CLOSE-UP ROSE

Hi friends!

Playing along with this COLOR HUES challenge (ends 7/29)

and this FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES challenge (ends 7/20)

I really love the look of a square card but almost never make them. Something about putting a square card in a rectangular envelope hurts my brain (see Monk ‘Secret Santa’ episode. You’ll thank me later 😂)

 

THE PROCESS

To start: I spritzed a piece of 6 x 6 white Neenah card stock with a water mister and ran it through the embossing machine with the rose folder. I pressed it lightly between two acrylic panels to dry as flat as possible while still retaining the deep flower embossing.

I die cut two different size nesting squares at the same time on shiny black card stock to get a narrow frame. 

I also die cut the smaller square from a large heavy weight cardstock (in a color I hate and will never use up otherwise!) to use as the template to color in the center. This was done by using a blender brush and a red ink pad. 

I mounted the frame on heavy weight card stock strips and glued it centered on the red as shown.

*TIP of the Day*

When attaching anything paper-related directly to embossed panels, I’ve found it works best to use strips of heavy weight card stock vs. foam as the dimensional - it will be less likely to conform to the ridges of embossing. It’s a pesky nuisance when the layered elements all follow the contours accidentally.

I used a black Versafine ink and clear detail embossing powder for the sentiment to refer back to the shine of the frame. Very pleasantly visually textured in person. 

To finish: I used the rub-on sheet to transfer a butterfly to white card stock, which I fussy cut and mounted as shown. Solid shiny white sequins highlight the sentiment in a demure fashion 😁

SUPPLIES

sentiment stamp - Anna Griffin

butterfly rub-on - Brea Reese Press %& Design Butterflies

square dies - Spellbinders Nestibilities Classic Squares

embossing folder - Altenew Rose Bellevue3D

red ink pad - Stampin’ Up! Ruby Red

black ink pad - Versafine Onyx Black

solid sequins - Gina K Clear Quartz

clear detail embossing powder

gold metallic, red & glossy black card stock

Thanks for stopping in today!

FAITH TULIPS

Hi friends!

Playing along with this CAS ON FRIDAY Challenge 

#338 / Use Dies & Word Stamps

(ends 7/22)

I’m not sure how I feel about this tulip die set. It was purchased pre-loved, but this is its first outing with me. There are a couple things one could do differently next time to improve perspective, etc, and I think cutting from a handmade watercolor wash would be beautiful.

 

PROCESS

To start: The white panel was die cut with the ornate distressed openwork corner pattern and glued to a white card. 

*TIP of the Day*

With openwork fancy dies, just a dab of glue at each main juncture, and then around the entire edge of the pattern, is enough to keep it flush to the base. I like to place a large acrylic block over the card while it’s drying to keep it weighted down and drying flatly. 

Tulip parts were die cut from colored card stock and shaded a bit with ink blending before gluing together. Some glitter glue was added to the lower half of the flowers. 

To finish: Green leaves/stem piece was glued flat, and flower heads were mounted with foam tape. I used a thicker rectangle piece vertically in the center of each, and thinner strips on each side to get a rounded effect. 

Sentiment was stamped directly onto the card front in a dark pink ink. 

SUPPLIES

sentiment stamp - Creative WorshipThe Future #SNS-14-006

tulip layering dies - unmarked

ornate distressed corner die - Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits #660220

Thanks for stopping in today!

SUNRISE WILDFLOWERS.

Hi friends!

Playing along with this MAKE MY MONDAY CHALLENGE

#291 Blend 2 or 3 Colors (ends 7/11).

I was inspired by the flower theme Billie and Caz had going, and the arch used by Dawn. I’ve always loved this image because of the variation in petals - delicate and airy to solid - and it seemed perfect in white. 

TECHNIQUES

I blended three Distress Oxide inks, then spritzed lightly with the distress spray (it really only shows up well in the yellow area). I coated the panel thoroughly with anti-static powder because I was too impatient to wait for appropriate drying time, then heat embossed the flowers in Versamark and white embossing powder. To help tie in the brown elements, and provide a sense of perspective, I stamped dots in SU Crumb Cake at the base, and dotted the area with a brown fine tip marker and a white gel pen. 

*TIPS*

Sometimes an embossed panel will look better, and lay flatter, when flipped to the reverse side. 

The only way to tie a perfect bow for a length of twine is all by itself, and then glue it on 😂

SUPPLIES

wildflower stamp - Stampendous Agapanthus Cluster #P107

 random dots stamp -unmarked, from a set of older wood mounted

arched die - SpellbindersArch Labels and Tags #S5-624

hello die - Spellbinders Simon Hurley Foliage Hello #S2-382

embossing folder - Spellbinders Sun Rays #SES-021

twine

white gel pen

Distress Oxide inks & spray

SU Crumb Cake ink pad & darker brown marker

white embossing powder

Thanks for stopping in today!

SPLIT FLORALS.

 Hi friends!

I was inspired by a new-to-me technique blog GROUP OF CARDMAKERS 

This month’s focus is on a Split Card technique. Technically both of these florals should be the same color scheme but I stamped the image onto the middle of two 8.5” x 5.5” white panels of cardstock and then trimmed them into four separate panels before coloring them 😂 Go to their blog and follow the directions better than I did to save yourself some time!

 

Set 1:

 

Playing along with this JUST ADD INK challenge:

(ends 5/20)

UPDATE!

Set 2:

Playing along with this BEAUTIFUL BLOSSOMS challenge:

(ends 6/12).

Playing along with this STENCIL FUN challenge

(ends 5/30).

I outlined one of the florals with neutral marker to help camouflage a minor marker outside the lines situation and liked it enough to do a few that way. My coloring wasn’t that fabulous overall so I used some stencils and matching inks to blend patterns around the florals for interest, leaving some space open for a soft halo effect. 

 

SUPPLIES

stamp - JRL Designs #V 126 Paris Floral

Strength sentiment stamp - MFT #CS-156 Deepest Sympathy set

Trust sentiment stamp - Stampendous! #SSC1428 Floral Prayer set

Joy sentiment stamp - unmarked clear set

Blessing sentiment stamp - Stampin’ Up! Blessings of Home set

circles stencil - StampersAnonymous Tim Holtz Collection

squares stencil - StampersAnonymous Tim Holtz Collection

enamel dots and sequins - random

Thanks for stopping in today!

BE YOU FLORAL & PENNANT.

Hi friends!

Playing along with this ATLANTIC HEARTS SKETCH CHALLENGE  

(ends 5/3).

Also playing along with this The Paper Players Challenge

(ends 5/8).

I do love a sketch to follow along with, and Michelle’s above is a fun one! And Jaydee’s mood board really meshed with the stamps and direction I was heading. 

I really enjoy paper-piecing images, and love these particular stamps. I also wanted to go with some Spring-y feminine colors. Speaking of paper piecing, I didn’t have enough floral background paper left to do a square card and had to get pretty creative paper piecing there as well!

SUPPLIES

female stamp - Jane Davenport Giraffe Wisdom clear set #JDS-053

sentiment stamp - Picket Fence It’s Peopley Out There clear set #S-150

pennant stamp - Simple Stories Always in My Heart clear set #10739

flat back gems - BoBunny Willow&Sage candy dots

Thanks for stopping in today!

PANELED FLOWER BOUQUET.

   Hi friends!

Playing along with this ATLANTIC HEARTS SKETCH CHALLENGE  

(ends 4/27).

UPDATE!

Another lovely sketch to play with, and of course I had to use this new-to-me, old, Stampin’ Up! bouquet to mirror all the wonderousness springing up outside. The bunnies took a chomp from our budding tulips but we must not have the tasty variety because they left it half eaten 🐰

        

After dry embossing and sectioning the white panels, I put a little Bundled Sage reinker in the ink pad lid with some water and then spattered the card stock. The flower bouquet was colored in with alcohol markers, fussy cut, and foam mounted over a strip of burlap ribbon as shown.  I trimmed the ribbon ends from the bouquet and affixed a premade burlap bow. The die cut sentiment panel was cut down from a fancier one. Behind that is a die cut label from a cardstock scrap I covered in the same marker as the tulips. I pierced it lightly because it was looking too plain and solid. I was concerned if I used a white gel pen instead for dots it might bleed. I really feel like I’m living life on the very edge every time I affix something to my card front and then proceed to mess about with it 😂

SUPPLIES

flower bouquet stamp - Stampin’ Up! Life’s Special Moments set

sentiment stamp -  unlabeled

label dies - Stampin’ Up!

embossing folder - Altenew Ribbon Waves

flat back gems - Waffle Flower Candy Dots

burlap bow - The Paper Studio

burlap ribbon - trimmed down from wider strip, unlabeled

Thanks for stopping in today!

SO KIND TULIPS.

   Hi friends!

Playing along with this THE PAPER PLAYERS color challenge by Jan

(ends 4/17).

The background was stenciled with Daffodil Delight, then overstamped with collage words in gray ink, stamping off once for the top corner, and spatter marks in black ink. Floral image was stamped on gray cardstock in Versafine black ink, and cut with an oval die. The oval panel photos a bit dark. The sentiment was cut from a scrap piece I ink blended the yellow onto in a slight gradient.

SUPPLIES

flowers stamp - Hero Arts Newspaper Tulips  #K5576

words stamp -  River City Rubber Works Ephemera Words #CEW-23 

 splatter stamp - DeNami Design 

words die - ProvoCraft metal plate die

stencil - unmarked, from Amazon multi-pack

preprinted sentiment strip

Thanks for stopping in today!

SPOTLIGHT AMARYLLIS.

  Hi friends!

Playing along with this JUST US GIRLS Challenge

(ends 4/15).

Floral collage image was stamped in Memento gray ink on white card stock. The tag was stamped over this and colored in as shown with alcohol markers; I used a blender with a dark blue maker inside the tag and around the stem, and a gray marker on two outside edges to give the tag a shadow. I used a SU distressing wheel to rough up the edges of the panel and backed it with fun foam before mounting to light gray card base. The sentiment strip is slightly raised by a strip of scrap heavy weight card stock. 

I had originally intended to place the tag stamp about half an inch higher to encompass more bloom. But I was using older wood mounted stamps with the Stampa-ma-jig, and my plastic placement guide sheet must’ve slipped a bit. Do you ever find you are so close to your projects that you don’t notice things like this til you get the color down?! 🤭

SUPPLIES

flower with text stamp - Penny Black Floral Story  #4210K

tag stamp - Dawn Houser for Inkadinkado #305 

 inks - Memento London Fog & Tuxedo Black

alcohol markers

preprinted sentiment strip

Thanks for stopping in today!