Yet Another Stargazer Lily Thank You Card

This is the last of my Christmas thank you cards using Altenew's Stargazer Salutations Creativity Cardmaking Kit. I promise! I made quite a few different ones using the stamps, dies, and in some cases embossing folders from the kit and am really happy with the results. 

For this card, I chose a pink A2 card base and the arranged my lilies, clusters of small flowers, and leaves the way I wanted them and then adhered the leaves and orange flower clusters using liquid glue. I used a thin foam tape for the lily on the right and then a thicker foam tape for the lily on the left. I stamped "thank you" from the same stamp set (it's part of a longer sentiment, but I cut off the rest of the words) and added that to the center of the card with more foam tape. 

What worked well for me in creating these cards today was to make the cards over the span of two sessions. First, I die cut 20 or so leaves, lilies, and flower clusters and then stamped them all yesterday. I used the negative space from the die cuts to insert the pieces and set up the stamps over the die cuts in my Sizzix stamp platform so I could quickly stamp multiples. I do the first layer of each of them and then change out the stamps for the second layer and then continue for however many layers there are (3 for the leaves in this case and 6 for the flowers when I include the stamps for the stamens and their stems). It's time consuming to do a big batch of them, but I did all those yesterday afternoon, and that enabled me to create different groupings on the cards I made today. I could focus on the backgrounds I wanted to create (I did some embossing and some ink smooshing for some of the cards) and creating the groupings I wanted. Then it was just a matter of adhering everything down. 

 Challenges I'm entering: 

Ultimate Inspiration Challenge: Altenew Year in Review 2023: 

I chose the January inspiration photo and focused on the beautiful pink lily: 

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (7/10; ends 1/3/23)

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: ATG with flowers as the focus (4/6; ends 1/15/23)

Geo Steps Embossed Thank You Card

Altenew's Stargazer Salutations Creativity Cardmaking Kit comes with the Geo Steps 3D embossing folder, and I wanted to try it out with the stamp set today. I used a pink A2 card base and ran it through my eBosser with the embossing folder. I like the look it creates and think it would work well for masculine cards, too. 

After creating the embossing on the card base, I adhered my stamped and die cut lily, leaves, and flower cluster and then stamped "Thank you" from a longer sentiment included in the stamp set. I simply trimmed off the rest of the sentiment and then added the sentiment to the card using foam tape. 

 Challenges I'm entering: 

Ultimate Inspiration Challenge: Altenew Year in Review 2023: 

I chose the January inspiration photo and focused on the beautiful pink lily: 

Can You Handle The Pressure? (cyhtp.blogspot.com): ATG with an embossing folder and optional twist of winter (ends 1/10/23)

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: ATG with flowers as the focus (5/6; ends 1/15/23)

Pink Lily Embossed Thank You Card

Here's another thank you card using my new Stargazer Salutations Creativity Cardmaking Kit from Altenew. I have really enjoyed playing with this kit the last couple of days. 

For this card, I wanted to use another fun new 3D embossing folder I recently bought from Altenew called From Land to Sea. Since it only embosses a portion of a card panel, I decided to trim the front of the card base to just the portion that is embossed and then I added the lily, 2 clusters of small flowers, and 3 leaves to the front. I also stamped "Thank you" from the stamp set and adhered it with foam tape. 

 

For the inside of the card, I added a white panel and then adhered another cluster of the small stamped flower grouping from the stamp set. I really like how this card turned out with the trimmed panel in the front that has the flower grouping hanging over slightly. 

 Ultimate Inspiration Challenge: Altenew Year in Review 2023: Winner 1/10/23

I chose the January inspiration photo and focused on the beautiful pink lily: 

Can You Handle The Pressure? (cyhtp.blogspot.com): ATG with an embossing folder and optional twist of winter (ends 3/10/23) Top 3 Pick 1/12/23

We Love Stamping: Winter Flowers and/or Foliage or ATG (3/3; ends at the end of the month)

Stamping Sensations: Favorite Colors (3/3; I especially love pink and red together as well as pink and green) (ends at the end of the month)

613 Avenue Create (avenue613.blogspot.com): ATG with an optional twist of any winter holiday (ends at the end of the month) Top Rocker Week of Dec. 24-30

Gem of A Craft Challenge (pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.com): ATG (3/3; ends 1/6/23)

Allsorts challenge blog: Cold and Ice or ATG (3/3; ends 1/4/23)

A Place To Start (hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com): ATG Option: New 

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (6/10; ends 1/3/23)

The Diva's that cut ....paper! (die-cut-divas.blogspot.com): Flowers (4/4; ends at the end of the month)

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: ATG with flowers as the focus (3/8; ends 1/15/23)

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge Blog (cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.com): ATG (3/3; ends at the end of the month)

Creations in Pink: ATG in mostly pink (2/3; ends 1/15/23)

The Paper Shelter: ATG (2/2; ends 1/16/23)

Pink Lily Thank You Card

 I have been busy creating thank you cards for all the people who gave me Christmas gifts, and this one features some ink smooshing with 2 shades of alcohol ink for the panel directly underneath the flowers. I adhered that panel with foam tape, and then I glued the bottom half of the die cut "Thanks" sentiment to the top left of the panel. 

The lily, leaves, and small cluster of pink flowers were all stamped from Altenew's Stargazer Salutations Creativity Cardmaking Set, and the sentiment die is from that same set. I love the way the layered stamp set creates such a realistic lily and leaves!  

Challenges I'm entering: 

Ultimate Inspiration Challenge: Altenew Year in Review 2023:

I chose the January inspiration photo with a focus on that gorgeous pink lily: 

Creations in Pink: ATG in mostly pink (ends 1/15/23)

Snippets Playground (pixiessnippetsplayground.blogspot.com): Anything but Christmas and use snippets (I used a snippet of pink card stock for the shadow in the "Thanks" sentiments as well as snippets of white card for the stamped images--I keep card stock that I've messed up on the front side and then use the back when I'm making something where the back side won't be seen) (1/1; ends 1/6/23) C10

Bewitching Rose Thank You Card

I'm so blessed by the thoughtfulness of my family and friends who gave me such lovely gifts this Christmas. I've been working on thank you cards today and having fun. For this card, I finally tried ink smooshing with alcohol inks to create a background. It's hard to tell in the photos, but there's a shimmer to the inks that's really pretty up close. 

The floral bouquet was stamped with versafine clear ink and then heat embossed using Altenew's Rose Gold embossing powder. I love how the gold looks with the pinks, greens, and oranges! Coloring the bouquet was a learning experience as I used the coordinating stencils. I then die cut the stamped and colored image. There's a coordinating embossing folder in the set as well, but I didn't use it this time. 

Once my background panel was dry, I adhered it to a 5 1/2 by 5 1/2-inch green card base and then added the stamped and die cut bouquet using foam tape.  I also added a few gold Nuvo drops to two of the corners, but in hindsight, I wish I would have just splattered a bit of gold ink instead for a more random look. I'll keep that in mind for next time. 

For the inside of the card, I used dies that came in Altenew's Stargazer Salutations Creativity Cardmaking Kit to make the "Thank You" sentiment. The "you" in that set is giant! I can see using it for a variety of projects where I want to emphasize the recipient. 

 

Challenges I'm entering: 

Ultimate Inspiration Challenge: Altenew Year in Review 2023 

I chose the April inspiration photo and focused on the rose focal point:

Crazy is our fame - STENCILS are our game! (stencilfun.blogspot.com): ATG with stencils (I used the stencils that came with the Craft Your Life: Bewitching Rose set) (ends at the end of the month)

We Love Stamping: Winter Flowers and/or Foliage or ATG (1/3; ends at the end of the  month)

Stamping Sensations: Favorite Colors (I especially love pink and red together as well as pink and green) (ends at the end of the month)

Digi Choosday Cardmaking & Crafting Challenge: ATG (1/2; ends 1/9/23)

613 Avenue Create (avenue613.blogspot.com): ATG with an optional twist of any winter holiday (ends at the end of the month) Top Rocker Week of Dec. 24-30

Gem of A Craft Challenge (pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.com): ATG (1/3; ends 1/6/23)

Allsorts challenge blog: Cold and Ice or ATG (ends 1/4/23)

A Place To Start (hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com): ATG Option: New 

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (5/10; ends 1/3/23)

Polkadoodles Cardmaking, Craft & Scrapbooking Challenge: ATG (4/4; ends 1/6/23)

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: ATG with flowers as the focus (2/8; ends 1/15/23)

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge Blog (cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.com): ATG (2/3; ends at the end of the month)

The Diva's that cut ....paper! (die-cut-divas.blogspot.com): Flowers (2/4; ends at the end of the month)

Altenew Thank You Cards

Now that Christmas is over, I have a lot of thank you cards to write, and I wanted to try out one of my Christmas gifts to make a set of thank you cards. I asked for Altenew's Stargazer Salutations Creativity Cardmaking Kit for Christmas, and I had so much fun using it to make several thank you cards. The kit comes with the stamps and dies that created the layered lily and leaves as well as the little cluster of tiny flowers, and then it also includes the "Thanks" die and shadow as well as a giant "you" die. There's a 3D embossing folder in the set, also, and the whole set is on sale for just under $40. Do I sound like an ad for Altenew?😁 Anyway, I have a feeling I'm going to get a lot of use out of this beautiful set!

For these cards, I used some card bases I had in my stash that feature pink, orange, and yellow. I stamped and die cut several lilies and leaves as well as the small clusters of flowers and experimented with different colors as well as coloring in the small flower clusters, ink blending over them, or leaving them plain with just a stamped outline. I also tried a few different variations of pinks for the lilies. I adhered most of the pieces with liquid glue but used foam tape to pop the lilies up a little. I just love how detailed the lily and leaves are!

 Challenges I'm entering: 

Ultimate Inspiration Challenge: Altenew Year in Review 2023: 

I chose the January inspiration photo and focused on the beautiful pink lily: 

A Place To Start (hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com): ATG Option: New (I used a new stamp and die set) (ends at the end of the month)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (4/10; ends 1/3/23)

Polkadoodles Cardmaking, Craft & Scrapbooking Challenge: ATG (3/4; ends 1/6/23)

We Love Stamping: Winter Flowers and/or Foliage or ATG (2/3; ends at the end of the  month)

Stamping Sensations: Favorite Colors (I love pink, orange, and yellow together! So cheerful!) (2/3; ends at the end of the month)

Digi Choosday Cardmaking & Crafting Challenge: ATG (2/2; ends 1/9/23)

613 Avenue Create (avenue613.blogspot.com): ATG with an optional twist of any winter holiday (ends at the end of the month)

Gem of A Craft Challenge (pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.com): ATG (2/3; ends 1/6/23)

Allsorts challenge blog: Cold and Ice or ATG (ends 2/4/23)

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: ATG with flowers as the focus (1/8; ends 1/15/23

The Diva's that cut ....paper! (die-cut-divas.blogspot.com): Flowers (3/4; ends at the end of the month) DT Favorite 1/3/23

In a Nutshell Birthday Card

I recently purchased a new 3D embossing folder from Altenew that has waves on part of it, and I thought that would go well with my House Mouse stamp that features a fun little ride in shell. I stamped and fussy cut my House Mouse stamp and then colored him in with colored pencils. I fussy cut the waves out of the blue card stock after running the card stock through my eBosser with the Altenew embossing folder. Then I blended some yellow ink onto a white panel and stamped "In a Nutshell...Enjoy your Day" with black ink and adhered it to my card base. I added the colored image using foam tape for dimension. This will be my mom's birthday card, and I'm hoping it will make her think of our summer trips to Edisto Island. The waves look like the ocean at high tide.

 Challenges I'm entering: 

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge (housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com): ATG with House Mouse designs with the optional theme of Party Time (ends 1/6/23)

The Paper Shelter: ATG (1/2; ends 2/16/23)

Can You Handle The Pressure? (cyhtp.blogspot.com): ATG with an embossing folder and optional twist of winter (ends 1/10/23)

House Mouse Party Time Challenge

 Here's a clean and simple birthday card I made for the current House Mouse Challenge where the optional theme is Party Time. 

I stamped the sentiments and the image onto an A2 kraft card base and then colored the stamped image with colored pencils. I like the look of colored pencils on kraft paper. I don't do too many CAS style cards, but I like the way this one turned out and plan to use it for a masculine birthday as I often have trouble with those. Most of my birthday cards tend to be more floral and feminine. 

Challenges I'm entering:

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge (housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com): ATG with a House Mouse image with the optional theme of Party Time (ends 1/6/23)

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: Party Time (1/5; ends 1/3/23)

The Paper Funday Challenges: Birthday or anniversary (ends at the end of the month)

Altenew Bewitching Rose Birthday Card

I recently purchased Altenew's Bewitching Rose Craft Your Life set (embossing folder, stamp set, stencil set, and coordinating die), and it's so fun to have a floral set that has so many parts that all coordinate so beautifully! 

For this card, I followed Altenew's October challenge theme of red, orange, and pink and used a woodgrain card stock as the background to follow the photo on their challenge board from that month. This month's challenge is to use one of their previous challenges this year as inspiration. 

To create the focal point, I used the 3D embossing folder on white card stock to emboss the floral grouping. Then I used the 4 coordinating stencils to color everything. Finally, I ran it through my die cutter with the coordinating die.

I stamped "Happy Birthday" was a stamp from the same set and then used my paper trimmer to cut it to the size I wanted it. I adhered the florals and the sentiment to the top-folding 6X6 card base I had created. 

 Challenges I'm entering:

Ultimate Inspiration Challenge: Altenew Year in Review 2023: Inspiration Challenge from any of this year's previous challenges.

I chose the October challenge:

The Diva's that cut ....paper! (die-cut-divas.blogspot.com): Flowers (1/4; ends at the end of the month)

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge:ATG with flowers as the focal point (1/6; ends 1/15/23)

Crazy is our fame - STENCILS are our game! (stencilfun.blogspot.com): ATG with stencils with an option of Christmas (1/3; ends at the end of the month)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (3/5 for the week; 3/10 for the challenge)

****Pammie's Inky Pinkies**** **********Challenges********** (pammiesinkypinkieschallenges.blogspot.com): ATG (1/3; ends 12/24/23) C10

Doodle Challenge (rabiscochallenge.blogspot.com): ATG (3/5; ends at the end of the month)

Christmas Tree Tag

This is another tag I made during a recent craft session with my oldest daughter, 2 of my nieces, and my sister-in-law. I sure hope we make it an annual tradition to make Christmas projects together in early December because it was so much fun to be creative together!

This tag is similar to the last one I posted in that it has the same base of two tags die cut from a Tonic Studios tag die I won in the Word Art Wednesday blog hop last December. You can enter the current Word Art Wednesday blog hop here: Word Art Wednesday: Anything Goes - Annual BLOG HOP. As in the previous tag, I embossed the red side with Altenew's Perfect Poinsettia's 3D embossing folder. 

For the front of the tag, I used a Christmas tree I die cut from another Tonic Studios die and adhered some pretty sequins as ornaments. Then I used a metallic gold star for the top of the tree and cut the "Very merry" sentiment from some Christmas card stock. 

The back of the tag features a joke from Sarah Edwards from Craft with Sarah that she included in her Christmas Craft Countdown. It's so perfect for my husband because his favorite hymn of all time is "Silent Night." 

To finish the tag, I added some white and gold twine to the top. 

Challenges I'm entering: 

 Word Art Wednesday: ATG (2/5 for the week; 2/10 for the challenge; ends 1/3/23)

As You Like It Challenge: ATG (2/3; ends 12/27/23)

Creative Knockouts: Time to be Merry (2/3; ends 1/3/23) C10

Creative Inspiration Challenges: ATG (2/2; ends 12/28/23)

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge (trimmiescraftchallenge.blogspot.com): Christmas: The Last Stretch (my tag fits the theme as tags are part of the final preparations for Christmas when gifts have already been bought and just need to be wrapped and tagged) (2/2; ends 1/3/23)

Most Magical Time of the Year!: ATG Christmas or Halloween (2/5; ends at the end of the month)

Gem of A Craft Challenge (pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.com): ATG (2/3; ends 12/22/23)

Rabisco Challenge: ATG (2/5; ends at the end of the month)

Polkadoodles Cardmaking, Craft & Scrapbooking Challenge: ATG (2/2; ends 1/5/23)

Double Trouble Paper Crafting (doubletroublechallenge.blogspot.com): Thing 1: die cut (tag shape and Christmas tree) Thing 3: Twine (2/4; ends 12/31/23)

No more challenges. 

Washi Tape Christmas Tag

One of the projects for a recent craft session with my oldest daughter, 2 of my nieces, and my sister-in-law was to create some tags, and I die cut the bases using a tag die from Tonic Studios that I won in the Word Art Wednesday blog hop last December. You can enter the current Word Art Wednesday blog hop here: Word Art Wednesday: Anything Goes - Annual BLOG HOP. It's a handy die, and in this case, I used it to cut the front of the tag out of white card stock and the back of the tag out of red card stock. Then I used Altenew's Perfect Poinsettias 3D Embossing Folder to emboss the red side of each tag. I glued the red embossed tags to the white tags and then let everyone choose their own embellishments to finish their tags. I have a metallic gold pen a lot of us used to add some color to the embossed poinsettias, and then I used three washi tapes, some 3D glitter acrylic trees, a silver die star I die cut from holographic paper, and a die cut heart to decorate the front of the tag I made for one of my daughter's gifts. For the back, I used the metallic gold pen to add some color to a cluster of berries and then adhered a 3D poinsettia to give it some dimension. I added some white and gold twine to the tag to finish it off. 

Front of the tag:

 

Back of the tag:

Challenges I'm entering: 
 

 Word Art Wednesday: ATG (1/5 for the week; 1/10 for the challenge; ends 1/3/23)

As You Like It Challenge: ATG (1/3; ends 12/27/23)

Creative Knockouts: Time to be Merry (1/3; ends 1/3/23) C10

Creative Inspiration Challenges: ATG (1/2; ends 12/28/23)

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge (trimmiescraftchallenge.blogspot.com): Christmas: The Last Stretch (my tag fits the theme as tags are part of the final preparations for Christmas when gifts have already been bought and just need to be wrapped and tagged) (1/2; ends 1/3/23)

Most Magical Time of the Year!: ATG Christmas or Halloween (1/5; ends at the end of the month)

Gem of A Craft Challenge (pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.com): ATG (1/3; ends 12/22/23)

Snippets Playground (pixiessnippetsplayground.blogspot.com): ATG with snippets (the red tag and the heart were both die cut from snippets of red from my scrap card stock (1/1; ends 12/23/23)

Polkadoodles Cardmaking, Craft & Scrapbooking Challenge: ATG (1/2; ends 1/5/23)

Double Trouble Paper Crafting (doubletroublechallenge.blogspot.com): Thing 1: die cut (tag shape and Christmas tree) Thing 3: Twine and washi tape (3/4; ends 12/31/23)

No more challenges. 

Mushroom Fun Fold Card

It's time for a new challenge over at Creative Creases, and I'm thrilled to be a guest designer again for Challenge #72. You can join the fun with any fun fold project here: https://wp.me/p4bS0N-bnu.  Debbie Mageed supplied me with the cute little tear off monthly calendar from Taylored Expressions for this challenge (thanks, Debbie!), and I wanted to use it to create a card for my youngest daughter who is a Navy "nuke" in San Diego. We miss her so much every single day!

I have recently been seeing a lot of puns with a mushroom theme, so when I saw a Bo Bunny mushroom stamp set at Hobby Lobby, I bought it and paired it with a 12X12 sheet of washi tape with a woodland/mushroom scene that has been in my stash for years. Then I chose a fun fold card base from the Silhouette Design Store that I've been wanting to try out for awhile now. I think it's so fun the way there are flip card panels on both sides of the card base! It's such a unique style!

I chose some dark brown card stock for the card base and then some cream-colored card stock for the panels I stamped with the Bo Bunny mushroom stamps. I also used cream card stock for the heart print and cut layers.  I designed the print and cut sentiments with Alitha Christmas and Black Hulk fonts. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the base and layers (including the washi tape sheet that came with a backer sheet) and then adhered the washi tape to a layer of cream card stock to give it more stability. After adhering the layers, I die cut some mushroom bases and caps using SU!'s retired Tree Ring dies set and then colored the mushroom caps with my Ohuhu alcohol ink markers to match the colors in the washi tape. 

The sentiments are: "Every day of the year, there's so mushroom in our hearts for you" and "we love and miss you so mush!" I divided the sentiments to fit onto 3 of the hearts and then added 3 die cut and colored mushrooms to the 4th heart. I also added 4 die cut and colored mushrooms to two of the inner panels. Then I created a mushroom border for the middle of the card by stamping seven of the mushrooms from the Bo Bunny set and fussy cutting them. I adhered them to a brown panel and used foam tape to give the panel and mushrooms some dimension. I added the calendar to the middle panel above the mushroom border.

I had both sets of grandparents, my husband, my other kids, my sister-in-law and 2 of my nieces join me in writing a little message and along with our signatures on the back of the card to let my daughter know how special she is to all of us. Then I let my other daughter jot a note about her birthday in January on the tear-off calendar before I went through the calendar and marked other dates when there are family birthdays and trips to see our sailor. My hope is that this card will lift her spirits and convey the love and support she has back home.

Stretched out all the way:

Close ups:

A look at the back before everyone signed it:

After we signed it:

Close ups of the back panels:

It folds flat for mailing:

A few more views:

Challenges I'm entering:

613 Avenue Create (avenue613.blogspot.com):ATG with option of winter holiday (1/8; ends at the end of the month) Top Rocker Dec. 3-9

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge ...: ATG (1/3; ends 12/16/23)

We Love to Create mixed media Challenge Blog...sponsored by Polkadoodles (welove2create.blogspot.com): Anything creative goes (ends 1/9/23)

A Place To Start (hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com): ATG with twist of "new" (I used a new stamp set) (ends at the end of the month)

Double Trouble Paper Crafting (doubletroublechallenge.blogspot.com): Thing 1: die cuts (I have die cut mushrooms) Thing 2: I used washi tape sheets for the mushroom pattern pieces and the polka dot pattern pieces (ends at the end of the month)

Digi Choosday Cardmaking & Crafting Challenge: ATG (1/2; ends 12/11/23)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (ends 12/20/23)

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: Use craft dies (ends 12/13/23)

Crafty Gals Corner (craftygalscornerchallenges.blogspot.com): Dots and/or stripes (I have polka dot washi tape on several panels of the card) (ends 12/12/23)

Creative Inspiration Challenges: ATG (ends at the end of the month)

Doodle Challenge (rabiscochallenge.blogspot.com): ATG (ends at the end of the month)

A Perfect Time To Craft Open Challenge: ATG (ends at the end of the month) DT Favorite 1/28/24

Classic Design Challenge Blog: ATG (ends 12/10/23) Special Mention Winner 12/14/23

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge Blog (cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.com): ATG (ends at the end of the month) DT Favorite 1/1/24