Christmas Penguins

Hi folks,

It was a very crafty weekend for me which always makes me happy! I suppose that's one of the reasons (okay the only reason) why I like winter so much. I can literally hole up in my craft room for hours and just do what I love. I managed to create quite a few Christmas cards and I've been having a lot of fun with the creative process.

The card I'm sharing today uses mostly Lawn Fawn products. The stars of the show of course are the adorable little penguins from the Here We Go A-Waddling and Snow Cool stamp sets.

First I chose my patterned papers from the 6x6 Really Rainbow Christmas pad. I used the Reverse Stitched Scalloped Circle Window Dies to cut the opening of my panel. I just love that stitched detail. So pretty!

I also used stamps from Winter Village, Holiday Helpers and Thanks a Latte to create my winter scene. I added Nuvo Glitter Drops to the snowflakes and set them aside to dry. The rest of the images I coloured using Copic markers and then die cut them using the coordinating dies.

To create the snow bank, I die cut one of the Stitched Hillside Border dies from Lawn Fawn out of Simon Says Stamp glitter cardstock. For the sentiment, I die cut the Merry Christmas Line Border die also from SSS glitter cardstock. I then adhered all the die cuts and images onto a snowflake patterned paper from the 6x6 pad and popped up the penguins with foam dots. 

Finally, I adhered the red patterned paper on top of my scene using foam adhesive. I glued down the Merry Christmas sentiment and adhered the entire panel onto a white A2 sized card base. And that's my completed card! I think I'll give this card to my little niece. I know the cute little penguins will put a smile on her face. :) Hope you're all having a great day!

Supplies Used:

Lawn Fawn - Reverse Stitched Scalloped Circle Window
Lawn Fawn - Really Rainbow 6x6 Christmas Pad
Lawn Fawn - Here We Go A-Waddling Stamp Set
Lawn Fawn - Winter Village Stamp Set
Lawn Fawn - Snow Cool Stamp Set
Lawn Fawn - Thanks a Latte Stamp Set
Lawn Fawn - Holiday Helpers Stamp Set
Lawn Fawn - Merry Christmas Line Border
Simon Says Stamp - Glitter Cardstock
Tonic Studios - Nuvo Glitter Drops - Gold Coast 
Lawn Fawn - Glue Tube 

Mermaid Wishes

Hi folks,

I've been hard at work on my Christmas cards lately but today I took a little break from them to create this card with a scene that reminds me of being on vacation, somewhere with white sandy beaches, turquoise waters and hotter temperatures. I don't know about you but I wasn't ready for this frigid weather we're having. Brrr.

For this card, I used the Simon Says Stamp September card kit called Beautiful Mermaids. First I stamped the images and coloured them in with my Copic markers. Then I cut out a panel from smooth white cardstock and used Distress Oxide inks to create the ocean and sky background. I flicked some water droplets on the background and soaked it up with a paper towel and then set the panel aside to dry.

Next I went to work on creating the "sand". Using a Versamark ink pad, I generously applied ink to a piece of white cardstock. Then I sprinkled Hero Arts Sand Embossing Powder all over the ink and used my heat tool to melt the powder, which created this realistic sandy raised image. So cool! I then die cut that piece using one of the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders and adhered it to my panel.

I white heat embossed a sentiment from the stamp set onto the panel, fussy cut my coloured images and glued those down onto my panel. Next I painted some gold accents onto the coins and the clamshell pearl, and added some highlights using my white gel pen. I then used a Lawn Fawn embossing ink pen to add ink to the mermaid's hair piece and bikini top and then heat embossed clear sparkle embossing glitter by Wow Embossing onto those areas. I then adhered the panel using fun foam to a cardbase called Coastal Cabana by Stampin' Up!. I love how it matches her tail so well. Lastly, I added some iridescent bubbles to finish off the scene.

And that's my completed card! I had so much fun creating this little scene and will definitely be creating more cards with this beautiful stamp set. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a wonderful day! :)

Supplies Used:

Simon Says Stamp - Beautiful Mermaids
Wow - Clear Sparkle Embossing Glitter
Ranger - Embossing Powder White
Hero Arts - Sand Embossing Powder
Zig - Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Set
Lawn Fawn - Stitched Hillside Borders
Lawn Fawn - Embossing Ink Pen
Lawn Fawn - Glue Tube
Tim Holtz - Distress Oxide Ink - Spiced Marmalade
Tim Holtz - Distress Oxide Ink - Worn Lipstick
Tim Holtz - Distress Oxide Ink - Stormy Sky
Tim Holtz - Distress Oxide Ink - Tumbled Glass
Studio Katia - Iridescent Bubbles
Uni-Ball - White Signo Gel Pen
Stampin' Up! - Coastal Cabana Cardstock

Let the Christmas Card Making Begin

Hi folks,

Every year I tell myself I'm going to start working on my Christmas cards in August. Although my intentions are good, inevitably, it never happens. And today after waking up to our first winter wonderland of the season, I finally realized why this isn't a realistic goal for me. I need to be in the holiday spirit! And seeing everything outside covered in a beautiful blanket of white snow, I was immediately overcome with holiday cheer and wanted to plunge myself into all the Christmas things! After all, who wants to be stuck indoors in their craft room in the summer when it's 30 degrees C outside?!

So today's the day! I've been hard at work on my cards and I'm making good progress. I don't have a number in mind. I just want to keep turning them out until my mojo runs out or I get sick of Christmas. Whichever comes first lol.

The card I'm sharing today was created with the adorable Thanks a Latte stamp set by Lawn Fawn. The background stamp I used is by Simon Says Stamp called Outline Snowflakes. I stamped the SSS stamp on my red panel using Versamark ink and white heat embossed it. Then I stamped the images from the Thanks a Latte set and coloured them using Copic markers. I then cut them out using the coordinating dies.

Next, I trimmed a piece of vellum and wrapped it around the card panel. I adhered the coffee cups with foam dots to the vellum. Then I added Nuvo Glitter Drops to give the card a bit of sparkle. On black cardstock, I white heat embossed a sentiment from the Lawn Fawn Simply Winter Sentiments stamp set, die cut it with a Lawn Fawn banner die and popped it up onto my card with foam dots. I then adhered the entire panel to the white card base.

On the inside of the card, I stamped another sentiment and added a cute candy cane and some marshmallows to the bottom corner.

And that's my completed card! This card came together very quickly and was really fun to create. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies Used:

Lawn Fawn - Thanks a Latte Stamp Set 

Lawn Fawn - Thanks a Latte Dies

Lawn Fawn - Everyday Sentiments Banner Dies

Lawn Fawn - Simply Winter Sentiments

Lawn Fawn - Lobster Ink Pad

Lawn Fawn - Raspberry Cardstock

Lawn Fawn - Glue Tube

Simon Says Stamp - Outline Snowflakes Cling Stamp

Ranger - White Embossing Powder

Tsukineko - Versamark Stamp Pad

Tonic - Nuvo Glitter Drops - Gold Coast

Scrapbook Adhesives - 3D Foam Squares

Vellum & White Cardstock from Michaels

Congratulations Baby Boy Card

Hi folks,

Here's a clean and simple card I created recently for a baby shower. I used the stamp set below called Baby Balloon by Altenew. It's a layering stamp set with so many creative possibilities. And I just love those beautiful sentiments!

I stamped the outline of the balloon with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then used Salty Ocean and Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks with the layering stamps to fill in the balloon. Then I added some glitter glue for a beautiful sparkle and set that aside to dry.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on the banner stamp that comes with the set. I created the cloud background using the Cloud Stencil by My Favorite Things and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink on smooth white cardstock. Next, I cut out the panel using a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles Stackables die.

Using the coordinating dies, I die cut the balloon and sentiment strip. I popped them up using dimensional adhesive and adhered it to the panel. Next, I added some lovely iridescent stars from Hero Arts.  I adhered fun foam to the back of the panel and glued that to an A2 card base that I cut out from some Bazzill cardstock.

And that's my completed card for today. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day! :)

Supplies used:

Baby Balloon Stamp Set - Altenew
Cloud Stencil - My Favorite Things
Tim Holtz - Distress Ink Tumbled Glass (clouds)
Tim Holtz - Distress Ink Salty Ocean
Tim Holtz - Distress Ink Cracked Pistachio
Lawn Fawn - Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables
Ranger - Black Embossing Powder
Tim Holtz - Clear Distress Embossing Ink
Tsukineko - Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Moxy Glitter Glue - American Crafts
Iridescent Stars - Hero Arts - My Monthly Hero October 2018 Kit

It's an "Altenew" Day

Hi folks,

Today I'm sharing three cards I made using Altenew products that I've been itching to play with. I discovered Altenew about a year ago and I quickly fell in love with their beautiful layering stamp sets and gorgeous background dies.

The focal point of my cards today is the lovely Rose Flurries 3D Die Set. The set comes with a whopping 27 dies! It contains five multi-layered roses, three leaf clusters and a spray of flowers. Each rose, except for the smallest one, comes with four dies or four layers. That means I needed cardstock in four different colours that were all matchy match. The darkest cardstock being the bottom layer and the lightest cardstock the top layer. I won't lie. It took me a while to die cut all these flowers and leaves (plus I made extras for future cards). But once I had it all figured out and found my groove, it went like the wind. :)

For my first card, I adhered the flowers and leaves to a panel I'd die cut using the Altenew Dotted Scales Debossing Cover Die. The sentiment is from Studio Katia which I heat embossed with white embossing powder on black cardstock.

I mounted the panel onto a A2 sized card base using fun foam, added a few sparkling clear jewels from Pretty Pink Posh, and called this one done.

My next card takes it up a notch. I used three Lawn Fawn inks and the Altenew Watercolor Stripes Stencil to create the background. The colours I used were Sugarplum, Guava and Ballet Slippers. I arranged the flowers and leaf clusters and adhered them to the background.

The sentiment and Thanks is from the Big Thanks stamp and die set from Simon Says Stamp. First, I heat embossed the sentiment using white embossing powder on black cardstock. Then I die cut the Thanks out of SSS glitter cardstock and the shadow die out of dark purple cardstock and adhered the two together. I added some sequins from Studio Katia and mounted the panel onto an A2 sized card base using fun foam for added dimension. And that completes card #2.

For my last card, I adhered the flowers and leaves to a panel I'd die cut using the Altenew Pegboard Canvas Cover Die. I thought about mounting it directly to a white card base for a tone on tone look but I had an extra background that I'd inked up using the same Altenew stencil I used in my second card, and I liked how the green peeked through some of the holes.

The Hello sentiment is a die from Concord & 9th which I die cut twice. Once on black cardstock and once on black fun foam to add dimension. I adhered the two together and added glossy accents for a shiny, raised look. I added a few enamel dots using Nuvo Crystal drops, adhered the panel to an A2 sized card base, and that completes my final card.

It's true that dies can be quite an investment, but a set such as this one is timeless in my opinion. It can be used over and over on many different backgrounds with a variety of different sentiments and different coloured roses and still look fresh and new each and every time.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you get crafty this weekend! :)

Supplies Used:

Card #1 - With Sympathy

Altenew - Rose Flurries 3D Die Set
Altenew - Dotted Scales Debossing Cover Die
Simon Says Stamp - Glitter Cardstock
Studio Katia - Japanese Peony Stamp Set (sentiment)
Pretty Pink Posh - Sparkling Clear Jewels
Ranger - White Embossing Powder

Card #2 - Thanks

Altenew - Rose Flurries 3D Die Set
Altenew - Watercolor Stripes Stencil
Lawn Fawn - Sugarplum Ink Pad
Lawn Fawn - Guava Ink Pad
Lawn Fawn - Ballet Slippers Ink Pad
Studio Katia - Pink Winter Fusion Sequins
Simon Says Stamp - Big Thanks Stamp Set
Simon Says Stamp - Big Thanks Die
Simon Says Stamp - Glitter Cardstock
Ranger - White Embossing Powder

Card #3 - Hello

Altenew - Rose Flurries 3D Die Set
Altenew - Watercolor Stripes Stencil
Altenew - Pegboard Canvas Cover Die
Lawn Fawn - Freshly Cut Grass Ink
Lawn Fawn - Jalapeno Ink
Lawn Fawn - Noble Fir Ink
Concord & 9th - Laurel Frame Stamp Set (sentiment)
Tonic Studios - Nuvo Drops - Violet Galaxy
Simon Says Stamp - Glitter Cardstock