"FLOWER CART" AND "LAZY DAYS" MOTHER'S DAY CARDS

 

What better time than Mother's Day to share Mother's Day cards, right?  I made a handful of cards last week that featured Stampin' Up!'s "Flower Cart" bundle in two different colors . . . Flirty Flamingo and Highland Heather.  The cart wheel bases and the banners were cut from silver glimmer paper, but the banner is so little that it almost gets lost on the cards.

I love that the "Flower Cart" stamp set has some two-step stamping images, and they are so easy to line up.  As I mentioned in a recent blog post, I like to die-cut a lot of shapes from white cardstock, keep them in the stamp case, and then stamp them when I'm ready to use them.

I underestimated how long it would take to assemble all of my stamped images and die-cut shapes.  Making these cards literally took the better part of an entire day.  Of course, I had to step away from the process a few times to tackle some laundry and other chores.

From the above photo, you can see the detail on the cart's "wooden" box.  To enhance the detail, I inked the die with Pecan Pie ink before cutting the shape from Pecan Pie cardstock.  Inking the die made a really big difference!

The die-cut tags on these cards are from the "Tailor Made Tags" dies, which I use often and keep within reach.

In the photo below, you can see the shine/glimmer on the cart's wheel base.

The card that I made for my mother features the "Lazy Days" bundle, which is now retired.  I'm sure I would be fine if I had not noticed this bundle during its final days of availability, but I am so glad to have it.  Every time I reach for it, I feel thankful to have finally noticed it (just in the nick of time).

Apparently, there are MANY ways to arrange a porch and as many other choices for creating a porch view.  I just love this bundle!

And that die-cut pillow.  Oh, my goodness, it's just the cutest.

To all the mothers, I wish you a happy and blessed Mother's Day!

BRYSON'S BIRTHDAY BICYCLE CARD

My nephew, Bryson, celebrated a birthday over the weekend, and today I'm sharing the card that I made for him.  It features the brand new "Dotted Circles 3D" embossing folder from Stampin' Up!, which I am really enjoying.  As you can tell from the photo, those dots really pop!  I used a snippet of "Meandering Meadow" designer paper in the white photo frame and thought it was a nice scenic background for the bicycle.  Take a closer look at the Glossy Dots Assortment on the bicycle wheel and the Iridescent Rhinestone (which I colored black with a Stampin' Blends marker) on the camera lens:

The happy birthday sentiment (a retired Stampin' Up! die) was cut from Pool Party and Basic Black cardstock, layered with an offset, and then brushed with Wink of Stella.  Another retired die set (On Film Framelits) was used to cut the photo frame and camera, and a piece of black twine was used to create a strap for the camera.  For the bicycle, I used a Memory Box die (Brand New Bicycle).  The seat and handlebar grips were cut from Lemon Lime Twist cardstock, and I used a Stampin' Blends marker to color the tires.

I think what really pops on this card is the designer paper, and I love that Stampin' Up! has another new collection . . . "Thoughtful Journey" . . . which also features gorgeous landscapes on one side and beautiful watercolor designs on the other.  When I came home from work the night that I made this card, I was feeling a bit pressured because I needed to get the card made so I could mail it in time.  I had no idea what I would make and, when I came across the bicycle and camera dies (two things of interest for my nephew), everything else just fell into place--including the designer paper, which brought this card to life.

Thanks for taking a peek at my blog!  Have a stampin' good day!

"COUNTRY FLOWERS"

In the previous blog post, I mentioned Stampin' Up!'s Country Woods Suite Collection and that it includes the "Country Birdhouse" bundle.  Well . . . it also includes another gorgeous bundle - "Country Flowers".  I love, love, love the colors in the card that I'm sharing today, which features some of the dies and images from "Country Flowers".  Speaking of dies . . . I seem to be making a habit of die-cutting a handful of shapes from white cardstock and stamping them after they've been cut.  Sometimes I just do my best to line up a stamp with a die-cut shape, and then there are times when I go to a teensy extra step.

The photo above shows the scrap of white cardstock that I used to cut the floral images for my card. This scrap is now kept in the stamp case (along with the dies) to be used again and again as a template for accurately stamping the coordinating images.  I should mention that I always use a stamp positioning tool for this method in case I need to stamp the images more than once. The photo above shows the template on the tool.  On the acrylic part of the tool (which you can't see in the photo), I have used the template to line up the respective stamps.  

The die-cut shapes are placed back (on the template) into the spaces where they were cut. The stamps are inked and then stamped onto the die-cut shapes as you can see in the above photo.  When removed from the template, the die-cut and perfectly stamped shapes (see photo below) are ready to be colored. 

I should use this method all the time because it always feels like a win to have a perfect border around die-cut shapes.  Don't they look great?  Can you guess what makes them even better?  That's right . . . color!  Below is a photo of the finished card:

The images were colored with alcohol markers.  I played around with mixing some colors to get the dirty/aged texture on the gray and green pots, which I think gave them some much needed depth.  For the stool, I adhered a scrap of "Country Woods" designer paper to a piece of cardstock prior to die-cutting it, and that turned out to be good thing because the stool was nice and sturdy--and the embossed texture of the card behind it didn't get pushed through the DSP when all the layers were assembled.  The floor of the card is also from the "Country Woods" designer paper collection.  Now . . . those deeply embossed dots?  They were created with the brand new "Dotted Circle" 3D embossing folder.  

The Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins were a perfect finishing touch for this card.  My cardstock colors are Lemon Lolly and Bubble Bath.

I'm really excited about this fantastic suite of products!  My plan is to prepare plenty of stamped and die-cut images that I can work on coloring whenever and wherever.  Then . . . all of the time-consuming elements will be complete and ready to land on some cards.

This suite of products is probably going to end up on your wishlist. :-)

Have a stampin' good day!

 

"COUNTRY BIRDHOUSE" BOXED CARD SET

 

There are some FUN new products featured in today's post, including the brand new "Country Birdhouse" bundle.  It's part of the Country Woods Suite Collection and, if you're like me, it will be at the top of your wish list.  It's such a clever little bundle because you can stamp and color the birdhouse or, if you don't want to color, just use the dies to piece a birdhouse together.  The box in the photo above features the die-cut birdhouse pieces, but the four cards inside were colored with alcohol markers.  Let's take a look at them now.  Here they are all in a row:

And now let's see them one by one.

Up first is this little golden beauty on a Pumpkin Pie card base.  All of my cards were embossed with the brand new Eyelet embossing folder after they were colored and accented with a white gel pen.  The flower and leaves were cut from dies included in the bundle.  The sentiment is from the "Flower Cart" stamp set.

The second card features a pink birdhouse on Melon Mambo cardstock.

The next card is on a Summer Splash card base, which is one of the new In Colors.  This color is really close to Coastal Cabana, which I had planned to use, but I thought Summer Splash looked just a smidge better.  I forgot to mention earlier that each of the die-cut flowers feature a dimensional dot from the Glossy Dots Assortment.  

The last card is on a Highland Heather card base.  I couldn't decide which of the four cards was my favorite, but Highland Heather and Pumpkin Pie were tied for first place.  Something else that I forgot to mention--and I'm sure you've already noticed--is that the cards are 4.25" square.  

As you can see from the above photo, the cards were pretty on the inside, too.

Let's look at the box once more.  The birdhouse and that adorable little bird were adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals onto that gorgeous square of brand new "Country Woods" designer paper.  I suppose it's a good thing that Stampin' Up! limited the number of packs that demonstrators could purchase (on preorder) because it probably would have sold out.  I will definitely buy an ample supply after May because I can never have enough wood texture paper choices.  Below is a closer look:

This turned out to be a cute set of birdhouse cards, huh?

Have a stampin' good day!

"LAZY DAYS"

As I was going through the Stampin' Up! catalog weeks ago and looking at the list of retiring products, I came to the "Lazy Days" bundle and thought it looked quite nice.  I turned the page, but then I turned back for another glance.  This time I really studied the stamps and dies.  How had I missed this incredible bundle of goodness?  Even after I continued going through the catalog--page by page--and marking all of the retiring products, I kept thinking about "Lazy Days".  Of course, I had to have it.  This lovely bundle has been in my possession for about two weeks, and I finally had a chance to work with it.  Not feeling very creative, I started looking on Pinterest where I found tons of inspiration!  I can't claim any credit for this card's design, and I'd love to give credit to the designer but I have no idea who made it.  I didn't see where the design needed any improvement, and the only two things that I added were the bird on the banister and the pillow in the chair.  I actually die-cut a couple of pillows, but none of them seemed "right".  I finally decided to use a marker to draw a plaid/crosshatch design on the cardstock prior to cutting, and I finally had a tiny pillow that I loved.  The glasses of lemonade were given a brush of Wink of Stella, which you can see better in the photo below:

Want a better look at the pillow?

In the photo below, you can see the texture created with the die-cut elements and an embossing folder.  The hanging plant and table were adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals, which added an extra bit of dimension.

And why not finish this post with another photo of the card?  

As I mentioned, the "Lazy Days" bundle is on the list of retiring products and, unfortunately, some of the retiring products sell out quickly.  I wish I'd paid attention to this one sooner, but I'm glad I have it and know that it is definitely a keeper.

I hope you have a stampin' good day! 

SWEET LITTLE "FLOWER CART" CARD

Oops!  It's been almost two weeks since I shared a project.  I didn't mean to stay away quite so long, but it's been a bit busy.  At work, we were short staffed at the Concierge desk, and I agreed to work a fourth day every other week.  One little day doesn't sound like a lot, but I haven't had much time for playing (aka creating).  The card that I'm sharing today is smaller than the usual A2 size . . . this one finished at 2.75" x 4".  

When I made this card, my goal was to play with the stamps and dies to see what they would do and how to assemble some of the cuts.  I'm not gonna lie . . . I was scratching my head and saying "hmmmm" a lot.  I will definitely have to re-visit this bundle when I have more time.  Actually, it was the options for the cart that had me a bit stumped.  I adore the two-step process for stamping the flowers because it's soooooo easy, and aren't they gorgeous?  This bundle is loaded with creative options!  The Lemon Lolly and white cardstock were cut with two of the Radiating Stitches dies, and I really like the subtle detail that they add.  Circle punches and Stampin' Dimensionals were used to layer the sentiment, which was topped with a pretty little twine bow.  Here's one more look:

Cute little card, huh?

BOXED SET OF QUILTY NOTE CARDS

After making the pieced bird cards, I wanted to play around with other designs featuring designer paper and quilt block designs.  I started with 1-7/8" squares and cut them in half diagonally, but then I cut some of them in half again.  You can see how those small cuts were used to create the pinwheel designs on the first and last cards in the photo above.  In quilting, I 💗 pinwheel designs, and the two pinwheel cards are my favorite of the four.

This set of cards features the "Delightful Floral" designer paper collection, and the above photo shows the pretty Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins and silver trim.  On all of the cards, I used the retired Basket Weave embossing folder to add texture.  To create the pinwheel, you can (hopefully) see that each of the four squares were made up of one half of the 1-7/8" square plus two smaller halves that were created by cutting one of the diagonal cuts in half.  There must be a better way to explain that without seeming to use the same words repeatedly, but good sense escapes me at the moment.

The above photo shows the 1-7/8" squares cut in half diagonally so only two pieces were used for each square.  The sequins aren't easy to see, but they are there.

The cardstock colors that I used on these cards are Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Bubble Bath and Lost Lagoon.  I like that the cards are similar but not identical.

What does every cute little set of cards need?  That's right . . . a cute little box.  

I kept this one very simple, and it turned out to be a perfect fit for the four cards.  The 5.5" x 10.5" Pool Party cardstock was scored at .5, 5, 5.5, and 10 inches; rotated and scored at .5" on all four sides.  Each of the intersecting scored lines were cut to create flaps, and then a 1" Circle punch was used to create the semi-circle cut-out on the lid before the box was assembled.

Decorating the top of the box was a little too minimal, so I added some sequins after taking the photo.  I'm thinking a die-cut flower would look nice and add a little dimension, so I may end up adding one.  

So what do you think?  Are you ready to make your own set of quilty note cards? 

QUILTY STITCH NOTES

During most weekends, I head out of town for a nice visit with my parents.  My sister is usually visiting on the same day as me, and we enjoy going upstairs with our mother to work on sewing, quilting, applique, Paper Pumpkin kits . . . whatever our chosen projects are for the day.  The entire upstairs is like a huge bonus room, and we each have our own sewing station and a shared ironing station there.  My crafting/sewing nook is a little bit away from theirs because I like to be between the air vents--especially during the long summer months--but it's so nice and spacious and a great place to be together.  Recently, I wasn't feeling like working on a project, so I was just walking around the room and "taking inventory" of fabric, finished quilt tops that need to be quilted, etc.  I found this:

It was actually two sets of patterns tucked inside one bag, and a piece of paper with my name on it was inside the bag.  None of us could remember where it came from, but I was intrigued.  It appeared to have had note cards (with aperture cutouts for the designs) and envelopes at one time, but they were missing.  I have a plethora of cardstock and dies, so I knew I could do something with the patterns.  The only tricky part was getting used to foundation paper piecing, which is quite tricky because you're sewing where you can't see the fabric that you're sewing to the paper.  My first project was going to be the patriotic star (top left corner of the pattern in the above photo).  It was to be sewn in two parts (top and bottom) and then sewn together.  The top half came out quite nicely; however, I had a slight misalignment while sewing the bottom half.  That was such a disappointment, but I decided to just use the top half and create a card.

I really like it!  It may not be a complete mini quilt, but it's definitely pieced and gives a nod to a patriotic star.  I used two different embossing folders on the white and red cardstock layers to make the card look quilted.  The second card that I completed features a practice block that I made at my parent's house from scraps found in my mother's stash:

This small block was much easier to make--and it was a quick one, too, without all of those teensy star points.  Aren't the fabrics pretty?  

The funny thing is that none of us knew where the daisy fabric came from and couldn't recall ever having used it, so who knows the origin of that little scrap.  I used a square die to cut the window in the cardstock, and I also used a larger square die to create the Lemon Lolly frame around the window.  After embossing the white cardstock, that cute little quilt block was adhered to the back of the cardstock.  I used a piece of Lemon Lolly twine to make a bow and added some Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins.  The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!'s "Flower Cart" stamp set, which is featured in the current mini catalog.

Besides getting some practice with foundation paper piecing, I learned that it's sometimes a good thing to do nothing but walk a room and see what's laying around.  And now I look forward to making more stitch notes!

I hope you have a stampin' good day!

QUILTY PIECED BIRD CARDS

How adorable is this bird?!?!

If you haven't already been seeing pieced bird cards, you're in for a real treat today.  I saw this design for the first time last night, and I knew that it would be the first thing that I worked on today.  On the Frenchie Stamps blog, France Martin has a video tutorial of how to make the pieced bird and also shares a photo of a quilt that prompted her to make a paper version.  

This first card that I'm sharing features Stampin' Up!'s "Perennial Lavender" designer paper and a sentiment from the fantastic "Timeless Arrangements" stamp set.  The rhinestone jewel that I used for the bird's eye is from the retired Noble Peacock Rhinestones, but any rhinestone, small sequin, or brad would certainly suffice.

As I followed along with France's video tutorial, there were only two things that I did differently.  Instead of using scissors to round the top right corner of the bird's head, I used a Corner Rounder punch.  She may have demonstrated with scissors because Stampin' Up! doesn't currently offer a punch for rounding corners--and that's perfectly understandable.  If you have a punch, use it.  The second thing that I decided to do--which I find to be extremely helpful when it comes to selecting which papers to use for which part of piecing the bird--was to create a cheat sheet of sorts where each piece is labeled as A, B, or C.  Below is the cheat sheet that I made for myself:

For my cheat sheet and for the second card, I used the oh-so-gorgeous "Flowering Zinnias" designer paper, which is one of Stampin' Up!'s newest Online Exclusives products.  Don't miss out on this paper because it is sooooooo pretty!

For the second card, I chose to make one with a Book Binding fold.  It's so simple to make, but that one extra score line gives the card just enough interest to keep it from looking like any other card.  It also provides a perfect place for a pretty strip of coordinating designer paper.  And the pieced bird . . . I think he is so beautiful.  Hopefully, you can tell that there is a fluffy cloud above and below him because . . . well . . . he's flying high.  Below is a closer look:

And how about one more photo that does a better job of showing the Book Binding card design:

So . . . be honest . . . are you ready to cut some 3/4" squares and start piecing some pretty birds?  This is a fantastic project for some of your smallest scraps of designer paper.  I've already got a container to hold cut squares for the sole purpose of making more, more, more pieced birds.  

Have a stampin' good day!