Loving Those Textured Notes

Hello there, my fellow stamping friend!   Hope you had a wonderful Easter day.  We went to a beautiful service and then came back here to eat lots of good food and hide lots and lots of plastic eggs. (Just in case they aren't found) 😂 Even though my grandsons are 13 and 15, they still have fun with this and turn it into a contest between them each year!  What silliness, but it makes life fun having them around.

I've been creating with the new Textured Notes Bundle and mixing it with the Elements of Text stamp set. Oh boy, they are absolutely amazing together!  I love the look of collage art and it's so easy to accomplish with these two sets. Whether you prefer a 'cleaner' look to your creation or really prefer the 'busier' look with lots of overlapping elements, these sets will work for you.  I've done one of each of these styles, so you can tell me which you prefer.

Let's start with the busier look.  The main colors used for both cards are Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie, and the new In Color called Secret Sea.  This card has Very Vanilla for the neutral ground.

To make this one, start with Pecan Pie for the base.  This measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored and folded in half.  The first layer is Very Vanilla that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  This layer has a very light blending of Crumb Cake ink around the edges to soften the color.

The next layer is the new Secret Sea a lovely dark navy that looks almost black.  This measures 4 7/8" x 3 3/8".  I used these measurements to make a skinny frame around the next layer.

This one is Very Vanilla that is die-cut with the 2nd largest Textured Notes die.  After cutting this layer, I used a Blending Brush and Crumb Cake ink to darken the edges.  This really made the detail work in the die stand out.

To the right side of this, I stamped the large circle of text in the Elements of Text set.  I had planned on off-stamping this, but as you can see, I forgot and stamped full strength instead.  I figured I might as well use this and see how it worked out.

Next the large leaf cluster from Textured Notes was stamped with Pecan Pie ink.  I stamped once with full strength and twice with it off-stamped to fill in the area.

With the small cluster of leaves, I used Secret Sea that was off-stamped before stamping to get this darker color onto the card for contrast.  

There is a little splatter stamping on the design using Crumb Cake that's been off-stamped first.  The splatter stamp comes from the Elements of Text set.

A die-cut stem was cut from Secret Sea cardstock.  This die is from the Memorable Blooms bundle.  I thought it worked nicely to bring that stronger color into the design.  It was attached with adhesive over the leaf clusters.

After all the stamping, attach this to the Secret Sea layer with adhesive.  Then these two layers are attached to the card front using Dimensionals.

The sentiment used here is from the Memorable Blooms bundle.  It's stamped on Very Vanilla that was cut with the smallest rectangle die from the Textured Notes die set.  I used Crumb Cake by accident here.  (That's what happens when I have too many open ink pads in my area!)  I decided to go with this anyway.  

There is a layer of Pecan Pie that measures 3 5/8" x 7/8".  On this is layered a skinny piece of Secret Sea that measures 3 3/8" x 3/8".  This happened to be a scrap piece that was just sitting there.  I didn't want to throw it away, so I added it to the design.  The Pecan Pie layer is attached to the card front with Dimensionals.

The bling chosen for this card are several of the Brushed Brass Butterflies.  I thought they were a nice touch here.  A little subtle but they blend in with the organic look of the card,

I love the inside of these cards as much as the front designs.  They were so much fun to add elements and colors from the front of the card and put them to work here.  You can see all the colors and elements are the same, but they create a wonderful bit of interest inside the card.

On to the 'cleaner' looking style of card.  It's still a collage card, just toned down a little.

I just realized with the background and the Crumb Cake card base there isn't all that much difference.  Oops, should have used a different backing for the picture.  It makes it very hard to see the actual card.  Sorry!!

Like I said, Crumb Cake is the card base with a layer of Pecan Pie over this.  It measures 5 1/4" x 4".  Over this are two separate pieces, a Basic White piece measuring 3 3/4" x 3 1/4" and a piece of the Woven Textures DSP.  I love the look of each of the different prints in this paper pack.  I just want to hoard them!  But I was good and I'm using them instead.  This piece measures 3 3/4" x 2".  There's some stamping to do before they're attached to the card.

On the white piece, start by stamping the woven circular piece with Crumb Cake ink as shown.  Using the taller sentiment in the Elements of Text set, stamp this partially in two different sections.  I used an off-stamped Crumb Cake for this.

  

Stamp the large leaves from Textured Notes using Pecan Pie ink.  They are positioned on the woven circle and extend above it.  

The small leaves are stamped with Secret Sea ink twice on the bottom of the section.  This time they are full strength ink.

Using the spatter stamp again, there are partial stampings on the edges.  Pecan Pie ink is used here, but it was off-stamped before stamping.  Remember not to add too many spatters to the design.  It starts to look messy instead of interesting.

Now it's time to attach the white layer to the card front.  I used adhesive.  The DSP strip was attached next.  This uses adhesive too.  It might overlap just a bit, but don't worry about that.  The sentiment will cover it.

Speaking of the sentiment, it is stamped on a 5/8" strip of Basic White cardstock.  It's stamped with Secret Sea ink.  The sentiment is from the Unbounded Love set, and it's one of my favorites.  The strip is trimmed to 4" wide keeping the sentiment in the middle.  It's attached to the card front across the seam of the two papers.  I used four Dimensionals under this to hold it in place.

For this card, I decided to forgo having any bling to detract from the design.  What do you think?  Does it need something more??

This time the inside is a little different from the first card.  The layer is Basic White to match the front.  The colors and elements from the front are all there, but they were all off-stamped to give a lighter version of the card front.  The woven circle in Crumb Cake, the large leaves in Pecan Pie, the small leaves in Secret Sea, and the spatters in Pecan Pie.

Did you notice that tiny bit of DSP along the bottom edge for about 1 1/2"?  That print is the backside of what I used on the front.  I needed to trim off about 1/4" when I was designing the card.  You know me and not throwing those little bits away.  It was way too short to span the width of the card, so this piece got an angle cut on the right edge to dress it up before it was attached.

Just one more look at these two collage style cards together.  Which do you prefer?  They both have their own unique style even though the same colors and stamp sets were used for both.

Thanks for stopping by.  You're welcome anytime and feel free to leave me a comment on what you see here.  I'd love to know what you think about my cards.  Also, if you have questions on how to make this style of card, please email me and I'll get back to you asap.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

email:  sharoncarr50@gmail.com

Two Linked Together Cards

 Hello friends.  Coming to you from the frozen, but still lovely South Carolina.  The temps hit a high of 27 degrees today and there's snow in the forecast.  Hmm, does that sound right for the south?  I don't think so.  It's a good thing I packed my snuggly warm winter jacket and gloves when we moved.  Oh, yes, there it is - snowing out there as I write. It was definitely chilly when I was out doing errands this morning.  So, this afternoon, I figured it would be a good day to make some spring feeling cards and that's what I did.

Here are the two cards I made with the awesome lattice die from the Linked Together Bundle.  This is one of the new items in the Jan-April Mini Catalog.  It intrigued me when I saw it and had to have it for my creating.  I love the openwork dies and the lovely backdrop they leave to build your creations.  I love florals too, so this set has it all - word stamps along with the lattice, flowers, and stems dies.  What fun.  Let the creating begin! 

I saw a card created by Mary Anne Cowan last week that inspired me to leave my hearts on the shelf and play with something else for a while.  The Soft Sea Foam card is based on her designs with some changes just because I can't help myself.  The yellow and olive card is the next one I made.  Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Since I made this first, this is the one we'll dissect first.  The card base is Soft Sea Foam that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored and folded in half.  There is a layer of Basic White next that is 5 1/4" x 4".  Then a layer of the Wildflower Birthday Designer Series Paper comes next.  It measures 5 1/8" x 4 7/8".  The DSP is attached to the white layer with adhesive.  Then both of these are attached to the folded card base with adhesive.  Looking at the finished card, I think I'd like it better if I'd attached the white layer with Dimensionals instead.  Just a thought.

The Soft Sea Foam lattice was cut next.  I added a piece of Adhesive Sheets under the area to be cut.  After cutting, I easily placed this onto the center of the card.

Next was cutting the stems and flowers with the dies included in this set.  There are two different sized stems and two different choices for flowers too.  Old Olive cardstock was my choice for the color of the stems.  Several of each size were cut to have available.  

I only die-cut the smaller flowers in Basic White cardstock for this card.  The die cuts four flowers at the same time, but again I cut more to have on hand.   I never know exactly how many flowers are needed for a card until I start placing them.  It's always better to have extra instead of not enough as far as I'm concerned.

The stems were placed and attached with tiny dots of "green glue" along the stems.  The flowers were slightly "cupped" in my hand, then placed on the stems with a Mini Glue Dot on the center back of each.

The sentiment here comes from the Unbounded Love set.  It's stamped on Soft Sea Foam cardstock with Old Olive ink.  There's a matching die in the Unbounded Love die set that cut it.  I also used the same die to cut a Basic White label.  When cut, the label is two pieces, the center and the frame around it.  I took the white frame and added Dimensionals to the back, then tucked the seafoam piece inside where it rested on the edges of the Dimensionals too.  This holds both pieces in place together.  Then it was attached to the card front.

A silver bow was made from the Gold & Silver Trim duo.  It's a nice thin size to fit with the more delicate stems and flowers.  It's attached with a Mini Glue Dot that's rolled to fit behind it.  A tiny Iridescent Pearl was added to the center of each flower to finish.

On to the next card with the bright and sunny Daffodil Delight details.

This card looks similar, but with a good number of changes though.  This time I started with a Basic White base.  The first layer is Old Olive.  It measures 5 1/4" x 4".  The next layer is a 5 1/8" x 3 7/8" piece of the Floral Delight Designer Series Paper.  I love this tiny print for a pretty background.  

The lattice from the Linked Together set was cut from Old Olive cardstock this time.  After laying this against the DSP print, I decided it needed some vellum to soften the look.  The Graceful Greenery Vellum pack had the perfect vellum.  It has smudges of white printed on the vellum.  This is so pretty and looked great on this design softening the design but still allowing it to show through.  These two pieces were attached to the center of the card front with adhesive on just the outer edges of the pieces.

Another change on this card is the oval that's cut from Basic White cardstock.  The die is from the Linked Together set.  It's a good backdrop for the flowers and stems.  Before adding them, one of the cool scripty stamps from the Elements of Text stamp set was added.  It's stamped with Crumb Cake ink that was off-stamped before stamping on the oval to keep it very soft.

After stamping, more stems were die-cut from Old Olive cardstock.  The different flowers were all cut from Daffodil Delight cardstock to brighten the card.  The stems are attached with adhesive and the flowers with Mini Glue Dots.  Two of the larger flowers were added to the right bottom corner too.

The sentiment comes from the Unbounded Love set.  This set has so many great sentiments and I keep gravitating towards it lately.  This time it's stamped on a 5/8" strip of Basic White using Old Olive ink.  The ends were trimmed with Paper Snips.  It's attached to the card front with Mini Dimensionals.

There is a bow made with the Daffodil Delight 1/8" Ribbon that's added.  It's attached with a rolled Mini Glue Dot to hold in place.  The gems are two different sizes of the Low-Profile Gems in the golden tone.  The smaller ones are attached to the small flowers and the larger size are added to the two daisies.

Well, there you have it.  Hope you enjoyed a little taste of spring amid these freezing temperatures.  Two ideas using the new Linked Together Bundle and also a little look at the Elements of Text stamp which makes a wonderful background.

If you'd like to order any of these items, I'd love to be your demonstrator.  When you place an order, it would be very nice if you'd use the Host Code at the top of this post.  Any questions, feel free to call and leave a message and I'll get back to you.

Don't forget about Sale-a-bration going on right now.  Just a reminder that the base purchase is $60 to earn a free Sale-a-bration item.  There are so many fun items to choose from that it's sometimes hard to decide!  What a problem!  😄

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

More Heart Shaped Cards

Hey there.  Are you tired of this stamp set and all the cards being made using it?  Or are you loving it as much as I am??  Today I have three more cards to share with you.  All of them are using parts that I die-cut from the cardstock with all the blended colors the other day.  But each have their own color palette and style.  Hope you are inspired by what you see and try this yourself.

This is the next card that was made with these extra pieces.  This color palette consists mostly of Fresh Freesia and Petunia Pop.  The card base is Petunia Pop and measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  The heart was also die-cut from the same cardstock at this time.  The die comes from the Hearts of Elegance Bundle that is an Online Exclusive.  The 4th largest heart die was used for this.  

The next layer on the card is Basic White.  It measures 5 1/4" x 4".  On top of this is a layer of Fresh Freesia cardstock that measures 5 1/8 x 3 7/8".  I liked the look of just a tiny white border to separate them.

On the Fresh Freesia layer, I stamped one of the word stamps from the new Elements of Text stamp set.  This set is sort of easy to overlook in the Mini Catalog, but well worth looking for it.  It's stamped 5-6 times using Fresh Freesia ink so it's not real noticeable.  On top of this, one of the splatter stamps in the set was stamped randomly.  For this I used Petunia Pop ink but off-stamped it before stamping on the cardstock to get a lighter version of the color. These two layers were attached together and then to the card base using adhesive.

The label tag on the card is from the Greetings of the Season Bundle with Basic White cardstock.  The word 'love' is from the Hearts of Elegance set.  I only used part of the stamp and Petunia Pop ink.

The hearts layered up are the Petunia Pop heart, the inner cut-out from the heart wreaths, and the smallest heart from Hearts of Elegance in Basic White.  The 'xoxo' is also from the Hearts of Elegance set and is stamped with Petunia Pop ink.  The flower is one of the many that were cut from my blended cardstock.  The label tag and the large heart are popped with Dimensionals.

The gem accents on the card are new and they are the Two-Tone Sparkle Gems that are an Online Exclusive item.  These are so pretty and fairly flat to make the card easy to mail.  

Okay, one down.  On to the next.

This time the color palette was changed up to be more of a rosy look.  The card base is Bubble Bath cardstock.  The layer of DSP is next.  It's from the Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper.  It measures 5 1/4" x 4".  This pack of DSP is just beautiful and will make lovely backgrounds on many cards.  It is embossed with the Plaster Painting 3D Embossing Folder before attaching to the card front.  This gives so much gorgeous texture to the card.  It's attached with "green glue".

The label tag is the same one used in the previous card.  The sentiment is from the Hearts of Elegance stamp set and is stamped with Berry Burst ink.

One of the heart wreaths that I had made the other day was used here.  It's attached to the tag with dots of "green glue".  Inside this wreath was added another heart.  It's the 2nd smallest die from the Hearts of Elegance set and was die-cut from the Marbled Elegance DSP.  It's attached to the tag with Mini Dimensionals.  Then the tag was added to the card front with Dimensionals too.

For an accent, the gold ribbon from the Gold & Silver 1/8" Trim pack was used to make a bow. It was added to the tag with Mini Glue Dots to accent the gold on the DSP.

Several of the Adhesive-back Heart Sequins were added to the design.  One was left plain gold; the others were colored with a Melon Mambo Blends for some added color.  Love how this card turned out.

Last card for the day.  Back to the Fresh Freesia and Petunia Pop color palette.  Start with a base of Fresh Freesia.  Add a layer of Petunia Pop that measures 4 3/4" x 3 1/2".  Then cut a layer of Basic White to measure 4 1/2" x 3 1/4".  The white layer is embossed with the Forever Plaid 3D Embossing Folder.  Love the geometric plaid look behind the hearts.  These are layered onto the card base using Dimensionals.

The 4th largest heart die was used again to cut another Petunia Pop heart.  Layered onto this is another of the extra heart wreaths I made a couple days ago.  In the center is a Basic White heart cut with the smallest heart die from the set.  This has the same 'xoxo' stamped with Petunia Pop ink.

The sentiment is from the same Hearts of Elegance set.  It's stamped on a piece of Fresh Freesia cardstock that measures 3/4" x 2 3/4".  Petunia Pop ink was used for stamping.  This is layered onto the card front using Dimensionals.  The layers of hearts are then added slightly overlapping the sentiment.  Dimensionals were used for the hearts also.  

For an accent on this card, I used the lovely Purple Adhesive-backed Sequins.  I love all these pinky-purply colors on the sequins!  So pretty. The sequin pack is one of the free Sale-a-bration items you can choose when you spend $60 or more.  These are really a good bargain.  You'll love them!

Okay.  One last look at all three of these Valentine cards.  The ones with the purple tones are definitely going to my sisters.  They both love purples, so I thought these would work out just right.  Next, I need to make some Valentines for my grandsons who really are getting too old for all this "girlie stuff".  Hope I can come up with something more geared to teen boys.

Lots of new items were used on these three cards.  When you're shopping, make sure you check out the Online Exclusives and Kits, so you don't miss anything.  There's so much new that is added it's hard to keep track of it all.  If you don't have either the new Mini Catalog or the Sale-a-bration brochure, please let me know.  I'd be happy to get one to you.

Thanks for stopping by today and getting immersed in lots of hearts.  Be sure to check in in another day or two to see what I've been stamping up for you.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon 

sharoncarr50@gmail.com