Layered Die Shaker Card- Themed Friday #23

 My card today is for the Themed Friday card hop on Instagram. The theme for our card today is a New to You Technique.

I have made a number of shaker cards in the past, but I don’t believe I have made one using a word die and shadow. 

I used Antique Linen, Aged Mahogany, & Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks to ink blend and ink smoosh the background before die cutting. I also used Gold Perfect Pearls to add shimmer. The layered die set I chose to use is the Love die set from Simon Says Stamp.  

After die cutting the Love shadow three times, I stamped and embossed sentiments from the coordinating Love stamp set from Simon. I then added acetate to the back of the card panel and used foam tape to build three individual wells around each die cut shadow. I then poured in sequins to each well and attached a cream colored background. 

I matted the card panel on a black cardstock mat & then attached it to my card base. I added the die cut words to the shadows. I used the Tim Holtz Heart stencil, texture paste, & Mica Stains to add texture to the card front before I added additional sequins and crystals to finish the card. 

Stash Busters 2024

 

Welcome to Stash Busters 2024. This is a bi-weekly hop on Instagram where members share 3-6 cards &/or projects created using supplies already in their stash. This week’s theme is: “If I were a card, what would I look like?”

All the card stock, vellum, and watercolor cardstock for my cards today came from pieces that had already been cut down. I even had a few stamped images that I had not used on other projects that I was able to use on these cards. The “Birthday Wishes” sticker is an older one from my stash & I also pulled out a die cut piece from my stash and added a sentiment to it. 

I created three different cards that are very much my style.

Lots of greens and blues, Distress Inks, big, scripty greetings, natural (plant) images, splatters & sparkles. 

For this A2 card, I watercolored the two previously embossed, stamped branches from the “Be Kind” stamp set from Simon Says Stamp using Crushed Olive and Shabby Shutters. Before setting it aside to dry, I took dry Perfect Pearls in Perfect Gold and dropped it onto the wet pieces. Perfect Pearls is water reactive, so I was interested to see what would happen when I just haphazardly dropped it into the watercolor. I set it aside to dry & when I came back I was excited to see that the gold color gave a nice touch to the pieces. Similar to a splatter, but a little different. I plan to try this technique again sometime soon. I then took Peeled Paint Distress Ink and ink blended it onto the the leaves closest to the stem. I fussy cut both pieces and added foam tape to the back of the leaves before attaching it to my white card base. I used an olive green piece of cardstock between the card base and the design. I used that same green as a mat for my sentiment sticker. I added sequins to finish the card. 

I created this slimline card using smaller green pieces of patterned paper & cardstock from my scraps bin. I die cut the small pieces using the Tim Holtz Mini Holiday Greens, a favorite greenery die set that I use throughout the year. I added Distress Ink and Perfect Pearl Perfect Gold splatters to each of the die cut pieces and set them aside to dry. I found the cream colored die cut piece in my stash and heat embossed the gold “Sending Big Hugs” sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp “Big Scripty Greetings” stamp set onto it. The navy shimmer cardstock was given to me and I wish I had more of it. I used the die cut piece to trace the area for my greens, added adhesive to that area and them began to put down the greenery. Once satisfied with the arrangement, I popped the sentiment up on top with foam tape. I was just going to add Gold Stickles to the berries, but I didn’t like the result when I tried it. As I was wiping it away it smeared onto the Navy cardstock. I liked the look, so I continued smearing it around the design.  I then added pearls & crystals to the berries. I like the elegance of the finished card.

I loved creating this one! I took a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock from my stash & die cut hearts from the entire piece. I then used Crushed Olive, Evergreen Bough, & Faded Jeans Distress Ink to ink smoosh color onto the hearts. I added depth, by smooshing, then drying. I repeated that technique until I was happy with the results on each heart. Midway through each heart I added a coordinating Mica Spray to add a little shimmer to each. Once dry, I popped each heart up onto a piece of white cardstock & added a lot of sequins, crystals, and pearls. The sentiment, from the “Sending Happy Thoughts” stamp set from Simon Says Stamp,  was stamped in black & embossed with clear embossing ink on a piece of die cut vellum & then I added a few more sequins, crystals, and pearls. 

These cards are very much my style & I am so pleased with how they turned out. Take time to dig through your stash and find hidden treasures that you can create with. 

Spring Time Friendship Card

Today I'm sharing a Spring card. I love Limelight Hydrangeas and so I wanted to create something similar on this card. I die-cut a design into the card panel and added a Distress Ink background to create a shaker element. I added little sprigs of yellow for interest and to break up some of the green. I love the color scheme from this week's Color Throwdown. It is always fun to play along and create fun cards based on their weekly challenges. 

 

Coloring Tips

 This week as I began working on my card for Color Throwdown #738, I considered just using the colors given without any highlights. I started watercoloring the flower petals on the background with Mustard Seed Distress Ink. As I got the flowers done, they felt flat. Even though they are more whimsical instead of realistic, I just did not like the flat feel. 

I went back with Fossilized Amber Distress Ink and added shading on the petals and then finished the card background with Shabby Shutters and Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink. Even though they were not lifelike flowers the additional shading brought depth to the images. 

The Sentiment and the flowers were all stamped with Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide and clear embossed. I added shading to the fussy cut sentiment with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink. I finished the card with sequins and pearls from Lucy's Cards. 

Next time you feel like your card is feeling flat, go back and add shading and highlights. This is possible with watercoloring, using colored pencils, and even by adding a darker color beneath die-cuts. Just a little bit of extra shading & depth adds so much to your  card and keeps it from falling flat.

Working for the Weekend

 As we begin to wind down the school year I get more and more excited about weekends and the possibility of summer. The card I created today celebrates two of my favorite weekend (and summer) activities: reading and plants.

I used this week's Color Throwdown color inspiration for my card. 

Today's card features stamps from Cocoa Daisy and Heidi Swapp which were watercolored with 

Distress Inks. I figured out that Rusty Hinge and Wild Honey used together made the best terra cotta color to watercolor my pots. Everything got fussy cut and popped up for emphasis & then placed on an ink-smooshed background of Tattered Rose Distress Ink. 

This one was fun and I may have a hard time parting with it!

Color Throwdown Guest Stamper

 I am honored to be the Guest Stamper for the Color Throwdown #736. For this challenge I created a birthday card using yellow, gray, and sage. 

The background uses the Simon Says Stamp Solar Burst Stencil (SSS121424) which I inked blended over with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. I also mixed Perfect Pearls with water and splattered the stenciled image before adding the flower pieces and sentiment. 

The floral pieces were created using a number of different stamp sets and embossed with white or gold embossing powder. The big floral image is an older one from Hero Arts called Stencil Flower (CG194 circa 2010). I watercolored it after embossing with Fossilized Amber and Scattered Straw Distress Ink & added Star Dust Stickles to the center of the flower. The leaf images are from the Simon Says Stamp Be Kind stamp set (SSS202099) and watercolored with Bundled Sage Distress Ink. The final floral images are the small gold embossed pieces that are from the Simon Says Stamp Thanks and Leaves stamp set (SSS101894). Before adhering the stamped floral images I splattered them with Perfect Pearls. 

To finish the card I stamped the sentiment, from the Simon Says Stamp Sending & Wishing stamp set (SSS101475) in black ink and then added a mix of sequins from my stash.

Masculine card

 I don't make a lot of masculine cards, even though I live in a household with all guys. Today's card uses blue, rust, and brown and is inspired by this week's Color Throwdown #735.

For this card, I stamped Hero Arts Alphabet Background (ST501) stamp onto a piece of cold press watercolor cardstock using Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide Ink. Since cold press watercolor cardstock has a slightly bumpy texture I repeatedly stamped the stamp using my Misti stamp press until I was happy with the result. I then ink blended Stormy Sky Distress Ink over the entire background. To add rust and brown to this card, I smooshed Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain Distress Ink onto my craft mat and then used water and a small paintbrush to add color to the background. When I added the Distress watercolor it moved and picked up the blue, leaving behind the brown and rust. I love how it turned out and I want to try it with other background stamps and color schemes. I matted the blue background onto a piece of brown cardstock & then I added brown brads, both are from my stash.

For my sentiment, I used Ground Espresso Oxide Ink to stamp the Simon Says Stamp You (SSS101211) sentiment & then I used Walnut Stain and Antique Linen Distress Ink to blend over the sentiment. The die-cut sentiment was splattered with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls and added to the card using foam adhesive. I also added cream colored thread, sandwiching it between the background piece and sentiment piece so I didn't need any more adhesive. I finished the card with a few iridescent sequin stars from Lucy's Cards Ocean Adventure Sparkly Shaker mix.

Excited to put this card in one of my boys' hands soon. I tell them all the time how proud I am of them and how much I love them, but sometimes having something tangible in your hands makes you feel even more special. Thanks for stopping by!

Favorite Color Distress Ink and Watercolored Card

 Today, I am part of an Instagram card hop with a few of my crafty friends. The theme for our hop today is our favorite color.

Green happens to be my favorite color, especially lime-y, peridot shades of green. For the background of this card, I chose two yellow-green Distress Inks to ink blend over a gold embossed image. At the top is Twisted Citron Distress Ink, which is blended into Crushed Olive Distress Ink on the bottom. The gold embossed image is an older background cling from Hero Arts called Leaf & Floral Background (CG405 circa 2012). The gold embossing powder is Princess Gold from Ranger Ink. Before adding my florals and sentiment, I flicked water onto the background and then added a few splatters of old pearlized paint mixed with water that I have in my stash.

I originally considered making a fully green card but then decided to add florals for interest, so I added my next favorite color, which happens to be shades of aqua & blue-greens.  Using a floral image from Altnew's Beautiful Day Stamp and Die set and additional flower and leaves images from Simon Says Stamp Delicate Flowers (SSS201900) I gold embossed and Distress ink watercolored the images. 

The flowers were first washed with Salvaged Patina Distress Ink and while still wet I brushed darker Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink into the crevices where a natural flower would be darker. Using my paintbrush and a paper towel I was able to delicately move and manipulate color to where I wanted it. I used the same technique with the leaves using Twisted Citron and Crushed Olive ink. I left more ink on the leaves because I wanted them to blend in more so that the flowers would stand out. The floral images & leaves were then splattered with Perfect Pearls Perfect Gold powder that I mixed with water. I fussy cut or die-cut the images after coloring and popped them up on the card base using foam adhesive squares. 

To complete the card I added a die cut You from the Simon Says Stamp You Are My Sunshine Die (SSSD111834) and a gold embossed sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp You stamp set (SSS101211). The pearls and sequins are from Lucy's Cards and are from her Ocean Adventure and Fresh Grass Sparkly Shaker Selections. 

 Anything that is still available for purchase I linked in the description above. If you have any questions about techniques or products, please leave a comment and I will get back to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Nature Inspired Cards

 Today's cards started with The Color Throwdown #734 color inspiration.

Shades of green, brown, and cream are some of my favorites in nature and also in my creative life. I went looking for an older Hero Arts woodblock stamp as my jumping-off point for my cards this week and in the process of digging through my woodblock stamp drawer, I found a number of other woodblock stamps I love and had forgotten about. I love when I find "new" things in my stash!!

 

For my first card, I used the Hero Arts Heart Winged Butterfly woodblock stamp (F5158 circa 2009) stamped in Distress Oxide Ground Espresso Oxide and heated embossed with clear embossing powder. The inside of the butterfly was watercolored with LuminArte Twinkling H2O's in Lemongrass and Fern. The butterfly's body is a little green metal piece that I used Ultra Thick embossing powder on to give it a glossy raised finish. The brads I used are the same color. Both came from an old Making Memories metal attachment collection.  The background of this card was from a box of scrap pieces and I believe it is actually the back of a wedding invitation that I saved because I liked the subtle cream leaf design. The sentiment is stamped in Ground Espresso Distress Oxide. I matted the card on khaki-colored cardstock and added a few Crystal Stickle drops to finish it. 

This get-well card was created on a ledger background from Scenic Route papers. The gold mulberry paper was die-cut into a frame for the fern and the sentiment. The fern stamp is also an older one from Hero Arts called Silhouette Fern (K5314 circa 2010). It is stamped in Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide ink. The sentiment is stamped in Versamark clear embossing ink and then heat embossed with Ranger Ink's Princess Gold embossing powder. 

My final card uses two older Hero Arts woodblock stamps- Three Ferns (S5154 circa 2009) and Old Letter Writing (S4878 circa 2007). I started with a scrap of watercolor cardstock & a wash/splatter of Antique Linen Distress Oxide all over it. I then stamped the Old Letter Writing in Versamark ink randomly over the background and added Princess Gold embossing powder. Before embossing I brushed away sections of the embossing powder to give the background a more weathered/antique look. The fern stamp was stamped in Rustic Wilderness and Peeled Paint Distress Oxide then sprayed with water before stamping onto watercolor cardstock, then dried with a heat gun and fussy cut. I splattered the background and the fern-stamped pieces with Gold Perfect Pearls & water.  The sentiment was embossed and edged with Princess Gold embossing powder. Both the fern piece and the sentiment were popped up with foam squares. I finished the card with sequins and clear pearls from Lucy's Cards.

All three cards use sentiments from the Simon Says Stamp Handlettered Encouragement stamp set (SSS101705). 

I love the color scheme and the natural feel of all three of these cards and I especially like that I was able to dig into my stash and use things I already had. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Fussy Cut Flowers

 Today I played along with The Color Throwdown #684. This challenge had an interesting color combination of yellow, tan, grey, and black. I wasn't sure what I could create with these colors that spoke to my creativity, but I decided to push myself a little & just see what I could come up with. 

"When skies are grey" kept popping up into my brain as I looked at the color scheme and I knew I had an older stamp from Cocoa Daisy that said "You make me happy when skies are grey", so that phrase became my jumping-off point for this card.

The background was created using Distress Ink blending in Hickory Smoke and Speckled Egg using an extremely old cloud stencil from my stash. I stamped the sentiment in black and then splattered the entire background with Perfect Pearls & matted it on black cardstock & mounted that piece onto a Neenah Desert Storm A2 card base. 

The flowers are from a small Tim Holtz stamp set I picked up at Michaels years ago. This is a similar Tim Holtz stamp set with the same images I used.  I stamped the images in black and embossed them with clear embossing powder. The flowers were watercolored with Distress Inks in Fossilized Amber and the flower centers were watercolored with Ground Espresso and Tea Dye Distress Inks. The stems were watercolored with Walnut Stain and a little Peeled Paint distress inks. 

I then carefully fussy cut all the images, adhered the stems to the background and popped up the flower heads with foam tape. Even though fussy cutting is tedious, most of the time I prefer it to die-cutting because it does not leave a white edge around the image. My biggest tip for successfully fussy cutting images is first to be patient and go slow & most importantly to hold the scissors still and move the image. 

I finished the card with clear sequins from my stash.

I  hope you enjoy my card and that you will give fussy cutting a chance. I am always pleased with how it looks on a completed project. 

Another Non-Traditional Christmas Card Color Scheme

 I used the current Color Throwdown #664 color scheme to create another Christmas card. Love pushing myself to create without adhering to a traditional Christmas color scheme.

I got frustrated while making this one & I still see mistakes that kind of bug me, but after putting it down and walking away, I was able to come back to it and finish. Sometimes walking away for 24 hours helps. 

I had never created a card with a floating element before and I actually like how that turned out. The woodgrain background stamp is an older one that I always gravitate to when I need a woodgrain. The eucalyptus leaves & the snowflake are dies from Simon Says Stamp & the sentiment is from there as well. I do love adding sequins to most of my cards, this time it was actually a necessity to cover some splatters that actually ended up on the white background. I also added a few small pearls to help disguise some of the splatters that had run amok. 

Happy with how this one turned out and I learned a lot in the process. Definitely things I would do a little differently design-wise and time-wise, but I'm proud of myself for powering through and not scrapping the whole thing. 

Fall Card

 Made a card today that is larger than my normal A2 size. This one is 5x7 and is landscape. Years ago I bought a large Memory Box wood-mounted pumpkin stamp and matching die. I have used it for all kinds of projects. Today I used it along with The Color Throwdown #662 color scheme of purple, orange, green, and kraft to create a fall card.

I used Carved Pumpkin, Tea Dye, Crushed Olive, Dusty Concord, Victorian Velvet, Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint, & Rustic Wilderness Distress Inks to blend and watercolor my stamped images. 

I covered a piece of scrap cardstock with pieces of old dictionary paper, inked over it, and then die cut it using the matching die. After stamping, watercoloring, and fussy cutting the images from the Simon Says Stamp Delicate Flowers stamp set, I adhered them & popped them up on top of the pumpkin. I finished the card with a sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Thanks and Leaves stamp set, some splatters of Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold, and a few iridescent sequins.

Christmas Cards 2021

I handmake around 50 Christmas cards each year with our boy's pictures on them to send out to friends and family. Besides those cards, I always end up needing additional Christmas cards to send, so I am trying to get a head start on those. Today I used Freshly Made Sketches #505 sketch to create my first Christmas card of the 2021 holiday season.

For my card, I wanted to go with a less traditional color scheme and ended up with Distress Inks in Evergreen Bough, Speckled Egg, and Iced Spruce. I used water on a large flat paintbrush to wet the entire piece of watercolor cardstock, then I brushed and dabbed each Distress Ink on using a round paintbrush. I made sure to blend the colors where they met. 

Once dry, I edged the watercolor piece with the same Distress Inks & then mounted it on a dark grey sparkly cardstock. The greeting is from a set I picked up at Michael's a few years ago. The large snowflakes were die cut from white cardstock and vellum. There are additional smaller snowflakes that were die cut from vellum as well. It felt a little flat and I wanted to add a little bit of color, so I added a little more texture with Tim Holtz Greens Mini pieces.

I finished the card with some Perfect Pearls mist, Stickles, and a few sequins.

Because I tend to reach for the more traditional reds, greens, and golds when it comes to Christmas cards, it was a lot of fun to step out of that mindset and try something different. I'm going to challenge myself to find other non-traditional color schemes and make cards with those as well.

Simon Says Stamp September Kit on the Month

 I made a few more cards using the SSS September card kit of the month. My goal is to use up most of the consumable products and then move the remains into my card-making/stamp stash.

For this card, I am playing along with The Color Throwdown #660 color challenge. I love the dark, rich colors on the inspiration piece. 

The blues of the background really drew me in, so I decided to stay with a blue & used an old piece of patterned paper in my stash for the background. I stamped and embossed the jar of flowers from the SSS Sunshine Flowers stamp set. Using a wide variety of Distress inks in blues, greens, and oranges, I watercolored the image and then stamped the "Thank You" sentiment from the stamp set. Since I did not get the matching dies in the kit, I fussy cut the image and popped it up onto the navy patterned paper, and adhered it to a gold piece of paper from my stash, then I adhered the whole card front to the green card base. I finished the card with a scattering of small sequins. 

Simon Says Stamp September Kit of the Month

 I have a deep love of sunflowers, so this Sunshine Flowers Simon Says Stamp card kit of the month was perfect. I spent this weekend using the card kit to create some much-needed thank you cards.

For this first card, I used the Freshly Made Sketches #503 sketch.

Using an older square punch I punched out three small squares out of Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock. I used Distress inks and water to loosely watercolor the background and then I spritzed the wet watercolor with Perfect Pearls water. Once dry each square was machine stitched with white thread.

I then stamped the single sunflower image from the SSS Sunshine Flowers stamp set in black ink. Once embossed in clear embossing powder, I then watercolored the image using Distress Inks. The center of the flower was then coated with Walnut Stain Distress Stickles which are sadly a discontinued product from Ranger and Tim Holtz. After fussy-cutting the image, I popped it up on the watercolored squares & added the Tim Holtz Ideology "Thank You" label sticker, and finished the card with a scattering of sequins.

Color Throwdown #527

This week's Color Throwdown #527 uses my very favorite color- GREEN! So I was really excited to create a card using this week's colors.

Years ago I went through a Hero Arts Wood Block background stamp purchasing frenzy. Of the many I purchased, S5154 Three Ferns and S4878 Old Letter Writing are still two of my favorites. You might be able to find them through eBay or other crafty sites, but I'm not sure. It has been quite a while since I have used a wood mounted stamp and I am quite spoiled using my Misti stamp press, so today's card gave me a little bit of anxiety. I was determined to stamp it well once and not have to remake my card base. 

I actually ended up stamping the ferns twice, but I was able to simply flip over my Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock and start over. The first stamping on the smooth side was too light and I didn't like it. I did use a stamp positioner to help me stamp the second time on the rough side. I'm glad I used it because I ended up needing to stamp a second time to get better coverage. 

I stamped the fern using a mixture of Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, and Crushed Olive. I then stamped the Old Letter Background over the top of the whole piece in Simon Says Stamp Slate Ink. I could have masked the fern image so that the Old Letter Background wouldn't be on top of the fern, but I didn't want to take the time to hand-cut the mask and I also wanted the Old Letter Background to be seamless across the whole background. 

To minimize the grey lettering on top of the green of the ferns and to give the ferns a more solid appearance I used Distress Markers in the same Distress ink colors to add additional color. I used a watercolor brush and water to give the ferns a completed look. I then splattered the background with Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls. The Thank You message is from an older clear Hero Arts stamp set- All Occasion Messages CL272, which may still be available through eBay or other crafting sites. I stamped it on navy blue cardstock and embossed it with white embossing powder. I matted the card on the same navy blue cardstock and then added an additional mat of bright green handmade paper, that I have had forever. I finished the card with gold and clear, iridescent sequins from my stash. 

To complete the envelope, I stamped the fern background in the bottom left corner and then again on the back flap. 

Color Throwdown #526

I am back with another Color Throwdown weekly card.

This week's challenge uses beautiful blues that feel very wintery to me. 

I was in need of another birthday card for a sweet neighbor, who I happen to share a birthday with this week. I plan to drop this card in her mailbox on the way to work Friday morning. 

This card started with a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock and Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon, and Chipped Sapphire. After ink blending, I sprayed the whole piece with Perfect Pearls Mist. The white die cut snowflakes were cut from another white piece of watercolor cardstock and then inlaid into the blue background. Additional vellum die cut snowflakes and sequins were added to the background along with the Wishing die cut. I used Broken China Distress Ink to create a mat for the piece & then mounted the whole thing on a pre-made card base and envelope set I picked up at Michaels. The envelope was stenciled with an older The Crafter's Workshop snowflake stencil using Broken China Distress Ink. 

I was able to inlay the blue snowflake die cuts into the white cardstock base, so I have another card base in the making. The most difficult part of this whole card was placing the original colored pieces back into the die cut shapes.

I'm looking forward to the release of the Color Throwdown's next color challenge tomorrow.  

Color Throwdown #524

With one day left in our Christmas Break, I had the urge to get inky. I knew I had a color challenge blog that I followed through Instagram: @colorthrowdown, so I looked them up and found the newest color challenge.  I used the latest color challenge as a guide for a birthday card for the sweet lady who is the instructional aide in my son's kindergarten class every day.

Here is the latest Color Throwdown challenge:

And here is my take:

I will try my best to link the products I used to create this card. One of my creative plans for this year is to use the materials I already have available in my scrap space. If you are anything like me, you have lots of unused supplies that are just gathering dust. I hope to use quite a bit of mine up this year so that I can justify buying more of course! 

The base of this card is from a card and envelope set I picked up from Michaels. They come precut and scored 50 to a pack with envelopes. Card size is 5 by 6 1/2. 

The yellow and black mats are from pieces of cardstock from my stash. The colored background is a piece of Tim Holtz Water Color Cardstock inked with Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, and Mowed Lawn. Then the background was misted with Perfect Pearls. The silver die cut piece is from Taylored Expressions. I die cut it first and then embossed it using Versamark and Wow Embossing Powder in Metallic Silver. I then die cut a shimmery vellum circle from vellum I had in my stash and layered on the stamped pieces. The stamped pieces are from Altnew's Beautiful Day stamp and die set. The flower was stamped with TH Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, and Ranger Archival Jet Black ink and the leaves were stamped with the Green Field mini cube set from Altenew. The other smaller grey pieces were stamped in Altenew's Moon Rock ink.  I finished the card with an old Happy Birthday sentiment from Cocoa Daisy and a scattering of gems from my stash. 

Thanks for checking out my card. It was time-consuming because I am not a fast creator, but I like the results, and I think Jude's teacher will love it as well. Especially with a Sonic gift card tucked inside.  

Use your Stash- #1

In about two weeks my very best scrappy friend and I will set off for our annual girl's weekend in Arlington, TX. Every year we shop the Great American Scrapbook Convention and then shop in and around Frisco and Allen, TX. Lots of time to relax (we are both teachers and are ready for a break from school), catch-up, and laugh (lots). This trip does my heart good and I look forward to it every year.

About this time each year I get an itch to use up lots of the stuff I currently have, because we always pick up new stuff at the convention. So today I am going to share a card I made and sent to a friend using mainly scraps from my stash of scrapbook supplies.

I used ribbon pieces I keep in a small jar on my scrap table, sequins I have had for years, a "hello" wood tag from an older Cocoa Daisy kit, and new stamps from the May 2014 Cocoa Daisy Kit-"Here I Am"

Card Sentiments II Stamp Set

I love keeping this cute little jar of ribbon scraps on my table. The jar itself is from a Woodwick Candle I used up a long time ago. The ribbon pieces are small enough not to stick back in the jars of other longer ribbon pieces. 

Sequins seem to be a big trend right now in scrapbooking and cards, so I dug through my stash and found some that I've had for a long time. So long in fact I am not even sure of all the manufacturers. I know many of these are from Queen & Co., back when the company first started, and the others may be from Wal-Mart. After I made this card I actually divided these sequins up by color to store them in a travel medicine container (the one's that are divided by the days of the week) & plastic baby food containers. This will make it easier to find the color and style of sequin I want to use. 

Here is my finished card & it's interior.

Have you used your stash lately??

Hugs! Olivia

Embossed Boy Card

In the last two weeks I have mailed both my sweet nieces a card. Since the boys & I are headed home to visit my brother's family and my parents this weekend, I think I need to also mail my rambunctious nephew a card as well. Otherwise I might not make it home in one piece :).

For this card I used a swiss dot embossing folder to emboss some older woodgrain patterned paper from Crate Paper. My plan was to mount it on a piece of dark red cardstock. When I cut it & laid it on the cardstock I realized I had cut the woodgrain paper about 1/4 inch too short. I had even measured twice and cut once....Grrr!!

Instead of tossing it in the trash I decided that I could use a border strip sticker & some washi to cover up my mistake. Once I had it all mounted to the red cardstock I was actually pleased with the result. I like it more than if I had actually cut it properly to begin with. With the washi and the sticker there is a layered look without a lot of added bulk. 

 I then began pushing different elements around on the card until I found a combination that made me happy. The two rectangular pieces are stickers from a Studio Calico sticker sheet. The little dog was from a Studio Calico kit as well. I stamped & embossed him, die cut the circle, and then inked around him with Scattered Straw Distress Ink. He also has a few splatters of Gold Perfect Pearls for added shine. The kraft colored star was a die cut I had left from another project. I added the "hi" and my nephew's name "Beau" with some older Sassafras letter stickers.

To finish the card I added a few brads from my stash and a small button.

This card is being dropped in the mail tomorrow & hopefully will arrive at Beau's house before I do this weekend. Otherwise I am in BIG trouble!