April 2016 Card Group Projects

Thursday 7th April was my birthday and the date for our monthly card group meeting.  What a great way to spend a birthday - crafting with a bunch of friends plus hand made cards, tea, cake and pressies!

Back in February I used the SU! Rose Wonder stamp set and matching dies for two of the card group projects and I told my ladies they'd be seeing them again for sure!  This time I've opted to use a die cut rose shape as a stencil.  I placed the stencil on the card front and kept it in place with a couple of pieces of low tack tape.  I used ink blending sponges to apply Peeled Paint and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks through the stencil and to the whole card front.  I adjusted the dabbing pressure to get some shading.  I completed the card front with a stamped sentiment and a liberal spritzing of Champagne Shimmer Mist - although that doesn't show up in the photo at all, in real life the card has a lovely sparkle!  A very rare one layer card from me!

I stamped a sentiment and used only part of the die cut stencil to decorate the inside of the card and the envelope.

So - what to do with that leftover inked rose die cut stencil?  Use it to make another card of course - the ladies got a bonus fourth card this month!  I made a 5 1/2" square Pink Pirouette card base, glued the die cut rose in place, added the Old Olive dotty paper strip and popped up the sentiment label.  The sentiment label is a Spellbinders Grommet Tag die cut shape and I wanted to place something over the holes in the tag.  I have a Sizzix Sizzlits gift die that has dots the perfect size - just a few passes through my Big Shot and I had enough dots for everyone at card group!

Inside I stamped an old sentiment stamp that has been in my stash for ever and used the very pretty rose image from the retired SU! 'Elements of Style' set.

For the next card I've used the large SU! 'Definitely Dahlia' background stamp - what a beautiful, bold bloom image!  I stamped part of the image at the bottom left of the white panel, added the die cut 'Best Wishes' sentiment at the top and separated the two elements with a narrow strip of silver ribbon over the top of an Elegant Eggplant CS strip.  I attched the white panel to the front of an Elegant Eggplant A6 card base.  It doesn't show up in the photo but I added a touch of sparkle to the dahlia by painting the white areas of the flower with the clear Wink of Stella pen.  More sparkle was supplied by the addition of a few rhinestones.

Here's the inside and the envelope.

For the final card I CASEd this fab card I came across made by Lisa Folley at Crafting Cottage.  This card really caught my eye and I was very happy when I realised I owned all the necessary stuff for me to make my own version!  I'm also happy to dig out long neglected items like my SU! Lattice Bigz die and my Craft Tonic butterfly punch - new crafty goodies are great but it's fun to show some love to old stash items too!  I used Bermuda Bay along with the white for my colour combo - I cannot seem to get a decent photo showing the correct greeny/blue Bermuda Bay colour, hey ho!  I popped up the die cut doily and the lattice shape and added aqua gems to the punched butterflies.

Here's the inside and the envelope, simply decorated with a lace border stamp.  I decided to leave this card without a sentiment for now.  I can always add a suitable sentiment later on when I know what I'll be using the card for.

Supplies for stencilled rose Happy Birthday card:
Stamps: SU! 'Rose Wonder' set, Hero Arts 'Messages with Flourish' set
CS: PaperMania A6 white card blank
Ink: Tim Holtz Peeled Paint & Worn Lipstick Distress Inks, SU! Mossy Meadow
Tools: SU! 'Rose Garden' Thinlits die set, Smoothies ink blending sponges
Embellishments & accessories: Champagne Shimmer Mist 

Supplies for die cut rose Birthday cheer and wishes card:
Stamps: SU! 'Cheer & Wishes' & 'Elements of Style' sets, inside sentiment from Hero Arts
CS: SU! Pink Pirouette & Whisper White 
Patterned paper: SU! Old Olive Polka Dot Parade DSP
Ink: Tim Holtz Peeled Paint & Worn Lipstick Distress Inks
Tools: SU! 'Rose Garden' Thinlits die set, Spellbinders 'Grommet Tags' die, Sizzix Sizzlits gift die
Embellishments & accessories: Woodware self adhesive white lace ribbon, Prima flowers, PaperMania black brad, SU! pearl jewels, Dimensionals

Supplies for dahlia Best Wishes card:
Stamps: SU! 'Definitely Dahlia' background stamp, SU! 'Beautiful Birthday'
CS: SU! Elegant Eggplant & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Elegant Eggplant
Tools: Sue Wilson 'Best Wishes' die, 1/4" circle punch
Embellishments & accessories: Wink of Stella clear pen, narrow silver ribbon, rhinestone jewels

Supplies for doily, lattice & butterflies card:
Stamps: SU! 'Viola's Lace' stamp (unmounted from wheel)
CS: SU! Bermuda Bay & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Bermuda Bay
Tools: SU! 'Lattice' Bigz die, Cheery Lynn 'French Pastry' doily die, Craft Tonic multi detail butterfly punch, Crafts Too 5" x 5" 'Dots' embossing folder
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania aqua gems, 3D foam tape & pads