Caged Florals

Good morning, folks!  I've created a summery country card to share with you today.  My card starts with a card base of 8.5" x 4.25" of Kraft cardstock, folded in half. I cut a smaller piece of polka dot paper from the funVintage Bliss 6x6 paper pad and adhered it to the card base. While I had this paper pad out, I fell in love with the floral text paper, so I cut a 3" square of that and matted it with a slightly larger Kraft cardstock base.

I thought it would be fun to ramp up the "country-ish-ness" of this by adding a panel of chicken wire over the floral paper, so I cut out theChicken Wire (Cheery Lynn Designs) from Kraft cardstock. To get this to look silver, I dabbed over the Chicken Wire die cut with the Brushed Pewter Distress Stain - it works GREAT for coloring delicate die cuts like this!

To age the silver chicken wire a bit, I ran a black ink pad over it - just randomly here and there. I wiped off some of the black ink with a tissue to distress it further - love that look. It's just a hint of black here and there so the silver really comes through.

Next, I cut a small piece of the polka dot paper and notched the ends with scissors. I added a little piece of a Mini Fanciful Flourish die cut (Cheery Lynn Designs) to the left side and glued a white button over that. The last thing I did was cut the Mini Butterfly (Cheery Lynn Designs) and affixed it to the button.

I love these papers! The butterfly and the chicken wire die cuts match perfectly with these papers for that sweet little country touch. :-)  As always, you can use this code, Holly-10, to save 10% off your orders at Classy Cards 'n Such.  You can order any of the above items that are underlined (click on them to go shopping) or anything else that catches your fancy in the shop.  I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Cheery Lynn Designs #91 - Hot Time in the Summer

Cardabilities #79 - sketch (just saw it's too late to enter as it closed yesterday, darn)

Crafting when we Can #49 - Floral

613 Avenue Create #30 - Anything Goes

Amusing Challenges - Anything Goes

Catered Crop - Summer Loving

Gold Poinsettia Christmas

Hi friends!  I'm still on a Christmas in July kick, and I've created this gold-themed Christmas card to share with you.  I was inspired to use gold because the challenge over on the Cheery Lynn Designs blog this week is to use Gold and/or Silver.

I've used a lot of products from Classy Cards 'n Such on this card so I will list them first and then go through the card-making process with you.

Poinsettia Strip die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Holly Lace Flourish die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Polynesian Sails Oval die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Polynesian Sails Oval Angel Wing die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Gold Leaf Curious Metallic cardstock
Christmas Sentiments stamp set (Impression Obsession)
Holiday Magic embossing folder (Spellbinders)
Holly Bright 6.5x6.5 paper pad

I started out by cutting the poinsettias from a dark red paper several times. I then stacked up different sizes and set a gold brad through the centers. To give these a bit more of a holiday flair, I rubbed some Platinum Stickles glitter glue around the edges with my finger. I set these aside to dry.

Next, I cut out the Polynesian Sails die from the Gold cardstock. I cut the matching Angel Wing from green plaid paper from the Holly Bright paper pad. I glued the gold die cut onto the green angel wing die cut and set these aside.

I stamped the sentiment onto vanilla cardstock and cut a notch out on the right side. While I had the vanilla cardstock out, I cut the Holly Lace Flourish several times.

I measured the oval dies to see what size my card base should be, and I ended up with a 9.5" x 6.25" vanilla card base, folded in half. The red layer is 1/4" smaller on all sides and the gold layer is 1/4" smaller than the red layer. I ran the gold layer (4.25" x 6") through the Holiday Magic embossing folder. This embossing folder is larger than regular embossing folders and it worked perfectly for this larger sized card.

Now, with the glitter glue dried on the poinsettias, I assembled my card. I glued the layers together for the card base, then I glued down the die cut oval piece. I affixed the three poinsettias to the left side of the oval and then arranged the sentiment so it would be visible above the flowers. Lastly, I had fun arranging the Holly Lace Flourish pieces all around the flowers until I got them the way I wanted them.

This card turned out so much better than I had "seen" it in my head. I love it! It's going to be hard to give this one away, but I think it would be just perfect for my grandparents. They are very special to me, and they deserve a special handmade card. :-)

You can use this code, Holly-10, to save 10% off your order at Classy Cards 'n Such.  You can order any of the above items I listed as well as many other dies, papers, embossing folders, and stamps.  You'll love shopping at Classy Cards 'n Such!  :-)   I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Cheery Lynn Designs #90 - Gold and/or Silver
Christmas Stampin #25 - Techniques (I used Dry Embossing)
Cut it Up #23 - Christmas in July
Fairy Tale #72 - Christmas in July
Robyn's Fetish #169 - Christmas in July
Sweet Stampin - Christmas in July

Apache Blessing

Hi again!  I'm back with another card using a Verses Rubber Stamp sentiment.  This time I've used the Apache Blessing stamp.  You'll find this one halfway down the page in the Quotables section at Verses Rubber Stamps.  I was inspired to stamp this on some soft yellow cardstock after reading the first verse with the sun.  I wanted to bring in some more sunny colors so I picked these papers with hints of yellow in them.

I hope you've enjoyed this card and it brings a little sun into your day!  :-)

Promise and Peace

Good morning, friends!  I hope you are doing well today.  I'm sharing another Verses Rubber Stamps card with you, and this one makes me sit down and go ahhhhhhhh.  The soft colors and that verse are made for each other.  This stamp is called Sunrise and Promise, and you'll find it about halfway down the page under the Miscellaneous section.  There are so many wonderful stamps in this section, I keep getting sidetracked looking at each one.  :-)

Enjoy your weekend and when you are watching the sunset tonight, I hope you remember this sentiment and find a little peace.  Hugs!

Santa Scene Christmas Card

Merry Christmas in July! I'm sharing this card that I created with the amazing new Cheery Lynn Designs dies that were just released a few days ago.

This card is so quick and easy - you could make 50 of these in just a few hours! It would take longer to address all your Christmas cards than it would take to make these cards. :-)

I started with Cryogen White Curious Metallic cardstock. This white cardstock has the most gorgeous shimmer which you can see in the close-up picture below. I cut one sheet in half to create my card base, and then I used the other half to cut the Santa's Sleigh and Reindeer Border (Cheery Lynn Designs) and the Winter Neighborhood Border (Cheery Lynn Designs). I then cut a smaller layer ofStardream Lapis Pearlized Metallic cardstock and adhered it to my shimmery white card base. This Lapis layer is a gorgeous shimmery dark blue color - check it out in the picture below.

After I cut the Winter Neighborhood Border, I carefully stamped the Merry Christmas sentiment (Christmas Sentiments from Impression Obsession) with dark blue ink below the houses and trees. This border actually cuts out a longer section, about 6 inches. I cut off about an inch on one side so it would fit onto my card. I then adhered this border to my shimmery blue cardstock and then I adhered the Santa border right above the houses.

Using this wonderful shimmery cardstock elevates this simple card to one that is special. There's no need for ribbons or other bulky embellishments that would make this harder to mail. This card can be mailed as is with just one stamp and the recipient will oooooh and aaaaah over this shimmery gorgeousness.

You can order these new dies as well as the stamps and the shimmery cardstocks from Classy Cards 'n Such.  Use this code, Holly-10, to save 10% off your entire order.  :-)  I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Cheery Lynn Designs #89 - Beautiful Borders

ABC Christmas Challenge - No Embellishments

Holly Jolly - Christmas Outdoors

Cuttin and Stampin #28 - Christmas in July

Stamp and Create - Christmas in July

Always Playing with Paper - Anything Goes Christmas Card

Handmade Paper and Friends

Have you ever tried using some handmade paper on your cards? That's what I've used in the background on this card today.  I created the handmade paper using the Handmade Paper technique from Technique Junkies (June/July 2013 issue) and I used the Flower Flourish embossing folder to give it some texture. I sponged on some bright and fun summer colors and set that aside. Some white cardstock was cut with the Vintage Labels Two dies set - I set aside the actual shape die cut and used the leftover negative piece. I sponged some yellow ink onto the white cardstock and then lightly sponged some brown ink around the inside edges.

Next, I cut some orange cardstock with the largest Vintage Labels Two die, sponged some brown ink around the inside and outside edges, and layered that over my yellow die cut piece. I created a shadowbox effect by adhering the handmade paper to the bottom of the two die cut pieces.

The sentiment, from the Floral Vintage Labels Two stamp set, was stamped with black ink onto white cardstock and then I cut this out with the smallest Vintage Labels Two die. I sponged some brown ink around the edges and then I used Joy Foam pads to adhere this in the middle of my "shadowbox" card.

To finish off this fun card, I die cut some Olive Branches (Cheery Lynn Designs) and adhered them to the bottom corners. The flower was created by cutting some brown cardstock with the fun Shasta Daisy Strip die (Cheery Lynn Designs) and stacking them together with a gold brad. I affixed this flower in the center of the two olive branches.

It was fun to work "backwards" instead of stacking up my layers on top of each other like I usually do. This shadowbox effect is a great way to show off special papers without them overpowering your cards. :-)  The products that I used are from Classy Cards 'n Such, and you can use this code, Holly-10, to save 10% off all your orders.  Pick up an embossing folder, some dies, some stamps, and many other crafting tools and save money!  :-)

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

ColourQ #197 - colors (I didn't want a black flower so I used brown, but the stamped sentiment is black)
Shopping Our Stash #109 - Summer Theme or Summer Colors
Crafter's Cafe #19 - Anything Goes
Inklings and Yarns - Inky Linky 22
Crafts and Me #138 - Anything Goes

You Make Life Sweet

Hi stampy friends!  The Color Throwdown is celebrating five years of color challenges over on their blog this week, and I just had to play along.  That's pretty impressive - FIVE years of color challenges!!!  Today's challenge is #250 - how cool is that??  

The colors they chose for this week are Kraft, Saffron, Melon Mambo, and Bermuda Bay.  I had the first three colors - no problem.  Bermuda Bay?  I knew I had it somewhere, so I had to hunt through my stash to find it.  Whew, I found it along with some other old retired SU papers, and I probably had a good 1/2 package of that color left to play with.

When deciding what to make with these colors, I looked at the inspiration photo several times.  I loved the popsicles/ice cream cones and how they were in diagonal rows.  I pulled out my Paper Smooches' Sugar Rush stamp set and stamped the popsicle over and over on all four colors.  I cut out the entire image on the kraft cardstock but I only cut out the popsicle part on the three other colors (no stick).  I turned the images over so you can't see the black lines and adhered the colored tops to the kraft popsicles.  That way I would have a yellow, pink, or blue popsicle with the kraft stick sticking out of the bottom.  :-)

Once I had a nice stash of popsicles, I arranged them on white cardstock and then glued them down when I got them the way I wanted them.  I stamped the sentiment (also from the Sugar Rush set) on kraft cardstock and popped it up with dimensionals on the lower half of the card.  The whole thing was glued to a Melon Mambo card base.  

There are a ton of prizes being given away with this Color Throwdown challenge.  Why don't you play along?  You could win something fabulous!  Have fun creating with these fun summertime colors!!

Shasta Daisy Banner Card

Remember the Brown Snowflake Christmas card I made the other day? The doily I used on that card was cut down to fit on the center panel, and I saved the other piece of that doily. Rather than throw it away, I fiddled around with this card and managed to fit that little piece of doily on here. :-)

See how I wiggled that scrap of doily underneath the flower? That just goes to show you - never throw anything away!! More times than not, you'll make something cute out of it. The products from Classy Cards 'n Such that I've used on this card are:

French Pastry Doily die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Shasta Daisy strip die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Kraft cardstock
French Country 6x6 paper pad
Vintage Bliss 6x6 paper pad

I found this kraft cardstock in my stash - it had already been stamped for another project and I never used it. It was just so perfect with these country papers that I decided to go ahead and layer my paper strips on this kraft card base. So I cut various papers from both of the 6x6 paper pads and used scissors to cut the v-notches at the bottom. I glued these down to my card base in a random pattern using the Banner Technique from Technique Junkies (Feb/March 2013 issue). The doily piece was glued right at the top of the paper strips. A small strip of brown cardstock was paper pierced and then a white gel pen was used to give the Faux Stitching look to the piece. I die cut the Shasta Daisy strip with dark orange cardstock and attached all the layers together with a vanilla brad. The petals were fluffed up and curled over using my fingers and then adhered to the top of the card.

I hope you've enjoyed my cute country card today! As always, you can use this code, Holly-10, to save 10% off your order at Classy Cards 'n Such.  Have a great week!

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Cheery Lynn Designs #88 - In Stitches (I used Faux Stitching)

Paula Holifield Crafts - Die-ing for It

C is for Challenge #1 - Flowers

Christmas in July - Brown Snowflake card

Hi friends!  Have you started on your Christmas cards yet?  This is my first one for the upcoming Christmas season - only a million more to go, right?  LOL

Let me tell you a little story about how I went about making this card.  Yesterday was the 4th of July, and I had zero thoughts of Christmas.  None, absolutely none whatsoever.  This morning, I checked out the challenge over on the Cheery Lynn Designs blog, and it is Christmas in July.  Hmmmmmm okay...... let's see what I can come up with.

Mind you, I was NOT in a Christmas frame of mind.  I just could not think of what I wanted to create.  So I looked around and saw this sketch on the Cardabilities blog.  Between the Christmas in July theme, the Cardabilities sketch, and my huge stash of cardmaking supplies from Classy Cards 'n Such, I came up with this.  The products from Classy Cards 'n Such (use code Holly-10 to save 10% off your order) that I used are:

Rejoice 6x6 paper pad
French Pastry Doily die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Lady Kate Edger die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Snowflake 5 die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Kraft paper
Christmas Sentiments (Impression Obsession) - looks like this one is sold out right now

I have to say, I really like this sketch!  It's more versatile than I thought - just replace the heart/snowflake with whatever you want and add a sentiment and you've got a personalized card for any occasion.  I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Cheery Lynn Designs #87 - Christmas in July

Cardabilities #78 - sketch

Simply Create Too #41 - Christmas in July

Paper Minutes #276 - Die Cuts

Watermelon Card

Hi friends! We're well into the summer season, and I know some of you have had some sweltering heat to deal with. Maybe this card will cool you off. Watermelon is such a summer staple, and yet, I'm allergic to it and I can't eat any. But I think I can handle this paper version without any problems. :-)

Did you know that the raindrops from the Clouds and Rain die (Cheery Lynn Designs) make perfect seeds??? That was my inspiration for creating this watermelon card. I kept looking at those raindrops, thinking they looked just like watermelon seeds! LOL

To create my watermelon shape, I used some giant oval dies (Grand Oval Nestabilities from Spellbinders) and cut the three colored shapes. I folded the green oval in half, cut down the white and red ovals slightly beyond the halfway point, and then glued them down.

I cut out a bunch of black "seeds" from the Clouds and Rain die and then I used the Silhouette Pickmeup tool to pick up each "seed" so I could add glue (Quickie Glue Pen) to the bottom and then press it into place on my card. I stamped the sentiment from Stampavie's With Love set above the seeds.

Every watermelon slice needs a bee, doesn't it? LOL I die cut the two bee pieces from the Tiny Things with Wings (Cheery Lynn Designs) set from yellow and black cardstocks. I then glued the black piece on top of the solid yellow piece using the Quickie Glue Pen. The completed bee was glued near the top of the card so it looks like it is in motion. To finish off my card, I touched off each seed with a white gel pen and I ran the edges of the green card base through a dark green ink pad.

I hope you've enjoyed this fun touch of summer! When you go shopping at Classy Cards 'n Such, you can use this code, Holly-10, to save 10% off your entire order.  It's always fun to save some money when you're shopping!  :-)  I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

ABC Challenges #35 - Anything Goes

Creative Creations #13 - No Squares or Rectangles

Creative Card Crew #39 - No Designer Paper

Songbird Challenge #23 - Strawberry Fields Forever