Blue Flower Note

I'm sharing a card with a touch of elegance and sophistication. I love the ephemera flower - the blue with dark gray makes for a very interesting palette. I kept this card very simple, with the main focus on the flower and the sentiment.

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~

CAS- Layered Love

Today's card is a clean-n-simple creation featuring dies and layers.

I've really loved the CAS layered style I've seen a couple of crafters use, but it's always eluded me. My own attempts felt clumsy and off - and it was a source of major frustration. I thought a part of it might be that I don't scrapbook. So things like layouts don't necessarily come naturally to me. Or maybe the problem was that I didn't have the right supplies.

But after much trial and error, I've come to the conclusion that it's simply a case of trying to shove my own preferences and work flow into someone else's visual. I mean, don't get me wrong.. I still appreciate the lovely creations those crafters share. But short of copying their cards exactly, I will never achieve the same results. So, I might as well do my own take on the style, right?

Today's card is the result. Lots of layers and elements, but a simple design. And I love it!

Thanks for reading.
~Elle~

AE: Christmas Joy

Yes, it's July and I've already got Christmas on my mind... But in my defense, when you're making hand-made gifts and cards, you really need to start working early. I'm still pinning down exactly what artful and crafty things I want to make this year, so I thought a wintry card might get me in the Christmas mood.

I just adore the cat from Avery Elle's Dear Santa stamp set! She has a lovely retro kind of feel, while still looking perfectly elegant and serene. She reminds me of Aristocats - one of my favorite childhood movies. So, it's a perfect mix of nostalgic and warm fuzzy feelings.

I paired the cat with some bits and bobs of paper from my stash. Blues went great with silver and gray, so that's the color scheme I chose.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

SCS: Art of Writing

Another fun card from the SCS September DT - Literally.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to see a museum exhibition that centered around books and writing. It featured early printing presses, ink making tools and displayed several old manuscripts. One of my favorite parts was an old practice book where the owner was practicing calligraphy that had ink splotches and sketches in the margins. It looked so playful and was in such contrast with the rest of the manuscripts.

I have to confess that the main reason why I bought the Music Hall stamp was the inky sketch of a Victorian lady. Ink being associated with writing and books made me think it was a perfect stamp to use for this month's theme.

I challenged myself to add a touch of mixed media flair, so I blended some distress ink across the panel. A sticker sentiment finished the card off perfectly. :)

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 83 - French with SOG

Today's card features a lovely stamp from Some Odd Girl called Frenchie Gwen. I was really drawn to this stamp set for two reasons: 1) It's a lovely image with a super cute outfit that looked like fun to color, and 2) I have family living in an area that predominantly speaks French, so a stamp with sentiments in French is high on my "need it" list when it comes to supplies. So, when I pulled out OHC theme 83 - French, this was the stamp I reached for.

I started by stamping Gwen in black hybrid ink onto some Copic marker paper. I colored her in with Copics, choosing a palette of white, blue, dark grey and a hint of red. After she was colored in, I added some accents with a white gel pen and carefully cut Gwen out with a pair of sharp scissors.

I grabbed a couple of great patterned papers. The first was a simple navy with a tiny white polkadot, and the second was an air-mail stripe that brought in the touch of red that was accented on Gwen. I adhered the two papers to a white top-folding A2 card base (4¼x5½"). I then cut a chunky strip of white cardstock and added my sentiment in navy ink. I cut one end at an angle and adhered it to the card with foam squares.

I wanted to add a touch of gold to the card - the sparkle would contrast fabulously with the navy, so I added one of the awesome gold foil doilies from Some Odd Girl. Of course, the doily photographed very shiny, but I assure you that it's a lovely gold in person.

I adhered Gwen to the card with foam squares and then scattered a few enamel dots around for fun.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Sympathy Lilies

My mom visited recently and took with her the majority of the cards I've created over the past year - some to gift to friends, others to use herself. On one hand, this was wonderful! My cards will find a happy home somewhere and really brighten someone's day. On the other hand, it's left me with an empty stash that really needs to be replenished.

When it comes to sympathy cards, my go-to idea is simple and elegant flowers with a simple sentiment. For this card, I chose Taylored Expressions' Calla Lily Bouquet stamp. It's a lovely and large vase of flowers, and it has sentiments that also make it perfect for Easter, Mothers' Day or just "thinking of you".

I decided to go with watercolors this time, and wanted to soften the image contrast a bit, so I stamped them in brown. I used distress markers to water-color the image. There wasn't anything exceptional about my coloring here, I just did a simple wash of color without much shading and let the colors pool in around the darkest parts of the stamp.

When the watercolor piece was dry, I stamped the sentiment and trimmed it down. I wanted to do a subtle frame around it, so I used a piece of white cardstock to mat the front panel. I then adhered it to a raspberry Avery Elle notecard.

The notecard is a pretty bright color, so one might hesitate to use it for a somber occasion. But I think it works here because it contrasts with the front panel and makes the lilies stand out a little better. Another color I considered was a light blue - which would have echoed in the vase color. I preferred how the pink looked, though, and that's what I ultimately chose.

For this card, I hope I won't have a chance to use it for a very long time. :)

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Peony Birthday

Since I posted a card I did not like earlier, I wanted to also post a card that I really do like. It is a one-layer birthday card that's bright, cheerful and lovely.

This card features a new set from WPlus9 called Pretty Peonies. This set is a builder set, which means it has several different pieces to the stamp- flat color, shadows/highlights and an outline. You can pick and choose how you layer different pieces and create some really beautiful effects.

I stated by creating the card base by cutting and scoring a piece of Kraft cardstock into a standard top-folding A2 card (4 1/4 by 5 1/2"). While I had my trimmer out, I also cut a panel out of white cardstock measuring 4 by 5 1/4".

I wanted to go with a sketchy kind of look, so I chose to use the flat color and outline stamps only. I started by stamping 3 large peonies in Avery Elle's Aquamarine ink. I then stamped the outline with Sapphire ink.

I switched to the two smaller peonies and stamped the flat color in Cherry, and the outline in Vino. And, lastly, the leaves were stamped in Lemon Grass and Celery. As a last touch, I added some centers to the peonies with Fizz ink.

For the sentiment, I used another newer WPlus9 stamp set - Strictly Sentiments 5. I stamped it in Truffle ink.

Since the panel was so beautifully bold and colorful, I decided to keep it embellishment-free. I simply adhered the front panel to the card front with foam tape.

Supplies:
WPlus9 Pretty Peonies stamp set
WPlus9 Strictly Sentiments 5 stamps set
Avery Elle Pigment Ink in Aquamarine, Sapphire, Cherry, Vino, Lemon Grass, Celery, Fizz and Truffle
Neenah Desert Storm Environmental Cardstock 100#lbs
Neenah Solar White Cardstock #110lbs
3M Double-Sided Foam Tape

Simon Says Stamp: Flickr Challenge #1

I recently joined the Simon Says Stamp group on Flickr, and saw that they've got a challenge running. It's a color challenge, and the mix of colors inspired me to try and make a card with some of the stamp sets I've bought recently.

The Flickr challenge was to use 3 of the colors in the image above. I thought the colors were really wonderful and fitting the autumn theme, so I grabbed the brand new Autumn Blessings stamp set and several inkpads.

I started by cutting and scoring a piece of Kraft cardstock into a top-folding A2 card (4 1/4 by 5 1/2"). While I had my trimmer out, I also cut a piece of Olive cardstock to measure 4 by 5 1/4", and a piece of white cardstock to measure 3 3/4 by 5".

Although I love the hunter green in the inspiration piece, I didn't have an inkpad that was in that color. So, I went with a medium green instead, and stamped the leafy wreath from the stamp set. I then switched to the warm gray color and stamped the pine-cones twice. I stamped the berries in orange, then switched to yellow for the two flowers. I stamped the sentiment in black ink under the wreath.

Since one of the inks was a pigment ink, I set the panel aside to dry while I made myself some tea. Once the panel was completely dry, I adhered it to the olive panel using my standard dot adhesive. I then adhered the front to the card base, using foam tape.

As a last touch, I added a few tiny enamel dots to the wreath.

Supplies:
Simon Says Stamp Autumn Blessings (collaboration with Clearly Besotted) stamp set
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in Black Licorice
Avery Elle pigment in in Fog
Stampin' Up Classic Inkpad in Mossy Meadow, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie
Neenah Desert Storm Environmental Cardstock in 100#lbs
Neenah Solar White cardstock in 80#lbs
Simon Says Stamp Heavyweight cardstock in Olive
Tombow Dot Adhesive Runner (pink)
3M Double-Sided Foam Tape
Studio Calico Yellow & Orange Essentials Enamel Dots

Picture Thanks

This is the third and final card in my Stamp and Paper Trio challenge. Stamp Trio challenge is where I take one single stamp set and use it to make 3 very different cards. To see the previous cards, click here for card 1 and here for card 2.

As the previous two cards, this card uses WPlus9's Fanciful Feathers stamp set as well as My Mind's Eye Mint Julep 6x6 patterned paper.

I started by cutting a panel of mint polka dot patterned paper with a rectangle in MFT's Blueprints 1 die. I also die-cut the same rectangle out of white cardstock. I positioned the smaller rectangle inside the cardstock and ran it through my BigShot again. This left me with a thin white frame.

I created a standard top-folding A2 (4 1/4 by 5 1/2") card base from white cardstock. I adhered the patterned paper to the card front with my standard adhesive, making sure it's straight. I then adhered the frame using foam tape.

I stamped the Thank You sentiment underneath in coral ink, then added a piece of thin silver washi tape underneath.

I stamped the feather from Fanciful Feathers twice, using a coral/dark pink and green/dark green. I carefully cut around them with my scissors, leaving a small white border. I adhered the two feathers to each other, then added them to the card with foam tape.

And voila!

I hope you enjoyed the three elegant cards in this challenge. If it inspires you to try your own Stamp Trio or Paper Trio challenge, let me know! I'd love to check it out. :)

Supplies:
WPlus9 Fanciful Feathers stamp
MFT Blueprints 1 dies
Stampin' Up Classic Inkpad in Crisp Cantaloupe, Strawberry Slush, Pear Pizzazz and Old Olive
Neenah Solar White 110#lbs cardstock
Tombow Dot Adhesive (pink)
3M Double-Sided Foam Tape
Thin silver Washi tape

Elegant Grateful

This is the second entry in my Stamp Trio Challenge (first card is here). Stamp trio challenge is to use one single stamp set to make 3 different cards. As an added bonus, my friend Kylie and I are also hitting Paper Trio challenge this time -- where we have to use a single paper pack for the 3 cards, as well.

Like last time, my stamp set of choice is WPlus9's Fanciful Feathers stamp set and my paper of choice is My Mind's Eye Mint Julep 6x6.

With the first card, I used the patterned paper as the dominant element on the card, and the elegant sentiment and feathers were a decoration. I covered the entire card front with a piece of patterned paper and its thick, bold stripes created a very graphic look.

For the second card, I wanted to keep the same elegance, but make my use of patterned paper different - this time as an accent piece instead of the main element. This is a great way to incorporate patterned paper into clean-and-simple cards and stretch out your stamps a bit. You can give the same sentiment a different feel simply by switching out the patterned paper.

As with the first card, I created a top-folding A2 card base (4 1/4 by 5 1/2"). While I had my trimmer out, I also cut a piece of gray cardstock, a white panel and a strip of the beautiful flowered pattern paper.

I kept this card super simple. After adhering the patterned paper to the gray cardstock, I trimmed the white panel down into 2 pieces to create a peek window. I adhered it to the gray base with foam tape, then wrapped some slate ribbon just above the patterned window.

I stamped the sentiment onto the leftover piece of white cardstock and cut it down to size, leaving one end angled. I added it on top of the ribbon, using foam tape. Lastly, I adhered the entire panel to the card base with my standard adhesive.

Supplies:
WPlus9 Fanciful Feathers stamp
MFT Hybrid Ink in Steel Blue
MFT Heavyweight Cardstock in Steel Blue
Neenah Solar White 110#lbs cardstock
Tombow Dot Adhesive (pink)
3M Double-Sided Foam Tape
Slate satin ribbon