Made for the ModSquad challenge to use patterned paper and also for a friend whose daughter has had twins. I cut out a large heart for the background and then using a Spellbinder die called Layered Happy Birthday, I cut out some balloons from other PP and added them to the heart. Using an unbranded double stitch rectangular die I cut the main panel and added a small scrap of marbled paper on top. I fussy cut two matching little bears from another small piece of PP, after stamping them and colouring in certain parts. I popped them up onto this and added a small fussy cut fairy above. Stamped the sentiment which I also fussy cut out. Added a few small gems here and there. Stamps and card stock all from Gina K. Designs my main go to place for ideas and purchases.
Used another of my gifted stencils to create this one. First brushed colour in circles using distress oxides. Sprinkled a bit of water and let dry. Using Mowed lawn I sponged through stencil to get design. When dry I added nuvo glimmer paste through stencil. I used a versamark pen and ruler to draw a line around edge of card stock and then added an old glitter embossing powder on top. heat embossed to give the shine at edge. Added sentiment to a piece of vellum and heat embossed in black. Two black gems added to each end. added entire piece to turquoise sea card stock.
I’ve been thinking about creating a blog for over a year now and am finally getting around to actually doing it. In order to showcase some of my cards I needed a place to upload them and display them for others to see so here is my first card for the year.
This card has been created for the monthly challenge at Gina K. Designs. We have to showcase a sentiment and cannot use others stamps on the card.
I stenciled Distress Oxides in several pinks using a lovely hand made heart stencil given to me by a great on line friend. I first masked off the area where the sentiment heart is. I stenciled the butterflies using another stencil from the same friend. I stamped the sentiment onto the die cut heart and traced over it with a gelly roll pen to add a bit of sparkle. I popped it up slightly offset over a black heart which I then glued in the masked off space. Added a few tiny bling gems in places. I added main panel to a black piece of card stock and then adhered it to the card front.
At Christmas last year, we received the displayed Santa card from a friend in Japan. Japan often has amazing mass produced 3D style cards. I often keep cards like this and put them on display each year, but I kept this one to hand as I knew I wanted to try to make one.
The challenge for me was I had to stamp, colour and die cut 19 penguins to build a card, whereas the original was printed and then laser cut one section at a time making it easy to build. I had to figure out how to attach them together and be strong enough to stand up, as well as getting the box size and scoring correct. As anything to do with arithmetic or math is always an issue, it took 3 tries and help from my hubby before I got the box size and scoring right. I deliberately went with a larger base as I knew my penguins would be heavier than the original card is. I added a center piece to the box ready for the middle layer to be attached. The penguin and die come from a Divinity Design set. I stamped with VersaMark and heat set in black. Each were coloured with pencils, then die cut, then I divided them into the stacks required for each section. During the colouring process I had been thinking of how I could attach them knowing that the tallest stack would need some support. I ended up using some fairly stiff packaging plastic cut into strips, long enough to attach inside the back part of the box and provide support for the next row of penguins. The image was chosen for the light string they are holding and I glued each light string to the next one in rows while also adding some glue to the feet. Each layer was built the same way, although I only needed the stiff plastic strips for the back layer. When I looked a the back of each layer it looked messy so I cut another lot of shapes to glue behind each one making it look tidy and clean. My gluing ended up slightly crooked, but the basic shape was there and no real tree is uniform, and I decided it didn’t matter. The box base was covered in some scrap PP before I attached any of the layers and it all folds flat quite easily. My sentiment is also a Divinity Design stamp but from a different set.
Making this box card was a long process, but I enjoyed the experience and actually making it from scratch without any tutorials to follow helps me realize just how far I have come since I started making cards all those year ago. I probably won’t make another, due to how time consuming it was, but it was fun to try.
Thanks for stopping by, you and your time are appreciated.
The card will be entered into the following three challenges all relating to Christmas:
The recipe at AYSI required a set of ingredients which I’ve achieved here and because I made it square with a yellow card base it works for Seize the Birthday quite easily. After cutting my base at 5.5″ square, I then cut a white piece at 4.5″ square and built the other coloured layers around it. The die cut used a Hero Arts infinity die and the actual sentiment is a circle freebie from Natasha Foote. I added some gold to the tiny hearts and used a thin foam tape behind.
For my main piece I used a homemade stencil, gifted to me by a stamping friend and added some yellow polka dots in two corners. While it was drying I searched for a floral piece that I liked and found a stamp set by GKD. I’m sure this is long discontinued and it was also before die cutting became popular so I had to resort to hand cutting, however I used a self healing board and a knife to do it after I had heat set and coloured it. I used pencils to colour and even chose a yellow green to add to the leaves. Using a thicker foam and before adhering the flowers, I played with it until I liked the placement. I added some enamel dots from YNS and from Waffle Flower in a few places.
As in many locations it has been quite hot and although we can keep our home fairly cool without an A/C it has been slightly uncomfortable at times. Today it is cooler although still nice and sunny. So far, Vancouver Island is coping with wildfires although there are several burning at the moment. The terrain in many places makes it almost impossible to get crews into and lightening has been the cause of at least four of them. My dragon boat team had a festival last weekend and although I didn’t take part in the racing, I was very involved in making the decor to follow the wild west theme of the festival. Without my hubby and our artist friend things wouldn’t have gone as well as they did so the decor worked well. My hubby even came to help with the set up. Because of this and also due to some small day trips we’ve done, crafting, except for the essentials, was ignored. I made sure to keep up with my DT commenting and also to create the next round of cards for the upcoming challenges, but anything else had to wait. I try hard to stay at least a month in advance creating sample cards for the challenges, but they are scheduled posts and only show up as the dates arrive.
I appreciate you stopping by. Stay cool if you can.
The new challenge here at Cardz4galz, has been chosen by Pamela and she uses word inspiration RAINBOW as her theme. She will also choose the winners.
I had been playing with a scrap piece of water colour card stock and inked it with most of the colours from the rainbow. It was set aside for several days before I decided how I wanted to use it. My initial thoughts were to make an actual rainbow from it, but I wanted something slightly different and this is what I came up with. I used a border curved die from Spellbinders and cut the piece up. Then I put it back together by gluing it onto the white layer but dropping down as a portrait style. My edges were a bit challenging to match perfectly so I used a gold pen to cover up any tiny gaps.
I’ve had a new Lavinia stamp sitting in a box of new, but as yet unused items and decided that it would be good to have at the bottom. I stamped it several times to get good coverage particularly in the gap created by the rainbow layer and then heat set it black. The gap was bothering me a bit so I added a little extra ink with a brush and heat set a second time which worked well. Then I took the Lavinia rabbit stamp, added it to a scrap piece, heat embossed him a few times and fussy cut. Before adding the fussy cut layer I also stamped him onto the rainbow layer, which meant I could keep the wispy hair along his shape. They would have been impossible to fussy cut. The sentiment is from a CYNS stamp and die set I’ve had for a while.
In the end, I am happy with how this turned out and I am looking forward to seeing your creations in our gallery. Have fun with your designs. Thanks for stopping by, your time is appreciated as are any comments you may leave.
Welcome to another Double Trouble challenge. The recipe this time is: 3 colours of choice (neutrals not included) 2-layers (card base doesn’t count) 1 holiday image. Thing 3 Twisted Sister has the option of using non-traditional colours and thing 2 Double Dare is choose TSOT #699 and/or #700 Jingle Belles Unicorn color challenge.
My card fits the sketch at TSOT but cannot be entered due to the backlinking rule. To create it I used a Crafters Companion Rays of Light die set and using scraps I die cut all the coloured pieces first and then attached them to the other pieces before paper piecing them into the frame I had already glued to the card front. This die set gives me 3 layers, but with the addition of the StampinUP die cut circle I now have 4. I used scrap pieces to cut the tree, deer and rabbit adding a bit of colour around edges and some gold sparkle to the deer. I used the star and snowflake dies with some gold CS to add some embellishments. These dies come from an unbranded set. The sentiment is from a Divinity Designs set.
My workspace looks as if a bomb has gone off, so my next task is to clean up and put everything away so I can find it again easily. I was outside this morning working in the garden, and now I’m tired so I guess the tidy up will be tomorrow.
We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and of course hope you have fun creating. Thanks a lot for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.
It always interests me to see where inspiration, especially my own, comes from. We were getting coffee at a local coffee shop and they had some thank you cards from customers displayed. One of them made me look twice and this is my idea based on that design. Seize the Birthday #330-One or More Numbers is the challenge it is intended for.
I have several new and unused products laying around and the trees on this card was one of them. It is an MFT die set that I got on sale. The cloud die is from a new unbranded set and the faces on the trees are from a MayMay Made It set, which I’ve had for ages and only used once or twice. I tried several ways to stamp a sentiment using a combination of different stamps and disliked them all. In the end I created it on my computer. All the paper and card stock is from my stash and I tried to keep the same colour tones in the shaded part of the trees as is on the gingham paper. I added two Waffle Flower, similar in tone green, enamel dots to the sentiment.
While searching for ideas on the Internet regarding wishes and trees I came across a book, intended for children, and it is a Traditional Folklore story about three trees. I tried to incorporate this into my sentiment but it would have been too long and too big, so I opted for what you see here. There are times when I wonder how we managed without the Internet?
Considering that I figured this design out without resorting to tutorials, I’m quite pleased with myself and I also like the end result. Thanks so much for stopping by, I appreciate you, your time and your comments.
Welcome to another challenge, #280 chosen by Debbie here at cardz4galz. This week we would like to see cards relating to friends/friendship and I used a pre-folder card that I have had forever and only used one or two of.
I’m not sure of the name for this fold but think it is a swing fold. Normally it would be usual to add pretty paper using the template that came with the cards, but I opted to something different. I had these gold squares already cut as they were left over from another project and I decided to lay them out in this design. I did play around with the placement a lot before deciding on this. Using two stamps from a Hampton Arts set I stamped the sentiments and heat set them, one in gold and one clear. The using a flower from the same set I stamped the rose on the front part and coloured it and the one on the inside with Prisma pencils. I had the thin paper strips leftover as well so I added them as you see. Then taking the paper that matched the strips I turned it to the 2nd side and hand cut the roses and the butterflies from it. These were then popped up with some foam tape. I used a Sakura glitter pen to make tiny hearts and to add a bit of sparkle to the roses. Then I added the pearl embellishments.
I didn’t have a specific plan when I began this card, but it evolved as I worked. In the end I’m happy with the result. It wasn’t too challenging to make, which is a good thing as my hands are not great today.
Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.
Thing 1 – 3 colours of choice, 2 layers (card base doesn’t count), 1 holiday image. Thing 3 is an optional twist of Stars and/or stripes, and thing 2 is the usual double dare to use the TSOT sketch and enter your card there as well. Note: be careful not to upload a card too early to TSOT as it will be considered back linking.
As you can see I have more than 2 layers with my card and I also followed the sketch pretty well too. I used a Kokorosa die to create my sideways flap and backed it with some pretty PP from last year. On the inside I added the striped layer along with a white piece (hidden) for a personal message. My image is from the same paper underneath the maple leaf and was fussy cut, foam tape added for dimension and then added on top. I used a couple of Sakura glitter pens and a homemade stencil to add the little stars and with the addition of pink I met the 3 colour requirements. Most of my colours are red and green, but I did use two different shades of red in my stars. My sentiment is from Open Studio but I did shorten it a little with angled cuts. Using just a sparkle pen I added a little to both the image and background paper.
I kind of like my effort, which is a bonus, because so often I’m not really keen on my own work. We hope to see you in our gallery and hope too that you have fun with your own creations. It is always a joy to see what you come up with.
Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time always.
The current challenge at As You See It is a fill in the blank on embossing folders and although I use them and like them, they also frustrate me due to never having exactly the right sandwich to go through my machine easily. It takes me forever to figure out the right amount of pressure to get the impression without hurting myself or the machine. Because of this I don’t use them anywhere near as much as I ought to.
My fill in the blank favourite is a 3D StampinUp folder called Soft Waves and I have actually used this one quite a lot. However the folder I’ve actually used for this card is a new 3D folder from Spellbinders and I backed it with some black CS to give a border before adding it to the card front. The arched die cuts are from Craft Addiction UK and I used some scrap CS to cut a medium size one and a smaller one. They were added with some foam tape and I turned the yellow piece upside down before attaching. The floral image is from Inkadinkadoo. I coloured it with watercolour pencils, then fussy cut before attaching on top of the yellow arch. The sentiment is from GKD which I inked using Dusty Concord and then heat set clear before fussy cutting around it. A few small gems finished the card. I thought I had some purple twine or very thin ribbon, but I don’t and what I do have on hand doesn’t look right on this design so the gems have to be enough.
My camera seems to have changed the lighting somehow as the photo looks cream instead of the actual bright white card stock I’ve used. The challenge at CYHTP has an optional twist of using purple. I have already added a card here but it doesn’t use the twist, which surprised my stamping buddies, who know its my favourite colour in any shade. So here is a second card for this challenge using the colour purple.
Thanks for stopping by, your time and of course you are appreciated.
We have been so busy with different things in recent weeks that I haven’t spent much time in my craft room, except to comment on cards in the two blogs on which I am a DT and to complete a couple of examples for those specific blogs. Yesterday I had time for this particular card but no time to post and today I’ve managed another which I shall be posting after this one.
I wanted to use a linen look card stock and found this mainly neutral piece that I thought would look nice under the colours. In the photo this CS looks beige, in natural light it has a faint pink tone to it. I searched for a stamp set that is all fern leaves (no idea where I got it or the brand), selected one to use and stamped the leaf in the different colours. The sentiment is from a GKD set and I used small ink cubes to colour the stamp in sections. I added the embellishments using Pops of Color, by Scrapbook.com.
This is a simple design but one that I think looks quite pleasing to the eye. Thanks so much for stopping by to take a peek, I appreciate you and your time. A stamping friend told me to enter this card into the challenge at Double D so I’m also adding it to Double D Potpourri Challenge 2026
Our lovely, but aged neighbors are having some challenging times lately and the news from the hospital wasn’t very good for the husband. He has been unwell for a while and everyone hoped for a good outcome, but unfortunately it isn’t to be. They love getting cards from me as well as fresh baked scones from my hubby, so I made this one for them.
The dry embossed piece was a leftover from a previous project so I mounted it onto a scrap layer to give it a thin border. The card front was stamped with a new set from Hero Arts and was coloured with pencils. The monkey, bananas and branch are from a StampinUP set. I made the sentiment on the computer and die cut it with a Hero Arts infinity circle. All these were also coloured with pencils. The branch and monkey were popped up on foam tape and I used the curl in his tail to hang him from the branch. I also used some ink and a sponge to go around the circle edges.
It was a fun card to make and I shall deliver it tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave.
Lavender House Creations 