Kool Kitty Musings

More Farm Fresh Flowers

Morning!

Following on from my card a few weeks ago for the Spring-themed Daring Cardmakers challenge, I made another similar card while I had all the supplies and die cuts out on my desk:

Stamp, stencil, and die combo: Pinkfresh Studio - Farm Fresh
Dies: The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics, Pinkfresh Studio - Pretty Frames 2 dies (r), The Greetery - Curio: Divider and Details II

Once again I used the same technique of heat embossing the Farm Fresh stamps on white cardstock, using the stencils to blend in the spring colours of ink, and adding some watered down Antique Linen around the edge of the die cuts to make the white stand out a bit more.

The background to the card is part of the same watercolour wash I created with Distress Inks. I also used a remaining piece of this watercolour background to stamp the sentiment banner on.

I also found the perfect "label" die for the Farm Fresh sentiment in the form of a left-over cut-out from using the Curio Divider and Details die from The Greetery.

And this time I used the textured jar die in the Farm Fresh set, cut from Lemon Tart cardstock with a little Picket Fence ink blended over to soften it down a little.

I also love how the white frame from Pinkfresh brings everything together and adds a little balance to all those colours.

Until next time, happy crafting!

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Pinkfresh Studio - Farm Fresh stamps Shop at: SBC	Pinkfresh Studio - Farm Fresh dies Shop at: SBC	The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Pinkfresh Studio - Pretty Frames 2 dies (r) Shop at: MISC
The Greetery - Curio: Divider and Details II dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Pinkfresh Studio - Farm Fresh stencils Shop at: SBC	Distress ink pad - Antique Linen Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Distress ink pad - Fossilized Amber Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Distress ink pad - Picket Fence Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Distress ink pad - Saltwater Taffy Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Butter ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Carrot ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Noble Fir ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Blush Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Cheeky ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Leafy ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Lilac ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Tropic Teal ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)
Versamark ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SHC (UK)	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ (UK)	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC | SBC
PTI - Lemon Tart cardstock Shop at: MISC	Jackdaw Express - AM534 - Premium White Watercolour Card 300gsm Shop at: AZ (UK)	Hero Arts - White embossing powder Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Bearly Art - Precision Craft Glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: SBC	Waffle Flower - 6.5 x 8.5 Grip Mat Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)
Ranger - Mini Mister Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Waffle Flower - Shader Brush Size 1 - Double-Ended (Pack of 5) Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Royal Langnickel - Zen watercolour round wash brush set Shop at: AZ (UK)	Crafter's Companion - Gemini machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC

DCM - Happy Easter

Happy Friday!

Over on the Daring Cardmakers blog, Rizwana is challenging us to create a card celebrating the Easter weekend.

Well, I had one last Easter card design in mind for this year, so this challenge came at the right time!

Papers: Simple Stories - Spring Farmhouse (r)
Stamp and stencil combo: The Greetery - Bunny Hop
Dies: The Greetery - Bunny Hop, Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Rectangles, Lawn Fawn - Zig Zag Rectangle (r)

I started out by stencilling the Bunny Hop stencils onto Pale Rose cardstock, adding the stamped greenery, then cutting out the bunny wreath with the matching die.

Then it was time to add in details with coloured pencils, a black pen for the eyes and noses, and a white pen for the tufty tails.

I went round the houses a bit on what to use the pink wreath against.

But finally found some more rustic looking spring papers from Simple Stories.

I created a cream pinked edge background with the Zig Zag dies from Lawn Fawn, and layered up pink floral and blue gingham papers, adding some white paint splatter and ageing up the paper edges.

I then stamped the sentiment from the Bunny Hop set inside the bunny wreath on the same Pale Rose cardstock and that's the card done. :)

Make sure you check out the other Easter projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Bunny Hop stamps and stencils Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Bunny Hop dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Rectangles dies Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Zig Zag Rectangle dies (r) Shop at: SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Carrot ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Freshly Cut Grass ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	MFT - Cement Gray ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	MFT - Grout Gray ink pad (r) Shop at: SHC (UK)
The Stamp Market - Sunshine ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ (UK)	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Pale Rose Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Simple Stories - Spring Farmhouse - 6x8 paper pad (r) Shop at: SBC	Dr. Pj. Martin's Bleed Proof White watercolour Shop at: AZ (UK)	Uniball Signo White pen Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Bearly Art - Precision Craft Glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: SBC	Waffle Flower - 6.5 x 8.5 Grip Mat Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Waffle Flower - Shader Brush Size 1 - Double-Ended (Pack of 5) Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Crafter's Companion - Gemini machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC

Hello Spring

Morning all!

I'm over on the Seven Hills Crafts blog today with a card that certainly did not go according to plan!

I'm not sure about you, but every so often the card I end up with bears little to no resemblance to the original idea I had in mind.

It can be frustrating, as these projects have a high chance of ending up in the bin...

I think today's card worked out OK, but it was definitely touch and go!

It all started with my plan to use the large die in The Greetery's Print Shop Garden Goodness set.

Stamps: Memory Box - Springtime Typewriter Sentiments (r), The Greetery - Print Shop: Garden Goodness
Dies: The Greetery - Print Shop: Garden Goodness, Spellbinders - Postage Edge Rectangles, The Greetery - Scripty Hello

I've had the full Garden Goodness set of supplies since it was originally released, but hadn't yet managed to use the main coordinating die that cuts out all the stencilled elements in one pass.

So, I cut the die from an A2 panel of white cardstock, then stencilled and stamped all the steps onto the die cuts while they were still held inside the A2 panel on a low-tack cutting mat.

The plan was to go with bright spring shades and to then mount the die-cut elements on a dark contrasting background.

Well, I tried every shade of cardstock I had to hand, and it just wasn't working for me.

So I grabbed some Wheat (kraft) cardstock from Concord & 9th and thought that would do the trick, surely the elements would pop on kraft with a little dimension behind them.

Nope, things were still looking too flat, and by now everything was glued down. I was tempted to use the Garden Goodness Layers die to change up the colours of some of the elements, but I'd just washed the stencils and they were still drying...

So out came the white gel pen and I really went to town, adding dots and dashes galore.

That definitely created a fresher look - but also a very busy background.

However, a busy background is often the perfect way to incorporate a nice bright and bold sentiment like the Scripty Hello die from The Greetery.

This is a really handy sentiment die that includes the shadow element and can be paired with other greetings, such as the spring sentiment I stamped on one of the PreText Banner dies cut from rustic white cardstock.

But this card was still needing balance, so I mounted the A2 panel on Peacock cardstock from Concord & 9th and that basically rescued the card!

I luckily had a larger postage die in my stash that added a nice border to the card and brought everything together.

Phew! Hopefully my next project will go more according to plan...

Until next time, happy crafting!

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Memory Box - Springtime Typewriter Sentiments stamps (r) Shop at: MISC	The Greetery - Print Shop: Garden Goodness stamps and stencils Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Print Shop: Garden Goodness die Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Spellbinders - Postage Edge Rectangles dies Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC | SBC
The Greetery - Scripty Hello dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Lawn Fawn - Bubblegum ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Cilantro ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Freshly Cut Grass ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Jalapeño ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Sunflower ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Aspen ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Blush Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Peony ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Poolside ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Raspberry ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Tropic Teal ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Waterfall ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)
Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC | SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Simply White Shop at: AZ (UK)	Uniball Signo White pen Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Bearly Art - Precision Craft Glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: SBC	Waffle Flower - 6.5 x 8.5 Grip Mat Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Waffle Flower - Shader Brush Size 1 - Double-Ended (Pack of 5) Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Crafter's Companion - Gemini machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC

Primrose Garden Greetings

Morning all!

I'm over on the Seven Hills Crafts blog today with a card project featuring a great die set for those who love an impactful card and florals galore!

Concord & 9th's Primrose Garden die set (and accompanying stamps) recently came back into stock in the store.

So armed with my pack of assorted Concord & 9th cardstock and a folder of cardstock scraps, I set about die-cutting the elements I'd need.

Stamp: The Greetery - Sign Off Sentiments
Dies: The Greetery - Sign Off Sentiments, Concord & 9th - Primrose Garden

This die set comes with a kind of shadow background outline and a separate stitched insert die that you can impress into the outline shape or your card front to create a guide for the placement of the elements.

It's very handy for such a busy card with lots of elements you're layering up. I also found it useful for totting up how many of each element I'd need to cut to get the full look.

Here's a list of the Concord & 9th cardstock colours I've used:

• Main flower: Mushroom, Nectar, Grapefruit
• Daisies: White and Sunflower
• Posies: Tidepool
• Peony: Dragon Fruit, Sugar Pea, Sunflower
• Leafy branches: Lemongrass
• Berry branches: Evergreen and Cream*
• Large leaves: Aspen*
• Background outline: Sea Glass

* Cardstock from my stash

Once everything's cut out, it's a good time to put a podcast or audiobook on and just work your way through sticking and assembling all the pieces.

I like to use a large acrylic stamp block to hold down anything that needs a bit more pressure.

For more contrast, I mounted the Primrose Garden florals on a grey card base with a little stitched detail around the outside and added white Nuvo drops to the centres of the posies.

The greetings in the matching Primrose Garden stamp set are really handy and coordinate with the banner dies included, but I wanted to keep as much of the florals and foliage on display for this card. So instead, I used one of the more compact Sign-Off Sentiments from The Greetery, and it was the perfect finishing touch.

Until next time, happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Sign Off Sentiments stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Concord & 9th - Primrose Garden dies Shop at: C&9 | SBC | SHC (UK)	The Greetery - Sign Off Sentiments dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Lil' Inker Designs - Silly Stitched dies (r) Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ (UK)	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Taffy Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC	Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)
The Stamp Market - Aspen cardstock Shop at: MISC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Simply White Shop at: AZ (UK)	Bearly Art - Precision Craft Glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: SBC	Waffle Flower - 6.5 x 8.5 Grip Mat Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Crafter's Companion - Gemini machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC

DCM - Spring is in the air!

Morning all!

It's my turn to set the challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog this week, and of course it had to be spring-themed! :D

Stamp, stencil and die combo: Pinkfresh Studio - Farm Fresh
Sentiment stamp: Hello Bluebird - Spring Banner Script
Dies: Pinkfresh Studio - Pretty Frames 2 (r)

This project was the perfect opportunity to pair the Farm Fresh stamp, stencil and die combo from Pinkfresh Studio with some older supplies.

I started out by creating a peachy watercolour wash with Saltwater Taffy and Fossilized Amber Distress Inks on water colour card.

While that was drying, I ran the Pretty Frames 2 die from Pinkfresh Studio four times through my die cutting machine with Marshmallow Cardshoppe to create a stack of frames for this card and future projects.

I doubled up each frame to create a pop of dimension and left them to try under a large acrylic block so they'd stay nice and flat.

Then I white-embossed the flower outline stamp on white cardstock and used the stencils to add colour.

Once die cut, I went back with Antique Linen Distress Ink and created a subtle wash around the outside of the embossed lines so that the white outline would stand out a bit better.

I then cut the jars from Pale Rose cardstock and blended some Saltwater Taffy ink around the edges of the textured jar.

I stamped the jar sentiment on a piece of left over watercolour cardstock that has the pink watercolour wash on it, adding a twine bow as a finishing touch.

Then I took a few of the white frames and arranged them on my watercolour cardbase.

I stamped the Hello Spring sentiment from Hello Bluebird inside the frame and then used the other jar die cut to help me arrange the flowers on the card before adding the sentiment jar over the top.

Finally, I added the pink flower and some sparkly sequins.

Make sure you check out the projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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Hello Bluebird - Spring Banner Script stamps Shop at: MISC	Pinkfresh Studio - Farm Fresh stamps Shop at: SBC	Pinkfresh Studio - Farm Fresh dies Shop at: SBC	Pinkfresh Studio - Pretty Frames 2 dies (r) Shop at: MISC
Pinkfresh Studio - Farm Fresh stencils Shop at: SBC	Distress ink pad - Antique Linen Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Distress ink pad - Fossilized Amber Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Distress ink pad - Saltwater Taffy Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Butter ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Carrot ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Noble Fir ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Blush Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Cheeky ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Leafy ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Lilac ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Tropic Teal ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Versamark ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SHC (UK)	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Bazzill Cardshoppe - Pale Rose Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC | SBC	Jackdaw Express - AM534 - Premium White Watercolour Card 300gsm Shop at: AZ (UK)	Hero Arts - White embossing powder Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)
Bearly Art - Precision Craft Glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: SBC	Waffle Flower - 6.5 x 8.5 Grip Mat Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Ranger - Mini Mister Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Waffle Flower - Shader Brush Size 1 - Double-Ended (Pack of 5) Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Royal Langnickel - Zen watercolour round wash brush set Shop at: AZ (UK)
Crafter's Companion - Gemini machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC

Modern Botanical

Morning all!

I'm over on the Seven Hills Crafts blog today with a project featuring the latest addition to the Print Shop family from The Greetery.

As many will know from my past projects, I am a total fan of the Print Shop series of products. I love how easy they are to use to create versatile card designs, with stencils that do most of the heavy lifting, stamps that add the details, and dies that enable you to add dimension.

The new Modern Botanical stamp and stencil set and the matching dies are no different.

Stamp and stencil combo: The Greetery - Print Shop Modern Botanical
Sentiment stamp: The Greetery - Opposites Attract
Dies: The Greetery - Print Shop Modern Botanical, The Greetery - Opposites Attract

I particularly enjoy using Print Shop products on coloured cardstock, so light greys, aqua tones, and of course pale pinks.

For my first outing with the Modern Botanical set, I channelled some whimsical fairytale books from my childhood and went with emerald tones for the leaves and bright shades for the florals.

In addition to the guide included with the stencil and stamp set, I found the video that Betsy created for this set very helpful for the florals to use with the dies. The dies also give you the opportunity to create more colour contrast, as you can use different shades of colour for the corner flowers to make them stand out from the little posies, like I have done here.

I also cut the bell flowers separately and blended purple ink over them with a light hand, and went in with coloured pencils for more details.

You could add more detail to the other flowers with white pen and glossy accent dots too - and of course there's always occasion to add splatter with pearlescent paints or mica sprays.

But with the bright colours I'd used I stopped there, and simply added a bold sentiment as a focal point using the Opposites Attract stamps and matching dies (a die set is also available for the script sentiments in the stamp set, but I've not used it here).

I'm really pleased with how this card turned out - it also reminded me that I should use something other than black ink for my sentiments more often!

Here's to more colourful fun with the Modern Botanicals!

Until next time, happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Opposites Attract stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Print Shop Modern Botanical stamps and stencils Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Opposites Attract dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Print Shop Modern Botanical dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Stamp Market - Emerald Isle ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Fern ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Fuschia ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Island ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Jade ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Lilac ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Melon Orange ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Rosy ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sunshine ink pad Shop at: MISC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Pale Rose Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC | SBC
Bearly Art - Precision Craft Glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: SBC	Waffle Flower - 6.5 x 8.5 Grip Mat Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Waffle Flower - Shader Brush Size 1 - Double-Ended (Pack of 5) Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Crafter's Companion - Gemini machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC

Primrose Garden Mother's Day

Morning all!

I'm just popping on to share the card I made for my mum for this year's Mother's Day.

The occasion called for flowers, so of course a great opportunity to use my new Primrose Garden die set from Concord & 9th:

Stamps: The Greetery - Sign Off Sentiments, WPlus9 - Love Mom (r)
Dies: Concord & 9th - Primrose Garden, The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics, The Greetery - Sign Off Sentiments, Lil' Inker Designs - Silly Stitched (r)

This is the first outing of my Primrose Garden dies, so there was a bit of a learning curve selecting the cardstock colours I wanted to use.

They're all from my amassed stash of Concord & 9th and Stamp Market scraps.

I added some ink blending here and there for extra pop and I went for a rather dramatic focal floral.

I mounted the floral arrangement on a Pale Rose Cardshoppe base edged with a stitching die from Lil' Inkers.

As for the sentiments, I managed to snag a great little Mother's Day sentiment set from WPlus9 in the Bargain Basement at Seven Hills Crafts. Typewriter fonts are always so versatile for cards, and this one fit perfectly on a sentiment strip from The Greetery. It also pairs nicely with the Sign Off Sentiments from The Greetery.

I added Champagne Glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio to the main sentiment, and Nuvo Jewel drops to the centres of the aqua flowers.

Until next time, happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Sign Off Sentiments stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	WPlus9 - Love Mom stamps (r) Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	Concord & 9th - Primrose Garden dies Shop at: C&9 | SBC | SHC (UK)	The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Greetery - Sign Off Sentiments dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Lil' Inker Designs - Silly Stitched dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC | SBC
Tonic Studios Nuvo Jewel Drops - Grey Mist (r) Shop at: MISC	Bearly Art - Precision Craft Glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: SBC
Waffle Flower - 6.5 x 8.5 Grip Mat Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Crafter's Companion - Gemini machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC

DCM - Just Sew

Morning all!

This week's challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog puts the spotlight on stitching.

I had high hopes of using a Spellbinders stitching die for this challenge, but I just didn't have time to stitch the coverplate background.

But fear not, faux stitching is the next best thing and I have plenty of dies to fit the bill!

Digital papers: Crate Paper - Gingham Garden
Stamp: The Stamp Market - Spring Greetings (r)
Dies: Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Circles, Mama Elephant - All Prettied Up, The Greetery - Hoopla Mini, The Greetery - Hoopla Mini Inserts, The Stamp Market - Easter Egg Shaker, WPlus9 - Spring Wreath (r)

This card was a perfect opportunity to use some of the digital papers I'd recently purchased and test printed from the Gingham Gardens collection.

I bought this paper collection mainly for the Spring-friendly patterns (it's also currently bundled with two other recent Crate Paper collections in a special deal on AC digitals). I'm still trying to tweak my printer adjustment settings to get the perfect colour representation - I actually bought the floral pattern used here as a 12x12 sheet and hope it'll help me work out the perfect setup for my printer to print what I'm seeing on screen more faithfully. But there also comes a point where just printing papers that come out nice is FINE even if they aren't a perfect match for the manufacturer-printed results.

Anyway, back to the card!

It's a very simple affair with a circle aperture cut in the stitched All Prettied Up frame so that I could use the Spring Wreath die from WPlus9 as a frame.

To create the wreath, I cut it from a scrap of sage cardstock and blended two tones of ink on it to just get a more spring look. The little flowers are cut from Pale Rose scraps of Cardshoppe. I shaped the flowers with a stylus and added white Nuvo drops to the centres.

For my sentiment I stamped a greeting from The Stamp Market on one of the Mini Hoopla dies from The Greetery, adding one of the wreath blooms to the corner along with some dainty leaves from the Easter Egg Shaker die set.

And for this week's super vintage crafty touch - out came the jar containing this lovely yellow chevron ribbon.

It's been a while since big bold ribbon ended up on a card.

So this card will definitely need to be handed out in person.

Make sure you check out the rest of the design team's projects here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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The Stamp Market - Spring Greetings stamps (r) Shop at: MISC	Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Circle dies Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Mama Elephant - All Prettied Up dies Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	The Greetery - Hoopla Mini dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Greetery - Hoopla Mini Inserts dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Stamp Market - Easter Egg Shaker dies Shop at: MISC	WPlus9 - Spring Wreath dies (r) Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Fern ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Forest ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Crate Paper - Gingham Garden collection Shop at: MISC | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Gold metallic cardstock Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Simply White Shop at: AZ (UK)	Bearly Art - Precision Craft Glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: SBC
Waffle Flower - 6.5 x 8.5 Grip Mat Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Crafter's Companion - Gemini machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC

Bunny Kisses

Morning all!

I'm over on the Seven Hills Crafts blog today with another spring-themed card.

Stamps: The Greetery - Container Garden, The Greetery - Tear Strip Tags Spring
Dies: The Greetery - Container Garden, The Greetery - Tear Strip Tags, The Greetery - Bunny Kisses, The Greetery - Crimped Frame, The Greetery - Jumbo Jar

While looking forward to the arrival of the new Spring Fling collection from The Greetery, I decided this would be a good opportunity to pull out some older Spring-friendly sets from previous years.

One being the stand-alone Bunny Kisses die (complete with tiny Easter eggs and tulip).

I love combining this bunny with the Container Garden stamp and die set enclosed in the Jumbo Jar, which was designed to coordinate with this set.

I started out by cutting all the Container Garden dies from white cardstock, stamping all the elements in a jig in my Misti, and adding some pencil details to the smaller flowers.

Next, I needed to make the Jumbo Jar frame.

I taped the nesting Jumbo Jar dies together with some low-tack tape and cut the jar frame from ivory cardstock three times to stack up the die cuts for extra dimension. I kept one of the inserts to blend some subtle blue sky with ink that was already on my blending brush and added some splatters of blue ink for good measure.

Once the jar was assembled, complete with gold lid and twine, I stuck it down onto the powder blue cardstock panel cut with the large Crimped Frame.

I pieced in the blended jar background and added the Container Garden elements, including the little bees.

Now time to add the Bunny - I cut it from bright white cardstock to help it stand out from the jar and used a grey Copic pen to add some shadow detail and a white pen for highlights on the pink cheek, nose and ear.

For a fluffy tail, I added a dab of puffy paint and dried it with my heat gun.

The Easter eggs and tulip from the Bunny Kisses set are coloured with Oxide inks using finger daubers, and again I added highlights with a white pen.

Finally, I just needed a sentiment to fit the scene, and thankfully the Tear Strip Tags Spring stamps and Tear Strip Tag die were the perfect fit for the space. They really are saving the day for my Easter cards this year, and they're also a really handy way to use up those rogue enamel dots where you only have one of that size left in a pack. Win-win.

And there we have it, one happy Spring bunny!

Until next time, happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Container Garden stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Tear Strip Tags Spring stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Container Garden dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Tear Strip Tags dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Greetery - Bunny Kisses dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Crimped Frame dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Jumbo Jar dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Lawn Fawn - Carrot ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Forget-Me-Not ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Fresh Lavender ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Walnut ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Aspen ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Fuschia ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Golden ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Leafy ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Lilac ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Party Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Poolside ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Wisteria ink pad Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC | SBC	Lawn Fawn - What's Sewing On? - 6x6 paper pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Gold metallic cardstock Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Cosmic Shimmer - Fluffy Stuff Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Uniball Signo White pen Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Bearly Art - Precision Craft Glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: SBC	Waffle Flower - 6.5 x 8.5 Grip Mat Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Sponge daubers Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Crafter's Companion - Gemini machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC

DCM - March elemental inspiration

Morning all!

It's a new elemental challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

Here's the inspiration image we're playing with:

For this week's challenge, I'm taking a trip down memory lane on many fronts - from the papers used to the star of the show stamp and die combo - I wonder what you'll recognise...

Papers: Basic Grey - Hillside (r)
Stamp and die bundle: MFT - Just My Type (r)
Dies: Cheery Lynn - French Pastry Doily (r), Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mini Chevron (r), PTI - Scallop Border (small/medium/big) (r), Spellbinders - Fluted Classics Rectangles

The elements I chose to work with were plants, a semi-circle, and a cross-hatched/cane pattern.

Enter the Hillside collection from Basic Grey (think this was release in 2016 or so) and stamp and die combo that used to feature a lot on my cards back in the day - the original Just My Type set from MFT.

I often paired this with an MFT doily die or the Cheery Lynn French Pastry die used here.

The colour palette for this card is a bit outside my norm, but with some light inking around the edges with brown ink and some decorative edges it's come together fine. :)

Make sure you check out the projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Until next time, happy crafting!

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MFT - Just My Type stamp and die bundle (r) Shop at: MISC	Cheery Lynn - French Pastry Doily die (r) Shop at: AZ (UK)	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mini Chevron border die (r) Shop at: MISC	PTI - Scallop Border (small/medium/big) dies (r) Shop at: MISC
Spellbinders - Fluted Classics Rectangles dies Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Walnut ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Basic Grey - Hillside collection (r) Shop at: MISC
Bearly Art - Precision Craft Glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: SBC	Waffle Flower - 6.5 x 8.5 Grip Mat Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Crafter's Companion - Gemini machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC