STB - august 21 2023

Week 3 of August in my 2023 STB memory planner. 

Shopping appears to have been in the air this week. Ever happen to you? After months of not looking at a clothing store all of a sudden you get the urge to go shopping? And you even find deals!

Using up stash when working on my Heidi Swapp memory planner preserving memories like this ;) Alpha dies - love their large size. And stamps. And stickers. And even a tag from the clothes I bought!

 

more milestone cards

Seems like some of the only cards I actually sit down and create lately are for lovely ladies turning 70, 80 and 90.

 STAMPlorations Gift Builder 1 die

STAMPlorations Celebrate die

STAMPlorations Peony number 2 stencil

MFT numbers die

Papertrey hello die

Thanks for stopping by today.

support for shery

Hi there friends. I'm sharing a card I made with a couple challenges in mind. 

Over at Timeout Challenges they are having their cancer awareness challenge. And to quote:

"We want to give a special shout out to our friend Shery at STAMPlorations. She has been fighting a cancer battle this year and she has been heavy on our hearts here at Time Out. Thank you Shery for all the years of support and creativity.  We stand with you as you walk through this journey." 

My sentiments exactly. Of course I had to jump right in. Lots of virtual hugs and prayers headed Shery's way as she fights the fight. I know the quote is "hope is the thing with feathers" but in my head it always translates to "the thing with wings" and thus...

Ali Edwards stamp

 STAMPlorations Fluttery Zen and MFT label die

Altenew stencil

inks, embossing paste, embossing powder, foil, washi

I was following the sketch at FMS #557.

Super CAS over here.  Used the stenciled area to represent the large square and the butterfly cluster to represent the small square. Of course, a touch of washi is always a good idea. Did you notice it?

I tried  technique I'd seen Heidi Swapp do on my butterfly. I dabbed a glue pen around on it once I'd inked it. Let it get tacky and then rubbed a foil scrap over it with my finger. Ta da. No laminator. No Minc. But foiling!

Appreciate you stopping by. Enjoy your week.  

forgotten but not gone (3)

 A few more cards that seem to have been forgotten in my photo file...

Today I'm sharing two techniques you might want to revisit. The first is one of my faves learned from the oh-so-talented Yana S. - random stamping. And while you're at it, make a whole sheet and turn it into four cards. I shared a spotlight tutorial on this over at STAMPlorations if you're interested.

First stamp all over keeping in mind where the four card panels will be.

Cut and adhere your panels.

Add sentiments and you've got a set.

Hero Arts Bird and Branch stamp

floral stamps

Stempelkueche sentiment stamp

Speaking of sets. Here's one made with a solid stamp image using selective inking and spritzing to achieve a truly watercolored look.

Altenew Watercolor Wonders stamp

Altenew Super Script sentiment stamp

Distress Inks

Happy weekend!  

more scraps as a frame

You may remember this Valentine - part of my scrap strip adventure lately. 

Dienamics Love Centerpieces die

Well what was left of the "stripped" card after die cutting that LOVE square became this frame, which then became this card. Heat embossed blooms. Added light watercolor touches and lots of sequins.

Altenew Frosted Garden stamp

I'm heading over to the Altenew February Challenge with my pinks and greens.

altenew november inspiration - take 6

Today I have two more cards that were born as a result of the current November Altenew Inspiration Challenge. 

I still had some die cut leaves left from yesterday's cards, so I pulled out a paper/sticker pack from Action (my dollar store) and let it inspire this sweet card.

Altenew Sketchy Floral stamp

Altenew Virginia Rose 3D die

chipboard, embossing powder

I adhered a piece of notebook paper /that I'd cleaned a stencil off on) to my cardbase. Added the leaves down the edge, added the sweet fox and a strip of CS along the bottom edge and then chose a sentiment that would fit on another scrap - the little circle.

And then a chipboard balloon fell out of the pack and I decided to make myself make another card before putting the pack away. No Altenew here. And I'm done with the November challenge, BTW. Also bummed cuz the hook up doesn't seem to be working over at Altenew :(

It's sure been fun to be creating again. And using up some pieces laying around my craft room. I'm actually starting to dream about moving out of the basement and into DD's empty bedroom... We'll see if that ever happens. 

Seems like blogs don't get much attention these days. Thanks for visiting.

  

altenew november inspiration - take 4 and 5

Today I have two more makes for the current November Altenew Inspiration Challenge. 

This was yesterday's card inspired by the challenge...

Along with the scrap paper I had left after watercoloring those bloom layers...

Well I added a bit more distress oxide to the mess and got to die cutting. These two cards happened.

Altenew Super Script stamp

Altenew Virginia Rose 3D die

Altenew 36 pan watercolor

oval die, gold paint, patterned paper

Altenew Peony Bouquet

Altenew Beautiful Day

Altenew Virginia Rose 3D die

Altenew inks, copper embossing powder, copper cardstock

Did you notice the little dots on some of the leaves? That's where the temporary adhesive runner was, holding my bloom layers in place as I watercolored! It acts like a mask for the watercolor/ink. When i rubbed the adhesive off, there were dots! Fun, eh? I'm just so happy I didn't throw that scrap paper away!

 

altenew november inspiration - take 3

Yesterday I shared my first two makes for the current Altenew challenge. 

It's a beauty and has me totally inspired to create. November Altenew Inspiration Challenge. 

I mentioned my cousin had given me a few panels dry embossed with 3D designs. One of them she'd actually gussied up a bit.

She didn't like it. I LOVED it. And I love it even more now....

Altenew Alocasia embossing folder

Altenew Virginia Rose 3D die

Altenew 36 pan watercolor

So much that I couldn't bear to put a sentiment on it and cover up any of that grungy goodness!

Now I don't even know exactly what my cousin had done to the panel. Dry embossing, come ink swiping, a little heat embossing? SUCH goodness.

Well I decided to pull out my Altenew watercolors and color this wonderful layered die cut bloom. It took a while. I have such a hard time keeping a light hand. And trusting the process! But I 'm crushing on the result. (Magenta was my favorite color in the Crayola box of 64;)

I'm not done yet. The ideas just kept on coming. Especially when I had this sheet of scrap paper left after the watercoloring...

 

altenew november inspiration - take 1 and 2

Sooo. I came back to Germany with some new craft goodies and some fun 3D embossed panels my cousin was kind enough to share with me when we got together for a cardmaking date.

It just so happens they were Altenew 3D folders.

And it just so happens that the November Altenew Inspiration Challenge is a beauty. 

Those colors! Those leaves! I was off to create...

My first thought was to use a dry embossed panel with some of my new distress oxides in yellow, pink and purple.

Altenew Flowers and Leaves embossing folder

Altenew Virginia Rose 3D die

distress oxides, Maggie Holmes chipboard

And then I decided to use the same oxide colors on a card for a friend who lost her mom a month ago. I went with "thinking of you" instead of "sympathy" since it's been a little while. Doesn't that layered bloom pair well with the lovely outline stamp? I'm hooking this one up at SSS Wednesday Challenge - Thinking of you.

Altenew Delicate Bouquet stamp

Garden Picks 3D die

distress oxides

I'm not done yet. The ideas just kept on coming.

And I totally love Autumn. Here's a peek of what I get to enjoy in my yard this time of year. No filters added ;) Hope you're having a lovely weekend.

monogram projects

A while ago I made a couple projects with the Altenew monogram challenge in mind. Well apparently it's come and gone while I was snoozing but I'm gonna share my projects with you anyhoo! BTW there are many cool ideas in the gallery if you, like me, like to personalize your projects.

You may recall this pop up box card. Well it needed an envelope to match so I made one and added this monogram to it.

Recognize the floral? It's Altenew's Sketchy Floral stamp and I stamped and colored it with alcohol markers before die cutting a circle out of it. The circle became the monogram above and the panel became the birthday card below. I added the same image heat embossed in silver on black behind the negative.

One more project. Not Altenew, I believe I intended to hook up at Pinkfresh, but this was for DS's friend's bday. I used alcohol markers to color the Pinkfresh Adore Alpha letters and added STAMPlorations Number Plate too.

Guess I need to make better use of my calendar ;) Have a great day!

I'm playing at:

ATSAM - Make your Mark (#2)

Challenge up your Life - Flowers (#2)

Die Cut Divas - Slimline cards (#3)

flowers for oma - pop up box card

A little story for you... My MIL turned 85. She's amazing, still going strong. But saddened/maddened that she couldn't celebrate her big day this year. We even decided not to drive up to see her cuz her area is worse Covid-wise than ours at the moment. Only one visitor from another household permitted in your house - that's the current recommendation.

We had presents to take. But since that wasn't going to be happening and mailing wouldn't get them to her on time, I suggested to DH that he order flowers to be delivered on her birthday. Something special, ya know? I mean - 85! I'm not actually sure that that ordering flowers would have been possible given the lockdown, but I didn't get to find out. "NO. That's ridiculous. She'd say so too." was his response.

I'm curious. Is your husband a flower guy or does he think flowers are money out the window? Like mine. 

So what'd I do? I headed to my craft room to make the most expensive paper flower bouquet known to man. In man-hours, that is ;)

Altenew Rose Flurries 3D die

Altenew Virginia Rose 3D die

Pinkfresh Leafy Branch die

Rayher Alles Gute die

Waffle Flower Cutaway numbers die

patterned paper, paper scraps, recycled plastic packaging, glue dots

They've been around for a long time, but I've never made a pop up box card before. It just seemed to me to be the best design for containing "flowers for Oma." So I watched this video to figure out how they worked. Turns out it's pretty simple. Just fiddly.

I must say I'm impressed with this design. Simple to create the box which pops up and can be displayed nicely when the recipient receives it. A truly interactive design. And what a way to achieve depth in a scene. Certainly can't achieve that on a card. Yet it can be mailed flat.

Anyhoo, briefly, here's what I did:

1. Made box from double-sided PP since I didn't want to "decorate" the flaps other than the 85.

2. Pulled out Altenew floral dies cuz they're just the prettiest.

3. Spent hours sorting through scraps and making flowers.

4. Spent more hours attaching flowers to plastic stems and fitting them into the box.

5. Adhered personal message to the back side of the box.

6. Made envelope out of 12x12 PP.

Got a smile out of DH. Will be very curious to hear what Oma thinks.

And since it was so much fun I proceeded to spend another few hours making another bouquet of flowers! And a more detailed tutorial of my process. You can find that here.

I had actually taken a look at the January Inspiration Challenge at Altenew and was going for the pinks and reds with silver color scheme (it is a winter birthday!) but my bouquet building took me a bit off the mark. I'm hooking up at the challenge anyway!

And SSS Wednesday challenge is looking for Layers. With all my layered die cuts I'm joining in over there too. Thanks for coming by.