SMILE | Catherine Pooler + Spellbinders

Hi friends!  Today I’m sharing a card inspired by the Sarah Renae Clark Color Cubes 2.0 (card 843).  I wasn’t sure where I was going to go with this color scheme, so I decided to start simply creating a background and see where that inspiration lead me.  Let’s get started!

The supplies used:

     Catherine Pooler – Simply Diamonds Cling Stamp

     Pinkfresh Studio – Single Stitch Rectangle Die Set

     Spellbinders – Nature’s Dance Stamp/Die Set (CSOM-JAN25)

     Spellbinders – Field Notes Wildflowers Die Set

     Spellbinders – Chiffon Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Teal Topaz Cardstock

     Gina K. Designs – Mini Ink Cubes – Emerald Coast, Soft Stone,

          Peach Bellini, Blue Sky, Faded Brick

     Gina K. Designs – Masking Magic Strips

     WOW! – Clear Gloss Super Fine Embossing Powder

     Brutus Monroe – Alabaster White Embossing Powder

     Taylored Expressions – Anti-Static Powder Tool

     Tsukineko - VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad

     WOW! - Dual Speed Heat Embossing Tool

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Spellbinders – Opal Color Essentials Gems

     My Sweet Petunia – MISTI Original Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

To create the background, I started with a 4.5” x 5.75” of Spellbinders Chiffon cardstock.  I placed the cardstock panel into my MISTI tool, dusted it with anti-static powder, and stamped the Catherine Pooler Simply Diamonds cling stamp onto the cardstock using VersaMark ink.  I removed the cardstock from the MISTI and applied a coating of WOW!’s clear gloss, super fine embossing powder to the inked panel and melted the embossing powder with my heat tool.  I used Gina K. Designs’ Masking Magic Strips to mask off each diagonal row of the background’s diamonds and colored each row with Gina K. Designs ink cubes in the colors Soft Stone, Emerald Coast, Faded Brick, Peach Bellini, and Blue Sky.  Once the ink dried, I die cut the background panel using the largest die in the Pinkfresh Studio Single Stitch Rectangle die set.

Creating the Floral Element

I chose to use the Spellbinders Field Notes Wildflowers to create a floral element for this card.  I didn’t want to introduce any new colors to the card since the background is colorful, so I die cut the flower’s stem from a scrap of white cardstock and used Spellbinders Chiffon and Cinnamon cardstocks for the petal parts of the flowers.  I glued the floral elements together with Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue and set them aside for the glue to dry while I worked on the sentiment.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I chose to go with a Spellbinders stamp set that was part of their Clear Stamp of the Month Stamp and Die Set called Nature’s Dance that said “SMILE” that I stamped with VersaMark ink onto Spellbinders Teal Topaz cardstock, then added Brutus Monroe’s Alabaster White Embossing Powder to have a white heat embossed sentiment.  I die cut the greeting with the coordinating die and die cut two additional from the Teal Topaz cardstock to stack behind the sentiment for dimension.  I also added a sub-sentiment; however, I won’t add it until I assemble the card’s elements.

Assembling the Card

I cut a piece of Spellbinders Teal Topaz cardstock to measure 4.25” x 5.5”.  I adhered Altenew double-sided adhesive tape to the back side of the inky diamond card panel, removed the adhesive’s backing paper and positioned it at an angle onto my Teal Topaz card front panel ensuring I had enough clearance at the bottom to accommodate the sub-sentiment and trimmed away the excess inky panel that exceeded the Teal Topaz one.  I placed the background panel into my MISTI and stamped the sub-sentiment onto the card panel below the bottom edge of the inky background cardstock using VersaMark ink and added Alabaster white embossing powder then melted the embossing powder with my heat tool.  I added liquid glue to the back side of the SMILE sentiment and adhered it to the inky cardstock panel above the sub-sentiment.  Lastly, I adhered some Spellbinders Opal Color Essentials Gems to the center of the diamonds on the background panel and glued the card front to a white A2, side folding card base.

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

Sending Love | Simon Says Stamp + Hero Arts

Hi friends!  Today I’m sharing a Father’s Day card with you that I created utilizing products from Simon Says Stamp, Hero Arts, and a host of other company’s products – sort of a “shop your stash” extravaganza.  Let’s get started!

The supplies used:

     Simon Says Stamp – Friend Like You Stamp Set

     Waffle Flower – Cloudy Stencil

     Spellbinders – Precision Layering A2 A Die Set

     Simon Says Stamp – Love Garden Greetings Stamp/Die Set

     Hero Arts – Butterfly Confetti Die

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Tumbled Glass Distress Ink Pad

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Unchartered Mariner Distress Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Field Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Ink Pad

     VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad

     Brutus Monroe – Alabaster White Embossing Powder

     Taylored Expressions – Anti-Static Powder Tool

     Scrapbook.com – Heavy Weight Mixed Media Paper

     X-Press It Blending Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Oceanside Cardstock

     Altenew – Mini Ink Blending Tool

     Scrapbook.com – Foam Ink Blending Tool

     Copic Alcohol Markers:  E37, E35, E33, E31, E44, E55, E42,

          YG45, YG23, BG09, BG53, B00, R20, R00, R0000, E04, R32,

          R11, W3, W1, W00, E34, E43, E40

     Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Sakura Black Glaze Pen

     Sakura #431 Moonlight Gelly Roll Pen

     Sakura Black Pigma Micron 03 Fine Liner Pen

     Ranger Ink – Glossy Accents

     Altenew – Instant Dimension Foam Tape

     Winsor & Newton White Designers’ Gouache

     Altenew – Carbon Black Artists’ Gouache

     WOW! Dual Speed Heat Tool

     My Sweet Petunia - MISTI Original Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

To create the background, I used a sheet of Scrapbook.com’s Heavy Weight Mixed Media Paper and smooshed Tumbled Glass Distress Ink onto my work surface.  I used a mister to spray a generous amount of water to the ink and used a scrap piece of plastic packaging to dip into the ink and place it in random locations onto my mixed media paper.  I repeated this step until I was satisfied with my results.  Utilizing the Spellbinders Precision Layering A2 A die set, I used the second largest die to die cut the inky, mixed media panel and used the largest die in the set to die cut an A2 matting layer from Spellbinders Oceanside cardstock.  I used the Waffle Flower Cloudy Stencil and an Altenew Mini Blending Brush to ink blend clouds across the top two-thirds of the background panel.  Next, I grabbed a foam ink blending tool and Uncharted Mariner Distress Ink to ink the edges of the mixed media paper panel to add depth and interest.  To add the grass, I used grass cling stamp from Simon Says Stamp’s On the Ground stamp set to stamp a row of grass along the bottom edge of the inky panel using Simon Says Stamp’s Field Pawsitively Saturated ink and my MISTI Stamping Tool.  Lastly, I used Winsor and Newton white gouache and Altenew’s Carbon Black Gouache to add spatter across the inky panel and placed Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape to the back side of the background and adhered it to the Oceanside cardstock panel.

Creating the Focal Point

I chose the cute critter scene on the Simon Says Stamp Friend Like You stamp set as my focal point.  I stamped the image onto a piece of X-Press It Blending Card using Lawn Fawn Jet Black ink since I will be coloring the image with Copic alcohol markers.  The Copic colors I selected for the stamped image were:

     Tree Stump Bark:  E37, E35, E33, E31

     Tree Stump Top:  E44, E55, E42

     Leaves:  YG45, YG23

     Grass:  YG45

     Bird:  Blue Tail - BG09, BG53, B00

               Belly - R20, R00, R0000

               Head/Back - E04, R32, R11

     Chipmunk:  W3, W1, W00, E37, E34, E31, E43, E42, E40

Once the coloring was completed, I fussy cut the image with scissors and placed Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares on the back side of the image.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I chose to go with a the “sending love” greeting from Simon Says Stamp’s Love Garden Greetings stamp set.  I used VersaMark Ink to stamp the sentiment onto a scrap piece of Spellbinders Oceanside cardstock that I coated with anti-static powder, then applied a coating of Brutus Monroe’s Alabaster White embossing powder.  Once heat set, I wiped off the excess anti-static powder with a microfiber cloth and used the coordinating die to die cut the sentiment and die cut two additional blank sentiment die cuts to glue behind the heat embossed one for dimension.

Assembling the Card

I removed the adhesive backing paper from the focal point image and adhered it to the bottom of the card front panel.  I used a black Sakura Glaze pen to color the bird and chipmunk’s eyes and added Glossy Accents to the chipmunk’s nose.  I used liquid glue to adhere the sentiment to the card front.  For the embellishments, I decided to die cut the Hero Arts Butterfly Confetti die from pink shimmer cardstock that I found in my stash and cut it from a piece of black cardstock from my scrap bin.  I selected three sizes from the pink die cut butterflies and selected three of the black ones that were the same size.  I trimmed the middle/body portion from the black butterfly die cuts and glued the body parts to the center of the three pink butterflies.  For the butterfly decorating, I ran a bead of Ranger’s Black Enamel Accents on all the black bodies, used a black fine liner pen to draw antennae on the butterfly heads, then used a Sakura #431 Moonlight Gelly Roll pen to add small dots on the butterfly wings.  Once the Enamel Accents had a chance to dry, I adhered the card front to a white A2 card base.

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

Hello Gorgeous | Spellbinders & Pinkfresh Studio

Hi friends!  Spring brings a fresh burst of life, color, and energy. It's the perfect season to create projects that capture the essence of renewal and joy. This spring-themed tag featuring flowers and bees combines natural beauty with a touch of whimsy, making it a delightful way to brighten someone’s day. Let's get started!

The supplies used:

     Spellbinders – Daffodil/Narcissus & Antique Vase with Honey Bee

     Pinkfresh Studio – Go For It Stamp/Die/Stencil Set

     Altenew – Textured Blocks Embossing Folder

     Sizzix – Framed Tags Die Set

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz - #8 Distress Tags

     Paper Rose – All Occasion Sentiment Sheets

     Craft Consortium – Ink Drops – Candy 12x12 Paper Pad

     Elizabeth Craft Designs – Reminiscence The Book 8 Patterned Cardstock Pad

     Copic Markers – W2, W0, Y26, N6

     Simon Says Stamp – Ink Pads:  Ballerina, Guava, Watermelon,

          Orchid, Amethyst, Field, Fairway

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Gathered Twigs Distress Ink Pad

Altenew - Mini Blending Brushes

     Scrapbook.com – Foam Ink Blending Tool

     Altenew - Double-Sided Adhesive Sheets

     Scrapbook Adhesives – Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Spellbinders – Glaze & Glue Resin Adhesive

     Open Studio – Clear Droplets Embellishments

     My Sweet Petunia - MISTI Original Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

To create the background, I used one of the Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz #8 Distress Tags, peeled off the hole reinforcer that comes with the tag, and covered it with a layer of the Altenew Double-Sided Adhesive Sheets.  I pulled a scripty text piece of patterned paper from the Elizabeth Craft Designs Reminiscence “The Book 8” patterned cardstock pad and removed the backing paper from the adhesive sheet adhered to the tag and carefully adhered the patterned cardstock to the tag.  Using a paper trimmer, I removed all the excess patterned cardstock until I was left with only the tag’s shape.  I used a foam blending tool and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink to add some distressed edging and interest to the tag’s background.

Creating the Focal Point

Using a piece of patterned cardstock from the Craft Consortium Candy Ink Drops paper pad, I die cut it with the vase die from the Spellbinders Daffodil/Narcissus and Antique Vase with Honey Bee die set and die cut two of the bee die cuts from white cardstock.  I placed the vase die cut into the lower right quadrant of Altenew’s Textured Block embossing folder and ran it though my Anna Griffin Empress machine.  I used Copic markers W2 and W0 to add some shading to the vase for depth.  For the bees, I colored their wings with W0, lightly drew lines with the W2 markers and placed a blanket coat of Y26 over the bee bodies and colored dark grey lines on the body segments using N6.  Lastly, I applied a layer of Spellbinders Glaze over the bees.

For the florals, I used the Pinkfresh Studio Go For It stamp/die/stencil set and stamped the floral image onto a piece of white cardstock.  Next, I used the coordinating stencils and blended ink to the flowers and leaves using these ink pads:

     Pink Flowers:  Simon Says Stamp Ballerina, Guava, and Watermelon

     Purple Flowers:  Simon Says Stamp Ballerina, Orchid, and Amethyst

     Leaves:  Simon Says Stamp Field and Fairway

The florals were die cut using the coordinating dies from the Go For It set.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I chose to go with a the “HELLO GORGEOUS” greeting from Paper Rose’s All Occasion Sentiment Sheets.  I used a black marker to go around the edges of the sentiment just to make it look as if it was printed on black cardstock.

Assembling the Card

I die cut the hole reinforcer for the top of the tag using Sizzix’s Framed Tags die set and a scrap of the patterned paper I used for the vase from the Craft Consortium Candy Ink Drops paper pad.  I used whatever ink was left on the Gathered Twigs foam blending tool to distress the edges of the hole reinforcer die cut for a more cohesive look.  I positioned the florals where I wanted them in the vase and glued them into position.  I added Scrapbook Adhesives’s Thin 3D Foam Squares to the back side of the florals and the vase and adhered them to the tag front and used scissors to trim off the portion of the vase that extended beyond the bottom of the tag.  I used the Altenew ¼” Black Instant Dimension Foam Tape to adhere the sentiment on the lower portion of the tag.  Lastly, I added glue to the back side of the bee die cuts and adhered them to the background and added a sprinkling of Open Studio Clear Droplets to the flowers.

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