Halloween 2023 | The Boo Crew

Simon Says Stamp released this adorable stamp set last year (I think) and I think the images are absolutely the cutest!

I stamped the Halloween image from Simon Says Stamps' The Boo Crew" stamp set onto a piece of Kraft cardstock from my collection, then stamped it a second time onto Gina K. Designs masking paper. I fussy cut the masking paper version and applied the 'mask' over the Kraft cardstock stamped version. My next step was to stamp my little witch and black cat to overlap just slightly onto the masking paper covered stamp on the Kraft cardstock. I removed the masking paper to reveal the images to be colored.

Using Prismacolor Premier colored pencils, I colored the images and outlined the Halloween letters with a grey Uni Posca paint pen to cover the line work. Once that was completed I grabbed a piece of Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Black Two-Tone Woodgrain cardstock and cut it to be 4-1/4" by 5-1/2". I then used the Paper Rose "Stitched Rectangles" dies to cut out the Kraft cardstock panel to be smaller than the woodgrain cardstock. To complete the card, I used my Scotch ATG to adhere the stamped/colored panel to the woodgrain panel and glued the card front to an A2, top folding card base.

Thank you so much for stopping by... I appreciate you doing so!

Until next time... :)

I Love You - Happy Anniversary | 2023

Every year I like to make my husband a handmade anniversary card that is personalized just for him. Only until yesterday, did I find out he has been keeping them all these years. He is so sweet and sentimental... never in my wildest imagination did I think he was actually keeping my little creations. Just another reason why I love him!

For this year's card, I started by creating an alcohol ink background by using Ranger's Watermelon and Shell Pink alcohol inks. I just randomly drop the ink here and there on the yupo paper, occasionally adding a little blending solution to get things moving about, and when I think I like what I see... I either let it dry naturally or I do like I did this time and dry it with the heat tool (not the embossing heat tool!). After the yupo has almost completely dried, I took a gold piece of gold DecoFoil and wadded it into a tight ball to wrinkle it and then spread it across my alcohol ink background. What happens when you do this is that the foil will stick to the areas that are still tacky on the inky background making it almost look like a geode or slab of granite that has gold veins running through it - you know what I mean! Once this was completed I set this aside to allow it to completely dry while I moved onto the next task.

I took a black scrap of cardstock and Altenew's Antique Gold metallic pigment ink and stamped the Lavinia Stamps' "Background Script" stamp onto the black cardstock. Since it's a pigment ink, some additional drying time is required. While this was drying, I used the Scrapbook.com's "I Love You" die set and used the outline die to cut a piece of mirror gold cardstock and since the inky background was dry, I used the letter die to cut the "I Love You" from the alcohol ink yupo paper. Next, I put thin strips of red line tape on the back of the words to ensure good adhesion to the mirror cardstock and adhered those together.

For the sub-sentiment, I used Hero Arts' "Message Strips Stamp & Cut XL" stamp and die set. I used Altenew embossing ink and Simon Says Stamp Fine Black Embossing Powder to emboss the Happy Anniversary sentiment stamp onto a piece of gold mirror cardstock. I used the die that came with the stamp set to cut out the sentiment and placed Simon Says Stamp 3D foam squares to the back side. I adhered the sub-sentiment to a scrap piece of the alcohol inked panel and trimmed all edges around it to give it a little bit of a tight frame.

I cut a black piece of cardstock to be 4-1/4" x 11" and creased it down the center at 5-1/2" to create a top folding A2 card panel. Using a generic torn edge die set that cuts frames that I purchased from Amazon, I diecut a piece of Simon Says Stamp Lipstick Red cardstock to be one size smaller than A2, and using the same dies I diecut the gold script stamped panel to be one size smaller than the red panel. Then I used the ATG to put adhesive tape to the back of the to card from panels together and onto the actual card base. Lastly, I adhered the two sentiments to the card using black Simon Says Stamp 3D Foam Squares and that completes this fun card.

I hope you enjoyed this card and that is gives you some ideas and inspiration for creating cards that you need in your arsenal.

Thank you for stopping by to see me... I appreciate you doing so!

Happy Making :)

Christmas in July 2023 | Warm Wishes

Continuing with the 2023 Christmas in July series, I decided to use Prismacolor Premier pencils to color the images for a switch-up from my norm. I hope you enjoy my card making process!

I began this card project by stamping some of the images from the Pawsome Stamps "Deck the Halls" stamp set using Lawn Fawn's Jet Black Ink onto white card stock. Instead of my usual Copic markers, I decided to use the Prismacolor Premier colored pencils for adding color to the images. Once the pencil work was completed, I used a Pentel gold Sparkle Pop pen and a gold Sakura Gelly Roll metallic pen to add some sparkle to the ornament tops and accents.

I cut the card front panel to be slightly smaller than an A2 card panel and adhered it to an A2 size piece of Simon Says Stamp red card stock (it was part of a pre-cut package of Simon's card stock colors), then glued the panels to the front of a top folding, A2 card panel. For the sentiment, I used the Simon Says Stamp "Christmas Blessings" stamp and die set to stamp the Warm Wishes image directly onto my decorated card front panel - SCARY! - using jet black ink. For a little dimension and interest, I added Pretty Pink Posh "Cherry Red" pearls to some of the greenery at the top of the card panel... and with that, this card is completed.

I hope you are enjoying getting a head start on your holiday cards during the oppressive heat of the 2023 Christmas in July.

Thank you so much for stopping by to see me - I appreciate you doing so!

Until next time…