Waffle Flower Crafts Moon Bay Stencils

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp

Hi friends!  Today I've got a card featuring the Moon Bay stencil set from Waffle Flower Crafts.  

These were designed by my crafty friend JJ, and I love how quickly and easily you can create the landscape. It's a set of three stencils, and not only are they very easy to line up, but the spaces are a good size and far enough apart that very little masking is required.

For my card I used some darker colored inks to create a moody evening scene.  I used Sunbeam for the sun/moon, a combination of Cadette, Royal, and Sweets for the sky, Sage with a bit of Pine for the green areas, Twilight and Iris for the mountains in the background, and Galaxy for the land areas in the foreground.  For the water, I used Cadette with just a touch of Royal for the water.

Once my inking was complete, the panel was trimmed down, and after it had thoroughly dried I gold embossed a sentiment from an old Neat & Tangled sentiment set.

To finish things off, I die cut a large frame using the Waffle Flower Wooden Frame dies form Matte Gold cardstock, and then popped it up with foam adhesive.

The stencils really do all the work here.  So easy!

SSS Geometric Builder Circles (Take 1)

I had been pining after these Geometric Circles since they were released and I took advantage of Simon's Black Friday sale to pick them up.  

These are just so much fun to play with and there are so many possibilities.

For this card I used the basic die which has the circle in the square, and used the pinwheel inside circle die.

I selected an autumnal rainbow of colors from Papertrey Ink (Limeade Ice, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Terracotta Tile, and Pure Poppy), and cut the pinwheel circle once from each of the colors and the basic square frame six time from white cardstock.

I then cut six squares of white cardstock (I used a thinner cardstock for this) just under 1 1/2" (which is the size of that basic square die) and ran them through my Xyron machine to get an even coat of adhesive on them to use as bases.

Then it was just a matter of adhering all the little pieces to my bases.

Once these were done, and I had decided on the basic layout of my finished squares, I decided to create a color blocked background that would match the diagonal lines of some of the circles.  To do this I cut three pieces of cardstock, using a few of the darker colors from the pie shapes, into 4" squares and then cut them in half diagonally from one corner to the other.  These were then adhered to a scrap piece of cardstock to create the color blocked pattern, and then trimmed down as needed.

Once the background was done, I adhered the six die cut squares with foam tape.

The sentiment is from my old So Many Sentiments set for Neat & Tangled and was embossed in white and popped up with foam tape.

I am loving these dies, and have several other cards in the works...I got the Geometric squares too, so be prepared for lots of geometric cards!

The Greetery Harvest Home

I took advantage of the recent birthday sale at The Greetery, so while I wait for my new goodies to arrive, I thought I would pull out the Harvest Home set I purchased from them a while back, but shamefully hadn't had a chance to use yet.

I started by stamping the two leaf halves using Altenew Bamboo and Olive ink.  Then I realized that the leaf half dies were solid.  No biggie, I die cut the halves from a piece of white scrap cardstock, and then used those to line up the dies over the stamped leaves.

Since I had two white leaf halves from the masks I created, I figured I would go ahead and use those to make a second card.  I used a blending brush and Forest Glades ink to add color to the leaves, and then used two Copics (YG63, and YG67) to color the the accent strips on the leaves.

Then I stamped and die cut the house and barn using Ruby Red and Grapevine ink.  On the house, I used Pure Graphite for the roof, and on the barn, I wanted a lighter color since the roof would be in direct sunlight, so I used second generation Dark Chocolate ink stamping.  I also added a bit of shading with Copics to the roof.

Then it was time to assemble the cards.  For this first one, I used the stamped leaf halves and adhered them to the whole leaf that's included in the die set.  I added a couple of stamped fences on the top half of the leaf, and then tucked the barn behind the bottom leaf.  I added a bit of twine to the leaf stem, and then popped the entire leaf up over some patterned paper that was matted with a Scalloped panel from Neat & Tangled.

The sentiment is from Neat & Tangled's So Many Sentiments set and was stamped on one of Neat & Tangled's skinny strips and the popped up over the leaf.

For this next card, I adhered the leaf directly to a piece of very neutral patterned paper.

Just like the last card, I added the fences and then tucked the house in.  The sentiment is from Papertrey's Choose Joy stamp set.  I added a blue patterned paper mat to finish things off.

I just think this leaf design is so clever and I'm looking forward to using it some more, especially for fall cards!

*Affiliate Links below 

Bamboo, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Olive, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Pure Graphite, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Dark Chocolate, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Ruby Red, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Grapevine, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Forest Glades, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Jet Black, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

YG63 - Pea Green, COPIC Sketch Marker

YG67 - Moss, COPIC Sketch Marker

Skinny Strips, Neat & Tangled Dies

Scotch Foam Mounting Tape

Hello, You Are All Kinds of Awesome

The Indigo Hills 2 6x6 pad from Pinkfresh Studio is one of my all time favorites for cardmaking.  The papers are beautiful, and they do a lot of the work for you.

Today I pulled out one of my newest Paper Smooches dies, Hallow Hello.  The includes an outline as well as a solid base which makes inlay so quick and easy.  

I started by die cutting both layers from white cardstock, and then also die cut a piece of ombre patterned paper from the 6x6 pad.  I ran the solid base piece through my xyron sticker maker, adhered the outline on top, and then inlaid all the patterned paper pieces.

The background paper is also from the Indigo Hills 2 pad.  The pattern kind of fades out, and that transition area was the perfect place for the die to fall.  

I added a secondary sentiment from the So Many Sentiments set from Neat & Tangled, and finished things off with a sweet little heart which is one of the little bonus dies from the Hallow Hello die se.

Super quick and easy!  

Hope your week is off to a good start!

*Affiliate Links Below

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Hallow Hello, Paper Smooches Wise Dies

Fun with Dies

Sometimes it's just fun to pull out a product with no real plan in mind.  Today I'm sharing a few cards created using this older die set from Papertrey Ink (I actually can't even remember what it's called).  I had been wanting it for a while, and picked it up second hand (who knows how long ago), and then promptly lost it in the morass we call my craft room.

It was recently unearthed, and I figured I should use them before I lose them again....

This is one of those dies that is right up my alley because there are so many interesting combinations and ways to put the pieces together.  I love the clean, modern, graphic look that it yields.

I selected five different shades of color from yellow to dark orange (Lemon Drop and Persimmon from MFT and Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, and Terracotta Tile from PTI), and die cut 2-3 of each color.

This die ended up being a little different than I though, the ends don't cut fully, so I had to snip off the pieces at each end, but no big deal.

Then, I just played with them for a bit, assembling them in different combinations and shapes.

Once I settled on my three combinations, I adhered them to white card bases, and then added some simple sentiments from sets that I previously designed for Neat & Tangled (So Many Sentiments and Typed Sentiments).

For this one, I use two sets of the dies, varying the order of the colors.  I used the sentiment strip to hide where the two sets of dies came together.

For this next card, I started by placing the angled end of the largest strip/curve right in the corner of my panel, and then placed the remaining pieces, trimming the die cut pieces where they went over the edge of the panel.

I also die cut two pieces of black cardstock, to get the pieces for the centers of the curves.  

Finally, the simplest of the cards.

I thought this sentiment fit perfectly with the simple upturned curve.

This was such a fun and relaxing way to spend an evening!  Which do you like best?

Waffle Flower Crafts Arrowhead Set

Hi all!  Did you get to do some creating for World Cardmaking Day?  I actually got to participate this year (often times there's too much running around/chauffeuring for me to do to actually craft on WCMD)!

I have had this Arrowhead set for months now, and decided it was going to get the nod on Saturday.  This set is so me, and I really loved playing with it.

For my first time out with the set, I wanted to keep things easy, so I went with families of Altenew inks:  Sea Shore (which incidentally is my very favorite of all the Altenew ink families), Deep Blue Seas, and Enchanted Garden.

This first set of cards were created using two of the stamps, one of the 'ends' and then the middle piece,  Rather than aligning them so they pointed in the same direction, I stamped them in opposite directions.  Turning the middle piece and stamping it in the opposite direction again created almost a ribbon effect. 

I used my MISTI to stamp all of these cards.  For this first set, I alternated the inks between each layer of the pattern, so stamped all of the first shades, then second shades, etc. 

The sentiments are from my So Many Sentiments set for Neat & Tangled, and I played around a bit with the finish of the cards too.  Using mats for some, so I could have a white card base and a dark card base for the purple version.

For the second set of cards, I used just the middle section of the pattern, repeating it over and over to get an ombre effect.  I again used the MISTI, setting the stamp up in the middle of the device, and this time moved the paper up 1/4" to 1/2" each time I stamped.  This is such a quick and easy way to create a really dynamic pattern.

I used the same ink color families, and sentiments from the So Many Sentiments set again as well as the Simply Hello die from Altenew.

I really could have stamped this pattern all day!  This is such a unique stamp set and I haven't even begun to explore the possibilities!

*Affiliate links in text to Altenew and Neat & Tangled 

Variations on a Theme, Another Card Set

It's funny because I almost never make card sets, but in the last couple months I've made several, and I'm really enjoying the process.

It's fun to be able eto take out a new set and use multiple images at once.  Otherwise, I find that I'll use a new set, put it away, and not get back to it again for months or even years.

I also love when I find a product that can do double, or in this case, quadruple duty.  I'm talking about this Oh, Hello There die from Simon Says Stamp.  I love that it cuts the three words separately, so you can use different combinations of the words as I did with these cards.

The images are from Picket Fence Studio's Sweet Dear Friend set, and I used sentiments from Neat & Tangled, mostly from the So Many Sentiments set, but also one from the Lovely Lotus set.

I started by die cutting my sentiments and then playing with the placement on some panels of Neenah White cardstock.  I also had the stamp sets with me so I could figure out which girl/sentiments went best with each of the die cut sentiment combinations.

Once I had figured out the general layout of the cards, I stamped the girls using Gina K Black Amalgam Ink.

The girls were then colored with Copics.  I did use my normal three color, but I used a very light color for the base coat and very sparing touches of the darker colors to emphasize the light airy feel that the girls have.

Once my panels were colored, I adhered the die cuts and added the secondary sentiments.

I also added a colored mat for each of the panels.

I really love these little girl images, they have so much personality.

Thanks for visiting, hope your week is going well!  We're in the final push to back to school (we start next Tuesday), and we have birthday parties for both girls this weekend, so it's getting a little crazy around here!

Cards using Julie Comstock Prints

I was delighted when Julie Comstock reached out to me a couple weeks ago and invited me to use some of her digital products.  Julie was the creative force behind Cosmo Cricket, one of my favorite paper companies.

She's got some beautiful prints and downloads available at http://www.juliecomstock.us/freebies1/. I'm sharing a couple cards today using two of her Fall Patterns.  These are such pretty papers that I didn't want to cover them up.  My goal was to enhance them, adding texture and interest.

For this first card, I got out my cutting knife.  It was delicate work, but I cut around the tips of those leaves which adds both dimension and texture.

The sentiment is from my So Many Sentiments set for Neat & Tangled, and I added a bit of thread and a few sequins to finish things off.

For this next card, I added texture through stitching.  The veins of the leaves were quite thin and delicate, so instead of using floss, I used thread that was doubled up.  

I also added some Nuvo drops in Oyster.  I have to admit I am not good at embellishments.  I think I probably added a few too many and it kind of looked like my card had a pox.  To soften those drops and add some additional texture and a little sparkle, I sprinkled some glitter over the still wet drops.

I finished the card off with a sentiment from my Oak Leaf set for Neat & Tangled stamped on one of the banners from the Scalloped die set.

I've got a whole stack of papers and tags from Julie yet to use, so stay tuned for more.  And be sure to head over to Julie's site to take a look at all the things she has available for download.

*Affiliate Links Below

Scotch Foam Mounting Tape

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Neat & Tangled Clear Stamps, So Many Sentiments

Neat & Tangled Dies, Scalloped

Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops, Oyster Grey