Spooky Halloween House

 

Hello! It has been quite a while since I shared anything here on the blog but today I do have a Halloween card I'm super excited about. I used many of the Open House dies from Spellbinders to create a spooky Halloween house front. To start, the Open House Door Base and Open House Door Side Panel were both die cut from True Black card stock. The windows at the top were die cut with the Open House Halloween dies, to give the look of spiderwebs. 

The solid panels behind each window were cut from white card stock and then I used finger daubers to ink Squeezed Lemonade and Wild Honey Distress Oxide inks to create the look of glowing lit windows. 

The mail slot, door knob, and 31 were all cut from silver card stock. The pumpkin dies are from Open House Boo! I used the same distress oxide ink colors to create the glow inside the jack-o-lanterns. All of the die cut elements were adhered to a Smokey Shadow panel that had some bricks cut from it using the Brick Layer die by The Greetery. I also used a blending brush to add some Black Soot distress oxide ink to the edges of my brick panel to darken and give it dimension. The brick panel was adhered to a Smokey Shadow card base, and I blended a little Hickory Smoke distress oxide ink behind the brick openings for some variation. 

Thanks for looking!

SUPPLIES:

Paper: True Black, Smokey Shadow, Luxe Silver (PTI), Pumpkin Pie (SU!), Accent Opaque White 

Ink: Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Gathered Twigs, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot (Distress Oxide)

Dies: Open House Door Base, Open House Door Side Panel, Open House Halloween, Open House Boo! (Spellbinders), Brick Layer die (The Greetery)

Seeds Of Knowledge Teacher Cards

 
I've been making a whole stack of end of year teacher cards for all of my son's teachers. It's been fun pulling out lots of different school themed sets! These cards use an old Papertrey Ink set called Seeds of Knowledge. I thought the style of the sentiments would look great with a faux chalkboard theme, and that also ties into a school theme, so I that is the direction I went in. 

The main sentiment of each card was white heat embossed on Smokey Shadow card stock so that it would stand out. Then I added in the flowers, from Itty Bitty Blooms by The Stamp Market, with white pigment ink for a softer look. 

In keeping with the chalkboard look, I added a kraft frame with Ink to Paper's Border Bling: Skinny Diagonal Frames die. 

Finally, the stamped panel was adhered to a white card base. I'm so thankful for everything our teachers do for our kids!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Seeds of Knowledge (PTI), Itty Bitty Blooms (The Stamp Market)

Paper: Smokey Shadow, Kraft (PTI), Accent Opaque White

Ink: Sweet Tooth Pigment Ink (MFT), Versa Mark

Dies: Border Bling: Skinny Diagonal Frames (Ink to Paper)

Other: white embossing powder

You Make This World a Beautiful Place

The last day of school for my oldest son is tomorrow so I have been a busy bee making end of year thank you cards for all of his teachers. This particular card was a fun one as it is meant for his art teacher! 

I used an old die from My Favorite Things called Artist Palette & Brush die namic. I also dug through my stamps to find images with small splatters. These splatters are from two different sets, Distressed Patterns by MFT and Corner Adorner: April by PTI. 

Each little color of paint was originally die cut from white card stock and then I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers to color them in rainbow colors. I also added Glossy Accents to the paint to give it some realistic shine. I also used my Zig markers to color in the tip of the paint brush. 

The sentiment is from the My Monthly Hero Kit May 2019. That kit is super fun because it is all about crafting and art supplies! I can't wait to give this to my son's teacher tomorrow!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: My Monthly Hero Kit May 2019 (Hero Arts), Corner Adorner: April (PTI), Distressed Patterns (MFT)

Paper: Basic Black (SU!), Kraft (PTI), Accent Opaque White, silver

Ink: Real Red, Only Orange, Summer Sun, Tempting Turquoise (SU!), Mowed Lawn (Distress Ink), Midnight Violet (Altenew), Candy Violet (Pinkfresh Studio), VersaFine Onyx Black

Dies: Artist Palette & Brush die namic (MFT), Crimped Frame (The Greetery)

Other: Zig Clean Color Markers, glossy accents, fun foam

AlphaBud Bold Floral Details Thank You Cards

After yesterday's card I had (and still have!) quite a few extra stamped AlphaBud Bold Floral Details pieces so I played around with more card designs. I wanted to see how they looked with the Written in Ribbons sentiments. I think they pair beautifully!

On both cards I used the "Thanks" sentiment from Written in Ribbons. You can never have too many thank you cards on hand. I stamped the "thanks" using Coral Reef and Passion Fruit inks, which are the pinks I used on the flowers. I decided to layer my design on a scalloped panel, so I used the Honey Bee Stamps Scallop A2 Card Frames Honey Cuts die. 

Before adhering any die cuts to the scalloped panel, I splattered it with some watered down gold acrylic paint to add some interest and shine to the background. I also stacked two scallop layers together for a bit of dimension. 

I also added a second die cut "Thanks" underneath, so that the sentiment stood out a bit from all of the mini flowers framing it. 

For my second design I used a different scalloped die. I also opted for a smaller format. I cut my card base from white card stock using the Papertrey Ink Noted: Scallop A1 die. 

This time I stamped the sentiment using Grassy Knoll and Olive inks. The "Thanks" die cut is also double stacked for dimension. I also added some piercing detail using Papertrey Ink's Nesting Basics: Pierced Ovals die.

I also added some of the little flowers to the envelope flap to coordinate. I love how these turned out and can't wait to make more!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Written in Ribbons, AlphaBuds Bold Floral Details (The Greetery)

Paper: Accent Opaque White

Ink: Coral Reef, Passion Fruit, Berrylicious, Grassy Knoll, Olive, Apricot, Clementine, Persimmon, Lemon Whip, Sweet Mustard (Pinkfresh Studio), Basic Black (SU!)

Dies: Written in Ribbons, AlphaBuds Bold Floral Details (The Greetery), Noted: Scalloped A1 die collection, Nesting Basics: Pierced Ovals die (PTI), Scallop A2 Card Frames (Honey Bee Stamps)

Other: Flappable Stencil (The Greetery)

Bold Alphabet - Just a Note

Hello! I finally had a chance to play with some of my new anniversary goodies from The Greetery! I tried out the new Bold Alphabet dies and also the AlphaBud Bold Floral Details stamps and dies for this card. 

I cut out the letters from white card stock to form the sentiment "just a note" from the Bold Alphabet dies. I kept the dies wired together and had to run them through my Big Shot several times, even with a metal shim, to get them to cut all the way through. I also cut the AlphaBud Bold Floral Details die from white card stock. I die cut several sets, knowing I wanted to stamp a big pile of blooms. 

Then I got to stamping all of those adorable mini flowers! I kept to a summery color palette of pinks, yellows and oranges using Pinkfresh Studio inks (colors listed below). Then I had fun arranging! Before adhering my final arrangement onto a panel cut with the Nordic Frame die, I splattered it with gold ink for a little added interest to the background. The focal panel is popped up with fun foam underneath. I also sponged some Coral Reef ink around the edges of my white notecard base to give some definition to the Nordic Frame detailing. Thank you so much for reading!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: AlphaBud Bold Floral Details (The Greetery)

Paper: Accent Opaque White

Ink: Coral Reef, Passion Fruit, Berrylicious, Olive, Apricot, Clementine, Persimmon, Lemon Whip, Sweet Mustard (Pinkfresh Studio), Basic Black (SU!)

Dies: Bold Alphabet, AlphaBud Bold Floral Details, Nordic Frames (The Greetery)

Other: Flappable Stencil (The Greetery), gold paint

Teacher Appreciate Gifts 2021

Hello! It is Teacher Appreciate Week and boy do we appreciate our teachers! After months of virtual learning I am SO glad my kids are back at school in person! I put together these small gifts for my kids' teachers as a small way of saying thank you for all they do. 

I spied these adorable mini sparkling juice cans at Trader Joe's this week and the wheels immediately started spinning on how I could dress them up for gift giving. They came in a few different flavors; I bought the strawberry and watermelon ones. I had some small white gift bags already that fit the cans perfectly. They just needed tags!

For the strawberry cans I pulled out a retired Papertrey Ink stamp set called Strawberry Patch. I used the cans themselves as very literal inspiration for the tags. I began by die cutting an Essential Tag from Sweet Blush card stock. Then I cut several of the strawberries and leaves out of white card stock and stamped them in Real Red and New Leaf inks. The "For You Teacher" sentiment is from another retired Papertrey Ink set called Enclosed: Apple. I was delighted to find this "so appreciated" sentiment from one of my The Stamp Market sets called Summer Stems! I also stamped a few curly vine images, also from Strawberry Patch, directly on the tag peeking out from the strawberries and leaves. I tied the tag using some matching green satin ribbon.

For the watermelon tags I also cut an Essential Tag, this time from white card stock. I used the Fruit Salad: Watermelon die set from Papertrey Ink for this tag. SO fun! I used Berry Sorbet, New Leaf and white card stock. I die cut the watermelon a second time from True Black card stock and inlaid the seeds. After the tag was assembled I also went back over the seeds with glossy accents for some realistic shine. The sentiments were stamped in New Leaf, Berry Sorbet and Onyx Black inks. I used matching Berry Sorbet Saddle Stitch Ribbon to tie them on. 

I am so happy with how these turned out and they were delivered to the teachers today. I hope they enjoy them and thank you to all of the teachers out there!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Enclosed: Apple, Strawberry Patch (PTI), Summer Stems (The Stamp Market)

Paper: Berry Sorbet, New Leaf, True Black, Sweet Blush (PTI), Accent Opaque White

Ink: Berry Sorbet, New Leaf (PTI), Real Red (SU!), VersaFine Onyx Black

Dies: Fruit Salad: Watermelon, Strawberry Patch, Essential Tag die (PTI)

Other: Berry Sorbet Saddle Stitch Ribbon (PTI), Limeade Splash Satin Ribbon (Fun Stamper's Journey), glossy accents

Purple Layered Bouquet Mother's Day Cards

Today I am sharing more Layered Bouquet Mother's Day cards. I seriously stamped a big pile of pink and purple bouquets and went to town making cards! These are very similar to yesterday's pink cards. 

For today's purple cards I used Altenew inks. The blooms are stamped in Soft Lilac and Lavender Fields. The leaves are stamped in Leafy and Mossy inks from The Stamp Market. The background was die cut from Lilac Grace card stock with the Pierced Plaid Cover die, also from The Stamp Market. The sentiment is a retired Papertrey Ink set called Keep it Simple: Mother, stamped onto a Tag Sale Quilted die. To add some dimension I used Jennifer McGuire's trick of layering die cuts. I had a couple of bouquets that didn't stamp well, so I glued them underneath! Both the bouquet and sentiment strip have three layers glued together. 

This card is stamped in the same inks. The background was die cut with Pinkfresh Studio's Essentials: Diagonal Stitched Plaid die, trimmed down to leave a white border. The bouquet is layered onto an Intricate Mandala die cut. 

Here are the last two purple cards. 

This time I layered the bouquet onto a Delicate Doilies die cut from vellum. 

These last flowers were stamped in slighter darker purple shades. I used Lavender Fields and Deep Iris. I stenciled directly onto a top folding notecard with the Diagonal Plaid stencil to create the background. This sentiment is also from Keep it Simple: Mother. This simple design was one of my favorites! I also used the Flappable Stencil from The Greetery to embellish each of the envelope flaps. 

As I said before, I stamped a big pile of the Layered Bouquets, but I don't really like to mass produce the same thing over and over again, so I enjoyed making each one slightly different!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Layered Bouquet (Pinkfresh Studio), Keep it Simple: Mother (PTI)

Paper: Lilac Grace (PTI), Accent

Ink: Soft Lilac, Lavender Fields, Deep Iris (Altenew), Leafy, Mossy (The Stamp Market), VersaFine Onyx Black

Dies: Layered Bouquet, Intricate Mandala, Essentials: Diagonal Stitched Plaid die (Pinkfresh Studio), Delicate Doilies (Ink to Paper), Tag Sale Quilted (PTI), Pierced Plaid Cover die (The Stamp Market)

Other: Diamond Plaid Stencil (Pinkfresh Studio), Flappable Stencil (The Greetery)

Pink Layered Bouquet Mother's Day Cards

 

I am making Mother's Day cards for all of the moms and mentor moms in my church moms's group. We have been entirely virtual for over a year now so I wanted to send them each something personal to stay connected and hopefully brighten their day. I used lots of Pinkfresh Studio supplies on these, including more of the Layered Bouquet set I used in yesterday's card. 

I stamped the blooms in Pale Peony and Hibiscus Burst inks. The leaves are stamped in Leafy and Mossy. For this card I layered the bouquet on an Essentials: Braided Circles die cut. The pink layer was die cut from Pale Peony card stock with the Essentials: Diagonal Stitched Plaid cover die. I trimmed it down to leave a white border. The sentiment is from a retired Papertrey Ink set called Keep it Simple: Mother, stamped onto a Tag Sale Quilted die cut. 

This card is much simpler, with the bouquet adhered directly onto the card front. To create the background I blended Pale Peony ink directly onto the card base with just the first layer of the Diamond Plaid stencil. The sentiment is again from Keep it Simple: Mother. 

This card is much like the first, except the Essentials: Diagonal Stitched Plaid die was cut from white card stock, and the flowers were layered onto an Intricate Mandala die cut from vellum. The plaid die cut is also popped up with foam adhesive underneath. Also, I used the Flappable Stencil from The Greetery to decorate each of the envelope flaps. These were so fun to make! I loved cutting a big pile of blooms and then changing each card slightly to make them each unique. I'll have more cards to share later this week!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Layered Bouquet (Pinkfresh Studio), Keep it Simple: Mother (PTI)

Paper: Pale Peony, Vellum (PTI), Accent

Ink: Pale Peony, Hibiscus Burst (PTI), Leafy, Mossy (The Stamp Market), VersaFine Onyx Black

Dies: Layered Bouquet, Intricate Mandala, Diagonal Stitched Plaid Essentials die, Essentials: Braided Circles (Pinkfresh Studio), Tag Sale Quilted (PTI)

Other: Diamond Plaid Stencil (Pinkfresh Studio), Flappable Stencil (The Greetery)

Layered Bouquet Happy Birthday

 

I have been growing my collection of Pinkfresh Studio goodies so I challenged myself to make a card using only products from that company. This was fun! The background was created by blending Slumber ink directly onto a top folding white notecard with the Diamond Plaid stencil. The focal point is the lovely Layered Bouquet stamp set on top of an Essentials: Braided Circles die cut. The circle is popped up with foam tape for dimension, and I added some clear drops here and there. The sentiment, from Happy Birthday Sentiments, was stamped in black clear heat embossed. More cards using these products to come soon!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Happy Birthday Sentiments, Layered Bouquet (Pinkfresh Studio)

Paper: Accent

Ink: Mossy, Leafy (The Stamp Market), Slumber, Blue Jay (Pinkfresh Studio), VersaFine Onyx Black

Dies: Layered Bouquet, Essentials: Braided Circle (Pinkfresh Studio)

Other: Diamond Plaid Stencil (Pinkfresh Studio), clear embossing powder, clear drops

I Love You to the Moon and Back

My husband and I recently celebrated our anniversary and this is the card I made for him. This was one of those very rare times where I had an idea in my head and it turned out just the way I hoped! Usually I get stuck somewhere along the way when making a card and have to think about how to finish it. :) 

The focal point is the very realistic moon from Altenew's To the Moon stamp set. I first cut out the moon from white card stock with the matching die cut, and then used Morning Frost, Evening Gray and Weathervane inks to stamp the three layers. The moon is popped up with foam tape. 

To create the starry background I stamped MFT's Paint Splatter Background with Versa Mark ink onto black card stock and then went over it with silver perfect pearls to make them shine. The border was die cut with Ink to Paper's Border Bling: Skinny Diagonal frames die. I actually cut it twice, once from black card stock and once from black fun foam which I adhered underneath to add dimension. The sentiment, which is also from To the Moon, was stamped in Versa Mark and then embossed with silver powder. 

Thanks for reading!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: To the Moon (Altenew), Paint Splatter Background (MFT)

Paper: Basic Black (SU!), Stamper's Select White (PTI)

Ink: Morning Frost, Evening Gray (Altenew), Weathervane (PTI), Versa Mark

Dies: To the Moon (Altenew), Border Bling: Skinny Diagonal Frames (Ink to Paper)

Other: Perfect Pearls, silver embossing powder, black fun foam, foam tape

Up, up and away!

My youngest son turned 5 a few weeks ago (a whole hand!) and we celebrated with an airplane themed birthday party. I made this airplane shaker card for him using a retired Papertrey Ink set called Little Hot Rod. 

I started by stenciling a white card stock panel with the Cloud Stencil from My Favorite Things using a blending brush and Tumbled Glass distress oxide ink. I also die cut and stamped the little airplane in Real Red ink because my son's favorite color is red. 

The sentiment is stamped using VersaFine Onyx Black ink. I used my Stamparatus to get it positioned exactly where I wanted it on the cloud panel. 

To create the shaker clouds I used a retired die-namic from My Favorite Things called Cute Cloud Outlines. It has three sizes of clouds, and I used them all. I cut one of each size out of the cloud panel, and then I cut them again from double sided adhesive foam sheets, which were adhered underneath to create the shaker walls. 

I filled each cloud with a mix of blue and clear beads from JoAnn. The blue beads are a very good match for the Tumbled Glass ink! This was a fun one to make and my son was so excited to receive a shaker card of his very own! 

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Little Hot Rod (PTI)

Paper: Stamper's Select White (PTI)

Ink: Tumbled Glass (Distress Oxide), Real Red (SU!), VersaFine Onyx Black

Dies: Little Hot Rod (PTI), Cute Cloud Outline die namic (MFT)

Other: Cloud Stencil (MFT), double sided foam adhesive, beads, clear acetate, Stamparatus (SU!)

Egg-stra Special Easter

Up today is a sweet little Easter card. This is a case of a card where the background really dictated the rest of the design. What I mean by that is after making the Mother's Day cards in my last post, it occurred to me that creating another gingham background using both the pink AND the yellow inks would be really pretty. I tried it out and loved it! So using the Square Dance Stencils by The Greetery, I blended both Spun Sugar and Squeezed Lemonade distress oxide ink onto the first layer, creating a really pretty orange color. Then with the second layer I used only Spun Sugar, and with the third layer only Squeezed Lemonade. I had no real idea of what I was going to make ahead of time, but when I saw the cheery gingham pattern and cut it down with the Crimped Frame die, it just looked like it needed to become an Easter card. :) 

I looked through my Easter supplies and just started pulling things out and playing. First I embossed my little bunny (from a retired PTI set called Bunny Blessings) onto Kraft card stock and cut it out with the matching die. I also die cut a bunch of the flowers and leaves that are also in that set and inked them up using the same colors as on these cards. The colors I used were Pink Pirouette, Pale Peony, Barely Banana, Daffodil Delight and Vintage Jadeite. 

I used my Big Egg die to cut a white egg and used that as a place for my sentiment, which is from Hoppy Easter. And actually it helped determine the sentiment as well. I love the pun of an "Egg-stra special Easter"  being on an egg die cut! A little butterfly, also from Bunny Blessings, was added to the top of the egg. My entire main panel was popped up with a large piece of fun foam behind it and adhered to my white card base. This was a fun project and it went out to its new home in yesterday's mail. I hope it arrives in time! 

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Hoppy Easter (Honey Bee Stamps), Bunny Blessings (PTI)

Paper: Stamper's Select White, Kraft (PTI)

Ink: Squeezed Lemonade, Spun Sugar (Distress Oxide), Barely Banana, Daffodil Delight, Pink Pirouette (SU!), Pale Peony, Vintage Jadeite (PTI), Versa Mark

Dies: Big Egg, Bunny Blessings (PTI), Crimped Frame (The Greetery)

Stencil: Square Dance (The Greetery)

Other: white embossing powder

Layered Bouquets for Mother's Day

I'm getting a head start on making my Mother's Day cards this year. These ones use a beautiful floral set from Pinkfresh Studio called Layered Bouquet. 

The flowers and leaves are each just two steps so this large bouquet stamped up very quickly! For the flowers I used Pink Pirouette and Pale Peony inks. The leaves are stamped in Mossy and Leafy inks. 

The flowers are matted on a Delicate Doilies die cut from Stamper's Select White card stock. The doily has a circle of fun foam adhered behind it to add dimension.

The sentiment is from a retired Papertrey Ink stamp set called Keep it Simple: Mother, stamped in Pale Peony ink onto the banner portion of a Quilted Tag Sale die cut. The banner is also popped up with foam tape. 

Let's talk about the gingham background for a moment. It's made with the Square Dance Stencils from The Greetery and I am in love with how it turned out! Using a fairly light hand I blended Worn Lipstick ink for the darker portion and Spun Sugar ink for the lighter parts. I think it is so pretty! Finally, the stenciled panel was trimmed down with the largest Crimped Frame die. 

And here it is in yellow! I don't normally do yellow but I really like how sunny and cheerful it turned out.

The yellow flowers were stamped in Barely Banana and Daffodil Delight inks. The background was stenciled with More Mustard and Squeezed Lemonade distress oxide inks. 

These were a joy to make and actually turned out how I had planned in my head. That never happens! Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Layered Bouquet (Pinkfresh Studio), Keep it Simple: Mother (PTI)

Paper: Stamper's Select White (PTI)

Ink: Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar, Mustard Seed, Squeezed Lemonade (Distress Oxide), Pink Pirouette, Barely Banana, Daffodil Delight (SU!), Pale Peony (PTI), Leafy, Mossy (The Stamp Market)

Dies: Layered Bouquet (Pinkfresh Studio), Delicate Doilies (Ink to Paper), Tag Sale Quilted (PTI), Crimped Frame (The Greetery)

Stencil: Square Dance (The Greetery)