Happy Valentine’s Day to all you lovers of carbs! This card is just for you.

This card was made using a cute stamp set that has loads of sentiment puns. I just love the set (I’ve notated the brand and stamp set name below).

How I made this project:

• Lightly ink blend a piece of Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock in pale pink ink. The piece should be large enough to die-cut heart from a heart die.
• Die-cut the pink-blended cardstock with the heart die. Adhere craft foam or foam tape to the back of the die-cut heart.
• Stamp the bread loaf and slice of bread in Copic-friendly ink onto white cardstock. Color the images and die-cut or fussy cut them out. Place foam tape on the back of these colored images.
• Layout your Copic-colored images on top of the die-cut heart. Leave room for the placement of the sentiment.
• Stamp the sentiment onto the heart in the desired location.
• Adhere the images (bread loaf and slice) to the heart.
• Add small red hearts (die-cut from a punch, etc.) or sequins to the heart.
• For the card mat:
  • Cut a piece of A2 cardstock (4.25” x 5.5”) from red cardstock.
  • If you are using a rectangular stitched die like I used, then die-cut the red A2 piece using the stitched die.
  • Mount the heart onto the red mat cardstock.
• Mount the card front (heart & red mag piece) onto the front of an A2-sized card base. Note: If you have die-cut the red cardstock using a stitching die like I did, you may have to trim the entire card down to a size less than A2.
• Supplies used in making this project:
• Stamps: Simon Says Stamp: Breakfast Buddies (images and sentiment).
• Dies: Simon Says Stamp: Breakfast Buddies coordinating dies (loaf of bread and slice); Simon Says Stamp: Wonky Heart craft dies (second from the largest of the dies in this set); My Favorite Things Die-namics: Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX (largest rectangle).
• Inks: Versafine Ink: Onyx Black (for sentiment); Memento Ink: Tuxedo Black for images that were colored with Copic Markers; Distress Oxide Ink: Spun Sugar (for soft color blending of heart).
• Copic Markers: E13, E53, and E50 for bread; Y17 (butter).
• Cardstock: Neenah Solar White 110# (card base and stamped images); Papertrey Ink: Pure Poppy (card mat and red punched hearts); Strathmore Bristol Smooth for heart and ink blending.
• Other: Heart Border punch (for the small red heart embellishments).

Concord & 9^th Turnabout stamps are great. A full background or focal point can be created with just four turns of the turnabout stamp.  The tricky part of using a turnabout stamp is selecting the four colors of ink to create the look that you want.

I chose the Everyday Bouquet Turnaround stamp by Concord & 9^th to create a Valentine’s Day card. I made the bouquet part of the focal point of the card. The colors I chose were in the red, pink, and gray shades. In fact,  I chose a shade of gray ink and stamped it one turn and then double-stamped it on another turn so that it looks as those two different shades of gray were used.

You don’t have to use four different colors of ink, you could use the same colors for all four turns, or just use two or three inks. It all depends on the look you want.

I won’t go into how to use a turnabout stamp, you can go to the Concord & 9^th  turnabout page for information.

Supplies used to make this project:

• Stamps: Concord & 9^th: Everyday Bouquet Turnaround; Simon Says Stamp: Simple Sentiments 2 (XO sentiment)
• Inks: Catherine Pooler Inks: Peppermint Scrub, Rose Petals, and Twilight; Versamark Ink (for embossing).
• Dies: Simon Says Stamp: Windows to My Heart wafer die (used one heart from this die set); Honey Bee Stamps: Sentiment Banners dies.
• Cardstock: Neenah Solar White 110# for card front and card base; Papertrey Ink: Autumn Rose (die cut heart, and mat for card front). Note the card front was trimmed down from 4.25” by 5.5” to 4” by 5.5”.
• Other: Brutus Monroe Ultra Fine Embossing Powder in Sterling.

Hope you like this project! Have a great day and XOXOXOXOXO!

This card was created from a gift stamp from Altenew. I received it for being a loyal customer. I just love it when stamp makers reward customers for being dedicated.

Thanks, Altenew for the gift and the great products you make!

By the way, this is not a paid advertisement for Altenew. The company’s products are amazing and extensive, but I receive no compensation from Altenew, other than a gift stamp for being a loyal customer.

Anyway, I decided to make a floral wreath with the gift stamp set (Billowing Blossoms) on a 4-inch square of white cardstock. The flowers were stamped in a plum-colored ink. The leaves from the same stamp set filled in the empty areas in the wreath. Note: The wonky stitching around the square was created using a die from an MFT die set.

The center of some of the flowers, sentiment and heart were stamped in Versamark ink and then heat embossed with gold embossing powder. I then layered a 4.25-inch square of gold glitter cardstock followed by a 4.50-inch piece of  plum-colored card stock behind that as matting for the card front. I liked the layers and the finish it gave to the front of the card. The entire front piece was mounted onto a 4.50-inch card base.

Supplies used in making this project:

• Stamps: Altenew: Billowing Blossoms (gift stamp set); Altenew: Floral Shadow stamp set (‘hello’ sentiment); Altenew: Charmed stamp set (heart image).
• Dies: My Favorite Things Die-namics: Wonky Stitched Square STAX.
• Inks: Altenew inks in Razzelberry (flowers) and Parrot (leaves); Versamark ink (for embossing).
• Cardstock: Neenah Solar White 80# (card front) and 110# (card base); Mirri Sparkle Glitter Cardstock in gold (for layering); Plum card stock (for layering) from my stash.
• Other: Brutus Monroe Embossing Powder in Gilded.

I hope you like this project!

I haven’t posted in a while because life has been so busy. Here is one of the holiday cards that I’ve made recently.

I love how this card turned out. No complicated techniques were used. However, the stamps, red cardstock and gold heat embossing of the sentiment make the card pop!

The holiday border stamped in white really helped frame the sentiment. The border was stamped multiple times using white pigment ink to get a good impression.

The card front was cut down to 4” x 5.25” and matted against a 4.25” x 5.5” (normal A2-size) gold glitter cardstock.

Hope you like this project! Merry Christmas!

Supplies used to make this project:

Stamps:  The Ton: Holiday Border Cling Background; Simon Says Stamped: Stained Glass Greetings stamp set.

Inks:  Hero Arts: Unicorn pigment ink (a white); Versamark Ink (for the embossing).

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink: Pure Poppy (card front); gold glitter cardstock (cut to 4.25”x 5.5”) used as a mat for the card front; Neenah Solar White cardstock 110# (card base).

Other:  Brutus Monroe embossing powder in Gilded.

I’ve been fascinated by all the card making demos on YouTube that feature the use of the Gina K Designs Wreath Builder template. I finally caved and purchased the GKD’s initial bundle which included stamps and the templates. However, I used tiny stamps for another stamp set to show that any stamp set with small images will work. The wreath template is pure genius and so easy to use!

Thanks to Jennifer McGuire (can’t get enough of her videos), I took inspiration from her cards using the wreath builder template and  created a birthday card for a friend. Jennifer currently has three videos using the wreath builder. These videos are all fabulous. You can also see videos of how to use the product by the creator, herself, Gina K on her Stamp TV page. Go to the Gina K Designs website and click on the ‘Go to Stamp TV’ option on the top right of the home page. You will find instructions on how to use the Wreath Builder System.

I won’t go into the actual details of how I made the card. There are plenty of YouTube videos for that. However, I used the 4-inch template for this project. I cut the final floral wreath in half and placed one half of the wreath at the top of an A2 card front and the other half on the bottom of the card front. I then cut a 2-inch strip of coordinating cardstock (2 inches tall by 4.25 inches wide stamped the sentiment onto it. I adhered the sentiment strip in the middle of the card front to hide the gap.

Supplies used in making this project:

Stamps:  Hero Arts: Make a Wish Birthday stamp set (flowers & leaves); Papertrey Ink: Mini Blooms stamp set (dot images in this set); Papertrey Ink: Splits: Happy Birthday mini stamp set (sentiment).

Inks:  For the wreath, all inks are by Catherine Pooler. The colors are: Party Dress, Fiesta Blue, Lime Rickey, Tiara and Sauna. Tsukineko Versafine Ink in Onyx Black (for the sentiment).

Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock used to stamp the wreath; Papertrey Ink: Hawaiian Shores for the sentiment strip and card mat; Neenah Solar White 110# for card base.

Other:  Gina K Wreath Builder template. The 4-inch sized template was used in making this card. EK Success small floral punches; blue sequins from my stash.

This is a sweet thank you card for a very sweet person.

I love stencils and the fact that they are a simple, low-tech craft supply that you can use to great advantage. You can ink up a stencil, apply embossing paste, sprays and even use them as an embossing folder! Also, they are very reasonable priced.

How I made this project:

• I used a floral stencil by Altenew that has layering image options. I placed the main floral image on an A2-sized card front and then started to ink the flower and leaves using a round foam sponge on a round mini ink blending applicator.
• I used Distress Oxide inks because I wanted to create a soft watercolor look. The ink had to be applied carefully since the stencil has delicate details in some parts and I didn’t want to rip or bend the stencil. I used more of a pouncing motion on the stencil to ink up the images with the foam applicator.
• When the image was dry, I lined up the other shadow images over the main image to add shadows to the leaves and flower and inked the images with darker inks. This technique could be called a two-step stencil layering process, like two-step stamp layering.
• I then again let the ink dry because I was going to heat emboss my sentiment and didn’t want the embossing powder to stick onto any of the damp inked images.
• I noticed that after the shadow layer of ink on the flower had dried, the ink dried so that there was no shadow distinction. Therefore, to create more shadow, I reinked the shadow area with a much darker ink (not using a Distress Oxide). When the flower dried, the shadow was now more distinct from the layer underneath.
• I stamped the sentiment using Versamark ink and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder and then trimmed down the card front to 4” x 5.25”. I placed foam tape on the back of the card front and adhered the front to an A2 mat of gold sparkle paper. Then the entire front was adhered to an A2 card base.

Supplies used in creating this project:

• Stamps: Altenew: Folksy Florals stamp set (for the sentiment).
• Stencils: Altenew: Watercolor Bouquet stencil.
• Inks: Distress Oxide Inks: Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry (flower); Twisted Citron (stems & leaves), Cracked Pistachio (shadowing of leaves); Catherine Pooler Inks: Party Dress (deepen shadow of flower); Versamark Ink for heat embossing;
• Cardstock: Neenah Solar White 80# for card front; Neenah Solar White 110# for card base; Gold glitter paper for mat behind card front.
• Other: Brutus Monroe embossing powder in Gilded; Ranger round ink blending applicator and Ranger round blending foam.

Hope you like this project. Have a great day!

Motherhood is universal, yet each person’s mother is unique! Here is another Mother’s Day card created with a vibrant floral arrangement.

For added glamour, the word “mom” was die-cut from lowercase dies in magenta glitter paper. I love how the magenta glitter paper adds an additional level of richness and glitz.

The die-cut word was mounted onto vellum in order hide the outlined word “kind” that was in the middle of the floral arrangement stamp.

How I made this project:

• Stamp the floral arrangement using Memento Ink onto an A2-sized piece of Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock. I used an ink that was alcohol-marker friendly because I was going to use Copic markers to color the floral arrangement.
• Color the floral images with your favorite colors.
• Die-cut the word “mom” from glitter cardstock.
• Glue the die-cut word onto a small rectangular piece of vellum and then glue the sentiment piece to the center of the colored floral arrangement.
• Trim down A2 card front to 4”x5.25” and mat it onto an A2-sized piece of magenta/pomegranate cardstock.
• Adhere the card front piece onto an A2 sized card base.

Supplies I used to make this project:

• Stamps: Simon Says Stamp: Kind Flowers (floral arrangement stamp & sentiment phrase)
• Dies: My Favorite Things Die-namics: By the Letters die set (discontinued), can substitute a alphabet die set that is approximately 3/4-inch high.
• Copic Markers: Leaves: YG23, YG11, yg17 (leaves); Flowers: R85, RV34, RV21; BV17, BV08; V04, V15; RV09, RV66; Y38 (flower centers and circles).
• Ink: Versafine Onyx Black (sentiment phrase); Memento Tuxedo Black (floral piece)
• Cardstock: Simon Says Stamp Glitter Cardstock in Magenta; Neenah Solar White 80# card front; Magenta/Pomegranate cardstock from my stash (for matting card front); Neenah Solar White 110# for card base; Bazzill Vellum 40#.

Note: the SSS stamp set has a large floral arrangement stamp in it, with the word “KIND” in the middle. I loved the floral arrangement and wanted to hide or obscure the word “KIND” and replace it with the MOM die-cut piece. To do this, I extended the flowers by coloring over the word “KIND” so that the flowers appeared over the word and made the word less noticeable. Since the vellum obscured anything underneath it, the extended flowers appeared as if they were part of the original floral arrangement.

Hope you like this project. Have a great day!

This is a Mother’s Day card that isn’t designed to be flowery or frilly. It’s more graphic in nature with contrasting, non-traditional colors. The beauty of this card is that it didn’t involve any complicated coloring or construction techniques. Die-cutting and spacing of the word “MOM” four times was the only difficult thing.

This card is for a mother who enjoys a bold, graphic style. The only stamping was the sentiment “LOVE YOU LOTS”.

How I made this project:

• Die cut of the word MOM four times from a piece of teal colored 4.25” x 5.6” (A2-sized) cardstock. The negative space was used for the card design and not the actual die cut words. Save the letters for another card. The centers of the “O” pieces were saved and used for this project.
• A piece of ombre patterned paper in a contrasting color was adhered behind the die-cut “MOM” piece.
• Position and adhere the saved teal-colored “O” centers onto the card after gluing the patterned paper on the back of the die-cut MOM card front.
• Stamp the “LOVE YOU LOTS’ sentiment on a strip of the same teal-colored cardstock and adhere the sentiment onto the card front as shown.
• Mount the finished card front onto an A2 card base.

Supplies used in making this project:

• Stamps: My Favorite Things: From the Heart stamp set (“Love You Lots” sentiment).
• Dies: My Favorite Things Die-namics: Mom die set.
• Inks: Tsukineko Versafine pigment ink in Onyx Black (sentiment).
• Cardstock: Teal colored cardstock from my stash; Patterned Paper from an old 6×6 paper pack by Kelly Purkey called “Second City”.

Hope you like this card. Have a great day and a great Mother’s Day!

This project is an instance in which I created a card to fit a sentiment that I liked.  The sentiment is from an Essentials by Ellen stamp set, Stay Salty.  All other images and dies used are also from Ellen Hutson and listed in the supply list below.

I posted the project on Instagram a while ago but didn’t get a chance to do so on my blog. So here it is in a blog post.

How I made this project:

• Using a square piece of Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper cut to 3.5”x3.5”, I blended 3 shades of blue Distress Oxide inks to create an ombré
• On a separate piece of Neenah Solar White #80 cardstock, I stamped the butterfly image in Copic-friendly Memento Tuxedo Black. I colored the butterfly using Copic markers and then die-cut the butterfly using its coordinating die.
• On a 4”x5.25” piece of Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock, I die cut a window using Ellen Hutson’s Strands die. This die cuts an opening around 3” square with thin, wavy, horizontal lines going across the window. I thought the die-cut lines complemented the lines in the butterfly’s wings and well as adding interest to the ombré
• I adhered the blue ombrébackground to the back of the die-cut piece.
• The sentiment was stamped below the die-cut window in Versafine Onyx Black ink.
• The entire card front was then mounted onto a landscape-oriented, top-folding A2 card base in black cardstock.

Supplies used in making this project:

• Stamps: Essentials by Ellen: Up the Happy (butterfly); Essentials by Ellen: Stay Salty (sentiment).
• Dies: Essentials by Ellen: Strands die (wavy lines/square opening); Essentials by Ellen: Up the Happy die set (coordinating die for butterfly image).
• Inks: Distress Oxide Inks in Blueprint Sketch, Salty Ocean, and Mermaid Lagoon; Memento: Tuxedo Black Ink; Versafine pigment ink in Onyx Black.
• Copic Markers: RV66, RV09 (for butterfly’s wings).
• Cardstock: Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper (ombre background); Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock (for card front); Papertrey Ink: True Black cardstock for card base.

Hope you like me project. Have a great day!

My project was inspired by the current Ellen Hutson Pin-Sights Challenge inspiration board below.

I love the vibrant colors in the inspiration images and used them in creating a vivid background for my project.

How I made this project:

Using an foam ink blending tool, I blended Catherine Pooler inks onto a piece of Bristol Smooth paper cut to 4.25″ x 5.5″. Bristol smooth paper is a great paper to use for ink blending. The inks just glide over the paper and any ink blotches that occur can be blended out. I used ink colors from Catherine Pooler’s Life of the Party collection.  The colors in this collection are bright and vivid, similar to the colors featured in the inspiration board.

The ‘fabulous’ sentiment was die-cut from black card three times and the three layers were adhered to each other to give the word dimension. The die-cut word had to be dimensional to stand out against the bright background and was glued to the card front with liquid glue. The words ‘you are’ were stamped above the focal sentiment and star clusters were stamped around the sentiment for additional visual interest. Black ink was used for this.

The card front was cut down to 4″ x 5.25″ and mounted with foam tape onto a black 4.25″ x 5.5″ card base.

As a final touch, a clear Wink of Stella pen was used to add shimmer to the star clusters and the focal sentiment.

Supplies used in making this project:

Stamps:  Essentials by Ellen: Wonky Backdrops stamp set (star clusters); My Favorite Things: From the Heart stamp set (phrase: ‘you are’).

Dies:  Essentials by Ellen Totally Fabulous designer die set (‘fabulous’).

Inks: Catherine Pooler Inks (Life of the Party collection): Flirty Fuschia, Tutti Frutti, Orange Twist, Tiki Torch, Tiara, Something Borrowed; Hero Arts mid-tone Shadow Ink in Stone Wash. Versafine ink in Onyx Black (words and star cluster)

Cardstock/Papers: Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper (100 lb/270 gms); black cardstock from my stash.

Hope you like the project and have a fabulous day!

This card is a Valentine’s Day card made without any images of hearts! I’m just trying to mix it up a bit. However, the colors: reds and pinks are appropriate for V-Day as are the flowers and the sentiment!

Also, this is a submission for the Ellen Hutson Mix It Up Challenge where you must use any Essentials by Ellen product(s), paired with any Hero Arts product(s).  The flowers and the “You are loved!” sentiment are from two Essentials by Ellen stamp sets and the embossed-resist background is a Hero Arts cling background stamp. I used 3 colors of Distress Oxide inks to create an Ombre colored background. The sentiment was also heat embossed using white embossing powder on vellum.

Hope you like the card and have a great day!

All supplies are listed below:

Stamps: 

1. Essentials by Ellen: Rustic Botanicals stamp set (flowers); Essentials by Ellen: Totally Random Sayings Vol. 1 (sentiment).
2. Hero Arts: Love is Love Bold Prints background stamp.

Inks:

1. Distress Oxide Inks in Candied Apple, Picked Raspberry, and Worn Lipstick (for Ombre background and each flower).
2. Tsukineko Versamark Ink (for heat embossing).

Dies:

Essentials by Ellen: coordinating dies for Rustic Botanicals (flower die).

Cardstock:

1. Neenah Solar White 110# (card front and card base).
2. Essentials by Ellen Woodgrain Embossed cardstock (used as a mat for the card front).

Other:

1. Hero Arts white embossing powder
2. Pretty Pink Posh: Clear Droplets (4mm size) – used for centers of the flowers
3. Fun Foam (die cut using the flower die and adhered to the back of each flower)