Thank You Card | Pink & Main - "Sunny Greetings"

Hello!

It's mid-July here in Raleigh, NC and that means that the gorgeous fields of giant sunflowers are about to be in full bloom! There are acres and acres full of these sunny faces each summer and thousands of people flock to the parks to take the perfect selfie!

My card today features the "Sunny Greetings" Stamp Set and I painted the large floral cluster with the no-line watercolor technique and fussy cut the image. The quick video above shows a bit of this watercoloring! I ink blended a panel with "Mowed Lawn" Distress Oxide Ink using the "Deco Stencil" and trimmed it down to 3.5" x 5". 

The panel was backed with craft foam and attached to an A2 card front. The fussy cut bouquet was attached on top with foam tape and I added green rhinestones to the stencil pattern. After inking up a small panel with the same ink, I die cut the word "thanks" (from the "Wreath Base 2" Die Set) and glued it onto the card front to finish up the design!

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - The Lazy Days of Summer 

Craft Rocket #83 - Summer

A Bit More Time To Craft #142 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations #423 - Anything Goes 

Creative Moments #218 - Anything Goes 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Hello Sunshine

Thanks so much for joining me and have a wonderful day!

Take care - Rachelle ♥

Thank You Card | Altenew - Needlework Motif

Happy New Year!

Thanks so much for stopping by for my first project of 2020! I am starting out with a "Thank You" Card that I created with a "new-to-me" stamp set from Altenew - "Needlework Motif". This set has been on my wish list for a long time and when it was recently on sale, I snatched it up! It reminds me of the Jacobean designs I used to create for wallpaper collections and I always loved drawing these very detailed, historic patterns.

I stenciled the background with Distress Oxide Ink in Antique Linen, spritzed it with shimmer mist and spattered the panel with metallic watercolors. After the panel was dry, it was die cut and set aside. I stamped one of the floral needlework sprays with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink, watercolored it in a warm jewel-tone palette and die cut it with the companion die. I die cut a second spray and glued/stacked it to the colored piece to give it some dimension/stability. Using the same watercolors, I painted a 1/2" navy strip along the outside edge of an A2-sized white card stock panel and then die cut it with a stitched rectangle die; this was adhered to the front of an A2 top-folding card base. I really like the detail that the little stitched edge gives next to the smaller dotted panel. The stenciled panel and needlework spray were also glued into place on the card front.

I die cut the Hello Bluebird word sentiment 5 times from white card stock and glued/stacked them together. Once dry, I painted the die cut with copper metallic paint and glued it into place. I added a touch of the same copper paint to the needlework design because I wanted it to reflect the same color I used for the die cut word sentiment. The card was finished off with a few light blue sequins. 

Thanks a million for joining me and I really appreciate all of your comments! They make my day!

I would like to submit this card for the following challenges:

Dragonfly Dreams - January 2020 - Anything Goes

Crazy 4 Challenges - Try Something New (new stamp set) - C4C516

Sweet Stampin' - New Stash

The Alphabet Challenge - T is for Try Something Different (product)

As You Like It Challenge - Thank You

Craft Rocket Challenges #66 - Something New (product)

Krafty Chicks Challenge Week #1 - Stamp Act

Crafty Creations Challenges #405 - January Anything Goes

Little Red Wagon - Challenge #529 NBUS (new stamp set)

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge - Something New

Watercooler Wednesday #252 - Anything Goes

Love To Craft Challenge Blog #42 - Anything Goes

Die Cut Divas - January - New Things (new stamp set)

Happy Little Stampers - January - Anything Goes With Dies

Rachelle ♥

Thank You Card | MFT - Moroccan Mosaic Background / Nail Polish Technique

Hello!

Today's post showcases a special technique for the challenge over at Back to Basics and Beyond: Nail Polish Backgrounds. To create this background all you need is finger nail polish, heavy weight card stock and a large flat dish covered in aluminum foil. After filling the protected dish with water, you literally swirl the polish directly onto the surface of the water (mixing colors together as you wish) and dip the paper surface directly on top. The resist between the water and polish is broken on the paper, leaving behind a really great marbling texture. I used three different colors to creat this background. After you set the paper aside to dry on a protected area, you are ready to create cards. The design team over at the BBB Challenge have some great examples of this technique so go check them out!

I decided to add spatters of silver paint to this surface and a white heat-embossed pattern on top using MFT's Moroccan Mosaic Background Stamp. I adhered this panel to another piece of white card stock to give it some additional stability (since it had warped a bit during the marbling process) and then trimmed it down to 3.5" X 5.5". I backed it with a piece of craft foam and glued it down to a piece of black card stock measuring 4" x 5.5". This entire panel was then glued onto the front of a top-folding A-2 card base and set aside. 

I die cut the word "Thanks" using Honey Bee Stamps Large Thanks Die. I really like this die set because it gives you a shadow print and main script die, which can be used either separately or together. The shadow was cut from MFT's Silver Sparkle Card Stock and the script from black card stock; they were then glued together. You do have to either use a paper shim or steel cutting plate with this die set in order to get a clean cut - especially with the heavier glitter paper. 

The card was finished with a few silver gems from Lucy's Little Things.

Thanks for joining me today!

Rachelle ♥

Thank You Card | MFT's - Captivating Mandala

Hello!

I was lucky enough to have a bit of extra time during the Christmas holiday and was able to get out all of my thank you notes pretty quickly. This pretty snow-inspired card features the MFT’s Captivating Mandala Die. This wonderful die can be used in so many different ways but its "snowflake-look" was perfect for these thank you cards.

I started by randomly blending a background using distress oxide inks (Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, & Wilted Violet). The background was spritzed with shimmer spray, flecked with metallic watercolors and blotted with a paper towel. I created the shaped card base by partially die cutting a horizontal A-2 top-folding card base with MFT’s Elegant Rectangle Stax Die-namics. The inked background was die cut with the same shape and adhered to the card base. The mandala image was die cut once from white glitter paper and twice from heavy white card stock; these die cuts were glued/stacked together to create dimension. I wanted a simple sentiment to stretch along the bottom of the card front and chose one from Lawn Fawn’s “Simply Sentiments”. The mandala “snowflake” was glued onto the card front and it fit perfectly into the heat-embossed sentiment! The card was finished with a bit of ‘bling’ with Lucy’s Little Things’ Clear Iridescent Jewels.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rachelle ♥

Thank You Card | Essentials by Ellen - Julie Ebersole's S'Whale

Hello!

This card came together easily by combining Julie Ebersole’s great images from the “S’Whale" Stamp/DieSet with Distress Oxide Inks! 

After adhering an aqua panel to a top-folding white A-2 cards base, I lightly blended Distress Oxide Inks (Cracked Pistachio, Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, and Wilted Lavender) onto the lower right area of white card stock measuring 3 7/8” x 5 1/8”. The panel was spritzed with shimmer spray and allowed to dry - I wanted to leave quite a bit of white space on the card. The whale image was stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink and heat embossed with clear powder. I colored the image with pearlized paint, stamped the barnacle texture with oxide ink, lightly sprayed it with water and die cut the whale. I used the whale die cut to help me determine where to place the waves and fish schools in the background. Once those were stamped, I adhered the whale to the panel with some foam tape and added a few pieces of confetti. To finish the card, I heat embossed the sentiment in white onto black card stock, trimmed it to size and glued it onto the panel.

I love simple cards like this one which feature great imagery (and are fun to create!)  

Thanks for joining me today!

Rachelle ♥