Encre, papier, ciseaux

Good Day Sunshine

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #305 + Cut It Up #305 (Anything Goes)

This is the last image I had colored while spending time with my nieces. I had matched the colors of this one to the Summer Dreams collection from Echo Park. This is an older collection (2017) that I still love a lot.

There was still cool marquee from the chipboard pieces that made for a great sentiment, so I placed my girl next to it and then I layered multiple papers behind it to create a fun, summery card. I layered two ribbons and some baker's twine together for a layered bow, and I picked a few stickers from the sticker sheet to fill the empty space. I added a few enamel dots/shapes to the card as well.

Finally, I made a matching envelope out of the patterned paper, using the cool ombre sheet.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Miss Anya All Year (The Greeting Farm)
Cardstock: Basic White, Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Stickers, Cardstock Stickers: Summer Dreams (Echo Park)
Dies: Zig Zag Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn); Project Life Nesting Dies (American Crafts)
Accessories: Enamel Dots, Metallic Enamel Shapes, Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon, In Color Grosgrain Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!); Teal Twine (Lawn Fawn);
Markers (Copic)

 

Beach Buddy

Inspiration: Festive Friday #160 (Wood Elements + Twine + Alcohol Markers) + Mojo Monday #295

My oldest niece wanted to learn how to use alcohol markers so I introduced her to that coloring medium when I was babysitting for her last weekend. I colored a few images myself while we were sitting together. To be strategic, I pulled out a paper collection ahead of time and picked colors to match, so that my job faster today when I sat down to turn the image into a card. The papers come from Carta Bella's Beach Day collection (2016).

I used a 5¼" x 5¼" card base, covered it with green paper and then stacked three patterned papers in the center. Using a ruler, I added a blue border with a pen, and I tied baker's twine underneath the sunglasses paper strip. I placed a little metal charm from idea-ology in the center of the bow. 

For the focal point, I die-cut a square out of the blue patterned paper. I made sure to place the die at an angle so that the pattern would be the right side up when the square was glued at an angle on the card. I popped my Anya image with foam tape in the center.

I wanted to add wooden elements, so I pulled a container in which I had put old wooden pieces from Stampin' Up!'s project life kits. I found cute little stars and a FRIENDS panel, that made a great sentiment for the card. I added green gems in the center of the stars and a couple of gems near the sentiment as well.

I used the rest of the sunglasses strip on the matching envelope.

 

 

  

 

Supplies
Stamps: Anya Combo (The Greetings Farm)
5¼" x 5¼" Card base and envelopes: DoCrafts
Patterned Papers: Beach Day (Carta Bella); A Slice of Summer Basics (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Wonky Stitched Squares (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Wooden Elements, Pool Party Baker's Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Word Tags (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology); Markers (Copic);
August Crystals (Studio Katia); Sparkle & Shine Ombré Glitter Drops (Pinkfresh Studio);
Blue Pen (Pilot)

 

Refreshing Lemonade

Inspiration: Tic Tac Toe #248 (Red/Blue + FREE + Drink)

This is another of the images I had colored while crafting with my nieces, to match with the Beach Day collection. I drew inspiration from an old Mojo Monday sketch to work out the design, and I borrowed a couple of stickers from the cardstock sticker sheet to fill in the scene. I added gold washi tape on each side to better distinguish between the wood and the plaid patterns. I added gems to the flower and the beach ball and tied a piece of red linen ribbon.

I used a sheet of paper from the collection to make a matching envelope as well. I have quite a bit left in the collection, but at least with the three projects I completed, I whittled the collection down a bit.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Anya Combo (The Greeting Farm)
Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Blueberry Bushel (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: Beach Day (Carta Bella)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Project Life Nesting Dies (American Crafts); Lacy Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Real Red Linen Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!);
August Crystals (Studio Katia); Sparkle & Shine Ombré Glitter Drops (Pinkfresh Studio);
Markers (Copic); Washi Tape (Recollections)

 

Fresh Wishes

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #173 + Colour Inkspiration #166

I finally played with my Froyo Friend dies and my Glimmer Hot Foil Press. This time, I tried the satin foil, which produces a much more subtle result. I did it tone-on-tone on patterned paper, adding a foiled frame and speckles in the background behind our froyo friend.

I used an ombre patterned paper for the froyo, but the effect sort of got lost once the paper got die-cut, so I decided to add white as well to create a twist look. The outside of the little character was die-cut out of gunmetal foil paper, for added shine.

The sentiment was also foiled. The satin foil was very hard to read, even on white, so I switched to using regular foil instead. I die-cut the shape out of green paper about five times in order to stack and make the sentiment dimensional. I placed it over a Stylish Oval die-cut, in order to be able to add the Sealed Twine die-cut underneath. I added a resin star next to the sentiment and a few colorful sequins around the card to fill the space.

I added a Bermuda Bay mat and mounted the card front on a Lemon Lime Twist base. I added a cute strawberry on a Teal envelope to match.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Lemon Lime Twist, Bermuda Bay, Shimmery White (Stampin' Up!);
Foil Paper (Hunkydory)
Designer Series Paper: 2021-2023 In Colour, Ombre Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Sealed Twine, Essential Stylish Ovals, Splatter Sentiments, Yana's Sentiments (Spellbinders);
Froyo Friend (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: A2 Teal Envelope (Envelopes.com); Sequins (Cartwright's);
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Pastels Satin Foil (Spellbinders)

 

Every Summer Has a Story

This scrapbook page came together so quickly. I was putting together cards using Carta Bella's Beach Day collection and I was hesitant to cut into some of the 12" x 12" pages because I knew they would make good background if I was to make a scrapbook page. When I spotted the words "Every summer has a story" on the cut-apart sheet, I thought this would make a really interesting title as well, so it inspired me to pull out my expired calendars and look for summer pictures that could work. I love reusing the pictures from the calendars on scrapbook pages, and in recent years, my sister has started using pictures grids, so this allowed me to have a three-picture block without having to do any fiddle-faddling myself.

A lot of the embellishments are images I fussy cut from the patterned papers, but I did use a few stickers from the sticker sheet as well. I particularly love the Summer Mix cassette tape, so I slid this underneath the title block. I borrowed the glasses from one image and added them to the popsicle. It has a little banner on it, but it was not standing out as much as I would have liked, so popping another one with foam tape over it gave it dimension and looked better. I used the number stickers from the sticker sheet to add my date at an angle above. The little banners were also stickers, and I added Candy Dots in matching colours over them. I picked two metal elements from the Word Tags pack, tied baker's twine around the top and popped them on foam adhesive to add to the page - it reads Happy Story. I used one of the cut-apart borders at the bottom of the page and lined it up with washi tape, and I added a few gems around the page.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: Beach Day (Carta Bella)
Accessories: Word Tags (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology); Washi Tape (Recollections);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Candy Dots, Pool Party Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!);
August Crystals (Studio Katia); Sparkle & Shine Ombré Glitter Drops (Pinkfresh Studio);
Glossy Accents (Ranger)

 

Holiday Pet Messages

I barely had anything left from my Merry & Bright collection, but I did have this long 12" x 12" strip of floral paper that I knew I could turn into at least one more card. By using some of the matching Color Vibe cardstock for the background, I was able to make two more cards. I wanted to use the Special Pet Delivery dies from Spellbinders (purchased during their Clearance sale) and thought I could make two similar cards, one using the dog and one using the cat. 

This was my first time using this die set and I will say this: the result is very cute, but the assembly process is tricky, especially considering that those pets are not that intricate. If I compare to company like Lawn Fawn or Doodlebug with their Doodle Cuts that always include a backer piece or a die for the eyes and cheeks, it was just frustrating here to have to make a handmade backer piece and then run the face three different times to get the eyes, nose and cheeks and the face in different colours. It's doable, the result looks great, but in my head, I do compare the crafting experience with other dies I've purchased and it's not my favorite.

Doesn't take away from the end result, though, which is pretty cute. I usually try to embellish the inside of the cards and the envelopes with images that tie to the main image on the card, but I'll admit I was trying to use up as much of my leftovers as possible here and so there's no rime or reason to my choices - I just used what was there. But I managed to be left with only a few sentiment stickers and three chipboard pieces, which are probably generic enough to be used with another holiday collection later, so this is another collection that can be called done.

(On a side note, I also grabbed some top fold white card bases from Spellbinders when I placed my order as I thought the price per card was fair and I am happy with the quality. I've already used more than half the pack with the recent cards I've put together.) 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Card Base: A2 Top Fold Cards (Spellbinders)
Cardstock: Sage, Forest Green Color Vibe (Simple Stories); Rose Gold Opulent Cardstock (Sizzix);
Candy Red (Tonic); White and Red Velvet Speciality Paper, Chocolate Chip, Basic White, Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!);
Cotton Candy (Bazzill); Red Mirror (Prism Studio)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Chipboard Stickers: Merry & Bright (Simple Stories)
Dies: Perennial Postage (Stampin' Up!); Special Pet Delivery (Spellbinders);
Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Seafoam A2 Envelopes (Stampin' Up!)

 

Holly Days Accordeon Card

Inspiration: Simple Stories Blog Post

This card was inspired by a post published on Simple Stories' blog. I revisited one of the Christmas collections I'm trying to finish off, Holly Days. I used the Fa La La/floral paper to create the card base. I have to say, I was able to figure out the instructions because I have done one of these cards before, but if you have not, I would advise that you try to find a video tutorial online first to get a better feel of where you need to cut and fold, otherwise you might find the short instructions confusing.

I was initially planning to make this a very short and sweet card but once I got into it, I had a lot of fun embellishing it and found a lot of elements in my leftovers that worked very well with the design. For example, I love that the long chipboard gift could fit on the bottom layer, adding a fun little dimensional element to the card that is showing both when it is closed and when it is opened. I added the 25 ephemera piece to the edge so that we could see part of it peeking from the closed card. I added a different pattern on the top and bottom strips and I layered the ric rac piece from the sticker book at the top. I snuck a few puffy stickers in there and I added a deco brad to the center of the flower cluster, popped with dimensional on the front of the card. I also added one more journaling block behind the card just in case the front one was too small to write a full message.

I made a matching envelope with my envelope punch board and used an ephemera piece for the journaling block. I added a black border with a pen to make it stand out better.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Decorative Brads, Puffy Stickers, Enamel Dots, Bits & Pieces,
Chipboard Stickers, Sticker Book: Holly Days (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Mystical Opulent Specialty Pack (Sizzix)
Accessories: Border Punches (EK Success); Envelope Punch Board, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Getting a Tree

I really don't have much left from the Merry & Bright collection, but I thought I could pair the chipboard car and Merry Christmas sentiment on a slimline card, hoping this format would make it easier to find a piece of patterned paper that was still large enough to cover the front of the card. 

I pulled out the Foundation 17 dies from Queen & Co to cut my paper to size and spotted the frame that's included in the kit. That gave me the idea to make the whole front of the card a shaker, adding dimension and interest and solving the question of how to embellish around my two main images. I filled the shaker with a mix of sequins and toppings.

I added two snowflakes embellishments on the right side, topping the wooden snowflake with a mini-button. On the left side, I hung a silver star from the branch next to the sentiment. I added black gems to the red rose's centre.

While I did not have a large enough piece of paper to make an envelope with the Envelope Punch Board, I was curious to see if I could make one using the Mini Slimline Envelope dies from Simon Says Stamp, as the front of the envelope and the two flaps are all cut separately. Turns out I was able to cut two of the three pieces out of the same patterned paper (with the lightbulbs) but my leftover was too short to cut the second flap, so I picked the paper with the little cars, which match the card and has a light background just like my first paper did. It adds a cute design to the back and does not look too out of place.

 

 

 

Supplies
Card Base: #6 card bases (Photoplay)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Chipboard Stickers: Merry & Bright (Simple Stories)
Dies: Foundation 17 (Queen & Co); Mini Slimline Envelope (Simon Says Stamp);
Wonky Stitched Squared (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Needlepoint Nook Mini Buttons, Glitter Star Ornaments, Foam Sheets,
Snowflakes Elements (Stampin' Up!); Glossy Black Gems (Pretty Pink Posh)
Star Ornaments, Toppings (Queen & Co); Frosted Lace Stickles (Ranger)