MORE BLANK NOTE CARDS FOR MOTHER

 

In my previous blog post, I showed a couple of blank note cards that I made for my mother for Mother's Day, and today I'm sharing two more designs.  The first cards featured Stampin' Up!'s "Garden Birdhouses" stamp set, Forever Gold Laser-Cuts (retired), corrugated stars (retired), "Flowers of Friendship" stamp set and coordinating punch, and gold foil die-cut Whittle birds.  Once again, these cards feature no sentiment, making them useful for any occasion.

See how sparkly all of the gold is on this card?  This card also features the retired "French Foliage" stamp set, which was a favorite of mine several years ago.  I still enjoy this stamp set and am so glad that I kept it because it is so lovely.

The second card that I am sharing today features the "Waves of Inspiration" bundle.  This is such a simple card--but not boring.  I like that this design can appeal to men or women, making it more versatile than some of the other blank note cards that I gave to my mother.

The foil paper that Stampin' Up! included in this collection is so gorgeous--and so are the sparkly rhinestones!

I still have a few more blank note cards to share, so visit again later to see them.  Until then, happy stampin'!!!

BLANK NOTE CARDS FOR MOTHER

 

My mother casually mentioned recently that she could use some cards without sentiments, and that seemed like a great Mother's Day gift . . . and a fun card-making session for me.  I think I ended up making about 12 cards and will be sharing photos of them in the next few blog posts.  The cards that I'm sharing today feature an adorable birdhouse from Stampin' Up!'s "Garden Birdhouses" stamp set and a watercolored wreath from Art Impressions' "Greenery Invites" stamp set.  For a couple of years, I have enjoyed (and been "collecting") Art Impressions stamps designed for watercoloring, but making the cards that I'm sharing today was the first time that I have worked with images from "Greenery Invites".  Oh. My. Word!!!!  What took me so long?!?!  I cannot even find the words to describe how much I enjoyed coloring the stamped wreaths!  

Those little die-cut birds?  They're from Poppy Stamps (Whittle Birds), and I cut them from Stampin' Up!'s "Blue Foils" which were part of the "Waves of the Ocean" collection.  This may have also been the first time that I have used the Whittle Birds dies, and they seemed so perfect along with the birdhouse.

Above is another sample that's very similar to the first card.  Anyone who has visited my blog for years will know how much I 💗 gingham.  It never disappoints when my project needs just a little something--but not too much.  

On each of my wreaths, I added random splashes of glimmer with a Wink of Stella brush.  On the next card, which was actually the first wreath image that I watercolored, it's obvious that I stayed "safe" by not getting colors too dark.

I really liked the assorted colors on the leaves.  Gold foil seemed like a good choice for the die-cut birds on this card.

I was really pleased with these three cards and look forward to watercoloring the "Greenery Invites" wreaths again soon!

MOTHER'S DAY CARDS

 

Is it just me, or did it seem like Mother's Day came early this year?  It was beginning to look like I might not have time to get cards made and mailed--but I did.  Better still . . . they were all received before the big day!  

I only made two designs this year, and this first one features "In Good Taste" designer paper and the "Flowers of Friendship" stamp set and coordinating punch.  I don't know why I waited so long to get this bundle, but I love it!  The design was quite simple but not boring.

My second design took more time.  Since I wanted to foil the background, the process began by spreading transfer gel on top of a stencil that was placed on the white cardstock.  The gel needed time to dry, and I gave it just under 24 hours.  Once dry, I placed a piece of Opal foil (by iCraft) on top and ran the cardstock through a laminator.  It doesn't look all that impressive in the above photo, but check out the color/detail in the photos below:

You can see how the transfer gel left a raised design from the stencil.  In the photo below, you can better see the gorgeous opal color:

The tulip on this card is from the oldie-but-goodie (retired in 2006) "Terrific Tulips" stamp set from Stampin' Up! It's 25 years old to the company--18 years old to me.  I earned it as a free hostess reward in February 2004--one month before I became a demonstrator.  

On some of my tulip cards, I embellished with Brushed Brass Butterflies, and others were embellished with (retired) Gingham Gala Sequins that had the same "opalescent" coloring as the stenciled background.  

Hopefully, I'll get an earlier start on my Mother's Day cards next year so it won't be so stressful!  😉

SWEET SONGBIRDS

 

One of my favorite bundles from Stampin' Up!'s new catalog is "Sweet Songbirds".  When my preorder arrived, the stamp set and coordinating punch were the first products that I worked with, and I'm sharing today the card that I made.

The photos aren't the best (apologies for that), but isn't this just a sweet little card?  It's perfect for when no words are needed or maybe words are hard to find.  This pretty songbird will be just right!  Of course, there had to be a coordinating envelope:

"Sweet Songbirds" is a stamp set that you will not grow tired of using, and I recommend adding it to your wish list.  The products in Stampin' Up!'s new catalog will be available soon . . . days, really . . . and then you can be all set to send sweet mail like this!

COLORING AN EMBOSSED BACKGROUND WITH A WATER BRUSH

When Stampin' Up! retired the Country Floral embossing folder, I knew I would have to keep mine because it's just so pretty--and I knew I would continue to use it.  I've never used it the way I did for this card, though, and now I love it even more!  While this project may make you want Country Floral, keep in mind that this technique can be used with other embossing folders that you have.  The technique is quite simple but, before I tell you about it, take a look at the card . . . 

It's so pretty, right?  If you're thinking it's a tedious, time-consuming technique, you're in for a surprise.  After I embossed the cardstock, I used a water brush and ink to color the embossed (raised) areas.  The fun thing about using the water brush is that I was able to achieve dark and light coloring, as well as blend colors for more realistic roses.  I believe I used Calypso Coral, Flirty Flamingo, and Daffodil Delight on them. 

For the purple flowers, I first colored with Highland Heather and then "dotted" random areas with Gorgeous Grape ink.  Other ink colors featured on this card are:  Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, and Pool Party.  

The above photo does a good job of showing just how beautifully and deep the embossing is on this card.

I used the Bough punch for the leafy stem.  After the above photo was taken, I decided to "fluff" the leaves by gently bending the sides of them with my fingers.  The die-cut bird is from the "Birds & Branches" stamp set and "Birds & More" dies.  Finishing touches to this card were the addition of scattered sequins, a twine bow, and a brush of Wink of Stella on the roses.

Dig through your embossing folders and choose one that embosses deeply so you can try this technique.  I know you want to.  😉

APARROTLY, IT'S DADDY'S BIRTHDAY

 

When I pictured this card in my mind, it looked bright and cheery . . . and not at all juvenile.  As a matter of fact, I had all of the parrots colored and die-cut a week or so in advance, just waiting to use circle dies to cut the assorted sizes and colors to create the rainbow for this card.  When I was nearly finished with assembly, that's when I realized that the card looked more fitting for a birthday boy and not so much for my 84-year-old father.  But can you guess what I did?  I mailed it anyway because who among us would frown upon opening a bright and cheery birthday card???  I didn't take a picture of this card folded flat, but that's the beauty of this platform pop-up card . . . it folds nearly flat for mailing and then pops up to the shape of a fun and dimensional structure, which is quite sturdy.  Following are more photos:

After cutting the colorful circles (frames, actually) for the rainbow, I cut them in half to avoid bulk when the two platform pieces were adhered together.  An extra circle, the same size as the largest (red) rainbow frame, was cut from a piece of Window Sheet.  After adhering the red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple half-circle pieces to the top half of the Window Sheet, the lower half was adhered between the two platform bases.  This made the rainbow very sturdy!  

You can see from the top view of the card (above photo) that the rainbow was visible from both sides, so I adhered clouds on both sides as well.

Since the back of the card was looking pretty good, I figured it needed a couple of party parrots.

And, of course, the envelope needed to be decorated with a parade of colorful party parrots.  

Daddy enjoyed his card, and he even knew exactly how to make it pop up for display!  I guess he's learned a thing of two from the many different kinds of cards I've mailed through the years.  Ha!

THANK YOU CARD FEATURING MARCH 2022 PAPER PUMPKIN

This month's Paper Pumpkin kit from Stampin' Up! included an extra (FREE) stamp set that is featured on the card that I'm sharing today.  The inspiration for my card came 100% from the flyer that was in my kit.  I loved everything about the flyer sample which is shown below:

It's so crisp, right?

I was so pleased with the finished card, which features Rhinestone Waves Basic Jewels and Brushed Brass Butterflies.  Of course, that lovely die-cut tag is from Tailor Made Tags dies, which I think every paper crafter should own.  My ink colors are So Saffron, Crushed Curry, and Misty Moonlight.  The Bough punch was used to cut the greenery (Pear Pizzazz and Mossy Meadow).

This is definitely a card design that I will use again and again because it was quick to make and (IMHO) has a lot of dimension and visual appeal.

SIMPLE & CHEERY SAILBOAT CARD

Today I hope to play with some new stamps and dies but--first--I wanted to share this cheery sailboat card.  It features Stampin' Up!'s "Let's Set Sail" stamp set + Sailboat Builder punch.  Those pretty jewels???  They're "Rhinestone Waves Basic Jewels" from the Waves of the Ocean bundle, and they are sooooooooo pretty!

The cardstock colors that I used for this card are Daffodil Delight and Melon Mambo, and the sentiment strip is Pool Party.  When it came time to decide the best way to use the punch, what seemed easiest for me was to punch the cardstock and then stamp the images.  Of course, there had to be a coordinating envelope:

I think it would make my day just pulling this envelope out of the mailbox!

STRAWBERRY POP-UP CARD

 

I tried to resist the urge to purchase the set of dies that so easily makes this card. I tried really hard.  I even slept on the urge, thinking that surely I could talk myself out of it by morning.  I told it to get out of my head . . . to just skidaddle!

Sooooooo . . . the card that I'm sharing today, which features Stampin' Up!'s "Strawberry Builder" punch and "Sweet Strawberry" stamp set (both of which are in the process of retiring), also features my brand new Platform Pop-Up die from Lawn Fawn that I couldn't resist.

This was such a fun card to make, and it's impressive how easily it comes together and how it folds flat for mailing . . . and how smartly it pops right up to show off whatever pretty details you add to it.  See below how it folds flat for mailing:

The photo below shows how spacious the card is when it's on display:

And below is another sideview:

So far, I don't regret my purchase; however, the one downside (which is kinda big) is that most people that I send cards to will certainly not know (and possibly won't figure out) how the card works.  That kinda means that this might not have been a wise investment.  I took this card to my parents' house last Thursday and asked my mother if she thought aunt Betty would figure out what to do with it, and she agreed with me that the answer was NO!  I knew it--in my gut, I just knew it.  The only thing left to do was sign the back of the card and ask my mother to deliver it to Betty and show her how it works.  She was so sweet to deliver this card to Betty, but she didn't agree to hand-deliver more of these cards.  LOL  That means I probably won't get as much use from my new dies as I would like, but maybe I'll remember to think about this the next time I think there's a new die that I must have.  

My purchase doesn't have to be a real loss.  I may not be able to send cards like this very freely, but I can probably create seasonal/holiday displays that I can enjoy around my house.

Z FOLD FEATURING "NEW HORIZONS" DESIGNER PAPER

 

Today I have a pretty card to share that features Stampin' Up!'s "New Horizons" designer paper, and the design that I used on this card happens to be my most favorite in the collection.  It really needed very little embellishment, but aren't the little pebbles adorable?

This particular card is a z-fold that was totally inspired by pattystamps.com.  She has an easy-to-follow video, so check it out. I love how she has used assorted designer paper on her z-fold cards, and I couldn't resist the urge to make a couple of cards myself.  I just made a couple of minor changes to my card . . . (1) Patty had the sentiment panel placed at the far right, which means that it is in view whether the card is open or closed.  I didn't want the sentiment in view, and I love how my little change allows the initial scenery of the card to continue uninterrupted by a boring signature panel.  (2) My other change to Patty's design was to place the greeting (layered circles) on Stampin' Dimensionals, which hold the card closed and give the recipient the pleasure of "untucking" that z-fold to see what's inside.  

See the z-fold below:

In the photo below, you can (hopefully) see how placing the Stampin' Dimensionals on the right side of the punched circles leaves ample space to tuck the z-panel:

Didn't the designer paper do a fantastic job of beautifying this card?  I think the die-cut fence panels really add some visual dimension . . . the pebbles, of course, are dimesional.  The die-cut grass (from the "Horizons" dies) adds dimension, even though it's hardly noticeable.

My card features the following Stampin' Up! products:

Cardstock:  Mossy Meadow, White

Designer Paper:  New Horizons, In Good Taste 

Stamp Sets:  Tulip Fields (stamped clouds), Whimsical Words (retired)

Sizzix:  Horizon dies (fence panels)

Punches:  1-3/4" Circle, 2" Circle (both retired)

Accessories:  Brushed Brass Butterflies (these are adhesive-backed & gorgeous), Pebbles Enamel Shapes (also adhesive-backed), Stampin' Dimensionals

Do you need this designer paper?  YES, you do!