Noah's Ark Themed Card Set

Hi, everyone! I have a family member who LOVES Noah's Ark, so I wanted to create a special Christmas gift for her! I thought I would make a Noah's Ark themed card set with many different colors and sentiments so she can use them all through the year! 

I made a whole rainbow of cards! All the way from pink to purple and everything in between! I used a bunch of different sentiments from a bunch of different companies. I'll show you all of them individually! I stamped each sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black ink and added black Nuvo drops to each card.

On of the first sentiments I grabbed is from the Right At Home set called His Love. I love this all occasion sentiment!

The "thinking of you" and "you make me so happy" sentiments are both from an older Studio Calico stamp set that I use all the time! I'm in love with the font!

I knew I wanted to add a birthday sentiment and the font on this one is amazing! This one is from Simon Says Stamp's Birthday Bits stamp set.

I have been using the Simon Says Stamp Kind Flowers stamp set every chance I get! How gorgeous is that script!

Thanks for stopping by!

More Stamping Techniques

Hello! I'm back with another Christmas card!! - Tis the Season! I make Christmas cards all year long, but I love making them even more when the weather starts to turn chilly! 

I used two stamp sets from Studio Calico to create this card. I love that I can make so many different trees from one triangle and a couple different decoration images! I decided to channel my inner Laura Bassen and create a rainbow of Christmas trees! I used a bunch of different inks and then used a light gray ink to stamp the decorations on the trees. I embossed my sentiment with black powder so that it would really stand out. That's all!

Leaf Die Cuts

Hi! I'm back with two more cards for you! Today I used projects from Pretty Pink Posh and Studio Calico. 

As soon as I saw the Stitched Foliage Dies from Pretty Pink Posh I knew I had to have them! I am in LOVE! There are so many things you can do with them! I decided to go with something clean and simple, so I die cut my two favorite leaves from watercolor paper and sponged on some Distress Inks - Fossilized Amber with Spiced Marmalade and Evergreen Bough with Scattered Straw. I embossed a few sentiments from the Studio Calico and Jasmine Jones set called Love Never Fails with gold embossing powder. I popped up the leaves with foam tape and I'm done!

Gnome Slider Card

Hello! I have the cutest of cute slider cards to share with you today! I used products from a bunch of different companies for this one. I'm really pushing myself to mix up my goodies! I struggle with mixing companies together...I don't know why! 

Isn't it so cute?! I started by cutting out Lawn Fawn's Leafy Tree backdrop from cream colored cardstock...backwards! I die cut it and flipped my piece on it's back because I wanted my tree on the right. Then I masked off the edges and added some Distress Ink to the tree. I also die cut two pieces of green cardstock with the Stitched Trees Border dies also from Lawn Fawn. I wanted my tree trunks to be brown, so I die cut the same dies from white cardstock and used some Vintage Photo Distress Ink to give the tree trunks some brown color and glued them on top. The leaves and tree backgrounds are from yellow, orange, and red cardstocks. While I was die cutting I also cut out the Radiant Sun and Cloud 9 dies from My Favorite Things. I used Lawn Fawn's Slide on Over dies to die cut a slider panel in the foremost green piece of cardstock.

I love this little gnome and hedgehog from an old Studio Calico stamp set. Seriously, so cute! I used Copic markers to color them in. I also added some color to the outside of the clouds with Distress Ink.

As with all of my cards, I added a healthy amount of Wink of Stella to almost everything! All but the background and the trees have glitter! My hedgehog is stationary, but the little gnome slides back and forth! So cute!

Thanks for stopping by!

OCC Rainbow Maker - Rainbow Stamping

Hi, again! I'm sharing two more cards that I made during the Rainbow Maker Online Card Class. Day two was about rainbow stamping. I used the same technique for both cards - first and second generation stamping. 

I used the same products for both cards. My inks are from Studio Calico - Well Red, Orange County, Lemon Zest, Lime Light, Clear Blue, and Lavender Soda. The stamp set is called Killer Messages from Hero Arts.

This first card was actually my practice piece. I practiced what the inks would look like when I stamped them at full strength and then again without re-inking. It looked super cute and I didn't want to throw it away!

I love how these killer whales are swimming across the card in rainbow order! It makes my heart sing! I added a quick sentiment and some stamped some scattered hearts and turned this practice panel into a card!

Here is what I actually had in mind for the card. I wanted a rainbow of killer whales filling the whole card front. Some are stamped at full strength and then I would stamp again without re-inking. This makes it look like I have many more ink colors than I actually do. I finished off this card the same way as I did the first one.

I just love these two cards! They are one layer and super duper cute! I'll be back soon with some rainbow die cutting techniques!

Triangle Turnabout Thank You's

 Hey, everyone! I have two cards to share with you! One masculine and one that's more feminine. I'm always short on thank you cards and since I had all of my things out I thought I would make two cards!

Who else is in LOVE with the turnabout stamps from Concord & 9th!? I love them! They make backgrounds so easy! For the blue card I used 3 shades of blue inks from Simon Says Stamp and Studio Calico for the first three turns and then Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder for the last turn. I love this one! I usually shy away from blues, but this might make me come back to them! I love how they pair with the liquid platinum!

The second card is more feminine. Again I used various colors from Simon Says Stamp and Studio Calico. The backgrounds really do all the work for these cards! I wanted to finish off the cards and keep these clean and simple. I used the new script thanks dies from Simon Says Stamp. I love that this die is a set - one to cut the sentiment and another to cut the shadow! I cut a black sentiment for the blue card and a dark gray sentiment for the other. I used various sizes of Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins to add a little shine!

That's all! Super simple, but the background really packs a punch!

Fruity Backgrounds

Hey, there! Fruit stamps seem to be all the rage this summer! When I saw the Fruity stamp set from Studio Calico and One Little Bird I knew I had to have it! I have 2 card examples using this cute stamp set!

I love how you can make so many different kinds of fruits with the same stamps! I made watermelons and limes today, but you could use the same stamps to make lemons or oranges, too! And there are stamps to make peaches and strawberries in the set as well!

I used a Watermelon and Key Lime inks from Simon Says Stamp for the watermelons and Key Lime and Jellybean inks also from SSS for the limes. Add some black spatters, a sentiment strip, and some Pretty Pink Posh droplets and these cards are done!

These were so easy to make! I'm going to make more using different fruits. I'll have a whole farmstand of fruity cards! See you next time!

Floral Border Cards

Hey, there! Today I have 5 cards to share with you! Four are super simple...even the fifth is simple...but a little more involved than the others! I used some older products...but who says that's a bad thing!

Here's the first card...the more involved one! I started by stamping the floral border image from an old Studio Calico card kit - Lisse Street from April 2015. I love love love this image! I stamped it with Versafine black ink and used clear embossing powder. It was super easy to line up and stamp because I used my MISTI! Where would I be without it! The sentiment is from the My Favorite Things Geometric Greenery stamp set. I used my Gansai Tambi watercolor set to add some quick and easy messy coloring to the image. Can you believe that was the hard one?! I popped on some sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and decorated an envelope. Easy peasy!

While I had the image mounted on my MISTI I went ahead and stamped a bunch more cards! For these two I added a strip of washi tape and a die cut sentiment from the card kit. I have a bad habit of hoarding pretty things...and my goal for this year is to use more of what I have!

And now for the simplest design! I stamped and embossed like the others and then just added a sentiment die cut! And just like that I have five cards done and ready to send out!

Thanks for joining me!

Tis the Season Challenge 51 - Color Challenge!

Hey everyone! I'm back again because it's the start of a new challenge at the Tis the Season challenge blog!! Check out the color inspiration below:

Aren't those colors just gorgeous! They are Sky, Slate, and Marina! The possibilities are endless!! Here's my take:

I created a snow drifts scene, which are some of my favorite Christmas cards to make! I inked my snowdrifts pieces with Studio Calico Mint Hint and Glass Slipper inks. I overlapped the inks and used light inking and heavy inking to try and get a gradient effect. For my sky I used Broken China Distress ink. I wasn't too concerned with a smooth blend. I think leaving the blend splotchy makes it seem more realistic.

I used some Studio Calico Clean Slate ink for my trees. I used the Christmas Tree stamp set which came with a class from last year. I used first, second, and third generation stamping and I double and triple stamped as well to get different shades of trees. I did the same when decorating the trees as well. Once they were all stamped I used my Sakura glitter pen for some silvery shimmer and cut them out.

I thought my scene was lacking a little oomph, so I added some stars with my white Gelly Roll pen and the Sakura shimmer pen. I also used a heavy application of Wink of Stella on my hills. The glitter blended the inks giving the hills the hills an uneven appearance, but I like it! It looks like drifts of snow on the hills!

I put my scene together using tape runner and various heights of foam tape for dimension.

That's it! I do hope you will join in our color challenge at Tis the Season!! Until next time!!

Studio Calico Odyssey Easter Card

Hi, everyone! I've been super busy lately! I've been using my Simon Says Stamp card kit and making cards for people who have ordered them. I love doing custom orders! My Studio Calico kit finally came! After two months in a row of mess-ups from UPS...well I guess I'm getting a little tired of them. Oh well! Today I used my kit in a way that it wasn't intended to be used - I made an Easter card! Check it out!

Isn't it so very cute! I love using my card kits in different ways. I'm finding that the Studio Calico kits aren't really themed in ways that are appealing to me, but that's okay! I just change them to fit my tastes! This particular stamp set from this month's kit has turtles, chameleons, alligators, and frogs. Not really my thing, but I did like the papers!

I usually don't remember to take photos during my crafting process, but today I did! I wanted to show you how I used the stamp set to make this card. The image I used is actually supposed to give color to the body of the frog. As soon as I saw this set I knew I wanted to make Easter eggs. I used various colors of SC ink to stamp out my eggs and then grabbed a bunch of different images from my various stamp sets and gave the eggs white accents. I cut out each of the egg shapes with scissors.

I layered multiple papers all wonky and trimmed off the excess from the edges of my card. I added a strip of polka dot paper on top and then used various thicknesses of foam tape to adhere my eggs. I made my sentiment from the blue alpha stickers that came in the kit. Then I used some Candy Shoppe enamel dots to add some interest to my card.

That's it! I hope this inspires you to use your card kits in out-of-the-box ways! See you next time!

Spring ( it's got to be coming soon! !)

Hello! It's been so cold here in PA! I keep thinking it has to be almost over! I'm usually a lover of the cold, but I can't wait for a warm up! Not too warm...right around 50 degrees is ideal weather for me, but -14 degrees is so cold!

I thought I'd use my new Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle dies and some spring-y products to make a quick card. I used the Spring die from Paper Sushi for Studio Calico and the Umbrella paper pad from American crafts. Here we go!

I started by picking out 6 pieces of paper that I thought went well together. I chose all of the patterns from the Umbrella paper pad from AC. I love choosing papers from a 6x6 pad because I know that all of the patterns will go together! I wanted to have a balance of purples and pinks and yellows, but I loved the light blue bunny paper, so that just had to go into the mix! I used washi tape to hold together all 6 of the stitched rectangle dies from Simon Says Stamp and then cut out rectangles from each of the patterns of paper.

I held all of the dies together because I wanted to have 6 sizes of frames to piece together. This way all of the rectangles lie within each other rather than having 6 pieces of paper stacked on top of each other. Also, this allowed me to create 6 different cards from 6 pieces of paper. In addition to this, putting all of the dies together gave me the cool stitched edges on the outside and inside of the papers.

After I die cut the rectangles I die cut the word "spring" using a die from Paper Sushi for Studio Calico. I just love the scripty font! I die cut the word six times from Neenah 110 lb cardstock. This gave my die cut some extra dimension, but not so much that it can't go through the mail. The die cut is really delicate. You have to be sure to keep the dot for the "i". You can leave it off or use an enamel dot, but I really like the complete look I got by using the paper dot for the "i".

I thought the card needed a little something more, so I twirled some white thread around and then added Tombow Mono Multi glue to the back of my die cut. This glue holds down the die and the thread.

You may notice that on this last card I didn't adhere the die completely straight. I'm okay with it thought. I didn't realize it until after the glue had dried and I didn't want to damage the card by trying to peel off the die cut. It messes with my OCD a bit, but I know my family loves when I send them cards and they know they're handmade. If anything goes askew they just attribute it to the artistic process! :)

Thanks for popping in to read this quick post! I'll see you soon!

Berry Sweet Valentine Cards

Hello! I hope everyone that's getting snow is staying warm! We didn't get that much, probably 5 inches on Saturday morning and then another few inches yesterday. Could have been a lot worse! I worked all weekend, but now I'm back with a few Valentine's cards! I'm working on a few more videos for my series...so stay tuned for those!

I know I said I would probably skip this month's Studio Calico kit, but I wanted to try and work out of my comfort zone and try some products I'm not really fond of. I came up with a few simple cards!

Here's my first one - I stamped my images onto some Strathmore watercolor paper with Versafine ink and then embossed them with Ranger clear embossing powder. I used my Simply Art watercolors to color the fruits and then cut them out leaving a small white border. I cut the purple paper to 4" x 5.5" and stamped my sentiments with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I cut a small strip of the yellow plaid paper and adhered both of them to a top folding card. I used foam adhesive to stick my fruits onto my card.

For my next card I wanted to try something I've never really used before...Distress Paints! I picked up a few colors on clearance - Fired Brick, Spun Sugar, and Picket Fence. I put some paint down onto my mat and spritzed some water over the colors then smushed my watercolor paper on top of the paint. I dried the paints with my heat tool and kept pouncing the paper into the colors until I got the look I wanted.

My fruits are stamped on Neenah cardstock with Tuxedo Black ink and I colored them with some Spectrum Noir pens. I'm new to alcohol markers, so I stuck to simple two color blending. I die cut a tag shape using my Big Shot and stamped the sentiment in Well Red SC ink. I cut some patterned paper from my kit to 4.25" square and adhered my elements to the card base. I used some Matte Multi Medium to adhere a scattering of sequins to my card.

And those are my two Valentine's for today! Come back soon for more cards in my Valentine's series!

Studio Calico December 2014 Card Kit Video #2

Hello and Happy New Year!! I hope the holidays were good to you!

Let's jump right in and talk about today's card. I used the Studio Calico December Park Avenue card kit for one more video. I took inspiration from a card that Carissa Wiley posted to the Studio Calico member gallery. I just love how she transformed the black and white floral paper!

I cut down a piece of the floral paper to 4 inches square and pulled out my watercolors and added some quick colors to the paper. I didn't need to do any shading because the paper is all ready shaded. As I applied the watercolors the shading showed through. I used my die cutting machine to cut a circle out of the hashtag paper from the kit. I believe the circle was right around 2 1/2 inches. 

I trimmed down more of the patterned paper for a sentiment strip and used Versafine Onyx Black ink and some Ranger clear embossing powders to create my sentiment. This is probably one of my favorite sayings! I just love it! 

I used foam tape around the circle window to make sure none of my beads or sequins escaped. I used a trick from Jennifer McGuire and glued down some sequins onto my piece. That way when the card stands upright there's still sequins all around the shaker, rather than just at the bottom. Then I filled up my shaker with Studio Calico and Doodlebug sequins and some gold seed beads. 

That's all! Soon I will be showing you all of the crafty additions Christmas brought to my craft room! Santa was good to me!! :) Thanks for stopping by!