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!
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.
Doodlebug Design Inc. – Party Time 6″ X 6″ paper pad
Ranger Distress Ink – Wild Honey (for edging)
Copic markers
Foam adhesive
A group of my online cardmaking friends had a challenge this weekend to make coffee cards. This was the stamp set I thought of and one of my favorite stamps. Newton the cat is just so cute in this stamp! Those who know me well, know that I enjoy a couple of cups of coffee in the morning. I’ve never been a morning person, but I can cope with caffeine!
For this card, I colored my image with Copic markers to pick up on the Inky Paws challenge color palette (yellow, orange, green and white) in the current Inky Paws challenge and then found some cute patterned papers in my stash to match. I cut “inchies” from the papers and arranged them and popped them up to create a simple design, which is what I’m drawn to. I inked the edges of every element with Wild Honey Distress Ink to bring it all together.
Below you can see the dimension I created with foam adhesive.
I’m jumping ahead to Spring for a short visit! We’ve had rain, hail and sunshine this first week of February here in the Willamette Valley (and the Groundhog did not see his shadow). So here is a cheerful birdhouse made completely with Lawn Fawn dies. I decided to die cut all of these pieces in lots of happy colors and do some mixing and matching. This card had absolutely no stamping either. That doesn’t happen very often.
Supplies:
Dies – Lawn Fawn Magic Iris Birdhouse Add-On, Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Frames and Outside In Stitched Bubbles (for the “hi.”)
Cardstock in a variety of colors, plus Kraft for the card base
I plan to make more of these with some other color combinations and also to make a version with the Magic Iris die in the birdhouse opening for a little interactive fun. Thanks for stopping by.
This is my most elaborate Halloween card this year. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but time got away from me and I just didn’t make many. I created this one for a swap that I participated in. We were to make a Halloween card that was a fun fold that the recipient could use for a decoration.
I had fun putting together several different Lawn Fawn stamp/die sets and patterned papers from different companies for a spooky night-time scene. I decided on a Z-fold card, and the beauty of this design is that it can stand up on its own but it folds up to easily fit into an envelope.
Supplies:
Lawn Fawn stamps and dies – Spooktacular, Hoppy Halloween, and Fox Costumes Before ‘n Afters and the Spooky Fence Border die
Papers – Authentique – Mysterious and Twilight collections, and Echo Park Bewitched collection (for the starry sky)
I colored the critters with Copic markers and backed the card with and cut the fence border from black cardstock.
This was very fun and quite easy to make. Have a Happy Halloween!
In my constant endeavor to find something positive in this highly unusual (okay, CRAZY!) year, at least we have a day dedicated to making cards! Right? So I spent today making a few gel plate prints and then I made three cards with some of them. Here’s what I did.
Above you can see the prints I made, using leaves from plants growing in my yard. Nothing exotic, to be sure! The difference in this gel printing experiment is that I used mini Distress Ink cubes direct to the gel plate to create kind of a geometric pattern. I didn’t brayer the ink out, but left it for a more distinct pattern.
I then placed the leaves on top of the inked plate and then pressed the paper over. Then I removed the paper and the leaves and replaced the paper, lining the paper onto the plate as it was before. This partially defined the leaves with remaining ink.
Here are the cards I made from the prints seen above.
I used sentiment dies respectively, from Sizzix, Elizabeth Craft Designs, and My Favorite Things. I layered the prints with cardstock and added some sequins. The center card also has ribbon and a border made with an EK Success “Fleur de Lis” border punch. I definitely shopped my stash with these cards!
Thanks for stopping by and Happy World Cardmaking Day!
This is my second card using the Cape Cod stamp set created by Jenn Shurkus. For more information on these wonderful stamps, see the photo and explanation below.
I couldn’t resist the lobsters in this set and had fun making a little pattern with them (sort of like synchronized swimming lobsters!). Now, here in Oregon, we don’t have lobsters. We have the tastiest crabs of all: Dungeness. But someday I will go to Cape Cod so I can have a lobster roll! I designed the card front and then wanted to find a sentiment to match the card (sort of backwards, huh?). I did think the one I picked was pretty perfect even though the sentiment went with an entirely different stamp set.
Supplies
Stamps – Cape Cod clear stamp set – Jenn Shurkus, Lawn Fawn – Wild for You (sentiment)
Die – Lawn Fawn – Simple Wavy Banners
Hero Arts Enamel Dots – Aqua
Patterned paper – Photoplay – Beach Huts
About the Cape Cod stamp set
Jenn Shurkus, who is a creative card maker and instructor, lives on Cape Cod and is raising money for the Cape Cod Resilience Fund. This fund will help small businesses on Cape Cod who are experiencing financial difficulties due to Covid-19. This fund will be around for the long run, and continue to help small businesses out in the future. YOU can help by purchasing one of Jenn’s exclusive Cape Cod stamp sets. For each set sold between June 15th- July 1st, $10 will be donated to the CCRF. Another way you can help? Share this with your creative friends and help spread the word! More details can be found on Jenn’s website. She also has more samples of lovely cards she has made using this stamp set.
Love Live Local is an organization that has supported small businesses and artists on Cape Cod for a number of years now. They are the ones organizing the Cape Cod Resilience Fund. The Cape Cod Resilience Fund will provide direct grants to small business owners on Cape Cod to offer some relief from the economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. You can read more about them and the fund here: https://lovelivelocal.com/resilience/.
Today I’m sharing a little shadow box card I made using a brand new stamp set developed by Jenn Shurkus. I’m helping out Jenn as she works to help locally owned businesses in Cape Cod. For more details about this stamp set and the cause it supports, please read the explanation below.
Details about my card
I always enjoy using this shadow box die set and all of the add-ons for lots of different themes. They are easy to use and so much fun.
Looking at the inside right, decorated with a sailboat and anchorLooking into the shadow box to the left, decorated with a lighthouse
I decorated all sides of the box, although you don’t have to. I liked repeating the waves motif on the outside panels and I cut little elements from the paper to decorate the sides on the inside. The fishing boat, lobster trap, and lobster are all from the Cape Cod stamp set. I will have another post coming up this week with a card using this same set.
The shadow box folds flat to make it easy for mailing.
Patterned paper – Photoplay – Monterey Bay “Lighthouse”
About the Cape Cod stamp set
Jenn Shurkus, who is a creative card maker and instructor, lives on Cape Cod and is raising money for the Cape Cod Resilience Fund. This fund will help small businesses on Cape Cod who are experiencing financial difficulties due to Covid-19. This fund will be around for the long run, and continue to help small businesses out in the future. YOU can help by purchasing one of Jenn’s exclusive Cape Cod stamp sets. For each set sold between June 15th- July 1st, $10 will be donated to the CCRF. Another way you can help? Share this with your creative friends and help spread the word! More details can be found on Jenn’s website. She also has more samples of lovely cards she has made using this stamp set.
Love Live Local is an organization that has supported small businesses and artists on Cape Cod for a number of years now. They are the ones organizing the Cape Cod Resilience Fund. The Cape Cod Resilience Fund will provide direct grants to small business owners on Cape Cod to offer some relief from the economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. You can read more about them and the fund here: https://lovelivelocal.com/resilience/.
Yesterday was my mom’s 90th birthday! Happy Birthday, Mom! Mom checks my blog every day, and luckily my Instagram feed shows up here so she generally sees something new! I have great intentions of updating my blog more often, it just doesn’t always seem to happen. But I digress.
So when trying to decide what I should do to make Mom’s birthday card special, I remembered an Art Impressions stamp and die set I bought several years ago that featured a raccoon that comes together in a cute tri-fold card. So I dug it out and the rest was history.
Card Front
I began by creating the card base from a 4-1/2″ X 11″ piece of white cardstock and folded it into thirds, which is 4-1/2″ tall by 3-5/8″ wide when all folded. I stamped the fruit stand on the front of the card with Memento black ink. I die-cut the window with the die provided.
Inside flap
I then lined up the smaller window box layer with the main fruit stand on the front and stamped and die cut that image.
Center and inside of tri-fold card
So then for the Pièce de résistance, the star of the card: the raccoon. I stamped him, again lining up the other windows so he can be seen peaking through. I colored all of the images with Copic markers and then decorated the card very simply with strips of patterned paper from Photoplay.
Side-view showing the awning and the nested images
Why a raccoon? Well, Mom has a soft spot for the little critters and every year at about this time, they visit her rural home to see if there might be little spare cat food left out on the porch. (For the record, her two cats eat inside!) She keeps her distance and they end up going away once their babies are able to take care of themselves. The babies are extremely cute! Anyway, she could have worse vices/hobbies and after all these years we still haven’t had to bail her out of jail or anything. So that’s why a raccoon.
Here are the supplies I used:
Stamp and die set – Art Impressions “Produce Stand”
Stamp set – Lawn Fawn – “Jump for Joy” for “It’s Your Birthday” sentiment
Patterned paper – Photoplay #ThinkToRemember – Garden
Copic markers
We had a lovely celebration. Not what it would have been pre-COVID, but it was still nice. There was cake! I made it myself! Thanks for visiting!
Lawn Fawn: Dandy Lion, Wavy Sayings, Simple Wavy Banners, Super Star, Outside In Stitched Scalloped Square Stackables, and Pivot Pop-Up
Patterned papers: Lawn Fawn
Sequins
Cardstock
Looks like a surprise inside!
I had never made a card with this clever pivot pop-up mechanism that I cut out with the Lawn Fawn die so-named. Not only do the mice provide a major cuteness factor, the way the inside of the card pops-out is a really fun surprise! I colored all of the critters and dandelions with Copic markers.
The inside of this card, fully deployed!
It pops out with such dimension, but it folds very flat so it is easy to pop in an envelope and mail! And so I did. I made this for a card exchange and sent it off to an online friend in Ontario, Canada.
Wishing you a happy day, full of smiles and surprises! Thanks for visiting.
penguinpapers 