C9 Big Hugs

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

A super quick card share today.  This one was made a while back, but I just haven't had a chance to share it.  It features the Big Hugs stencil set from Concord and 9th.  This is a set of four stencils that creates the coolest three dimensional looking sentiment.

I used a variety of pinks for my sentiment (apologies I managed to not write down which colors were used).  

I love the size of the sentiment and how all the layers make it kind of pop off the card.

To add a bit of texture and interest to the background, I used one of the stencils from Waffle Flower's Bokeh Stencil trio set.  It was selectively inked with Gold Delicata ink.

To play up that gold element, I added a Gold Matte mat.

That's all for me today!  Hope you guys are having a great week!

Yay!

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Yay!  We made it into a new year!  I created this easy, bold card last year using some goodies from Concord and 9th and Simon Says Stamp.

The Yay dies are from the C9 Hip Hip Hooray die set.  I love a great bold sentiment die.  There is a detail die that cuts both the letters themselves as well as the shadow.  I cut this die once in orange for the letters and once in a turquoise blue for the shadow.  

Then there is an outline die.  This was cut once for my base piece, and then a second time where I die cut the outline from teal, then placed the first detailed die in the center and die cut.  This allowed me to then inlay all the rest of the pieces into that second die cut piece, while adhering them all to the first base piece.

The secondary sentiment is from the coordinating Hip Hip Hooray stamp set and was embossed in white on a black strip.

The background was so easy.  I used the Giant Firework stencil from Simon Says Stamp, inking it with Sherbet ink.  I added a simple black mat to this and adhered it to. my card base.

The two sentiment pieces were the popped up with foam tape and that was it.

I hope that your 2024 is off to a great start!

Mixing Up My Card Game, Verve & C9

*This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp

A while ago (August!) I created my own personal challenge.  I cut up a bunch of little pieces of paper, wrote the name of a stamp company on each, threw them into a cup and pulled three out randomly.  The challenge was to create a card using products from those companies.  It was a lot of fun and I fully intended to make it a regular occurrence, but here we are almost three months later and I'm just getting around to it again.

This time I picked Verve, Concord and 9th, and Tim Holtz.  You'll notice that I only managed to use products from two of those companies on this card.  I had a plan to incorporate some TH, but when I was creating the card, I liked this panel so much, I decided that since I'm in charge of the challenge, I could make an executive decision to go with just two.

Such a simple and easy card.  I cut a panel of dark blue cardstock, and stamped it with the snowflakes from the C9 Snowflakes Turnabout.  I love Turnabouts, but for this card, didn't use it as designed.  I placed the turnabout in my MISTI and moved the panel around to create a clean and simple background.  The snowflakes were stamped with white pigment ink.

Once I was happy with the background panel, I heat set the ink, and then stamped and embossed the Verve sentiment.

I just love the simplicity of the card.  I think the sentiment and those snowflakes play perfectly with one another.  While I didn't follow my challenge to a tee, it was nice to pull out some older items and do a bit of out of the box thinking.

I'm still planning to do this more often, hopefully it won't be three months before I get around to it again!

Mixing up my Card Game - Hero Arts, Altenew, Concord and 9th

*This post contains affiliate links to Altenew

Hi guys!  Today I'm sharing what I'm hoping will become a regular feature on the blog.  I've been feeling a little stress over the volume of 'stuff' I have and the fact that I just don't get around to using it all.  I love it all, but sometimes you need a reason to get things out.

My solution?  A card challenge.  I took little strips of computer paper and wrote the names of all the companies I have stamps/dies/stencils from.  Doesn't matter if they are still in business or not, but I did limit it to companies where I have at least a handful of products to choose from.  I put them all in a plastic cup, and randomly picked three.

Here's what I ended up with:

So then I headed over to peruse my stash.  I ended up picking out a really old Hero Arts background (from the days where they used to collaborate with Basic Grey to create stamps that coordinated with their collections), an older stencil from Altenew (Floral Drape Stencil), and a retired C9 set that I planned to use for the sentiment.

This card did not go exactly according to plan.  

I really love the detail and delicacy in the lines from the background, and thought that stamping them in the spaces of the stencil would provide a really unique and graphic look.  The problem was, that some of the areas of the stencil were too small for the stamp to make an impression, and in the other areas I could get close enough to the edge of the stencil.  

I was about to give up in disgust, but then I saw that there was a lot of ink sitting on the stencil, and thought, let's see what happens if I spread this out.  So, I pulled out a blending brush and used that excess ink (and only that excess ink) to fill in the stencil.

I really liked the effect, it kind of tricks your eye to extend the lines of the stamp so that it doesn't look like it really didn't stamp well.

Once that was done, I trimmed my panel down and then used my heat gun to make sure that the ink was fully set because I knew I was going to heat emboss the sentiment.

The sentiment was embossed with WOW!  Metallic Gold Rich embossing powder.  To get a really pretty, puffy, raised look.  I ended up stamping, adding powder, and heating three times (using the MISTI of course).

This was fun, just in terms of the cardmaking itself and experimenting a bit, and also in terms of giving some love to items that hadn't been used in a while.  As I mentioned, I'm definitely planning to do this more often, and hoping others might take on the challenge too.  If you do, I'd love it if you shared your work with me!

C9 (mostly) One-Layer On the Diagonal Turnabout Cards

Hi everyone!  Hope you are all well!  Today I have a slew of cards to share created using my newest Concord and 9th Turnabout purchase, the On the Diagonal Turnabout.  I love turnabouts in general, and this one has been on my wishlist for a while.  I was able to pick it up during C9's warehouse moving sale.  

Turnabouts come in all different difficulty levels.  Some are a more all over pattern with elements that don't line up precisely so there's a little more forgiveness in the stamping.  Full disclosure, this is definitely one of the more challenging ones.  I had to line it up several times, and I still think it's not quite perfectly centered, but good enough.

When I work with turnabouts it's always a little bit of a struggle to finish the cards because I never want to cover up my beautiful backgrounds.  For these cards, I paired the bold backgrounds with equally bold sentiments.  

This first card is pretty straightforward.  The turnabout was stamped with Sea Glass, Sea Breeze, Mountain Mist, and Volcano Lake inks from Altenew.  (All the colored inks used in today's cards are from Altenew.)  The panel was trimmed down, and I added one of my all time favorite sentiments from Neat & Tangled which was stamped with Versafine, so quick and easy!

This next pair of cards was stamped with Citrus Burst, Fresh Lemon, Maple Yellow, and Honey Drizzle.

I stamped one panel in it's entirety, and for the second panel, I masked off the center to create a focal point.

The sentiment for these cards, and actually all the remaining cards are from C9's Painted Sayings set and were again stamped with Versafine.

I really like that the Painted Sayings set contains both really large sentiments as well as some smaller ones that can work together with the large ones or be used all on their own.

Finally, I created a couple of panels using Butternut, Sicilian Amber, Cloudy Sky, and Desert Night.

Again I created the basic panel, as well as a second panel with a twist.  This time I used post it notes to mask off the center of the design on the second panel.  After the initial stamping of each color, I removed the mask and stamped again, so I got a second generation inking in the center of the design.  I wanted the center to be lighter so that the sentiment wouldn't get lost.

You'll see that the second generation has a bit more texture to it.  Next time I think I'll try with pigment inks to see if I can get a more even stamping.

For the final card, I used one of the smaller sentiments from the Painted Sayings set, stamping it on a square die cut and then popping that up over the center of my panel.

I really love this turnabout and the bold designs you can create with it!

SSS Magnolia Branches Embossing Folder

Happy Thursday before a three day weekend!  Today I'm sharing some cards created using the Magnolia Branches embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp.

I haven't purchased an embossing folder in years, but when I saw this one, I just couldn't help myself, and when it came in the mail, I was impressed.  Embossing folders have definitely evolved!  I really love how sturdy this folder is compared to my older embossing folders.  The thickness means that the embossing is deeper and there's a lot more dimension in the finished product.

I thought I would try out some of my tried and true embossing folder techniques with this new folder.  I started out by using a brayer to add Versafine ink to the embossing folder.  Then I placed a piece of patterned paper into the folder and ran it through my die cutting machine.  I chose a Pinkfresh Studio patterned paper because those tend to be on the thicker side which really lends itself to embossing.

To finish the card off, I added a mat using the same patterned paper that I embossed.  The sentiment is from an old Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit.  

There was still some residual ink in my embossing folder, so I put a panel of white cardstock into the folder and ran it through again.  The result was so pretty!

I trimmed the panel down, added a black mat, and an embossed sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Clean Line Faith set.

I forgot to mention that for all of these cards, when adhering my embossed panel to cardstock/card base, I used Scor-tape.  For mixed media type cards, I find that this kind of adhesive just works better and keeps things where they need to be.

Next up another favorite embossing folder technique.  For this next card I cut a panel of watercolor cardstock and inked it with Mustard Seed and Twisted Citron distress ink.

Then I liberally spritzed my embossing folder with water, placed the inked panel inside and ran it through the die cutting machine.  This really saturates the color in the embossed areas and is so pretty.

For some extra texture, I added some gold and black splatter to the panel.  I might have over splattered a bit as the photos read more splattery than embossed, but trust me there's some great dimension on this panel.

The sentiment is an older Concord and 9th die.  Because the surface of these panels is so variable, it's a little tricky to adhere a die cut sentiment.  My solution was to use adhesive backed foam.  I ran the die through my machine, then left the entire piece in place.  Working from the back of the die cut piece of foam (with the die cut piece still intact), I removed the adhesive from the sentiment.  Then I centered the entire piece over my panel, and pressed it down onto my panel.  The negative pieces could then be pulled away leaving the sentiment in place.

For this last card, I used the same technique as in the above card, this time blending Bundled Sage, Dusty Concord and Faded Jeans distress ink onto my watercolor panel.  After spritzing the embossing folder and running the panel through, I decided to step things up a bit and combine the two techniques that I used today.

I first let the panel dry, then I lined it up in the embossing folder, taping it in place with washi.  I flipped it up, and using my brayer, inked the panel with Dusty Concord ink, and ran it through my machine.  I wanted a deeper color, so I then inked the embossing folder with Faded Jeans ink and repeated the process.

Just as in the last card, I die cut a sentiment (Altenew's Waterbrush Hello die) from adhesive backed foam, kept the sentiment intact in my foam piece, and adhered it after removing the backing from just the sentiment, centering it, and then pressing it onto my panel.  

You can really see the dimension of the design in the below photo.

These panels were really easy and fun to create and I'm looking forward to trying out some different techniques with this embossing folder.  I'm also thinking I might need some more of embossing folders!

Thanks for visiting!

*This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp

The Daily Marker 10 Day Coloring Challenge, Finished Cards Day 1

Hi all!  It's been pretty quiet around here the last week or so, but if you follow me on Instagram (@mprantner), you know that I was still creating, I was just spending all my crafty time coloring.  I've tried to complete Kathy Racoosin's 30 Day coloring challenge multiple times, but I've never been able to do the whole thing.  This month Kathy ran a 10 day challenge, and I decided to see if I could keep things go for 10 days, and I did!  It was lots of fun to color, and great to actually accomplish the whole challenge.

Here are all my colored pieces:

My plan is to spend the next week or so turning all these into cards, and I'm sharing the first two today.

Janes Doodles Driving Home for Christmas set has been on my wishlist for a while now, but it always seemed to be out of stock when I was ready to make a purchase.  Thankfully I was able to snatch it up last month when I picked up her new Road Trip set.  The little dog and coordinating tree were the first images I colored for the challenge.

The images were fussy cut and I paired them with a pretty simple Christmas print from Felicity Jane.  I wanted something with mostly white so that the windows of the car didn't need to be color or look funny against patterned paper.

The sentiment is from Concord and 9th's O Christmas Tree set (retired) and was embossed in white.  I added a mat from an older Lawn Fawn paper pad, and then adhered my images.  

The little car is tilted just slightly to add the idea of motion and weight from the tree.

Super simple, and this is actually my first Christmas card of the year!  It's almost May, so I probably need to start thinking a little more about Christmas cards!

This second card features one of the images from Concord and 9th's City Stacks set.  My goal during this challenge was to ink up sets that hadn't been used yet (like both of today's images) or ones that hadn't been used in a while.  

I kept this card very clean and simple, adding my favorite sentiment from this set.  I feel like this sentiment is even more true this year than any other, I am really missing my friends and family these days!

The panel was trimmed down just a hair and then popped up with foam tape in the top corner of my card base.

That's all for me today, come back tomorrow for some more finished cards!

Concord and 9th Painted Dots Turnabout

I had some time last week to do a bit of stamping, and pulled out the Painted Dots Turnabout from Concord and 9th.  I'm a big fan of Turnabout stamps.  They are so much fun to work with.  I could make these backgrounds all day.  Honestly, turning them into actual cards is harder work for me than making the backgrounds.  It's just fun to see them come to life and to come up with the color combinations.

This particular turnabout is especially versatile because it has two parts, a middle and outer ring, so you can get three different looks: just the center, the frame, and then the entire pattern.  Here you can see how I created a card in each style using the Sea Shore family of inks from Altenew.

To finish off the card with just the outer ring stamped I used the Yay dies from Concord and 9th as well as a secondary sentiment from the Triple-Step Hooray stamp set.  That was stamped, fussy cut and popped up with foam tape. 

For the card where I stamped just the center piece of the turnabout I simply embossed a sentiment (from Neat & Tangled's Lovely Lotus set) on a strip of black cardstock and popped it up.

The sentiment for the allover pattern is from Paper Smooches Inhale Exhale set.  It was backed with a cardstock mat and popped up with foam tape.  All in all, very quick and easy finishes for these cards.

For the remaining cards, I used some different color combinations.

I made a second card with just the outer ring with Altenew's Firefly, Shadow Creek, Tide Blue, and Starlight inks.  To finish it off, I die cut a circle of lime green cardstock and stamped a large sentiment (Neat & Tangled's Hello You set) in Starlight, popping it up with foam tape.

Then I chose some very bright springy colors from Altenew, Maple Yellow, Orange Cream, Bamboo, and Olive, stamping both parts of the turnabout with it.  I used three of those same colors (minus the yellow) to stamp the Triple-Step Hooray as well as the secondary sentiment.  Some dark green mats were added to finish things off.

Finally, I went with a more unexpected color combination, using Cloudy Sky, Nimbus, Pumpkin Pie, and Cosmic Berry, also from Altenew, to create my final panel.  This one was trimmed so that the center was off set.

I die cut a gold cardstock circle for my sentiment, from Concord and 9th's Pretty Poppy set,  It was first stamped on my turnabout panel with Versafine, and then on the gold circle.  The circle is slightly smaller than the entire sentiment, so stamping it on the panel gives an unbroken look.  The circle was popped up for a bit of dimension.

As I said at the beginning of the post, I honestly spent more time picking out sentiments and finishing these cards than I did creating the backgrounds themselves.  And this particular design is so versatile and timeless it can really be used for any type of card.

Thanks for stopping by!

SSS Geometric Builder Squares, Take 3

Hey all!  I have several more posts this week featuring these Geometric Builder Square dies.

Today's cards use the square that cuts four triangles.  Instead of using them all together to create a square, I thought it would be fun to use them to create a pattern on my cardstock, leaving some white space as part of the design.  

I chose five different pieces of colored cardstock from my scrap bin, cutting the die out several times from each color.

For this first card I created a pinwheel design.  There was no specific color pattern I was using, I just adhered my triangles randomly, trying to maintain a balance of colors.  

The finished piece was adhered directly to my card base.  I did trim the card base down just slightly  as my panel is just under 4 1/4".  

The sentiment die is from Concord and 9th's Yay die set and was cut from the dark teal cardstock and backed which white.

For the second card, my triangles were adhered to create a box design, where the die cut piece is the top half of the box and the white space is the bottom.  Again, no particular order to the colors for this.

The card was put together similarly, adhered to my card base which was trimmed down slightly.

The sentiment die is from that same Concord and 9th set.  It's four layers, three white and one of that dark teal cardstock.  

Super clean and simple, but I love the fun, graphic/modern look.

See you back here tomorrow for some more geometric fun!

C9 In Bloom, Take 4

Hi all, I've got a couple more cards to share today using the In Bloom stamps and stencils.

This time I'm showing off how easy it is to color in the images using the stencils.  

There's a stencil for the flowers, one for the leaves and stems, and another that creates the stripes.

For each of these cards, I used two shades of Altenew ink for both the flowers and leaves, and I applied the ink with blending brushes.  For the purple card I used Pale Mauve and Plum along with Frayed Leaf and Evergreen.  

I felt like the flowers got a little too dark on that card, so I went with lighter tones that were closer together for the yellow card - Butternut and Pumpkin Pie along with Firefly and Shadow Creek.  Dark Chocolate was used for the stems and Silver Lake for the stripes on both card.  The silvers actually look kind of different on the two cards because I used a blending brush that I thought was clean, but it had some residual color from another project (oops), so the purple card has a slightly warmer shade of gray.

Once I had finished the stenciling/blending on both the panels, into the MISTI they went, and the image was stamped with Versafine.  

The panels were then trimmed down.  For the purple card I trimmed it down a little more, added a black mat, and adhered to in the top left corner of the card just for something a little different.  

For the yellow card, I trimmed it down to fit my card base width wise, but left margin at the top and bottom.  I added a soft gray mat and a bit of stitching for some texture.

The sentiments for both of the cards come from Concord and 9th's Triple Step Hooray set.  They were stamped with Versafine, fussy cut and popped up with foam tape.

I hope you've enjoyed these In Bloom cards as much as I've enjoyed making them.  It's such a versatile set and the stencils really expand the possibilities/techniques you can try!

*Affiliate Links Below

In Bloom, Concord & 9th Clear Stamps

In Bloom, Concord & 9th Stencils

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Sugarplums, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Cubes

Green Valley, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Cubes

Green Fields, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Cubes

Fall Harvest, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Cubes

Four Scoops, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Cubes

Gentleman's Gray, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Cubes

Triple-Step Hooray, Concord & 9th Clear Stamps (Retiring)