Ice-Cream Dreams

 

And from winter, we jump straight into summer! It's cold, but I wanted to do something bright and summery. Thankfully, I had these elements all set and ready to go in my "to-be-used" stash, so it led to some quick card-making. It still felt a little odd to make a summer card when it's so chilly outside, but it did brighten up my day - and that's the best one could hope for.

I am currently bouncing back between wanting to do completely new and innovative things and wanting to go to what's tried-and true. There is a certain comfort you can only get when you're doing something familiar - it's like your body and mind are moving by themselves and you're free to just enjoy the uninterrupted flow of getting things done.

I'll probably be doing that a lot, moving from what I know to what I've never tried before -but I choose to see it as a dance and I intend to master every step.

No place like cone

Summer Vibes with a penguin eating ice-cream. Is there nothing more giggle-worthy? How about the sentiment?!

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Smile!

I'm sharing a quick project today that I'm entering in an Instagram challenge. The challenge is summer-themed, and I just had to use this fabulous shark from Avery Elle's Sea-Prise set. I added a fun die sentiment and a smattering of stars and dots to tie the scene together.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Ice Cream Fun

On a summer kick again today, and I thought I'd share a fun little ice-cream card.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Beachy Sunshine

It's time for more work today - though I'd much rather be at the beach. I thought Id add a simple little scene and embellish with a black doily and some enamel dots.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Concept Trio Challenge: Seasons - Summer

Lawn Fawn - Here's The Scoop , Simon Says Stamp - Ice Cream Dream, Mama Elephant - Friend die

A while ago, I ran a mini-challenge for myself where I would create 3 cards using the same concept or idea. I really enjoyed this challenge, so I thought I would bring it back periodically and share some card creations that fit into a mini theme.

For the first challenge, I'm going with a seasonal theme. Today's card is a simple summer card, with adorable ice-cream and light color palette. I added some ink blending to the bottom of the friend die cut to help it stand out and used a tiny heart enamel shape for the dot over the i.

Thanks for taking a look!
~Elle~

Goodbye Summer

Simon Says Stamp - Funny Food stamp, Ice Cream Dream stamp

As it's officially fall now, I thought I would make one last summer card. It would be a fun card to send out as a way to recap our summer and just to say a quick hello.

I used some bits and pieces I had in my embellishment stash, as well as cute summery images from Simon Says Stamp and a sticker from Tim Holtz's Chit Chat sticker pad. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Thanks for reading.
~Elle~

Bits and Pieces: Beachy Sunshine

C.C. Designs - Beachies stamp

Today's card features the Beachies stamp from C.C. Designs. I had the striped panel sitting on my desk from a previous card, and I grabbed the red polka-dot swimsuit girl from my colored images stash. I thought they paired together great.

I went for a really simple design that makes the girl and the sentiment shine. I used some letter stickers to spell out Hello, along with a sunshine sticker. I think this gave the sentiment a wonky whimsical feeling that goes perfectly with the summer theme.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

CCD- Margarita Sue

C.C. Designs - Margarita Time stamp

Nothing says summer like sitting in a lounging chair with your favorite fruity drink. For today's card, I used Margarita Time stamp that I colored in my currently-obsessed-with shades of pink, orange and yellow. Since I planned to add a strip of rainbow paper to the background, I made sure to add a touch of blue and green to the colored image.

Thanks for taking a peek!
~Elle~

Peek-a-boo Ice Cream

Today, I'm sharing the second card I mentioned that features a square peek-a-boo window die and some delicious treats. I used the iconic delicious ice cream from Lawn Fawn's Here's The Scoop and the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Ice Cream Dream. I kept the rest of the card very simple and chose a neutral pattern for the ice-creams.

Thanks for taking a look!
~Elle~

Summer Bonjour

For today's card, I went a bit more complicated than usual and made a scene card featuring Lawn Fawn's Gleeful Gardens stamp set. I layered lots of elements from the stamp set - alternating between flat adhesive and foam tape to add some interesting dimension. I used the Stitched Journaling Card die for my front panel, and added a rainbow pattern in the back.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Sweet & Cool

For today's card, I was playing some more with Simon's Ice Cream Dream set, as well as adding bits of dimension. I paired the images with a piece of striped patterned paper and added a few enamel dots to tie everything together.

Thanks for taking a look. :)
~Elle~

Summer Picnic

Another favorite summer activity for me is barbecue. We grill often during the summer months - both because it's delicious and because it keeps the power bills down (running AC can get costly) - and there's something so iconic about eating freshly made BBQ picnic-style. For this card, I used Lawn Fawn's Let's BBQ stamp set, along with a milkshake from Here's The Scoop.

Thanks for reading.
~Elle~

Summer Treat Trio

More icy-cold treats today in another summer card! Again, I used Lawn Fawn's Here's The Scoop, along with the Simon Says Stamp Ice Cream Dream set. I decided to go with an aperture opening for this card and add some bright oranges and summer reds to the background.

Thanks for reading!!
~Elle~

Strawberry Cool

It's a hot summer this year in my corner of the world, and we're surviving on icy-cold ice cream treats. Of course, I wanted to celebrate the season (and the treats!) with a card or two. For today's card, I went with strawberry pink tones and images from Lawn Fawn's Here's The Scoop stamp set.

And, yes, you do spy that pink-to-yellow ombré on the ice-pop. I'm still so drawn to that palette and I have to stop myself from using it on every card...

Thanks for taking a look! :)
~Elle~

Keep Swimming!

It's sweltering around here lately, and it's that time of year I'm both grateful for AC and wishing I could take a long and leisurely swim in a pool. I channeled that swimming energy into today's card and made a simple encouragement creation. I used a nautical paper to help the center panel pop and added some enamel dots for embellishment.

Thanks for reading.
~Elle~

Pink Summer

I wanted to create another fun summer card with the VW bus, so I decided to pull out my Distress Oxide inks and make a yellow-to-pink gradient background. This gradient is most definitely "summer" for me, and it seems to be a trendy throwback to the 80s and 90s.

I opted for no sentiment on this card, as I didn't want to obscure the gradient too much. I also added some very sparkly iridescent sequins that really make the card shine.

Thanks for reading.
~Elle~

Aloha Summer!

There's something so iconic about the VW bus and palm trees - they just whisper "summer", and I couldn't resist making a mini scene to celebrate the season. I opted for minty cool tones, along with a few brighter colors to play up the contrast.

For the background, I dug into my scraps folder and found several bits of patterned paper that worked just wonderfully together.

Thanks for reading.
~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~

Hello Summer

I wanted to play with the summer theme again, so I pulled out another stamp that came in a kit along with some Doodlebug Sprinkles enamel shapes. As the stamp featured a blocky "hello", I colored it in with my Copics, giving it a bit more dimension. I added a striped patterned strip and a piece of vellum for a bit of extra interest.

Thanks for taking a look!
~Elle~