Waffle Flower Sweet Ghosts Halloween Card

I have a restock alert for you all today! The Sweet Ghosts die set has just been restocked over at Waffle Flower. This set includes some of my favorite ghost dies. I've have used them many times and I'm sharing the most recent card I've made featuring these cute little ghosts.  And just FYI.... the September Waffle Flower Release does include some brand new Halloween products.  Click here to see the Fall Favorites Release. 

There's a lot going with this card design, so I kept the color palette minimal. I've used shades of peach, black, and white only. The card base is A2 size to which I added black & grey postal stripes created with the Postage Collage Coloring Stencil set. 

To create the peach background, I started with a panel of Spellbinders Bellini card stock trimmed to fit inside the striped edges. I used Catherine Pooler Coral Cabana ink to stamp the text background. Sadly this Halloween text print is an old MFT background stamp and is no longer available. 

The die cut ghosts, bats, and jack-o-lantern are from the Sweet Ghosts die set. The Boo word is a stand alone die set which includes the shadow layer. 

I pulled out a stamp from Tailored Expressions for the "hey, ghoulfriend" sentiment. It's included in Halloween Simple Strips stamp set.  The little star die cuts are also from TE - Stars Little Bits die set. 

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope to be sharing lots more seasonal makes in the coming weeks including more halloween, fall, and Christmas. So keep an eye out for them!

Sunny Studio Sweet As Can Bee Cards

Hello Everyone! I'm sharing a couple of bee theme cards made using the absolutely adorable Sweet As Can Bee stamp set from Sunny Studio. I've also done a little creative fussy cutting to make a custom bee hive. I'll explain how to do this in detail below. 

This first card includes lots of images and a sentiment from the Sweet As Can Bee stamp set as well as my custom made bee hive. 

Making a your own card stock bee hive is very easy to do. Start with creating a template by folding a small sheet of copy paper in half. Next draw the bee hive shape on the folded paper like you see in the photo below. If you'd like to make the same size as mine, use the measurements in the photo. Next cut the shape out and unfold the paper. Now you have a template for a perfectly symmetrical hive which you can trace onto card stock and fussy cut out. I cut mine out of pale yellow card stock. I then added shading and splatters to give the hive some definition and interest. Lastly I used a 3/4" circle punch to create the opening and backed it with a dark brown card stock. 

After my bee hive was complete, I stamped the sentiment and then adhered it with foam tape to a panel vellum cut slightly smaller than A2 size. I embellished this panel with lots of Copic colored flowers and bees. Once I had the placement of everything just right, I adhered my little bee hive scene onto a pink A2 size card front. The pink card front was splattered beforehand with gold and pink watercolor to give it a speckled look. 

For the second card, I have created another playful scene with the bees and flowers, only this time I used the Frilly Frames Hexagon Dies to create a background that perfectly pairs with the Sweet As Can Bee stamp set. 

The Hexagon Frame has been die cut from light yellow card stock and then backed with a creamy ivory card stock. I then layered this frame over top a bright pink panel slightly smaller than my A2 size card base. 

I wanted the sentiment to take center stage on the card with the bees and flowers surrounding it. I used a combination of word stamps from Sweet As Can Bee and the Sydney Alphabet Dies to create this fun sentiment.  I then added the flowers and bees to create a carefree style composition. 

I hope I have given you a bit of new inspiration for making whimsical bee theme cards. Thanks so much for joining me today! Copics used to color the images are listed below.

bright pink - RV10, RV13, RV14; medium pink - R83, R85; bright green - YG11, YG13, YG17; medium green - YG61, YG63; bright yellow- Y11, Y13, Y17; mustard yellow - YR32, Y2; black- N2, N4, N6; cool shading on white flowers -C1, C3; light blue shading on bee wings - B00

Anna Griffin 3D Hydrangeas - 2 ways to add gold detail

I think it's safe to say that Hydrangeas are quickly becoming my favorite flowers, both real and paper versions. I recently purchased the Hydrangea 3D dies from Anna Griffin. This die set will create lush, dimensional hydrangeas blooms. I have made three cards showcasing these pretty flowers to which I have added gold detail to accentuate the petals. 

There are two ways to apply the gold accents - hot foiling and inking up the dies with metallic gold ink before die cutting. The ink method is much like letter press. I have found that Delicata metallic gold pigment ink works very well for this technique.

For the pale pink hydrangeas on the card below, I have used the inking method. I lightly pounced the gold ink pad directly onto the dies before sending them through my Empress die cutting machine.  

The inking method is a bit more subtle but much quicker to do than hot foiling. It's a great way to make the details of the die cut hydrangea blooms stand out. When you're done, the pigment ink will wipe off the dies easily with a little rubbing alcohol and a paper towel. 

The next two cards have gold foil petal details. Since the Hydrangeas are 3D dies, you can run them through the Empress Gild with hot foil. This method creates a really stunning effect!

For this card, I have used the Luxury Hydrangea Blue Matte Foil card stock for the flower. I simply ran it through my Empress Gild to add the gold hot foil.

My last card shows how the gold foiling looks on plain pink card stock. It's equally as stunning.

I really can't decide if I like the pink or blue hydrangeas better. Both are so pretty! 

Either way, this Hydrangea die set will be getting lots of use this summer. 

Anna Griffin Summer House Cards

Hello everyone! I have something special to share today. I recently have become utterly obsessed with all things Anna Griffin... the gorgeous pattern paper, the detailed dies, and beautiful sticker embellishments. Today I had the wonderful opportunity to be a guest on her livestream, AGTV. Click here to check it out! (You'll see me hop on towards the end of the show) Anna sent me some of her newest Collection - Summer House. It's all beyond gorgeous and perfect for beach stories and summer celebrations. 

Here are some cards I made with the papers, embellishments, and dies. 

This first card was created with the star of the show... Summer House 3D Easel dies. This die set makes it so easy to create a fun house shaped easel card. I also used the Summer House Cardstock and Embellishments. If you watch the show, you'll see everything that's included in this collection along with how to assemble the house easel card. 

These next two cards were also made with the Summer House Card stock and Embellishments. I just love the Hydrangea die cuts in this collection. There are bunches of them included in the bundle so you can add several to a card without fear of running out.

To die cut the fancy frame, I used the Birthday Present Scroll 3D Concentric Frame dies for the gold one pictured above. The Harlequin Bow dies were used for the ivory one pictured below

We can't forget about the men in our lives so I've made cards for them too! Included in the Summer House Embellishments Collection are lots of sailboat die cuts along with sea shells, anchors, and even a gold foiled compass. There are some great sentiment stickers included as well. 

The Schooner Easel dies make a really fun sailboat shaped card. The assembly may look complicated but the die set makes it easy to create such a unique card for your favorite sailor or boating enthusiast. 

During the livestream I showed a little mini album I made with the Summer House dies. I will share photos and lots more details about that in a separated post. So stay tuned and thanks for stopping by today!  

Hello Bluebird Ruffle Heart Easel Cards

Hi everyone! This post is for my Hello Bluebird fans out there... there's a new release available and it's Valentine's Day themed. There is also a Spring Clearance sale going on too! Click here to go to the Hello Bluebird Shop.

Today I'm sharing a tutorial how to use the new Ruffle Heart dies and some of the new stamp sets to make heart shaped easel cards. 

These cards lay flat just like a typical folded card, however they display like an easel when you open them as shown in the photo below.

Here's how to make the easel card base....

Now with the card base and front panel adhered, you can embellish the outside and inside however you'd like. For the inside, be sure to pop up whatever you add just a bit so it will be tall enough to prop up the card front when displayed. 

For this card, I used Crafted with Love stamp set for the images. The "Happy Valentine's Day" sentiment comes from Kissing Booth. The "XO" die is included in the Heart Medley die set. The Word Bubbles die set is an oldie but goodie and I use this one often when I need something to stamp greeting onto. 

For this next card, I used the sweet images from Bee Mine. The patterned paper I used for both cards is from Carta Bella's Here Comes Easter collection. Even though it's mostly Easter prints, I found that the simple patterns and florals work well for anything. 

Again make sure your add something with height to the inside of your easel cards. The smaller heart dies in the Ruffled Heart set are the perfect addition on the inside of these. I used foam tape to adhere them which gives them a little dimension and height to prop the bottom edge of card front up. 

These will lay perfectly flat when closed and fit into an A2 size envelope for mailing. Fair warning...these are addictive to make and just a fun twist on a card design. I think you'll find yourself wanting to make all your cards into shaped easels now. I know I do!