Tulle Shaker Notecards

I paired some more of the Altenew Vintage Flowers I had stamped and die cut and left for dust in the stash with my Studio Katia Dotted Balloons die cut to make a tulle shaker card. I used Jennifer McGuire's technique.  I decided to leave this card without a sentiment so that I could add this later when I really need a card in a hurry.

The shaker is so compact, it folds nicely into a card and though I haven't put one through the mail, I'm thinking it would go nicely.  Great technique and it was a ton of fun to put these cards together.

Another Take on the Tulle Shaker Card Theme

I warned you I'd be back.  I had most of these supplies just left out on the work table, so I smashed them all together to make another tulle shaker card.

The technique is the same used by Jennifer McGuire here.  I had some pink tulle and thought to use it.  It worked wonderfully since you can't really see the color when there is only one layer.  Still, there is a hint of color on this all white card front.

The flowers were some more of the Altenew Vintage Flowers that I stamped and die cut.  

I had these Altenew Vintage Flowers in the stash from a previous project.  They worked very well with this theme.  It's always good to put those bits and pieces you thought to be scrap to good use.

I decided to dress up the card front using gold glitter to make a small strip along the right side of the card that carried into the inside.  A touch to jazz up this very simple, elegant design.  It also makes the theme of the card (sparkle) a little more obvious.  

I really had fun making the tulle cards.  The Studio Katie Dotted Balloons die set is so adorable, I'm just itching to make some more fun.

Tulle Shaker Card

It took me a bit, but I was so impressed with Jennifer McGuire's technique using tulle as a shaker media, I picked up the Studio Katia Dotted Balloons die set and gave it a go.  Here I paired the die cuts with some Altenew Vintage Flowers I had previously stamped and die cut.

Inside the shaker is some gold and soft pink sprinkles - very sparkly to make the card stand out.  On the inside, a simple sentiment you can sort of see through the window.

This was so simple and easy to do that I'm inspired to make some more.  I'll give it a try and see if I can't be more regular about posting here on the blog.  What has inspired your latest crafty endeavor?

Blessed More Than You Know

I had mentioned that I made some thank you cards as a gift to my grandma on her 90th birthday.  Since we'd held a birthday party, I knew that was a gift she'd use immediately and that would be a gift she appreciated.  We've spent the better part of the last several weeks moving her and my grandpa into a new home here in Arizona and so I knew she didn't need one more thing!  I used my Honey Bee Bless Your Heart stamp set for the sentiment - in simple Archival black ink and my Altenew Vintage Flowers stamp set to adorn these cards since it matched the invitations I had made for her party.  I used the same Simon Says Stamp inks (Soft Navy, Surf Blue and Willow) to make the flowers and leaves.

On the inside, a simple sentiment in the Soft Navy ink.  I know she appreciated the gift - I had to make an additional 5 cards so she could finish sending her thanks around the country!

Celebrating 90 Wonderful Years

My grandmother is turning 90 years old later this month.  What a wonderful time to have a celebration!.  I stamped these lovely cards following the general layout of these cards I created last year using my Altenew Vintage Flowers stamp set.  The inks are all Simon Says Stamp (Soft Navy, Surf Blue and Willow).  I printed the sentiment out at Fed Ex where their matte finish white cardstock is perfect for stamping.  I simply layout the sentiment with a mock rectangle for aligning the die when cutting using Word.  The printer at Fed Ex is always a solid print and resistant to smudging during die cutting and stamping.  The inside of the card was created the same way, just using different stamps.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge: Simon Says For a Special Lady
Word Art Wednesday's challenge: Week 272/273 Anything Goes

We can't wait for the celebration which will be in a few short weeks.  I am so very blessed to be able to enjoy this celebration and looking forward to the time with family focused on such a dear, lovely grandma.  I'm off to get some more crafting done as making these consumed a large amount of time.  Hope your weekend is filled with crafting fun!

A Wedding Celebration Card

I'm sharing this card today inspired by this pin.  I needed a card for a male coworker.   I used my Altenew Vintage Flowers stamp and die set to create the flowers and leaves using Crimson and smoke inks.   I decided not to include the sequins since the simpler card was beautiful on its own.

I really like the results I've been able to achieve with my Altenew stamps.   If you haven't tried them,  I'd recommend giving them a try.

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge Flora and Fauna

and

Word Art Wednesday's Challenge Weeks #238-239 Anything Goes.

I'm Not Feeling Blue - But I Am Feelin' the Color Blue

Good morning and happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there taking a moment (with a coffee?!) to read some blogs.  I am woefully behind in posting projects from our fundraiser at work.  The fundraiser ultimately raised $132 that will go to a fund which sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas.

This card is being sent out with love.  I thoroughly enjoyed making this card.  I used my Altenew Vintage Flowers stamp set and the MISTI to mask and stamp these layered flowers.

The image was then die cut with one of my rectangle dies.  I used fun foam to raise the panel on the card front and a bit of twine to finish this simple, but elegant card.

I'm going to link this up with Word Art Wednesday's Challenge #228/229: Family.  Come join the fun.  I'll be back this week with some of the last few cards made for the fundraiser as well as the cards for my family.  Enjoy today!

Another Flower Gift Set

I think I'm almost done creating card sets with my Altenew Vintage Flowers stamp set.  This set was made similarly to the previous set, using a prepackaged purple notecard set.  Here I used Close to My Heart Sunset dye ink in both the background the foreground.  The twine is olive green, but the picture doesn't capture that well.  All sentiments were made using my SSS Handwritten Borders stamp set and black Archival Ink.

Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue pigment ink in the background and
CTMH Moonstruck dye ink in the foreground

Brilliance Pearlescent Purple pigment ink in the background and
VersaMagic Purple Hydrangea pigment ink ink in the foreground

All in all, there are eight cards in this set.  I'll probably break that into two sets of 4 cards as gifts for this Christmas.  As you can tell, I just can't say enough about how great the Altenew stamp set is.

A Very Floral Notecard Set

Told you I'd be back with more Altenew Vintage Flowers card sets.  This one was made similarly to the previous set.  Here I paired Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue pigment ink in the background and CTMH Moonstruck dye ink in the foreground.  The twine is dark blue, but the picture doesn't capture that well.  All sentiments were made using my SSS Handwritten Borders stamp set and black Archival Ink.

This flower was made with SSS Smoke hybrid ink in the background and VersaMagic Perfect Plumeria pigment ink.

I made a set of 3 of each color and intend to wrap them up as Christmas gifts.  Now I'm thinking, how to wrap them... hmmmm.  I created all my stamped flowers using my MISTI tool and the Altenew Vintage Flowers stamp set.  I followed the tutorial provided by Jennifer Mcguire's video.  If you haven't tried the MISTI or this stamp set, I'd highly recommend both.

I had so much fun I'm going to link up at Word Art Wednesday's Challenge # 204: Anything Goes.  Come see what people have been doing and/or join the fun!

A Set of Notecards with Vintage Flowers

I'm out of town today and scheduled this post last weekend after completing the post on my Altenew Vintage Flowers stamping session using my MISTI tool.  I'll suggest Jennifer Mcguire's video as it is what I used.  All sentiments were stamped with black Archival Ink using my SSS Handwritten Borders stamps.  I'll try to point out color combinations.  The purple is a Brilliance Pearlescent Purple pigment ink in the background and VersaMagic Purple Hydrangea pigment ink in the foreground.

Notice the difference in these red flowers.  The background ink is SSS Smoke hybrid ink.  The red is Colorbox Magenta pigment ink.  The first card was made with the "outline" layer in Colorbox Frosted White pigment ink.    This next card used another layer of the Magenta pigment ink.  I really like the outline effect of the white pigment ink, don't you?

The yellow is Close to My Heart's Buttercup dye ink and the orange is CTMH's Sunset dye ink.  This is an example of a color combination I was determined to hate and found that I really like the definition provided by these inks.

The background is a Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue pigment ink and the foreground is VersaMagic Aegean Blue pigment ink.  When I first stamped the background, I thought "Ugh!" due to the splotchy nature of the stamp. However, the look is very appealing lending texture to the flower.

The last one is SSS Smoke hybrid ink and CTMH Moonstruck dye ink.  This is another of my favorite combinations.  I like these so well that I intend to make a few more sets as presents.  Look for more pictures and color combinations coming before the holidays!

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Simon Says Die Crazy.  I almost didn't purchase the matching die for the Altenew stamp set.  I'm so happy I did now.

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge Love This Technique.  I couldn't resist joining this challenge.  I really do love this technique.  The layering stamps really add dimension to the card.

Word Art Wednesday's Challenge #201 Anything Goes.  They lays have such inspiring entries.

Come join the fun!

Layered Stamping with the MISTI

A while back I won a random draw on a Simon Says Stamp challenge and was awarded a $50 gift certificate to their wonderful store.  I agonized over what to get and ultimately decided that I had admired the Altenew layering stamps way too much to let a gift opportunity pass me by.  I splurged and got the stamp and dies as a set.  I am in love!

There are a lot of videos out there that will show you how these beautiful flowers were made.  I'll suggest Jennifer Mcguire's video as it is what I used.  The other trick I'd give you is to download the tip sheet offered by Altenew.  I Google'd the stamp set name (Vintage Flowers is what I used, though the Vintage Roses is similar) and the tip sheet came up as a image.  I printed the image and it helped to orient the layers.

I did spend a little while trying to figure out the layering process.  There are some messed up flowers in my work.  However,  the great thing about these stamps.  They are forgiving and even those "mess ups" are pretty and useable.

OK, maybe not all messed up flowers were pretty.  The other  tip I would offer is that you really need to play with the foreground and background colors.  Things I thought would be beautiful fell flat and combinations that I thought would not work ultimately became my favorite.

Caution :  this stamp set could make you an ink hoarder.  I'm resisting the urge. I will say that other than a strong urge to own every single craft supply on the planet I was able to make a wide variety of beautiful flowers without buying a thing. Resist the urge people!

I found it helpful during my color experimenting to write the color name on the sheet.  It helped me to creatively combine colors.

I ultimately die cut all of these flowers and plan to create some card sets to be used for Christmas gifts.  If/when that happens I'll take some photos and share with you.  Hope you have a crafty day.