Flower Box

This card is straightforward, but here's a quick rundown of the layers. The flower box die cut is white, with a polka dot background behind it, mounted on a solid teal square. The same polka dot paper (sorry, I don't remember the source) is layered on top of a white note card, with a square cut out -- inside which the flower box layers were centered. The sentiment banner was folded so that it stands up from the card for a little added depth. It might sound more complicated than it was!

Enjoy your week!

Supplies:

Stamps - sentiment from Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings"

Ink - Memento "Teal Zeal"

Dies - Pinkfresh Studio "Floral Squares"; Spellbinders square

Steadfast Spirit

I don't have much to say about this card, other than the fact that I liked cutting in the curved shape to make room for the sentiment. The blues in this one didn't photograph well, so they don't appear to match too well, when in fact the blue of the flower and lace perfectly coordinates with the blues in the paper, in real life.

Sometimes I get a little too literal with these card ministry cards, and worry that I might be offending the recipient. Take this card, for instance: am I (me the card maker) asking God for a pure heart, or is it the implication that the recipient needs a pure heart? (I mean, we ALL do, but I think that's a conclusion for each of us to reach for ourselves, rather than me suggest that someone else clean up their act.) Sometimes it's best that I just get out of my own head and not worry about it. Does this happen to anyone else?

Mentally unbalanced or not, I'm glad you stopped by today! Have a great weekend!


Supplies:

Stamps - Verve Scripture Medley 1

Paper - Pebbles "Garden Party"

Ink -  Memento "Love Letter"

Dies - unbranded edge border dies; unbranded lacy flower die

Bird Confetti

I have used "watercolor" paper before that was labeled as such, but then when you start applying water, the paper curls up, or the brush messes up the tooth of the paper. That's why I LOVE Tim Holtz's watercolor paper, because it holds up to all kinds of watercolor abuse! You can get the paper really soaked, but it will dry up nicely. And the paper is 2-sided, with good texture on one side, and smoother on the other. In my card above, you can see that I used the textured side.

The confetti-cake look of the background was achieved by squirting Ken Oliver's Color Burst powders onto the paper, and then misting them with water. I used a combination of yellow ochre, burnt orange, and sepia; however, each of these colors contains granules of other colors (for example green, mixed in with the yellow), which accounts for the spots of blues, purples and reds that you see.

I was so late to jump on the bandwagon of stamp platforms, that I ended up just kind of running along behind it. But when I finally got one -- the Tim Holtz/Tonic platform - I can see what all the fuss is about! Although I haven't had it long, I know it has saved some cards. In the case of this card, since I was stamping on texture, the first take, though pretty good, didn't come out as dark as I liked, so I just inked up the stamp and hit it again. Nice, rich color was my result.

I like the pairing of this verse with the birds, because they are showing us how it's done: to be still, and know that God is there -- the perfect example of trust!

Thanks for looking! Have a great Wednesday. :)

Supplies:

Stamps - Verve scripture stamp

Paper - Tim Holtz watercolor paper

Ink - Versafine onyx black

Dies - unbranded birds on a wire die
Accessories - Ken Oliver Color Burst powders

Split Personality

I have two cards to share today that use the same basic layout.

This first one features a two-part butterfly (or moth?) die, which I like because you can use the solid die alone, or the detailed one, or you can combine the two as I did here. {Time out: I just Googled it, and one physical difference between a butterfly and moth deals with the antennae. A moth has feathery or comb-like antennae, and a butterfly's antennae are thin with club-like tips. So there you have it. Although it's hard to see, on the print there are tiny club-like tips, so those are butterflies. But I don't see any clubs on the die cut, so that one must be a moth. Which means despite the similar shape of the wings, I've apparently mismatched my insects, and now I feel stupid. So let's move on quickly...}

And my second card:

The "Forget Me Nots" seed pack image on this card was a rectangle I cut out of the designer paper. One sheet in the pad had different colored, coordinating seed pack images including this one, plus one for daffodils, pansies, lilies, daisies and peonies. These images along with the coordinating colors and patterns of paper made for some easy-to-design cards. I wanted to make an "I Miss You" card, and thought the sentiment paired well with these flowers, because both connote distance to me.

I'm subbing in a 1st and 2nd grade classroom today, so maybe I can teach the students about butterflies and moths, and they'll grow up smarter than I did. 

Have a great week!

Supplies - Card 1

Stamps - Hampton Art "Hope & Faith"

Paper - "Garden Party" by Pebbles

Ink - Versafine onyx black

Dies - unbranded butterfly

Supplies - Card 2

Stamps - from Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings"

Paper - "Garden Party" by Pebbles

Ink - Versafine onyx black

Butterfly Doily

This designer paper is different in that it seems to change color depending on what colors it's around. When I saw it in the pad, it looked like a grayish hue. My husband saw it and thought it had some green in it. But I liked the look of it paired with this chocolate brown paper, which makes the print sort of a mocha color. I thought the little doily resembled the flowers, so that's how the card came together. The butterfly just happened to be something small enough to fit on the doily. I wish you could see the shimmer on the butterfly's wings though -- that's my favorite part of the card.

Have a great weekend!

Supplies:

Stamps - sentiment by Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings"; Butterfly from Penny Black "Enamor" clear set

Paper - from Love Nicole "Delicate Floret" 6x6 pad

Ink - Versamark for sentiment; Ranger Adirondack "Espresso"

Dies - unbranded doily

Accessories - White embossing powder

Dragonfly Prayers

Here's another card where the pretty paper does all the work. All I had to do was add a nice sentiment, in this case, something from Hero Arts "Prayers" Stamp & Cut set. The word "prayers" is die cut, but the rest of the sentiment is stamped.

The hardest part of all of this was the dragonfly's wings; I usually use vellum when I make a dragonfly's wings, but the vellum just kind of disappeared on top of the paper design. White paper stood out as too bold. I finally settled on adding glitter spray to the white wings, which toned them down a bit and added a nice shimmer as well.

I've entered this card into Splitcoast's Clean & Simple challenge for the week - to make something with wings. There are some great entries there if you want to take a peek.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Supplies:

Stamps - Hero Arts "Prayers" Stamp & Cut set

Paper - From Love Nicole "Aquarelle" pad

Ink - Memento "Sweet Plum"

Dies - Hero Arts "Prayers"; Memory Box "Dazzling Dragonfly"

Accessories - Tattered Angels "Iridescent Gold" Glimmer Mist

Cheater, Cheater

I don't know if this card should count for anything, because I did very little to make it. The main image comes from the front of a pack of very small note cards, one that is sent in the mail by an organization in hopes that you send a donation. I think there were 6 tiny cards in the pack, but the paper was very thin in addition to the small size. But the picture and verse on the front is beautiful, and perfect for card ministry, so I just "paid it forward" by jazzing up the cards a little and donating them to the card ministry of my church. I cut off the front panel and matted it with a coordinating color, and then attached it to a A2 size note card. I did all six of the cards this way, using different colors to mat, and I think each one was lovely. I wish I could give credit to the original artist, but even if it was included with the original packaging, these were received so many years ago, I no longer have that packaging.  I am glad, however, that I held on to the cards, and that they were finally able to be used.

Have a great week!