Neat & Tangled / Benzie Collaboration

Hey everyone!  I'm up over on the Neat & Tangled blog today as part of a collaboration we're doing with Benzie Design.  They make really high quality felt in beautiful colors as well as pom poms, die cut felt pieces, all sorts of good stuff.

I had a lot of fun creating with the felt.  For my first card, I selectively cut the large flower from the Succulent Cover Plate from three shades of green.  Before I die cut the pieces, I backed them with white cardstock.  This adds reinforcement and allows you to adhere the pieces easily to your card.

I also cut the flower from cardstock and used the webbing as a guide to get my pattern started.  Once I had the first few pieces in though, I just eyeballed the space between the pieces.



Even though the cardstock does add a lot of reinforcement, the tiny pieces can still be a bit tricky, so you need a die that has large enough pieces, the petals for the succulent were a perfect size.  The only tricky bits were those teeny tiny pieces in the center.  I just needed to be very careful with those and used craft tweezers to adhere them.

The sentiment is from the Gardenia Blooms Journaling Card set and it was stamped on one of the banners from the Scalloped Dies set.



My next card features the Maple Thanks and Oak Leaf Dies.  I cut the solid shapes from felt and the webbing/detail dies from cardstock and woodgrain paper.

The solid felt shapes were stitched to the card itself along the center line.  Then I used spray adhesive to attach the webbed pieces.



The sentiment, also from the Gardenia Blooms set was stamped on one of the skinny tags from the Classic Tag 2 die set and was then trimmed down and stitched on as well.

I thought it would be fun to dress these cards up a bit, so I cut a Doily Envelope wrap from felt for each of them.



Caveat, this is beautiful, but these doily pieces are very delicate in some sections and so you have to be very careful with them or you'll get some tears.  The felt cuts well, but I think because of static cling the pieces need a little help coming out.  I used a largish needle to just poke the pieces out and that worked pretty well.



I love how pretty the details look in felt!



OK, you'll want to head over to both the Neat & Tangled blog, there's a giveaway of some beautiful Benzie products over there, and the Benzie blog, where you can leave a comment to be entered to win a $25 store credit to Neat & Tangled.  Good luck!

So Very Blessed - Giveaway Winners

I've been in a coloring mood lately (it's really very relaxing, and I should do it more!), and pulled out Gardenia Blooms since I haven't used it in a while.

I found the perfect patterned paper to use in an old BasicGrey pad.  I love it when you can find the perfect paper....usually I have a stack of about 15 pads out and I'm flipping back and forth madly trying to find the right match.

OK, I want to announce some winners too!  I really appreciate all the support you guys give me day to day.  So without further ado:

Amy McCue wins my Clouds stamp set

Renee wins the exclusive Neat & Tangled stamp set for Scrapbook Circle Stories

Lysa wins the Fractal Cloud stamp set

Sue McRae wins the Hexastar Stencil

and finally, Vicki Dutcher wins a seat in my Craftsy class - Fresh Eyes on Your Cardmaking Supplies

Congratulations ladies, please shoot me an email and I'll get your goodies right out to you!

Thank you all again for your sweet comments and support!

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Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

My Sweet Petunia MISTI Stamping Tool

COPIC Sketch Marker RV63, Begonia

COPIC Sketch Marker RV66, Raspberry

COPIC Sketch Marker RV69, Peony

COPIC Sketch Marker B12, Ice Blue

COPIC Sketch Marker B00, Frost Blue

COPIC Sketch Marker G09, Veronese Green

COPIC Sketch Marker G17, Forest Green

COPIC Sketch Marker, 0 Colorless Blender

Neat & Tangled / Hemptique Collaboration

This month Neat & Tangled is collaborating with Hemptique!  We're showcasing cards created using Hemptique products on Tuesday throughout the month.

Hemptique makes my favorite twine, but they also have some other products that you might not be familiar with.

My cards today feature their hemp paper.  It's really beautiful paper with a wonderful texture, and I wanted to see how it worked with my dies.

I used the Gardenia Blooms Journaling Card die, and I was really happy with how well the paper held up since it's a little bit softer than regular cardstock.  I also loved how well the embossed lines show on the paper.

To create some textural contrast, I also cut the card from some insulation pink cardstock.  Leaving the pieces intact (in the insulation pink cut), I colored the inlaid pieces with Copics and then transferred them into my hemp paper die cut.



I stamped the sentiment, from the Gardenia Blooms Journaling Card stamp set, and then adhered it to the card over a cardstock and then vellum mat.  I love how the vellum softens everything.

Then I figured I would put all those negative pieces from my hemp paper die cut to good use.  I inlaid them into a steel gray cut, adding a sentiment from the Maple Leaves Journaling Card stamp set.



I love the dramatic look and again the contrast between the regular cardstock and the hemp paper.  This one is super CAS, just popped up on my base.



Be sure to stop by the Neat & Tangled blog to see what today's other designers are creating and to leave a comment.  We'll be picking a lucky someone who comments this month to win a Hemptique prize pack.

One last thing, today is the last day to enter my Neat & Tangled giveaway on this post.  I really appreciate all the shares so far!

Gardenia Blooms Thank You Notes

This is Carina's last week at preschool!  It's hard to believe, she's spent almost five years there, and Ellie was there for two years as well.  

We're very sad to be leaving behind some very loved teachers.  Carina still loves to visit her old teachers, we often have to make several stops before we get to her current class so she can visit with her people.

These cards are for the girls special teachers that we're leaving behind.  They feature the Gardenia Blooms Journaling Card Die and a sentiment from Paper Cut Flowers.

I thought I would provide a little tutorial for you:

I had an old Gardenia Blooms die cut that I used as a guide.  

Then I used Derwent Inktense pencils to lightly trace along the inside edge of the blooms and leaves. I didn't trace all around the openings just toward the center of the flowers.  

This is what it looks like when you remove the guide.

I normally don't watercolor directly on my cardstock because it will warp, but this requires very little water.  This is also why I'm using a real paintbrush as opposed to a waterbrush, it's easier to control the amount of water in a paintbrush as opposed to a waterbrush.  

I use the guide to make sure I'm on the right track and then (totally optional) I add a bit more pencil for additional color/dimension.

After those additional details are softened with water, you can put the actual die cut over top and see what the card will look like.

To adhere the die cut I like to use liquid adhesive as I think it works best on those delicate details.  I swipe the adhesive on the solid portions of the die cut and just tap it over the intricate areas.

I created both Grout Gray and Primitive White cardstock versions of the card, I think it would look great in any neutral.  It looks complicated but the coloring portion is actually very quick and these were easily mass producible.  They are also perfect for mailing since they are so flat.



That's all for today!  Remember today's the last day to comment on my giveaway, I'll announce a winner tomorrow.

Neat & Tangled Release Week - Day 2 - Giveaways

I'm so excited to be revealing these two products today.  It started out as just a stamp set.  I wanted to create a journaling card stamp that could be used for cards as well as for scrapbooking and Project Life.  Once the image was completed I thought it would make a fantastic die too, and I'm so glad that Danielle agreed.  

 

My first card features the stamp set.  The image was stamped with Versafine and colored with Kuretake watercolors.  I kept it pretty simple, adding a green cardstock mat with a bit of doily and a few sequins.  

My mom's favorite color is purple and she'll be receiving this card next weekend.  Luckily she doesn't read my blog, so it'll be a surprise.  

This next card features the die.  Which was cut four times, from white, red, green, and brown cardstock and then inlaid.  I used Copics to add a bit of shading to half of the leaves as well as the 'curled up' portions of the flowers.

I love this inlaid look, and you definitely want to head over to the Neat & Tangled blog to see what the rest of the team created.  Danielle is giving away one of the Gardenia Blooms stamp sets, and don't forget that I'll be choosing two winners from all the comments left on my release week posts here.  One will win this stamp set, and the other will win my yet to be revealed set.  See you back here tomorrow for Day 3!

Supplies Used Card 1

Paper/Cardstock:  Avery Elle - Cream and Celery cardstock; Strathmore - Watercolor Paper

Stamps:  Neat & Tangled - Gardenia Blooms Journaling Card

Ink:  Versafine

Other:  Neat & Tangled - Crystal Clear Sequins; Kuretake - Gansai watercolors; Doily from stash

Supplies Used Card 2

Paper/Cardstock:  MFT - Hot Fudge, Smooth White, and Electric Red cardstock; Avery Elle - Celery cardstock

Ink:  MFT - Hot Fudge Hybrid Ink

Stamps:  Neat & Tangled - Gardenia Blooms Journaling Card

Other:  Xyron - 5" Creative Station; Copic Markers; Tombow - Mono Adhesive