Encre, papier, ciseaux

Gingham Foundry Double Pocket Card

Inspiration: YouTube tutorial+ Festive Friday #108 (Twine + Gingham + Punches)

I saw a card online done with the double pocket technique and I was curious to give it a try and get to use some of my pretty double-sided patterned paper. I picked the Gingham Foundry collection from My Mind's Eye and followed the tutorial linked above. It is really simple and I had fun embellishing it once it was assembled. It is one of those projects that look more intricate than it really is. I created as insert for the back pocket with another patterned paper and I slipped one of the tags from the ephemera pack in the front pocket. I added other ephemera images and stickers to embellish the project.

I made an oversized envelope out of patterned paper and added a die cut for the address block. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Buckaroo Blue (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Paper, Stickers, Ephemera Pack, Enamel Dots: Gingham Foundry (My Mind's Eye)
Dies: Borders (Photoplay); Tasteful Labels (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Night of Navy Velvet Ribbon,
White/Natural Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Curvy Corner Trio Punch,
Sahara Sand/Night of Navy Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!)

 

Summer Aloha

Inspiration: Try Stampin' on Tuesday #544 + Festive Friday #108 (Food + Red + Punches)

I wanted to test out the Beach Attire die set I got on Clearance recently and paired it with the Star, Stripes + Sparklers papers. This collection is themed around the 4th of July, but because it includes yellow and patterns that are more about summer than just this specific celebration, it works really well for more generic projects as well.

I drew inspiration from the Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch. I placed my beach wear elements on a popped up circle and I interpreted the second smaller circle as layered stars. I added a fussy cut banner at the top, which I decorated with enamel shapes.

At the bottom, I added my sentiment, cutting red foil paper with the Scripty Aloha die from Lawn Fawn. I fussy cut a few additional images to embellish the envelope and inside the card. It has been especially chilly outside this past couple of days and I've had to crank up the heat a few notches to keep warm, so it's nice to make summery cards and think of the nice days ahead...

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet Moment

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes)

My niece turned nine last fall and she's starting to be more independent, but once in a while, she will plant an unexpected hug on someone, like she did to her mom here. It was fortunate that I had my phone close enough to be able to snap a picture of this moment before it ended. I made the photo black and white to give it a timeless feel and to be able to scrapbook it any way I wanted. Because this moment was full of love, I pulled out the gorgeous Happy Hearts collection from Simple Stories.

I used navy textured cardstock for the background and added little Xs with silver paste and a Tim Holtz stencil in opposite corners. I layered the flowery grid paper in the center, matted in pink, and I used the cut-apart with the cute retro typewriter on it. I used a exacto knife to cut the edge of the typewriter so I could slip the image underneath. 

For the title, I used the word "Sweet" from the foam stickers and created the word Moment using navy alphabet stickers from Pinkfresh. (It should be noted I thought they were navy when I saw them online, but they have a hint of green in there, so I haven't been able to pair them successfully with most collections that have a true navy in it. Here, the navy was far enough that I could make it work. I do love the font, it adds flair and sweetness to the page.

I've been purchasing puffy stickers pretty consistently since they came back in style and I've noticed that a lot of my Simple Stories puffy stickers came wrinkled in the package. I'm wondering if this is something that happens in shipping? It's unfortunate because the images are really cute, but the stickers don't look as good when they appear to have taken a bath and stayed in too long... 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamp: Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers, Puffy Stickers, Bits & Pieces, Decorative Brads,
Cardstock Stickers, Enamel Dots, Washi Tape: Happy Hearts (Simple Stories) 
Cardstock: Navy (Bazzill)
Ink: Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Silver Paste (Recollections); Stencil (Tim Holtz); Sequins (Cartwright's);
Baker's Twine, Curvy Corner Trio Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Bling (Recollections); Navy Alphabet Stickers (Pinkfresh)

 

Sitting Pretty

Inspiration: Retro Rubber Challenge #181 (Pattern Paper + Bling [metallic waxes] + Ribbon) - my retro stamp I used it the Dictionary background, which I purchased from Stampin' Up! many years ago (maybe six?)

I didn't start with a very specific plan for this card. I wanted to use an embossing folder and test out my waxes on the raised surface to see how it would look. I pulled out an old embossing folder called Holiday Frame and found a Stitched Oval die from Lawn Fawn that was the right size for it. I made sure to die-cut the oval first, out of Real Red Core'dinations cardstock, and then I ran it through the embossing folder and sanded the raised surface. I then started testing out my White Gold and White waxes and the result was a little underwhelming, so I used my Antique Gold pigment ink from Altenew, pressing it on the raised surface, and I got a better result.

Because the colour combo I used for inspiration included black and I'm always looking for masculine cards, I picked a paper doll to add to the card. That oval was really big and did not fit well on a regular A2 card, so I went for a larger size and made a 5" x 6" card. For the background, I used texture Bermuda Bay cardstock, stamped it with the Dictionary background stamp and inked the edges with Distress Oxide ink. I wanted to work some yellow in and include layers, so I pulled the Abandoned paper pad and I tore the corners of a yellow sheet, inked them, and layered them on my card. I tied a piece of Crushed Curry chevron ribbon around the card and I inked it with Distress Oxide ink as well to grunge it up. For the sentiment, I decided to use a Word Band and stitch it in place with red floss. I used the Peacock Feather Distress crayon to fill in the words on the band and washed the excess off with a baby wipe. I added two gold hexagons underneath the paper doll that I pulled from the Expressions in Ink ephemera pack. Then, I placed brushed metallic dots in opposite corners for a finishing touch.

I made my own envelope for my irregular-sized card using a piece of patterned paper found in my scrap drawers. I've placed my full 12" x 12" sheets at the bottom of the drawers so that I can pick from it when I need to make an envelope. It's been a good way to use some older papers that I might not use on their own on projects, but that I don't necessarily want to give away since they're still useful for envelopes and such. (At the price patterned papers are now, it's probably wise to hold on to what I have and put it to good use.) I repeated the torn paper look on the envelope and added a Star Trim border to add some red. I used the other border from the Impresslits inside the card.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Dictionary (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Real Red Core'dinations (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Abandoned (Tim Holtz for idea-ology)
Ink: Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up!); Brushed Corduroy, Ground Espresso, 
Walnut Stain Distress Oxide (Ranger); Antique Gold Pigment Ink (Altenew)
Accessories: Crushed Curry Chevron Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Holiday Frame Embossing Folder,
Expressions in Ink Ephemera Pack, Brushed Metallic Adhesive-Backed Dots, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!);
Blending Tool, Peacock Feathers Distress Crayon (Ranger); Word Bands (Tim Holtz for idea-ology);
Red Floss (Anchor); Star Trim Impresslits (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); White and White Gold Waxes (Finnabair);
Stitched Oval Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Birthday Penguin and Friends

Inspiration: Card Maps April 2022 

This is another card that was born out of me clearing out some patterned papers. I was on the fence about keeping this one as a paper pack or pulling apart as individual colour sheets. I ended up doing some fussy cutting of some of the images to see if they would inspire a card and I remembered the Card Maps sketch with the little critters in a row sitting on a scallop border, so I used some of the cut images to recreate that design.

The scalloped edge was die-cut using the Scalloped Contours dies and I used the Biggest Wish stamp set for the sentiment. I popped some of the images on mini Stampin' Dimensionals to give the design dimension and I added Pastel Pearls to the scallops to embellish. I made a matching envelope out of patterned paper and added some more fussy cut images to decorate it.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Souhaits en grand (Biggest Wishes - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Soft Sea Foam (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Penguin Playmates (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Misty Moonlight, Soft Sea Foam (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Dotted Rectangles Stackables (Lawn Fawn); 
Scalloped Contours (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Pastel Pearls, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!)

 

I [Heart] U

Before I put away the Happy Hearts collection, I used some leftover pieces to create a smaller page for my planner album, adding a cute picture of my niece and I together.

I used a stencil from the Plenty of Patterns set and Sea Sprite Glacier Paste to add patterns to the page. I die-cut a rectangle out of pastel glitter paper using the Scalloped Contours dies and layered a cut-apart image in the center of it. I used one of the foam stickers at the top as my page title.

At the bottom, I added a strip of heart patterned paper, punched with the Treasured Tags Pick a Punch. I matted the picture with torn white collage paper and I popped it on the page with foam adhesive. I added hole reinforcers die-cut out of copper metallic kraft-stock. I added a few cardstock stickers and enamel dots and the page was done.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Metallic - 2 Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for idea-ology); Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad (Memory Box)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers, Cardstock Stickers, Enamel Dots: Happy Hearts (Simple Stories)
Dies: Scalloped Contours (Stampin' Up!); Planner Essentials 39, Reinforcement Variety 
Pack (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Plenty of Patterns Stencils (Stampin' Up!); Sea Sprite Glacier Paste (Nuvo);
White Collage Paper (Tim Holtz for idea-ology)