was embossed using a Lifestyle Crafts folder; the sentiment is by Hero Arts. I stamped and embossed it on DCWV bright yellow Silky Smooth paper, but it was too bright. So I swiped on some Ranger Picket Fences Distress stain, then wiped it off the black-embossed sentiment. The easy border is Bazzill Basics’ Just the Edge selection. Just cut and glue!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wonderful Washi

Washi washi everywhere… and I want it all! I love the ethereal, wispy texture and appearance of washi paper, that thin, stick-able, tear-able hip design element.

Check out these nifty offerings from American Crafts/Dear Lizzy:

I have this horrible habit of lusting after paper products/embellishments and then being unable to actually use them. (Ack! What if I mess up? What if I can’t think of the perfect design? What if I make a mistake?) But I was so inspired by this adorable card made by the amazing and talented Lisa Spangler (you MUST check out her blog Sideouts & Scribbles. Delicious). My card is a poor second to hers. Here is her card:

Adorable, no? Check out her blog for her simple instructions.

Here is my pale imitation:

(Stamps, including the subtle background provided by the envelope liner stamp, a new fave of mine, are all from Hero Arts. The washi tape is from several sources, including American Crafts,  Happy Tape, Tim Holtz, and the late and lamented Kodomo.)

But at least I broke the ice and dug into my washi stash to make a few more cards:

(See — you can even stamp on it! Dontcha love the Divine Twine that holds the flags?)

Yay —  I used up all those little scraps!

(Chair, background blossom from Hero Arts.)

Thanks for coming back!

Another Tape-embellished Card

On Friday, I raved about self-adhesive tapes and paper ribbon. I showed a card made using tape from Tape Tastic. Here’s another one using their owl tape:

(stamps: Hero Arts)

I hope you come back Friday for a post on washi tape.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Using Those Embellies

Last week I showed a small cache of my ever-growing embellishment collection. Determined to use as many embellies as possible at one sitting, here is my work product from one productive afternoon when I got no laundry done, made no dinner, and cleaned no bathrooms. It was a beautiful day!

I love love love the canvas tags from Basic Grey! So vintage-y, so texture-y, so yummy! This tag is not as yellow as it looks in this picture). The self-adhesive paper ribbon is also from Basic Grey and matches the blue in the canvas tag. The paper ribbon sticks quite well, despite the delicate appearance. Can you imagine how hard it would be to glue that sucker down without making a mess? You do need to first prep the ribbon a bit by poking out some of the holes. (Sentiment and envelope lining background stamp from Hero Arts; butterflies from Inkadinkado.)

Here’s another card using that pretty ribbon tape:

Next, we’ll look at some terrific tape:

This tape, while not as thin or transparent as washi tape, is also fun. The black and white printed tapes above, from TapeTastic, have a bit of a vinyl look and feel. But I still love them! The tapes are easy to work with and come in many fun colors and patterns. I’ll have some other washi tape samples next week.

The hardest part in making this card was figuring out what colors to use for the flowers. I stamped and embossed several blossoms before I figured out the right combination (at least I THINK it was the right one!):

(But now I have a few extra flowers hangin’ round for other projects!)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you check out my article on unique embellishments in the June issue of Crafts ‘n things magazine.