This Easter platform has me in stitches!

I created this by using what I have–and what I’ve already cut and stamped out! Between classes I’ve taught and past projects, I’ve got a lot of bits and pieces to work with. Sometimes it is fun to see what I can come up with by just using those miscellaneous elements. I will list all of the products I used below.

I was really anxious to do some cross stitching on one of the new Lawn Fawn Embroidery Hoop dies. I have deadline I should be designing for, but I couldn’t stand it any longer! I decided to use three shades of pink to stitch the heart for an Ombre effect. The stitching went quite quickly and I chose not to put it into the hoop part of the die set. I decided to use it for a backdrop on a Pop-up Platform with an Easter scene. These critters are so cute and I had a lot of them from the classes I taught recently. I colored them with Copic markers.

This dimensional scene folds flat for mailing, which is really amazing! Lawn Fawn dies are designed so well. It is almost more of a gift than a card–a great surprise for any recipient.

  • Lawn Fawn Eggstraordinary Easter stamps and dies
  • Lawn Fawn Eggstraordinary Easter Add-on stamps and dies
  • Lawn Fawn Embroidery Hoop dies
  • Lawn Fawn Rub-a-dub-dub Flip-flop stamps and dies
  • Lawn Fawn Platform Pop-up dies
  • Lawn Fawn Platform Pop-up Add-on dies
  • Lawn Fawn Flower Market and Perfectly Plaid papers
  • Doodlebug Designs polka dot paper
  • DMC Embroidery Floss:

Thanks for stopping by.


Everything’s coming up roses

Happy February! I’m enjoying all things Valentine at the moment and pulled out a delightful rose image from Wendy Vecchi and Stampers Anonymous to work with for a Valentine tag. I’ll share a few of my steps here, and you will see that this came together quite simply.

I began by stamping the rose image from the Stampers Anonymous SCS175, “Rosy Art” set by Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 onto plain white cardstock. This set has a really cute picnic basket and nice sentiments as well, but I decided to use just the flowers for the real estate I had to work with on the tag I’d chosen.

The really cool thing about this stamp set (and a number of others designed by Wendy) is that it comes with stencils! So you can add color to areas of your image easily while blocking out other areas. This set also has a mask that can be used to cover the roses, which means you can add color to the leaves without giving your flowers an inadvertent green cast!

I used Ranger Archival inks in Rosey Posey (appropriate!) and Red Geranium to blend color onto the roses with blender brushes. Post-it Notes are kind of requirement for me, which covered the open areas of the stencil if I got overly zealous with my blending. I didn’t photograph it, but I moved onto the leaves after this and used Fern Green and Prickly Pear Archival inks to color all of the leaves, also using the stencil. I filled in the area between flowers with Copic markers (E01 and E02) so it wasn’t stark white.

I had a tag in my stash that had a background already done using Red Geranium Archival ink and alcohol. I try to do a number of backgrounds at once, so I can just grab one when I’m ready to make a card or tag. If you’d like to know more about this background technique, Wendy Vecchi has a number of tutorials and wonderful classes that cover it and I highly recommend you check them out if you haven’t. With the color down, I stamped the Stampers Anonymous Vintage Tapestry background stamp onto it, also with Red Geranium for a bit of tone-on-tone. I then blended Acorn Archival onto the edges to give a more aged, vintage look.

I placed the trimmed out, colored rose image onto a chipboard wreath (Ranger Ink Chippies: Wreathes) for some dimension. Here you can see that I applied Acorn archival ink to the wreath to pick up on the aged look of the tag. To finish the tag, I doodled a white border onto the tag with a white gel pen, hoping to visually pull it together since the flowers have a white border. I popped up the roses and wreath on the tag with foam tape and also popped up sentiment (from Everyday Sentiment Strips by Hero Arts).

And there you have the finished tag. Please let me know if you have any questions. As you most likely know, you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook @penguiinpapers

To learn more techniques by Wendy Vecchi, join her Facebook group: INK…STAMP & MAKE ART with Wendy Vecchi and follow her on Instagram @wendyvecchi . She adds new content frequently.


Christmas Cheer in July

Stamps:

  • Ranger Ink Wendy Vecchi Make Art – Doodle Christmas (wreath and branches) and Warm Wishes (sentiment)
  • Stampers Anonymous WVBG016 – Lots of Leaves (background)

Die:

  • Penny Black 51-731 – Soaring

Inks:

  • Ranger Ink Wendy Vecchi Designer Archival Ink Series: Fern Green, Prickly Pear, English Ivy, Carnation Red
  • Ranger Ink Leaf Green, Sap Green, Cornflower Blue

Embellishments:

  • Ranger Ink Wendy Vecchi Designer Series Liquid Pearls – Prickly Pear, Fern Green, Carnation Red

I’m excited about the new Wendy Vecchi Make Art release from Ranger Ink that just came out today! So many possibilities for holiday cards, tags, and decorations. But the stamps are versatile enough that some “everyday” cards will be easy to make with them.

I got my hands on the new products today and immediately made a simple card. I started out with the background using Wendy Vecchi’s archival ink and alcohol technique. I used Cornflower Blue and Lead Green re-inkers and rubbing alcohol and once dry, I stamped The background stamp in Sap Green.

To create the wreath, I stamped Wendy’s wreath stamp in English Ivy and then turned it 90 degrees or so and stamped it again in Fern Green. I trimmed it out and then blended Prickly Pear ink over the whole image. Meanwhile, I stamped the branches across the center of my background. I adhered the die-cut wreath onto the background. Once the wreath was completely dry, I stamped the sentiment and then added the Liquid Pearls “berries” on the wreath and the branches. I then popped up the wreath with dimensional adhesive and added a red raffia bow. I trimmed the card with red and dark green cardstock strips.

Thanks for stopping by today (Hi, Mom!). I do regularly post on Instagram (@penguinpapers) if you want to see what I’m up to. I still plan to post here when I can–especially cards!


Cherry Blossom Birthday Card

Supplies:

  • Stamp and Die set – Spellbinders Many Birthdays (Happy Birthday sentiment)
  • Die set – Spellbinders Sakura Blossoms
  • Patterned papers – Basic Grey 6 X 6″ pads: Eva, Blush, and Infuse
  • Sequins – Little Things from Lucy’s Cards (lucys-shop.com) – Tiara
  • Foam – Spellbinders Pop-Up Die Cutting Foam Sheets
  • Cardstock – Bazzill
  • Gold embossing powder – Lawn Fawn

These cherry blossoms were perfect for a friend’s birthday card. I cut the flowers and leaves from some very old Basic Grey paper pads that I’ve had in my stash for years (I found dates of 2006 and 2008!). They’re kind of antique papers! Anyway, I save them for special projects because they were so lovely. I die cut foam and adhered the heat embossed sentiment onto the foam layer for some really nice dimension.

I layered the blossom die cuts in a variety of colors and patterns on top of the small cut-out panel. I used the “waste” for centers of the blossoms and added a gem on top to finish out the flowers. I then scattered sequins around the rest of the card to finish it up. Thanks for visiting.


Mousie: One of My Favorite Things

  • Stamp set – My Favorite Things Odd Couple
  • Die (love sentiment) – My Favorite Things Lots of Love
  • Die (cloud) – Lawn Fawn Stitched Rainbow
  • Die (stitched heart window) – Lawn Fawn Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables
  • Patterned paper – Doodlebug Designs Love Notes
  • Copic markers
  • Cardstock

I am still having a good time making Valentines, and again I’m featuring a cute critter. Gotta do it! Critters are just meant to be on Valentines! This is a simple card with just a few stamped images and a few dies. I was guided as I designed it by the sketch in the current challenge on the My Favorite Things website (sketch is shown below). Thanks for visiting today.

Challenges:

My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge #580 (using the sketch below)

Shopping Our Stash Challenge #463 – My Heart Beets for You: Cards with Hearts and/or Vegetables


Lawn Fawn Valentines for 2022

I made a little collection of critter Valentines this year featuring Lawn Fawn stamps and dies. I’m keeping them in the family since I’m giving them to my mom to share. Maybe if I’m good, I’ll get one back!

I colored all of the cute critters with Copic markers with very simple blending and I used some patterned papers I had on hand to add some festive backgrounds. I’ll provide my supply list below and then I’ll give you a look at each card individually.

Supplies

  • Lawn Fawn stamp and die sets:
    • Scent with Love stamps and dies
    • Scent with Love Add-on stamps and dies
    • Scootin’ By stamps and dies
    • Stud Puffin stamps (for Sending Love sentiment)
    • Stitched Hillside Borders die set
    • Valentine Hearts Border die set
    • Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Frames die set
    • Grassy Hillside Borders die set
  • Patterned papers:
    • Echo Park Hello Valentine Collection – Be Mine Bouquet and Special Delivery
    • American Crafts papers – 348946 and 359971
  • Translucent vellum
  • Cardstock
  • Copic markers

What better way to show you care than to share cupcakes?!

Of course, a skunk and fox would be playing together and celebrating Valentine’s Day!

We’ve got some skunk roping happening here.

Some critters are speed demons on their scooters; others prefer to rest on the sidelines!

We’ve got all kinds of happy here with a lovable skunk and fox.

Thanks for stopping by today. I really got into the card-making zone during the past few days. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little collection.

Challenges:

Lawn Fawnatics “Lots of Heart”

Festive Friday Challenge #FF0102 – Inspiration: Red, Pink, Hearts, Cute


My Skunky Valentine

I know it has been way too long since I’ve posted here. I spent December carving stamps for the #carvedecember challenge on Instagram. I’ll be creating a blog post about my hand-carved stamps soon. Today I’m back to share some cardmaking.

Supplies

Stamps and dies by Lawn Fawn:

  • Scent with Love stamps and die sets
  • Scent with Love Add-on stamps and die sets
  • Small Mini Slimline Stackables die set
  • Simple Puffy Cloud Frames die set
  • Grassy Hillside Borders die set

This card was so much fun to create! As soon as I saw the Small Mini Slimline Stackables die set, I saw so many possibilities! So for this card, I cut the smallest in the set in three colors and covered the card base for a fun background. The colors I chose were not necessarily traditional for a Valentine. From there I created a scene with the cute skunks in the Scent with Love and Scent with Love Add-on sets with clouds and grass from other die sets in my stash. There’s very little better than cute critter stamps, and Lawn Fawn always comes through for me!

I colored all of the stamped and die-cut elements with Copic markers. I blended the die-cut grass with Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink.

Thanks for stopping by.

Challenge:

Lawn Fawnatics Challenge #117 – With Love


Hey there, Pumpkin!

  • Stamps – Newton’s Nook Designs “Newton’s Boo-tiful Night”
  • Patterned papers – Echo Park “Bewitched” and “Halloween Magic” collections
  • Die – Little B – Circles
  • Sequins – Hero Arts
  • Cardstock – Bazzill

I stamped several Newton’s Nook images out recently for Halloween cards. The images are so cute! I colored this one with Copic markers and fussy-cut it out. I have so many fun Halloween papers, I just got some out and started playing with ideas. I decided on the plaid background and then I wanted some dots for contrast. I like repeating the dots/circles, so I added a circle die-cut and round sequins for some more interest. I kind of like the design I ended up with, so I may need to remember it for future cards!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Challenges:

Inky Paws Challenge #160 – Cozy Plaid Theme

Shopping Our Stash Challenge #456 – Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

Inspiration Station Challenge #16 – Pumpkin Patch


Autumn Leaf Inspiration

I love creating monotype prints with leaves on my gel plate! The leaves in all shapes and sizes are calling me during these Autumn months. These are vine maple leaves that are turning at this time of year. I was able to capture some lovely color on a recent trip and immediately printed with some of the leaves..

I used some Distress Oxide inks and acrylic paints to make some leaf prints right after I collected these maple leaves. We traveled to central Oregon recently, which is a fall tradition for us, and it is fun to print botanical immediately after I gather them! It was a little cool, so I didn’t set up my gel plate outside like I do sometimes, but it was still very pleasant. I decided to quickly make a card with one of the prints.

Often when I make cards from gel prints, it is hard for me to cover up the print with a lot of stuff. With this, the leaves (the right-hand leaf) are really the focal point and a simple die-cut sentiment really keeps the card simple and elegant. I added a little ribbon across the top to visually balance out the sentiment, repeated the black with a mat around the print and adhered it all to a navy card base. I added a smattering of epoxy dots I had in my stash and called it done!

Thanks for visiting.

Challenge: Daisy Chain Challenges – Challenge #57 – Autumn and/or Halloween


Silhouettes on Ink Blended Quadrants

I attended a virtual card-making retreat recently and learned how to make this card. All of the classes were online and it gave me the opportunity to attend something that I would not have been able to do in person, so it was very nice.

The instructor for this card (and some others I haven’t made yet) was Gina Krupsky (aka Gina K) and we used Gina K Designs stamps, masking paper, inks and dies to create the card. Masking areas with their Masking Magic kept each ink color discrete, each quadrant clean and made the entire card come together seamlessly.

The stamps and dies we used have not been released yet, so I do not have the names of the sets.

Thanks for visiting today.