Grazie

 

Re-discovering ephemera in my crafty stash is always a joyous moment - even more so when it's something that still inspires me to create. I remember buying several set of resin flowers on Etsy because I fell in love with resin flowers that came in a card kit years ago. I bought several options and colors, but (surprisingly!) didn't go overboard.

I'd forgotten about these resin flowers for a while, as they add significant bulk and most of my cards were made for easy mailing. But they are absolutely lovely and make a card look really special. So, I've pulled a few to use on a card or two. I think they will be an interesting element to use on a few hand-given cards.

More Floral Thanks

Another floral creation, simple and sweet.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Happy Starry Thanks

Happy 4th of July to those celebrating today, and happy summer to everyone else in my corner of the hemisphere. I wanted to make a card that combined some elements of 4th of July (stars) with summer (lemonade, fresh green color) and this was my quick creation.

It's another busy weekend for us, so things may be a little quiet on the blog and social media until 'm back in the craft room and creating again. In the meantime, I hope you are all having a wonderful week.

Thanks for reading.
~Elle~

Flower Wishes

I'm still not overly confident in my watercolor painting, but I loved this gorgeous watercolor flower from a patterned paper collection. So, I fussy-cut it and added to a simple card with lots of embellishment.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Bits n' Pieces: Love You Typewriter

I put together some bits and pieces of ephemera from my stash and made a unique love card. I really like how it turned out.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Hello Butterfly

I've been playing a little more with watercolor lately, working on a few backgrounds that I hope to later add to cards. Not all of them have been successful, but practice makes perfect, right?

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Floral Thanks

Today seems like a flower kind of day. It could be that Mother's Day is just around the corner, or maybe I'm just falling in love with my stash flowers and flower stamps lately. Whatever it is, I give in and look forward to many floral cards in the future.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Adore Layers

For today's card, I thought I'd try something different again. This card has no stamping and no coloring - only die-cuts, some washi and a few enamel dots. It turned out really different, but I will have to play with this concept again in the future.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Watercolor Camera Hello

Watercolor is a technique I both enjoy and I'm endlessly frustrated with. One of the things I struggle with the most is the sheer lack of control. Water does what it wants and it's very challenging to get it to look exactly the way it does in my head. But practice makes perfect and I decided to embrace the unpredictability and make an interesting (and different) card. I think it turned out pretty unique.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Sticker Trio Challenge - Thanks

Simon Says Stamp - Sketched Flowers

The third and final card features one of the main reasons why I love and still keep stickers in my stash - a chance to try out a completely different style or theme without having to buy a ton of new supplies and learn a ton of new techniques.

For example, I have a few pinned "style" images that I adore the look of. It's got a vintage warmth to it and it combines cream, white, craft and natural things like twigs, leaves and butterflies. I'm not sure exactly how to classify it, but I know I wouldn't be able to pull off that look with my current collection of super cute stamps and dies.

Grabbing a sticker set that features that style would allow me to experiment with the look and the ideas without investing into a permanent supply (like a stamp). If I grow out of a style or find it too frustrating to work with, I can just pass the stickers on to someone who will enjoy them.

~Elle~

Sticker Trio Challenge: Doodle-Halloween

I have a lot of stickers in my crafty stash. Some came in card kits, others I bought because I just could not resist - and a small smattering of them came as free gifts with crafty orders. I think stickers are super fun and I often go through them for inspiration (much as I do with my patterned paper). But using stickers on cards is a little more challenging.

So, as I'm still pushing out of this comfort zone, I decided to make a sticker challenge where I try out a few different things and make use of my sticker stash. I would like to use them all on stunning creations, of course, but I'd like to see what kind of use I enjoy the most.

For the first card, I went all out and used the stickers in the same ways I would use stamps -- to create a little scene. I added the witchy girl sticker onto a piece of white cardstock and then fussy-cut around it. This gave me the same look I get when I stamp, color and fussy-cut an image.

It was a bit labor-intensive to create, but I'm very pleased with the card. I added some die-cut stars and enamel dots as embellishment, then pulled out a sticker sentiment to finish everything off.

~Elle~

Bits & Pieces: Happy Fall!

It's time for another bits-n-pieces card!

I couldn't bear to cover up this lovely sunflower paper from Doodlebug too much, so I opted for a simple strip of cardstock to use for my sentiment and imagery. I used a couple of Lawn Fawn stamps, as well as doodlebug stickers and some stray ephemera from my ephemera box. I think it turned out pretty fun.

Thanks for reading.
~Elle~

Palette Trio Challenge: Grey, Mint, Yellow, Pink, White

The last card for the palette challenge is decidedly the most complicated - with white, grey, mint, yellow and pink, it has the biggest number of colors. However, it's still very CAS thanks to my not-so-secret weapon: patterned paper.

The patterned paper I used is from Pinkfresh Studio, and it is a veritable piece of art. All the layered colors and the splatters are already on the paper, so all I have to do is trim the paper to fit my card base and layer over sentiments and ephemera.

This is one of the quickest cards I made, as I simply added an ephemera butterfly from my stash and a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp. A couple enamel dots, and voila! Stunning card is done.

Thanks for reading.
~Elle~

Butterfly Thanks

Altenew - Lace Up

Today, my card is an ephemera-based card, using some bits and pieces from my stash. I found this great bright floral, as well as a lovely butterfly ephemera die-cut that I really wanted to put together on a card. I paired them with a simple gray stripe and an elegant sentiment from Altenew's Lace Up.

Happy Monday and thanks for taking a look!
~Elle~

Bits & Pieces: Daphne

C.C. Designs - Fairwee Daphne (retired)

Continuing on with a Bits & Pieces collection, this time I've used another retired Fairwee stamp from C. C. Designs. I paired her with a flat-back enamel pin and used a colored purple velum for the background panel.

Thanks for taking a look!
~Elle~

BP: Summer Sunshine

It's time for another bits-n-pieces creation!

I had some fun summer stickers and labels in my stash that just begged to be used. I paired them with a dotted patterned paper and a retired die I've definitely under-used. For the sentiment, I added a shiny puffy sticker "happy" and a sticker label on which I wrote "summer". A sprinkling of enamel dots ties everything together neatly.

Thanks for taking a look!
~Elle~

EPH- Coffee Thanks

Today's card is a very quick creation made from bits and pieces I found in my ephemera stash. I really liked the two coffee cups and how well they layered together, so I added them to a woodland background paper. I like how all the elements play together.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Love You Flower

Today's card features more goodies from the recesses of my crafty stash. This card started with the lovely flower die-cut (from 1 Canoe 2's "Hazelwood" paper line). I really loved the color scheme of the flower - coral pink with dark grey and black. So, I found some matching enamel dots, along with a piece of chalkboard polka-dot patterned paper. Simple sentiment and some foam tape for depth, and that's the card for today.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

EPH - Hello Camera

I'm not sure how I feel about this card. There are parts of it that I think are fun - like the stars, the squishy letters and the stripes. But then, as a whole, it feels a little underwhelming. Of course, I'm my own worst critic and I'm probably just unsure because this isn't quite my usual card style. But, we get nowhere without experimenting.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

EPH- Shoot for the Stars!

Today's card is a simple one, featuring a couple of ephemera pieces I love but never seem to use on cards myself - wood veneer and buttons. I think both wood veneer and buttons look absolutely charming on cards, and I love seeing them unexpectedly on people's creations. But whenever I go to use them myself, I hesitate and worry I won't be able to make them fit.

So, I tried to add a couple of buttons and wood veneer to my card today, and they worked out great. They fit the scattering of detail I was going for and helped tie in some colors.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~