All Occasion Card | Hero Arts - MMH Kit December 2018

Hello!

I would like to share a card using the great images from the Hero Arts MMH December 2018 Kit. I needed to find something to work for my entry in the Color Throwdown Challenge #535 and these dandelions and lady bug fit the bill perfectly - red, yellow, soft green and white!

CTD535

Sometimes when I don’t have a clear plan for my layout, I will quickly stamp/die cut the main images and play with the placement until things come together. When I tried to make the dandelion bunch fill the bottom of the left corner, the stems weren’t long enough and the small leaves that came with the set weren’t quite large enough in proportion for the space. To lengthen the stems, I put all of the images into the MISTI side-by-side and then inked the images from the top down, leaving the very bottom of the stems uninked. This allowed me to extend the watercolor by about 2”and I finished the stems by drawing the outline with a fine-tip, permanent black marker. I die cut the images in a similar way by cutting within a 1/2" of the original stem base and finishing the rest by fussy cutting.

In addition, I drew some larger leaves with the permanent black marker (in the same style as the rest of the images) onto 100# white card stock, watercolored and fussy cut them. They blend with the other leaves perfectly! In fact, they really resemble the dandelions that are currently sprouting in my front yard!

A 4.25” x 5.5” piece of Lawn Fawn's "Daisy" Gotta Have Gingham Paper was glued onto the front of an A-2 top-folding card base. I die cut the rectangular frame twice from white card stock, glued it together and then die cut it again using MFT’s Stitched Oval STAX Die-Namics. I wanted the frame to create a window for the dandelion bunch and so I adhered a piece of craft foam to the back. I glued and/or popped the stems and leaves onto the gingham background. The die cut frame was glued into place on the front with one of the large leaves extending forward through the opening. The ladybug die cut was glued into place and a heat-embossed, die cut sentiment strip was added to the front. I finished the card with a few sequins from the Lipstick Sequin Mix from Lucy's Little Things and a little Wink of Stella.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rachelle ♥

Birthday Card | Ellen Hutson / Julie Ebersole - Over It & Unicorns 'N Rainbows

Greetings from the land of unicorns and rainbows!

Truth be known, I’m not really a “pink-and-purple-unicorn” kinda gal, but I couldn’t pass up these sassy designs created by Julie Ebersole! Today I would like to share a card featuring the “Over It” and “Unicorns 'N Rainbows” stamp/die sets.

I had a vague idea of how I wanted this card to work and so I started by stamping, coloring and fussy-cutting out the rainbow from the “Over It” set. Once I figured out that my rainbow was going to start in green hills and end up in the clouds, I was able to begin on the background panel. I lightly blended Distress Oxide Inks to create the sky under my rainbow and finished up by extending it upwards into rays of sunshine using MFT’s “Radiating Rays” Stencil. The entire panel was spritzed with shimmer spray and flecked with opaque pearl and gold metallic watercolors; while the photos can't quite capture the effect, it’s really luminous and glowing!

I stamped, colored and die cut the other images and upped the shine quotient by applying a heavy coat of Wink of Stella! Multiple die cuts were stacked/glued under the colored images to give them some depth. I glued the rainbow onto the panel and arranged the other images into place so that I could determine the location for my sentiment, which I then stamped using the MISTI. The images were glued onto or popped off the panel using foam tape. I added just a bit more glimmer with a sprinkle of mini gold matte stars and sparkling sequins from Lucy’s Little Things.

The panel was then glued onto the front of a top-folding A-2 card front.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rachelle ♥

Birthday Card | Altenew - Peony Spray & MFT Stamps' - Geometric Stars Stencil

Hi!

Soon it will be time for the peonies to start blooming here in North Carolina! Yippee! And while I’ve never actually seen a blue peony, I would like to share one with you today.

I smooshed several colors of distressed oxide inks (Broken China, Blueprint Sketch, Twisted Citron) onto my Ranger Inkssentials Craft Sheet and sprayed it heavily with shimmer spray. I randomly tapped a piece of white card stock into the diluted inks several times, dabbed it with a paper towel and repeated the process until I had the color placement I wanted. I always slip the damp card stock pieces in between two clean sheets of paper and place a stack of books on top so that the paper will dry flat. Using the same inks, I blended a background onto a piece of 4.5” x 5.75” of white card stock and flecked it with metallic/pearlized watercolors. When it was dry, I die cut the rectangular frame and the inside sentiment (MFT Stamps' Scripty Birthday Wishes Die) from this blended background. The frame was glued onto a top-folding A-2 card base made from 110# Neenah Solar White Card Stock.

 

I then blended a distress oxide ink background onto white cardstock using MTF Stamps’ Geometric Stars Stencil. The background was sprayed multiple times with shimmer mist and flecked with the metallic watercolors. I cut a piece of this background 1 1/4” wide, trimmed it to fit into the frame and glued it into place along the left side.

Using the MISTI, I stamped the Altenew Peony Spray onto the inked background with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink and fussy cut the peony image. I stamped an additional spray into heavy card stock and fussy cut it on the inside lines so that it was smaller than the first image; this was glued onto the back of the first to provide stability. I placed the cut flower spray onto the card front just to determine the location for my sentiment and stamped it using the MISTI. I adhered the peony to the card with foam tape and finished the card front with iridescent jewels from Lucy’s Little Things.

I glued the die cut sentiment into place on the inside of the card, fussy cut another partial peony flower head and adhered it to the interior layout as well. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Rachelle ♥

Birthday Card | MFT Stamps - Captivating Mandala

Hey There!

I’m in ♥ LOVE ♥ with MFT’s wonderful stencils! They make it so easy to create a beautiful, simple card and the design options are endless!

This CAS birthday card features MFT’s “Captivating Mandala Stencil” and “Happy Birthday Script Die-namics”. I taped the stencil to the front of a top-folding A-2 card front (110# Neenah Classic Crest Solar White.) Several distress oxide inks were lightly blended over the stencil. After carefully removing the stencil, the card front was spritzed with shimmer spray, and flecked with a combination of diluted inks and metallic watercolors. My favorite metallic watercolors, which I highly recommend, are the Kuretake Gansai Tambi "Starry Colors" sets. They are vibrant, full of shine and give you a full range of colors to choose from.

I blended a panel (approx. 4” x 5”) with distress oxide inks (in a modified rainbow color progression), sprayed it with water, flecked it with the same metallic watercolors and die cut this panel with the Birthday Script. Because I wanted the die cut to have some dimension, I cut 2 additional scripts, glued/stacked them together beneath the inked layer. The script was adhered into place and the card was finished with a scattering of clear iridescent jewels from Lucy’s Little Things. The color palette on this card turned out beautifully – sometimes you struggle to make it work and other times it just falls into place!

Thanks for joining me today!

Rachelle ♥

Birthday Card | MFT Stamps - Puppy Kisses and Hello Bluebird - Pig Day

Happy Fri-Yay!

Who doesn't love a puppy flying on a birthday balloon? Today's card is a happy blend of MFT and Hello Bluebird products that fit together perfectly. 😉

Using the Gallery Frame #2 Die, I cut two frames each from navy and red card stock; these were glued/stacked together for added dimension. I blended soft clouds onto white card stock with Salty Ocean Distress Oxide Ink, spritzed the panel with shimmer spray and die cut it with the same frame die. All of the pieces were then glued into place on the front of a top-folding A-2 card base.

The other images (MFT's "Puppy Kisses" & Hello Bluebird's "Pig Day") were stamped, colored, die cut and finished off with a generous application of Wink of Stella (WOS). I glued/stacked multiples of the balloon images together to provide additional stability since they would be floating freely on the card front. These images were then adhered to the card front.

I created a template for the 3-D banner and hand-cut it from a piece of gold card stock. I applied WOS to the front, added a sentiment using the MISTI and then glued it into place. I ♥ love ♥ how this banner turned out! It folds perfectly flat when put into the envelope but because of the zig-zag folds, it pops right off of the card, creating wonderful dimension.

This card was submitted for the "Seize The Birthday" Anything Goes Challenge.

Have a great weekend!

Rachelle ♥

Birthday Card | Hello Bluebird - Pig Day

Hey!

Sharing this adorable party pals card with you today courtesy of Hello Bluebird’s “Pig Day” stamp/die set! This is such a fun, happy set and the critters are so well drawn – just like all of the Hello Bluebird images. 😊

I wanted this card to have several layers and I started by creating the party scene with MFT’s Stitched Dome STAX Die-namics. I taped the two largest dies together to form a frame and then ran it through my die cutting machine several times on both light yellow and white card stock. I glued/stacked 3 yellow frames together and set it aside. I then lightly blended the blue sky with distress oxide ink onto one of the white dome die cuts. On the second white dome, I blended greens at the bottom and die cut the grass border – I glued this down to the sky dome. The images were stamped, colored and die cut. I glued/stacked multiple die cuts together for the pig and balloons. I wanted the little peep to have her own party hat so I drew a teeny tiny one, colored/cut it and glued it to her head. The party hats were finished with tiny jewels for a bit of sparkle. Once my scene was arranged, I glued all of the pieces into place or popped them up with foam tape.

I didn’t have a plaid that really matched my color scheme for this card and so I created one in PowerPoint! It’s really easy to design your own plaids and here’s what mine looked like:

I adhered the printed plaid to the front of a 5.5” x 5.5” top-folding card front. I then lightly blended a blue sky onto a piece of white card stock measuring 3.75” x 5.5”, backed it with craft foam and glued it to the top of the card front. The sentiment was stamped using the MISTI and the dome scene was glued to the sky panel. The card was finished off with a generous application of Wink of Stella on all of the images. This card just makes me smile!

Thanks for stopping by!

Rachelle ♥

All Occasion Card | Lawn Fawn - i love you(calyptus)

Hi There!

Here with an all-Lawn Fawn card today! February was my birthday month and I took advantage of Lawn Fawn’s offer of the free “Party Koala” stamp-die set. I added the recent “i love you(calyptus)” set to the order so that I could double the “Koala” fun and these two adorable sets work perfectly with each other!

    

I stamped, colored and die cut the bear; adding some black glaze pen for his eyes/nose and a light touch of Wink of Stella. I knew that I wanted to create a small tree-climbing scene off the right edge of my top-folding A-2 card and so I die cut a circle from a piece of 4.25” x 5.5” white card stock to get started. I used the die cut shape as my guide and built the scene on top of it. I blended two grass backgrounds with distress oxide inks and die cut them using Lawn Fawn’s “Stitched Hillside Borders” and “Grassy Border” dies. I then cut the trees using the “Birch Trees” dies and shaded then with some oxide inks, too. I cut a piece of 'Elsie' blue gingham paper from Lawn Fawn’s “Gotta Have Gingham” petite paper pack for the sky and glued that onto the circle die cut. I then continued to arrange my scene within that shape. I made a couple of small slits on the bear’s arms so that I could position him hugging onto the tree and popped him off of the background with foam tape. I adhered this scene onto the card base and trimmed off the excess from the right side. I backed the die-cut piece of card stock with craft foam and attached it onto the card front overlapping the koala scene. I stamped/die cut the banner onto pink paper with the “Bannertastic” sets and then stamped the sentiment. I stacked/glued several banner die cuts together to give it stability and glued it into place on the front. I really like how it waves into the scene! I added a die cut heart and some pink bling from Lucy’s Little Things "True Love" Crystal Collection.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Rachelle ♥