A Rainbow Notecard Set

I'm here today to share with you a card set made by Brandy.  She used Nicole Spohr's inspiration from this post as the card design inspiration.  All techniques and supplies matched Nicole's with the exception of the word background stamp as Brandy used a scripty words background stamp that she had on hand.

The ink colors are all Altenew inks and she was so inspired and the stamping so easy to complete a rainbow of cards were created over the course of a week.  Both Brandy and I have full time jobs which consume many hours a week and these cards represent hours spent relaxing from our day jobs.  What a beautiful way to relax, don't you think?

The strips on the bottom of the cards were made with gold (on the pink, red, orange and yellow flowers) and silver (on the teal, blue and purple) gilding flakes.  Easy peasy finish to a card that just pops off the page. 

Here's the final grouping in rainbow order.  These cards went into the stash - how perfect given the assortment of sentiments.  This project would be a fantastic gift set as well.  We'll hope that these are as inspiring to you as Nicole's set was inspiring to Brandy!

Andie for 

Gifting Cards This Christmas

My good friend Kyle (she of the painted pumpkin ilk at Halloween!) decided to join a gift exchange at the school district.  When she informed me of her obligation to make 16 (sixteen!) gifts and stuff them into a stocking I asked if she wanted to get together and make a set of cards.  So I will admit that the cards stuffed into these pockets weren't all made by my hand - Kyle ends up being wonderfully talented and diligent help.  I have photographed the cards, but getting all those photos edited at once is more than I can bear.  I'll work on it over the next couple of weeks and eeek them out to you all so you can see her handiwork.

These card pockets are very simple - I trimmed a 12 x 12 piece of patterned paper to 9 x 11, then scored it on the 9 inch side at 3 inches.  I scored the 11 inch side at 5 1/4 and 5 3/4, folding all the score lines to make the pocket.  There are two glue dots to hold the folded center up making space for the cards - simple, but effective and at the last minute darling!

On the outside I stamped the sentiment using my Concord and 9th O Holy Night stamp set.  I'm lovin' this stamp for Christmas!  I die cut the sentiment, layering on another die cut and using glue dots, the sentiment holds the ribbon in place to wrap around and close the pocket.

I made these sets (some of my work, some of Kyle's!) for some ladies I'm keeping in touch with - dear ladies whom I've come to cherish.  It is good to have these kinds of connections.  I'm hoping they use up every one of those cards because I mean to make them some more next year!

May your Christmas eve be filled with the wonder of Christmas!

Card Boxes for Gifts

I've been blessed over the first part of this year by a small group of ladies at my work who secretly left gifts and words of encouragement to me in my mailbox.  I've been reciprocating,  but wanted to give them a special gift at our midyear celebration.   From that was born this set of card boxes.

I used the instructions found in this pin though I did notify a bit for some of the larger cards that I was giving away.

I picked out matching patterned papers and coordinating stickers for many of these boxes,  creating a collage focal point.

Many of the flowers were from the stash,  leftovers from previous projects.   This made the project come together quickly,  I did ultimately make 8 of these boxes.

I wanted to have a stamped sentiment tag on each box so the ladies would know how very much I appreciated them.

Many of the focal points were adhered wroth foam squares so that they would act as a flap for the lid   in the end,  I used glue dots to hold the lids closed.

This project made me realize how many beautiful patterned papers I have stored in the stash.   I'm glad this paper finally found a good use.   I'm going to be looking for similar opportunities to use up those stash papers.   They've got to be used!

I'm entering this into the City Crafter Challenge Blog Week#320 On the Border.  Come join the fun!

One Final Card Set

Mentioning the roll I was on, here is another couple of cards made from the card fronts I watercolored last month.  Can it be that long ago?  I finished these with a bit of patterned paper - some made by hand and others that were store bought.  I also added touches of Wink of Stella glitteriness to the images.  It adds a bit of shine and interest.

Don't you just love those teeny tiny flowers made with my IO spiral flowers die?  I can't get over how cute they are and the interest they add to the image.  Thanks for bearing with me as I share these cards with you.  As I've mentioned before, these cards will go into the Christmas gift stash for my friends and family.  'Tis the season!

Card Gift Box

I'm going to admit to really loving how this turned out.  I used up a bunch of paper that has been in the stash for a decade (that red and blue flower is AT LEAST 10 years old).. I think the container a perfect match to my chalkboard card set.  I used a similar concept to the folios that Brandy has been making- layering paper over chipboard and made the card holding envelope using portions of the technique described here.

The lace was cut using my Our Daily Bread Designs Beautiful Borders die.  It really works well on the project.












I don't own the Heartfelt Creations Majestic Blooms stamp and die but got these from working their booth last year.  I colored them with Faded Jeans and Fired Brick Distress inks with a little Good Earth Elements in the center.  The medallion die cut is an old Spellbinders die, stamped sentiment tag and a little twine to finish is off.

I'm saving this for a gift to give I think it is a quite a nice package- no wrapping on this one.  Overall, I had a lot of fun with my Our Daily Bread Designs chalkboard stamps and really liked using up some of those papers that have been around a while.

Some More Flower Soft Fun

I'd mentioned that Brandy shuffled some duplicate containers of Flower Soft product my way.  One of them was a container of Flower Soft- Spring.  This mixed color Flower Soft is versatile.  I knew just the supplies I wanted to combine to create a card set.

I started these cards with a set of 10 Hallmark gift cards that I'd picked up at a clearance sale.  The entire box cost something like $1.25.  They came with embossed envelopes and were an off-white color.  Next I sought out a La Blanche stamp I'd picked up for a smokin' deal a couple years back.  I've tried to use this stamp a couple times, but my combinations just didn't work and I ended up abandoning the work I began.



These cards started with the framed flowers being stamped with brown Archival ink onto some white cardstock.  Because I was shooting for the antique look, I used my Ink Blending Tool to apply some Scattered Straw Distress ink to the interior of the frame and some Vintage Photo Distress ink to the edges of the frame.  After applying the ink with the blending tool, I fussy cut the frame and colored the flower with either Worn Lipstick or Scattered Straw Distress ink.  I wanted a soft water color ink so I actually smeared the ink pad onto my craft sheet and applied the color with a water pen.





After the images were colored, I used some Glossy Accents to dot thin lines and splotches of glue on the stem and leaves portions of the image and quickly applied some pre-fluffed Flower Soft.  I pre-fluffed the Flower Soft into a kitchen bowl being sure to loosen any clumps that may have existed from the storage container.  After applying the glue, I simply sprinkled the Flower Soft over the bowl and let the extra drop into the bowl.










The sentiments were first die cut using my Tilted Banners Die and then stamped using the Titled Banners Sayings stamps.  They were also colored using Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo Distress inks applied with the Ink Blending Tool.  The sentiments were stamped with brown Archival ink. 

Some green patterned paper was located in the stash and used as a background for the frames, all edged in Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I ended up sending a set of 5 of these cards to my Grandma who still does a fair bit of correspondence via the mail.  I thought she might be able to put them to good use.  I kept a set for myself and intend to use them to great effect in my own card sending.

I've linked one of these cards up over at Make It Monday: #154 and Word Art Wednesday's: Challenge #94.  Come join the fun!