Painted Rose For Global Design Project

On my way home from work today, I stopped to pick up a prescription for my husband. As I passed the magazine rack in the store, some colorful covers caught my eye and I had to stamp some pictures for inspiration. As I drove home, a card design was staring to gel in my mind.

After supper, I quickly began making my card because I had to finish it tonight in time for the Global Design Project deadline!

The color scheme for my card changed dramatically from the one I first thought I'd use! I will still utilize the color scheme I first thought of but I'm pleased with the one I selected for this card.

I used Jet Black Stazon to stamp the rose from the Rose Wonder stamp set on a piece of the Typeset DSP. I used the same watercolor technique as I did yesterday, placing rubbing alcohol in my Aqua Painter instead of water, and painted using the Watermelon Reinker. I set it aside to dry thoroughly.

A Basic Gray card base for a 4.75 x 6" card was cut and then I cut a partial matte from Watermelon Wonder and used one of the now retired Adorning Accents Edgelits on it to give an ornate edge to my matte. I then used the matching piercing template from the Paper-Piercing Pack Essentials to pierce a line that followed the cut edge.

Next, I stamped the matte using Watermelon Wonder and stamps from the Timeless Textures stamp set. The matte was then adhered to the card base using Fast Fuse adhesive.

I used the Rose Garden Thinlits to cut the rose and two stems of the leaves from Basic Black and cut off the rose's leaves. Now that my painted rose was dry I was able to glue the die cut rose over top of the painted rose using Multi Medium Matte.

I cut a strip of Basic Gray to go across the card front and embossed it using the Pretty Print Embossing Folder and then sponged a bit of Smoky Slate ink onto it to make the embossing stand out more. It was adhered to the card front using a strip of self-adhesive fun foam. The leafy stems were adhered to the strip using Multi Medium Matte and then the rose was adhered over top using Dimensionals.

Using Jet Black Stazon ink, the sentiment from the Bloomin' Love stamp set was stamped and the scroll from the Number of Years stamp set was stamped over it on Watermelon Wonder. It was then die cut using the die from the Large Numbers Framelits. It was adhered at the bottom of the card using Dimensionals.

Three pearls were placed under the embossed strip of Basic Bray to complete the card front.
The inside was kept pretty simple. Whisper White was matted with Watermelon Wonder and adhered to the card with Fast Fuse. One stamp from the Timeless Textures stamp set was stamped in the bottom right corner to complete the card.

So, do you like it? I think the Watermelon Wonder and Basic Gray work well together, accented by the Basic Black. If you would like to use this color scheme, feel free to save the graphic below.

I've entered this card in the Global Design Project #30. Why don't you come and play sometime?

I'd love it if you could leave me a comment below to let me know you stopped by! Have a great day!

Botanical Wedding Card

It happened again the other day.

I was at work at Walmart, waiting on another customer, when I spotted a new magazine in the rack. I quickly recognized the colors of Blushing Bride and Very Vanilla, on a background of green and a card idea started bubbling on the fringes of my mind! Here's the magazine cover that sparked my creative juices:

My vision for this card was that of a bride's bouquet, complete with ribbons and pearls on a lovely green background. To be able to fit in both the bouquet and ribbons, I chose a 5 x 7" format for my card.

I cut a matte that was 4.75 x 6.5" so that it would fit within the embossing folder I wished to use–Craft Concepts Tuscan Tiles. After embossing, I used Garden Green ink with a sponge to color the raised portions of the embossing. I adhered the matte to a 5 x 7" Cucumber Crush card base.

Next, I chose a circle die from the Circles Collection Framelits Dies and used that as a frame to create my bouquet simply by laying it on top of my embossed matte and adding flowers within it.

Using the Botanical Builders Framelits Dies, I cut flowers from Blushing Bride and Pink Pirouette as well as a couple of centres from the Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper. I also punched flowers using one of the punches from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and one from the now retired Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. I inked the edges of the pink flowers with Strawberry Slush and the Blushing Bride ones with Calypso Coral. I also shaped them using the McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit.

I assembled the few flowers that needed centres and then started adding flowers to the circle die on my card front. I started by adding the largest flowers, filled in with the next largest small flowers and finally the smallest flowers. Once I was happy with the design, I snapped a photo for reference and then removed all but the largest flowers.

Circle die used to arrange the blossoms in a circle.

One by one, I used Multi Medium Matte to adhere each flower to the card front. Once I had filled up the circle, I removed the die and then added pearls to the centre of each blossom.

I used Glue Dots to adhere a bow of Pink Pirouette Seam Binding and a length of Blushing Bride Sequin Trim beneath the bouquet.

On vellum card stock I stamped the sentiment in Calypso Coral using the MISTI and both the Crazy About You and the Number of Years Stamp Sets. I also stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. I die cut the sentiment using a die from the Large Numbers Framelits Dies. I placed two pearls on the front of the sentiment and then positioned glue dots below them on the opposite side to adhere the banner to the card front.

For the inside of the card, I cut a matte from the now retired Naturals White card stock. I used Cucumber Crush to stamp the sentiment from the Beautiful Ride Stamp Set and added some flowers from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set using Calypso Coral. I added the couple stamp in Blushing Bride to the bottom of the card. I inked the edges with Blushing Bride and then adhered the matte with Fast Fuse to complete the card.

Close up details.

I love the richness created by the embossing and sponging on the card front and the flowers looks so nice on top of it!

Let me know what you think by dropping me a comment below!

Punch Art Valentine

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I sat down today to work on my personal Valentines. Of course, the first one I wanted to create was for my granddaughter, Raine.

I knew that I wanted to make a shaker card and I also knew that Minnie Mouse would be involved but I wasn't yet sure of the design.

In the last couple of days I had scoured Pinterest in search of Minnie Mouse punch art. I pinned a few but the best I found was at Sharon's Scrappy Space.

I grabbed a bunch of punches as well as Basic Black, Whisper White and Blushing Bride card stock and got ready to create. I started by punching shapes from scrap paper. Once I had settled on my design, I started punching the real stuff.

Here's the list of the punches I used to create Minnie Mouse:

1. Head–2" Circle Punch
2. Ears–1" Circle Punch
3. Face–Large Oval Punch
4. Cheeks and Snout–Small Oval Punch
5. Whites of the Eyes–Large Oval Punch trimmed two times with the 1 1/4" Square Punch
6. Eyes and Nose–1/2" Circle Punch
7. Hands–Mitten Builder Punch trimmed with the 1 1/4" Scalloped Circle Punch
8. Eyelashes–Word Window Punch trimmed with the 1" Circle Punch and scissors
9. Arms–1/2" Basic Black strips

All parts of Minnie were adhered using Multipurpose Liquid Glue. Basic Black 1/2" strips were used for arms and The Dress Up Framelits Dies were used to cut a dress, which was later trimmed, from the Brights Backgrounds DSP Stack. A glue dot was used to adhere a Melon Mambo 1/4" Cotton Ribbon bow.

After assembling Minnie, it was evident that a 5 x 7" card was needed. I chose Basic Black for the card base. I cut a matte from Whisper White and used a strip of heart paper from the Have A Cuppa DSP Stack on the bottom of it. I chose to use Bermuda Bay card stock on the upper portion of the matte to match the designer paper.

I used the Happy Heart Embossing Folder to emboss the Bermuda Bay card stock and then sponged on some Bermuda Bay ink to bring out the texture of the raised image. I adhered both it and the designer paper to the matte using Fast Fuse.

Using Minnie and a heart die from the Hearts Collection Framelits to determine placement, I die cut a heart from the matte. In addition, I used two heart dies together to die cut a heart frame from Melon Mambo card stock. I embossed it using the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder.

I used my Fuse Tool and a square die from the Squares Collection Framelits to create shaker pocket. I inserted a piece of Melon Mambo card stock and an assortment of sequins. I used tape to adhere the pocket to the back of the die cut matte.

A length of Melon Mambo 3/8" Stitched Ribbon  was cut and it was laid across the seam made by the two papers. The ends were taped at the back of the matte and then scissors were used to cut the ribbon in half in front of the heart shaker. The excess ribbon was cut off and Tear & Tape was used to adhere the remaining ribbon pieces to the card front.

I adhered Minnie to the die cut heart frame and then used both liquid glue and Dimensionals to adhere them to the matte. The matte was adhered to the card front using Dimensionals.

The sentiment from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set was stamped with Basic Black Archival ink on Bermuda Bay. It was die cut with the banner die from the Large Numbers Framelits Dies. The sentiment banner was adhered to the card front using Dimensionals to complete the card.

I'm pleased with how it turned out though I regret not sponging the heart frame. Oh well, I don't think Raine will notice!

Close up showing the sparkly sequin shaker mix

I hope you enjoyed reading about my process for this card. I'm off to create more Valentines!

Beautiful Bold Botanicals

Got the chance to play with the Botanical Builder Framelits today!

I had planned to incorporate the last woodgrain background I had created in my Rustic Wooden Valentine post but working with the woodgrain piece, I found out that it was too "heavy" for my design. Once I simplified my design idea, things came together quite quickly!

I cut a standard Basic Black card base and then a Melon Mambo matte. I chose a piece of Smoky Slate card stock to be the top matte and this is the piece I cut with the leaf edgelit die from the set.

I used Fast Fuse Adhesive to adhere the die cut matte to the Melon Mambo matte and then used glue dots to adhere a strip of the Silver Sequin Trim along the curve of the die cut edge to add a bit of zing to the design.

I knew that I wanted to create a flower and leaf cluster for the top left of the card and balance it with a smaller cluster on the bottom right of the card. Rather than waste card stock, I die cut several pieces from scrap paper. Once I had my design figured out, I cut the pieces from card stock.

I die cut the largest flower (the one that has pop up pieces on the petals) from Basic Black card stock and cut the fancy stamen piece from Melon Mambo. I also cut two ferns from the Melon Mambo.
I used my McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit to help me shape the petals a bit. This kit has proved invaluable to me since I really like to use flowers on my cards! Unfortunately, my tweezers from the set have gone missing :(

I also used my bone folder to give a little shape to the fern fronds. I adhered the flower using a Dimensional and then adhered the flower centre and the ferns with the Fine Tip Glue Pen. I added one of the Iced Rhinestones to the very centre of the flower.

For the arrangement on the bottom right of the card, I die cut one of the smaller flowers from Basic Black card stock as well as three little flower centres that I made into tiny flowers! I cut three tiny leaves from Smoky Slate and the twisted stamen centre from Melon Mambo. The flower was adhered with a Dimensional and all other pieces were adhered with the Fine Tip Glue Pen. I added rhinestones to the centres of each flower.

I stamped the sentiment, from the Bloomin' Love Stamp set, using Jet Black Stazon because I wanted it to be really black next to the black card stock flower.

For inside the card, I cut a matte from Whisper White and used a sponge to add Smoky Slate ink to the outer edges. I used the largest "leaf vein" stamp from the Botanical Blooms Stamp Set to stamp with Basic Black Archival ink and then used Melon Mambo and the tiny flower grouping stamp to stamp over top, stamping a few times before re-inking to give depth to the stamping. The matte was adhered with Fast Fuse Adhesive to finish the card.

Once the flower design was decided, this card went together quite quickly. I like the play of contrasts in the colors and the sparkle added by the rhinestones!

I'm submitting this card for The Paper Players Challenge #280.

I'm experimenting a bit with my pictures for my blog posts. I recently purchased a Foldio 2 for taking better photos of my cards. I am liking it very much, especially since it gives better lighting to the front of my cards than my other photo setup did.

For these photos I chose a black background, for a change, which may not be the best for a black card base but from where I am viewing the images, the two blacks are different and the black card can be distinguished from its black background. I hope this translates well on the web. Please drop me a comment below about my card photos to let me know what you think!

Teal Toned Atypical Valentine

In my blog post Rustic Wooden Valentine I shared a technique I had learned for creating your own Woodgrain. I had so much fun making the first woodgrain that I made a few in other colors! Today I made use of these ones:

Panels created using the Woodgrain Technique and Weathered Wood, Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough and Black Soot Distress Inks.

Be sure to check Rustic Wooden Valentine if you didn't already read about the Woodgrain Technique. These colors are my favorites so I couldn't go too long without using them! I had another idea for a Valentine card that used both the larger panel for a background and the smaller panel for die cutting.

I started with a Bermuda Bay card base and adhered the background panel to it with Dimensionals. Using the Hearts Collection Framelits, I die cut three hearts from the smaller panel. I used a sponge dauber to add Black Soot Distress Ink around the die cuts.

I cut a piece of vellum to lay over the Woodgrain panel but still show the ends. I used a sentiment from the now retired Happy Watercolor Stamp Set to stamp with Versamark and then heat embossed with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder.

I laid out my hearts on top to establish their positions and then cut some thick Bermuda Bay Twine to fasten between them. I used glue dots to attach the twine to the hearts. I applied Dimensionals to the back of each heart and then adhered them to the vellum. I then adhered the vellum to the Woodgrain panel by applying glue dots to the vellum under the hearts so that the adhesive would not show.

I adhered a selection of sequins to the vellum using glue to provide interest and a little sparkle. Gotta have sparkle!

For inside the card I used a matte of Thick Whisper White (because I had a piece the right size handy, otherwise I would have used the regular Whisper White) and used the heart from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set to stamp with Versamark and heat emboss again with silver. I also stamped the little hearts from the Perpetual Calendar Stamp Set in Bermuda Bay. I inked the edges of the matte with more Bermuda Bay and then adhered the matte with Fast Fuse Adhesive to complete the card.

Sorry about the color here . . . it looks like Island Indigo but it really is Bermuda Bay like above!

I think that the teal tones of the Distress Inks work really well with Bermuda Bay to provide an atypical Valentine!

I am entering this in the Stamp Ink Paper Challenge #32 and I played the diagonal from the bottom left to the top right.

Have A Cuppa Valentine

This morning I drew inspiration from the colors in the Inkspire_Me Challenge. The colors were lovely and coincided nicely with the Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack. Of course they were also awesome colors for a valentine!

For this challenge, I knew I wanted to use the Cups & Kettle Framelits to create a card that represented a couple. To do this I wanted to use two cups facing each other with the steam wafting up to a heart above the cups.

The biggest challenge in creating this card was deciding on the patterned papers! Of course, all the papers in the Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack coordinated but designing with patterns can be tricky. You have to choose colors and patterns wisely so that they don't overpower each other or look too busy. I finally decided on a Crumb Cake pattern for a strip at the bottom of the card and two Rose Red patterns for the cups.

I planned to divide the bottom and top by using a Blushing Bride ribbon from the Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit. This kit has all kinds of goodness in it! Satin ribbon, pearl trim, metallic doilies, sequins, glittered enamel dots as well as beautiful Rose Red bow clips!

For the upper part of the card, I needed to stamp on it so I would have chosen Whisper White but somehow all that bare whiteness was too much! That's when I got the idea to do a color wash on the background using Blushing Bride. This would give a lovely rest from the patterned paper while still providing some lovely texture.

I initially tried using the Watercolor Wash background stamp but it wasn't quite right. In the end, I decided to do a freehand wash so that I could control the amount of color I put onto the watercolor paper.

Using a flat paintbrush, I stroked on plain water to wet the watercolor paper. I then mixed clean water with some Blushing Bride reinker to create a very soft color and brushed it onto the paper. I used my heat tool to dry it and reshape it to its former flat state.

I used my heat tool to thoroughly dry the paper and then adhered a strip of Crumb Cake patterned paper to the bottom of it. I adhered a length of the ribbon over the top part of the patterned paper–it was starting to look really nice!

I used a cup die from the Cups & Kettle Framelits to die cut two cups, flipping one so that I had two cups that faced each other. I then also die cut some self-adhesive fun foam and adhered this to the back of each cup because I wanted added thickness for the cups. I used a sponge dauber and Early Espresso to ink all the edges to provide dimension and cover the white edges.

Using a Crumb Cake Stampin' Write Marker, I colored the modern heart from the A Nice Cuppa Stamp Set and stamped it at the top of the watercolor panel. I used the marker rather than the stamp pad because I wanted a looser looking, imperfect heart–one that could have been formed from steam perhaps?

At this point, I used foam tape to adhere the panel to a Crumb Cake card base. I chose the foam tape because I feel it works better with painted watercolor paper to keep it flat but popped up.

I cut a length of Metallic Gold Baker's Twine and unravelled it to get the gold thread. I placed a few glue dots on the spots that would be covered by the cups and then cut little pieces of the thread and stuck them down. Using Dimensionals, I adhered the cups and then played with the threads until they sort of stuck up like steam.

Using the banner die from the Large Numbers Framelits I cut a piece of watercolor paper. I gave it a Blushing Bride wash and dried it thoroughly. I then used Rose Red ink to stamp the sentiment. Because the sentiment stamp also contained a heart, I masked that with tape before inking and then removed it to stamp the sentiment itself. I inked the edges of the banner with Early Espresso and then adhered it across the two cups using Dimensionals.

I used the Confetti Hearts Border Punch to punch out hearts from both Crumb Cake and Rose Red card stock. I used glue to adhere them to the watercolor paper. My final task was to add little glimmer to the hearts by using my Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush.

I'm pleased with how this card turned out and it gave me a chance to use up a lot of patterned paper!

Valentine For Global Design Project

I am off work until Saturday so I am looking forward to some creative time in my craft room!

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, hearts seem to be front and centre on cards!

My card today is a 5 x 7" card designed for the Global Design Project #20.

The assignment this week is to CASE the Designer. While CASE generally means Copy And Share Everything, for the Global Design Project it translates as Copy And Selectively Edit. This enables the participants to be inspired by various things–colors, pattern or even the theme of the card–and truly make a design of their own.

I actually have a couple of ideas in mind for this challenge which I hope to work on this week but today's card has me focusing on the large heart, little hearts, and the twine from Connie's card design.

I cut a 5 x 7" card base from Crumb Cake card stock as well as a matte of 4.25 x 6.25". I cut 4.5 x 6.5" and 3.75 x 4" mattes from Very Vanilla. I also cut a small piece of Blushing Bride to go behind the smaller Very Vanilla matte.

Using a heart from the Hearts Collection Framelits Dies I die cut the smaller Very Vanilla matte. I then die cut five of the smallest heart die and punched several hearts using a punch from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack. In addition, I used the Confetti Hearts Border Punch to punch some tiny hearts from Blushing Bride card stock.

I used one of my Tsukineko Fastastix Brushes to ink the edges of all the small hearts and used a Stampin' Sponge to ink the edges of both Very Vanilla mattes with Blushing Bride ink. Glue dots were used to adhere the Very Vanilla hearts around the cut out heart on the matte and then I used my Fine Tip Glue Pen to adhere the tiniest Blushing Bride hearts. I added some Wink of Stella to each Blushing Bride heart for a hint of glimmer.

Dimensionals were used to adhere the heart-encrusted matte to the Blushing Bride matte. The smaller Crumb Cake matte was adhered to the larger Very Vanilla matte using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

Linen thread was wrapped around the two mattes and secured with tape. Two Blushing Bride card stock hearts were punched and another die cut. They had their edges inked and a coat of Wink of Stella was applied to each. Once dry, the hearts were adhered on top of the linen thread using Dimensionals and glue dots. The mattes were then adhered tot he card front using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

Using my MISTI, the sentiment was stamped with Crumb Cake and Versamark on Very Vanilla and heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. The sentiment was die cut using the banner die from the Large Numbers Framelits Dies. The sentiment was adhered to the bottom of the card front using Dimensionals.

A matte of Very Vanilla was cut for inside the card. A border stamp and Crumb Cake ink was used at the bottom and was heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. The edges were inked with Blushing Bride and then the matte was adhered with Fast Fuse Adhesive.

I love the color scheme of this card but I'm not sure if I really like the card. I am somewhat troubled by the large Blushing Bride area inside the heart cut out but not sure what else to do with it.

Sometimes it is difficult to decide when a card is "finished!" Does this ever happen to you? Do you think this card is finished or do you have a suggestion for how I could improve it? Leave me a comment below!

Sunburst Valentine

Can you believe that it is already the middle of January? I'm still putting away Christmas decorations but I don't feel too bad because we were a little late in getting them up this year!

Besides un-decorating, I've been enjoying a little down time and catching up with some Netflix tv series. I'm watching Prison Break and it is quite exciting!

Today, after delivering my latest workshop orders, I had the chance to play. As sometimes is the case, I started making one card but it morphed into another! The card today was to be a Valentine card but the background that I created didn't work with my concept so I will save it for another card.

Today's card is 5 x 7" and uses a Melon Mambo card base. I started by creating my heart embellishment. I chose one of the Heart Framelits Collection dies and laid it over top of my Sunburst die to see if my idea would work. It did!

I used the Sunburst die to cut out a section of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper that would fit the heart die. I glued the die cut to some Melon Mambo card stock and then used the heart die to cut out the heart. I then used two heart dies, with Melon Mambo card stock, to cut out a frame for the die cut.

The frame was embossed with the retired Swiss Dots embossing folder and then I used a sponge dauber with Blackberry Bliss to ink the inside of the frame.

I used the smallest Hearts die to cut two hearts from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper and then punched four hearts from Melon Mambo card stock using the heart from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.
I sandwiched a piece of Silver Metallic Thread between the two glimmer hearts as well as the card stock ones and adhered them together with Fast Fuse Adhesive. I used a sponge dauber with Blackberry Bliss to ink the edges of each complete heart.

The three heart strings were sandwiched between the heart and its frame, and the frame was adhered using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

I cut five, one inch strips of a paper from the Have A Cuppa DSP pack and adhered them to the front of the card base using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

Using the heart from the Occasions Paper Piercing Pack along with my Stampin' Pierce Mat and Paper Piercing Tool, I pierced holes around the framed heart. I then used my 1/8" Circle Punch to punch larger holes. I sewed around the heart using the 1/8" Bermuda Bay Stitched Ribbon, finishing with a bow at the top.

The sentiment from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set was stamped with Melon Mambo on Whisper White and then die cut using the arrow die from the retired On Film Framelits Dies. A sponge dauber and Bermuda Bay was used to ink the edges.

The completed heart embellishment was adhered to the card front using Dimensionals, leaving the hearts to dangle as they may. The arrow was adhered using triple Dimensionals on one side and a single Dimensional on the heart side.

I'm entering this card in The Paper Players Challenge:

and in the Global Design Project:

Now that it is complete, I'm quite liking this card even though it is not the card I set out to create! Have you started working on Valentine's Day cards yet? Drop me a link below and let me know!

Bloomin' Masculine Valentine

It happened again last night.

Just as I was falling asleep, my mind provided me with a card idea, this time using the Bloomin' Heart Framelits Dies and the Bloomin' Love stamp set. It was not until I started writing this blog post that I realized what a perfect Valentine card this would be for a man!

The first thing I did was to decide that the standard A2 card would be too small for what I had envisioned so I went with my next favorite size, 4.75 x 6."

I cut a Basic Black card base and then cut a matte measuring 4.25 x 5.5" from Kraft card stock. I positioned the Bloomin' Heart Framelits Die centred horizontally but near the top of the matte. Of course, I used my Big Shot Sandwich that I detailed in my blog post, Solid Gold Tips For Using The Bloomin' Heart Thinlits Die, to ensure a clean cut. However, this time I set aside the actual heart die cut for another time and kept the matte for my card. I used a sponge dauber with Basic Black Archival to ink the edges of the matte and inside the heart die cut.

I cut another Kraft card stock matte of the same size and ran it through my paper crimper so that the lines ran vertically on the matte. I then took my Basic Black Archival ink pad and slid it over the top of the matte, adding ink to the ridges. I used the same technique in Love For the Lotus.

Next, I used Versamark and the heart from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set to stamp on a piece of Kraft card stock and then heat embossed it with Black Stampin' Emboss Powder. To avoid a horrible black mess, I was sure to use my Embossing Buddy before inking. This is definitely necessary when using black! I then fussy cut the heart.

I ran a length of Basic Black Stitched ribbon around the bottom of the die cut matte and then used the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies to cut flowers and leaves both from black and Kraft card stock. I used Dimensionals, Glue Dots and the Fine Tip Glue Pen to adhere these. I added some tiny rhinestones, colored black with a Copic marker, to the centre of the smallest blossoms.

I adhered the die cut matte to the crimped matte using Dimensionals and then to the card front using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

I decided to add a hint of gold to the card so I bundled up some Gold Metallic Thread and secured it with glue dots to the crimped matte showing through the heart die cut. I adhered the heat embossed heart over the thread bundle using Dimensionals.

I stamped the sentiment with the banner stamp, again on Kraft card stock, and then die cut it using the Large Numbers Framelits Dies. I adhered it to the top of the card front using Dimensionals.

For the inside of the card, I cut a matte from the now retired Naturals Ivory card stock, and stamped a border image at the bottom using Basic Black Archival Ink. Using a sponge dauber, I inked the sides using Crumb Cake ink and then adhered the matte using Fast Fuse Adhesive to complete my card.

I've entered this card in the Global Design Project because I felt it fit nicely with their sketch for #GDP018.

Drop me a comment below and let me know how you've used the Bloomin' Heart or Bloomin' Love sets!

The Sky Really Is The Limit!

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It is so nice to start a new year with new Stampin Up products with which to play! As can be glimpsed on Pinterest, card making mojo is at a very high level and it seems that the sky really is the limit when it comes to creating!

In preparing for my stamping group on Friday, I knew I wanted to use both the Sky Is The Limit Stamp Set and the Bloomin' Heart Thinlits.

I started my first card by choosing a color scheme of Rose Red, Blushing Bride and Mint Macaron in preparing what could be used as a Valentine card.

I die cut the Bloomin' Hearts Thinlits Die using a metal shim on my Magnetic Platform and also used a dryer sheet under my card stock to ensure that I got both a good clean cut and that I would not be sitting picking out bits! I ran the sandwich through forward and then back and was pleased with my first time cutting results. I also die cut two of the larger flowers and three of the little flowers from Blushing Bride card stock.

I decided on the placement of the intricate heart die cut on my Rose Red matte and then used my MISTI to stamp the sentiment from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set with Rose Red ink in the bottom right corner. To punch the matte up a bit, I decided to use my Stampin' Distress Tool to distress the edges.

I adhered the Rose Red matte to a Mint Macaron matte and then adhered the heart die cut to the Rose Red Matte using the Fine Tip Glue Pen. It was very quick to add adhesive to even the little parts of the die cut. After placing it on the matte, I put a scrap paper over it and smoothed it with my hands to ensure that it adhered well.

Next, I adhered the flowers to the solid flower spots on the die cut, again using the Fine Tip Glue Pen. It takes a little work to match up the petals of the flowers but you can do it! I then added Wink of Stella to each of the flowers.

After the flowers were dry, I attached a knotted piece of the Mint Macaron ribbon to the left side of the mattes. To tie the knot, I used a new method learned from a great video tutorial by Sage Kimble, that has you use a clear block to tie the knot or bow and then add it to your project. I admit I was doubtful at first but the method works great!

On the inside of the Thick Whisper White card base, I stamped the intricate heart stamp from the Bloomin' Love set, using Rose Red.

Finally, I adhered the mattes to the front of the card base using Dimensionals.

My first attempt at this card before I remade it.

At this point, I finished card making for the day but was not quite satisfied with my card. I kept mulling it over in my mind to try and find ways to improve it. I thought that the card front was just too plain looking but I was unsure how to give it a bit more zest.

When I eventually got back to card making again, I remade the card but instead of scrapping my process, I thought I would share it with you so you could see how I made my changes and the difference that the changes made in the resulting card.

• This time, I used a Blushing Bride card base instead of the white and the colors seemed to blend better with it than the stark contrast of the white. It also served to reinforce the use of Blushing Bride for the flowers.
• Next, though I used Rose Red again for the matte and distressed it as before, I also sponged the edges with Rose Red which created a kind of glow effect on the matte.
• The die cut was done the same way but I sponged the edges and lightly across the die cut itself with Mint Macaron ink.
• Each of the Blushing Bride flowers were also sponged, this time with Blushing Bride ink. I also used my Flower Tool Kit to give a little shape to each flower.
• In adhering the die cut to the matte this time, I only added glue to the solid flower areas which gave the die cut a more 3D and looser look than before.
• I also adhered the flowers differently, choosing to use glue dots in the centre of each flower to allow the flower to maintain its shape.
• In addition, I added a thicker coating of Wink of Stella and completed each flower by adding a pearl to its centre.

I am pleased with the changes that I made and believe that my card was much improved by them. What would you have done differently?

I chose the Sky Is The Limit Stamp Set to use for my second card because this FREE Sale-a-Bration stamp set is only available until February 15 and I wanted my stamping group to see what a great stamp set it is, filling that masculine card niche that we all struggle to fill! You can get this stamp set FREE just by placing an order of $60 or more with me!

I had already used the stamp set in my Sale-a-Bration Freebie Sneak Peek but wanted something different for class. I liked the idea of using twine for contrails but knew that I would need to use a different card format for them to be effective. In the end, I chose a completed card size of 8.5 x 3.5", long enough to provide a nice swoop of twine!

I cut a Pool Party card base and attached a thin, Basic Black matte using Dimensionals.

On a 8.25 x 3.25" Whisper White matte, I used my cloud template to sponge clouds using Pool Party and a sponge. Toward the bottom, I tried to add a bit of plain sky and also made sure to sponge all the edges of the matte.

Using my MISTI I stamped the plane image on Whisper White using Jet Black Stazon ink. I did this twice to ensure a deep black color. I then fussy cut the plane.

After deciding on the placement of the plane, I used the MISTI again with the Stazon to stamp the sentiment in the bottom right corner of the matte.

I punched three clouds using the Tree Builder Punch and edged each with the Wink of Stella. I drew a mark at the end of the plane and then drew three curved lines out from the plane to the left edge of the card. To make it easier to draw the lines I used a flex curve ruler. I used the 2-Way Glue Pen to trace over the lines and then adhered Basic Black Baker's Twine. I used scissors to trim off the excess twine. I attached the finished matte to the black matte using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

Next, I used doubled Dimensionals on the left side of the plane and a single Dimensional on the right to attach the plane to the card front, as if the plane was turning. I layered one of the clouds over the end of the plane's wing to enhance the 3D appearance.

Close up showing the dimension achieved with the strategic use of Dimensionals.

I layered two more clouds in the top left of the card front to complete the card.

For the inside of the card, I thought it would be fun to have the plane execute a barrel roll!

This time I used Basic Black Archival ink and I stamped off twice on scrap paper before stamping the plane, upside down, in the bottom middle of a Whisper White matte.

Without reinking, I stamped two, right-side-up planes on either side of the middle one. I thought by stamping them lighter it would give the illusion of the plane flying in from farther away, doing the barrel roll and then flying away again! Do you think that I achieved this? Drop me a comment below!

I hope you enjoyed reading about the cards for my stamping group!

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Solid Gold Tips For Using The Bloomin' Heart Thinlits Die

I had such fun playing with my new supplies today! Yesterday, I created a list in Evernote of all the ideas I had for cards using the new products, and linked this list to all the new products I owned that it referenced. This morning, I sat down in my craft room to make one of the cards.

I cut a standard card base from Blackberry Bliss card stock and then used the Sunburst Thinlits Die to die cut Gold Glimmer paper. I adhered it to my card front using the Fine Tip Glue Pen and then cut off the excess.

Next, I die cut the heart using the Bloomin' Hearts Thinlits Die. Stampin Up recommends that you cut this intricate die using the Precision Plate on the Magnetic Platform and running it back and forth through the Big Shot several times to get a clean cut. Then they also recommend using the new Big Shot Die Brush to get all the little pieces out of the die.

I have neither the Precision Plate or the Big Shot Die Brush so I will share with you how I got a very clean cut and was able to lift my die right off the die cut and didn't have to poke all the little bits out of the die cut either!

This is the sandwich that I used for my Big Shot with 7 being the bottom of the sandwich:

1. Cutting Pad
2. Bloomin' Heart Thinlits Die
3. Card stock
4. Dryer Sheet, left folded as it came from the box
5. Cutting Pad
6. Metal Shim
7. Magnetic Platform

I ran this sandwich through and back in the Big Shot twice. It was a bit of a tight fit but I did not have to force it through.

I then removed the two cutting pads from the Magnetic Platform, took off the top one, and picked up the Bloomin' Heart Thinlits Die. If you try to do this on top of the Magnetic Platform, the magnet is too strong to do this easily.

I then was able to peel off the card stock from around the die cut heart. Next, I peeled the dryer sheet, with die cut attached, off the bottom cutting pad. Then, starting with a solid flower section of the die cut, I carefully peeled it back, carefully lifting the fine edges back from the dryer sheet, leaving the little bits of the die cut behind on the dryer sheet!

Now this method worked successfully for me but every Big Shot is calibrated a little differently so you may experience different results.

I used the Fine Tip Glue Pen to put glue only on the solid flower parts of the die cut and then placed it on top of the Sunburst die cut. I placed a piece of scrap paper over top to allow me to smooth it down, and then left my iPad sitting on top of it for a few minutes to ensure that the glue held.

To die cut these flowers it is necessary to use a slightly different method to that of the flower thinlits that we have used up to now. The flower dies that match the flowers embedded in the heart die cut are "closed" dies meaning that you cannot see through them to allow you to place them over the stamped image. Both the dies and the stamps, however, have a tab at the top of them.

Next, I stamped the solid flowers from the Bloomin' Hearts Stamp Set on Blackberry Bliss card stock using Versamark, keeping the tab of the stamps at the top. I heat embossed them with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.

To be able to die cut the stamped flowers successfully, I made a template for the flower dies by cutting out each of them from card stock being sure to keep the die tab at the top. Next, I placed my stamped images on my cutting pad and placed the template over the embossed flower and ensuring it was lined up correctly.

I remembered to snap some photos to show you how I used the template for the closed die. You will catch a glimpse of my well used bottom cutting pad in the photos!

Template in place over gold-embossed flower stamp

Die set in place in the template

When using small dies on the Magnetic Platform, you sometimes find that they change positions due to the polarity of the magnets in the platform itself. Because of this, I used some Washi to tape the die and card stock in place before running through the Big Shot.

Once cut out, I used my Flower Tools to shape the flowers a bit and then adhered them to the heart die cut using Glue Dots. I added a rhinestone to the centre of each flower.

Finally, I decided to use a folded banner for my sentiment. I cut a piece of card stock 4.5 x .75" and then stamped the sentiment in Versamark using my MISTI for alignment. I heat embossed it using the Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.

Next, I used the Triple Banner Punch to flag each end of the banner. I used the Simply Scored tool to score .5" and .75" from each end of the banner. Each .75" scored line was a mountain fold and the remaining scored lines were valley folds. This gave me a banner that stands up in the middle with two flat banner ends–a nice touch that you don't often see.

I think the Gold Glimmer and the Blackberry Bliss paired with the Sunburst and Bloomin' Heart dies makes this card very dramatic!

Have you got your dies yet? Place an order with me today!

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