July 2024 | Pandamonium Birthday

I’m back with another fun birthday card project using Pink & Main’s “Pandamonium” stamp and die set.  

The Pandamonium stamp set features several pandas in cute and unique positions, so I decided to use VersaFine Clair Nocturne pigment ink to stamp the four I wanted to use onto Paul Rubens hot press watercolor cardstock then used clear heat embossing powder and a heat gun to emboss all the little images.

I watercolored the pandas using a non-traditional color scheme and I based the colors upon the piece of patterned cardstock that I loved from the My Favorite Things “Time to Celebrate” 6x6 paper pad which I will be using as the background paper for my card front.  I selected Tim Holtz/Ranger’s Distress Watercolor Pencils for my watercolor medium and used the colors:  Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Lumberjack Plaid, and Tumbled Glass for the panda bodies.

Using the Spellbinders “Precision Layering A2 A” die set, I cut a 4-1/4” x 5-1/2” panel from Cardstock Warehouse’s Sirio Black cardstock and using the next to largest die I cut a panel of patterned cardstock from the My Favorite Things cardstock mentioned above.  For the sentiment balloons, I used the Pretty Pink Posh “Balloon Alphabet” stamp and die set and stamped out the letters I needed using Tim Holtz/Ranger’s Black Soot Archival Ink on white cardstock, then applied a layer of Nuvo Glitter Drops in the colors Dazzling Blue and Sunlit Meadow to fill in the balloons.  I also used the heart balloon shape from the same Pretty Pink Posh die set and cut it out of Altenew’s Tourmaline Glitter Cardstock to put on the inside with one more the of the pandas.

Back to the pandas… I painted a thin coat of Nuvo Aqua Shimmer to all the panda’s bodies and added Ranger Glossy Accents to the whites of their eyes.  After that dried, I glued each of the four pandas to the card front.  I added a piece of black metallic DMC Diamant embroidery thread to the back side of each balloon letter and added Simon Says Stamp’s 3D Foam Adhesive to the backs of the balloons for dimension on the card.  I aligned the sentiment letters the way I wanted them on the card front, then used Glad Press ‘n Seal over the card front to pick up all the balloons, flipped that over and removed the adhesive backing and placed the balloons on the card front. 

My final embellishment was when I added a scattering of Rainbow Splash “Rainbow Gem Stickers” for a touch more blingity bling.

Thanks for stopping by… I appreciate you doing so.  Until next time, happy making!

June 2024 | Best Dad Ever

When you have the best Dad ever, it's easy to come up with ideas for Father's Day cards. This year, I found the perfect stamp set from Papertrey Ink to base my 2024 Father's Day card on. Here's how it went...

Using Papertrey Ink's "Father's Day Sentiments" stamp set, I stamped Best Dad Ever onto Spellbinder's "Brushed White Cardstock" using embossing ink and Ranger's Silver Super Fine Detail embossing powder, then heat set the sentiment. I die cut the sentiment and its matting layer using Spellbinders' "Mirrored Arch Labels" dies. The top folding A2 card base and the matting layer for the sentiment were cut from Spellbinders' "Graphite" cardstock. I die cut a scrap piece of Spellbinders' "Lunar Gray" using the Spellbinders' "Precision Layering A2 A" dies (the second from the largest) for my background mat layer that I'll compose the card front on. I ran the Lunar Gray cardstock through my die cutting machine with Altenew's "Organic Linen" embossing folder before adhering it to my card base.

For the florals I used Spellbinders' "Garden Wreath Add-Ons" die set and I diecut the leaves and stems multiple times from Spellbinders' Brushed White Cardstock until I felt I had as many as I would need. Next, I cut the berries and flower centers a few times from Altenew's Moonstone and Blue Apatite glitter cardstock. I continued diecutting floral elements for the card front from Spellbinders' grey range of cardstocks (and a random blue cardstock that I found in my stash) until I created a variety of colors and textures to choose from for beginning the floral arranging process.

I glued all my flowers and berries together and glued those to my card front and then added my foam adhesive backed sentiment as close to the center of the card as possible.

Since I used a dark color for the card base, I did cut a 4" x 5-1/4" piece of white cardstock for stamping my sentiment and writing in the card.

That wraps up this year's Father's Day celebration card. Thank you so much for stopping by and, until next time, happy crafting!

June 2024 | Make a Wish

Birthday cards are so much fun to make. You can make them without a recipient in mind and still have an amazing useable card... or you can cater the card specifically toward your favorite nephew - lol.

I started this card with a piece of Paul Rubens hot press watercolor paper taped to a hardboard to help prevent warping, Sarah Renae Clark's Color Cube card #203 and Simon Says Stamp's Pawsitively Saturated Inks in the colors Zest, Sweets, and Sangria. I used a #16 round watercolor brush to thoroughly saturate my watercolor paper and, using that same brush, added the three ink colors to the paper by adding them in large water-laden inky drops to the top of the watercolor cardstock while I held the hardboard vertically so that the inks would literrally run down the cardstock in a freeform, striped fashion. Once I was satisfied with the amount of color I added, I used the Tim Holtz/Ranger Heat Tool to dry the cardstock then I removed it from the hardboard.

Next, I pulled out the Spellbinders BetterPress system and Pinkfresh Studio's "Make a Wish" press plate. I inked up the press plate with Spellbinder's Betterpress Black ink and taped my watercolor panel to the BetterPress's clear plate then ran the system through my Spellbinder's Platinum 6 die cutting machine.

For the matting layers, I used Your Paper Insider cardstocks in the colors Favini Black Gloss, Canary Yellow, and Dark Red from their subscription packs. I used alternating dies from two Spellbinders die sets to cut the matting layers - Precision Layering A2 A and Precision Layering A2 B (these two die sets are AMAZING and must haves in my creative stash). I glued the matting layers to the watercolored panel and set it aside while I created the other elements for the card front.

I selected the Gerda Steiner Designs stamp set called "Birthday Bear" for the bear's arm holding a balloon. I stamped the image onto white cardstock using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink and colored it with Copic markers: arm - C9, C6, C4 and balloon - YR16, Y17, Y02. After that, I used my Brother Scan N Cut to cut out the image. I placed foam adhesive squares to the back and adhered it to my card front.

I used the Heffy Doodle "Happy Birthday - Shadow" die set for my sentiment. I cut the words three times and the shadow once from Your Paper Insider's Pale Pink Shimmer Vellum (shadow) and a black sort of rubbery cardstock (words). I used Distress Collage Medium in a fine point bottle and adhered all the sentiment layers together and then adhered it to the shadow and card front.

My final touches were adding Ranger Glossy Accents to the balloon in the bear's hand and staggered a few Pinkfresh Twilight Ombre Glitter Drops across the card front.

Thank you so much for stopping by... I hope you enjoyed the card :)