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!

Waffle Flower Crafts, Postage Collage Christmas - Can You Spot the Error?

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

As I'm preparing for the upcoming Simon Says Stamp DieCember release, I'm continuing to share cards from my recent crafty weekend.

I've been wanting to try out the Waffle Flower Postage Collage collection since it came out, and my friend JJ just happens to have all the products as she's on the Waffle Flower design team.  

I first die cut the Postage Collage die from white cardstock, and then added stenciling using the Christmas Stencil set.

I made liberal use of JJ's Shader Brush collection - those little babies are key when you're stenciling something with a lot of small areas and you want a little more control.

There are four stencils in this set, and I used ink with the first three, and then gold paste for the last accent layer.

I finished things off with a simple gray mat and a sentiment from Waffle Flower's Subsentiment Christmas Tree set.

OK, you've made it to the end of my post.  Have you figured out the error on my card?

If you said that the bottom two stamps are reversed, then you are correct!  When I pulled these stencils out, I didn't realize there was another set in there.  This was actually the initial prototype set.  Before the design went final, they swapped the bottom left images with one another....it's a fun little peek at how products evolve during the design/production process.

That's all for me today.  Much more to share this week so stay tuned!

Waffleflower Sunrise Mountain Stencils

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Super quick post today.  This is another of the cards from last month's crafty get together with my friend JJ who incidentally designed this fantastic Waffleflower Crafts Sunrise Mountain stencil set.

There are four stencils in this set.  I love products that do all the work for you, and this is certainly one of them.  Once the stenciling was done (forgive me as I was not keeping track of all the colors I used), all the card needed was a sentiment.

The one that I chose is from an older Simon set, Just Miss You.

Really quick and easy, but such a great impact from the stencils don't you think?

Waffleflower Daisy Pattern Stencil Quad

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

I love soft pretty cards, but honestly they are not my forte....my cards somehow always end up a little brighter or more colorful than I intend when I go for soft and pretty, so I was pretty excited with how this one turned out.

I created the background using the Waffleflower Daisy Pattern Stencil Quad set with Heather, Violet, Celery, Limelicious, Lemonade, Peachy, and Grapefruit ink.  I was at a friend's house when I created this card, and I was able to use her Waffleflower Shader Brushes, and I have to say they were perfect for all these little spaces.  I definitely need some of them for my house!

The finished panel was trimmed down and adhered to my card base.

For the sentiment, I used the Fancy Thanks die, cutting it four times from purple cardstock, stacking and adhering those together, and then adhering them to the shadow piece cut from white cardstock.

The finished piece was popped up over my panel with foam tape.

And that's basically it.  The stencil set really did all the work here, and I didn't want to add too much because I wanted that background to be the star.

Thanks for stopping by, hope your week is going well!

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!

Merry Christmas

I've got another mix and match Christmas card to share today.

I love this Leaves Cover Plate from The Stamp Market.  I can't wait to use it as a subtle white on white background, but for today, I thought I would use it for a Christmas card.  The leaves are so versatile, and I'm using them for some festive foliage.

I've paired it with the Oversized Merry die from Waffle Flower Crafts.  This was cut three times and adhered together.  Then I inked the die cut piece with Versamark and clear embossed.  This was repeated to get an extra glossy/puffy look.

The finished piece was adhered over the leaf die cut.  The secondary sentiment was stamped and gold embossed on a strip of white cardstock and popped up on the card, and some gold sequins were added for some sparkle.  

Almost time for the weekend!

*Affiliate Links Below

VersaMark Ink Pad

Leaves, The Stamp Market Dies

Oversized Merry, Waffle Flower Dies

Oversized Merry, Waffle Flower Clear Stamps

Micro (1/8"), Glue Dots

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 

Waffle Flower Crafts Tile Panel Die

You all know that I love a great cover plate.  This Tile Panel Die designed by my friend JJ Bolton for Waffle Flower Crafts fits that bill.

I really love the design, there are so may different patterns you can create with the tiles, and the space within the design for a sentiment means you can throw a card together quickly without have to think too much about the layout itself.

Normally for these kinds of dies I like to go the colored cardstock route, but I was in a coloring mood.

I went with two color families - greens (G00, G02, G09) and grays (C3, C5, C7, C9) and colored the pieces with the darkest points towards the center of the diamonds so that while this is a very flat card, there's some dimension to it.

I ended up having to use four grays because my C3 started to run out of ink and I don't have a reinker for that one yet, so I had to go a shade darker for two sets of diamonds.  It worked out OK, because I put those darker pieces to work around the sentiment.  This helps zero your eyes in and add some emphasis to that focal point....crisis averted!

The sentiment is from Altenew's Leaf Canopy set.  I thought the modern/mod font matched perfectly with the design.

That's all for me today.  Thanks for visiting!

*Affiliate Links Below

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Tile Panel, Waffle Flower Dies

Altenew Clear Stamps, Leaf Canopy

COPIC Sketch Marker G00, Jade Green

COPIC Sketch Marker G02, Spectrum Green

COPIC Sketch Marker G09, Veronese Green

COPIC Sketch Marker C3, Cool Gray No. 3

COPIC Sketch Marker C5, Cool Gray No. 5

COPIC Sketch Marker C7, Cool Gray No. 7

End of Year Cards for Teachers

I know a lot of you are already done with school, but we're not out until tomorrow!  It's been especially wild and crazy around here with end of school events since Ellie graduates from elementary school this year.  Her 'promotion ceremony' was yesterday evening.

Anyway, I needed some cards to go with gifts for our teachers.  I love the images from Waffle Flower's Pencil In set, but the sentiments in the set are on the smallish side, and just didn't convey how grateful we are for our teachers this year.  We really lucked out, they were the perfect teachers for our girls!

I pulled out this older set from Verve (which sadly is closing it's doors at the end of this month - I think pretty much all their inventory is gone, but it's worth a look-see as everything had been discounted 55% last I looked).  I just love the sentiments in this set and they paired perfectly with the Waffle Flower images.

This first card was super simple.  Just some simple Copic coloring on the little girl and boy, stamped sentiment, patterned paper mat, and done.

I wet a little more complicated for the second card.  I stamped the images from the Pencil In set in the center of my panel and colored them with Copics.

The sentiment from the Verve set was added above, and then I used a number stamp from the Verve set and Versamark ink to create some tone on tone patterned paper for the bottom panel.  

A thin strip of black cardstock finished things off.

Now I just need to write in these cards and wrap up the teacher gifts and tomorrow we'll officially be on summer break!  (And by we, I mean the kids and Andrew (who is a teacher) because, sadly, I still have to work.)  

*Affiliate Links Below

Waffle Flower Clear Stamps, Pencil In

Corgis on Stilts

As soon as I saw the Pawsome set from Waffle Flower Crafts, I knew I was going to have to make this card.

The sentiments are from my Happier Than set for Neat & Tangled.

I stamped the sentiments and corgis on watercolor paper with Versafine and then painted them with my Kuretake Gansai watercolors.




Then I needed some stilts.  I sketched some in with a journaling pen and then watercolored them.  Originally they were a bit sketchier, but the lines in the sentiment and stamped images are pretty bold and it didn't look balanced, so I went back in and thickened them up a bit.

I added a few patterned paper mats, a bit of washi and staples for interest and that was that.

Thanks for stopping by!

*Affiliate Links Below

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Waffle Flower Clear Stamps, Pawsome

Neat & Tangled Clear Stamps, Happier Than

Kuretake Gansai Tambi, 36 Color Set

Tim Holtz, Tiny Attacher

Canson XL Watercolor Paper Pad 9x12

Miss You and a Sale

Sometimes you find a stamp or die that goes perfectly with a cut of paper.  That's what happened with this card.

I really wanted to use this die cut from Waffle Flower crafts and as I was flipping through some patterned papers, this print from Pinkfresh just jumped out.  Perfect, right?

I did add a tiny stamped image to balance things on the right side of the card.  It was a little image from Altenew's Floral Shadow set as there was a space in the print that needed a little something in it.  I stamped it with some light ink and then used some cool gray Copics to soften/blend it.

The sentiment is also from that Floral Shadow set.



I could have left the card at that, but I added a couple strips of patterned paper at the bottom and some stitching.

I love it when the products do the work for you!

I also wanted to let you know that Danielle is running a big sale this weekend over at Neat & Tangled.  She doesn't often put the whole store on sale, but right now it's all 25% off.  If you've been eyeing something, it's a great time to pick it up!  And if you're inclined, this is my affiliate link to the store.  Happy shopping!

*Affiliate Links Below

Waffle Flower Dies, Magical Flower Border

Altenew Clear Stamps, Floral Shadow

Pinkfresh Studio Indigo Hills, 12x12 Paper Pack

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black