Playful Puppies!!

Hi!  It’s been a while since my last post.  My personal and work life have gotten pretty hectic and I have had so little time for crafting these days!!  =(  But when Mama Elephant released the Playful Puppies Stamp Set, I fell absolutely head-over-heels, bonkers madly-in-love and I HAD to order this set at midnight the day of the release and I may or may not have colored like 20 of these puppies so far…haha

See below for steps to reproduce:

1. Create an A2 card base out of Neenah Solar White 110lb. Cardstock
2. Cut a frame out of a 4.25″ x 5.5″ piece of Neenah Solar White 80lb. Cardstock using Mama Elephant Basic Set Creative Cuts
3. Stamp the puppies and “newspaper” using the Mama Elephant Playful Puppies Stamp Set with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, color with Copic Markers (0/C01/C03 and E55.E25/E27/E29) and die-cut with the coordinating Mama Elephant Playful Puppies Creative Cuts
4. Stamp the sentiment using Paper Smooches Chubby Chums on vellum with Versafine Onyx Black Ink and heat emboss with clear embossing powder
5. Die-cut the clouds/sun/grass/fence with Lawn Fawn Spring Showers Lawn Cuts, Lawn Fawn Grass Border Lawn Cuts, Taylored Expressions Grass Border Die and Taylored Expressions Picket Fence Border Die
6. Create the sky by lightly blending with Hero Arts Soft Sky Shadow Ink
7. Adhere the card together using some foam tape and double-sided adhesive
8. Have a YAPPY Memorial Day Weekend!!!!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog!

Irish Blessings Shaker

I don’t usually make cards for major holidays aside from Christmas but I saw this AMAZING Irish Blessings printable online and was inspired to create this framed shaker.  Can you believe that the super talented and generous Samantha, at Five Heart Home, is providing this download for free!?!?  And because I am so in love with this print, I tried to keep everything else super simple to really showcase this Irish Blessing!

See below for steps to reproduce:

1. Create a top-folding A2 card base out of Neenah Solar White 110lb. Cardstock
2. Cut a frame out of a 4.25″ x 5.5″ piece of Neenah Solar White 80lb. Cardstock using the Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics A Dies, add Versamark Ink to the inside of the frame and heat emboss with Hero Arts Gold Embossing Powder (à la Kristina Werner)
3. Cut a 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ rectangle out of acetate and adhere under the frame with a Scotch Advanced Tape Glider
4. Print this absolutely gorgeous Irish Blessing download made available for free by Samantha at Five Heart Home on a 4.25″ x 5.5″ piece of Neenah Solar White 80lb. Cardstock (I sized it down in Photoshop to fit my frame)
5. Punch out 12 hearts from Neenah Solar White 80lb. Cardstock, assemble three four-leaf clovers and blend ink on with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink
6. Embellish the card/Fill the shaker with assorted sequins from Pretty Pink Posh (6mm Marshmallow, 6mm Shamrock, 6mm Gold Confetti, 4mm Sparkling Clear)
7. Adhere the card together using some foam tape (I doubled up on the foam tape for this card so that there is more room to shake!) and double-sided adhesive
   1. Tip: Use a powder tool on the inside of the shaker and along the edge of the foam tape to reduce static and prevent the sequins from sticking to the borders
8. Grab a pint and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day early!!

I will be submitting this card to the following challenges:

Virginia’s View Challenge #13: All Things Embossed

Sparkle and Shine Challenge One

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Just a Hint of Clover

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and remember, never iron a four-leaf clover because you don’t want to press your luck!!!  hehe  =P

Pot o’ Gold Shaker!

St. Patty’s Day is nigh and since I’ve been dreaming of spring and flowers and rainbows during this cold winter, I thought it would be great to make a bright and cheerful card to counteract the snow storm occurring outside of my window!

See below for steps to reproduce:

1. Create an A2 top-folding landscape card base out of Neenah Solar White 110lb. Cardstock
2. Create a 4.25″ x 5.5″ frame using the Spellbinders Card Creator A2 Matting Basics Dies out of Neenah Solar White 80lb. Cardstock
3. Use a Cricut Expression 2 to cut out the black pot base and frame from the Cricut Create a Critter Cartridge (fish bowl)
   1. Cut out acetate and adhere acetate to the frame to create the window for the shaker
4. Create stitched clouds using Lawn Fawn Spring Showers Creative Cuts
   1. Stamp sentiment from Paper Smooches Salutations Stamp Set with Versafine Onyx Black Ink
5. Create grass using the Taylored Expressions Grass Border Die
6. Create a rainbow using the Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large Dies out of Neenah Solar White 80lb. Cardstock
   1. Blend with Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves)
7. Blend the clouds using a stencil (purchased from Impress Cards and Crafts) and Hero Arts Soft Sky Shadow Ink
   1. Please note that the amazingly talented JJ Bolton has a free cut file available with a cloud template in case you want to make your own stencil!
8. Punch out 8 hearts from Neenah Solar White 80lb. Cardstock, assemble two four-leaf clovers and blend ink on with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink
9. Embellish the card/Fill the shaker with assorted sequins from Pretty Pink Posh (6mm Metallic Gold, 4mm Metallic Gold)
10. Adhere the card together using some foam tape (I doubled up on the foam tape for the shaker so that there is more room to shake!) and double-sided adhesive
    1. Tip: Use a powder tool on the inside of the shaker and along the edge of the foam tape to reduce static and prevent the sequins from sticking to the borders
11. Think about the pot o’ gold at the end of your rainbow!

I will be submitting this card to the following challenges:

Sparkle and Shine Challenge One

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Just a Hint of Clover

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today!

Stamped Menagerie!

Okay….I had to keep playing with my MISTI (Most Incredible Stamp Tool Invented) because I had so much fun with it the other day!  My crafty friend, Rubeena, is on the Design Team for a new stamp company called The Ton Stamps.  Their stamps are very unique and their sequins/confetti (aka Gilding) are in such lovely colors!!  I ended up purchasing their entire line of couture sequin mixes as well as the Sketchy Menagerie Stamp Set.  The moment I saw this stamp set, I knew I wanted to “mount” these animal heads and create some simple masculine notecards.  Whaddya think?!

See below for steps to reproduce:

1. Create A2 top-folding card bases out of Neenah Solar White 80lb. Cardstock
2. Stamp the animal heads from The Ton Stamps Sketchy Menagerie Stamp Set and the flourish from JustRite Large Fancy Sentiments Stamp Set using VersaMark Ink and heat emboss with Ranger Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder
3. Stamp the laurel using the Papertrey Ink Lovely Laurels Stamp Set with Hero Arts Forever Green Shadow Ink
4. There is no need for you to have to go out and hunt to mount some animal heads!  Enjoy your stamped menagerie!

I will be submitting this set of note cards to Virginia’s View Challenge #13: All Things Embossed!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and Happy Crafting!

Mass-Producing Note Card Gift Sets with my MISTI!

I finally caved and purchased the MISTI (Most Incredible Stamp Tool Invented) invented by Iliana.  I had been eyeing it since October and I am so glad I gave into temptation because I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!  This tool makes mass-producing cards easy peasy!!  How did I ever live without it?!

I created four sets of note cards inspired by the queen of stamping herself, Jennifer McGuire.  Thanks to the lovely Rubeena for introducing me to PTI’s The Sweet Life Stamp Set from this post!

See below for steps to reproduce:

1. Create A2 top-folding landscape card bases out of Neenah Solar White 80lb. Cardstock
2. Create stitched rectangles using the Mama Elephant Basic Set Creative Cuts out of Neenah Solar White 80lb. Cardstock
3. Create 4.25″ x 5.5″ (A2size) rectangles out of Amuse Studio Assorted Cardstock (Blush, Apricot, Lemon Whip, Winter Sky, Amethyst)
   1. Use the My Favorite Things Diagonal Stripes Background Stamp to create a background using Distress Ink (Spun Sugar, Mustard Seed, Milled Lavender), Hero Arts Shadow Ink (Soft Sky), Memento Cantaloupe
4. Stamp the three-step flowers from the Papertrey Ink The Sweet Life Stamp Set using the following inks with this very helpful stamping guide:
   1. Pink Roses: Spun Sugar Distress Ink, Avery Elle Raspberry, Avery Elle Cherry
   2. Orange Roses: Hero Arts Pastel Peach, Memento Cantaloupe, Hero Arts Orange Soda
   3. Yellow Roses: Hero Arts Ink (Pastel Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Butter Bar)
   4. Blue Roses: Hero Arts Soft Sky, Hero Arts Cornflower, Avery Elle Sapphire
   5. Purple Roses: Milled Lavender Distress Ink, Hero Arts Passion Flower, Memento Dye Grape Jelly 
   6. Note: Coming up with these ink combinations took me quite a while and now I have a slew of stamped flowers that I just can’t bring myself to throw away!  Will need to figure out a way to use them so as not to waste them!  Don’t give up hope if you can’t seem to find a good color combo.  The end result is totally worth all the frustration!!
5. Stamp the two-step leaves from the Papertrey Ink The Sweet Life Stamp Set using Hero Arts Lime Green Ink and Avery Elle Celery Ink
   1. Make sure you create a mask out of acetate or vellum for the flower so that you can use it over and over again when you stamp the leaves
6. Stamp the sentiments from the Papertrey Ink Wet Paint Stamp Set and Papertrey Ink Wet Paint III Stamp Set using Versafine Onyx Black Ink
7. Adhere everything together using the Scotch Advanced Tape Glider
8. Box these notecards up and gift/send some happy mail to a few people in your life!!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and Happy Crafting!