Valentine's Day Shaker Cards

I had used my Cricut Lovestruck cart to die cut these conversation hearts and decided to  pair them with leftovers from my Papertrey Ink Fresh Floral Wrap Up stamps and dies.  I'm pleased how these shaker cards turned out.

I used chunky red glitter as the shaker and the sparkle is better in person. 

A few more valentines for the stash!

Hugs and Kisses - Valentine's Cards

I am definitely on a Valentine's Day card making trend.  This is good considering Valentine's Day is a few short weeks away.  I dug deep into the stamp stash and pulled out my Papertrey Ink Fresh Florals Wrap Up stamp and die set.  I used a classic red color theme with accents of black and pink.

I used foam squares to pop up the flowers and the wrap to give a bit of dimension.   I love the clean look that this color combination created.

The sentiment is a Clearly Besotted stamp set in the same ink as the flowers.

So much fun.

More Count the Happies

I took me a minute, but I did eventually put these card fronts together.  I had shared a few cards that I stamped with my Scraps of Love Smile stamp set and painted with Windsor Newton Gouache and Mission Gold watercolors a few days ago.  In this case, I left the black as the background and die cut an accent frame around the image.  I can't say which I like better.

This last I tried to create some blue accent around.  Turned out a bit bright for me, but it is very striking in person and I would have to say - I'm ever so delighted in my experiments.

A Cricut Die Cut Valentine

I had the Cricut out to help a friend recently and decided to do some die cutting.  This heart cluster is one of the cuts I made out of red cardstock  using my Cricut Lovestruck cart.  An oldie, but a goodie I cut the heart three times and stacked them to create dimension.  A sentiment stamped on white cardstock using my SSS Handwritten Love Friends sentiment stamp was fussy cut to keep the design simple and the spotlight on the hearts.  I used a glitter pen to make the hearts shiny which made getting a good photo tough.  This is one of those cards which is much better in person than in photos.

On the inside a simple valentine's sentiment.

I'm Just Counting the Happies

Brandy and I had a bit of excitement last year when Legion came out with black watercolor cardstock.  So we hurried up and bought some.  Brandy, being more artistic and adventurous, has already put her black watercolor cardstock to good use.  You can read more about it here and here and here.  The only think I had the courage to investigate was some swatching that I'd have to say was mixed results (at least).    I finally was inspired to use some Winsor Newton Gouache with my Mission Gold watercolors and these cards are the results of those endeavors.

The image was clear heat embossed onto the black watercolor paper using my Scraps of Love Smile stamp set.  I ended up white heat embossing the sentiment because I didn't appreciate how the sentiment looked when it was just black (i.e., clear).  I ended up having to paint the dots back into the daisy after all the painting was completed and the edges of the card front were softened with Picket Fence Distress Ink.

All in all, I'm super pleased with how these cards turned out.  I have a few more painted card fronts that I'll share when I get them made into cards.  A wonderful experiment and a different technique for me.  I couldn't be more pleased.

Happy Birthday Birdie!

Happy 65th Birthday!  This week marks the 65th birthday of a very special member of my family,  Aunt Ruth!  Before I talk about the card, I have to acknowledge the wonderful person it was made for. Aunt Ruth is such a generous and loving person, giving way more to those that she loves than she should.  She is smart and funny.  She also loves Arizona's Love Birds; which brings us to the card.

To start with, I have said in several posts I am determined to use the plethora of supplies and tools I have in the stash instead of buying more just to pile on top. I am holding true to that promise and loving the results.  Here I used a Tim Holtz steel ruled die Caged Bird Bigz.  The die is so old the package doesn't name the die, just the number.  Regardless, of how old it is, it is a classic I have had for years and finally used it.

I inked the love bird with Abandoned Coral, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, and Walnut Stain Distress Oxide inks.   The cage was embossed with Ranger embossing powder in vintage cream on the bottom and princess gold on top.

I used the leaf die and happy birthday music stamp from the Papertrey Ink Songbird stamp and dies sets  the background was cut from Wplus9 oatmeal paper, embossed with a Fun Stampers Journey folder, and Tea Dye oxide ran over the top of the embossed images.

Whew, that sounds like a lot more effort than it actually took.  This is probably one of my favorite cards in recent history,  I love how it turned out and I only used things from the stash.

The Start of Valentine's Themed Love Cards

I couldn't let Brandy be the only one to start with some Valentine's themed cards!  We're two crafty friends and we'd have to admit that there is a sense of "infecting' one another so I felt inspired to begin my card making.  Since I am selling my cards at a local store - not a a lot, but it does make me consider the theme of cards - I decided to do some cards this year that were a little more general, but would work for Valentine's Day.  These cards were created with some of the leftovers from my recent stamping session using my The Greetery Pine Blossom stamp and die set.  I kept a little more white space to create these soft backgrounds and keep the floral bunch as the center of attention.

I am really in love this this stamp set - so classic and elegant in the same breath.  I'm also really enjoying stamping with my Distress Oxide inks - they create a very nice finish and since I have the whole set, lots of color combinations are available.  I guess we're off to the Valentine's Day card making races.

Channeling My Inner Kristina

Hello crafty friends.  I  love Valentine's Day. I love the story of St. Valentine's Day, I love red, black, and white, with a little gold (stayed tuned for more cards with that in mind), and I love telling the people I love the most, just that... I love them.

I think Valentine's Day just lends itself to big over the top cards with lots of fun embellishments and also to pretty classic designs with flourishes and beautiful written sentiments,  and that is how I typically like to roll. So, why is the card in this post so simple? Why is it about channeling my inner Kristina?

I realized this year that for several years (not sure how many and not willing to look) Kristina Werner has made a Valentine's Day card using just Crayola watercolors, inexpensive watercolor paper, and that is about it.  She refers to it as using "minimal supplies".

I have to be honest, when I think of Kristina's talent I typically think of her handwriting, stamp designs, and painting with Mission Gold watercolors, not Crayola watercolors and "minimal supplies".

I happened to have some Crayola watercolors from a project with the kiddos and though I might investigate why such a talent with access to so many creative options would take her time to make and video such a simple card.

To make my card, I first started with a scrap of watercolor cardstock, drew, hearts down the middle, and painted each one in a different shade of red.  However, I didn't measure the watercolor sheet and it was not cut to fit on a card and was not used in a finished product, but I have included it here.

Then I took another piece of scrap watercolor paper and drew a bigger heart with a smaller one inside.  I only did this to try and add some type of design element to the card.  I then stamped the sentiment with a Valentine's sentiment from the Winnie and Walter Sentimental: Love stamp set.  The front was glued to a pre-made card base and there you go.

After completing the project, I can honestly say something simple isn't really for me.  However, the card is ok and if you have kids or young adults  that want to make a card, but you don't want to buy more expensive items or they want to do something quick or simple, this isn't a bad idea.

Notecards For the New Year

I had mentioned that I was inspired by Betsy Veldman's post stating she wasn't quite done with her winter/Christmas stamps.  I couldn't resist a chance to make some cards using my new-to-me The Greetery Pine Blossom stamp and dies set.  I think these stamps are so adorable and I once again used my Distress Oxide inks to do all the stamping.

I truly can't figure out which card is my favorite.  I like them both so much. 

I also put together this floral bouquet for my grandma's gravesite.  I was able to go to place them with my grandpa, mom and sister (along with other family) on the 1st of the year.  I know she can't appreciate them, but I think it is meaningful for my grandpa to see that we haven't forgotten and it is also special to me to do something that I know she would have liked - a little part of me being a little like her which is the best tribute I can give her.

A Very Pink Happy 21st Birthday Card

This is Andie today to share a card made by Brandy.  I'm going to try not to be confusing!  My daughter, Katie, enjoyed a milestone birthday in November - she turned 21.  Brandy was scheduled to attend the party, but some weather (which is unusual for use here in Phoenix) caused havoc at her house and she ended up staying home to deal with those issues.  All is well, but it meant that we didn't get together with Katie until later in December for Brandy to give Katie this beautiful, special shaker card.  With my college student busy finishing up the semester and Christmas it took a little bit to get Katie to take a picture of the card.

Can you see the wonderful "2" and "1" die cuts?  I just think this is one of the most fantastic cards I've ever seen.  Katie was especially pleased since pink is her favorite color and this card is on display in her apartment.  I think Katie felt very special and I know I'm touched by her thoughtfulness as well.

Andie for 

A Crate Full of Flowers Birthday Card

I have been a little under the weather this holiday season; which is also a significant birthday season in my family and I needed to make some birthday cards.  So, I decided to look in my stash of extra pieces from past card projects and found some Concord & 9th Petals and Palette pieces!

The flowers are not really a color pallet I would normally use, and I can't remember what ink I used to stamp them.  However, I feel like they work.

I wanted to add some interest to the background so I used a piece of woodgrain volume over a decorative cardboard and the card is done.  I am so glad I saved these extra pieces!

Winter Sketches Notecard Set

Betsy Veldman is just one of my crafty inspiration and The Greetery stamps and dies have definitely caught my attention.  In  a recent post, Betsy expressed that she's not ready to put away her wintery/Christmas stamp sets yet and I guess I wasn't either.  I considered that permission to use my The Greetery Winter Sketches stamp set to make a set of notecards. 

I used various Distress Oxide inks to stamp the pine branch and pinecones.  The background is also Distress Oxide inks.  I stamped way more than those used in these cards, so I have some extras to make more cards, but this way I also made a set with a variety of colors.

I think the blue is my favorite - just seems to be more bright in color and yet cheery.  So fun to make this set that I'm sure I'll be making more.  Just not in a rush because spring is already starting to show here in the Valley of the Sun.  See you soon with more creations.

Happy Birthday Balloons

Happy Birthday!

December and January are heavy on the birthdays in my family and I have been trying to make cards to celebrate some of those special people.

One of the birthdays this month is for a pre-teen young lady that is all about bright colors and having fun.  I thought I might be able to to make a card with the Concord & 9th Happy Balloon stamp and die set. 

I have also seen a trend in card making going out of the standard A2 size and making long cards or 5 x 7 sizes.  I felt like the balloons would work with the longer version.  The card is 9 x 3.5 and fits in a standard business size envelope.

I made several cards using this layout, these are my favorites. I will put the rest in my stash.

I am on a mission this year to use products that I have bought and never used or haven't used a lot, the Concord & 9th set fit that purpose and I can proudly say I used items in my stash and didn't buy one thing to make these cards.

B is for Birthday - A Monogram Card Set

I mentioned that my friend Kyle and I collaborated to bless a friend with the 12 Days of Christmas gifts.  I've done this type of gift many times before (check these out:  here, here and here).  It's fun to do, but more fun when we do it together.  This year we decided to make a set of notecards using the initial of the recipient.  Some patterned paper and my Concord and 9th Monogram stamp and die set makes this process easy and the result absolutely beautiful.

We made another card as a part of the set for a dear friend who is having a birthday soon.  Just so we're a bit ahead of the game!

I did some of the work, but most of the work was done by Kyle, so again - a big thank you to Kyle and all the credit for this work goes to her.

Andie for Kyle