BUBBLE BATH HIPPO | GATEFOLD CARD

Some of my favorite Sale-a-Bration products from Stampin' Up! are the "Hippest Hippo" stamp set and coordinating "Hippo" dies.  The images are so adorable!  As you can tell from the sneak peek photo above, the dies include a handy tub.  It makes quite a perfect place for my hippo to treat herself to a bubbly spa.  The bubbles, of course, are Iridescent Rhinestones.  

The above photo shows how this particular gatefold is designed.  The 4" x 11" cardstock is scored at 2", 3-3/4", 7-1/4", and 9", folded, decorated, and then adhered to the 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" panel.  I used another Sale-a-Bration product to decorate the side panels of the gatefold and the base cardstock . . . "Rings of Love" designer paper.  The stamped, colored, and die-cut image was adhered behind the tub to a piece of "New Horizons" designer paper (retired), which seemed perfect for the hippo's relaxing outdoor spa.  In the photo below, you can see that the decorative focal layer was only adhered to one side of the gatefold to allow the card to be fully opened.

The sentiment was printed from my computer and cut with circle punches.

Below is a better photo of the front of the card:

It's a fun little card, huh?

"SAILING HOME" NAUTICAL EASEL CARD

 

You know how sometimes you see something that inspires you, and it just doesn't need any changes?  That happened to me when I needed to make a thank you card but was a little short on time . . . and not feeling very creative.  I knew that I wanted to make something nautical, and a photo of a gorgeous card shared by Marja van Renswoude's was just the inspiration that I needed.

It's a pretty awesome design, huh?  I knew that aunt Betty would love this card--and it was one that I was proud to put in the mail to her.  Circle dies were used to create the card and layers, and I used images from Stampin' Up!'s "Sailing Home" (retired) stamp set to decorate the card.

And what do we always want from a card like this?  We want it to fold flat for mailing--and this one did!

It's impossible to tell from the photos, but I used a Wink of Stella glitter brush to add a little glimmer to the water.

That's all for today!  Thanks for visiting . . . have a stampin' good day!

"WISTERIA WISHES"

 

While scrolling through photos on my phone, I found a few projects that I haven't shared here on the blog.  Featured today is Stampin' Up!'s "Wisteria Wishes" stamp set and coordinating "Wisteria" dies.  I recently  made these cards to send to the elder ladies . . . you know . . . the ones who actually keep every card that I send.  I love that they consider mail from me to be that special, and that makes me want to send happy mail to them on a regular basis.

Cardstock colors featured on my card include:

Highland Heather

Gorgeous Grape

Mossy Meadow

Sahara Sand

White

The sentiment is from the (retired) Special Moments stamp set, which was a Sale-a-Bration product earlier this year, I think.  I used the Wink of Stella glitter brush to add a little sparkle to the wisteria as you can see in the photo below.  And just look at all of that pretty embossed detail on the die-cut leafy branch:

Decorating the inside of the card was really easy:

Looking for a stamp set (and dies) that are so quick and easy to use?  Consider "Wisteria Wishes"!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

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.