Everyday You & Me in Pinks

Hello, my stamping buddies!  Hope your day is going well and you're staying dry.  I mention that because we've been getting a good amount of rain through the night and all day today.  So that just means it's a good day to stay inside and create something cheerful.  And that's exactly what I did.  I love the hexagon shape die in the Memorable Blooms Bundle.  Creating with it is one of those things that have been rolling around in my thoughts for a while.  Today was the day to make it happen.

I love the looks of this card!  These are some of my favorite colors and I always like to see them show up on cards.  Who doesn't like pinks in their many shades from a pale baby pink to a bright rich rose color?  I do, I do!  This card features the yummy Strawberry Slush one of the newer In Colors that is making a return visit.  Which I'm very happy about, in case you can't tell.  It will be available again on May 6th in the new Annual Catalog.   Loved it before, love it now!

So, we start with Strawberry Slush cardstock for the card base.  It measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  This is scored and folded in half.  The DSP shown here is one of the awesome prints found in the Florals in Bloom Designer Series Paper.  This is one of the new DSP offerings in the new Annual Catalog that will be available May 6th.  I've actually made several cards using the floral side of this DSP and decided this was a lovely background print that needed some care and attention too.  The print layer measures 5" x 3 3/4".

The print is layered onto a Basic Beige layer that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  The two layers are attached together with "green glue".  Then they are attached to the card front with Dimensionals.

Now for the focal point of the card.  The plain hexagon die from the Memorable Blooms set was used to cut a layer of Basic Beige. This is a nice neutral color for the sentiment and flowers.

The sentiment used is from Memorable Blooms, and it's stamped with Strawberry Slush ink.  This is placed on the right side to leave room for the flowers.

For the flowers and leaves, the Everyday You & Me set has a nice assortment of sizes to choose from.  You can find this set in the Online Exclusives section.  The largest flower was inked with Pretty in Pink ink.  Then a sponge dauber was pounced in the middle of the flower with Strawberry Slush ink to give it more interest.  The two smallest flowers were inked and shaded the same way.  The other two flowers are straight Strawberry Slush ink.  The two different leaf clusters were stamped with Garden Green ink.  All of these pieces were stamped on Basic White cardstock.  After stamping, each of the pieces was die-cut using the coordinating dies.

First, I laid out all the pieces onto the hexagon label in the fashion I liked.  Then I started picking up the outer pieces of the design and adhered them to the hexagon with adhesive.  I was tucking the leaves in under the flowers as I went.  The largest flower in attached with a Dimensional to bring it forward in the design.  

TIP:  I saw a video a while back (sorry I don't remember who did the video) where the lady had her design laid out then added a piece of Press & Seal over the pieces to keep then in place.  She turned it over and proceeded to add Dimensionals to the backs of all the pieces overlapping the edges to hold them together while they were still in the proper order.  Then she flipped it to the front side again and attached it all to the label and easily peeled off the paper.  I thought that was an awesome idea, but I didn't have any Press & Seal to try this idea out.  It would have really been a big help and it's definitely on my shopping list now!

 

After getting all the pieces onto the hexagon label, this was attached to the card front with Dimensionals.

For the added bling on this card, I used the pink sequins in the Adhesive-backed Sequins Trio.  I liked how the iridescent pinks on these sequins played off the different pinks on the card.

That's it for today's card.  I'm still playing around with the lovely Florals in Bloom DSP.  I can't seem to get enough of these bright spring florals.  Stay tuned for more in the coming days.

Just a heads up.  If you like the Memorable Blooms stamp and die bundle, it's on the Last Chance List right now.  That means there are some left, but not that many and there won't be any more added.  So, take advantage of the Free Shipping and get your set now!

Yes, there is Free Shipping going on April 24 - 25th.  To receive the free shipping, your order must total $75 before tax and shipping are added.  And if you haven't stocked up on your color cardstock, now is the time before the prices go up with the new catalog.  It would be a win-win for you!

Thanks for stopping in to see what's new here today.  Check back for a bundle of new cards made with the Florals in Bloom.  They're quick and easy cards that let the gorgeous DSP do all the work.  See you soon!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

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