Floral Reflection

Hi everyone - I'm nearly back to normal after my hideous virus & luckily, my dad stayed healthy! Since I missed out on last week's IDEAS with Darnell (djkardkreations), I wanted to try to get something done for this week's theme - Dies/Die Cuts. Couldn't do it Monday to tie in to Darnell's fabulous inspiration but here's my card with loads of die cuts:

Supplies: Paper - Ms Sparkle A2 card; 

Anchor Paper (marbled green); lots of scraps

Dies - Poppystamps Fern and Daisy Pop Up Easel Set

Spellbinders Essential Floral Reflection &

Floral Reflection

Stamps - Hero Arts Envelope Liner Background (c2012 retired)

Betterpress - Spellbinders Always and Forever Sentiment Strips

Other - Paper Studio and Hero Arts gems; foam tape; 

Cosmic Sky Betterpress ink; Mermaid Lagoon DOI

I stamped the A2 card with the background using Mermaid Lagoon ink. Die cut three of the largest labels and stacked for dimension, then added to the card. Die cut two of the leafy bases & all the flower bits. Assembled all pieces and added to the label. Die cut a couple small butterflies from the Poppystamps set and added them to the card. Popped a Betterpressed sentiment from the stash onto the center and added gems to some of the flowers and the butterflies - done!

Since my reflection piece has two panels, this card fits perfectly at the current Day of the Month Card Club Challenge National Look Alike Day. And the Floral Reflection die set is getting first play here so I'll add the card to Darnell's April NBUS Challenge.

Thanks for visiting and have a crafty day!!

Mr and Mrs Claus

Hey there - I'm healing gradually from whichever virus I had - ugh! Thanks for the get well wishes! Finally felt well enough today to put together a card for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge - Santa and His Sidekicks. I decided to go with Santa and Mrs. Claus, using two cute little stamped images from a Hero Arts set I picked up on clearance and hadn't used yet.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah white; Paper Studio A2 card, 

Holiday (dark red) & vintage (patterned holly);

Spellbinders Oct 23 Card Kit (plaid) & Betterpress Porcelain;

My Favorite Things Colorful Christmas Text; scrap of black

Stamp with Dies - Hero Arts Mr & Mrs (retired at HA 

but found HERE at Frantic Stamper)

Betterpress Plate with Dies- Spellbinders Poinsettia Corner (sentiment)

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set;

Spellbinders Make a Wish Arch Labels

Other - Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Copic Markers;

Betterpress Black Ink; ephemera holly from the Spellbinders kit

Simple card - stamping, coloring & die cutting, plus a bit of Betterpressing. I'll add this card to Darnell's April NBUS Challenge too, since the stamp set got first play here. Next I made a bonus card with Mr. and Mrs. Claus - this time using ephemera from the Oct 23 Spellbinders card kit and another Betterpress sentiment (Merry and Bright Sentiment Strips). I hand cut the chimney smoke with a deckle scissors.

That's it for today - thanks for stopping by! I'll try to catch up on blog commenting...

March 2024 Card Chain Reveal

Hi everyone - welcome! I'm back to share the card I sent as part of the March 2024 Card Chain Challenge. Thirty-five people participated & I sent to Carol (Crafty-Stamper) in the UK this time. You can see the full reveal HERE if desired.

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts Pitch Black; Neenah white;

My Favorite Things Colorful Canvas

Stamps with Dies - Whimsy Stamps Hey Ostrich (dies HERE)

Dies - Waffle Flower Postage Collage

Lawn Fawn Lucky Clovers

Other - Copic Markers; Glossy Accents; Park Lane gems

We had the following options for creating our cards:

Color Palette Option

Sketch Option

Theme Options: On The Farm / Postal / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Felt / String and Block Stamping

I went with the colors and sketch with a bit of postal in my inchie blocks. I still had some ostrich stamp offs sent from Arlene (A Bit of This & That) for our January Die Cut Diva Challenge using Whimsy Stamps. When I saw the sketch, I just knew I had to use one! Since I planned to color the beak orange, that became my color to add to black/white. The Copic shading on the ostrich body was done with Brick White so I'd stay in the white family. Thought some little 1" square postage stamps would be cute for the grid portion. I wanted to put something atop the squares. When I decided to use the shamrocks, I wasn't really thinking about St Patrick's Day needing green - oh well, orange is on the Irish flag, right? I heard the card brought a smile to Carol and her daughter - yay!

You can see what I did with a few other ostrich images HERE, if desired, plus I have used more that I'll share later... 

My dear friend Gundi (paperielle) sent her card to me this month, lucky me! I just love her interpretation of the sketch using masked circles and stamping! Isn't that floating fox the sweetest too?! Thanks to Gundi for this beauty and for the die cuts she sent!

Gundi also knows I enjoy postage stamps & she always puts a few on her envelopes. I trim them off and add them to my little book (made in a Tim Holtz class years ago).

Want to join the Chain? You just make & send one card, then receive one card! Go HERE by April 6th to sign up for the April chain.

That's it for today, friends - thanks for visiting!!

Happy Easter & last day for the March Die Cut Diva Challenge!

Happy Easter wishes to everyone celebrating today!! Most of my immediate family will celebrate in Arizona but I was going to take my friend/sister by choice Connie and her hubby to Easter buffet at Afton House Inn. We did the Thanksgiving buffet once and it was very good. I ended up coming down with a bit of a sniffle so we'll have to reschedule. Boo hoo!

I'm sharing at Die Cut Divas today along with the rest of the end-of month team. It's Anything Goes for this month at the Divas - just remember to use a die cut &/or embossing folder & get your last entries in by 9pm Pacific time today.

First I have some darling Easter treat boxes made using a new Lawn Fawn die set:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb;

Lawn Fawn Fruit Salad Petite; Graphic 45 Time to Flourish;

Scraps of green

Dies - Lawn Fawn Carrot Treat Box

Stamps with Dies - Carrot 'bout You (coordinating dies HERE),

Carrot 'bout You Banner Add-On (coordinating dies HERE)

Other - Copic markers, Memento Tuxedo Black ink;

Hero Arts Ultra Pink & TE Pumpkin

Lawn Fawn has generously donated a $25 gift card to their online store 

for our random winner. Thanks, Lawn Fawn!

The box was just released for Spring 2024 and so were the stamped/die cut additions. So easy to put together and Kelly Marie has a great tutorial video on the product page. I simply die cut the box from patterned papers and the carrot tops from some green scraps & assembled per the video. Stamped, die cut and colored the bunnies, sign & banner and added to the assembled box. Both are filled with Easter candies - yum!! I'll add my carrot treat boxes to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since they're new. 

For my bonus today, I made some little chick boxes - so cute for Easter!

Supplies: Paper - Lawn Fawn retired & 

scraps of Neenah white, black and orange

Dies - Lawn Fawn Tiny Gift Box &

Tiny Gift Box Chick and Duck Add-on

Other - White gel pen

Simply die cut and assemble the box following the video tutorial Kelly Marie shares on the product page. Die cut and add the chick elements form the add-on set. These boxes had room for two Dove candies each. I will link my chicks to the current Dream Factory Challenge where no bunnies are allowed on your project. And my yellow chicks fit the current I Spy with My Little Eye Challenge to included something yellow.

And I can't forget to wish Hilary (fiddling about) a happy birthday today! Here's the card I sent her using Spellbinders Spring Reflection (DOML-Feb23) and a bunch of snippets along with a background of MFT's colorful canvas in a fave color of Hilary's - green! The sentiment came from a Betterpress set You are Everything Sentiments. Hilary received the card a while ago (you never know about the post) but waited til today to open it!

Happy Birthday, Hilary!!

That's it for today. Hope to see you in the March Diva gallery by 9pm Pacific time today! 

Thanks for visiting & enjoy your Easter!!

Delivering Christmas Cheer!

Hello and welcome! I'm back with my third and final entry for Christmas Kickstart #84 - Get Your Grinch On! That means feature green prominently - so fun!!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah white; Paper Studio text & glitter;

Spellbinders A2 card & Betterpress Porcelain;

Hero Arts Pitch Black

Betterpress Plate - Spellbinders Christmas Icons

Dies - Taylored Expressions Easy Strips 1/4" ;

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Hero Arts watercolor pencils from MMH 1223 kit;

Key Lime & Green Apple Reactive Inks & sparkle lacquer;

Betterpress Black Ink

I bought the background paper last week at Hobby Lobby, thinking it would make a fun card for this Kickstart Challenge. But what to put with it? Settled on a Betterpress image I bought locally right after Christmas. Isn't that little VW bug just the cutest??!! Pressed it along with a sentiment from the same set, then die cut with a stitched rectangle. Next I added some soft watercoloring & put some snowy sparkle on the "road". Matted it with a sparkly green layer, then a white one. Die cut the text pattern with a stitched rectangle then added it to an A2 card. Added narrow strips of black to simulate a ribbon, then popped the car panel atop it with foam tape.

While I had the Betterpress and watercolors out, I did a poinsettia panel too. 

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio A2 card;

Betterpress Porcelain; scrap of green

Betterpress Plate with Dies- Spellbinders Poinsettia Corner

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Hero Arts watercolor pencils from MMH 1223 kit;

 & sparkle lacquer; Betterpress Black & Leaf Inks

Pressed the panel with black ink and watercolored. Die cut it with a stitched rectangle & added some sparkle to the pine cone. Pressed the sentiment in green ink and die cut it, along with a green shadow. Adhered to an A2 card - done! I'll add this card to the current Merry Little Christmas #55 where Anything Goes and also to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge #60 since my poinettia plate is new.

That's it for today, friends - thanks for stopping by!!

Panda-monium

Hey everyone - I'm back with my third & final card for the current Day of the Month Card Club Challenge - #61 National Panda Day. Wishing them a happy 5th blog birthday too!!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Solar White; Recollections Black;

scraps of green; Paper Studio A2 card

Stamps with Dies - Poppystamps Whittle Panda Pickup Kit

Dies - Hero Arts Thorn Tree and Grasses

Other - Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; foam tape; Copics 

I'd used up my panda items so didn't think I'd be entering a 3rd card to DotMCC this time. Then last Tuesday I was checking my blogging friends' posts and spotted Lisa's (My Paper Tales) link to her Poppystamps post. Besides her darling card, she made a treat bag featuring a pickup truck. While the pickup was sweet, I noticed it came in a kit with, you guessed it, PANDAS!! I placed an order right away &, even with our bad weather, it arrived yesterday. Didn't get my mail until after chorus rehearsal last night but, with more snowy & icy weather today, stayed in to work on this card.

Die cut the pandas in white and black & either pieced bits or used a black Copic to color. Die cut a bunch of bamboo stalks and shaded with Copics. Die cut several panels of grass to offset for the bottom. Stamped a sentiment and inked the edges with Black Soot Distress ink. Assembled on an A2 card - done! I'm really happy with how this turned out.

I'll also link to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since my panda kit got first play today.

Thanks for visiting & have a crafty day!!

Betterpressed Butterflies

Happy Monday everyone! Did you get any snow? We got about 8.5" but now it's raining/sleeting - yuck!! Perfect time to stay in and craft (after shoveling, of course)!

It's Anything Goes this week for Darnell's IDEAS project - see her fabulous inspiration today at djkardkreations. Since IDEAS has no B for Betterpress, I'm taking advantage of the Anything Goes theme - lol. April will be here soon and I need 6 birthday cards in just the first 9 days of it! Here's a card for the first birthday coming up on April 4th:

Supplies: Paper - Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain;

Recollections Black; Paper Studio A2 card

Betterpress plates with dies - Spellbinders Butterfly Swirl &

You Are Everything Sentiments

Inks - Spellbinders Betterpress Black & Memento Summer Sky

Other - Crayola pencils; Park Lane gems

I ordered the Betterpress from Spellbinders back in November & have been loving it! I especially love the sentiment sets with everything on one plate plus a matching single die. This butterfly set comes that way for the butterflies, plus it has a separate sentiment with matching die. I bought it at my fave local store, Anchor Paper, who dove right into Betterpress & carries plates from multiple brands.

After pressing the butterflies, I colored them with pencils. Normally I don't like coloring with pencils but I received a beautiful birthday card from Hilary (fiddling about) who'd done her pressed flower image with pencils (she hasn't blogged it yet). Very pretty - thanks again, Hilary! So I decided to try my luck with pencils. Since the butterflies are small, I didn't do much shading.

Next, I die cut the butterfly panel with a stitched rectangle and brushed ink along three edges. Adhered it to a black mat, then an orange A2 card. Added a pressed sentiment with shadow, done with a multiple sentiment plate - love it! Added some rainbow gems among the butterflies - done! I'm adding my card to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since the press plate is newly used.

Then I had the idea to spray a piece of Betterpress paper with some Hero Arts shimmer sprays and, once dry, press the butterflies. These I went ahead and die cut in one pass with the matching die. I'll save them for future but here's how they turned out (I used black ink but it appears brown on the shimmery background):

And why not another Betterpress card? This time I made a Christmas card with a plate I ordered from Spellbinders when they had a sale right before Christmas. First time using it too! The current Christmas Kickstart Challenge is highlighting the color green so what could be better than a bunch of pine trees?! This is my second entry (max of 3).

Supplies: Paper - Park Lane A2 card; 

scrap of red; Betterpress Bisque

Betterpress Plate with Die - Spellbinders Seasons Greetings Evergreens

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set;

Impression Obsession Cardinals

Betterpress Inks - Leaf & Cosmic Sky

Other - Hero Arts Sparkle Lacquer; R46 Copic; black & white gel pens

Looking at my Betterpress inks, I wanted something more piney than Leaf which is my only green. So, while inking the plate I added a couple layers of Cosmic Sky (medium blue) & then more Leaf - it worked! I did the sentiment with just the Leaf - you can see the difference. I added a line of sparkle lacquer to the base of the pines & then a trio of cardinals which I detailed with gel pens & a Copic.

Thanks for stopping by & have a wonderful day!