Petals & Stems

Good afternoon, bloggers. It's the same old story toady - It's. Cold. Too cold. So let's think Spring thoughts, ok?! 

That's exactly what I was thinking of while creating this card. I started with the Petals and Stems clear stamp set by Avery Elle. The set is perfect for building different combinations of floral designs. I chose to stamp a few leaves on a piece of white cardstock. The flowers were stamped in bright hues on a separate piece of cardstock, and then fussy cut and adhered to the cardstock. 

Every card needs a little bling. StazOn Metallic Gold was used to highlight the flower centers. Love the illusion of glitter it gives. To finish, I trimmed the cardstock and adhered it to a card base with foam risers.  

Thanks for stopping by my corner of the world today... I hope a little Spring warmth finds you soon. 

SUPPLIES : Paper Cut White Cardstock / Avery Elle Petals and Stems Set / VersaColor Pigment Inks / StazOn Gold Metallic Ink

Drill #17 : Fussy Cutting

Good morning! It's time for another Drill with S.W.A.T! For this challenge, we're asking you to get our your precision scissors and FUSSY CUT. As always, there's a prize up for grabs - Make sure to link up your project on the S.W.A.T blog! 

Let me start by saying I LOOOOOVE to fussy cut! Cutting and coloring are calming to me. Paper piecing, using cut outs, and transforming patterned paper is where. it's. at. 

Therefore, I was super psyched for this challenge. I had recently added a floral patterned paper to my stash and knew it needed to be used! You can see the full 12x12 paper by Echo Park here. I cut out a few of the individual flowers and used them as embellishments. 

Adhesive was added only to the center of the flowers, and I used my finger to bend the leaves upward. Love the texture and dimension this adds, along with the slight distressing of the edges. 

I finished off the layout with washi tape, super fun bling, and sticker letters. 

Head over to the S.W.A.T blog to see the other samples from my fellow Design Team members... They have lots of ideas to help you start your own fussy cutting project! 

SUPPLIES :: Echo Park (Flower Garden), Crate Paper (Decor, Maggie Holmes Lovely, Ephemera Pack), American Crafts (Cardstock, Mini Alphas, Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm Oatmeal Thickers) Queen & Co (Cotton Candy-Candy Stripes), Studio Calico (Seafoam), Close To My Heart (Arrow Paper Clip)

TOOLS :: Fiskars Scrapbooking Rotary Paper Trimmer, Close To My Heart Paper Distresser, EK Success Cutter Bee Scissors, MyStik Permanent Adhesive

Use It Tuesday -- 50th Challenge!

Good morning! I'm so excited you've joined me today. Use It Tuesday is turning 2, and we're partying hard during our 50th challenge! 

Challenge 50: Create a project using an un-inked stamp. Bonus points if you use GOLD! 

I'll admit, I have several un-inked stamps. So this challenge was going to be an easy one... until I had to decide which one to use! I decided to break out this set from Tim Holtz. The background stamps in this set feature reverse imagery. That's right - The words are backwards. I always liked the idea of stamping the background directly onto the embossing folder, but never found a folder I wanted or could use with such a technique. What a great excuse to go shopping! 

After a walk around Creation Galore's store, I came across this beautiful swirl embossing folder by Sizzix. I stamped the script background three times directly onto the embossing folder, inserted the cream cardstock into the folder, and ran it through my machine. When it came out, the script does not show up on the embossed edge, creating multiple layers easily. 

I applied Antique Linen Distress Ink to the embossed design with the ink pad directly. To add some depth, I added Forest Moss to just the edges of the cream cardstock with the applicator tool. 

For the gold element of the challenge, I embossed this flower stamp from Penny Black onto vellum. I also added some gold cord around the sentiment, and tied a bow. 

Thanks for stopping by today... Make sure you head over to the Use It Tuesday blog to see more inspiration and play along!

Smile

Hello paper crafters. Today I'm happy to share a card I posted on the KinderStampO blog as a guest designer. KinderStampO has a great selection of flowers, trims, and other bling that you just NEEEED. The theme for this project was FUN IN THE PARK. 

Initially, I pulled out bright pinks and teals, but decided on a more elegant feel for my card. Here's what I created:

As you can see, I thought of a fun day at the park, laying among the flowers and smiling. Who doesn't like a day to escape responsibility and just enjoy the scenery?! 

I started by sewing patterned paper onto the card front, adding a doily and the sentiment. Next, I layered several punched out pieces, flowers, and bling. The heart was punched out of white cardstock and inked with a dye ink pad. The hard surface of the dye ink pad made the harsh lines you see. I added more stitching to the collage of embellishments, only this time a little less structured. 

You can find the bling, doily, and paper flowers in the KinderStampo Online Store. Make sure to check out the KinderStampO blog to find more inspiration.

CARD SUPPLIES
Cardstock: A Muse Studio (Kraft, Sugar, Blueberry)
Stamps: Market Street Stamps
Ink: Memento (Rich Cocoa)

Hello :: Retro Sketch Challenge

Why hello! I found myself on the Retro Sketches Challenge blog today and fell in love with this week's card sketch. Take a look:

So fun! The first creation I made with this sketch is the card below. As you can see, I didn't center the elements as shown in the sketch and added a few more layers. 

I've had this dimensional flower punch from EK Success for MONTHS and have been intimidated by it. So I got past the fear and gave it a try today. The result was amazing! I just love the look. 

Thanks for stopping by... Head over to Retro Sketches and enter your own creation! 

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Paper Cut (White Linen, White), American Crafts (Dark Kraft)

Patterned Paper: American Crafts (Nifty, Dreamy)

Stamp: JustRite (Seeds of Summer)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)
Punch: EK Success (Dimensional Punch Dahlia)

Kindred Spirits

Good morning! Today I'm sharing a colorful card sure to brighten anyone's day. At least I'm hoping it will brighten yours. 

I used lots of A Muse Studio products on this one... the stamps, papers, and ribbons all came from this delightful company. What a great job (it sure doesn't feel like one) to be able to play along with these great products and bring them to you! One of my favorite A Muse Studio items is the satin ribbon. I love how big and beautiful the bows turn out. And of course, no card is complete with a touch of baker's twine. 

The sentiment was stamped on a flag I created out of yellow cardstock. I adhered the piece to grey cardstock and cut around it, creating an outline. 

The stamps I used were meant to work together - a black outline with a colored inside. For this card I decided to try something new by stamping them individually and using them as separate components. It's an interesting look. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

CARD SUPPLIES
All products A Muse Studio
Cardstock: Onyx, Lido
Patterned Paper: Grass Dot, Lido Venetian
Stamps: Kindred Spirits
Inks: Grass, Cherry, Memento (Tuxedo Black)
Ribbon: Cherry Satin
Baker's Twine: Onyx

Sketch It Saturday: Amazing Sunflowers

Welcome to Sketch It Saturdays! Every Saturday, Unscripted Sketches posts a sketch for the week. Go ahead, flip the sketch, rotate it, create a card, a scrapbook page, or anything your imagination comes up with! There is no right or wrong way, as long as you use the sketch above as the inspiration for your creation! 

Here's the card I created using today's sketch: 

Today is also time for our monthly Piggyback Challenge! If you haven't played along with us before on a piggyback week, it is simply an additional, optional challenge. This challenge is to add movement to your project! Can you make something pop up, swing out, lift, or hide? I chose to pop up the layers of my card with foam risers and add a big bow!

The flower background was created by stamping a floral image from the Graphic Sunflower Set from A Muse Studio repeatedly with colored inks.

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: A Muse Studio (Lido, Sugar)

Patterned Paper: A Muse Studio Venetian (Lido)

Stamps: A Muse Studio (Graphic Sunflower, Elegant Elements)

Inks: A Muse Studio (French Roast, Grass, Papaya, Ocean)

Sending You Flowers

Just a little faux stitching, Distress Ink, floral goodness for you today. 

Hope you're having a wonderful Tuesday. 

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Paper Cut

Patterned Paper: Reminisce

Inks: Distress Ink (Vintage Photo), StazOn (Jet Black), ZIG Writer (Black)

Stamps: Penny Black 

Voice of the Heart - Dimensional Butterflies

Hello friends. Today I'm sharing a card I created using this week's sketch from Unscripted Sketches as inspiration. I changed up the sketch a bit, but stuck with the quote suggestion. And I just couldn't resist the dimensional butterflies. It makes this larger stamp come to life!

The sentiment got a little lost on the card, so I added black pigment ink around the edges and some stitched ribbon.

To recreate the dimensional flowers yourself, gather any butterfly stamp and tacky glue. For this specific card I used the Brown Eyed Susan stamp from Northwoods; however, I've used this technique on multiple other butterfly images. 

Stamp and color the image as you wish. Then stamp the image again, coloring only the butterflies. Cut out the butterflies and fold in half with the colored side inward. Add a little glue to the fold and adhere to the first stamped image. I love using Glossy Accents from Inkssentials. It appears as an epoxy sticker when applied over a sticker, paper, or stamped image and allowed to dry. However, it also is a fast drying, clear, incredibly durable adhesive. It's my go-to-glue for buttons, twine, and metal embellishments. 

Head on over to Unscripted Sketches to view this week's sketch, see what the rest of the Design Team whipped up, and enter a card yourself! I'd love to see what you create.

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Copic X-Press It Blending Card, Paper Cut

Stamps: Northwoods, Penny Black

Inks: Copic Markers, Memento Dye (Tuxedo Black), ColorBox Pigment (Black)

Ribbon: MayArts 

COPIC LIST

Flowers: Y06, Y08, Y26

Centers: E17, E18

Leaves: G21, YG63, YG67

Blues: B93, B02, B05

Purples: V12, V15, V17

Oranges: YR02, YR04, YR07

Thinking Of You

All products from A Muse Studio

Paper- Sugar

Inks- Slate, Lichen

Dots Stamp from Polka Dot Patterns Set

Floral Stamp from Beautiful Botanicals 2 Set

Oval from Ovalicious Set

Sentiment from Essential Sentiments Set