Painted Harvest Sunflowers Thankful For You Card

Watercolour look flower stamps are a real favourite of mine and I was immediately attracted to the SU! 'Painted Harvest' set in the 2017 Autumn/Winter catalogue.  I've placed a couple of orders from the Autumn/Winter catalogue  but I was focused on Christmas items and I told myself I could wait to order the 'Painted Harvest' set and leaf punch until I'd completed my Christmas cards.  Ummmm, nope - turned out I couldn't wait!

I wasn't scheduled to work on Sunday and I knew I'd be spending some time in my craft room checking out my new items.  I thought I'd make a couple of Christmas cards but just one look at the 'Painted Harvest' set as I was putting stuff away and a sunflowers card became my priority!

Oh my word, this set is a stamper's dream - easy to use and the results are stunning!  What a happy, joyful time I had creating this card for a special friend.

Rustic was the effect I was going for and I started by pulling out a wood pattern paper and my reel of burlap ribbon.  I adhered the paper to a mat of Early Espresso CS, added a strip of the burlap ribbon and glued the panel to the front of a 5 3/4" square Old Olive card base.  I then stamped my three sunflowers using Crushed Curry ink for the background layer, Pumpkin Pie ink (stamped off once) for the detailed layer and Early Espresso ink for the flower centres.  I stamped the leaves in Old Olive ink onto Whisper White CS and cut them out with the fab new Leaf punch.  After I'd fussy cut my three sunflowers I edged each one with Crushed Curry ink applied with a sponge dauber and I inked the edges of the leaves with Old Olive ink.  I stamped the sentiment and cut it out with the Pretty Label punch.  I stamped a leaf image a few times over the label with stamped off once Old Olive ink, inked the edges of the label and popped the label up.  I then faffed about for quite some time arranging the sunflowers and leaves!  I popped up the sunflowers and tucked the leaves behind, applying glue just to the stems.

Here's the inside of the card and the front of the envelope.  After stamping the flowers and leaves I stamped the small dots image a few times using Soft Suede ink.  I loved the fussy cut flowers and punched leaves I'd used on the card front but I REALLY loved how wonderful these images look simply stamped out - absolutely beautiful!  

I couldn't resist adding a sunflower to the envelope flap as well!  I'm thinking stationery made with this set would be gorgeous - I can imagine writing paper and/or note cards.  Those will definitely have to wait 'til I've added more Christmas cards to my pitiful stash!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Painted Harvest' set
CS: SU! Early Espresso, Old Olive & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Wood Textures' DSP stack
Ink: SU! Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie & Soft Suede
Tools: SU! 'Leaf' & 'Pretty Label' punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Burlap Ribbon, Dimensionals
Ruth

September 2017 Card Group Projects

On Thursday afternoon we got together for our September card group meeting and the September meeting is when I start on Christmas projects.  I designed three Christmas cards using some of the fabulous products from the new SU! Autumn/Winter catalogue.

It was love at first sight when I saw the 'Winter Wonder' large snowflake embossing folder, I just HAD to add that to my stash - along with the gorgeous foiled 'Year of Cheer' Specialty DSP!  I was inspired by the 'cheers to a new year!' card featuring three circles (shown on page 36 of the A/W catalogue) and I based my card on that design.  I spritzed a piece of  Whisper White thick CS with water before embossing with the 'Winter Wonder' folder.  I layered the white panel onto a mat of Early Espresso CS, added some sparkly silver ribbon and glued the entire panel to the front of a 7" x 5" white card base.  I punched a 2" copper foil circle and a 1 3/4" foiled design circle and adhered those to the card front.  I stamped and punched the 'Celebrate the Season' snowflake sentiment circle and I popped that up.  That stamp is a definite oldie but goodie - it's great to mix your old stuff with your brand new goodies!

Here's a view from a different angle so you can see the shine.  I love the mix of copper and silver on this design.  I placed a few rhinestone jewels to add seasonal sparkle to the card front.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I stamped a pretty snowflake border on the inside and on the front of the envelope.  I stamped the sentiment and used square dies to mat and layer the sentiment element.  I think this turned out to be quite an elegant, classy little number!

Card number two features a traditional festive red and green colour combo and was made using the SU! 'Carols of Christmas' bundle.  I think this is such an impressive, versatile bundle, there's so many things you can do with the different elements and you'll get varied looks even though you're using products from the same bundle.  

This card came about thanks to Teri Pocock's fab inspiration.  I love Teri's different coloured ornaments but I decided to simplify for card group and so I stamped my ornaments in Real Red ink only.  I made my A6 sized card base from Old Olive CS and added a Real Red mat layer.  Wow, that bold sentiment packs a real punch, I love the dimension it has!  I stamped the ornaments on a separate piece of white CS, die cut them and popped them up.  I embellished the ornaments with tiny punched Gold Glimmer Paper dots.  

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I used the poinsettia dies from the 'Card Front Builder' Thinlits die set to cut the fancy corners at the bottom of the Whisper White panel.  I used the dies again to cut  out Real Red poinsettias, I inset them and added Gold Glimmer Paper dot centres.  I stamped the sentiment (from the 'Labels to Love' set), punched it out with the 'Everyday Label' punch and glued the label inside.  

Card number three also uses products from the 'Carols of Christmas' bundle - the sky detail and tree dies from the 'Card Front Builder' die set.  I love the dramatic black and white with a touch of Old Olive!  I made a Basic Black A6 card base and cut out the sky detail at the top of the card.  I die cut the trees and stamped and die cut the sentiment oval.  I used an MFT Die-namics 'Snow Drifts' die to cut my snow, I adhered the trees behind and popped up the oval.  In the SU! A/W catalogue I spied this 'make simple stars to add to your creations with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies' tip - a tip I acted on by cutting out Silver Glimmer Paper stars to add some twinkle!

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I cut a strip of tree design paper from the 'Merry Little Christmas' DSP pack.  This paper has black trees printed on a white background but I altered the paper.  I used a brayer to apply Old Olive ink over the white - being able to colour the paper with any ink colour is  marvellous eh?!  After gluing the strip of paper to the white panel I drew a line above it with a black Sharpie marker and stamped the sentiment.  The envelope is simply decorated with die cut trees.

A lovely afternoon and a few much needed Christmas cards to add to my box - time very well spent!

Supplies for snowflakes card:
Stamps: SU! 'So Many Scallops' set, Penny Black 'Beautiful Season', My Cute Stamps 'Let It Snow!' set
CS: PaperMania 7" x 5" white card blank, SU! Early Espresso, Whisper White (thick & regular) & Copper Foil Sheet
Patterned paper: SU! 'Year of Cheer' Specialty DSP pack
Ink: SU! Early Espresso
Tools: SU! 'Winter Wonder' embossing folder, SU! circle punches, SU! 'Stitched Shapes' & 'Layering Squares' Framelits die sets, water spritzer bottle
Embellishments & accessories: SU! silver ribbon, rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Supplies for 'Deck the Halls' card:
Stamps: SU! 'Carols of Christmas' & 'Labels to Love' sets
CS: SU! Old Olive, Real Red & Whisper White, Gold Glimmer Paper
Ink: SU! Real Red
Tools: SU! 'Card Front Builder' Thinlits die set, 'Layering Squares' Framelits die set, 'Everyday Label' punch, 1/8" circle punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for trees 'Merry Christmas' card:
Stamps: SU! 'Hang Your Stocking' set, Hero Arts 'Very Merry Christmas' set
CS: SU! Basic Black, Old Olive  & Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper
Patterned paper: SU! 'Merry Little Christmas' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Old Olive, black Sharpie marker
Tools: SU! 'Card Front Builder' & 'Mini Treat Bag' Thinlits & 'Stitched Shapes' Framelits die sets, MFT Die-namics 'Snow Drifts' die set, brayer
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals
Ruth

Roses Thanks Blueprints Card

My lovely friend Lesley gave me some M & C Boutique dies from the Works, a Rose Design die and a pack of Swirl Square nesting dies, what a sweetheart!  I used the pretty Rose Design die to make Lesley a thanks card.

I cut the die out of Whisper White CS and using sponge daubers I added Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Sweet Sugarplum and Rich Razzleberry inks to colour the die cut shape.  I really liked the coloured outline but I decided to go a step further and use the outline die cut shape as a stencil so I could get coloured solid leaves and roses too.  I held the die cut in place on a piece of Whisper White CS, added ink colours, again using sponge daubers and then glued the outline shape on top.  Hmmm, because I'd used the shape as a stencil I'd got some ink haloing around the image.  It looked OK, just a soft smudgy halo but I decided I'd fussy cut around the die cut outline shape anyway.  A few quick flicks with daubers around the edges took care of any stray white bits!

Now I'd got my main image sorted I needed to design the card.  I turned to my trusty MFT 'Blueprints 14' die set which makes coming up with a layout SO fast and easy.  After making the Rich Razzleberry 5 1/4" card base and die cutting the card front elements I only had to arrange and adhere everything in place.  I popped up the roses and added a rhinestone jewel to the centre of each rose.

Here's the inside of the card.  I love that the Blueprints 14 die set elements are perfectly sized and proportioned, it really does make creating a card quick and easy!

I added a patterned paper strip to the front of the envelope and popped up a die cut name label.

Supplies:
Stamps: 'Thanks' from SU! 'Live Your Dream' set, 'Thanks So Much' from SU! 'Simply Sketched' set
CS: SU! Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sugarplum & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Blooms & Bliss' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry & Sweet Sugarplum
Tools: M & C Boutique 'Rose Design' die, MFT Die-namics 'Blueprints 14' die set, Sizzix 'Card, Fancy Frame Flip-Its #2' Framelits die set, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals
Ruth

Embossed Silver Heart Happy Anniversary Card

I have been so ill with a nasty cough and virus for the last 2 weeks which meant that due to being completely wiped out and feeling really unwell I have done absolutely nothing at all.  It was our wedding anniversary this week and, of course, I wasn't prepared and hadn't made a card in good time.  Working on the 'better late than never' principle I finally managed to spend some time in my craft room to make a card for Owen.

The SU! Memories and More 'Color Theory Card Pack' proved really useful and enabled me to create the card without having to think too much, thank goodness!  Once I'd chosen the elements from the card pack I made a Berry Burst mini gift bag as an envelope and made a card base to fit inside measuring 5" x 3 1/2".  To decorate the gift bag envelope I die cut the heart border from a strip of white CS, adhered a piece of white CS behind and inlaid silver foil hearts into the strip.  I offset two 'for you' die cuts to give a shadow effect.  Here's the card and the gift bag envelope together.

Here's just the card.  I attached the circle paper panel to the background panel using brads before adhering the whole thing to the front of the card base.  I die cut a silver foil heart and embossed it with the 'Falling Petals' embossing folder.  I cut two plain white hearts as well and stacked all three hearts together for dimension and I popped up the heart.  I stamped and die cut the sentiment banner, offsetting a silver foil banner behind the white one and popped that up also.

Here's the inside of the card.

Late though it was, at least Owen got a hand made anniversary card!

Supplies:
Stamps: 'Happy Anniversary' sentiment from SU! 'Cheer and Wishes' set, 'All My Love'  from 'Sincere Sentiments' magazine freebie set
CS: SU! Berry Burst & Whisper White, SU! silver foil, SU! Memories & More 'Color Theory Card Pack'
Ink: SU! Berry Burst
Tools: SU! 'Falling Petals' embossing folder, 'Mini Treat Bag' Thinlits die set, paper piercer
Embellishments & accessories: silver brads, SU! Dimensionals
Ruth

Snowflake Trio Merry Christmas Card

Snowflakes are very much a favourite motif for me and I always enjoy creating snowflake Christmas cards.  I've used pretty snowflake dies and stamps plus some Dapper Denim ombre paper, all products from the SU! 'Color Theory' suite of products.  Some silver ribbon and rhinestones add a touch of sparkle too.

I started off by making a Dapper Denim A6 sized card base and adhered the Whisper White CS and ombre paper panels plus the ribbon and bow.  I cut out three snowflakes using dies from the 'Seasonal Layers' Thinlits die set, punched out small circles and glued those behind the snowflake centres.  I popped up the snowflakes and the stamped and die cut sentiment oval.  Whilst I had all the supplies out I decided to make another card the same.  I'm also planning to make more of this design but in different colours.  I'm really going to have to make multiples of cards as I definitely won't have the time to make my Christmas cards all different this year!

Here's the inside and the envelope.  The snowflakes and sentiment label were stamped using Dapper Denim ink full strength and stamped off once to tie in with the ombre design of the paper on the front of the card.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Colorful Seasons', 'Hang Your Stocking' & 'Labels to Love' sets
CS: SU! Dapper Denim & Whisper White (thick & regular)
Patterned paper: SU! 'Color Theory' DSP stack
Ink: SU! Dapper Denim
Tools: SU! 'Seasonal Layers' Thinlits & 'Stitched Shapes' Framelits die sets, 'Everyday Label' punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! 1/8" silver ribbon, rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals
Ruth

Whitewashed Wood Background Tree Happy Christmas Card

This card is my CASEd version of a card shown on page 137 of the SU! 2017 - 2018 Annual Catalogue.  My friend Jan was part way through her version of this card when I called round to drop off her SU! order.  I thought it would be fun to also have a go at the design and then compare versions afterwards!

For the whitewashed wood background, I embossed a panel of Crumb Cake CS with the 'Pinewood Planks' embossing folder and applied Whisper White Craft ink over the top using a brayer.  I heat set the ink using a heat tool, added the ribbon and glued the panel to the front of an A6 sized Crumb Cake card base.  The catalogue card has a silver metallic doily but I substituted a fabulous silver foil snowflake - a new embellishment that will be available from the upcoming SU! 2017 Autumn/Winter catalogue - there's 24 snowflakes in a pack, 12 silver and 12 gold!

I cut the snowflake in half and adhered it to a die cut Whisper White circle so that the snowflake showed up better.  I stamped and heat embossed the tree with white embossing powder on a panel of Tranquil Tide CS, added some silver sequins and popped the Tranquil Tide panel up.  I stamped the sentiment and cut it out with an oval 'Stitched Shapes' die and popped that up to finish the front.

Here's the inside and the envelope.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Lovely as a Tree', 'Labels to Love' & 'Greetings of the Season' sets
CS: SU! Crumb Cake, Tranquil Tide & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Tranquil Tide & Whisper White Craft ink
Tools: SU! 'Pinewood Planks' Dynamic embossing folder, 'Stitched Shapes' Framelits die set, brayer, heat tool
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Whisper White embossing powder, Whisper White & silver metallic ribbon, Foil Snowflake, silver sequins, Dimensionals

Ruth

Fluttery Butterfly For You Card

This is a thank you card I've made for my friend Jan using Lost Lagoon, Pool Party and Whisper White as my colour combo.  I demonstrated the SU! 'You Move Me' stamps and dies at card group and Jan loved the look.  As I'd got a stamped image already from the demo I'd done at card group I decided to use it to make a card for Jan.

I die cut a mini treat bag as an envelope, die cut the grid and embellished the bag. I die cut the 'For You' twice, once from Lost Lagoon CS and again from Whisper White CS and I offset the two shapes when I adhered them to give a shadow effect.

Here's the card and treat bag envelope side by side.

Here's just the card.  I secured a loop of ribbon behind the Lost Lagoon mat layer to make it easy to slide the card out of the bag.

Here's the inside of the card with a trio of sweet stamped butterflies.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'You Move Me' & 'Rose Wonder' sets
CS: SU! Lost Lagoon, Pool Party & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Lost Lagoon & Pool Party
Tools: SU! 'Move Me', 'Mini Treat Bag' & 'Rose Garden' Thinlits die sets
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Lost Lagoon ribbon, rhinestone jewel
Ruth