Thinking of You! Create with Connie and Mary

This weeks Create with Connie & Mary Blog Hop is a focus on a ‘neglected product’. I thought about this quite a bit and settled on two things that I used on this card—a spritzer filled with reinker and rubbing alcohol and the Rooted in Nature stamp set and Nature’s Roots dies.

For this card I wanted a subtle background so I ran the Whisper White layer through the Coastal Weave 3D folder. I mixed 12 drops of Soft Seafood reinker with rubbing alcohol in my spritzer and then spritzed the right hand side of the card (under neath where I was planning to have my sentiment). I also flicked the area with my Coastal Cabana Stampin’ Write marker. The mist of green gave a soft subtle effect

You can see the soft feel of the spritzed and flicked ink in this photo. I love it!

The sentiment is stamped in Versamark and embossed in sliver and cut with the Stitched So Sweetly dies. The little button is from the Arts & Crafts die collection.

I stamped the leaves in Soft Seafoam and Coastal Cabana on their coordinating card stock and then used the Nature’s Roots dies to cut them out. I had to add my favourite thing of all time, Metallic Thread, to this project as well. It definitely has NOT been a neglected item in my craft room! A few Rhinestones and I thought this card was complete :)

On your next stop on the Hop you are going to visit Connie! I can’t wait to see what her ‘neglected’ stamp item is!

If you want to go back to Melissa’s blog post, just click back!

Leave a little sparkle!

Well here it is, Day #8, and I am using a stamp set that I have not previously inked up! I actually borrowed this from a friend and might have to get it for myself after making this card! I am so happy with how it turned out!

The background technique was recently shared on Instagram by @seeinginkspots (you should follow her, she is a true artist and a former Artisan that I met years ago in the airport and was gushing like a lunatic). And I was inspired to give it a go!

It is very very easy, simply swipe 2-3 ink pad colors over a piece of Whisper White card stock. For my card I used Balmy Blue, Coastal Cabana, and Highland Heather. You then take an Aqua Painter and flick droplets over water over top and watch the magic happen. After it was dry (you can speed it up with the heat tool if you like), I cut it out with one of the Stitched Rectangular dies.

The unicorn, from the stamp set Leave a Little Sparkle, is stamped in Momento Black ink and cut with a 2 1/2 inch circle punch. I only used a bit of Wink of Stella on the body and horn and the light Purple Posy Stampin Blend on the flowers (hard to see in the picture). Happy Birthday is from the Label Me Bold stamp set. Both of these sets are retiring which does make me a little sad!

Isn’t it like magic how the water reacts to the ink? I love the way its looks so much with this card!

Make sure to start with a piece of Whisper White card stock that is bigger than the final area you want for your background. It will give you a bit of wiggle room for placement.

You can easily color the Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon with any of your blends to make custom ribbon for any card project! The easiest way I have found to do this is with one of our acrylic blocks. You sandwich the ribbon between the block and brush tip of the blend marker and pull the ribbon through. It will easily slide along the block colouring itself as it goes, it takes no time at all!

Strong and Beautiful

This card is to ALL THE MOMS out there who are MOMING so freaking hard right now. Helping kids with online school, working either at home or from home, being a life CEO to your family, trying to stay sane by stampin’, day drinking, exercising or watching insane amounts of Netflix (or maybe that whole list, as that sounds a lot like my life! hahahaha!)

YOU are like a diamond, we are strong, we are resilient and we are beautiful.

I used the Coastal Weave 3D embossing folder as the background (love it!) and I embossed in white both the sentiment, found in the Strong & Beautiful stamp set, and the flowers found in the Happy Birthday to You Sale-a-bration stamp set. Fun Fact, it was actually my favourite SAB item! The flowers were colored with an Aqua Painter using Daffodil Delight and Pear Pizzaz ink. I added a few of the Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins as a finishing touch!

I hope you have enjoyed the first week of cards I have shared so far for my “A Card a Day in May” challenge!

You're The Best

I have to admit, I am finding masculine cards a little easier to make with the Mountain Air bundle. I LOVE it and am so happy it is going to be in the Idea Book & Catalogue! I still have some guys in my life that I want to send a card to so I came up with this design. I used Pool Party, Shaded Spruce and Grey Granite on this card and I am really happy with how it turned out!

The sentiment is from the Thanks for the Laughs stamp set which is sadly on the Retiring List, I know it will stay in my collection though as it has some pretty awesome friendship phrases. The background stamp is Birch and is stamped in Grey Granite.

I hope card # 6 in my “A Card a Day in May’” challenge inspires you to think about those men in your life too. Those guys are working pretty hard at supporting their families and deserve a shout out! :)

I stamped the trees in Shaded Spruce and added clear embossing powder on top to give them a glossy finish!

Positive Thoughts

Do you ever see a card design that you love, but don’t have all of the pieces to recreate it? My card #5 for “A Card a Day in May” is based on a design in the Occasions catalogue. However, I didn’t have all of the elements so I swapped out the color pallet. You have seen me showcase these Color Coach cards before on a scrapbook page, now I am applying the concept to a card. When you are limited in card stock or struggling to pair colors together, I love using these cards to help you mix and match colors together to help get your creative juices going.

I ran the base of the card through the Absolutely Argyle Folder and used two of the circle dies to cut the layered circle panel in the middle. The stamp set featured on this card is Positive Thoughts which debuted in the Occasions Catty and is carrying over into the annual catalogue. I added in some linen thread and two ribbons and a feather behind the sentiment. The feather is die cut with the Nature’s Thoughts dies that will be available in the new Idea Book & Catalogue.

This is an inside view of the card so you can see how the layered circle panel works. The leaf image is stamped direct to the inside base and embossed in gold

I love the subtle details of this card! It is easy to recreate in any color palette or with any ribbon scraps or bits that you have on hand.