It won’t be long before the Cherry Blossoms begin to bloom in the eastern US. I love seeing pictures of these gorgeous trees, but I have not yet seen them in person.
Today’s card features the Papertrey Ink Into the Blooms: Cherry Blossoms die set. I cut the flowers from white and several shades of coral and peach cardstock. I also inked the edges of the white pieces with a delicate colored ink from Concord & 9th called Nectar.
I created the cloud background using a homemade stencil I created many years ago plus Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.
The Simon Says Stamp Celebrate sentiment is fantastic for so many different occasions.
It won’t be long before the Cherry Blossoms begin to bloom in the eastern US. I love seeing pictures of these gorgeous trees, but I have not yet seen them in person.
Today’s card features the Papertrey Ink Into the Blooms: Cherry Blossoms die set. I cut the flowers from white and several shades of coral and peach cardstock. I also inked the edges of the white pieces with a delicate colored ink from Concord & 9th called Nectar.
I created the cloud background using a homemade stencil I created many years ago plus Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.
The Simon Says Stamp Celebrate sentiment is fantastic for so many different occasions.
Back on the blog after a long while. Just got busy with life stuff over the summer. I know you know what I mean.
I am back with not one, but three cards all for Autumn and Halloween. In between working on birthday and Christmas cards, I’ve continued to play with my Stamps by Judith & Heather. I enjoy adding layers to even a flat design as I just love the dimension and "shadow" it adds to a card.
Here are all the supplies I used:
Cardstock: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb cover stock, Stampin’ Up! Basic Black, Soft Suede (retired), Hello Honey (r), Pumpkin Pie.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Stamps: Stamps by Judith & Heather - Scruffy Pup, Trick-or-Treat Pumpkin, all tiny “stubby” stamps; Sentiments - Happy Halloween from SU’s And Many More, Autumn Greetings from Autumn Wreath set by Pretty Pink Posh
Patterned Paper: All from My Favorite Things
Die: Mini Slimline Stitched Layers by Popsiclesticks (Etsy store)
Markers: Mostly Copic, a few are Spectrum Noir.
Embellishment: Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, black gel pen to add movement lines
These were fun to make, except for the fussy cutting it took to make itty bitty leaf and candy corn masks.
I am entering all three cards in the Sept 11 Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge featuring Four Legged Friends, and the Tic Tac Toe C256 Challenge. I am also entering the autumn themed card in the Sept 5 As You Like It Challenge.
Back on the blog after a long while. Just got busy with life stuff over the summer. I know you know what I mean.
I am back with not one, but three cards all for Autumn and Halloween. In between working on birthday and Christmas cards, I’ve continued to play with my Stamps by Judith & Heather. I enjoy adding layers to even a flat design as I just love the dimension and "shadow" it adds to a card.
Here are all the supplies I used:
Cardstock: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb cover stock, Stampin’ Up! Basic Black, Soft Suede (retired), Hello Honey (r), Pumpkin Pie.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Stamps: Stamps by Judith & Heather - Scruffy Pup, Trick-or-Treat Pumpkin, all tiny “stubby” stamps; Sentiments - Happy Halloween from SU’s And Many More, Autumn Greetings from Autumn Wreath set by Pretty Pink Posh
Patterned Paper: All from My Favorite Things
Die: Mini Slimline Stitched Layers by Popsiclesticks (Etsy store)
Markers: Mostly Copic, a few are Spectrum Noir.
Embellishment: Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, black gel pen to add movement lines
These were fun to make, except for the fussy cutting it took to make itty bitty leaf and candy corn masks.
I am entering all three cards in the Sept 11 Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge featuring Four Legged Friends, and the Tic Tac Toe C256 Challenge. I am also entering the autumn themed card in the Sept 5 As You Like It Challenge.
Whew, June has been a whirlwind. My family was in Denver on June 1 for my niece's lovely wedding. I've attended a scrapbooking convention in Denton, TX and had a fun four days with some dear friends from high school, most recently.
A little family-run stamp company (at least 35 years old) called Stamps by Judith & Heather is always at these conventions. They make hand-drawn stamps that are all meant for scene building. Many of their stamps are woodblock, especially the small ones that are mounted on the end of a wooden dowel - you know, peg stamps, also known as "stubbies." The fact that you can mix and match hundreds of different images (lots of florals, animals, cute containers, insects, scenery and more) is what makes their stamps so unique and fun.
You can find some of their videos on Facebook and some older ones on YouTube. The stamping goes FAST, which is fun. Heather does ALL her coloring on 22lb copy paper (later glued to cardstock) and then colors with Tombow water-based markers and a blender pen.
I used a scruffy dog, grass, a tin bucket, leaves, mushrooms, a small green plant, a pumpkin and a little heart to build my scene. I used Post-It masking with the bucket, dog, pumpkins and mushrooms to make them appear layered like I wanted. I colored with Copics, Spectrum Noir markers and Dick Blick alcohol ink markers. I added the dots line at the end and added a Simon Says Stamp sentiment strip along with a tiny strip of Stampin' Up's Poppy Parade CS, with a Tiny Attacher by Tim Holtz in the left top corner.
Cardstock was Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 110lb, plus Stampin' Up's Mossy Meadow. I die cut the card front panels with mini slimline dies by Popsicle Sticks from Etsy. Rest assured, I'll be using more and more of these stamps on my cards.
I am entering this card at Addicted to Stamps & More #471, The Outlawz Challenges, and Double Trouble.
Whew, June has been a whirlwind. My family was in Denver on June 1 for my niece's lovely wedding. I've attended a scrapbooking convention in Denton, TX and had a fun four days with some dear friends from high school, most recently.
A little family-run stamp company (at least 35 years old) called Stamps by Judith & Heather is always at these conventions. They make hand-drawn stamps that are all meant for scene building. Many of their stamps are woodblock, especially the small ones that are mounted on the end of a wooden dowel - you know, peg stamps, also known as "stubbies." The fact that you can mix and match hundreds of different images (lots of florals, animals, cute containers, insects, scenery and more) is what makes their stamps so unique and fun.
You can find some of their videos on Facebook and some older ones on YouTube. The stamping goes FAST, which is fun. Heather does ALL her coloring on 22lb copy paper (later glued to cardstock) and then colors with Tombow water-based markers and a blender pen.
I used a scruffy dog, grass, a tin bucket, leaves, mushrooms, a small green plant, a pumpkin and a little heart to build my scene. I used Post-It masking with the bucket, dog, pumpkins and mushrooms to make them appear layered like I wanted. I colored with Copics, Spectrum Noir markers and Dick Blick alcohol ink markers. I added the dots line at the end and added a Simon Says Stamp sentiment strip along with a tiny strip of Stampin' Up's Poppy Parade CS, with a Tiny Attacher by Tim Holtz in the left top corner.
Cardstock was Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 110lb, plus Stampin' Up's Mossy Meadow. I die cut the card front panels with mini slimline dies by Popsicle Sticks from Etsy. Rest assured, I'll be using more and more of these stamps on my cards.
I am entering this card at Addicted to Stamps & More #471, The Outlawz Challenges, and Double Trouble.
T'is the Season. Christmas is typically a very busy time in most households that celebrate the holiday. But this year, mine is extra busy. I am planning my daughter's January wedding and I'm swamped with a To Do list longer than Santa's Naughty list. Fortunately, very early this year I began making some Christmas cards. I chose 5 designs and made 7 of each. I saw this design somewhere - perhaps Instagram, using the now-retired Tim Holtz Snowflake Impresslit. If you're not familiar with them, at one time Sizzix produced these small embossing folders that both cut and embossed an image at the same time. They are all retired now, so I am holding on to the ones I have. The oak leaves one is my favorite.
I used Neenah's Classic Crest Solar White 110lb cardstock (spritzed with water) to make the snowflake. Next, I used a Bazzill Kraft stock (maybe Peanut Cluster color) and embossed it with the Sizzix embossing folder called Nordic Pattern by Olivia Rose. I just adore the imagery. I very lightly swiped Picket Fence Distress Ink over the raised areas using a domed foam blender.
Finally, I embossed Merry Christmas using Taylored Expressions Modern Holiday Greetings stamp set. It's a fantastic set with lots of "clean" Christmas sentiments. By clean, I mean there are no flourishes and everything is sans serif. Lots to choose from.
I put it all together on a cardbase using the same Neenah cardstock. Just dropped this card, along with about 40 others at the post office.
Happy Holidays, y'all!
T'is the Season. Christmas is typically a very busy time in most households that celebrate the holiday. But this year, mine is extra busy. I am planning my daughter's January wedding and I'm swamped with a To Do list longer than Santa's Naughty list. Fortunately, very early this year I began making some Christmas cards. I chose 5 designs and made 7 of each. I saw this design somewhere - perhaps Instagram, using the now-retired Tim Holtz Snowflake Impresslit. If you're not familiar with them, at one time Sizzix produced these small embossing folders that both cut and embossed an image at the same time. They are all retired now, so I am holding on to the ones I have. The oak leaves one is my favorite.
I used Neenah's Classic Crest Solar White 110lb cardstock (spritzed with water) to make the snowflake. Next, I used a Bazzill Kraft stock (maybe Peanut Cluster color) and embossed it with the Sizzix embossing folder called Nordic Pattern by Olivia Rose. I just adore the imagery. I very lightly swiped Picket Fence Distress Ink over the raised areas using a domed foam blender.
Finally, I embossed Merry Christmas using Taylored Expressions Modern Holiday Greetings stamp set. It's a fantastic set with lots of "clean" Christmas sentiments. By clean, I mean there are no flourishes and everything is sans serif. Lots to choose from.
I put it all together on a cardbase using the same Neenah cardstock. Just dropped this card, along with about 40 others at the post office.
Happy Holidays, y'all!
I was thrilled to be chosen as a guest designer for Woodblock Wednesday, an Instagram account set up by Amy Tsurata (@craftee1) to "honor" our most beloved woodblock stamps. If you've been stamping for more than 5 years, you probably have a few (or many more) in your stash. While I've gotten rid of many over the years, there is a shoebox filled with my "keep forever" woodblock stamps.
One of my very favorites is called "It's a Parade" and was manufactured by Hero Arts years ago. The detailed silhouette of children putting on their own little parade to celebrate is charming beyond words. I embossed this sweet image with Ranger's black embossing powder on Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 110lb coverstock. I cut the cardstock to 3.75" x 5" and made it where the image was slightly above the bottom and centered.
I used a homemade cloud stencil along with Stampin' Up!'s Island Indigo ink on a blending brush to create billowy clouds above the parade. Next, I cut Simon Says Stamp's Yay You Words by CZ Design, the amazing Cathy Zielske, in red cardstock by Memory Box. I popped up the words using additional white die cuts of the words in white cardstock underneath. I assembled all this as shown on a white cardbase, adding a sentiment strip from CZ Design's Reverse Yay. I added a few iridescent sequins and I was done.
Tell me what your favorite wood mounted stamps are? I'd love to know. Maybe we share some favorites.
I was thrilled to be chosen as a guest designer for Woodblock Wednesday, an Instagram account set up by Amy Tsurata (@craftee1) to "honor" our most beloved woodblock stamps. If you've been stamping for more than 5 years, you probably have a few (or many more) in your stash. While I've gotten rid of many over the years, there is a shoebox filled with my "keep forever" woodblock stamps.
One of my very favorites is called "It's a Parade" and was manufactured by Hero Arts years ago. The detailed silhouette of children putting on their own little parade to celebrate is charming beyond words. I embossed this sweet image with Ranger's black embossing powder on Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 110lb coverstock. I cut the cardstock to 3.75" x 5" and made it where the image was slightly above the bottom and centered.
I used a homemade cloud stencil along with Stampin' Up!'s Island Indigo ink on a blending brush to create billowy clouds above the parade. Next, I cut Simon Says Stamp's Yay You Words by CZ Design, the amazing Cathy Zielske, in red cardstock by Memory Box. I popped up the words using additional white die cuts of the words in white cardstock underneath. I assembled all this as shown on a white cardbase, adding a sentiment strip from CZ Design's Reverse Yay. I added a few iridescent sequins and I was done.
Tell me what your favorite wood mounted stamps are? I'd love to know. Maybe we share some favorites.
The new Large Stitched Envelope and Postage die from Poppystamps lends itself to endless creativity. It is large enough to put things in, like this set of tulips, and small enough that you could fit 2-5 envelopes on an A2 or slimline card. The stitched edge makes it extra cute. And if that weren't cool enough, you get a fun little postage stamp die with the envelope die.
The new Large Stitched Envelope and Postage die from Poppystamps lends itself to endless creativity. It is large enough to put things in, like this set of tulips, and small enough that you could fit 2-5 envelopes on an A2 or slimline card. The stitched edge makes it extra cute. And if that weren't cool enough, you get a fun little postage stamp die with the envelope die.
When I received all the new floral dies from Poppystamps, I was super inspired by a post I had seen on Pinterest. I decided to CASE the amazing Zsoka Marko and her December 2022 card that you can see here on her blog A Pocket Full of Scrap.
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When I received all the new floral dies from Poppystamps, I was super inspired by a post I had seen on Pinterest. I decided to CASE the amazing Zsoka Marko and her December 2022 card that you can see here on her blog A Pocket Full of Scrap.
I just love both slimline and mini slimline cards. It was a few years ago when I discovered the mini slimline format and swooned with how sweet and simple they could be, while not incurring extra postage (unlike square cards).
I created this card with the Soaring Tree Frame from Poppystamps. It is adorable and oh-so flexible on regular, slimline or mini slimline cards. Here I used it as the centerpiece on a mini slimline Valentine. First, I cut the tree frame out with Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb cardstock. Next, I wanted some small hearts to look like the leaves of the tree. I found exactly what I was looking for in the Poppystamps Whittle Adorable Kitty Kit. One of the included dies cuts both a small and a large "whittle" heart. I cut a lot of these out from a big variety of Stampin' Up! pink and coral cardstock. I also used 2 pieces of pearlescent cardstock from the Memory Box Vintage Pastel Mirror Pad - the 6 x 6" pad has both shiny, mirror paper and pearlescent paper in the same color. I have a great 6 x 6" paper pad by My Mind's Eye called Lost & Found in blush. In it, I found some beige, dotted paper and some pink, gingham paper and decided on those for a background.
I just love both slimline and mini slimline cards. It was a few years ago when I discovered the mini slimline format and swooned with how sweet and simple they could be, while not incurring extra postage (unlike square cards).
I created this card with the Soaring Tree Frame from Poppystamps. It is adorable and oh-so flexible on regular, slimline or mini slimline cards. Here I used it as the centerpiece on a mini slimline Valentine. First, I cut the tree frame out with Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb cardstock. Next, I wanted some small hearts to look like the leaves of the tree. I found exactly what I was looking for in the Poppystamps Whittle Adorable Kitty Kit. One of the included dies cuts both a small and a large "whittle" heart. I cut a lot of these out from a big variety of Stampin' Up! pink and coral cardstock. I also used 2 pieces of pearlescent cardstock from the Memory Box Vintage Pastel Mirror Pad - the 6 x 6" pad has both shiny, mirror paper and pearlescent paper in the same color. I have a great 6 x 6" paper pad by My Mind's Eye called Lost & Found in blush. In it, I found some beige, dotted paper and some pink, gingham paper and decided on those for a background.
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The Whittle Polar Bears die is another of the amazing Christmas releases from Poppystamps. I wanted to create a night sky that had more "movement" than plain cardstock. I started with a piece of 140lb watercolor paper that was 3.5" x 8.5", the typical measurements for a slimline card. I used Distress Spray Stain in Uncharted Mariner on some watercolor paper, spritzing and drying between layers and using a little water to thin out color in a few places.
The Whittle Polar Bears die is another of the amazing Christmas releases from Poppystamps. I wanted to create a night sky that had more "movement" than plain cardstock. I started with a piece of 140lb watercolor paper that was 3.5" x 8.5", the typical measurements for a slimline card. I used Distress Spray Stain in Uncharted Mariner on some watercolor paper, spritzing and drying between layers and using a little water to thin out color in a few places.
It was hard to decide where to start with the new Poppystamps Holiday Release. There are so many fantastic and flexible dies to choose from, as well as one great stamp set. I finally settled on something simple, the humble Layered Holly Branch die set. I used two colors of green cardstock, Stampin' Up!'s Wild Wasabi and Garden Green. I ran the single die through with each color and it gave me two branches and two sets of leaf accents. There are seven items that come out of the die: a branch with leaves and six "accent" leaf halves (I don't know what to call these).
It was hard to decide where to start with the new Poppystamps Holiday Release. There are so many fantastic and flexible dies to choose from, as well as one great stamp set. I finally settled on something simple, the humble Layered Holly Branch die set. I used two colors of green cardstock, Stampin' Up!'s Wild Wasabi and Garden Green. I ran the single die through with each color and it gave me two branches and two sets of leaf accents. There are seven items that come out of the die: a branch with leaves and six "accent" leaf halves (I don't know what to call these).
The first time I saw the new Witches Shoe die from Poppystamps, I immediately thought of the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. I didn't like that movie as a small child and I would hide behind the TV every time the witch came on TV. I figured she couldn't see me that way. Fast forward to now.
The first time I saw the new Witches Shoe die from Poppystamps, I immediately thought of the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. I didn't like that movie as a small child and I would hide behind the TV every time the witch came on TV. I figured she couldn't see me that way. Fast forward to now.
While the temperatures are just barely inching down where I live (Texas), I'm in full-on fall and Halloween mode with my crafting. Poppystamps latest release is ideal for cards, scrapbook pages, and treat bags too. I started my little ghostly tag using an olive green from Tim Holtz Kraft Stock Stack in Cool. I cut it into a tag shape that is about 3" x 6". Next, I found the ideal fall plaid paper in my Memory Box Woodsy Plaid 6 x 6 Paper Pad. I had a special blade on my Creative Memories paper trimmer so I cut one piece with a scallop edge and adhered that to the top of the tag. I sanded the green tag with a sanding block to reveal the kraft cardstock below the color.
I hope you're taking some time for some autumn or almost-autumn crafting today. You deserve it.
While the temperatures are just barely inching down where I live (Texas), I'm in full-on fall and Halloween mode with my crafting. Poppystamps latest release is ideal for cards, scrapbook pages, and treat bags too. I started my little ghostly tag using an olive green from Tim Holtz Kraft Stock Stack in Cool. I cut it into a tag shape that is about 3" x 6". Next, I found the ideal fall plaid paper in my Memory Box Woodsy Plaid 6 x 6 Paper Pad. I had a special blade on my Creative Memories paper trimmer so I cut one piece with a scallop edge and adhered that to the top of the tag. I sanded the green tag with a sanding block to reveal the kraft cardstock below the color.
I hope you're taking some time for some autumn or almost-autumn crafting today. You deserve it.
