SK September: Sweet Thoughts

I really liked Amelia's sweet design in The Greeting Farm's (OA) Journey stamp, so I decided to play with it again. This time, I went for a more neutral color scheme with bright red and yellow as accent colors.

I wanted to make this card look different, so I played with layers. I layered a vellum tag with a sentiment from Power Poppy's Farmer Market stamp, then set it against a neutral die-cut frame. I added Amelia with foam squares.

It felt like the card was missing a little something, so I added a couple of Prima paper flowers and a metal brad from my stash.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

SK September: OA Birthday

For this card, I also used The Greeting Farm's (OA) Journey stamp, but I featured Oliver. I colored him in more earth tones, especially making use of my olive greens (colors I rarely remember to reach for). I wanted to add a different sentiment for this card, so I used the birthday sentiment from MFT's Birthday Bears.

By embossing the sentiment onto some black cardstock, I got a label-like look without having to buy any extra tools or supplies.

A few enamel dots tie this card together.

~Elle~

SK September: Homemade with Love

When I started creating this card with Penny Black's Homemade stamp set, I had something completely different in mind. I stamped and colored the image to match a patterned paper that featured strawberries and vines. But as I was trying to put the image against the paper, I kept feeling like it was getting lost in the whimsical strawberry chaos.

So, I took a step back and thought about what I should do to make this card stand out. I cut the image into a rectangle and matted it with a piece of dark brown cardstock. I stamped the sentiment in the same dark brown shade, then die-cut it into a rectangle.

I played around with some other paper, die-cuts and shapes, but in the end... I just liked the simplicity and the contrast of the image and the sentiment by themselves. So, I adhered them to a white card base with foam tape and left it as a CAS creation.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

SK September - Lovely Day

First, let me just say that I had an absolute world of trouble trying to upload this card to the blog. It kept giving me issues - to the point I considered excluding it from the lineup entirely. But I persisted, and it finally went through.

This card features The Greeting Farm's Anya's Day Out stamp. This stamp was a part of their secret stamp club some time ago, and I featured it in another autumn-inspired card. I went with a different approach and used bright orange and blue for Anya's outfit this time around. The complementary colors gave the image a great contrast, and it fit nicely with the rest of my card.

The sentiment is a gold rub-on I found in my stash. I thought it went great with Anya's stamp, and I added a piece of flair as an extra embellishment.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

SK September - Can't Bear

Continuing on with the Stash Kit cards, this time I'm featuring The Greeting Farm's (OA) Journey stamp set. This stamp series features Oliver and Amelia, and in Journey, they're ready for a trip of a lifetime. What drew me to this set for September is how autumnal their outfits looked.

For today's card, I used a combination of earthy and bright colors to make the image pop. I set it against a neutral gray background with a polka-dot stripe. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things' Birthday Bears stamp set - I thought it was especially poignant because Amelia is holding a bear.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Chatty Sunday: Adhesive

Since adhesive/adhesive refills is the only thing I'm shopping for in the next few months, I thought I'd have a chatty discussion about adhesive. Adhesive tends to be tricky, because it feels like every paper-crafter has their own personal favorite. It doesn't help that sometimes what glue is best depends on the project itself. So, I thought I'd share my personal go-to adhesive and what I use them for.

To start with, I wanted to give my criteria for buying adhesive:
1) It has to come from a known company, preferably one that has been in business for a while.
I don't want to get attached to a supply only to find out it's no longer available.
2) It has to have multiple places to buy refills from, preferably in bulk.
If I'm on a total spending freeze, I need to be able to buy several months' worth of refills at once. So, an adhesive that has 4 refills in stock is not the best.
3) It has to be easy to use and easy to refill.
I don't want to waste any adhesive because the refill is fiddly or loaded incorrectly.
4) It has to be economical.
I'm ok with paying extra for quality, but I don't want to break the bank either. I would also like to see the adhesive occasionally on sale so I can stock up.

So, here is my current list of most-used adhesives. I've got a few more adhesives, but they are either things I've bought on sale before I settled on these adhesives, or they're very, very seldom used.

Everyday use:
Tombow Mono Dot Runner (pink)

This adhesive is small, portable and has a pack of 3 refills for a good price (often on sale) through Amazon. It's easy to load, and it's permanent after a while. Because of the dot dispensing, you can rub away any stray adhesive easily, and you can also gently peel up and re-position paper just after placing it down (the glue does become permanent after a short while, though).

Plus Dot Adhesive (pink)

It's fairly identical to the Tombow Mono adhesive, just by a different company - something I wanted just in case Tombow discontinued or changed their mono adhesives. I buy my refills in bulk through Office Supply - which has good prices, though it can be a little slow on processing and shipping.

Bulk Card use:
Scotch ATG (pink)

This is a great adhesive, and a favorite to many crafters. The refills last a long time and can be very affordable. I purchase general refills through Amazon, but there are even cheaper options available out there (I've seen Tape Depot mentioned a lot). This is what I use when I have to make a lot of cards at once or do a lot of assembly-style adhering.

Dimensional:
Scotch Foam Tape

Like many crafters, I like this big roll of permanent mounting foam tape from Scotch. It's not too thick, it lasts for ages and it can be cut to size that fits virtually any product. It's great for general dimension, and it works perfectly on shaker cards. I buy one roll every 6-8 months, and I use it a lot.

Liquid Adhesive:
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Adhesive

I don't use liquid adhesive often, but this is my go-to adhesive if I need a really strong bond. I use it to adhere things like bits of ribbon or bow on cards, delicate die-cuts or embellishment elements and it works just fine to glue panels together in a pinch.

Ranger Studio Multi Matte Medium

This is what I use for sequins or other small embellishments. This glue dries absolutely clear and matte, so if a little oozes out, I'm not worried I'll have a shiny or discolored spot on my card. I also use a precision applicator top with it for very precise dispensing.

Heavy Adhesive (For cardstock boxes):
ScorPal tape

I have a couple of widths (¼ and ½"), and I really enjoy using them. This is a very strong clear adhesive, that is thin (so it lets your boxes be flat) and easy to use.

Stash Kit: October

We're inching toward the end of September, so I thought I would share my stash kit for October. The kit is themed for Halloween, as I'd like to create a gift set of Halloween cards for a friend who throws a pretty major spooky bash party every year.

Rubber Stamps:
Kraftin' Kimmie - My Best Friends Are Witches

Kraftin' Kimmie - Batty and Catty

C.C. Designs - Broom Ride (Roberto's Rascals)

Patterned Paper:
Doodlebug - Ghouls & Goodies 6x6

Photopolymer Stamps:
Mama Elephant - Meowlloween Extras

 My Favorite Things - (Birdie Brown) Witch Way is the Candy?

Lawn Fawn - Spooktacular

Embellishments:
Nuvo Crystal Drops in Crushed Grape

 
Simon Says Stamp - Witches' Brew Sequins

 Doodlebug - Ghouls & Goodies Enamel Shapes

As with last time, I've added a combination of older and newer stamps. Some things are retired, others are available for purchase (I've added a link to those that are still available).

I will also be supplementing these with cardstock and dies from my stash.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

SK September: Rainy Thanks

For this Stash Kit creation, I'm back to using Mama Elephant's Chance of Rain. A surprising addition to this card is the felt cloud stickers from Pebbles. I think the embellishment itself is actually quite old - I happened to get it on sale somewhere a couple of years ago, and it was already a long-retired product. But felt seems to be trendy again, so those clouds are back in style.

Since the clouds added quite a bit of dimension, I decided to use the chunky wood veneer thanks from Lawn Fawn as my sentiment. I think this product is also retiring, but it's in stock (and on sale for 50% off!) on Lawn Fawn's webstore. I used the circle that was left over from the card I shared on Monday, and added some raindrops with Nuvo Crystal Drops.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

SK September: Hello Sparkle

For the fifth card in September's Stash Kit project, I went back to Lawn Fawn's Into the Woods stamp set. I remember that the deer in this set is a favorite for many of the stamp's owners, so I took extra care in coloring it. I used a little more blending than usual and made sure it was lined up well with the coordinating die when I cut it out.

I really liked this triangle background in the kit's paper pad, and I wanted to accent it with some sparkle. So, I added a strip of sparkly silver cardstock from My Favorite Things. I wanted to echo the geometric shape of the pattern, so I opted to use a hexagon STAX die from My Favorite Things (now retired). I added a hello sentiment and a couple enamel dots to round off the card.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

SK September: Chance of Happy

For this stash kit share, I've got another card using Mama Elephant's Chance of Rain stamp set.

This time, I decided to go with a neutral striped background and a bright purple for a pop of color. I used a Wavy Scallop Stitches die from Simon Says Stamp to create an interesting edge and a circle die-cut to create a background for my focal image.

For this card, I tried a new product - Nuvo Crystal drops - to create some raindrops. I thought it turned out fantastic, and I loved how I could add tiniest of dots without worrying that they'd fall off. I also added a few white dots around the enamel dots I used by the sentiment.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~