A Tale of Two Cards

 Hello, hello!  I'm back with more to share.   And as my post title indicates it is two cards.  Both made using the same sketch from Freshly Made Sketch.  Both are Christmas cards, but one is more traditional while the other is quite quirky and moody.  The more traditional card will be heading off to Freshly Made Sketches, the Paper Players (colors), and CAS Christmas challenge.   I will add the moody card to Just Us Girls (second entry)  Let's have a look.

This card isn't super simple, but it is rather clean in the design and elements.  So, I hope it passes muster with the CAS Christmas challenge.   As you can see I did use the Paper Players colors of aqua, teal, red and tan (I used kraft cardstock).   All the dies are Tim Holtz/Sizzix dies.  Specifically, Dash Away All (a Diecember 2021 exclusive) and Christmas Cutouts.   The sentiment is a Memory Box foiled sentiment tab.  I didn't exactly follow the FMS sketch as I was working from memory, but I think I'm still pretty close.   

Now for the quirky card.  Again, the take on the FMS sketch isn't exactly spot on, but still pretty close, I think.  I decided to add this one to Just Us Girls as it is die week and it is anything goes.   The idea for this card came about when I was looking through my patterned paper stash and saw 49 and Market's Starlight Dreams paper pack.   I thumbed through the pack and came across the piece I ended up using.  A nighttime sky with moody clouds and a scattering of stars.  I found coordinating papers in that sort of yellow for the moon and light blue.  When I did all the die cutting I originally die cut the peace sentiment out of the yellowish paper and Santa from the light blue.  I put everything together and didn't like, at all.  Not one bit!  So, I decided to die cut Santa and sleigh from black glitter cardstock and the peace sentiment from the same patterned paper as the background.  Liked it much better but still wasn't super happy with the card.  Added the black glitter stars and still wasn't happy, but the more I look at it the more I like it.  Because I wasn't wild about this card I decided to make the second card that you see above.  Let me know what you think.

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

grateful to call you friend...

 Well, hello!  It has been a while since I last posted.  Ten days in fact.  I don't think I have ever gone ten days without posting something.   I had thought I would post the card I'm posting today last week, but I didn't get around to making it until earlier this week.  I will be posting this to Just Us Girls (anything does with dies), Color Hues and Pinkfresh Studio August challenge.  So, here we go, lol!

A few months ago I purchased the Pinkfresh Studio Art Deco Floral Arch stamp, die and stencil set.  It was one of those buy the stamp set and get the stencils and dies free.  Couldn't pass that deal up now could I?  I used the Color Hues combo of navy and teal for arches, stems and flowers.   The challenge for the PFS August challenge is beautiful backgrounds.   The PFS background die I used is no longer available (I think it is called Sparkle Diamond), but I absolutely love it and think it makes a beautiful background for the floral arch.  I used some of the navy blue ink that was left on my blending brush on the top of the panel before adding the die cut arch.  I die cut a second blank arch and adhered to the top one to provide a little more stability.  I stamped and die cut the sentiment (cutting a second blank for the sentiment, as well) and adhered it to the card front.  I finished with some tiny dark blue gems that I had in my stash.  The inks used are from Altenew.  I used navy (appropriately), Galactic Stream (dark teal) and Teal Cave (medium teal).

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day.

bright side...

Hello!  I'm back with two more cards that I made with products from the Simon Says Stamp Every Happiness release.  One card will be heading off to the current Just Us Girls challenge (stencils), as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.   Let's look at what I created.  (If you haven't yet, please check out my Simon Says Stamp day 2 blog hop post.)

This first card features the new Bellflower Blossoms stencil set, Chunky Ovals dies and a sentiment from the fun Positive Thoughts stamp set.   I stenciled the background using blue, purple and green inks from Altenew.   Once the stenciling was done I die cut the panel with a Chunky Oval die.  I adhered that to a white cardstock base.  Two of the smaller Chunky Oval were used to die cut some polka dot vellum and then the sentiment that was stamped in a dark purple ink.   This is the card that will be heading to the above mentioned challenges. 

For this card I used the new Sunflower Meadow stamp set, as well as the Chunky Ovals.   I also pulled in a die from the Sparkler Scallop frames set from last month's release.  I just love that die set!  I stamped the image on the white panel, die cut it and then used two Chunky Oval dies to create the kraft cardstock frame.  I adhered the frame, added the little twine bow and then finished with the sentiment from the Sunflower Meadow stamps set that was die cut with the smallest Chunky Oval die.

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Simon Says Stamp Every Happiness Blog Hop Day 2

 Hello, hello!  I'm so excited to be participating in the day 2 blog hop for the Simon Says Stamp Every Happiness release!  This release is so amazing and I am so grateful to Simon Say Stamp for the products that they gifted to me to create with!  I have two cards to share with you today.  But before I share all the details I just want to remind you that there is an opportunity to win a $25 gift certificate at each stop on the hop.  So make sure you leave a little comment for a chance to win.  If you started the hop at Simon Says Stamp you should have arrived here from Rachel Alvarado's blog.  Now, lets take a look at what I created.

This first card uses the new Chunky Ovals die set, Sunflower Blooms die set and a sentiment from the Sunflower Meadow stamp set.  I will admit that I have not been big on oval shaped dies, but these Chunky Ovals stole my heart!  The largest one is too big for an A2 sized card (generally what I make), but perfect to make a card with and that is what I did.  I used patterned paper from the 49 and Market Vintage Orchard collection for the background.   To create my card base I folded a full sheet of off white cardstock in half, placed the large oval so that one side went slightly past the fold and the bottom also went slightly past the bottom edge of the cardstock.  I did this to create the hinge on one side and a flat bottom so the card would stand up.    I die cut the patterned paper, adhered it to the card base and then trimmed off the excess.  The flowers (one large flower and stem, two small flowers and one small stem) were created with additional patterned paper from the Vintage Orchard paper pack, assembled and adhered to the card front.  I used the smallest oval in the Chunky Ovals set to die cut my sentiment that I then adhered to the card front.  Love how this turned out!

This card also uses the Sunflower Blooms die set and the new Whirlpool Spinner embossing folder.  I used more patterned paper from 49 and Market for this card.  This time from the Faded Memory Lane collection.  I die cut a rectangle of cardstock, embossed it with the embossing folder and adhered it to a card base.  I die cut the flower and stem from coordinating patterned paper, adhered it together and then added Nuvo glitter drops to the center of the flower.  When it was dry I added it to the card base and finished with another sentiment from the Sunflower Meadow stamp set that was die cut with the same small chunky oval die and a little twine bow.  Love the softness of this card. 

As you can see from the graphic you can also get a free stamp set with any purchase from the new Every Happiness release.  So, what are you waiting for?  Go shopping!!

Well, that is it for me.  Thanks for stopping by!  Your next stop on the hop is Susan Valle.

Birch Press Design Blog Post #2

Hello, hello!  Can you believe that July is almost over?  Time is flying by way too fast for my liking, lol!  Today I'm on the Birch Press Design blog and here is a little peek of what I made:

I hope you will head over to the blog to let me know what you think.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

faded memory lane...

Hey there!  Popping in with a project that I have been wanting to make for several months.  I finally got the chance a few days ago and now I'm sharing it with you!   Let's look at what I made.

At heart I am a clean and simple girl, but on occasion I love to create projects that are more shabby and vintage.  This is one of them.  I previously shared a card I made using products from the 49 and Market Faded Memory Lane collection.   Even though the products are shabby and vintage I was able to create something clean and simple with the products.  This project, however, lands more on the vintage and shabby side for sure and I love how it turned out.  

One of the products I purchase was a pack of laser cuts and one of the laser cuts was the large floral piece that fills the upper left corner of my project.  Since I'm not a fan of slimline cards or card sizes larger that an A2 I knew I would not be able to use that laser cut unless I made something different:  a decor piece.  I started with a Tim Holtz frame and base.  I covered the base with patterned paper from the Faded Memory Lane 6x8 paper pack and then painted the frame with a light beige paint.  When the paint was dry I brushed on a light sage green making sure to not add too much.  When that was dry I added some Gilded Foundry wax and heat set it.  I also added some Gilded Foundry wax to the patterned paper in the upper right corner.  Finally, the foundry wax was also added to all the laser cut images I used.  Did I go a little crazy with the foundry wax?  Maybe, but I love it!  

I layered on all of the images and then added the little sentiment strips that are also laser cuts.  The frame was added using collage medium, a heavy object placed on top and it was allowed to dry.  Once dry I added the large floral piece by gluing parts to the frame and using 3d foam pads in areas that are inside the frame.   

I'm going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of fabulous florals and the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge to use text.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!