"We do not remember days, we remember moments." Cesare Pavese

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

happy last day of june!

 Happy last day of June everyone!  Boy the time sure is flying by, isn't it?!   It is Wednesday so that means I have a post up on the AJVD blog today and here is a little peek:

I hope you will head over to the AJVD blog to check out my project.  Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Spellbinder/Jane Davenport Blog Hop

 Hello everyone!  Today I am participating in a blog hop sharing products designed by Jane Davenport for Spellbinders.  You should have arrived here from Jessica Vasher's blog.  If you did not start at the beginning of the hop on the Spellbinders blog you can click here.   Spellbinders will be giving away 3 $50 gift certificates.   Commenting is open until Sunday, July 4th at 11:59 and the winners will be picked from the comments left on the Spellbinders blog.   The three winners will be announced on the blog hop post on Wednesday, July 7th. (Compensated affiliate links used where possible.  Using these links earns me a small commission at no cost to you.  Your support is appreciated!)


I created two cards for the hop using stamp sets designed by Jane Davenport as well as her Magic Wand ArtEssentials color pencils and Watercolor Set Neutrals ArtEssentials.    

First up is a card I made with using the Magic Wand color pencils.  I stamped the image from the Jane Davenport Beautiful Dreamer stamp set on Stonehenge white 100% cotton paper with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.  I did have to do some masking as the tutu is a separate image.  I stamped that first, masked it and then stamped the dancer.   I'm not an authority on color pencils by any means, but oh my goodness I really enjoyed coloring with the Jane Davenport color pencils!  After I was done coloring her I stamped the sentiment with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne and then added the little crown in Delicata Golden Glitz.  I die cut the image with the largest rectangle die from the Spellbinders Essential rectangles die set and adhered the panel to an off white cardstock base.  I added a few little gold sequins for some sparkle.


For the second card I used the watercolor set.  The colors are so vibrant and pretty and I really enjoyed painting with them.  I think at some point I will be picking up the Brights set.   Anyway I stamped the image from Walk with Courage on Fabriano Artistico white watercolor paper with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and then I foiled the circle down on side using my Glimmer hot foil system and the plate that was part of the May Spellbinders Glimmer kit (this kit is not available at this time).   The sentiments are also from the same Glimmer kit and were foiled in black.  You can't tell in the photo, but the circles were Glimmered in pewter foil.  I then watercolored the image.  I kept things very simple, but did do some shading on her face and arm. When everything was dry I die cut the image with the middle sized rectangle from the Essentials set and popped it up on a light gray cardstock base.  I die cut the sentiments (with a die from the same Glimmer kit) and adhered them to the card front.  I finished with some matte silver sequins.

You next stop on the hop is Heather Hoffman.  Thank you for stopping by, I hope you are enjoying this blog hop and have a lovely day!

Monday, June 28, 2021

switched to follow it...

 Hey there!  Hope your week is off to a great start.  We are experiencing a heatwave here in the Pacific Northwest the likes of which we have not seen in a long time!   A good time to stay inside and do some crafting, right?  I'm popping in to let you know that Feedburner (email subscription) is shutting down on Wednesday.  I have made the switch to Follow.it.   My understanding is that there isn't anything for you to do and you will still continue to receive emails when I have a new post on my blog.   Thanks so much for following me and have a lovely day!

Saturday, June 26, 2021

a couple of cards...

 Hello!  I'm popping in with a couple of cards to share.  The first card is for the current MFT sketch challenge.   I have been looking at the Birdie Brown Unicorns & Glitter stamps and dies for a very long time.  I went back and forth about getting them, but finally pulled the trigger.  My reasoning for getting them... my soon to be five year old great niece who likes unicorn!   So this card is for her birthday.  I stamped one of the little girl images, as well as the little puppy image in VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist ink on smooth bristol cardstock.   I then colored the images with ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers.  Kaia, my little niece, has blond hair so of course the little girl had to be blond!  Hendrix, Kaia's "big brother", is white (I think he is a Bichon Frise) so I just added a little bit of color to him using light gray markers and blending them out.    I ink blended Spun Sugar and Kitsch Flamingo distress oxides on some smooth bristol  and die cut it with the scalloped rectangle.  I die cut a white cardstock panel and adhered the ink blended piece and then stamped the sentiment.  I adhered Kaia and Henny to the card front and then added the two rows of sequins.  I hope Kaia loves her card!



The second card is for the Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches.  I don't often do color blocking because I generally don't like how my color blocking turns out.  But I decided to put that aside and have another try at it.  I found cardstock in the CTD colors, cut strips to fit a thin piece of white cardstock cut to A2 size and adhered them.  I have had the SSS April card kit since well... April and have never used the stamp set.  So I pulled that out and heat embossed the large floral image in white on the color blocked piece.  I then die cut it with a rectangle die.  I stamped a sentiment from the stamp set on a banner I die cut from white cardstock and popped that up on the panel.   There is a butterfly in the stamp set so I heat embossed that in white on vellum, die cut it and popped it up on the sentiment.  For once I do like how my color blocking turned out, lol!




Thanks for stopping by and if you live in the Pacific Northwest I hope you can stay cool during our heatwave!  Have a lovely day!


Wednesday, June 23, 2021

aloha!

 Aloha everyone!  I have a post up on the A Jillian Vance Design blog today and once you see my card you will understand why I titled my blog post aloha!  Here is a little peek of my card:


I hope you will head over to the AJVD blog to see my card!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Monday, June 21, 2021

beautiful sentiments vignettes collection

 Hello everyone!  I'm popping in to share a couple of cards that I made using products from Becca Feeken's latest release at Spellbinders.  This collection is called the Beautiful Sentiment Vignettes and includes one stamp set and seven different dies.  I'm sharing cards that I made with the Heartfelt Thanks Vignette die set and the Petite Floral Potpourri die set.  You can find the new collection here .   (Affiliate links used in this post.   By using my affiliate links I earn a small commission.  There is no cost to you.  I appreciate your support.)


As is always the case with products from Becca Feeken they are super elegant, but I wanted to  show that you can create card with a little more of a casual feel using these elegant dies.  To do that I used some patterned paper and two ephemera pieces from the Spellbinders June card kit.   I also used a bright pink for the large background oval.   I will be honest I was a little scared as I put the card together... especially using that large striped patterned paper, but I absolutely love how this card turned out!  I just think it is so fun and summery!


I have been making a lot of clean and simple cards lately and so I went in that direction with this card using the Petite Floral Potpourri die set.  Obviously this set was designed to work with all of the dies in the Beautiful Sentiment Vignettes collection, but again I wanted to show you a way to use the dies differently.  The is a leafy stem in the set and I die cut that many, many times from Spellbinders Waterfall and Teal Topaz cardstocks and then created a wreath.  I used to circle dies nested together to die cut a frame for the stems and then layered them on.  I die cut the little flowers from a pink and a pinky-red cardstock.  Most were layered, but a few were not.  I then layered those on my wreath.  I finished with a little bow tied from some light teal/white bakers twine and some Nuvo Crystal Drops in Morning Dew on the wreath.  The sentiment is from the Spellbinders May stamp of the month and was stamped in VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink.  I die cut the panel with a Spellbinders Essential rectangle die, adhered the wreath and then placed it on a card base made from Spellbinders Silver Fox cardstock.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!  



Saturday, June 19, 2021

great friend...

 Hello!  I'm back, lol!  I have been very productive over the last few days making all kinds of cards.  I will be back in a few days posting a few more cards!  Today's card is for this month's Pinkfresh Studio challenge to use die cuts, as well as the Color Hues challenge.  I have never participated in Color Hues, but when I saw the colors were aqua and black I had to join in.  Currently my favorite shade of aqua cardstock is Spellbinder's Waterfall.  It is just so pretty!  I die cut both of the rectangles from the Essentials Stitched Scalloped from white cardstock twice and adhered them together.  I used my largest Spellbinders rectangle die to die cut Waterfall cardstock and adhered that behind the largest Stitched Scalloped rectangle.  The panel was then adhered to a light gray cardstock card base.  I put foam tape behind the smaller Stitched Scalloped rectangle and popped it up in the center of my card.  I die cut the Pinkfresh Leafy Branch die from Waterfall and black cardstocks and adhered them together.  I then adhered the pieces to my card leaving a spot for the sentiment that I hot foiled with black foil using my Glimmer hot foil system and the Pinkfresh Studio Perfect Sentiments foiling plate.  I love how black foiling looks just like stamping!




Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Friday, June 18, 2021

graduation cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with a couple of graduation cards that I made for two nieces that are graduates this year.  One has already graduated from high school and the other graduates in a few days.  I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches for both cards.  First up is the card that I made for my niece who has already graduated.  She graduated from my alma mater Stadium high school.  Stadium is probably the most unique high school in the United States.  It looks like a French chateau!  I find creating graduation cards difficult sometimes so to make it easier I like to use the school colors.  Stadium's school colors are blue and gold.  Since this card is for a girl I went full glitter!   When I saw the FMS layout I thought running the word congrats down the side would be a fun take on the sketch.  I die cut the letters from gold glitter cardstock and dark blue cardstock.  I then layered the blue cardstock behind the gold glitter offsetting the two slightly so that the blue peeks out.  I made the cards mini slimline in order to make sure all the letters and the exclamation point fit.   I largest mini slimline die from the AJVD mini slim die set and cut white cardstock.  I then adhered all the letters.  The medallion on the front was created using two circle dies from AJVD, as well as the class of image and the 2021 from the AJVD Watt's Next stamp set.  The set has all kinds of fun graduation sentiments.  The class of image was stamped in Delicata Golden Glitz and the 2021 in VersaFine Clair Twilight ink and then die cut it with a circle die.  The same blue cardstock used for the letters was used to cut a slightly larger circle, layered them together and then adhered it to the card front.  I also finished the inside with a die cut panel and sentiment.   


All the elements are exactly the same on the second card I just changed up the colors.  The niece who is graduating in a few days goes to a school with school colors of red, white and blue.  Her graduation announcement only used a little bit of red so I decided to do the same thing and just had a little hint of the red.  That was achieved by layering red letters behind the blue letters and then using VersaFine Clair Tulip ink to stamp the 2021.   I thought the card looked a little stark for a girl so I added some Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins.  


I hope the girls like their cards!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

it's wednesday!

(To see my CTD post click here.)

Hello!  It is Wednesday and that means I have a post up on the AJVD blog today.  Here are peeks of the cards... yes... cards that I made for this week's post:



I hope you will head over to the AJVD blog to check out my cards.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!  

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

guesting at color throwdown!

 Hello!  I'm so excited to be guesting at Color Throwdown this week!   As many of you might know CTD is one of my favorite challenges to participate in.  Week after week they provide fabulous color combos and inspiration to get your creative juices flowing!   The color combo for this week is no exception!  I went with a clean and simple floral design using stamps and dies from Concord & 9th.   Specifically I used the Painted Peony stamp and die set.  I didn't use the gorgeous large peony bloom in the set, but a smaller floral image.  Inks from multiple companies were used to stamp the images.  Pinks from Hero Arts, reds and greens from Altenew and browns from Stampin Up!   I die cut everything and then got to arranging it on my white cardstock panel.  As I was creating my arrangement I decided that the geometric piece everything was arranged on looked a little plain so I embossed it with an old, but favorite, embossing folder.  That did the trick!  The sentiment is from Painted Peonies and was stamped in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne.   I added a few sequins in red and pink to finish the card.   Here is my card:


And here is the CTD color swatch for this week:

Just realized that the challenge this month over at the Flower Challenge is to create a clean and simple card.  Since my card is pretty clean and simple I'm going to post it there, as well. 


Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely day and I hope to see your card in the CTD gallery!  Thanks to the super talented gals at CTD for having me!


Saturday, June 12, 2021

clean and simple cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with a couple of clean and simple cards.  First up is a card for Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches.   When I saw the CTD colors I immediately thought I would make a more masculine card and this card was scheduled to be sent to my sister-in-law's husband.  Then my mom called and asked me if I would make a card for her for my son who is turning 15 on Monday!  (How did that happen?).  Since I had this card almost completed I told her I would give it to her to give to Gabriel.   I used the Altenew Trigonometry stamp and die set.  I used the dies and the happy birthday sentiment.  I die cut the triangles from aqua, blue and gray cardstock and then figured out the arrangement based on the FMS layout.  The triangles I didn't use I simply stacked behind the ones I did to give them a little more dimension.  I die cut white cardstock with the largest Spellbinders Essential rectangle die and then the center of that panel with a smaller one.  I adhered the frame that was created  flush to the card base with tape adhesive and then popped up the smaller panel with foam tape.  I added the triangles and the sentiment that I stamped in VersaFine Clair Twilight ink and die cut with a banner die.    I hope Gabriel likes it!   I'm going to add this to the As You See It challenge to create a masculine card. 




This next card is for the MFT sketch and color challenges.  I haven't played along with either of those challenges in ages and when I saw the fun sketch I just had to get a card done!   Despite the fact that this card is pretty simple it was not simple to make.  It took me four times to get the butterfly right!  Then I had trouble with the element that I would layer behind the butterfly as well as the to banners.  Finally got things figured out and the card put together!   I generally don't do this, but I actually had all the elements (except the pearls) adhered to the card before I stamped the sentiment.  Thankfully the sentiment stamped well!   I finished with my favorite pearls... Rainbow Fish from Trinity Stamps!   There are pearls in the mix that matched perfectly with the blue and green colors in the MFT color challenge!



Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

happy wednesday!

 Hello everyone!  Hope you are having a great week!  It is Wednesday and that means I have a post up on the AJVD blog.  Here is a little peek of my card:

I hope you will head over to the blog to check out the card and let me know what you think.   Before you go though I wanted to let you know that Jillian has a new release full of fun new stamps and dies!  Check out the graphic below.   Just click here to shop!  (Affiliate link used.  Purchasing items through my affiliate link allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you!)



Friday, June 4, 2021

i'm thinking of you...

 Hello!  Popping in with a card for Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches.   I recently got some new products from Stampin Up! and I couldn't wait to use the new stamp and die set I got called Hand-Penned Petals.    There are solid image stamps that can be used to fill in the outline images or you can color the outline images with your favorite coloring medium.  The solid image stamps don't completely fill in the outline giving your a more artsy look.  I went with stamping one of the outline images using VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink and then filled in the flowers with a bright pink ink and the leaves with a medium aqua ink.  I then die cut the image with the matching die.  I used a die from MFT to cut the rounded corner panel behind the floral image.  The sentiment is from another Stampin Up! set and was stamped in the Nocturne ink on a medium aqua cardstock, trimmed down and then one side matted with the scalloped edge die included in the Hand Penned Florals die set.  I die cut a white cardstock panel with an AJVD rectangle die, adhered it to a light gray cardstock base and then layered on the smaller panel, floral image and sentiment.  I finished with some Rainbow Fish pearls from Trinity Stamps.





Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!  

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Happy June!

Hey everyone!  Hope your June is off to a great start!  We are having beautiful weather right now so it definitely feels like summer is on its way!  I have a post up on the A Jillian Vance Design blog today and here is a little peek of my card:



I hope you will head over to the AJVD blog to see the full card.  Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Spellbinder June Card Kit!

Hey everyone!  Well... here we are in June!  Time is just flying by and since it is the 1st of June that means Spellbinders is revealing all of its new kits for this month.  You can find out information about the Spellbinders club by clicking here.   And don't forget that Spellbinders has value clubs, as well.  Click here to check out the different value club configurations. (Affiliate links used.  Using my links allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support!)   This month the kit is called Wild Hello has more of a birthday theme to it so I will be sharing 3 birthday cards and one that is more of a "just because" type of card.   


This card might be my favorite of the bunch.  I used lots of the die cut pieces from the kit along with a sentiment from the kit stamp set.   The light blue cardstock is also from the kit and was die cut with a Spellbinders Essential die.  I arranged all my pieces (didn't glue them down) figured out where to stamp the sentiment, stamped it and then adhered all the pieces.  All the pieces except for the cheetah were adhered flush to the cardstock panel.  The cheetah was popped up with foam tape.  I then adhered the panel to one of the pre-made cards from the kit.  Going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes. 


This is the just because card and it uses more of the die cut pieces from the kit along with one of the fun pieces of patterned paper from the 6x6 pad included in the kit.  Simply trimmed the paper to fit the front of the premade card base, adhered it and then arranged all the different pieces.  I finished off the card with a little twine bow.  


This card was so simple to create!  I used one of the journaling cards from the pack included in the kit, tons of fun puffy stickers, a strip of patterned paper and another piece of die cut cardstock.   Each month the card kits include recurring items like a die set, a stamp set, patterned paper, die cut pieces and cardstock.  What varies from month to month are the small embellishments and this month's kit included the puffy stickers.  I just had to create a card using them.  This card is geared toward a girl, but I have enough puffy stickers left over to make a boy version!


The final card uses one of the dies from the super fun die set.  There are four dies and the create those trendy 'on the line' sentiment.  Obviously I used the birthday one for my card.  I die cut it from gold foil cardstock (from the kit) multiple times and adhered them together.  I then used another one of the journal cards combined with the fun birthday cake patterned paper.  I layered the journal card on the patterned paper rectangle, adhered that to a card base I covered with a bright pink cardstock.  I layered on the sentiment strip and then adhered the fun little heart die cuts. 

I hope you enjoyed all the cards I created with the kit.   I hope to be back in a few days with additional cards as I have a few more ideas for items from the kit.  Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!