merry & bright...

 Hello!  I'm popping in with a card for Freshly Made Sketches that I made using products from Evergreen Season by 49 and Market.   I think this also fits the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to add texture.  I have lots of texture in those layers, lol!  Let's have a look!

I haven't had much time lately to make cards because my son is learning how to drive (finally!) and I the one spending the time in the car with him as he learns.  He is a good driver, but the process is taking longer than I thought it would.   Very different from when I learned to drive.  Anyway, being short on time I turned to the laser cuts and ephemera pieces from Evergreen Season along with pretty patterned papers to get my card made.  Yes, there is a tag underneath all the greenery, lol!   I die cut the two pieces of patterned paper with a rectangle die.  I then used the same rectangle die on the angle to cut the top piece and layered the two together.  I added the red twine to the tag, added thin foam squares to the back and then adhered it to my card front.  I layered on all the laser cut elements and the merry & bright banner.   It doesn't show well in the photo, but I did add glossy accents to the pine cones and then sprinkled on some Rock Candy glitter.  

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

sweet wishes release...

 Hello, hello!  Did you see?  Simon Says Stamp has a brand new release called Sweet Wishes.  You can find the complete collection of products right here.  Simon Says Stamp generously sent me the beautiful Sketched Leaves stamp set and I created two projects with the set.   I went full on autumn colors mode for both projects.  Let's have a look at the first one.

For the card I started off by stamping the maple leaf on watercolor paper with VersaMark watermark ink, applying gold embossing powder and then heat setting it.  I then used my Tonic Studio Aqua Flow pens in autumn shades of red, yellow and brown for the background.  Once the piece was dry, I die cut it with a rectangle die and then sprayed it with distress mica sprays in Harvest Moon, Mulled Cider and Fallen Acorn.  I roughed up the edges for a more rustic look.  I embossed the sentiment in gold on vellum, trimmed it down and tore one edge.  I wrapped the other edge around the back of my panel, secured it with glue dots and tied the bow.  The panel was then adhered to an off-white cardstock base.  Adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to add texture.  

I really had alot of fun creating my next project.  Let's have a look at it. 

When I first saw the stamp set I knew that I wanted to create a decor type piece with it.  I went with a tag design using a Stampers Anonymous #8 thick board tag with a distress #8 heavy stock tag on top.  For this piece I used distress oxide inks in Carved Pumpkin, Fossilized Amber, Bundled Sage and Gathered Twigs.  I blended on the inks to my liking and then splattered the tag with water.  I let the tag dry for a bit and then stamped on the three leaves using VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.  I finished the tag with lots of splatters foundry wax in the color Gilded.  I heat set the splatters to give them shine and make them permanent.  The edges of the tag were also roughed up for a more rustic look.   You don't see it in the photo, but I used some Tim Holtz washi tape to cover the sides of the thickboard tag for a more finished look.  Then I adhered the inkblended tag using Multi Matte Medium and let it dry.  

For the leaves I used the same oxide inks on a piece of cream colored heavy stock cardstock.   Once I had the inkblending done I stamped each leaf using the Acorn ink and then trimmed out each leaf.  There are matching dies that you can find right here, but I don't have them (yet!).  Since the leaves are fairly large, trimming them out was pretty quick and easy!   I also splattered the leaves with lots of the Gilded foundry wax.  The edges were roughed up and then I glued each leaf on top of the image stamped on the tag by adding glue down the center of each one.   To finish I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark watermark ink, applied gold embossing powder and heat set.  The sentiment was then die cut with a cute little fancy shaped tag from Simon Says Stamp.  The edges roughed up and it was adhered to the tag.  I also added a little bit of inking to the edges of the leaves before gluing them on.  Some Memory Box fairy drops in autumn shades were added, along with the ribbon bow.  I custom colored the ribbon using the mica sprays in Harvest Moon and Mulled Cider.  I really love how this tag turned out!

The challenge at Just Us Girls is to create a project based on the word leaves.  My tag fits the challenge perfectly so I will be posting it there.   Love it when things work out like that!

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

fall cards...

 Hello, hello!  Popping in with a couple of fall themed cards to share.  I thought our normal wet and dreary fall weather had arrived the other day, but nope!  We are back to sun and relatively warm temperatures.  It's a little annoying as I really want to wear my warm and cozy tops, but some days it is too warm!  Oh well, I'm sure the wet and cold will be here soon enough, lol!   And I should not be complaining anyway, my corner of the world has not faced the devastation that the southeast has!  Absolutely sickened by the response of the current administration, as well!   Anyway, you came here to see cards, so here they are.

This one will be heading off to Freshly Made Sketches.  I generally don't make cards as busy as this one, but felt in the mood, lol!  All the papers, stamps and dies are from a Simon Says Stamp fall themed card kit I got last year.  Finally putting it to good use!  I used distress oxide inks for the leaves.  I inked up the leaves using the tiny distress ink blenders and they worked like a charm.  I pounced on one color and then was able to add the secondary color exactly where I wanted it to go!  To make things easy on myself I die cut all the images first, left them in the cardstock and then lined up the images.  It worked perfectly.   I trimmed down the background paper, added some additional pieces behind it for strength and adhered it to my card base.  The gingham paper was die cut with a tag die from the kit, the leaves adhered along with the sentiment.  I finished everything off with the two little bows.  I really like how it turned out.  Will add this one to the current Time Out challenge, as well.

This card is for Color Throwdown and as you can see I used that pretty tag again!  It was right there at my finger tips so why not?   The mushrooms are from a die set from the Greetery.  I inked them up with distress oxide inks and then adhered them together.  I had the embossed background panel on my desk as well so decided to use it, too.  I went with the debossed side as sometimes I like that look better than the embossed side.  The embossing folder is from Simon Says Stamp and came in the card kit that I used to make the first card.  I die cut the tag from off white cardstock, inked up one corner with distress oxide ink that was left on the blending brush and then added the mushrooms.  The sentiment is from the Greetery Oakwood sentiment set.  I finished off the card with the double bow at the top of the tag.   More my usual clean and simple style!   Adding this card to the Simon Says Stamp World Card Making Day line up.  

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

cozy hugs...

 Hello, hello!  I'm back with another card that I made using one of the laser cuts from the 49 and Market Vintage Orchard set.   When I saw the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this particular laser cut immediately came to mind.   Let's have a look at what I made.

As you can see the card is very simple.  I die cut kraft cardstock with a rectangle die.  I added splatters of  Gilded foundry wax and then heat set the splatters with my heat tool.   Sentiment is from the Simon Says Stamp Cozy Autumn Hugs stamp set and was stamped using VersaFine CLAIR Acorn in.  I used thin foam squares on the back of the laser cut and placed it on my panel.

I stamped the second sentiment on kraft cardstock with the Acorn ink, as well and then adhered that to the laser cut with tiny foam squares.  The panel was then added to a kraft cardstock base.   Making cards has been a little hard for me to do lately due to not having the time so it is nice having the laser cuts to help me quick and pretty cards!  So this card will be going to Freshly Made Sketches and to the current Time Out challenge to be inspired by a quote about autumn.  My friend, Greta, is on the design team.  The card she made is absolutely amazing.   Also adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

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

Birch Press Design

 Hello!  Popping in to let you know that I have a post up on the Birch Press Design blog today.  Here is a little peek of what I created.

Hope you will head over to the Birch Press Design blog to see the full project.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Autumn and Christmas

 Hello!  Popping in to share two cards that I made for the Sunday Stamps and Paper Players challenges, as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  One card features autumn and the other features Christmas.  Both were made with products from 49 and Market.  First up is the autumn card. 

This card features 49 and Market Vintage Orchard collection.  I have fallen in love with 49 and Market products.  They are absolutely gorgeous!  For this card I used a beautiful piece of floral patterned paper for the background.  The tag was die cut from another piece that features a more mixed media look.  The floral piece, as well as the butterflies and bee are what they call laser cuts.  They are more substantial than regular thin die cut pieces of a similar style and I love them!  I popped the floral piece with thin foam squares and then added the butterflies and bees with glue.  The sentiment is from a Simon Says Stamp birthday set.  I wrapped the green twine around the background panel, pulled the ends through the hole in the tag and tied the bow.  I then flipped the tag over, added thin foam squares and adhered it to the background.   This is going to Sunday Stamps and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. 

The next card is for the Paper Players challenge and features the 49 and Market Evergreen Season collection.  Let's have a look.

I started with a white cardstock panel that I embossed with a Spellbinders embossing folder with a Christmas/holiday theme.  I decided to go with the debossed side for this card.   The tag featuring Santa and the floral cluster are from the Evergreen Season Ephemera Bits and just like the laser cuts they are made from a very high quality cardstock that is super substantial.  I pulled out a piece of plaid paper and trimmed it down per the sketch.  That was adhered to the white panel and then I layered on the tag and floral cluster.  The sentiment is also from the Ephemera Bits pack.  I finished the card with the green twine bow and some Rock Candy glitter to the center of the white flower.  One more Christmas card for my stash!  I'm also going to add this to the Peace on Earth challenge.  They have a fun inspiration board, but I just went with anything goes. 

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