Pretty in Pink Flowers

The winds have died down today and it's sunny and warm.  What a difference from yesterday!  So I'm going to take advantage of the break in the rain and wind to head out and do a bunch of errands, but first ... have to spend some time in the art studio ... priorities, you know!!

Today I made a card that is similar to one I made several years ago.  I was routing through my scraps and found leftover flower paper that is perfect for cutting out.  It only took me a short time to cut the eight flowers and a few leaves that I needed for the card below.  There is no stamping, just layers of beautiful papers, trimmed with silver pen and then topped with a vellum envelope full of flowers.  I have written a tutorial on how to make the envelope.  Click here to take a look.

Now, on to the card ... hope you like.

"Pretty in Pink Flowers"

 

 

Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, Sending Love Designer series (SU!), pink vellum, flower paper

Ink:  Metallic silver pen

Accessories & Tools:  Flourishes Texturz plate

 

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I ran the two pieces of Pretty in Pink cardstock through my Big Shot with the Flourishes Texturz plate (a little hard to see the embossing in the picture).  I outlined all pieces (except vellum and flowers) with silver.  I then layered the papers as shown in the picture.

I made the Diamond Fold Envelope with the piece of pink vellum, making sure to crease the folds well.  I then outlined the front of the envelope with silver.  I mounted the envelope onto the card, approx. 1 3/4" from the bottom and then glued the flowers down (some flat inside the envelope, others on top -- popped up with dimensionals).

Botanical Blooms and Triptych Blue cards

We are having a crazy wind storm right now.  It started last night and has continued on this morning.  The winds were predicted to gusts of up to 100km in the Vancouver area (stronger gusts on the island), but I think it didn't quite get up to that speed - thank goodness!!  Luckily, no power outages at our place, but I'm sure there are many, many households in the Lower Mainland that didn't fair so well.  I'm happy to be inside, warm and dry ... and, of course, playing in my art studio! :)

Today I wanted to make a masculine card.  For some reason, I frequently turn to the Botanical Blooms stamp set when making a masculine card.  I LOVE the look of the 2-step leaf stamp!  I recently purchased the Little Leaves die-cut from Sizzix and thought the two complimented each other nicely.  Hope you like.

"Botanical Blooms"

 

 

Stamps:  Botanical Blooms (Stampin' Up!)

Paper:  Elegant Soiree Designer Series Paper, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Cajun Craze (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Early Espresso, Cajun Craze

Accessories & Tools:  Little Leaves die-cut, Stamp-a-ma-jig, medium oval punch, 1/4" Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon (approx. 7 1/2"), sticky strips, adhesives and dimensionals, 1 1/4" punch (optional)
 

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I stamped the three leaf outlines in Early Espresso ink onto Very Vanilla cardstock, stamped the second part of the leaf with Cajun Craze ink and punched out the images using a 1 1/4" square punch (or you can just use your cutter).  You really need to have a Stamp-a-ma-jig in order to line up the 2-step stamps ... or you can use a t-square and a piece of acetate.  I sponged the edges of the three images and then framed them with Early Espresso.  I adhered the ribbon about 1" from the top of the Elegant Soiree Designer series paper and then popped up the three leaf images using dimensionals.

I ran Cajun Crazy cardstock through my Big Shot with the Little Leaves die-cut and sponged the edges with Early Espresso ink, just so it mimics the stamped images that have the dark outline.  I adhered it below the stamped images, basically in the center.

I stamped the sentiment onto a scrap of Very Vanilla, used the medium oval to punch it out and then sponged the edges.  I don't have a plain oval that is larger than the medium, so I punched out two medium ovals of Early Espresso and offset them in-behind the sentiment to create a frame.

I stamped the 2-part leaf again on the inside panel of Very Vanilla in the top right-hand corner and then adhered the panel inside the card.
 

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Here's another quick and easy card.  It's clean and simple, but so pretty.  I love the idea of using just white and one other color.  Today, I'm celebrating "Marina Mist" ... just a gorgeous blue.  Hope you like.

"Triptych Blue"

 

 

Stamps:  Echoes of Kindness, Vintage Labels (sentiment) (Stampin' Up!)

Paper:  Marina Mist, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Marina Mist, Versamark (SU!)

Accessories & Tools:  Cuttlebug embossing folder, white embossing powder, heat tool, 1/4" Marina Mist grosgrain ribbon (approx. 12 " - divided), small oval punch, medium oval punch, sticky strips, adhesives and dimensionals
 

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I ran the large piece of Whisper White through my Big Shot with the Cuttlebug embossing folder.  Using sticky strips, I adhered 7" of ribbon to the embossed panel, approximately 1" from the right-hand side, tucking the excess ribbon to the back.  I then used sticky strips to attach the panel to the card base.  It's important to use a strong adhesive whenever attaching something with dimension (ribbon, embossed cardstock, etc.), and I find the sticky strips work the best.

I inked my image with Versamark and stamped onto the piece of Marina Mist.  I then embossed the image in white.  I trimmed the piece to measure 4 1/2" x 1 1/2", centering the image.  I then cut the pieces into three equal 1 1/2" squares and attached them to the card front. 

I stamped the "For You" from the Vintage Labels stamp set (my favorite sentiment - so versatile!) onto a small oval of Whisper White and framed it with a medium oval of Marina Mist.  I took the remaining piece of ribbon (approx. 5 "), looped it, attached it to the ovals using a glue dot, and glued it the card front, popping up the sentiment with dimensionals.  I attached the remaining Whisper White panel to the inside of the card.

Inspired by Spring

Happy March!!  I'm so excited that we getting closer to spring - only three weeks away!!  I just love spring with all the trees branching out and flowers starting to bloom.  It's inspired me to make a "Spring Card" today, even though we still have a little snow on the ground here.

 

I really wanted the look of water-coloring with this card, but didn't know how to do it with a solid stamp.  Water-coloring is usually done on cards where there is a line drawing of an object and then you watercolor inside.  So I researched on-line and found a technique called "Thumping" which gave me the look I was wanting.  It's pretty easy.  Basically you ink your stamp and then take a darker color Stampin' Write Marker and "thump" the marker along the edges of the stamp.  Hope you like.

 

"Inspired by Spring"

 

 

 

Stamps:  Inspired by Nature (Stampin' Up!)

Paper:  Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Stampin' Write Markers:  Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Old Olive, Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up!)

Accessories & Tools:  MS border punch, 5/8" Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon (approx. 8"), adhesives & dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig (optional)

 

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I inked the image stamp using the Stampin' Write markers and then "thumped" a darker version of the three colors on the edges .  I stamped the image onto the large piece of Whisper White.  I then trimmed the paper to 5 1/8" x 3 3/16".

Using the MS border punch, I punched one of the long sides of the Pretty in Pink cardstock.  I then trimmed the rest of the cardstock so that the stamped image would fit inside, leaving a 1/16" border around all sides (+ the extra on the punched border side).  I mounted the framed image onto the 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of Early Espresso cardstock.  I tied a half knot in the 5/8" Pretty in Pink satin ribbon and placed it across the front panel of the card, approx. 1" from the bottom and adhered it to the back of the panel.  I then mounted the complete front panel onto the card base.

I used Stampin' Write markers to ink the sentiment and stamped it on Whisper White.  I mounted the sentiment on frames of Pretty in Pink and Early Espresso with each consecutive piece being 1/4" larger (leaving 1/16" border on all sides).  I adhered the sentiment on top of the ribbon using dimensionals.

For the inside, I inked only the smallest flower using the Stampin' Write markers (same as for the front panel) and stamped it in the bottom left-hand corner of the Whisper White panel (I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to help with placement).  I mounted the Whisper White onto the Pretty in Pink cardstock and adhered it to the inside of the card.

Inspired Sunset Tutorial

Another day, another tutorial.  Here's another brayered card that I have taught to my friends in my beginner's brayering classes.  This one uses the "Inspired by Nature" stamp from Stampin' Up!  Click here to take a look.

"Inspired Sunset"