Heartfelt Sympathy

A friend's father recently passed away, so I used a batch of sunflowers that I had colored with no specific purpose in mind and constructed a sympathy card.

You can see a hint of my workspace in the background. I'll get pictures of my craft area up soon. :)

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock:  Enchanted Evening, Classic Kraft, Vellum, X-Press It Blending Card Paper (Copic)
• Stamps:  Sunflower Bouquet, Year of Flowers: Carnations (sentiment)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Versamark (both Tsukineko)
• Dies: Mix & Match: Scallops, Sunflower Bouquet
• Other Tools: Linen & Canvas impression plate, white embossing powder (Filigree), Copic markers, white gel pen

Sending You Sunshine

A card for a kind acquaintance:

Admittedly, this card could have used a bit more bling...

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Enchanged Evening, Stamper's Select White, Copic X-Press It Blending Card Paper (?), patterned vellum
• Stamps: Year of Flowers: Daffodils, Simple Sunflower, Signature Greetings
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
• Dies: Year of Flowers: Daffodils, Stitched Mats: Circles (Li'l Inkers)
• Other Tools: Copics (Y13, Y15, Y35, YG13, YG25, YG63), sewing machine

Happy Mothers Day #2 and #3

I created these 2 cards at the same time. Layout is the same, vellum is the same, colors slightly varied. I was going for an artistic messy kind of coloring job on the flowers. The leaves were stamped.

The circle base on the first card is actually the same color as the second card. I used to plain vellum to soften it.

Interior is the same for both cards:

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Kraft, Autumn Rose, plain and patterned vellum, Stamper's Select white
• Stamps: Garden Grace, Fillable Frames #4, Mother
• Ink: Autumn Rose, Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Sweet Blush, Prairie Grass
• Dies: Fillable Frames #4, Garden Grace, Stitched Circles (Li'l Inkers)
• Other Tools: Clearstar gel pen (Sakura), sewing machine, random Copics

Happy Mothers Day #1

I made a few Mothers Day cards for some people I know. The first one I wasn't entirely pleased with. To be fair, I was rusty in the card-making department.

Goofed a bit on the butterfly and the stitching, mais c'est la vie!

Love these botanical letters!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock:  Soft Stone, Stamper's Select White
• Patterned Paper: On the Bright Side (My Mind's Eye)
• Stamps: Cutaway Tags: Spring, Botanical Letters
• Ink: Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening, Prairie Grass
• Dies: Cutaway Tags: Spring, Butterfly Hope Coverplate
• Other Tools: ColorShine mist (Heidi Swapp), touch-up Copics (butterfly), sewing machine, Stardust gel pen (Sakura)

Card Catch-Up: Hello

This is another card that I created at my mom's last summer, this time my own design. :)

Card Catch-Up: Thank You for Your Kindness

I feel the need to post card pictures that haven't seen the outside of my computer folder...

I created this card while visiting my mom last summer. It was her design and supplies, my monkey-see-monkey-do.

Post from Dana: Birthday Card for a Friend

It has been some time since I posted anything. I haven't been doing much card-making, but once in awhile I blow the dust off my creativity and put my tools to work!

I created this card for my friend's birthday:

Which opens to show this:

I can't really take credit for exhaustive multi-step stamping. I used PTI's Make it Market Kit:  Garden Gate, which had plenty of ready-to-cut images.

I wasn't sure this card suited the preferences of my friend, but she loved it. :)

You can't really tell from the pictures, but I used photo paper for the gate. Added a unique shine.

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Patterned Paper: Garden Gate
• Stamps: Garden Gate
• Dies: Garden Gate

Silent Night

Delayed Post

For my grandparents, I wanted to create a more religiously-themed card.

Stefanie got a steal-of-a-deal on these kraft cards from Michaels and gave me one to experiment with. I die cut masks and then sprayed the card with Mister Huey's Opaque White.

The lace came with adhesive already applied, somewhat crookedly.

The sentiment was stamped on a die cut from the Fabulous Frames collection.

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: factory-made kraft card base, Vintage Cream
• Stamps: Star of Wonder
• Ink: Dark Chocolate
• Dies: Fabulous Frames, Nativity Silhouettes
• Accessories: adhesive lace (Hero Arts)
• Other Tools: Mister Huey's Opaque White spray (Studio Calico)

Noel Again

This was my final completed Christmas card. I have multiple elements that could make up 2 or 3 more cards - will have to see if I get around to it before next Christmas.  ;)

I used the cut outs from this card for the sentiment on the layered tag. I sewed a few borders on and paired the kraft with gingham for a folksy feel. The tag base was inked a bit with Vintage Cream and threaded through some ribbon and adhered to the card. Some twine and a snowflake brad were added for embellishment.

It also appears that I inked around the edges of the patterned paper on the card base. :)

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Kraft
• Patterned Paper: unknown
• Ink: Vintage Cream, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo (or Walnut Stain?) Distress Ink (Ranger)
• Dies: Tag Sale #7, Alpha-whimsy (Paper Smooches)
• Accessories: button twine, ribbon from 2014 Christmas Make It Market Kit, snowflake brad (Recollections?)
• Other Tools: sewing machine

Happy Holidays

This card was a fixer-upper from several years ago. I removed the main embellishment and added a new one. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out!

I'm a sucker for vintage!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Classic Kraft, Vintage Cream
• Patterned Paper: some Tim Holtz, some other
• Stamps: Holiday Lights
• Ink: Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Weathered Wood, and Old Paper Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Ranger)
• Dies: Tattered Banners (Tim Holtz), Half & Half, In the Meadow
• Accessories: Kraft button twine
• Other Tools: Mister Huey's Opaque White spray (Studio Calico)

Very Merry

I'm particularly pleased with how this card turned out.

The wooden snowflake embellishment was given to me by Stefanie. I sprayed it with a bit of her white Heidi Swapp Color Shine spray (not very evident - I had difficulty with application for some reason). I added a Tinier Tag (PTI Stamp-a-fair 2015 kit) with a sentiment from the Tiny Tags stamp set. The tiny holly image is from the PTI Make It Market Kit All Through the House. I threaded the tag with red and white baker's twine and added a teeny bell.

I affixed the snowflake embellishment on a kraft die cut Snowflake Medallion (from MFT) that I spritzed with Mister Huey's Opaque White spray.

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Stamper's Select White
• Patterned Paper: Dark Chocolate Bitty Dots
• Stamps: All Through the House, Tiny Tags
• Ink: Dark Chocolate, Pinefeather, Pure Poppy
• Dies: Tinier Tags, Snowflake Medallion (MFT)
• Accessories: wooden snowflake (unknown), red & white baker's twine, mini bell (dollar store?)
• Other Tools: Mister Huey's Opaque White spray (Studio Calico), white Color Shine (Heidi Swapp)

Warm Winter Wishes

This card has a similar theme to this one. A scrap of patterned paper used to create a CAS "masterpiece."

I sewed around the paper scrap to add some homey detail and used dimensional adhesive when applying it to the card base.

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Stamper's Select White
• Patterned Paper: unknown
• Stamps: In the Meadow, Stocking Prints
• Ink: Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy
• Accessories: rhinestone (Imaginisce)
• Other Tools: iRock (Imaginisce)

Christmas Lights

Christmas card #4 started out funky - I created the Christmas light borders.  I wasn't sure where to go from there and am not entirely sure I like the result.

I heat embossed a sentiment and then masked the borders before spraying the card with Silver Glimmermist. The masking paper left it's own mark on the card, but I think it actually looks kinda neat. To make the sentiment more apparent, I inked over it with silver ink.

For the final touch, I added the sparkle stamps from PTI's Shakers & Sprinkles Make It Market Kit.

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Stamper's Select White
• Stamps: Holiday Lights, Shakers and Sprinkles
• Ink: (all Tsukinko) Versamark, Brilliance Silver Starlite, Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid, Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue, Brilliance Pearlescent Thyme, Memento Dandelion, Memento Tuxedo Black
• Other Tools: clear embossing powder (Filigree), ink blending tool (Ranger)

Birch Trees

I love CAS cards so Christmas card #3 is one of my favorites:

I got the strip of patterned paper from Stefanie's scraps. I just love birch trees!

The bird stamps are from the In the Meadow stamp set from PTI, and the sentiment is from Stocking Prints (also PTI).

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Stamper's Select White
• Patterned Paper: unknown
• Stamps: In the Meadow, Stocking Prints
• Ink: Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy
• Accessories: rhinestone (Imaginisce)
• Other Tools: iRock (Imaginisce)

Noel

The second Christmas card I made a few days ago uses PTI's recent String Frames die in order to create a border for the sentiment (letters from Paper Smooches Alphawhimsy die).

Stef and I got together again last night to make even more cards! She has made 27 + 6 cards (the +6 cards being from a kit) in total and shows no signs of stopping!! I made a paltry 3 cards.
;)

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Stamper's Select White
• Patterned Paper: ?? (from Stef)
• Stamps: none!
• Ink: none!
• Dies: String Frames, Alphawhimsy (Paper Smooches) 
• Accessories: baker's twine
• Other Tools: Lipstick Red Copic

Christmas Comeback

After many years apart (papercrafting-wise), my friend (and former blog contributor), Stefanie, and I got together yesterday evening to make Christmas cards! As usual, Stefanie produced an astonishing number of cards in comparison to my paltry few (15 to 4, to be exact). Out of fairness to myself, I did also attach tags to some gifts, and there was a fair bit of orienting to craft tools and their location. ;)  We started crafting at about 9 p.m. and finished just before 3 a.m.!!

My first card of the evening is probably my favorite:



I tried achieving the background by inking a sheet of acetate with Tim Holtz Peeled Paint Distress Ink, spritzing some water, and then inking my stamp on the acetate, but the result was a bit sparse. I just inked my stamp directly and stamped right over top--problem solved.

I'll be posting the remaining cards over the next few days.

It was such a joy to be crafting with someone again. :)  The best part is that Stefanie really enjoyed getting back into card-making! She's coming back over today for more. :D

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Classic Kraft, Simply Chartreuse, Luxe Gold
• Stamps: Fillable Frames #9, Watercolor Backdrops (MFT)
• Ink: Dark Chocolate, Tim Holtz Peeled Paint Distress Ink (Ranger)
• Dies: Winter Trees (Simon Says Stamp)
• Other Tools: Mister Huey's Opaque White (Studio Calico)

Happy Wonderful Christmas

My mother posted another of the cards I created at our all-day crop this past June.

I have to say that this is probably my favorite one. I loved the three-step wreath, as well as the fonts on the sentiment.

The interior:

Thanks for peeking!

Oh Baby

A baby card for a friend to give to her teacher:

My camera was acting up this morning... :(

I used a Distress Paint dabber for the first time. I used a stencil and there was quite a bit of bleeding. I don't mind the effect, but it wasn't what I was going for.

The baby rattle shaker was created using a sheet of acetate (from PTI stamps) and embellished with a bit of lace and twine.

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Classic Kraft, Vintage Cream, Gold Shimmer
• Stamps: Wonderful Words: Baby
• Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko)
• Dies: Baby Button Bits, Wonderful Words: Baby
• Accessories: lace, Cream Cotton Baker's Twine
• Other Tools: Delicate Doily stencil (MFT), Picket Fence Distress Paint (Ranger), gold embossing powder (Filigree), foam adhesive sheet

Friends Never Go Out of Style

This card base has been kicking around forever, waiting for me to finish it. I pulled it out to create a belated birthday card for a friend.

I tried doing a pinch of silver and Kaleidoscope embossing powders.

At this point, I had a tool malfunction: my Goosebumps shimmer spray was completely clogged. I tried flicking the goo on, but it didn't look right. I tried smearing it around and got an interesting, though completely smeared, look. I'm not completely satisfied, but neither am I completely disappointed.

The interior:

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Scarlet Jewel, Stamper's Select White, True Black
• Patterned Paper: unknown
• Stamps: Fashion Sense
• Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Versamark (Tsukineko), Memento Dandelion (Tsukineko)
• Other Tools: clear and silver embossing powders (Filigree), Kaleidoscope embossing powder (Stampendous), Clear Star gel pen (Sakura)

Masculine CAS: Thank You

An acquaintance cleared up a wasp problem of ours--thank you so much!

I looked around online for sunset color inspiration:

This cover plate die was NOT easy to work with. I had to run it through my Cuttlebug several times with increasing shims in place and still had to use a blade to assist with negative scrap removal...

Thanks for peeking!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Smokey Shadow
• Stamps: A Big Thank You (free, limited edition)
• Ink: Tim Holtz Ripe Persimmon, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks (Ranger), Versamark (Tsukineko)
• Dies: Into the Woods cover plate
• Other Tools: clear embossing powder (Filigree)