Happy Birthday – Today Is About You | Spellbinders

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing an A6 sunflower birthday card featuring products from Spellbinders.  The Sunflower Serenade die set has been on my to-do list for quite some time and today I decided… let’s make a card!

The supplies used:

Spellbinders – Sunflower Serenade Die Set

     Spellbinders – Essential Modern Ovals Die Set

     Spellbinders – Birthday Unboxing Hot Foil Plate & Die Set

     Spellbinders – Linen 3D Embossing Folder

     Paul Rubens Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

     Spellbinders – Indigo Colorwheel Cardstock

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Carved Pumpkin Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Mowed Lawn Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Walnut Stain Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Ground Espresso Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Penny Black - #4 Round Paint Brush

     Spellbinders – Matte Gold Glimmer Foil

     Pinkfresh Studio – Metallic Matte Gold Pearl Embellishments

     Ranger / Tim Holtz – Distress Collage Medium Matte

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Altenew Black Instant Dimension Foam Tape

     Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     Anna Griffin Empress Gild Hot Foiling System

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

To create the background, I took a piece of Spellbinders Indigo cardstock, cut it to 4-1/2” x 6-1/4” and embossed the panel using the Spellbinders Linen 3D embossing folder.  Normally an A6 card would measure 4-1/2” x 6-1/4”; however, after running the panel through the 3D embossing folder it shrank a tad so my finished card size will actually be 4-1/2” x 6-1/8”.

Creating the Focal Point

Using the largest die from Spellbinders’ Essential Modern Ovals die set, I die cut a piece of Spellbinders Indigo card.  Utilizing the Spellbinders Sunflower Serenade die set and sheets of Paul Rubens hot pressed watercolor paper, I die cut the flower 14 times, the three leaf style dies were die cut six times each, and the two flower centers seven times each.  I decided to watercolor the images versus cutting them from colored cardstock and used Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Ink re-inkers as my painting medium.  The flower petals were given a watercolor wash of Squeezed Lemonade followed by placing Carved Pumpkin toward the base of the petals and allowing the color to wick its way up each petal naturally.  For the flower centers, the larger pieces were watercolored using Ground Espresso and the smaller pieces were watercolored using Walnut Stain.  I separated the leaves into two even sets (three of each leaf style per set) and began watercoloring one set of the leaves using Mowed Lawn and the other using Rustic Wilderness.

Once the watercolored elements were dry, I used liquid glue to adhere two sets of the leaves together, the larger flower center die cut next, and lastly the smaller flower center piece.  I repeated this process until I had seven complete flowers.  I positioned the Indigo cardstock oval where I thought it looked best on my embossed background panel and began arranging the flowers on top of it until the oval was no longer visible.  When the arrangement was completed, I glued the flowers in place and began adhering leaves in random locations until I was content with the panel. 

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I chose to go with an older Spellbinders hot foil plate and die set called Birthday Unboxing Glimmer.  I hot foiled the sentiments onto Spellbinders Indigo cardstock using my Anna Griffin Empress Gild hot foiling system and Spellbinders Matte Gold Glimmer Foil.  I used the coordinating dies to die cut the sentiments and cut two extra Indigo pieces to glue behind each of the sentiments for dimension.

Assembling the Card

I added strips of Altenew black foam tape to the back side of the oval that I glued the flowers to and adhered it to the card’s embossed background panel while allowing approximate 1-1/2” of the oval to hang off the top of the background panel.  I used a paper trimmer and removed the excess oval and any overlapping flowers/leaves from the top of the card panel.  I used liquid glue to adhere the two sentiments to the lower portion of the card front and added a sprinkling of Pinkfresh Metallic Matte Gold pearls around the sentiments.  Lastly, I adhered the card front to a white, side-folding, A6 card base using a combination of strips of Scor-Tape and liquid glue (yes, I am an over-adhesive user!).

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it. Until next time, happy crafting!

Happy Easter 2026 | Hoppin’ Down the Bunny Trail

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a cute Easter card featuring products from Picket Fence Studios and Spellbinders.  Let’s get into it!

The supplies used:

Picket Fence Studios – Hoppin’ Down the Bunny Trail Stamp Set

     Picket Fence Studios – Hoppin’ Down the Bunny Trail Die

     Spellbinders – Spring Canopy Glimmer Plate Set (GOM-FEB25)

     Waffle Flower – A6 Piercing Layers Die Set

     Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Premium Ink Pad

     Altenew – Obsidian Pigment Ink Pad

     Copic Alcohol Markers – RV13, RV25, RV10, R21, RV0000, C3, C1, C0

     Sakura Gelly Roll #10 White

     Mijello Mission Gold Watercolor Paint – Prussian Blue & Hooker Green

     Strathmore Mixed Media Vellum Surface Paper

     Spellbinders Rose Gold Glimmer Foil

     FuuMuui #12 Round Paint Brush (or any other brand)

     Scotch Painter’s Tape

     Ampersand Hardbord Panel

     Silver Black Velvet ¾” Oval Watercolor Brush

     Winsor & Newton Permanent White Gouache Paint

     Finetech Pearlescent Colors Watercolor Paint – Golden Rose

     Ranger Ink – Glossy Accents

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Splatter Brush     

     Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     Altenew – 1” x 1/16” Instant Dimension Foam Tape

     Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Anna Griffin Empress Gild Hot Foiling System

     Anna Griffin Empress Elite Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

Using my Anna Griffin Empress Gild hot foiling system, a 5” x 7” piece of Strathmore Vellum Surface Mixed Media paper, and Spellbinders Rose Gold Glimmer Foil, I hot foiled the leaf canopy from the Spellbinders Spring Canopy Glimmer plates set onto the mixed media paper.  Next, I adhered the foiled piece of mixed media paper to an Ampersand Hardbord using low-tack painter's tape.  To add the watercolored background, I used Mijello Mission Gold watercolor paint #W544/Prussian Blue and painted a streaky wash across the top 80% of the paper and then added a wash of Mijello Mission Gold #535/Hooker Green to the lower 20% of the paper and set aside to dry (you could dry with a heat tool if desired).  You will notice the canopy foiling resisted the watercolor paint and left the foiled areas nice and clean.  Once the panel dried, I spattered Winsor & Newton white gouache across the background as well as Finetech’s Golden Rose pearlescent watercolor paint just for fun; however, I did place the leaf canopy glimmer plate over the foiling so I didn’t get any spatter on the leaves before I started.  After the spatter dried, I used the second largest die from Waffle Flower’s A6 Piercing Layering Die Set to die cut the watercolor panel to size and cut a piece of white cardstock using the largest die in this set for the bottom mat.

Creating the Focal Point

For the focal point, I chose to use the rabbit ears stamp from Picket Fence Studios’ Hoppin’ Along the Bunny Trail stamp set.  I stamped the image onto X-Press It cardstock using Lawn Fawn Jet Black ink and colored it with Copic Alcohol Markers.  The Copic colors I used were:

       Rabbit:  C3, C1, C0, R21, RV10, RV0000

       Bow:  RV25, RV13, RV10

Once I completed the coloring, I die cut the rabbit using the coordinating die and added Glossy Accents to the bow.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I used the “Look who’s hoppin’ down the bunny trail?” sentiment from the Picket Fence Studios Hoppin’ Down the Bunny Trail stamp set and stamped it onto the card front panel using Altenew Obsidian pigment ink.

Assembling the Card

I added Scor-Tape to the back side of the white A6 cardstock panel and adhered it to the card base.  To give the card some dimension, I added Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape (1” x 1/16”) to the back side of the watercolor panel and adhered it to the white cardstock panel.  I added thin 3D foam squares to the back side of the rabbit and adhered it to the card front.  My final touch was to add a sprinkling of metallic pink flatback pearls around the card’s focal point.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really do appreciate.  Until next time, happy crafting!

Happy Easter 2026 | Spellbinders + Simon Hurley

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a more traditional-style Easter card with you featuring products from Spellbinders/Simon Hurley.  Let’s get into it!

The supplies used:

Whimsy Stamps – Slimline ATC Windows Die Set

     Spellbinders / Simon Hurley – Tulip Trio

     Spellbinders – Spring Canopy Glimmer Plates Set

     Pink & Main – Large Sentiment Strip Die Set

     Penny Black – Delicate Garden Stamp Set

     Kuretake – Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers:

          Olive Green, Mid Green, Pale Green

          Pale Rose, Pink, Almond Pink

          Orange, Bright Yellow, Pale Orange

          Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Pale Yellow

          Peacock Blue, Dull Blue, Haze Blue

          Violet, Lilac, Pale Violet

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Distress Archival Ink, Black Soot

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Tumbled Glass Distress Ink Reinker

     Fabriano Artistico Extra White Watercolor Paper

     Ampersand Hardbord Panel

     Silver Black Velvet ¾” Oval Watercolor Brush

     Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Glitter Gloss Pen

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Spatter Brush

     Winsor & Newton – Designers White Gouache

     Spellbinders – Opaque Black Glimmer Foil

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil System

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

Using the Whimsy Stamps Slimline ATC Windows Die Set, I selected the largest die in the set and die cut a piece of watercolor paper – this panel will serve as the base for the background.  I used painter’s tape to mask off ¼” on all sides of the watercolor panel and adhered it to an Ampersand hardbord to keep the water from warping the panel as I apply a wash of color across it.  Using a ¾” oval watercolor brush, I applied a generous amount of clean water to the watercolor paper.  I placed about three drops of the Tumbled Glass Distress Ink Reinker to my glass mat and picked up the ink with my watercolor brush and painted it onto the wet watercolor paper and let it dry.  Once dry, I applied a spattering of Winsor & Newton white gouache across the panel and also did the same with the Tumbled Glass ink.

Creating the Focal Point(s)

For the tulips, I used the Spellbinders / Simon Hurley Tulip Trio die set.  I die cut the floral layers, stems, and leaves from Fabriano Artistico Extra White watercolor paper since that is what I had on hand using the Anna Griffin Empress die cutting machine.  Once that was completed, I used the Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush watercolor markers to paint the layers with these colors:

Greenery:  Olive Green, Mid Green, Pale Green

Pink Tulip:  Pale Rose, Pink, Almond Pink

Orange Tulip:  Orange, Bright Yellow, Pale Orange

Yellow Tulip:  Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Pale Yellow

Blue Tulip:  Peacock Blue, Dull Blue, Haze Blue

Purple Tulip:  Violet, Lilac, Pale Violet

After adding color to all the flowers and greenery, I adhered the bloom and stem layers together with Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue and placed a thin 3D foam square behind each of the flower heads.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I used the Spellbinders Spring Canopy (Glimmer of the Month, February 2025) Glimmer Plates set and foiled the Happy Easter sentiment onto white cardstock using Spellbinders Opaque Black Glimmer Foil.  I die cut the sentiment using one of the dies from Pink & Main’s Large Sentiment Strip Die Set.

Assembling the Card

I positioned each of the tulips where I wanted them to be on the watercolored background/card front and adhered the flower heads only by removing the backing paper from the thin foam squares.  Once the flowers were in place, I positioned the different leaves with each flower and glued them in place with liquid glue and trimmed off the excess that were hanging off the card front.  I found a little honeybee stamp in the Penny Black Delicate Garden stamp set, so I stamped on little bee in Black Soot Distress Archival Ink onto the upper, left side of the card and colored in the yellow parts of its body with the yellow Zig Clean Color Real Brush marker and its wings with the Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Glitter Gloss pen.  For my last touch, I attached the sentiment to the card front using foam squares and adhered the card panel to a top folding, slimline card base.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really do appreciate.  Until next time, happy crafting!