Happy Thanksgiving

Like a lot of families we get together to have a large family Thanksgiving, so I need to make cards for my relatives that I can make easily and quickly. I decided on using the leaf builder stencil on beige card blanks colored in with squeezed lemonade, carved pumpkin and red brick Distress oxides I used my Tim Holtz ink blenders because I wanted the bold color of the leaves to really shine through.

I made several of these and thought they looked simple but elegant especially after adding a popped up sentiment in heat embossed gold. I layered the cards onto a neutral card and then onto a white card blank.

For a special friend

One of my friends recently lost their job and they were having a hard time looking for a replacement position, so I decided to make them a card to let them know how special they were.

In this card I made a flower pot out of scrap patterned paper. I attached that to a faded blue sky made with distress oxide inks and my ink blending brushes. I stamped out three flowers in pigment inks and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. I stamped out some leaves using the same technique. I attached these to the card with 3D foam squares. I had an embellishment from last year that said wonderful and \i wanted to incorporate that into the sentiment. I added silver nuvo drops and layered onto pink card and attached that to a white card blank.

Birthday card for a sons friend

My son normally gives me a heads up when one of his friends is having a birthday so he can get a card and have all his buddies sign it. On this occasion he told me about an hour before his friends were to arrive for a gathering at our house to celebrate this boys 19th birthday. 19 is pretty big in Ontario Canada because it means that you are legally able to drink.

So up I head to my craft room with no idea in my head but to use the color orange because hes always wearing that color. The following card is what I came up with:

I took my card blank put it into my stamp positioner and picked out the Altenew circle background stamp. I inked that up well with the carved pumpkin distress oxide ink and laid it over the card. I inked it up again and stamped away. Now I had a background, what was I going to do to make this card special. I decided to add beer bottles so I quickly stamped them and cut them out with my scan n cut and painted them in with watercolors. I chose a neutral colored card and cut off a another piece for the sentiment. Laid the sentiment down on the lower portion of the card and popped up the now dry beer bottles that I attached with foam adhesives. I added bronze nuvo drops to the top right and bottom left of the card and attached onto a beige card blank.

The card was done just in time and my son liked the card I'd made on the fly for one of his friends.

Dahlia stencil

This has to be one of the easiest stencils that I've used with great results every time. All you have to do is pick two colors, one a shade darker than the other and off you go.  For these cards I used my new Altenew cube inks. I took my card base taped it with washi tape to my surface and blended in my first color. I then wiped it off, lined it up and went in with my darker color to get those darker tones. I used the Altenew family stamp set and made a sentiment, layered the card onto a grey colored card and then added onto the white card base. The results are beautiful no matter what colors I've used.

Magazine inspiration

I often purchase card making magazines and one card in particular caught my eye so I decided to put my own twist on it and made the following card:

 I fist cut out a flowerpot using patterned papers. I attached to a card front and then stamped out some foliage in two colors of pigment ink. I then took some flowers, stamped them out in pigment ink . I arranged the flowers on the planter in a pleasing design, over lapping them with foam squares.

 To finish off the card I added some clear nuvo drops to the centers of each flower and to the upper right hand side of the card. I added a sentiment to the bottom left. I then mounted onto green card and then attached onto a white card blank.

Fathers day

In honor of fathers day I made the following two cards:

I had these little tool stamps so I stamped them out on some while card, cut them with my scan n cut and colored them in. I then took the same stamps and lined them up on a stamping block and using a versamark watermark pad I watermarked the card front from top to bottom. I added a simple sentiment raised with foam pads and added the colored in tools with foam pads around the sentiment. I used bronze nuvo drops in the bottom left and top right of the card and attached to a black card blank.

 This card is very similar but I added the tools directly onto the watermark design that I had created with little foam squares from forever in time. I embellished with bronze nuvo drops in the top right and bottom left of the card , popped up the sentiment on foam pads backed with a beige card and layered that onto the white card base.

Patterned paper

I do not usually use patterned paper in my cards but this one seems to work out perfectly.

Its a simple card.  I took a stamped image, colored it in with copic markers and cut it down to a little shorter than a regular card front. I added a stamped sentiment directly below it and mounted it on patterned paper. I added clear nuvo drops to the top right and bottom left of the card and then attached to a peach colored card blank.