Flower Happy Birthday Card

Having recently acquired the SU! 'Petal Potpourri' stamp set I decided I absolutely had to have the 'Crazy About You' stamp set as well!  After I received the set in the post I dashed up to my craft room to create a card.  I couldn't resist playing with one of the new SU! colours as well - Granny Apple Green - I think it's going to be a favourite of mine!

I used the MFT 'Blueprints 18' die set and used one of the suggested sketches - I used the sketch at the bottom right but I tweaked it a little. 

The A6 sized card base was made with SU! Bermuda Bay CS and I used a die from the 'Blueprints 18' set to cut out a diagonal row of holes and I glued a piece of white CS inside the card behind the holes.  I used dies from the set to cut the white and green panels but I did trim them a smidge to better suit the front of an A6 sized card.  I embossed the Granny Apple Green piece with the SU! 'Petal Burst' embossing folder.  I love the texture this folder gives and I think it echoes the shape of the stamped leaves perfectly!  I stamped the flower in Bermuda Bay three times, fussy cut three layers and popped the flower up.  I die cut and stacked three buttons, added some Bermuda Bay twine and glued the button to the flagged banner.  I stamped the sentiment, cut it into a strip, used the SU! 'Banner' punch to create a flagged end and glued it in place.  The final finishing touch to the card front was a couple of rhinestone jewels.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I was very happy how this card turned out, bright and cheery which is ideal for a birthday card!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Crazy About You' set, Stampendous 'Sending Wishes'
CS: SU! Bermuda Bay, Granny Apple Green & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Bermuda Bay & Granny Apple Green
Tools: MFT 'Blueprints 18' die set, SU! 'Petal Burst' embossing folder, SU! 'Layering Circles' & 'Stitched Shapes' Framelits die sets, SU! 'Banner' punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals
Ruth

Sparkled Tree Merry Christmas Card

Some unexpected free time meant I got to play in my craft room and I went mad and decided to make a Christmas card!  I'm taking part in the CHNC challenge 385.  It's an anything goes challenge with the option of adding a tree.

I've used SU! Island Indigo and Night of Navy as my colour combo.  I stamped a tone on tone background of snowflakes and I heat embossed the sentiment. I revived an oldie but goodie technique of using double sided adhesive sheet to add glitter to an entire stamped panel.  I added gem brads to the corners of the image panel and I've popped the panel up.

Here's a closer look at the sparkle.

Here's the inside of the card and the envelope.

I was woefully unprepared last Christmas so I really want to make an effort to get some Christmas cards made throughout the year so I don't have it all to do in November and December.  We'll see how that goes!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Lovely as a Tree'  & 'Greetings of the Season' sets, Woodware 'Snowflakes & Sparkles' stamp, Stampendous 'Snow Brackets' stamp
CS: SU! Island Indigo, Night of Navy & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Island Indigo & Night of Navy, navy Sharpie marker
Tools: heat tool, paper piercer
Embellishments & accessories: gem brads, double sided adhesive sheet, SU! Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Dimensionals
Ruth

Hennah Flower Just Saying Hello Card - Inkspirational 160 Purple & Gold

I haven't taken part in challenges for such a long time and I'd like to try and play along with a few every now and again.  I used to be on the design team at the Inkspirational challenge blog - I stepped down back in 2013 - I cannot believe it was that long ago!  Anyway, I thought I'd check to see what my old friends were up to over there!  The current challenge is purple and gold - hmmm, I'd usually put silver with purple so that was challenging me immediately to do something different!  Now I've completed the card I love purple with gold - it's very regal!

Running out of storage space in my craft room means a clearout has become absolutely necessary.  I've already sorted out quite a lot that I'm happy to let go to new homes but I have a big 'undecided' pile full of items I haven't used much but I just can't bring myself to say goodbye to them.  I'm making myself use items from the 'undecided' pile to help me make my mind up one way or another!  The items for this card are the AlteNew 'Hennah Elements' stamp and die sets and the SU! 'Victorian Lace' background stamp.  A firm decision has been made - they are staying in my stash!

I bet many of us crafters can remember the 'oooooh' moment when we first experienced heat embossing.  As I was embossing my flowers, leaves and sentiment with gold powder I still had 'oooooh' moments - clearly for me it never gets old!  I embossed the flowers on SU! Rich Razzleberry CS and the leaves on vellum CS.  After die cutting them I snipped the petals of the flowers and shaped them a bit and I popped up the small flower.  I used stitched square dies for my layers and stamped the lace background stamp on the Rich Razzleberry square using Rich Razzleberry ink for a lovely tone on tone look.  I added a few gold nailheads as a finishing touch which gives a tad more gold shine to the card.

To decorate the inside of the card and the envelope I stamped the lace background stamp onto Whisper White CS, cut two strips, glued them in place and added lines drawn with a Rich Razzleberry marker.

Supplies:
Stamps: AlteNew 'Hennah Elements', SU! 'Victorian Lace' background stamp, Hero Arts 'Messages with Flourish' set
CS: SU! Rich Razzleberry & Whisper White, SU! vellum
Ink: VersaMark, SU! Rich Razzleberry
Tools: Altenew 'Hennah Elements' die set, Memory Box 'Stitched Square Layers' die set, heat tool
Embellishments & accessories: gold nailheads, SU! gold embossing powder, Dimensionals
Ruth

Floral Just For You Birthday Card

The SU! 'Petal Potpourri' set was still out on my desk so I thought I'd ink it up to create a birthday card to go in my stash.

Lemon Lime Twist is becoming a favourite colour of mine but Berry Burst is my absolute favourite colour from the SU! In Colours introduced last year and they look fab when paired together.  Here's the card and envelope together.

Here's the card.  I stamped just the words portion of the sentiment (from the SU! 'You're So Sweet' set) and cut that out using a cross stitched rectangle die.  I used Berry Burst ink full strength and stamped off once to get the two different shades of the flowers.  One of the flowers in the 'Petite Petals' set goes really well with the flower I chose from the 'Petal Potpourri' set so I used that as a flower centre for my large blooms.  After stamping the flowers I punched them all out, snipped between the petals and did some shaping.  I stamped two large flowers in Lemon Lime Twist ink, punched those out and snipped a few petals out to act as leaves.  I added pearls to the flower centres and popped both flowers up.

Here's the inside of the card.

Here's the envelope.  I used the envelope punch board to make the envelope with a piece of 'Fresh Florals' DSP and added a strip of Lemon Lime Twist CS.  I die cut the sweet little bow from the SU! 'Mini Treat Bag' die set, glued it to the die cut stitched rectangle die cut and popped the rectangle up.

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Petal Potpourri', 'Petite Petals' & 'You're So Sweet' sets, Dovecraft 'Floral Muse' set
CS: SU! Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Fresh Florals' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Berry Burst & Lemon Lime Twist
Tools: SU! 'Flower Medallion' & 'Petite Petals' punches, SU! 'Mini Treat Bag' die set, Memory Box 'Cross Stitched Frame' rectangle die set, Marianne Design Craftable 'Basic Stitch Passepartout Rectangle' die set, SU! Envelope Punch Board
Embellishments & accessories: SU! pearls, Dimensionals
Ruth

Lacy Bloom Thank You Card - FMS336

I wanted to make a thank you card for a friend and I knew I wanted to use the SU! 'Petal Potpourri' stamp set which I've recently acquired from ebay.  Pinterest has got a lot to answer for - I didn't buy the set when it was current but recently I came across some lovely cards made with the set on Pinterest and decided I just had to add 'Petal Potpourri' to my collection!

SU! have had a colour revamp and while it's sad to say goodbye to some colours a revamp also means that new colours will be introduced, plus some previous In Colours may come back to take their place in the core colour collections.  I'm so happy that Coastal Cabana and Blackberry Bliss are returning so that's what decided me on my colour combo.

So, card type decided, colours decided, stamp set decided but what about a layout?  I haven't followed a sketch challenge for ages and I liked what I saw at this weeks Freshly Made Sketches challenge so I was all set to get creating!

I've turned the sketch to a landscape orientation for my card.  I embossed the white layer with the SU! 'Petal Burst' embossing folder.  I stamped the 'Thank You from the 'Petal Palette' set onto Blackberry Bliss CS in VersaMark ink, heat embossed with white embossing powder and cut it out with a label die.  I stamped the lacy bloom in Blackberry Bliss ink, punched it out and offset it over a punched Blackberry Bliss CS shape.  I stamped a flower centre from the SU! 'Mixed Bunch' set in Coastal Cabana ink, punched it out, inked the edges of the circle and added a Blackberry Bliss dot centre.  I popped up the flower and tucked some die cut leaves behind.  To complete the card front I added some stamped speckles and scattered on a few silver sequins.

The SU! Stamparatus came out to assist with stamping the envelope front and the inside of my card - it makes it so easy!  I used a lacy border and a lacy frame to echo the lacy look of the bloom on the card front.   I deliberately chose the 'a little kindness goes a long way' sentiment as the friend I'm giving this to reached out in kindness to someone and I know it made a big impact.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Petal Potpourri', 'Mixed Bunch', 'Petal Palette', 'Gorgeous Grunge', 'Delicate Details' and 'Kinda Eclectic' sets, My Mind's Eye Remember 'Hattie' clear set
CS: SU! Blackberry Bliss, Coastal Cabana & Whisper White thick
Ink: SU! Blackberry Bliss & Coastal Cabana, VersaMark
Tools: SU! Stamparatus, SU! 'Petal Burst' embossing folder, SU! 'Flower Medallion' punch, Poppystamps 'Small Marianna Vine Background' die, Spellbinders 'Labels Trio' die, heat tool
Embellishments & accessories: SU! white embossing powder, silver sequins, Dimensionals
Ruth

May 2018 Card Group Projects

It was our May card group meeting today - postponed for a week due to me being ill with a nasty flu virus.  My card group ladies had told me last time that they wanted to make another card using a Tim Holtz Mixed Media die plus a double dutch fold card.  Also, another card was suggested - a dangly tent fold card - but I decided to save that one for our next meeting.

For this card I've used a beautiful, elegant die from the Sizzix 'Mixed Media' Thinlits die set.  I applied Mustard Seed and Broken China Distress Inks to a piece of Whisper White Thick CS using ink duster brushes, adhered the inked piece behind the die cut panel, stamped the sentiment and attached the panel to a black A6 sized card base.  The black flower and leaves were cut out using dies from the Sweet Dixie 'Daisy' set.  I added a small punched circle to the daisy centre that had been inked with the Distress Inks and glued the stamen shape over the top.  The flower is popped up.  This card is very similar to the card I designed for card group last month.

After I'd made the card I wanted to do a similar version but this time I applied inks to the die cut panel itself rather than to a separate panel to go behind.

Here's a comparison shot of both cards together. I love the serene feel of the background of the first card but I also love the more dramatic look with the black background.  It's easy enough to do either version so I let the ladies choose which version they wanted to make.  I was so interested to find out if a clear favourite would emerge - and it was a unanimous victory for the first card - all the ladies chose to make the version with the inked background behind the white die cut panel.

I decorated the inside of the cards and the envelopes using the Spellbinders 'Floral Corner One' D-Lites die set.  The die cut can be tricky to get out but it's such a beautiful image it's worth putting in a bit of effort and patience is rewarded!  I always rub a tumble dryer sheet over the die before I cut it and then rub over the die with a die brush on a foam mat to release the shape from the die.

So, onto the double dutch fold card which is a fab card design for using patterned papers.  I've used Tranquil Tide papers from the SU! 'Fresh Florals' DSP pack and paired Tranquil Tide with Pool Party - a great colour combo!  Here's the card closed flat ready to go in an envelope.  

Here's the card open on display.  It's easy to make a double dutch fold card - I love a fancy fold card that's simple to put together!  I made an A6 sized card with the fold at the top, cut 2" off the bottom front of the card, cut an 8 1/4" x 2" strip, scored the strip at 2 1/16" on both ends and glued the strip in place.  The strip of 'ribbon' was cut out in Pool Party CS using a die from the wonderful Memory Box 'Grosgrain Ribbons' die set. I've used stamps from the SU! 'Flower Shop' and 'Petite Petals' sets for the trio of blooms and the leaves were cut using the SU! 'Leaf' punch.  I snipped between each petal, shaped each flower, glued the smaller flowers on top of the larger ones and popped each flower up on the die cut oval layer.

Here's the inside decorated with a stamped and punched birthday sentiment.

Here's the decorated envelope flap.

One morning I was idly browsing on Pinterest whilst leisurely drinking a cup of coffee and I came across two striking cards made by Julie DiMatteo.  I visited Julie's blog post and found out that the cards contained a secret - a gift card holder pocket.  Julie has kindly provided a wonderful video tutorial.  I was so taken by this simple but fab design and decided I just had to include it as a project this month - it was a big hit with my card group ladies!

This is also one of those designs that lend themselves to using patterned paper.  As the 'Fresh Florals' pack was still out on my desk I chose the zingy Lemon Lime Twist floral paper from the pack and added Night of Navy and Whisper White to form my colour combo.  Like Julie, I used the bold 'Stylized Birthday' sentiment stamp and I embellished the panel with gem centred, punched and shaped flowers.

Here's the card open on display.

Here's the inside showing the sentiment panel and the gift card pocket.

Here's a close up of the gift card holder pocket.  You could easily place banknotes inside instead of a gift card.

I used the lovely floral image from the SU! 'Floral Phrases' set to decorate the inside of the card and the envelope flap.

Next time we'll be making a dangly tent fold card, a bridge fold/U fold card and we'll be revisiting the water stamping technique.  I'm looking forward to it already!

Supplies for Best Wishes card:
Stamps: SU! 'Petal Palette' set
CS: SU! Basic Black & Whisper White
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Black Soot, Broken China & Mustard Seed Distress Inks
Tools: Sizzix 'Mixed Media' Thinlits die set, Sweet Dixie 'Daisy' die set, Spellbinders 'Floral Corner One' D-Lites set, Inkylicious ink duster brushes
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for double dutch fold card:
Stamps: SU! 'Flower Shop', 'Petite Petals' & 'Label Me Pretty' sets
CS: SU! Pool Party, Tranquil Tide & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Fresh Florals' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Pool Party & Tranquil Tide
Tools: SU! 'Pansy', 'Petite Petals', 'Leaf' & 'Pretty Label' punches, Petite Oval Nestabilities die set
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for Happy Birthday gift card holder card:
Stamps: SU! 'Floral Phrases' set, SU! 'Stylized Happy Birthday' stamp, Stampendous 'Sending Wishes'
CS: SU! Lemon Lime Twist & Night of Navy 
Patterned paper: SU! 'Fresh Florals' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Lemon Lime Twist & Night of Navy
Tools: SU! 'Layering Squares' Framelits die set, SU! 'Boho Blossoms' punch, SU! 1" circle punch, SU! paper trimmer
Embellishments & accessories: self adhesive gems, navy Sharpie marker
Ruth