Floral Background Thank You Card

Good morning friends

I love it when a card just comes together. I finally had a chance to play with this wonderful Concord & 9th floral stamp & die set and stamped the large background image in a couple of different colours on some different card stocks to get a feel for how it worked. This soft washed one was my favourite of the bunch! I chose to use it as a background pattern instead of adding the layering stamps for the flowers on the panel.

I created the floral bouquet using the different dies and stamps in the set, and added it to the included label. Such a trendy shape, this label! I added some glitter glue for a little sparkle and shine, and blended the stamped floral layers with a water brush.

Inside I added a second floral bunch, which was another 'trial'. I had to wrap my head around the 'loosey goosey' look of these flowers, thinking I may have done them wrong. Once I looked at samples online though, I realized that there is no wrong way to use these stamps. You can use as many of the layering stamps as you wish, in any combination! That was a relief and now I'm much more comfortable with the stamps.

All in all, I'm really happy with how this card turned out!

Supplies:
Blooms Fill-In stamp & die set - Concord & 9th
Black, pale green and white card stocks
Stickles
Wonky stitched rectangle die - MFT Stamps
Dashing rectangle die - Elizabeth Craft Designs
Sequins
Seam binding

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Christmas Card Duo

Good morning friends

I have a pair of holiday cards to share today.

I loved how this first card turned out - especially since both cards were 'use things up' kind of cards. The pretty bird image was fussy cut from a holiday card we had received last year. I knew it would make a nice recycled card and the Centre Step die set worked perfectly with it. The 'be merry' was die cut last year and not needed so sitting in the embellishment box and the gold snowflakes were sitting on my stamping table from a different project. I was able to use paper scraps for both cards as well, and didn't have to cut into a fresh 12 x 12" sheet from the stack. I love using up those bits and pieces!

Here is a peek at the inside:

For this second holiday card, I chose the pretty scalloped card base and since I had the patterned paper stack out anyhow I used white & green scrap prints with a stamped and die cut tree. I love this stamp set, and still have a hard time understanding why Stampin' Up would discontinue it.

The stitched red frame sits on the white circle and then the stamped and 'beaded' tree is popped up with foam tape. I used red Nuvo Crystal Drops for the 'beaded garland'.

Below is a peek at the inside. The red circle is actually the centre from the stitched red frame on the card front, and the white 'zig zag' circle was sitting on my stamping table. It is the inside of Karen Burniston's beaded circle frame in the SnowmanTwist Circle Pop-Up die set.

Two more holiday cards for the stash and I got to use up a bunch of odds and sods. Win win!

Supplies:

White card stock

Patterned paper - My Minds Eye

Kind Sentiments Step Ups - Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix)

Fun foam

Gold foil card stock - Michaels

Ribbon - Stampin' Up

Word stamp - Verve

Scallop with Banner and Greetings Drop-Ins - Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix)

Scallop with Gifts 3-d Drop-Ins - Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix)

Patterned paper - My Minds Eye

White, red, green card stocks

Tree stamp and die - Stampin' Up

Stitched frame - Lawn Fawn

Ribbon - Stampin' Up

Nuvo Crystal Drops

Words - Stampin' Up

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C4C432 Skating Riley & Percy Holiday Card

Good morning friends

It's Saturday and that means a new challenge at the Crazy 4 Challenges blog..  Maryann Einam is our hostess for April and our Guest Designer is Kelly Santi, Sandcastle Stamper. Here is Maryann's challenge:  Play on words - Create a card using these words for inspiration "Skating on thin ice"

I am swamped at the moment, and decided to go with a more literal take on the challenge because it was easier ... Riley the Moose and Percy the Penguin walking through the snow & ice. This is such a fun stamp!

Here is a peek at the inside ...

Check out the C4C blog to see how the Crazies have been inspired by the challenge. We'd  love to see your take on it, so be sure to stop by the Crazy 4 Challenges blog and link up your creations. If you are uploading to an online gallery, please use the keyword C4C432.

Supplies:
Red & white card stocks
Card, Scallop with Flowers & Sentiment Drop-Ins - Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix)
Patterned paper - The Paper Studio
Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle dies - MFT Stamps
1006 Nature Edges - Karen Burniston
Bells border die - Your Next Stamp
Gold foil card stock - Stampin' Up
Spectrum Noir glitter pen
Blueprints #21 (stitched banner) - MFT Stamps
1022 Word Set 3 - Holiday - Karen Burniston
Stitched Mini Scallop Oval dies - MFT Stamps
Word stamp inside - Kaisercraft
Gold snowflake stickers - Elizabeth Craft Designs
MISTI - My Sweet Petunia

Thanks for stopping by today

Peachy Floral Thank You Flip-It Card

Good morning friends

It's Flip-It Friday here on my blog and today's card is sweet and simple because I let the pretty patterned paper take centre stage. I cut the 5 x 7" Circle Flip-Its directly from the floral paper instead of card stock and didn't add the layering pieces to the sides.

The Thank You circle die is one of my Spring purchases, and I added a scalloped frame to the outside to dress it up a little.

The patterned paper on the flip side is pale enough for me to write a note on and I like the subtle texture it gives the card.

When the card was finished, I realized it was just a little too 'wussy' for my taste. I am not a fan of lightweight cards as I like them to feel sturdy in my hands. Especially on an interactive card. To remedy this, I simply added strips of patterned paper to the back side! Easy peasy and it's amazing how it adds to the sturdiness of the card. I chose coordinating prints so it looks nice too, as they match the double sided floral paper on the front!

My supply of Thank You cards had been dwindling so I have added this back into the stash.

Supplies:

Patterned paper and stickers - Chickaniddy Crafts

5 x 7" Circle Flip-It's - Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix)

Stitched circle scalloped frame dies - MFT Stamps

Thank you 3-d Drop-Ins -  Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix)

White card stock

Stickles

Stitched circle dies - MFT Stamps

Fun Foam

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Pretty Lip Balm Holder Trio

Good morning friends

I make lip balms and when I give them to friends, I like to dress them up. I was super excited last year when MFT Stamps came out with the Lip Balm Window & Frame dies, and the coordinating pouches and used them a lot. In fact I have several photos I haven't even posted yet! I was content with using that set to gift the lip balms and then I saw this die set by Lori Whitlock. It jumped right into my shopping cart!

The die set comes with several cute embellishment dies, but I didn't use them on these first two holders simply because I needed them done QUICK. We were invited to a friends house and I wanted to bring her a lip balm so quickly made up the blue one. I knew we were going to visit other friends the following day so just made another quick one to give her.

Look how perfectly the balms fit in the little holder, with notches to hold it in place at either end. You can just tell a lot of thought went into designing this die set.

The blue one had a fussy cut butterfly, and for this bright one I punched a butterfly and popped it up with foam tape.

This next one was actually the first one I made with the die set and I did use the included 'smile' dies. How perfect is that to include with a lip balm?

Supplies:

Lip Balm Holder - Lori Whitlock, Sizzix

Patterned paper - Basic Grey & DCWV

Ribbon

Stickles

Butterfly punch - Stampin' Up

Washi Tape

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Birthday Flowers Centre Step Card

Good morning friends

I love making Birthday Cards! This one sort of evolved on it's own as I was flipping through this older paper pack.

I used a Centre Step card for the base and the Happy Birthday die was included in it. Now I have had this die set for several years yet this is the first time I've used the Happy Birthday die. Go figure - it's so sweet!

For the flowers, I used the Flowers & Bee die set by Karen Burniston. I like that the leafy vine in this set cuts two at a time and they are leaning in opposite directions.

Finally, here is a peek at the inside.

My Mom's Birthday Card stash is getting low, so this will be going to help her rebuild it up again.

Supplies:

Wonky stitched rectangles - MFT Stamps

Patterned paper - Stampin' Up

White  & blue card stocks

Kind Sentiments Step-Up die set - Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix)

1026 Flowers and bee - Karen Burniston

Words - Papertrey Ink

Stickles

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Photo Card For A Friend

Good morning friends

My friend Kay and I celebrate February birthday's, and the last couple of years we have been able to get together with our hubby's for a nice dinner. This February we went to a fancy schmancy steak house where we enjoyed a fabulous meal. Then the waiter brought us free desserts, so that was a fun surprise.

This photo was taken at the restaurant, and the next morning I printed it off with my Instax SHARE printer and rather than just send her the photo I made it into a card.

I die cut one of Lynda Kanase's photo frames with the word 'friends' from gold foil card stock, then backed the word area with white card stock so it would stand out. Then I adhered the photo in behind the frame and added it to a die cut white mat. I love how you can customize these frames by cutting them from card stock, patterned paper, corrugated card stock, old maps etc etc.

The gold rimmed and enamel stickers were in my stash (you know how much I love stickers) and the stamp set was a fairly new purchase so it all came together easily.

What a fun piece of Happy Mail to send to a friend - another reason I love this hobby so much. 

Supplies:

Instax SHARE printer

gold foil card stock - Stampin' Up

Photo frame and words - Lynda Kanase (Sizzix) - Picture This Collection

White glossy card stock

Dashing Rectangle - Elizabeth Craft Designs

Patterned paper - Pebbles

Word stamps - MFT Stamps

Yellow soft finish card stock - Elizabeth Craft Designs

Stickers - Paper House

White card stock

Sequins

Thanks for stopping by today

Stamped Scenic Card Duo

Good morning friends

When the new Occasions catalogue came out from Stampin' Up, this WATERFRONT stamp set was on my wish list. It took me a month or so to order it and while waiting I was blown away by the lovely scenes created by stampers online.

I made this quick card and all I can say is WOW - this is going to be my all time favourite stamp set. I haven't even scratched the surface of what you can do with these stamps - these two cards are quick and easy but I'm so happy with the results.

For the first card, I did the stamping on a white panel, and embellished with a cut-apart from the patterned paper pad, some scraps cut into fish tail banners, and sequins.

Inside there is another cut-apart and more patterned paper scraps snipped.

Then I stamped a second panel and couldn't decide what to do it with for a week or so.  I decided to go with a sympathy card and used a different Stampin' Up set for the words.

Inside I heat embossed the words with clear powder over black ink and added a water colour wash.

I would love to spend an afternoon surrounded with inks, markers and this cool stamp set.

Supplies for Sending Sunshine Card:

WATERFRONT stamp set - Stampin' Up

Dot stamp - Stamps by Judith

Marvy LePlume II Markers

Blue, white card stocks

Yellow Soft Finish Card Stock - Elizabeth Craft Designs

Patterned paper and Cut Apart - Pebbles
Matte glossy card stock

Fun foam

Sequins

Supplies for Sympathy Card:

Brown printed A2 card - Recollections

WATERFRONT stamp set - Stampin' Up

Sympathy stamps - Stampin' Up

Clear embossing powder

White matte glossy card stock

Blueprints #29 (stitched rectangle) - MFT Stamps

Marvy LePlume II Markers

Water Brush

Thanks for stopping by today

Gingerbread Man & Snowbear Holiday Cards

Good morning friends

Today's share is a pair of Christmas cards that didn't get posted in December. 

I really like this Gingerbread Man die and haven't played with it nearly enough. This time I added tiny wiggly eyes for a fun element.

I had purchased this patterned paper from the Stampin' Up Clearance Rack and used it for a lot of my holiday cards last year. I even managed to use the entire package, something that doesn't happen often. Here you can see I pieced scraps together to create my background as I was bound and determined to use up that pad and not be left with a bunch of scraps. I knew I'd think to myself that they would work great for tags and I wanted to avoid holding onto them. This was the first time I'd done piecework like this and I was happy enough with the results.

Supplies:

White, kraft and red card stocks

Patterned paper - Stampin' Up

Bear graphic- Lettering Delights

Stamps - Papertrey Ink

Wonky stitched rectangle dies - MFT Stamps

Fun foam

Xyron

White gel pen - Signo

Gingerbread man die set - Elizabeth Craft Desigs

Googly eyes 

1003 Word Set 2, Birthday - Karen Burniston

Banner punch - Stampin' Up

Word stamp inside first card - Verve

Thanks for stopping by today

C4C-431 Mother's Day Pop-Up Card

Good morning friends

It's Saturday and that means a new challenge at the Crazy 4 Challenges blog..  Maryann Einam is our hostess for April and our Guest Designer is Kelly Santi, Sandcastle Stamper. Maryann has a fun sketch for us this week:

I stayed pretty close to the sketch with my card today - it's a fun sketch and one I will likely use again. I was trying to use up a paper stack that has been around for far too long, so used it again for this card. I love the sparkly bits in the papers. The pretty flower stamps are from Elizabeth Craft Designs, stamped then cut out with the coordinating dies - and I used Zig Clean Color Markers to paint them in vibrant colours.

Since this is a Mother's Day card, I added Karen Burniston's 'Queen for a Day' sentiment.

Below you can see the card as it opens ...

Once again I used Karen Burniston's Katherine Label Pop-Up. I really like that one! Obviously when you have used it for over 20 cards it can be considered a favourite.

Below is a closer look at the dimension you get with the Katherine Label Pop-Up.

... and yes, there are sequins because I'm now addicted.

Check out the C4C blog to see how the Crazies have been inspired by the challenge. We'd  love to see your take on it, so be sure to stop by the Crazy 4 Challenges blog and link up your creations. If you are uploading to an online gallery, please use the keyword C4C431.

Supplies:

Patterned paper - DCWV

Dashing rectangle dies - Elizabeth Craft Designs

Red soft finish card stock - Elizabeth Craft designs

Flower stamps and dies - Elizabeth Craft Designs

Wink of Stella

Zig clean colour markers

Water brush

Fun foam

1034 Word Set 5 Royalty - Karen Burniston

Green, teal and white are stocks

1011 Katherine Label Pop-Up - Karen Burniston

Black fine point marker

Marvy LePlume II markers

Sequins

Thanks for stopping by today

Happy Spring Flower Flip-It Card

Good morning friends

It's Flip-It Friday here on my blog and for my Flip-It card today I'm using the new Drop-Ins Flip-Its Base by Stephanie Barnard. The flower portion comes with the base set, and is removable. There are additional shapes coming soon that will 'drop-in' to the base and since you only purchase the shaped centre & layers, the price point will be lower.

I used some older Doodlebug papers & stickers from my stash and this card went together in just minutes.

I was happy how well this flower sticker fit on the centre shape!

I left the inside blank, and that is where I wrote the message to the lady I made the card for.

Supplies:

Patterned paper and stickers - Doodlebug

Pink and white card stocks

Card, Drop-In Flip-Its Base - Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix)

Bakers Twine

Sequins

Thanks for stopping by today

Peachy Anniversary Card

Good morning friends

Today's share is the card I made for our middle daughter & hubby. While I've had the die set for a couple of years, I have never used the 'Drop-In' word feature before now. Don't ask me why as there are lots of different words that can be used and I will use it more now that it's on my radar. 

I added a charcoal fishtail banner under the cut away words so they stood out from the background a little better.

I'm having fun using up older papers etc from my stash this year, and this package of papers & stickers I've had for several years.

A little stamping and some fussy cut flowers on the inside and we wrote our message on the blank area of the white panel.

Supplies:

Card, Scallop with Flowers & Sentiments Drop-Ins - Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix)

Celebrate Drop-In Sentiments

Coral and pale pink card stocks

Patterned paper  & stickers- We R Memory Keepers

White glossy card stock

Stamps - SUMMER SILHOUETTES - Stampin' Up

Black fine point marker

Thanks for stopping by today