Blissful Fall Duo

I have two cards for you today!  I know it’s been a while since I posted here.  We are in our forever home here in Greer, SC at last. We still have some boxes to unpack but most of it is done.  I’ve told my girls that I will not be moving again.  This is it!  I’m staying put and if I need to move, they will have to do it!  We are now close to family and love being near the mountains!  We can see them from here.

Both cards feature ink blended backgrounds using my newly acquired Taylored Expressions blender brushes!  I love these things.  The handles are so colorful and they lend themselves to keeping the ink colors into families just by using the handles as a guide.  How clever is that?!?!  Not to mentions that they blend the inks just like warm butter on hot pancakes!

My first card features the Greetery’s Botanicuts Sunflower dies and a new to me stencil company – A Colorful Life Designs that I picked up at Technique Junkies’ booth at the Stamp Scrap Art Tour (SSAT) here in Greenville, SC this past weekend!  All the info for this card is below!

·      Stamp set(s):    PTI – Never Enough Birthday (inside) & Garden of Faith Stamp (back) Sets 

·      Ink(s):  Gina K Designs – Kraft & Warm Cocoa

·      Paper:  PTI – Classic Kraft, Harvest Gold, Bright Buttercup, Summer Sunrise, Honey Nut, Cocoa Bean, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  The Greetery – Sunflower Botanicuts Dies; MFT – Happy Birthday Die

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  A Colorful Life Designs – Splatted Grid Stencil; Nuvo Crystal Drops – Ebony Black and Crystal Glaze; Taylored Expressions – Blender Brushes

My second card is also fall themed and features an ink blended background and a sweet set from Papertrey Ink, a stencil from Taylored Expressions and those awesome blender brushes!  Here are all the details!

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Enclosed Leaf Mini SS  

·      Ink(s):  Gina K Designs – Red Velvet, Wild Dandelion, Tangerine Twist; Versamark Pad

·      Paper:  Gina K Designs – Red Velvet; PTI – Classic Kraft

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Enclosed Leaf Die & Skinny Mini Banner Die

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Taylored Expressions – Feathered Stencil & Blender Brushes; Nuvo – Crystal Glaze; PTI – Gold Filigree Embossing Powder; The Paper Studio – Hemp Twine   

I have really enjoyed using my new #TEblenderbrushes!  I highly recommend that you go their website and place an order.  They are on back order due to the high demand for them but they are worth the wait!  And once your name comes up, they ship them really fast!  Great customer service!  And you’re supporting a woman owned small business too!  

I had a lot of fun back here in my restored – from moving twice in 3 months – craft room playing with all of these lovely things.  It was also nice to put away some of my stash of  – well let’s face it, hoarded 12 x 12 papers.  I made some cards for a realtor friend at our new church here with some of these classic papers.  I have no idea how old they were but I still loved them as much as when I first bought them! This is it for now.  Be on the look-out for the announcement that my daughter and I have launched our own Etsy shop later this fall where I’ll be selling some of my creations!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Blooming Beautiful Blooms

Can you tell that I love red?  Especially Papertrey Ink’s Pure Poppy?  It’s been showing up in several of my latest posts but it just is such a happy color.  We need happy here in the south where we’ve had so much rain over the last year or so.  And this red is so cheerful particularly when you pair it with Concord & 9^th’s Bloom Fill In stamp set.  I love the red, white and blue I used here.  It’s so clean and crisp.  I got the idea of cutting a card front on the diagonal from Jennifer McGuire when she used this same stamp set in a post and video several weeks ago.  (By the way, she said that this is a very forgiving stamp set, and I agree.  If you look closely you’ll see where I had some difficulty lining up one of the images.) I’ve cut them both horizontally and vertically to give them different looks.  The horizontal cuts allow for a bigger and bolder sentiment to be placed across the card front.  These big and bold sentiments from MFT Stamps fit the bill to a “T”!  I did some clear embossing over the “get well soon” sentiment. I had intended to do the “happy birthday” sentiment as well but took the stamp off my MISTI before I got to it.  I didn’t want to mess up my card with getting it slightly off center on the Enchanted Evening stamping.  I waited until I had mounted the red stamped panels to stamp my sentiment to get it just right.  Sooo, note to self – don’t be in such a hurry to move stamps off your MISTI! Haha!!!

• ·   Stamp set(s):  Concord & 9^th– Blooms Fill In Stamp Set; MFT Stamps – All Occasion  Sentiments 
• ·      Ink(s):  PTI – Pure Poppy, Dark Indigo, Blueberry Sky, Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening, Prairie Grass, Olive Twist
• ·      Paper:  PTI – Stamper’s Select White  
• ·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  PTI – Clear Detail Embossing Powder; Verve – Signature Sequin Mix  

Thanks for stopping by my blog to take a look. I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit. I’ve enjoyed having you here, too! (I do track my stats!  Haha!)  Have a really blessed day where ever you are! 

Here's a look at the vertical cut card I did in black and pinks.  I liked this one too, but i have to admit that the red does it for me!  What about you?  Vertical, horizontal or both?  Thank you, Jennifer McGuire for this terrific idea! :-)

Many Blessings,

Donna

Mighty Blooms of Encouragement

These dies are more of Papertrey Ink’s designs that I’ve been wanting for a while.  Since they are reducing their inventory, I ordered them when they came back in stock. I just love the graphic look of these dies.  I thought that they paired well together.  The inlayed look really makes the card pop and gives it that extra special touch!  I really like how these two cards turned out and will probably use this design again.  The word dies are just perfect when paired with the stamp set’s sentiments either on the card front or inside!

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Counting my Blessings Stamp Set         

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Pure Poppy

·      Paper:  PTI – Stamper’s Select White, Pure Poppy, Limeade Ice

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Counting My Blessings Dies & Coverplate: Mighty Blooms Die 

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Paper Studio – Red Enamel Stickers; Pretty Pink 

Posh – Raspberry 6mm sequins

With card number two, the cardstock colors are reversed with the inlay and a different die-cut word is added.  With the change in colors, I also switched the orientation of the card for a different look as well.  I also changed the color of the cardstock I used for the die cut sentiment.  My cards came together fairly easily and quickly once I got into the rhythm of putting the “leaves” into their places but PTI made that easy by making all of the leaves the same size other than the ones at the edges of the cover plate.

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Counting My Blessings Stamp Set (inside sentiment)   

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Smokey Shadow

·      Paper:  PTI - Stamper’s Select White, Limeade Ice, Smokey Shadow

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Coverplate: Mighty Bloom & Counting My Blessings Die

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Verve – Sequin Mix; Eyelet Outlet – Enamel Dot Black

Two cards, different look, beautiful results yet they’re still clean and graphic.  These cards are great for most occasions and the word dies are just perfect for encouraging friends and family!

Many Blessings,

Donna

A Pair of December Cards

My husband’s niece got married this December in Michigan.  When I saw Papertrey Ink’s Bold Borders: Flurries Die I thought a snow flaked themed card would be perfect.  I LOVE this die!  Perfect for any winter or Christmas card.  Just pair it up with the perfect sentiment for the occasion and it’s done!  Simple but compelling.  And the glitter card stock was stunning for this wedding card. Our niece and her husband loved it, and their combined family of three were stunned that it was made by hand! Handmade cards are just perfect as they are gifts from your heart to the recipient!

·      Stamp set(s): PTI – Sincerely Yours: Sending Joy; Make It Market Mini: Garden Gild

·      Ink(s):  Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening, New Leaf

·      Paper:  Doodlebug – Light Blue Glitter Paper

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Bold Borders: Flurries Die; Sincerely Yours: Sending Joy Die

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Wink of Stella – Clear glitter pen

Inside card

And now for the Christmas card.  I used basically the same idea without the glitter paper since I was making cards ahead and hadn’t decided which card was going to who yet. I also used the pine branches and pine cone instead of the holly for the wedding card.  Another elegant but easy card to make!  This flurry die could be a perfect match for all of your card needs thru February or March this year.  Just put several together and finish it off when you have a need for a quick card!  And use any color to make it pop.  Card making is after all interpretive, right? 

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Sincerely Yours: Sending Joy SS

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Enchanted Evening, Cocoa Bean, Pinefeathers

·      Paper:  PTI – Spring Rain, Stampers Select White

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Bold Borders: Flurries Die; Sincerely Yours: Sending Joy Die

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  SU – Frosted Sequins(ret.)

 Thank you for taking the time today to spend some time on my blog.  I really appreciate it.  Big things are coming for me next year.  I’m relaunching Ink(lings) Artistry and considering an Etsy store or selling on Amazon. Plus, my big organizational item should be here next month – a beautiful white Shaker Style Dream Box from the Original ScrapBox.  I’m hoping that being so beautifully organized will increase my time in my craftroom and productivity.  I’ll take some before and after photos along the way.  It’s already inspiring me to put stuff away as I go and make notes on my project pages as to what I was using and all the info for posting on social media.  A messy craftroom seems to deter my artistic mojo!  LOL

Many Blessings,

Donna