Life is Beautiful

 Today's card was created for a team swap. Normally when a new catalogue comes out, our team of demonstrators would get together and do a card swap. It is kind of like a cookie swap where we create a card using a stamp set from the new catalogue and then you make enough for everyone taking part in the swap. The others in the swap would do the same using a different stamp set. At the end of the swap you should have a variety of cards made from different stamps in the new catalogue. Since we can't get together in person, this year we did a mail in swap. 

The stamp set I chose was Life is Beautiful. I love tree images so this set called to me right away. There were certain rules we had to follow to create our card. We had to have at least three layers, must have at least one embellishment, full cards only and must be current product. Of course it goes without saying but it also must be your best work - no smudges, jagged edges, etc.

I started with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. I sponged Soft Suede and Mossy Meadow inks along the bottom edge to be the ground. I then sponged Seaside Spray from the top down (darker at the top) to be the sky. Then I stamped the large tree on the center of the card using Early Espresso ink. I wanted the leaves to have an Autumn look to them so I used the Baby Wipe technique to stamp them. If you haven't tried this technique, it is super easy and gives a really nice look. You just use a Baby Wipe folded into quarters so you end up with a wipe that is approximately the size of an ink pad. Then you add drops of ink refills to create a colour palette that you want. I used Old Olive, Bumblebee and Cinnamon Cider. Just use the baby wipe as your ink pad and ink up your stamp and stamp it on your cardstock.

I thought the tree needed the bird house but I didn't want the birds to be the same colour as the bird house. Since they are all on one stamp I needed to use the marker to stamp technique. I used my Basic Black marker to colour the bird house and Cinnamon Cider marker to colour the birds. You then just breathe onto the stamp to refresh the inks and stamp onto your cardstock. I am pleased with how this turned out.

I matted this stamped piece of cardstock onto a piece of Early Espresso cardstock and then added it all onto a Very Vanilla Thick card base using dimensionals. I stamped my sentiment onto a scrap of Very Vanilla cardstock using Early Espresso ink. I cut it out around the words using my scissors. I didn't want the sentiment to be too large and take away from the picture. I added this to the card front using dimensionals.

In order to meet the rest of the criteria for the swap, I needed to add an embellishment. Normally I would use ribbon but this card was too busy for ribbon. I didn't have anything that matched my colour scheme so I decided to colour some basic pearls using a stampin' blend. I chose Soft Suede Dark Stampin' Blend and coloured three pearls. I added them randomly onto the card front and met all of the criteria.

I hope the other girls in the swap like what I have done. I definitely did my best work! Including colouring the pearls I did 4 different techniques to create this card: spongeing, baby wipe, marker to stamp and colouring the pearls. It was a lot of fun creating this card.

What I used for today's card:

Life is Beautiful Photopolymer stamp

Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad

Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

Seaside Spray Classic Stampin' Pad

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Ink Refill

Bumblebee Classic Stampin' Ink Refill

Cinnamon Cider Classic Stampin' Ink Refill

Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker

Cinnamon Cider Stampin' Write Marker

Soft Suede Stampin' Blends

Pearl Basic Jewels

I can't wait to see what the other girls have done. I will share them once I receive them all.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed today's card.

Stay healthy and keep creating!

Terry

Forever Fern Wedding Card

Hello my friends! Today's card was made for a girl that I have known for 30 years. I have watched her grow from a little girl into a lovely woman with a beautiful baby girl of her own. Her family has been a part of our family since the day we met due to a fateful phone call. I tell the story of how we met in my post on April 1st. It is a funny story if you wish to go back and read it. Well that little girl is now getting married! Actually at the time of this post, she is already married. The wedding was on August 16th but I didn't want to post the card until after the wedding in case anyone saw it before the big day.

I chose the Forever Fern set to make this wedding card because it has very similar images to what was on the wedding invitation. As a matter of fact, my friend Val who is the mother of the bride, came down to borrow some of the Forever Fern dies to make the favours that were given out at the shower. I decided at that time to use this set to make the wedding card. 

I am really happy with how this card turned out. 

I made a larger card because this is a very monumental event. The finished card is 5 by 7 inches. I started with a Thick Whisper White card base. I added a piece of regular Whisper White cardstock on top of this which I embossed using the Greenery embossing folder. Since the piece of cardstock was so big, I had to emboss twice but you don't even notice a joining line. 

I stamped various leaf images from the stamp set using Garden Green, Soft Sea Foam and Misty Moonlight ink. I then cut these out using the corresponding dies. I also cut out one of the leaf images using vellum cardstock. I layered these leaf images in the top left and bottom right corners of the card front. I added one leaf image cut out of Garden Green cardstock on the top of the layer of leaves. I used a white gel pen to add some interest to this piece as this was how the image was on the invitation. On top of this I added a spray of gold trim from the Forever Greenery Trim Combo pack. I cut three pieces of the gold trim and tied them together with another piece of gold trim.

I stamped the sentiment from the Forever Blossoms stamp set on a piece of Whisper White cardstock using Jet Black Stazon ink. I then cut it out using a circle die. I added a gold hoop on top of the circle using the Fine Tip Glue pen. I also added two of the tiny sprigs cut out of Garden Green cardstock under the sentiment and then added some gold gilded gems to finish it off. I popped this on to the card using dimensionals.

This is what I used for today's card:

Forever Fern Bundle

Forever Blossoms Stamp Set

Layering Circle Dies

Greenery Embossing Folders

Gold Hoops Embellishments

Gilded Gems

Forever Greenery Trim Combo Pack

Vellum Cardstock

Whisper White Cardstock

Thick Whisper White Cardstock

Garden Green Cardstock

Jet Black Stazon Pad

Misty Moonlight Classic Stampin' Pad

Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' Pad

Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

The wedding was absolutely beautiful! We only went to the ceremony as I was concerned about being able to social distance at the reception. I need to keep my bubble pretty safe. It was a hot, sunny day but the ceremony was in an orchard so there was quite a bit of shade to help keep us cool. 

Thanks for stopping by today. I wish the bride and groom so much love and hope that they like this card.

Stay healthy and keep creating!

Terry

Jar of Flowers

Hello my friends! I hope you are all staying well. These can be trying times and some people are struggling either physically or emotionally or other ways. Today's card was made for a good friend who is going through some stuff right now. She is such a kind and giving person that it is hard to see her going through this. I wanted to let her know that if she needs anything, I am here for her.

I wanted to make the new slim line card and this was a perfect time to try it. I started with a Whisper White Thick card base that measures 8.5 by 7 inches. I scored on the short side at 3.5 inches to make the dimensions of the card 8.5 by 3.5. This size is one of the new fad cards right now. I also have the retired Envelope Maker Punchboard so I was able to make an envelope the perfect size for this card.

Here is today's card:

I used a technique where I inked up an acrylic block, spritzed it with some water and then stamped it onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock. I used a "C" block because it was the closest to the size of the floral image I wanted to use. I did this three times across the piece of cardstock using three different colours of ink. I used Seaside Spray, So Saffron and Soft Sea Foam ink. I stamped them at varying heights as well. Initially I tried to line them all up along the same plane but it was really hard to get them all the same. By purposefully stamping them at various heights it is more difficult to notice if they are not perfectly lined up.

After the stamped blocks dried, I stamped one of the images from Jar of Flowers directly on top of the squares using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I used my Stamparatus to stamp the floral image so I could ink it up and stamp it twice and it would be lined up perfectly. I matted this piece with a piece of Basic Black cardstock. Then I tied a piece of baker's twine around the entire piece and tied it into a bow. The baker's twine is from the Flowers for Every Season Ribbon Combo pack. I think the blue is Misty Moonlight but it matches really well with the Seaside Spray ink. 

I layered this piece onto the card base using many dimensionals.

I stamped the sentiment using Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a small strip of Whisper White cardstock. I matted this onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock and added this to the card front using dimensionals.

I hope my friend likes the card but more than that I hope she knows that I am definitely here for her.

What I used for today's card:

Jar of Flowers Stamp Set

Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set

Flowers for Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack

Clear Block C

Seaside Spray Classic Stampin' Pad

So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad

Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' Pad

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Stampin' Spritzer

Whisper White Thick Cardstock

Whisper White Cardstock

Basic Black Cardstock

Flowers for Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed today's card. More than anything I hope that this card brings a smile to my friend's face and lets her know that I am here for her whatever she may need.

Stay healthy and keep creating!

Terry

July 2020 Paper Pumpkin

Hello my friends! If you have been with me from the beginning, you will have seen my post from April 1st. This was not an April Fool's joke at all. If you haven't seen the picture it is definitely worth scrolling back to look at. I was really far behind on my Paper Pumpkins and my goal was to get them all caught up. I did that and I have been staying on top of them ever since. I don't ever want to get that far behind again!

We went to Christina Lake again for the weekend and I worked on my July Paper Pumpkin kit on the deck in the shade.That is what I love about Paper Pumpkin. If I want to craft while we are camping, I only need to bring my acrylic block and my Paper Pumpkin kit and I am ready to create. 

Here is a picture of me working on my kit. I don't look particularly happy in this picture but I honestly am. This is my happy place and I am crafting, what more could one want?

I did order the add on kit that was available for this Paper Pumpkin. It consisted of card bases and envelopes to make 24 cards. I didn't want to make the cards as they were intended so I made some alternatives instead. That is the beauty of Paper Pumpkin - you can make it as the instructions state or you can do your own thing. It depends on the kit as to what I do but this time I went with my own ideas.

I used two of the card pieces as they were supposed to be used except that I used them as a layer on a full card and they were intended to be a post card. I stamped the fire burst randomly on the post card using Blackberry Bliss ink. I used a Thick Whisper White card base with a layer of Blackberry Bliss on one and Night of Navy on the other. Then I layered the post card on top of that using dimensionals. I used the Night of Navy baker's twine from the kit to make the string for the lanterns. I popped the lanterns on with dimensionals. These lanterns were also in the kit. I used the sentiment from the stamp set in the kit and stamped it onto a Whisper White layer that was in the kit. I then added a couple of glittery stars from the kit and put the sentiment onto the card front using dimensionals.

I used the remaining post card layers to create these thank you cards.

I cut down the layer and stamped the fire burst all over the card. I then cut it into three equal sized pieces. I matted them onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock and popped them onto a Thick Whisper White card base using dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment from the Many Mates stamp set using Blackberry Bliss ink on Whisper White cardstock. I used a die from the Stitched so Sweetly set and popped this onto the card front using dimensionals. I then added three of the glittery stars from the kit onto each card. These cards will eventually be used as thank you cards to go in with orders. I put a card into each order so that people will know how much I appreciate them shopping with me.

I used the cards from the add on kit to make these birthday cards.

I cut down the front and stamped the fire burst using Blackberry Bliss ink again. I also stamped a couple of fireflies using Blackberry Bliss ink. (I think some people also call them lightning bugs but I have always known them as fireflies.) I then used a sponge to spread Tombo multipurpose adhesive all over the back of the vellum jar from the kit and attached it to the card front. I added this to a Thick Whisper White card base using dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment onto some Whisper White cardstock using Blackberry Bliss ink and cut it out using a die from the Stitched so Sweetly die set. I popped this up using dimensionals. I also added three of the coloured fireflies from the kit using dimensionals.

These other birthday cards were made using cards from the add on kit as well.

I cut down the front and layered it onto the Whisper White back of the card. I layered these onto a Blackberry Bliss card base. Before adding the card front, I stamped the fire burst using Blackberry Bliss ink. I added the ferris wheel and rollercoaster that was in the kit using dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment from the Timeless Tulips stamp set onto a small piece of Whisper White cardstock using Blackberry Bliss ink. I popped this up on the card front using dimensionals. I then added three of the glittery stars and that was it for this card.

There was also some paper bags in the kit with the fire burst cut out of it. They are intended to be stamped on and then have a candle placed in them so they can be used as a paper bag lantern. I haven't done anything with these yet as I'm not sure what I want to do with them. I will finish them off in the next few days once I decide what I am going to do.

What I used for today's cards:

Paper Pumpkin Kit

Many Mates Stamp Set

Peaceful Moments Stamp Set

Timeless Tulips Stamp Set

Stitched So Sweetly Dies

Whisper White Thick Cardstock

Whisper White Cardstock

Basic Black Cardstock

Blackberry Bliss Cardstock

Night of Navy Cardstock

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you like these Paper Pumpkin alternatives. If you are missing your card classes due to Covid 19, maybe you would like to consider a Paper Pumpkin subscription. Once a month you will get everything you need to make some fun cards or other crafty products.

Stay healthy and keep creating!

Terry