Mermaid Bookmark within a Card

Hi there and welcome!  Today I’ve used the Narrow Card and Bookmark Die with Envelope along with the Mermaid Wishes stamp & die, the Catching Some Rays stencil set, the Ocean Reef Builder stamp & die, the Turtley Awesome stamp & die and the window die from the Slimline Card Series: Stitched Card Panels and Windows die set.

To make the card:

1. I first die cut a scalloped panel from the Narrow Card and Bookmark Die with Envelope and saw that I could cut 2 windows into the panel using partial die cutting  and the windows die from the Slimline Card Series: Stitched Card Panels and Windows die set.  Partial die cutting is when you only cut part of the panel and protect the other part from being cut.  I did the same with to make an elongated bookmark, I took the bookmark die from the Narrow Card and Bookmark Die with Envelope and cut in one direction,  turned the paper 180 degrees and then cut from the other direction after measuring how long I wanted the bookmark to be.
2. After I had laid out how I thought the card would look, I took the scalloped panel cut with 2 windows and the bookmark and ink blended Distress Ink scattered straw with my Blending Buddy on the top portion over the Catching Some Rays stencil set and then lightly all over the top- so it looks like I used 2 colors, but it is actually all scattered straw!  It is just heavier where I used the stencil.  I ink blended distress ink salty ocean and tumbled glass to create the water underneath.  I then protected the sun rays on top and spritzed Lawn Fawn Liquid Stardust, plain water and Liquid Stardust mixed with salty ocean all over the ocean scene.
3. I stamped all the images in double (since I’m creating the same scene on the bookmark and the card) with copic friendly black ink and die cut them.  I copic colored all the images, added white gel pen marks, and Ranger Stickles Stardust to create areas with glitter.  I like how easy it is to apply the Stickles in small controlled amounts!  Finally, I adhered everything in place, added some sequins, some twine and a sentiment.

I hope that you will try to make this, I plan to give this card with a book to a children’s hospital.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Emoji Traveler’s Notebook Layout

Today I’m sharing a traveler’s notebook layout with some new stamps and die from Technique Tuesday.  My daughter and I had recently gone to a special Frida Kahlo exhibition at our art museum.  It was spectacular and I thought it would be a fun layout with the new emoji stamps!

To make the layout I first did some ink blending on 2 panels (4 inch by 8 inch 110 lb Neenah solar white cardstock) with distress ink: spiced marmalade, worn lipstick, picked raspberry, seedless preserves and dusty concord.  I then sprinkled water with a paintbrush as well as liquid stardust from Lawn Fawn.

I then die cut a bunch of the emojis from yellow and bronze cardstock.  I also stamped a few of the images from the Emojis stamp set and fussy cut them. I stamped some of the emoji with Versamark ink to create a tone on tone look.  I created a frame for each of the photos using 2 rectangle dies (I just used what I had in my stash)- the photos are 2 inch by 3 inch sized photos (polaroid instax) and I created flowers with the colors that were prevalent at the exhibit- I used dies from a company that no longer exists- just use what you have in your stash.  I finished the layout with some gold embellishments & alphas.

Here is the entire set of listing for the Memory Keepers Studio Stamps: Memory Keepers & Fresh Cut Studio Stamps

The stamps & dies I used today are located there and here as well:

Stamp set: Emojis Stamp Set

Dies: Emojis Crafting Dies

BUNDLED: Emojis Stamp Set with Matching Dies

Thank you for stopping by!!

 

Framed Springtime Bunny Card

Today I have a small sized frame card that uses the adorable Springtime Bunnies stamp set as well as the Scene Builder stencil.  I cannot believe that I am already thinking about springtime & Easter already!

To make the card:

1. This card is smaller than an A2 card, but you can easily make it an A2 sized card.  I happened to have the Slimline series Frame & Fold die set from Trinity Stamps, which allows one to cut a frame/ polaroid photo frame for a smaller sized card.  In the past I have always made my own “polaroid” photo frames- simply die cut a rectangle and then use a smaller square die to die cut the middle off center.
2. Once I had my polaroid photo frame die cut, I took the square from the middle and ink blended with the Scene Builder stencil using distress ink mowed lawn (for the grass) and my own blend of distress ink (for the clouds) as shown below.
3. Next I die cut and copic colored a bunny, flowers and sentiment from the Springtime Bunnies stamp and adhered them onto the panel.  I used Gina K connect glue to adhere all the butterflies embellishments; I used the Watercolor Butterflies- purples & blues .  I used some Avery Elle twine to make a bow and then added double sided foam tape to prop up the “frame” part of the photo.

Thank you so much for stopping by- have a wonderful day!

Floral Slimline Shaker Card

Today I decided wanted to try a recent technique that I had stumbled upon- painting with alcohol inks.  I thought the Magnolia Sympathy Stamp set would be perfect to use, so I created a tall slimline shaker card.

To make the card:

1) I die cut a scalloped frame and shaker windows using the Trinity Stamps Slimline dies out of Lawn Fawn speckled cardstock and white foam.  I used an 8.25 inch by 3.25 inch card base.  I adhered the foam to the card base, glued the reverse side of the cardstock squares, poured in Sweetheart heart sequins and then glued it shut with a piece of acetate on top to create the shaker component.  I then heat embossed the “thinking of you” sentiment from the Magnolia Sympathy Stamp set with Brutus Monroe Gilded sparkle embossing powder (a gold embossing powder with gold sparkle in it).

2) I repeated stamped florals and leaves with Versamark Ink from the Magnolia Sympathy Stamp set onto heavy vellum from Bazzill. This vellum can easily take on heat embossing without warping; I highly recommend it! I heat embossed all the images with the same Brutus Monroe Gilded Sparkle embossing powder that I used for the sentiment. I then put a few drops of Ranger Alcohol Ink Pearls onto an acetate block, dipped my paint brush in and painted the vellum as shown below.

It only takes a few drops to paint all the flowers- the alcohol ink dries fast, so just make sure to have some alcohol blending solution on hand to reconstitute it!  I painted the flowers with “Enchanted” Alcohol Ink Pearls and the leaves with “Sublime” Alcohol Ink Pearls.  Then I fussy cut all the leaves and florals and glued them onto the card.

I hope that you will give this technique a try, it is very enjoyable!  Thank you for stopping by!

 

Sweet Hogsmeade Layout

I have another traveler’s notebook layout for you today. I’m guesting at Technique Tuesday for the next few months; I’m focusing on the newly released Sweet as Candy Stamp set & dies and the Candy Jar crafting dies.

To make the spread:

1. I used a 8.25 inch by 4.25 inch insert (standard size) and cut 2 panels (8 inch by 4 inch) out of cardstock with a fancy script on it.  I painted a faint amount of white acrylic paint over the areas that were going to focus my photos.  The photos always drive my design; I had chosen those first and die cut small polaroid-type frames which I adhered on top of each photo.
2. I stamped and die cut each of the images from the Sweet as Candy Stamp set & dies onto to Neenah Solar White Class Crest 110 lb cardstock, which I then copic colored and put highlights on with a white gel pen.  I die cut the jar out of vellum and had extra hearts that I had cut out with the Candy Jar crafting dies.  I adhered everything to the page, including cardstock alphas and glitter stars that I had in my stash.
3. I thought the Candy Jar crafting dies would be perfect for making a shaker clip that would further highlight the spread.  To make the shaker clip, I had to adjust some of the die cuts as shown in the photos:
   

   

   I die cut the entire jar out of blue cardstock, white cardstock, blue vellum, acetate and foam; I cut the lower part of the foam piece off as shown in the photos so that the jar would fit with the lid. I also had to make impressions with the die cuts so that I could cut out the outline of the entire jar in white cardstock and acetate. For the bottom part of the jar, I adhered the blue cut cardstock to the acetate piece that spanned the entire bottom of the jar, which was then adhered to a foam piece- this creates a capsule for the shaker that contains all the shaker pieces.  The foam lid was adhered to a white cardstock piece that spanned the entire candy jar (again I ran a piece of cardstock with an embossing pad so that the outline of the candy jar could be impressed on the paper that I could fussy cut by hand.  I adhered the inner vellum piece to the same white cardstock piece.  Now was it was time to fill the shaker, so I die cut lots of hearts out of heavy cardstock that I had on hand and then applied some glitter glue on top for shimmer.  Once dry, I put the shaker pieces in and adhered the jar shut.  To make it into a clip, I impressed and fussy cut 4 more pieces of the entire jar onto the Neenah 110 lb cardstock and fussy cut a notch for the paper clip into 3 pieces.  I glued the 3 pieces with the notch onto the back of the shaker first, then hot glued the clip in and then sealed the entire shaker clip with the final un-notched piece.  This is definitely easier to show in a video, than describe in a blog post, and if there is a lot of interest, I can make a video.

Thank you for stopping by- I hope that you will give the traveler’s notebook method of memory keeping a try!

Floral Coffee Mug Card

Today’s card was completely borne out of experimentation- I had no idea if it would work or not!  I love to create this way, but usually do not have the time to do so.

I wanted to paint with alcohol inks onto vellum to create a watercolored look and I love how it turned out.

To make the card:

1. I die cut several coffee mugs with the die from the Coffee Mug Card die out of Neenah 110 lb solar white cardstock and Bazill thick vellum.  I highly recommend using this vellum because it can stand up to heat embossing and the inks very well by not warping!
2. After using a powder tool, I stamped the Love You Bunches floral image with Versamark ink onto the vellum die cut and then heat embossed Brutus Monroe gold glitter embossing powder onto it.
3. Grabbing an acrylic block, 3 pearl alcohol inks (Intrigue, Alchemy & Sublime) as well as an alcohol mixative, I placed a couple of drops of each color as I used it.  You have to work fairly quickly since the alcohol evaporates fairly quickly and leaves dry ink behind, but you can always reconstitute the ink with some alcohol pretty easily.  I used a small paint brush to apply the color and just working and layering color in different areas until I was happy with the result.
4. As a final touch I added the word HUGS inside the card and the word “sending” on the outside of the card using the Sending Hugs die set.  

It was immensely satisfying to paint with the alcohol ink, I know alcohol inks are very trendy right now- I hope this inspires you to pull out your inks and give it a try.

Thank you for stopping by!

 

Technique Tuesday Friendship Layout & Promo

Hello and welcome!  Today’s post is all about friendship and all the designers chose products from the Friendship Inspiration Stamps category this month.

I made a layout in a Traveler’s Notebook about a trip my daughter and I took last August to visit her BFF in New York City.  We ran around Central Park for a long time and then headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art before taking the LIRR to my mom’s house.  The photos above are taken from right outside the restaurant in Central Park- I just loved the view and wanted to remember it.

To make the layout:

1. I used a standard size notebook insert (8.25 inch by 4.33 inch).  I always use the photos as the starting point for figuring out what type of layout I’m going to make. I had a bunch printed out from the restaurant view and from inside the museum, so  ultimately, I felt the dragonfly theme fit best with the Central Park photos. Slowly I put an outdoor themed layout together, as I figured it out along the way rather than had a complete vision at the onset.
2. I had to die cut 2 panels of light blue cardstock with a scalloped panel via partial die cutting since the dies were not made to produce panels of such size.  In partial die-cutting one side is first cut, then one adjusts the die & paper to cut from the other direction.  I wanted tone on tone stamping with the dragonfly from the Inspired Dragonfly stamp set bundle as shown in the photo below.  The color that came closest to the pale blue was actually a pigment ink (rather than a dye ink) from Mama Elephant (winter).  I stamped the dragonfly repeatedly to create a very subtle background.
3. I often look to actual photos of nature for inspiration regarding color.  I did look at several photos of dragonflies before deciding to focus on shades of teal. I used vellum, copic colored white cardstock and glitter cardstock to cut several dragonflies before piecing them together with connect glue.
4. I wanted the lovely sentiments from Inspired Dragonfly stamp set bundle to be very prominent, so I die cut some clouds and stamped the sentiments in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I die cut some grass, some lady bugs from the adorable Build A Dragonfly die set, and adhered the chipboard alphas and sequins to finish off the layout.

How about a promo?  Technique Tuesday has a promo for free shipping on US orders over $25.00, the Coupon Code is TTFriend and it is good through 2/20/20.

Thank you for stopping by!

Rainbow Rocker Card

I admit that I definitely love the rocker cards, it is so much fun to create shaped cards. I had in my mind to make a rainbow with the new Miss Ink Dazzle Dust and I’m pleased with how it turned out.

To make the card:

1. I put double sided adhesive on Neenah Solar White cardstock and die cut a rainbow  (Trinity Stamps die). The rainbow has separate pieces, so I took one piece at a time and poured Dazzle Dust on it, shook off the excess and then ran each piece through a die cut machine to burnish it in place.  I used Mermaid Lagoon, Moody Blues, Rose Garden, Lucky Leprechaun and Pumpkin Patch. I repeated this process for each part of the rainbow as shown below.
2. I used the largest circle die that I had (5 inch) to die cut a circle out of Neenah Solar White 110 lb cardstock, a circle out of acetate, and 2 half circles out of green cardstock.
3. I die cut and copic colored a fox and sentiment from the Bubbles stamp set. I then put together the card as follows.  I added a strip of acetate to the fox and put it in the card slot.  I also cut 2 slots toward the end of each side of the card to secure the acetate half circle that has the rainbow & Dazzle butterflies adhered to it. I added double sided foam tape to the grass pieces before adhering them to the lower half of the card, so that the fox could move freely back & forth.  The sentiment was added with some glue as the finishing touch.

Thank you for stopping by!

Bunch of Gardenias Card

Today I wanted to showcase some stunning new embellishments, watercolor butterflies in pink & yellow, so I used none other than the lovely floral stamp, Gardenia.  In the photo are the other watercolor butterflies that are available in the shop, the purples & blues, the blues & yellows and if you can’t decide which one you would like best: the mixed colors embellishment pack.

To make the card:

1. I die cut the gardenias from the Gardenia stamp set, and copic colored with YG67, G24, RV25 and RV23.  I then made a few gold accents with some gold liquid pearls from Ranger.
2. The card base was a 6 inch x 6 inch Neenah 110 lb cardstock in solar white scored in half.  The scalloped panel, from Trinity Stamps, was adhered to the card base. I did use a die to make the paper wrapper to wrap the flowers (Hero Arts) out of green vellum.
3. Once I was happy with how everything was placed on the card, I adhered the paper wrapper, florals & butterflies.  I die cut a banner from the Springtime Banners set and stamped & heat embossed a sentiment from the Everyday Sentiments stamp set.

Thank you for stopping by!