Floral

Glorious Painted Blooms

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

When I sat down to create something for today’s blog I was stumped.  I had been reading for a while and had a hard time getting focused.  What I usually do when that happens is go to my designer series paper and pick something that catches my eye and work from there.

Glorious Painted Blooms

What I discovered tucked between to organizers of paper was an unopened set of the Painted Blooms designer series paper.  Oh. My. Goodness.  I felt like a little kid.  I have loved this set so much and have used a ton of it.

Glorious Painted Blooms

Since it will be retiring with the spring catalog, I got really bold.  I opened it up and took out my favorite pattern.  The first pack I had I treasured this pattern and had the hardest time cutting in up.  So, I just went for it.  I used one whole sheet and made a beautiful gift bag to showcase it.  It was quite liberating.  Good thing there is two of each pattern in a package.  I can still treasure the last one.  Maybe I will do like others have and frame it.

Glorious Painted Blooms

I didn’t want to cover up one bit of it with a tag or any stamping.  So, I went a little crazy with the seam binding ribbon.  How perfect is this gift bag!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Corner Garden Gift Bag

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Sometimes I design a bag around a gift or to match some cards I have made.  This time I wanted to work around a specific stamp.  I wanted to do a tone on tone with the Corner Garden stamp set.  The detail is fine and subtle, just the look I was going for.

Corner Garden Gift Bag

The bag is large enough to hold plenty.  It could hold a large set of cards and envelopes, or any number of things.  It is sturdy too.  A nice heavy cardstock bag with my favorite chevron ribbon.  Bring on the heavy gift, I am totally ready.

Corner Garden Gift Bag

At workshop Saturday my ladies teased me about my need to sponge the edges of everything.  I was able to say that I had controlled myself and we only sponged one of our three projects.  So I was feeling the need and definitely got busy on this bag. I just love the look it gives.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Park Lane Duo

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I started this set yesterday morning, got stumped, fussed last night, and finally fixed it this morning.  I kept trying to put the yellow butterfly on the card front.  Yes, the one I inlaid back into the gift bag I cut it from.  Strange how things come together better when you give your creativity a break to refocus.

Park Lane Duo

I colored the paper with my ink sponges.  I didn’t want a lot of exact color, just subtle hints.  So I just used the sponges with leftover ink already on them.  It did the job just right.  Of course my photos make it hard to see, but I love the effect.

Park Lane Duo

When you use delicate die cuts it helps tremendously to sandwich wax paper in between the layers.  The paper just pops out then.  I decided to use the wax paper ones as well.  I didn’t want to cover up the coloring and the yellow butterfly just took over.

Park Lane Duo

After I swapped things around I fell in love.  I attached my wax paper butterflies with some folded glue dots and then ran a string of basic pearls down the body.  It gave such a delicate finish.

Park Lane Duo

One quick stamp from the Sheltering Tree set and the card was done.  No ribbon, no other extras, just some light color and transparent butterflies.  Since they are so thin, the move when the card does.  Beautiful.

Get out there and have a creative day!

Moana

A Huge Thank You

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When a lot of people need to say thank you, you need a huge card.  This one measures 5.5 x 8.5, totally huge.  It has signing panels on both sides, plenty of room for everyone.

5-10 (2)

I had the opportunity to be a driver for my oldest daughters small business class field trip to Silicon Valley.  There was a lot of prep work, a hectic schedule, and highway time galore.  I thought it appropriate that the students thank their teacher for all of her hard work.

5-10 (3)

To make it a little better, I made a little something extra that I will share with you tomorrow.  You can see the top of them poking out of the holder.  It should sit nicely on her desk either at home or school.

5-10 (1)

My Denali will get the students to sign during the morning and give it to her during class.  It should be a nice thank you from all of us.  Sometimes we need to help others to be grateful.  Let’s call this an additional learning opportunity for the students.

I will share photos of the gift portion of the thank you tomorrow.  So festive and fun.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Sassy Salutations with Flowering Flourishes

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Let’s just say that my camera doesn’t always do me the best favors.  It is pushing ten years of heavy use, guess that is to be expected.  You get the idea though.

Sassy Salutations meets Flowering Flourishes

I was stumped for an idea, so I asked my youngest daughter for a little help.  All I asked her for was a color, something to get me started.  She said red, but not a love card.  I took her challenge and had fun with it.

Sassy Salutations meets Flowering Flourishes

I don’t normally work in red, but I do like the results.  I used two cut and ready card bases, retiring sad to say, for this set.  One for the card and the other for the box.  You could also make these from just one sheet.

Sassy Salutations meets Flowering Flourishes

I stamped on the velum with stazon and let it dry for a bit while I did the red stamping.  I hid my adhesive under the stamping and my embellishments.  Aren’t these just beautiful?  When they went on sale I broke down and bought a couple of containers.  So glad I did.  They are also retiring.

Sassy Salutations meets Flowering Flourishes

Even though my camera didn’t help out too much today, I think you get the idea.  Give yourself a challenge and see what happens.  You might be pleasantly surprised.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Petite Pairs and Punches Retirement Party

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Good morning to this retirement party!  Every time I get into one of those designer series paper stacks I get a surprise.  It is always something like, I don’t remember seeing this pattern, I should use this.  My poor brain.

Petite Pairs and Punches

I do really like this grouping here.  It is colorful but subtle at the same time.  Can you believe how many products will be retiring out of this?  The artisan label punch is one of my favorites.  It will stay in my stash for sure.

Petite Pairs and Punches

I also didn’t think to put this bright of a yellow with lost lagoon.  But I tried to use a daffodil delight card base to bring out the yellow, and it was too much.  Just a little bit then, not too much.

Petite Pairs and Punches

And to complete any card combo is a cute little bag.  This guy is made from one sheet of the stack.  A simple scoring, a bit of ribbon, and a flower from the other punching and it is just right.  And yes, a gift card will fit inside just right.  My cuteness must have an additional purpose other than being cute.  Who says that, right?  But it is true.

Petite Pairs and Punches

Have a creative day!

Moana

Blooming With Kindness Thank You Notes

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A quick, but special, project graced my desk today.  I wanted to make special thank you cards for the young ladies that I teach in a church class.  They were to write about things that they were thankful for concerning our gospel lesson.  It was a really great experience for them.

Bloom With Hope

I only recently got this stamp set at my daughters request, so I have used it a lot.  I was so sad to see it put on the retirement list.  I have enjoyed every project though.

Bloom With Hope

I think this flower image would look stunning no matter what color I used.  It is just that lovely.  I decided to use early espresso so I could pair it with the retiring seam binding ribbon.  These have become my go to products.  Only positive thoughts here though.  I know something equally amazing will come our way.

Bloom With Hope

The card assembly was really quite simple.  Just a basic card cut to measure 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 and scored at 4 1/4.  A very vanilla single layer on top measuring 4 x 5 1/4 with a length of ribbon tied in a know.  I stamped full strength in the four corners and then stamped off once to do the gaps in between.  It gave it a bit of dimension and was super easy.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Retirement Party for Bloom With Hope

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How did my morning get away from me?  Well, it goes along perfectly with the color choices for today’s projects.  These lovely cards had to wait for their retirement party until I had helped my oldest daughter.

Bloom With Hope

She is participating in a small business class that has a specific business competition today.  Her and another young lady were selected to represent their club and their school at this competition.  I just heard from her and they are finished presenting.  Just a few more and they will announce the winners.  How exciting is that?

Bloom With Hope

What is with the color choices then?  Their organization has these two colors, instead of strawberry slush it is a bit more magenta, but pretty close.  They were to dress exactly alike with these colors as their emphasis.  They look adorable!  So I thought I would use product with the same color choices.  Cool stuff there.

Bloom With Hope

I also dipped deep into a retired product from last year.  The coordinations line sure was a fun one, and I miss it.  However, I did get quite a bit of the paper when it hit the clearance racks.  As I have used down my stash of in colors, I have found myself out of a few, but have them in coordinations.  It works for me!

Bloom With Hope

If you find yourself in need of a few cards, why don’t you give these a try?  They actually went together pretty easily and they look great too!

Have a creative day!

Moana

You’re Wonderful

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What is wonderful?  Mothers are!  My mother is wonderful.  My mother-in-law is wonderful.  Paper crafting for both of them makes all of us happy!

You're Wonderful

After workshop I tend to have a bit of an empty brain, so I wondered what I could come up with for today.  As I put away my  materials and tidied my desk I cam across a couple of cards that were part way through.  Instead of just putting away the components to become something else, I added to them and made this set.

You're Wonderful

I love sending my mother cards to use and love.  She sets up the ones I personally send her around her house as decoration.  How sweet is that?  I also keep my mother-in-law supplied in birthday cards.  She is so nice to remember literally everyone in her family on their birthday.  Even down to the great-grand-babies.  Such a kind woman.

You're Wonderful

So I try to live up to their great examples and share what I can.  This pretty set is made from sahara sand, whisper white, and the lovely something borrowed designer paper.  I stamped my sentiment from the You’re Wonderful photopolymer set.  It is so fun because you can change out the wording that nests in the banners.  So awesome!

You're Wonderful

And what set of mine would be complete without an adorable matching bag?  It was made from a card base that was cut at 4 1/4 x 11″.  Simple scoring, stamping tone on tone with a smaller flower image from the same set, and adorned with velum flowers and rhinestones.  As you can tell, I stamped my sentiment on velum as well.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Flowering Flourishes with French?

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Saturday is usually my day to go all out with some totally extravagant project.  But today is workshop, so making sure I have everything just right takes priority.  I couldn’t not do something though.

Flowering Flourishes with French

Clean and simple cards may not be my strength, but I totally nailed this one!  I started out with the idea of stamping my background paper.  After the first two stamps up one side I fell in love.  I added one little flower in the top corner and stopped.  Such an interesting feeling.

Flowering Flourishes with French

I knew I needed a tiny sentiment, so I went on the prowl.  I came across a retired hostess set called Good Greetings.  I had earned a couple of free sets and put the wrong code in for one of them.  That was the french set.  But I couldn’t bring myself to exchange it.  And doesn’t it fit perfectly?  You know it does.

Flowering Flourishes with French

How did I choose these colors?  Well, I recently made an order to take advantage of that no shipping sale and stocked up on paper.  The heavy stuff for sure.  I added a few spools of cotton ribbon.  You guessed it.  Whisper white, blushing bride and island indigo.  There they sat it the box just telling me to do it.  Done.

Have a creative day!

Moana

All Abloom Gift Set

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Sometimes we go back to our beginnings when we aren’t even thinking about it.  Years ago when I first started paper crafting it was all about the paper and utilizing great tools.  I was pretty tired and just started without thinking.  Half way through I recognized where I was and just went with it.

All Abloom Gift Set

After I picked this patterned paper from the All Abloom dsp stack I literally had to scrounge for some coordinating pistachio pudding paper.  I try really hard to get through my in color stash before they retire.  I will be so sad to see this one go.

All Abloom Gift Set

Using the faintest of stamping, just color on color for the pistachio pudding strip, I enjoyed a little ribbon sewing.  So simple, yet it gives a lot of texture and interest.

All Abloom Gift Set

I used a couple of sheets to make the cute little matching bag.  Any more I give a card with a tiny gift or treat, it is almost compulsory.  I just love giving.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Love is Kindness with Newsprint DSP

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I wasn’t sure what I would come up with last night.  I had pulled some product to work with, but when I sat down to do it, I wasn’t feeling it.  Total do over.  How about this awesome stamp instead?  Absolutely!

Love is Kindness with Newsprint DSP

I had been waiting until closer to Mother’s Day to use this beauty, because it so reminded me of my mom.  She always makes flowers look beautiful, no matter how they show up. Even in rumpled newspaper.

Love is Kindness with Newsprint DSP

I had to do echo stamping inside, but wanted my gift bag to mirror the stamp as well.  I think it worked out pretty good, don’t you?  Both the card and bag were made from one sheet of card stock, plus a little scrap to frame my stamped image.

Love is Kindness with Newsprint DSP

I really couldn’t wait to make the little pretend newspaper on this image, like so many other stampers have done.  It was so fun, even if it was a bit tricky.  You should totally give it a try.

Love is Kindness with Newsprint DSP

Just looking at this set under my spotlights makes me smile.  I absolutely love them.  With workshop coming this weekend, I might have to change a project?  No, I will stay firm, but I don’t want to.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Crazy About You With Elegance

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“When you feel terrible, can you still create something beautiful?”  That is what I asked myself last night.  I had an endodontist appointment yesterday that I thought was headed one way and took another.  So, I wasn’t feeling very creative.

Crazy About You with Elegance

Or so I thought.  I knew black was my base, I had been wanting to make something with black for several days.  But the flower I wanted to stamp with I had just used and didn’t want to just create another card in another color.  I pulled the Crazy About You set out and picked this flower out of it.

Crazy About You with Elegance

I was reaching for my momento tuxedo black ink when I saw the silver.  I thought it could be cool to layer the stamping.  Was I right or what?

Crazy About You with Elegance

I love how this turned out.  I did learn, and please trust me on this one, that you have to clean your stamp after each layering stamp.  I stamped in silver first and let them dry for a while.  I went back in with the black, but it was picking up silver and then I was putting it back into the pad and getting silver in it.  Not fun.  So I ended up cleaning the stamp after each black flower was stamped.  Not too tiring, but necessary.  And yes, my ink pad survived nicely.

Crazy About You with Elegance

I placed just a few of the large basic rhinestones in the centers of the black flowers. It is kind of hard to tell with my photos, but they are the perfect touch.  I added a touch of ribbon and left the sentiment out of it.  They turned out very elegant.  My matching gift bag has an angled purse look to it, and I absolutely love it.

Sorry for the long post, I was apparently feeling a bit chatty.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Mother’s Love

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This card is clean and simple, but perfect.  I just got back from a trip visiting family and getting my second ready for university.  I just had to make a Mother’s Day card right away.  I wish I could just walk it over instead of mail it.

Mother's Love

I am normally a stamp, punch, lots of layers kind of girl.  But this stamp set just didn’t call for it.  The stamps go so nicely together.  I can see myself using these flowers all of the time.  But I made myself wait until now.  I hate waiting, but I love the feeling of something new to work with.

Mother's Love

I also don’t usually stamp sentiments inside.  I like to leave them blank for whatever I want to write, which is usually lots.  But this set had such a perfect companion sentiment that I just had to, and then show you.  Isn’t it wonderful?

Mother's Love

Mom’s are the best, so they deserve beautiful things like this to know how much they are loved.  I have many friends whose mothers have already passed, but don’t we all know a mother we can celebrate?  Of course we do!  Truly a great project.

Get out there and have a creative day!

Moana

Blooming With Kindness Trio

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This set started with an experiment, had some problems, then turned the corner and gave me something beautiful.  Pretty fun experiment there.

Blooming With Kindness

I started out wanting to use pink pirouette, saraha sand and very vanilla.  The papers looked lovely together, however, the way they looked on the very vanilla compared to whisper white made all the difference.

The pink looked so different on the vanilla that it made it look like my card stock was the wrong color.  That was odd for sure.  But I loved the paper I had created using the huge flower from the blooming with kindness set, so I had to get creative.

Blooming With Kindness

I made other cards using the front and inside bits I had stamped on the very vanilla.  Then I made another background piece on whisper white and the pinks were much more friendly.  And I ended up loving the secondary cards more than my original.  How about that?

Blooming With Kindness

Even though my results went a bit off, I do love the look I made.  I stamped the flower with versamark ink onto the card stock and quickly sprinkled iridescent ice powder on the wet ink.  I heat set it and while it was still tacky I hit it again with the powder and heat set it again.  You can kind of see how shiny and sparkly it is.

Blooming With Kindness

Each card got a different sentiment, and they are all so beautiful.  My daughter is the one that said we had to have the set.  She was so right, my creative buddy.

Remember, there are no mistakes in art, only opportunities.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Throw Back Thursday with Essence of Love

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I so enjoy dipping into my older stamps to create something.  It is easy to get caught up in all of the new product available.  It is the perfect reminder that I love all of the stamps I buy, and they should still get used, even if they are retired.

Essence of Love

As you can tell, this floral stamp still looks as crisp and beautiful as the first time it got used, which was nearly ten years ago.  I even pulled out some retired paper.  That venetian romance dsp set is so beautiful.  I opened my last pack of it to make these cards.

Essence of Love

I loved mixing all of these elements together.  Any time I get to use oranges I am a happy crafter.  This particular card set brings together all of my favorite things.  Flowers, butterflies, elegant ribbon, more flowers, lots of orange (tangerine tango), and the most beautiful sentiments ever.  Like I said, my favorites.

Essence of Love

With all that said, get into your stash of your favorite things, make something beautiful, and have a creative day.

Moana

Hello There Vivid Vases

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Good Morning!  Saturdays are busy, so I don’t always get to post first thing.  But it is still technically morning, so it counts.  And what a lovely morning it has been.

Hello There Vivid Vases

I had an itching to water color.  The vivid vases stamp is simple, but gives a lot of opportunity to play.  And play I did.  I actually had out seven different inks if you can image it.  I love color!  Especially when it is subtle like in this project.

Hello There Vivid Vases

I just got my colors out and an aqua painter.  Enough said.  I stamped my image in stazon on water color paper and then got painting.  I used soft sky as my main color because it was the color of the water in my vases.  It turned out so lovely.

Hello There Vivid Vases

I had some extra paper from the sheet I cut into, so I turned it into a matching sour cream treat container.  Just right for sure.

Hello There Vivid Vases

I also got to showcase the lovely lace embossing folder.  Isn’t it so beautiful?  I finished off both projects with coordinating seam binding ribbon.  I love that stuff.  I think I actually have all of the colors.  That is unusual for me, I am more selective than that.

Have a super creative day!

Moana

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

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I have Easter on the brain and these are the colors that keep coming to mind.  So saffron and pear pizzazz.  They are so lovely together.  This might suggest I am ready for Easter.  Ooops, I am not.  I still have a bit of time though.

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

So, are you a card person, a bag or box person, or do you need a matching set?  I keep going back and forth.  But I do like a bag that is beautiful enough to be a card as well.  This bag is big enough to hold a nice gift for sure.  Almost too big for candies.  Wait, is there a bag too big for candies?

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

I used the same stamp to decorate each piece to tie the set together.  But, since they have the same sentiment, I wouldn’t use them together.  They just coordinate nicely.

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

Either way, I enjoyed making them.  I also hadn’t had the work of art set out for a while.  That one just begs for a quiet afternoon to play with it.  When does that happen anymore?

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

Well, I am off with my girls to enjoy our first day of spring break.  Shopping and nails then lunch.  Wonderful for sure!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Part 2 with Gift Cards as Promised

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These little cards are just so cute.  And yes, all eight of them do fit nicely in yesterdays box project.  It was hard not to share them together, but I managed.

Part 2 with Gift Cards

I thought the cards were perfectly sized to write a tiny note and put in a gift card.  This would be a great stash to have on hand.  The cards were made simply with 1/4 of a page of card stock and then scored in half.  That way I was able to make all of the card fronts from one sheet of whisper white.

Part 2 with Gift Cards

I stamped the whole page and then chopped it into eight pieces.  How easy is that?  It was super easy,no questions.

Part 2 with Gift Cards

Now, you need to go try something fun like this.  Have a creative day!

Moana

Flower Shop Gift Box Part 1

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How about a big gift box for a change.  I had to control myself and keep the cards separate from this post.  You can see them tomorrow.  Eight fit inside.  Curious?  Check it out tomorrow.

Flower Shop and Sassy Salutations Gift Box

I used one sheet of 8.8 x 11″ cherry cobbler card stock for this box.  Just some basic scoring, one tiny punch for a notch and a few snips.  Then, the box is there.

Flower Shop and Sassy Salutations Gift Box

I made a top with another layer of cherry cobbler, giving an 1/8″ border, with a stamped whisper white sheet also cut with another 1/8″ border.  Simple stamping and some sponging.  I had planned on putting flowers on top, but it was just too much.

Flower Shop and Sassy Salutations Gift Box

So here we are, a nice simple box.  It measures 6.5 x 4 x 1.  Plenty of room for the cards I made to go inside, or something else fun and exciting for sure.

Have a creative day!

Moana