Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day is here this weekend and Simon Says Stamp's SSS Monday Challenge is "Feminine." Here is a Mother's Day card I made for a friend.

I was scrolling Instagram a morning or two ago and saw a card and its tutorial... and had to try this new-to-me fold. The Pocket Front Card is so easy and you can make it for any occasion with whatever you want to put in the pocket or on the front of the card! The tutorial (click on its name in the last sentence) is from Splitcoaststampers. I used a My Favorite Things die set called Freshly Picked for the flowers and ink blended them with distress oxide inks. The sentiment inside is an ancient Stampin' Up! one, and the patterned paper is also SU!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

-Carol

 

Floating on the Sea

It's Word Week: Float, over at the Just Us Girls Challenge #582 and I have quite a few pool float stamps in my collection that came to mind first. But yesterday I was looking at stamps and patterned paper at the store and found this cool leaf stamp with the girl floating on it. Bingo!!! Here is my mini slimline card.

The leaf girl stamp, for lack of a better description, is just a single stamp I picked up at Jo-Ann's. The other leaves are from Sugar Pea Designs' "Tropic Like It's Hot" set and Flora and Fauna "Flamingo Pool Party" Set. The sentiment is Flora and Fauna from their "Mermaid Kisses" set.

I stamped the leaves around the edge, then ink blended green ink around them before adding blue and turquoise inks to make the water. I used Copic markers to color the leaf "float" and girl, then fussy cut it. I popped up the leaf/girl on foam dots for depth. Last, I added some iridescent sprinkles here and there.

Go check out the fun cards over at JUGS this week. I love seeing all the different ideas on a word week.

-Carol

Summertime

The Color Hues #17 Challenge (here) this week is red and orange. I decided to make a mask and use the negative one to be able to ink blend my flowers. I also love inlaid die cuts and decided to do that on my card as well.

I stamped my flowers in black ink on a  4" x 5 1/4" white cardstock panel, then stamped them again on Post-it notes and cut out the flowers. I used the background, not the flowers, to mask the background on the card. I ink blended the flowers lightly at first, then added more ink here and there using Distress Oxide inks in orange and coral and one classic red ink pad. I stamped some black dots next, to fill in empty space between the flowers. 

The "summertime" die actually cuts out the square and the letters at the same time. I ran my stamped and ink blended panel through my die cut machine once with the "summertime" die. Then I ran it through my machine with a piece of cardstock that I had ink blended in an ombre pattern. I cut a scrap piece of cardstock a little bit bigger than the ombre die cut background. I glued that scrap to the back of the die cut ombre square then inlaid the ombre square into the stamped panel and glued in the white letters. I adhered some sequins to the card for sparkle. I made a white cardstock, A2-sized card base and popped up my stamped panel onto it with foam tape.

Products used:

Stamps: Pretty Pink Posh Crocus Flowers, Stampin' Up! Timeless Textures (dots)

Ink: Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink, Distress Oxide inks in Dried Marigold and Abandoned Coral, Stampin' Up! Classic Real Red stamp pad.

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Summertime Die

Sequins: Pretty Pink Posh

Paper: Stampin' Up! extra thick white cardstock

Hope this made sense. Go check out The Color Hues challenge this week to see all the pretty cards there!

-Carol

 

Dude

Over at The Paper Players PP539 the theme is boys, and with Father's Day coming, the "boy" in our house will be celebrated! Here is a card I whipped up this morning for him. 

It all started with the All Night Media cool penguin dude stamp (circa 1984). I have hoarded this pretty fish patterned paper for a while but decided it fit a more masculine card like this, and penguins like fish, right? I used Stampin' Up! markers to color the penguin and ink blended with their ink pads too. I thought the wonky squares and font of the letters on the front went well together. I used foam tape to pop up the center dies inside and out for fun! I like all the clean white of the card with the pops of blue and orange. Hope you do too!

Products used:

Stamp: All Night Media

Inks: Stampin' Up!

Dies: My Favorite Things Peekaboo Wonky Window and Sizzix Hunky Dory Alphabet

Sentiment: My computer

Check out the Paper Players challenge this week to get ideas for a boy card done for a boy or dad in your life!

-Carol

Yummy

I'm back with "a little yummy for your tummy" box of donuts today! I have seen other versions of this type of interactive card and finally sat down to try it myself. I want to make others now, but here's my first attempt. I'm entering it in the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes" here.

I was making this "box" up as I went along, but knew that I wanted a lid to open to reveal the donuts sitting on waxed paper. I used a rectangle die for the window on a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of pink cardstock. I used the next biggest rectangle die to cut acetate for the window and adhered it to the opening with red line tape on the back side of that pink panel. Next I made an A2, top folding card with the same cardstock. I had to make a hinge to attach the lid to the actual card, so I cut a 4" x 1/2" long strip and scored it in half along the long edge, then attached it to the lid and the card with red line tape. I used a small circle punch to cut a "slot" at the bottom of the lid. I stamped and Copic-colored the donuts and added chunky glitter as the sprinkles. I attached them with glue dots to a rectangle of vellum to look like waxed paper, and adhered the vellum to the card with glue dots hidden under each donut. I added a small piece of velcro to hold the lid shut. The sentiment on the front of the card is attached with glue dots that I aligned with the polka dots in the acetate so that they wouldn't show on the inside of that window. I used foam tape along the bottom edge of the card to keep it loosely closed, but still not flat against the donuts. 

Products used:

My Favorite Things Inside and Out Stitched Rectangle dies

The Stamp Market Donuts stamp and die set

Stampin' Up! A Little Yummy for Your Tummy stamp (not sure which set it came from)

Sizzix Ornate Label die set (for the sentiment)

Copic Markers

Glue Dots

Red Line Tape

I plan to give this to someone with a gift card to Krispy Kreme attached to the back of the card. I think it's a cute, interactive card that can be kept on your desk at work or home. Who wouldn't want a box of donuts on their desk?!!

See you again soon,

-Carol

 

Celebrate!

I like trying new card styles and today I sat down to make an interactive one. I stumbled upon two new challenges this week. The "Inspired By Challenges" website is here and I am playing along with their Inspired By IB 171: I Woof Celebrating here. It is a photo challenge. (See their photo below the pictures of my card) The other one that is new to me is TGIF challenges C313 (dogs) here and I am also entering NBUS #25 (Never Been Used Schtuff) again here. Here is what I made!

I was inspired by the photo because of its watercolor, the cute dogs with birthday hats and the colors used overall. First I cut the peekaboo frames dies (that I have had forever but never used!) from watercolor paper. Then I ran those die cuts through my Big Shot again with the dog dies to make inlaid design doors. Next, I watercolored the dogs with distress inks and a water brush. I stamped the hats and watercolored them the same way. I cut two strips of watercolor paper and used distress inks again to watercolor them for a little more color on the card front. I mounted all of these die cuts and elements on a panel of watercolor paper. I added my sentiments inside and out. Then I cut and scored a side fold A2 card base in an aqua shade of cardstock. Last, I added glossy accents to the noses and eyes of my little dogs.

Here are the products I used:

Stampin' Up! - Peekaboo Frames, A Little Birdie Told Me and Celebration Time stamp sets

Simon Says Stamp - Peeking Pup and Picture Book Labrador dies, Intense Black Ink

Ranger Distress Oxide Inks

Glossy Accents

Watercolor paper

Aqua cardstock

I have ALWAYS liked interactive cards and ones with texture. When my daughter gets a card, I notice that she looks at all the details and touches the different textures just like I have always done. She especially appreciates the work that goes into handmade cards, so she is the recipient of a lot of what I make. Who do you make a lot of cards for?

Check out this challenge for yourself! 

See you back here soon,

-Carol

Hello Sunshine

Spring has definitely sprung in a lot of places and flowers are popping up all around. I wanted to use, for the first time, my dies from My Favorite Things called Freshly Picked. I was also inspired by the Just Us Girls #581 photo challenge (here) this week to use my Bootiful Occasions set from Stampin' Up!  And I love my Simon Says Stamp Hello Sunshine Frame dies and thought they would be cute with the boots and flowers. In addition to JUGS #581, I am entering my card in NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) #25 (here) and Happy Little Stampers: Anything Goes With Dies (here).

I cut the flowers out of white cardstock and ink blended distress oxide inks onto them. Then I glued all the tiny leaves and flower heads to the base die cut. I stamped the boots with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink and colored them with a blue Copic marker. Then I adhered the flowers behind the boots with Tacky Glue and foam tape. I die cut the photo frame and sun from white cardstock and colored the "sunshine" and the sun with Copics. That's it!

I hope you will check out the challenges for all the fun ideas posted there!

-Carol