Yummy strawberries

I have made a lot of sweet cards with our Taste of Summer stamp set and paper pack special for May. I saw a similar card to this on another Consultant's blog and had to make my own.

I have a script image from a retired wedding set that I stamped in Pear ink on the White Daisy piece, first. I used my Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritzer with our discontinued Lagoon Alcohol marker, to spritz Lagoon ink over the script. I stamped the sentiment with Black ink and edged the shape with Lagoon ink.

I stamped the vine and strawberry tops with Topiary ink. I stamped the strawberries in Cranberry on a scrap piece of White Daisy cardstock, then cut them out and placed them on the vine. I added some retired mini Blooms then added Clear Sparkles that I coloured with our Shin Han Alcohol markers. Before adding the strawberries, I ran the script stamped piece through my Big Shot with a Die-namics Stitched Rounded Rectangles die from My Favorite Things.

All supplies are Close to My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: Taste of Summer; retired sets
Ink: Topiary; Cranberry; Lagoon; Pear; Black; Shin Han Markers; retired Lagoon Alcohol Marker
Cardstock: White Daisy; Pear; Lagoon
Embellishments: Clear Sparkles; retired Blooms
Other: MFT Die-namics Stitched Rounded Rectangles; Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritzer

A 17th Birthday!

Our middle daughter recently celebrated her 17th Birthday. She is a cheeky one and often has the same type of responses. One of her favourites is, "YOUR FACE".  I don't really get it most of the time, but sometimes I can throw it as well as she can. In honour of her cheekiness, I made Amy this birthday card.

I started with Smoothie cardstock and  Hopscotch patterned paper. The smaller piece of patterned paper is from retired Lucy and I stamped with Love Ya Silly; Your Own Kind of Wonderful; and Puppy Party. I used Crystal Blue and Black ink. The shapes were cut with Art Philosophy and one I used a stitching die from Simon Says.

I added Smoothie Baker's Twine; new Sequins and Stardust Glitz. I also drew accents with my Black Journaling Pen.

I am entering this card is a few challenges:
Crafts Galore: Anything Goes
Crafting By Designs: Sentiments
Penny's Paper Crafty: Anything Goes
Simply Paper Crafts: Anything Goes

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Hopscotch
Stamps: Love Ya Silly; Your Own Kind of Wonderful; Puppy Party
Ink: Crystal Blue; Black; Shin Han Alcohol Markers
Cardstock: White Daisy; Smoothie
Embellishments: Smoothie Baker's Twine; Stardust Glitz; Coral Reef Sequins; Black Journaling Pen
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge
Other: Simon Says Stitched Circle Die

A Birthday Challenge

I am so excited.....I was able to nab a "Ketchup & Fries" tomato & potato plant today at my favourite local garden store.  I also picked up the rest of my tomato plants. In addition, I got lime and plain basil; 2 orange peppers; 1 hot pepper; and 6 sweet corn. I have planted the basil already and am planning which tomatoes will go where along with my marigolds. I have some Lancinato kale that has flowered and I am just waiting until I can harvest the seed pods. I might plant my Ketchup & Fries plant there since I have a specific plot for the rest of my plants.

Anyhow, I am joining the Anything Goes Birthday Challenge over at Seize The Birthday.

I made another Birthday card using this sweet elephant set, Unforgettable, from WPlus9. I used this lovely yellow patterned paper from retired Babycakes. I used Whisper cardstock for the Heart embossed border and main mat. The scalloped border is from Slate cardstock. I cut the sentiment circle with a Stitched Circle Die from Simon Says Stamp.

All of the stamped images are from Unforgettable. I coloured the elephant and balloon in with my Shin Han Alcohol Markers. I used Black and Pixie ink for the stamping. I finished the card off with some Epoxy Stars that I coloured with my Shin Han Markers, also.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: retired Babycakes
Cardstock: Whisper; Slate; White Daisy
Ink: Pixie; Black; Shin Han Alcohol Markers
Embellishments: Epoxy Stars
Tools: Heart Embossing Folder; Scallop Border Punch
Other: WPlus9 Unforgettable; Simon Says Stitched Circle Die

Unforgettable by WPlus9

Wow, I hadn't realized I only posted once last week and am not off to a very good start to this week. I blame it on the weather. It has been so beautiful, with mostly sunny days for the past 2 to 3 weeks. It has been so warm here that farmers already have their first commercial strawberry crops picked....how crazy is that since May is not over yet! Anyhow, while I should be posting a card with strawberries, I have one with a sweet elephant instead!

 This is a new set from WPlus9 I recently received, called Unforgettable. I knew I had to use grey with it and thought our retired Babycakes would work perfectly!

I used Whisper cardstock for the mat and scalloped border. Along with Goldrush cardstock, I added Slate behind this sweet elephant. This stamp set comes with coordinating dies, so there was not fussy cutting required. The sentiment from the set was stamped with Black ink on Colonial White cardstock. I added some Clear Sparkles and Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon.

All supplies are Close to My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: retired Babycakes
Ink: Black; Chocolate
Cardstock: Whisper; Slate; Goldrush; Colonial White
Embellishments: Clear Sparkles; Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon
Other: WPlus9 Unforgettable Stamp & Matching Dies 

A Challenge to start the week.

Today I decided to post a card I could link up to the Monthly Meetup Challenge over at Lil' Inker Designs.

This card was something I created after watching a great video about creating a rainbow background on watercolour paper. I also used a great assortment of dies from Lil' Inker Designs. 

For the water colour background, I first stamped this insane image from Botanical Backgrounds with Versamark. I call it an "insane" image because while it has a random pattern of leaves, flowers and other things.....it matches up perfectly as long as you don't rotate the image. I embossed with Black Embossing powder. I would suggest stamping the image and embossing each time. I made pencil marks where I thought the image would match up, but failed miserably matching up clear Versamark ink......doh!

Once I had the background embossing done, I smooshed Cotton Candy; Canary; Pear and Lagoon inks onto my All-Purpose Mat. I spritzed each with water, then just started to add the colour to the watercolour paper. Once I was satisfied with the colour, I let this piece dry, then I used the largest die from Lil' Inker Designs Stitched Mats - Rectangles. This die did not cut the outer edge of the paper, but simply cut stitching lines around the outside.

Then I took Pear; Thislte; and Lagoon cardstock and cut them with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Slopes and Hills wafer dies. These dies allow you to add curvy stitches, then cut the edge to match the stitches or not. Once I had each edge stitched and cut, I stuck the 3 layers together. Then I used another Lil' Inker Designs die to cut this stacked, stitched piece. I also used Lil' Inker Designs Stitched Mats - Ovals to cut the piece for the stamped sentiment from CTMH's April SOTM Typed Note.

I cut 3 flowers with CTMH's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and stamped them with a retired stamp set. I added Gold Sequins to each flower and some Stardust Glitz to the centre of those. I tied them up with Thistle Extra Thick Twine.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.

Stamp: April SOTM Typed Note; retired Lucy WOTG

Cardstock: Pear; Thistle; Lagoon; White Daisy

Ink: Cotton Candy; Canary; Pear; Lagoon; Black; Thistle; Versamark

Embellishments: Gold Sequins; Stardust Glitz; Thistle Extra Thick Twine

Other: Watercolour paper; Lil' Inker Designs Stitched Mats - Rectangle & Oval; Simon Says Stamp Stitched Slopes & Hills

More for Mother's Day

Here is another watercolour piece I created for a Mother's Day card.

I created this watercolour piece with Glacier; Thistle; and Pear ink. I stamped the flower images with Versamark and embossed them with Colonial White embossing powder. Then I smooshed ink onto my All-Purpose Mat and filled in the paper with ink and water. The sentiment is embossed in Black and is from an Artfully Sent stamp set.

I used Thistle cardstock as a mat for this patterned paper from Blossom. I added a border with Sweet Leaf Paper Fundamentals and some Turquoise Shimmer Trim. I coloured the Clear Sparkles with my Shin Han Markers and used my Scallop Border Punch on some Colonial White cardstock. I also ran my watercolour piece through my Big Shot with a rectangular Stitching Die from Lil Inker Designs.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: Artfully Sent and retired
Paper: Blossom
Cardstock: Colonial White; Thistle; Sweet Leaf Paper Fundamentals
Ink: Glacier; Thistle; Pear; Black Pigment; Versamark
Embellishments: Clear Sparkles; Turquoise Shimmer Trim; Colonial White embossing powder
Other: Watercolour paper

Watercolour wonder...

I am hooked on watercolouring! Here is another watercolour Mother's Day card using retired supplies.

I used Smoothie; Canary; Juniper and Lagoon ink for this watercolour piece. The sentiment is from a set that came with Artfully Sent and it is embossed with Black Pigment ink. I added Clear Sparkles that were coloured with my Shin Han Alcohol markers.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: Artfully Sent Sentiment stamp
Paper: retired; Juniper, Colonial White, Sorbet cardstock
Ink: Smoothie; Juniper; Canary; Lagoon; Black pigment; Shin Han Alcohol Marker
Embellishments: Clear Spakles; Clear Embossing powder
Other: MFT Horizontal Stitched Strips

Flowers for Mother's Day

Here is another Mother's Day card I produced several versions of.

I used Brushed patterned paper with a Cranberry mat. The flowers are from a retired set that I stamped with Cranberry; Cotton Candy; and Canary. The small flowers were stamped by inking the stamp, then swiping it across the stamp pad, before stamping. This made the flowers appear a bit lighter to go with the large flowers. I added Stardust Glitz to the centre of each flower.

The sentiment was masked by stamping the "Mother's Day" first in Black ink. Then I stamped the sentiment on a sticky note and cut it our. I stuck that over the sentiment already stamped, then stamped the large word over top with Cranberry ink. This is a 5 x 7 card.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: retired sets
Paper: Brushed
Cardstock: White Daisy; Cranberry
Ink: Cranberry; Cotton Candy; Canary; Black
Embellishments: Stardust Glitz
Other: Stitched die

Mother's Day is coming up!

I have been creating Mother's Day cards, like crazy. It is, after all, the most important day of every year! I will feature Mother's Day cards all week!

I used our glorious Paper Fundamentals for the patterned paper, on this card. I matted with Lagoon and White Daisy cardstock. I tied things up with Lagoon Baker's Twine and added a Clear Sparkle that I coloured with our Shin Han Alcohol Markers.

For the watercolour piece, I first embossed a retired flower image on watercolour paper, with Clear Embossing Powder. I smooshed Flaxen; Glacier; and Sunset ink on my All Purporse Mat. I spritzed each colour with some water with a Spray Pen. With a paint brush, I just started to apply each colour in thirds, then let the colour move around as it wanted. Once the piece was dry, I spritzed it with water and added some more colour so it was more vibrant. I stamped the sentiment with Black ink, then overstamped it with Versamark. I added clear embossing powder to it, them used my heat gun to emboss.

All supplies are Close to My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: Artfully Sent Sentiment set; retired flower
Paper: Paper Fundamentals Whimsy Assortment; Lagoon; White Daisy
Ink: Flaxen; Glacier; Sunset; Black; Versamark; Shin Han Alcohol Markers
Embellishments: Clear Sparkle; Lagoon Baker's Twine
Other: Watercolour paper; Stitched Die

Do you love elephants?

I have recently been noticing some rather sweet elephant stamps online. Nothing that made me jump to buy, until I got an email with this sweet set from WPlus9. It is called, Unforgettable and has matching dies.

I needed to create a special 7th birthday card for a former co-worker's Neice. So I thought this Girl's 5 x 7 card would be perfect for pink and grey elephants. I started with Slate and Cotton Candy cardstock. I stamped with Cotton Candy ink, with 4 different "7" images, for this 7th Birthday card.

I matted some patterned paper with Slate cardstock. I cut some White Daisy; Slate and Whisper stitched circles, with stitched dies from Li'l Inker Designs. I stamped the sentiments from the Unforgettable set in Black ink, then added coordinating stars in Cotton Candy ink. I coloured the sweet elephants with my Shin Han Markers.

I embossed some Whisper cardstock with CTMH's Heart folder, then matted it on some Slate cardstock punched with our border punch. I also added some Slate Diagonal striped ribbon. I cut flowers with CTMH's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge at 1 1/4", then stamped them with swiped Cotton Candy ink. I added some Stardust Glitz to their centres.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: WPlus9 Unforgettable; retired alphabet sets
Cardstock: White Daisy; Slate; Whisper; Cotton Candy
Ink: Cotton Candy; Black; Memento Black; Shin Han Alcohol Markers
Embellishments: Slate Diagonal Ribbon; Stardust Glitz
Tools: Scallop Punch; Heart Embossing folder; Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge; WPlus9 Unforgettable coordinating dies