Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Garden Rose Sympathy Cards

Sadly I've been needing more sympathy cards than any other type of card lately. Thankfully I just purchased Altenew's Craft-A-Flower: Garden Rose die set and was able to put it to good use creating these two cards. 

I used pearlescent cream card stock for the flowers, vellum for the leaves, and black card stock for the flower centers. After die cutting and assembling the flowers, I chose how to place the vellum foliage for each card and added glue strategically so it wouldn't show once I adhered my flowers in place using foam tape. I heat embossed the "Heartfelt Sympathy" sentiment (from Altenew's Craft-Your-Life: Bewitching Rose set) and added that using foam tape, too. I feel like the one with the black card stock background is better for a sympathy card, and I think if I do the cream-on-cream colors again that I will use that for a wedding or anniversary card. Every card is a learning experience, isn't it? 





 Challenges I'm entering: 

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


Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: ATG with flowers as the focus (5/6; ends 9/12/24)

Spring Blossoms Embossing Folder Thank You Card

I needed a thank you card for a friend and thought I would use a watercolored and sprayed background I had made recently. I trimmed the panel to fit an A2 card base and then embossed it using Altenew's Spring Blossoms 3D embossing folder. I added some Catherine Pooler metallic ink to the raised parts of the embossed design to make them stand out a little more and then heat embossed the "thanks" sentiment from Altenew's Billowing Peonies set using Altenew's Rose Gold embossing powder. I have a lot of cardstock I've watercolored and sprayed in a rainbow of colors (it's just fun to play with paints and sprays!), and I don't always remember to get them out and use them for embossing. I tend to use them more to do die cutting, especially layering flower sets, but this is a good reminder of how they can be used to make a quick card. 




Challenges I'm entering:

 Can You Handle The Pressure? (cyhtp.blogspot.com): ATG with a twist of leaves (3/3; ends 9/11/24)

The Paper Funday Challenges: ATG with a twist of make your own background (2/6; ends at the end of the month)

 Word Art Wednesday: ATG (ends 9/11/24)

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: ATG with flowers as the focus (4/6; ends 9/12/24)

You Are in My Prayers Fall Card

I recently took an online class about making fall cards with Mary Polanco. She's a wonderful teacher, and I've enjoyed all the classes I've taken with her. 

For this card, the technique Mary taught was using the negative around a die cut leaf to create a stencil and then ink blending through the stencil. I used a few colors of distress inks for the leaf and then added some Nuvo drops to form the veins of the leaf. I stamped the "You are in my prayers" sentiment from a retired CTMH set and then fussy cut it. I splattered some of the distress inks over the card panel and then added a couple die cut leaves I had stamped with VersaMark and then heat embossed with Altenew's Rose Gold embossing powder. The leaf stamps and dies are from a retired SU! bundle called Love of Leaves.

To finish the card, I adhered the panel to a yellow A2 card base. 





 Challenges I'm entering:

TIME OUT Challenges: Friendship/encouragement/support (5/5; ends 9/11/24)

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: Stamp it! (1/5; ends 9/11/24)

simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge: Stamp it! (1/5; ends 9/16/24)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (ends 9/11/24)

The Paper Funday Challenges: Create Your Own Background (I used splatters to make my background) (1/4; ends at the end of the month)

No more challenges. 

Fall Brick Wall Card





This card was inspired by a Mary Polanco class I recently took that had a fall theme. The technique she shared for this card was a spotlight technique that creates a bit of a glow by using 3 shades of distress inks through a stencil and leaving the diagonal middle section of the card blank. I started by doing the stenciling and then adding a bit of splatter with my Altenew watercolor brush markers to the center strip where I didn't do any stenciling. Then I ink blended some leaves I had die cut from a retired SU! bundle called Love of Leaves. I added the leaves to the card panel and then stamped "I'm praying for you" using an Our Daily Bread rubber stamp. 



 Challenges I'm entering:


TIME OUT Challenges: Friendship/encouragement/support (2/5; ends 9/12/24) C5

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: Stamp it! (4/5; ends 9/11/24)

simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge: Stamp it! (4/5; ends 9/16/24)


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

No more challenges. 

Love of Leaves Stenciled Card



The inspiration for this card comes from an online class led by Mary Polanco with the theme of fall cards. She had a great idea of using 3 different colors of distress inks through a stencil, and I love how that looks. I used a Tim Holtz stencil and only inked up the left diagonal portion of the card panel. Then I added some leaves I had die cut from the retired SU! bundle Love of Leaves. I did some ink blending on the die cut leaves before adhering them to the card panel on the diagonal. I love the way they have stitched veins on the leaf die cuts! I used my Altenew watercolor brush markers to add some splatters to the panel and then stamped the "I'm praying for you" sentiment from an Our Daily Bread stamp set onto some cardstock I had sprayed with Hero Arts Bright Yellow + Copper Metallic Spray. Then I adhered that to the upper right side of the card. 



 Challenges I'm entering:


TIME OUT Challenges: Friendship/encouragement/support (3/5; ends 9/12/24) C5

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: Stamp it! (3/5; ends 9/11/24)

simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge: Stamp it! (3/5; ends 9/16/24)

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

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (ends 9/11/24)

No more challenges. 

Psalm 91 Feather Card

I recently purchased Altenew's Dreamy Feather layering die set, and I wanted to pair it with my stamp of Psalm 91:4: "He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge" to create a set of praying for you themed cards. I feel like that verse is such an encouragement! God truly is our refuge. 

To create this set of cards, I started with burgundy 5X7 cards bases and cut some feather-themed pattern paper down to 2 3/4 inches by 4 1/4 inches and adhered that piece to the top right of the card base. Then I stamped the verse on cardstock that I trimmed to 2 3/4 inches by 2 inches. 

For the layering die, I die cut the 4 layers using various snippets of cardstock I had in my scrap collection. I chose papers I thought matched the colors in the feather-themed pattern paper and the card base. I made a total of 15 cards, and each one is a little different based on the scraps I used. The first one I made used black for the top layer of the die set, but then I decided to use my gold mirror card stock for the top and bottom layers. I like the shine it adds to the cards. On my prototype card, I also used foam tape to give the feather more dimension, but for the others, I just adhered the feathers using liquid glue. They are already several layers thick, and this will make them easier to mail. 

I have found that I really love assembling layering die sets, so this was relaxing rather than tedious for me. I found that using my precision tip liquid glue bottle was easier than putting double sided adhesive sheets behind the cardstock and then fighting with all those sticky bits that needed to come out of the frame (at least for the top outline layer). 

For the inside sentiment, I used stamps from Altenew's Craft-Your-Life: Casual Bouquets set. 







Here's a look at the prototype card with the black outline layer 
and the feather adhered with foam tape:









All 15 cards:


 Challenges I'm entering: 

TIME OUT Challenges: Friendship/encouragement/support (4/5; ends 9/12/24) C5


simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: Stamp it! (2/5; ends 9/11/24)

simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge: Stamp it! (2/5; ends 9/16/24)

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

No more challenges. 

Chestnut Tree Sympathy Cards

I needed a couple sympathy cards and turned to Altenew's Rolling Hills 3D embossing folder paired with Altenew's Chestnut Tree Layering Die Set. I used some watercolor papers that I had water colored and used different green sprays on to die cut the foliage parts of the trees. I used brown card stock for the tree trunks. 

To create the cards, I first embossed 2 white A2 card panels using the Rolling Hills EF. Then I die cut the tree elements from the Chestnut Tree set and adhered them together using the layering guide. Finally, I stamped "Heartfelt sympathy" using a stamp from Altenew's Craft-Your-Life: Bewitching Rose set. Then I adhered the panels onto white A2 card bases. 










 Challenges I'm entering:

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: Stamp it! (5/5; ends 9/11/24)

simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge: Stamp it! (5/5; ends 9/16/24)


TIME OUT Challenges: Friendship/encouragement/support (1/5; ends 9/12/24) C5


No more challenges. 

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Psalm 63:7 Bird Card

I recently ordered Altenew's Bird of the Mountain layering die set, and I decided to use Altenew's monthly challenge colors to create the bird. I used some pink cardstocks that I did some ink blending on using Altenew's Dried Petals ink family. 

For the background, I did some ink smooshing and then embossed the panel with Altenew's Garden Harmony 3D embossing folder. I then stamped the verse onto coordinating pink cardstock I had done a little ink blending on. I popped up the sentiment and the sweet little bird using foam tape. 






 

Challenges I'm entering:

August 2024 Inspiration Challenge (altenew.com)


Word Art Wednesday: ATG (3/10; ends 9/12/24)

The Paper Funday Challenges: ATG with the optional twist of Summer Vacation (4/4; ends at the end of the month)


Crafty Gals Corner (craftygalscornerchallenges.blogspot.com): ATG with twist of use an embossing folder (3/3; ends 9/9/24)

A Place To Start (hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com): ATG with optional twist of diamonds, gold, and pearls (ends at the end of the month) Rising Star Top Pick For the Week 4 of August



Can You Handle The Pressure? (cyhtp.blogspot.com): ATG with a twist of leaves (2/3; ends 9/11/24)

Allsorts challenge blog: Add a sentiment or ATG (1/3; ends 9/6/24)

No more challenges. 

Friday, August 30, 2024

Hope in the Lord Fun Fold for Creative Creases #90

It's time for a new challenge on the Creative Creases Challenge blog, and I'm honored to be a guest designer again. Hope you can join us with your fun fold projects! Here's the link: https://wp.me/p4bS0N-bWp

For my fun fold card today, I wanted to do another card for my youngest daughter who is currently deployed in the Middle East. I like to include special cards in all the packages I send her. So far I've sent 8 packages and am working on package number 9 this week. 

For the card design, I followed the instructions from an Altenew YouTube short here: Part 2 of unique card folds you can try! (youtube.com). I used Altenew's Craft-A-Flower: Butterfly Bush layering die set for the front of the card. I die cut the layers out of some watercolor papers I had colored with sprays and watercolors. Then I die cut the layers a second time out of pink fun foam and adhered everything together. I die cut a stem using some watercolor cardstock I had watercolored with distress inks. 

The verse on the front of the card comes from Word Art Wednesday here: Word Art Wednesday: Anything Goes - Weeks #655-656. I imported it to my Silhouette Design Studio software, sized it up, changed the color to pink, and did a print and cut of it. 

For the inside of the card, I did some tone-on-tone stamping using SU!'s retired Butterfly Brilliance stamp on a die cut panel. Butterfly Brilliance is my favorite butterfly-themed stamp and die set, and I use it frequently! Once I had stamped the background onto the panel, I added the "love and hugs" sentiment from Altenew's Craft-Your-Life: Always Sunshine set and adhered the panel to the inside of the card, taking card to line it up inside the framed area. I added a few pink translucent drops to embellish the panel. 

For the back of the card, I added a blue die cut rectangle and then die cut a yellow rectangle that I stamped the Butterfly Brilliance background onto using tone-on-tone stamping again. Then I die cut a small square and stamped the "You are cherished" sentiment from Altenew's Bold Bouquet. 

I want to add a link to my friend Debbie Mageed's list of retired Stampin' Up products here, too. Take a look because she's offering great deals on lovely bundles: My 2024 Secret Sale - Google Docs




Side view:


Back of the card:


Top view:


Inside the card:


Challenges I'm entering: 

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (2/10; ends 9/12/24)

The Paper Funday Challenges: ATG with the optional twist of Summer Vacation (3/4; ends at the end of the month)


Crafty Gals Corner (craftygalscornerchallenges.blogspot.com): ATG with twist of use an embossing folder (2/3; ends 9/9/24)


A Place To Start (hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com): ATG with optional twist of diamonds, gold, and pearls (ends at the end of the month)



Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: ATG with flowers as the focus (3/6; ends 9/12/24)

613 Avenue Create (avenue613.blogspot.com): ATG with a twist of easy living (ends at the end of the month)

No more challenges. 


 

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Birthday Fishes Card

I recently purchased Altenew's Mighty Waves 3D embossing folder and thought I would try it out on a birthday card for a friend. I used some watercolor paper I had sprayed with Lindy's Magicals Starburst Spray in Tibetan Poppy Teal to emboss the waves. Then I went over the raised parts of the design with a small blue ink pad to add some definition to the waves. I really like how they look! 

I trimmed the panel to 4 1/8 by 5 3/8 and popped it up on a blue A2 card base using foam tape. I then stamped the "Hoping all your birthday fishes come true" sentiment and the whale stamp from SU!'s retired "Whale Done" set using Simon Hurley's Clear Skies ink. I have the coordinating punch for the whale, so I punched him out and added him and the sentiment to the card using foam tape. 






Challenges I'm entering: 

{Cupcake Inspirations}: Happy Birthday (1/4; ends at the end of the month) 



Word Art Wednesday: ATG (1/10; ends 9/12/24)

The Paper Funday Challenges: ATG with the optional twist of Summer Vacation (2/4; ends at the end of the month)


Crafty Gals Corner (craftygalscornerchallenges.blogspot.com): ATG with twist of use an embossing folder (1/3; ends 9/9/24)


A Place To Start (hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com): ATG with optional twist of diamonds, gold, and pearls (ends at the end of the month) Rising Star Top Pick For the Week 4 of August




No more challenges. 

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Colossians Verses Flourishing Garden Cards

I needed a couple cards for my 2 friends who co-led a Bible study on Colossians this summer. I really enjoyed our time of worship music, fellowship, and Bible study and am so grateful they took the time to coordinate and teach the study. 

For the two cards I made, I decided to use a set I've been playing with recently from Altenew. It's their Craft-Your-Life: Flourishing Garden set, and the floral stamp is large enough to wrap around a mini slimline card to decorate the back as well as the front. There's a coordinating die for this set, and I die cut it twice. Then I stamped the floral focal point in black pigment ink and embossed it with clear powder for the first card and then stamped the image in dark pink dye ink for the second card. Then I used the coordinating stencils in the set to color the flowers and leaves on both die cuts. For the first card, I decided to use a black background on a blue card base, and I took a black Ohuhu alcohol ink marker and colored in the white edge all around the die cut image. This took longer than I had thought it would, but I do like the look. For the second card, I chose a light purple background on a pink card base and left the white edge around the floral focal point. 

For the first card, I chose scripture word art of Colossians 3:12 because the friend who taught on that passage did such a wonderful job explaining about the imagery of "bowels" in Greek and how that was like what we would call the "heart" in our culture. We all had a laugh about that terminology, so when I saw that Word Art Wednesday had done a beautiful word art of that verse, I knew I had to use it for Kelly's card! If you'd like the free word art, here's the link:  Word Art Wednesday: Anything Goes - Weeks #653-654. The verse reads: Put on therefore, as the elect of God, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering. I added a few gold sequins for a little shine. 

For the second card, I decided to put the "thank you" on the front and a different verse on the inside (one that Heather had taught on), and I stamped the sentiment (from Altenew's Build-A-Garden: Grand Carnations) in VersaMark embossing ink and heat embossed it with Altenew's Rose Gold embossing powder. I die cut it with the coordinating die and then die cut the same die using pink fun foam and adhered the sentiment to the foam for dimension. 

For the inside of the first card, I stamped the floral image again onto pink cardstock using black ink on one side of the card and then stamped the "thank you" sentiment onto pink cardstock for the other side. 

For the inside of the second card. I used free word art of Colossians 2:6-7 found here: The beautiful word art of Colossians 2: 6-7 is free at this website: 4 Free Scripture Cards - Mommin' From Scratch (momminfromscratch.com). After sizing the free file up in my Silhouette Design Studio software, I did a print and cut of it on white cardstock. The verse reads: As you therefore received Christ Jesus, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. I added the verse to a panel of gold cardstock I had embossed with the 3D embossing folder that comes in the Flourishing Garden set and adhered that to the left side of the inside of the card. I then used the same embossing folder to emboss a piece of white cardstock and adhered that to the right side of the card. 


Card #1 view of the front and back:


Card #1 inside view:


Card #2 view of the front and back:


Card #2 inside view:


Close up of the sentiment:



Challenges I'm entering: 

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: ATG with flowers as the focus (2/6; ends 9/12/24)

613 Avenue Create (avenue613.blogspot.com): Easy living or ATG (ends at the end of the month)

Stamping Sensations: Summer in the Garden (3/3; ends at the end of the month)

We Love Stamping: Focal sentiment or quote or ATG (3/3; ends at the end of the month) Top 3 Pick for August

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: Add a sentiment (3/5; ends 8/21/24)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (3/10; ends 8/28/24)

A Place To Start (hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com): Diamonds, gold and/or pearls or ATG (I used gold sequins on the first card and gold emobssing on the thank you sentiment on the second card) (ends at the end of the month)

simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/: Sparkle and Shine (I used gold sequins on the first card and gold embossing powder on the sentiment of the second card) (4/5; ends 8/19/24)

Triple B (dd-tripleb.blogspot.com): ATG with birds, blooms and/or butterflies (ends at the end of the month)

fourseasons (thefourseasonschallenge.blogspot.com): Summer (ends at the end of the month)

Gem of A Craft Challenge (pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.com): ATG (ends 8/23/24)

Allsorts challenge blog: Summer Days or ATG (3/3; ends 8/23/24)

Polkadoodles Cardmaking, Craft & Scrapbooking Challenge: ATG (8/24/24)

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge ...: ATG (1/3; ends 8/25/24)





 

Friday, August 16, 2024

Pop-Up Panel Card for Creative Creases #89

It's time for the start of a new challenge over at the Creative Creases Challenge blog! Hooray! Hope you can join in with a fun-fold project! Here's the link to share your projects with us: https://wp.me/p4bS0N-bUJ

The idea for my Guest Design card this time came from Iced Images in a video here: ðŸ”´ 5" x 7" Gatefold Pop-Up Panel Card | Livestream (youtube.com). I love to try new folds, and this pop-up panel card was a fun project! It's actually quite simple to make, and I plan to create a cut file in my Silhouette Design Studio software so I can make multiples for the group of homebound members of my church I send cards to regularly. I think they would enjoy the surprise inside, and this design can be used with any theme.

I chose a fall theme because I'm going to include this card in my next package to my daughter who is currently deployed on an aircraft carrier. It generally takes about a month for a package to make it to her, so it will be fall by the time she receives the package I plan to send next week. I've been busy making and freeze-drying meals for her so she can have some homecooked meals and healthy snacks while deployed, and I have sent out 5 packages already even though she's only been gone a month😂! I know the other moms out there understand! There's not a lot I can do for her while she's away, but I can pray for her, email her every morning with news of what's happening back home, and cook for her now that we have a freeze dryer. 

After watching the video on how to make this card, I chose some fall-themed papers and coordinating cardstock and got busy with my paper trimmer. This card is quite easy really, it just looks hard because of all the layers/pop-ups, but it's really just about trimming the papers to the correct size and knowing where to put the glue! I followed along with the assembly part of the video for all the layers that just had pattern papers, and then I did some stamping for the side and front layers. I used a few different retired SU! sets: Gathered Wheat, Fond of Autumn, and Autumn Goodness. I also added a sparkly burgundy bow using some metallic thread and adhered 3 gold Open Leaf Trinkets (also from SU!) to finish the card. The double-sided paper I used for the card base has great designs on both sides, so I didn't add anything to the front gatefold sections or the back. The brown side that is on the inside of the card actually has the words: grateful, thankful, blessed printed in tiny script. I have added a close up of the text in my photos of the card. I'm going to include a notecard with my message for my daughter, but in the video I watched, Louise added a white card layer for the sentiment to the back of the card she made. 


Here's a look at the card when fully open:

When the card is closed:

When the card is partially open:


Side view: 


Back of the card:


A look at the pattern paper with the "thankful, grateful, blessed" pattern:


The "Golden leaves, chilly air, autumn beauty everywhere" sentiment and haystack image are from SU!'s Autumn Goodness, and I used a stamp from SU!'s Gathered Wheat set to create some texture by stamping the little spots using a tone-on-tone look:


"Thankful for you" sentiment from SU!'s Autumn Goodness and wheat stalk from SU!'s Gathered Wheat: 


"All good things come from above" sentiment from SU!'s Autumn Goodness. The acorn and leaf I stamped behind the sentiment are from SU!'s Fond of Autumn: 


The pop-ups fold up to flatten the card for mailing:


Challenges I'm entering: 

Double D Challenges (daranddiane.blogspot.com): Fall Harvest (ends 8/18/24)

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: Add a sentiment (1/5; ends 8/21/24)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (1/10; ends 8/28/24)

Digi Choosday Cardmaking & Crafting Challenge: ATG (1/2; ends 8/21/24)

Retro rubber challenge blog: Tic Tac Toe:  last column vertically: Pattern paper, ribbon, and your choice. The stamps I used are: SU! Autumn Goodness (2020), SU! Fond of Autumn (2022) and a rubber stamp from SU!'s Gathered Wheat (2022)


A Place To Start (hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com): Diamonds, gold and/or pearls or ATG (I used gold leaf trinkets) (ends at the end of the month)

****Pammie's Inky Pinkies**** **********Challenges********** (pammiesinkypinkieschallenges.blogspot.com): ATG (1/3; ends 8/19/24) C10

simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/: Sparkle and Shine (I used metallic ribbon and gold leaf trinkets) (2/5; ends 19/24)

Inspiration Station (inspirationstationchallenge.blogspot.com): Photo inspiration (My card has some pattern paper in the front that has apples on it like the apples in the photo) (1/8; ends at the end of the month)


613 Avenue Create (avenue613.blogspot.com): ATG or twist of Easy Living (ends at the end of the month) Top Rocker August 11-17, 2024

No more challenges.