Embossed Vellum Twofer!

Happy Tuesday everyone - I'm here with a pair of cards I started Sunday & finished last night. First up, a silver one that got me going at 3am (or as cardmaking friend Cat likes to call them - vampire hours):

Supplies: Paper - Recollections A2 card;

Stamp On It vellum; Neenah white; 

Spellbinders Betterpress Pepple

Embossing Folder - Spellbinders Sparkling Snow 3D

Dies - Birch Press Design Adornment Snowflake

 (deep discount at BPD!)

Press Plate w/Die - Spellbinders Merry and Bright Sentiment Strips

Other - foam tape; Betterpress Thunder ink

The Go7 (Group of Seven Cardmakers) is doing embossing on vellum as this month's technique. I love this technique but haven't done it in quite a while - time to get busy, I thought (and why not at 3am?!). Oh, and you can see one of my "masterpieces" from 2011 with heat embossing on vellum HERE, if desired.

I dry embossed a couple panels of 65# translucent clear vellum using a new-to-me Simon Hurley 3D snowflake embossing folder - so pretty! I adhered one to a pale silver A2 card with glue in the center where I knew I was putting a snowflake diecut, plus dotting some snowflake centers - really disguised by the pattern, I think.

Next I diecut the snowflake from white Neenah & the outline from 45# irridescent silver vellum. Adhered together and added to the card with foam tape. Then I pressed a 5x7" panel of Pebble Betterpress paper using various holiday sentiment pressplates - here's a photo of them on the chase; I used new Thunder ink first:

Die cut them with their coordinating dies & popped a strip sentiment onto the snowflake. Done! Then I did the same process with golds. This time I die cut the snowflake from white glitter paper. Here's that card:

I pressed the sentiments on Betterpress Porcelain paper using Tuscan ink - here's a photo of all the sentiments still on the platen after pressing: 

Besides the sentiment strips plate, I did the sentiments from 

3 other Spellbinders Betterpress plate sets:

Seasons Greetings Evergreens

Poinsettia Corner

Holiday Foliage Joy

The Joy to the World doesn't have a coordinating die but I have found different labels that work really well with it. I love how the strip sentiments have a single die that cuts them all - such a time saver! I cut those first since the top sentiment was a bit too close to pop the die on with the strip one.

Would love to hear which one you prefer. I was in love with the silver until I did the gold one - LOL. Will probably change my mind back and forth... Great card for mass production - I might make some jewel colored ones; the irridescent vellum pack has many gorgeous colors! On that - I have been hoarding the vellum for years so was glad to make time to use it here. I checked & linked to it - the company where I got the vellum is still in business; they just didn't come to any expos in Minnesota this year (that's where I first met them).

First time using the layered snowflake as well as the embossing folder, so I'll add my card to Darnell's September NBUS Challenge #66. I'll also link up to Merry Little Christmas Challenge #58 where it's Anything Goes Christmas.

Thanks for stopping & have a crafty day!!

August 2024 Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Hello and welcome! It's time to reveal the cards that went around the world for the August Card Chain. Twenty-four people participated and my card went to Arlene (A Bit of This and That) in California. You can see the entire chain revealed HERE.

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts Dove A2 card;

Lawn Fawn Spring Perfectly Plaid; 

Doodlebug Swiss Dot; many scraps

Dies - My Favorite Things Fundamental Florals;

Poppystamps Flower and Leaf Sprinkles;

Spellbinders Four Petal Thank You Floral;

Hero Arts Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies;

Cheery Lynn Whistle a Happy Tune (retired);

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Press Plate with Die - Spellbinders You Are Everything Sentiments

We had all sorts of fun options for August:

Color Palette Option

Sketch Option

Theme Options:  Music / Funny / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Tissue Paper / Rocker Card

As you can see, I picked something from every category! Did the colors, the sketch, theme of music & product of tissue paper. Loads of die cutting and a Betterpressed sentiment from the stash. It may be hard to see in the photo but my dotted heart has a tissue heart mat layer.

Those of you as "organized" as I am will appreciate this - wanted to use my Cheery Lynn treble clef die as soon as I saw the sketch & theme of music. Could I find it? No!! Searched high & low - no luck. Fortunately I had a bunch of clefs already die cut ages ago - many colors, including hot pink - perfect! I stacked 3 for dimension and stability.

Gail (Crafty Nomad) sent me a card from Norway but I think it went to China instead.... No worries - I'll post a photo here once I receive it. ** UPDATE 9/23 - card received!! Thanks for the darling card, Gail - plus the postcard of your sheep & the edger die!!

That's it for today. You can sign up for the September chain until the 6th; go HERE for details.

Thanks for stopping & have a crafty day!!

Final Day for the August 2024 Die Cut Divas Challenge!

Hey everyone - I'm part of the end of month post at Die Cut Divas today. We're sharing last minute inspiration for our August Challenge with the theme of embossing & sponsored by SheepSki Designs.. It ends tonight at 9pm Pacific time. 

I shared card one below but also have two bonus cards only here:

Supplies: Paper - My Favorite Things black;

Copic & printer friendly white; scrap of pink

Digi - SheepSki Designs Floral Heart

Dies - Hero Arts Thinking of You Stamp & Cut;

Lawn Fawn Platform Pop-Up (bow)

Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Lace Circles

Other - Copic Markers; Versamark ink; 

Ranger clear embossing powder

For my first card, I used the same heart image as a previous card but minus the butterfly. Once again sister Diva Arlene (A Bit of This and That) printed off some images and she made this one larger than the other. Too large for an A2 card so I decided to make it a circle card. I found an old QuicKutz scalloped circle die set - the largest one was a perfect fit! I die cut two from black cardstock and scored the back before adhering together & adding the heart circle (colored with Copics). I'd planned to wet emboss a sentiment this time & did. Just not the usual stamp & emboss. Instead, I applied Versamark ink to a black die cut and clear embossed it - such amazing shine!

After assembly, I noticed a black Copic stain on my circle - darn it! I had used a Copic 100 marker to color the edges of the scallops & my fingers were a bit stained. It was a small spot but I couldn't cover it up with a white gel pen. So I die cut a LF bow and added to the card to cover the spot. The tail piece of the bow is horizontal when die cut but I snipped it in half and glued the tails hanging down. Good save, eh?

Ready for a couple bonuses? First a daffodil card:

Supplies: Paper - Copic/printer friendly cardstock;

Paper Studio A2 card

Digi - Jo's Daffodils

Stamps - unk for sentiment

Dies - Elizabeth Craft Stitched Rectangles (retired)

Other - Copic Markers; Hero Arts Pitch Black ink;

Versamark ink; Ranger clear embossing powder

I colored the daffodils three different ways based on photos I found on google. On the SheepSki site for this image, the inspiration photo has some hand drawn lines on the glass vase so I tried to replicate that. Thought it added some shape to it. This time I stamped and clear embossed the sentiment. Put the stamp set I used in a safe place, then couldn't find it to note the brand - oh well...

For my final bonus, I got another Christmas card made!! Arlene sent me this sweet birdie image and I had fun coloring it with Copics. Added some sparkle to the snow and matted it in black. Embossed a 4.25x5.5 piece of Bermuda cardstock using a new Honey Bee embossing folder. Since the folder is newly used, I'll send this card to Darnell's August NBUS Challenge #65.

Supplies: Paper - Copic/printer friendly cardstock;

Hero Arts Bermuda; MFT black; Paper Studio Glitter

Digi - SheepSki Designs Winter Robin

Dies - Elizabeth Craft Stitched Rectangles (retired);

Recollections Handwritten Works (retired)

Embossing Folder - Honey Bee Snowflakes 3D

Other - Copic Markers; Hero Arts Sparkle lacquer

The JOY came out of the bits box where it had languished forever! I had to search my blog to find what brand it was (Michael's) - LOL. Anyway, it was cut with a bright pink glitter paper but my berries were red and I wanted red. So I colored it with increasingly darker red Copics - still retained some pink so I added some dark pinkish Copic to my berries - good enough!

That's it, friends - hope to see your last minute creations in the August Diva Gallery using embossing. If it's wet embossing, be sure to include a die cut in your design!

Thanks for visiting & happy crafting!!

Craft Roulette 230

Hello everyone - Happy Friday night!! I typically don't post twice in one day but I watched Craft Roulette Episode #230 live tonight & yes, I made my card during the show. Decided to just go ahead and post since I have a busy day tomorrow...

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Solar White; 

Hero Arts Layering Paper (retired);

My Favorite Things plaid

Stamps - Hero Arts Four Hearts (c2012 retired)

Dies - Kat Scrappiness Mini Slimline Postage Stamp Edge Dies

Other - Hero Arts & Memento inks;

Park Lane gems; printed sentiment

Mary Gunn FUNN had Lea Lawson (@LeaLawsonCreates) as her guest. Lea is a crafter plus the Marketing Manager at PinkFresh Studio. Here's what the wheel spun for us:

• Project - Shaped Card: I made a postage stamp shaped card.
• Colors - Peacock: I used blue/green/purple.
• Element - Tall: I made a tall mini-slim card.
• Random - XOXO: The heart I stamped is printed with XOXOs.

I die cut two mini slim sized postage stamps, scored the back one and adhered the front one. Added a mat layer die cut with the next smaller postage stamp. Stamped and white embossed the heart, then inked with green/blue/purple. Fussy cut it & added to the card with foam tape, then glued a stripe sentiment across it. Three gems completed the card.

That's it for tonight! Please stop back tomorrow for our last of the month Die Cut Diva post & thanks for visiting!

Inspired by Bobby at Just Us Girls!

TGIF everyone! Just a quick post this morning with a card I finished for the current Just Us Girls Challenge #742 to CASE one of the design team members. Here's my card inspired by Bobby's beautiful card!

Supplies: Paper - Tim Holtz watercolor; Poptone Black;

Spellbinders A2 card & Betterpress porcelain

Stamps - Hero Arts Elegant Weeds (c2011 retired)

Press plate w/dies - Spellbinders You Are Everything Sentiments

Dies - AJVD Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Faded Jeans & Blueprint Sketch Distress Stains; 

Betterpress Costal Ink; foam tape; 

Ranger Seafoam white ep; Versamark ink

I was drawn to the white embossed weeds and deep blues on Bobby's card. I stamped and white embossed using a retired Hero Arts weeds set onto watercolor paper. My weeds didn't emboss as crisply as I would've liked, oh well.

Next I swiped Distress Stains over the paper - loved this look! Spritzed it a bit for some water droplets, dried it & then die cut with a stitched rectangle. Adhered to an A2 card & finished it off with a Betterpressed sentiment from the bits box. Quick & easy!

That's it for today. I'll be back tomorrow with the last-of-the-month post for Die Cut Divas. We have embossing for our August Challenge & would love to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by & happy crafting!!

Floral Celebration Threefer

Hey everyone - hope all is well with you! I'm back with my second entry of three allowed at Just Us Girls Challenge #741 (Anything Goes Stencil Week) and third of three at Color Hues #93 (Orange and Yellow), plus I have a couple bonus cards.

Supplies: Paper - Recollections yellow glitter;

Paper Studio pastel A2 card; scraps;

Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain

Press Plate with Stencils - Spellbinders Floral Celebration and Stencil Bundle 

Press Plate with Dies - Spellbinders A Little Message Sentiments 

Dies - Hero Arts Tag Frames Infinity Dies;

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Park Lane gems; various inks; foam tape

I pressed the new-to-me Floral Celebration plate using Bark ink & colored in orange/yellow/brown (neutrals allowed) using the coordinating stencils. It's a 6 step process and I have a photo of step 6 along with the inks I used (lower right ink is a Hero Arts gold):

There was room at the top of my 5x7" panel to press a couple of sentiments which I did using Saffron ink. I die cut both plus some shadow layers. I die cut the floral panel with three different stitched rectangles from the same AJVD set so I had two extras for bonus cards:

Additional supplies: Scrappy Tails dies from Bloom Trio Bundle;

My Favorite Things plaid paper & scraps

Additional supplies: Elizabeth Craft Designs retired stencil

Spellbinders All You Need Sentiments

That's it for today! I'll also send card one to Darnell's August NBUS Challenge #65 since my press plate bundle is newly used here.

Thanks for stopping by & happy crafting!!

An Anything Goes Monday!

Happy Monday friends! I'm playing today with Darnell's (djkardkreations) IDEAS program where on the 4th Monday of the month Anything Goes!! You can see her beautiful inspiration HERE. I'd been working on another card using some PFS washi so decided to finish it this morning:

Supplies: Paper - Recollections A2 card; scraps;

Neenah Solar White; Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain;

Washi - Pinkfresh Studio English Garden

Dies - Pinkfresh Studio English Garden &

Folk Edge Rectangles 

Press Plate w/Die - Spellbinders You are Everything Sentiments

Embossing Folder - Tim Holtz Cobblestone 3D

I mentioned back in July that I'd found the PFS English Garden still available at my local store and finally dove in (see a card with the stamps & stencils HERE). It's retired at PFS but I see Frantic Stamper still has the stamps & dies HERE. 

I'd added the washi to a piece of Neenah & cut a bunch of pieces & made a birthday card which I'll share next. The floral clusters above were leftovers. If desired, you can see a card HERE made with some English Garden washi pieces that Lisa (My Paper Tales) sent me last year; she enabled me!

The washi pieces were sitting atop a piece of cardstock I'd embossed with the TH Cobblestone folder. I wanted to cut it down with the Folk Edge die which flattened the 3D texture but I didn't really care. I could've re-embossed it but I was too lazy! You can see the 3D texture on the next card.

This card went to my sister Tami who has a bday this week. The die cut birthday and the printed HAPPY were in my sentiments box - brand unknown.

I'm entering card one in the August Pinkfresh Studio Challenge to use washi. You don't have to use the colors in their photo; that's one option.

That's it for today - thanks for visiting!! Hope you have a crafty Monday & if interested, check out our Die Cut Diva August Challenge where our theme is embossing!