Avant Garden

My daughter has this cute little app that allows her to ‘grow’ flowers and then ‘send’ them to someone.  I had a lovely bouquet this morning and I thought I would make a card like it. Her flowers actually had orange and yellow together, almost striped like an orchid.  This is what I came up with.  What a fun kind of game, right?

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I used a piece of water color paper to stamp these little flowers.  The set I used is actually a free one with a $50 order during Stampin’Up! Sale-a-bration event.  The flowers went in first, tangerine tango then on to the crushed curry.  The stems were added in next followed by a smattering of leaves.  The stamen were added last using cherry cobbler on the tangerine tango flowers and cajun craze on the crushed curry ones.  I decided to soften the look with a healthy spritzing of water.  It was a slow process because I didn’t want the images to go all wobbly, just soften.  When the paper started to get pretty wet the edges started to blur a bit and I stopped.  This particular paper can hold a lot of water.  So, I had to use my heat tool for a while to get it all dry.  There was a bit of warping, but I liked it.

2-15-1The background, and a bit on the inside, was stamped with the spotted stamp from the same set.  It is random, but has a defined shape to allow filling in the entire space without looking repetitive.  Very nice, very nice indeed.  The front piece was wrapped in some very vanilla satin ribbon and layered up on dimensionals.  The sentiment was left off completely allowing this to be an all occasion card ready to go.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Crazy Cake with Balloon Adventures

Birthday cards are just the best!  This totally adorable stamp set builds one great cake, don’t you think?  And this card only shows about half of the stamps.  I love, love, love it!

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The three bottom layers were done with two stamps.  Good thing they are photopolymer, or totally clear, for super easy placement.  There is no way I would be this patient or exact without great stamps like that.  And yes, the top stamp is a set of three candles that I stamped a little flame for each one.  Normally I don’t go for all the extra work, but I loved it and it was so easy!  Easy enough that I included this project in the lineup for this weekends workshop.

The embossing folder is another new product from the spring catalog.  It is shown with a bunch of manly stuff, and it is manly of course, but I loved it here too.  My daughter thought I should be stamping bees because it reminded her of a honeycomb.  Cute idea!

The sentiment is from another great birthday stamp set called Balloon Adventures.  Also from the spring catalog, but it has a great trick of its own.  That will be for another blog project for sure.  I stamped on a strip of cardstock and put the triple banner punch to work. Of course I had to layer it as well.  What is with me and layers these days?  Oh well!

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I couldn’t resist.  I had to stamp all along the inside with those darn candles again.  And I didn’t even mind stamping all of the little flames.  I am telling you, it really was fun!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Fear Not My Friend…

When I am wanting to convey more emotion in a card, I go directly to water coloring.  The softness it creates is perfect.  And with this card, I literally poured my heart into it.

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I wanted more space to work with so I created a larger card than normal.  This one measures 5″ x 6.5″.  Big, but not too big.  I also created my inside writing panel at the same time.  This card wasn’t going to just get a blank insert, or even a nicely stamped one. Besides, I love writing on water color paper, so very satisfying.

I stamped my floral image and sentiment first so I could control the strength of color where they were.  Then I brushed the papers with clean water to allow plenty of color movement. I kept the background light and tried to keep mixing to a minimum.  The colors I choose don’t always blend nicely, but that doesn’t stop me.  I dried, distressed a bit, and dried until I was happy.

I painted the flowers with strong color, allowed them to dry clean.  Then worked them over properly.  This included adding, dobbing, and adding color on the flower petals for a bit.  I centered the flowers with a strong yellow, but kept the color from the edge of the flower center.  Then I hit that area with a water spritzer and watched the flower bloom all over again.  The color moved nicely and then was dobbed some more.  Gold wink of stella was brushed into the petals and blended with water again.  The overall effect was lovely.

A special card for a very special friend.  She is far more brave than I can imagine.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Love You My Friend

In the middle of cleaning out book shelves I had an idea for a card.  So I went to my desk, pulled out the stamps, dies and ribbon, and went back to my shelving.  This morning I just looked at them and thought, “What did I have in mind?”  Not sure, but this is what I ended up with.

Love You My Friend

I think it is funny because if you don’t read the little word love that is inside the heart cut out, the tags just say “you my friend”.  A bit basic, but really made me laugh.

Love You My Friend

All of the detail work went pretty quickly.  I started out by using the heart die cut on the whisper white paper and then ran it through the big shot to emboss it.  I thought the stamping inside the heart would be tricky to place.  Not at all.  I just eyeballed it and it was perfect!  Go figure!  The tags were simple stamping on scrap.  I do save scrap a bit too much sometimes.  But, the half inch that gets cut off when I trim down my paper works perfectly for sentiments and the banner punch.  Some might call it clutter, but I have used them so many times.

Love You My Friend

Have a creative day!

Moana

That Thing You Did

This stamp set is just the best.  The combination phrases really get me laughing.  This one in particular is my favorite.  You’re on my mind, but not in a creepy way.  How great is that.

That Thing You Did

I like how it looks all pretty and then this secondary saying just throws it off like crazy.  Almost like if you aren’t really paying attention, you will totally miss the joke.  My favorite.

That Thing You Did

A simple embossed background with the new cool boho chic folder.  I wasn’t sure at first, but that didn’t last long.  It is way cool.  Lots of options there.

That Thing You Did

This is short and sweet today because first, the card just doesn’t need a lot of explaining.  Second, I am posting ahead because I am taking my girls to a concert, that they have been waiting for since Christmas, and I wanted to focus on that.  I made this card as a thank you for my sister-in-law for letting us stay over at her place after the concert.  I also made a little matching tote with a bunch of other cards for her to use as part of the thank you.  Good stuff there!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Sew You Paper Pumpkin Kit

What is this paper pumpkin kit thing?  It is my little bit of happy, that’s what it is.  As a demonstrator of Stampin’Up! I am the one doing the creative thinking, preparing and sharing of my work.  Well, this is what I give myself as a thank you.

Sew You

This is a subscription service that I love.  Each month I get a complete kit to make something so fun.  All I have to supply are scissors and some adhesive.  I really like having it just show up like a present or something.

Sew You

Sometimes I make it just like the directions, or sometimes I give it my own little touch.  Like these two cards.  I added a healthy dose of sponging to both of them.  The kit came with the yellow embroidery thread.  I liked it quite a bit.  But then I thought, what about other colors?

Sew You

Who doesn’t have a bunch of this running around their craft room, right?  So I got out some variegated green and paired it with wild wasabi ink.  Perfect fit.  This is only two of the eight cards that came with the kit.  There is a whole bunch of other stuff that it came with that I will find a use on other projects.  I liked adding my own ink colors to it instead.

I hope you don’t mind my little shortcut today, but I do enjoy my paper pumpkin!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Painted Blooms with Lotus Blossom

I finally gave in and cut into those whole sheet pieces of art in the Painted Blooms DSP.  I have used several of the other patterns, just not the one lovely enough to be framed.  I got brave and was really pleased with the results.

Painted Blooms with Lotus Blossom

A trio of happiness for sure.  Along the top left and top left of the paper it opens us, just like it would in a flower garden.  I used those spaces for stamping and then again as my inside paper.  It was as if I had stamped it, but didn’t need to.  And I didn’t want to not use it, but it wasn’t the right balance for a card front.

Painted Blooms with Lotus Blossom

This need to make matching gift bags is really starting to fill up my work station.  I can count ten bags from where I am sitting.  Seriously now, I need to do some gifting.

Painted Blooms with Lotus Blossom

I really enjoy the combination of rose red and wild wasabi.  They really are beautiful together.  Sweet words, pretty colors, flowers and butterflies, my work is so happy here.

Painted Blooms with Lotus Blossom

Have a creative day!

Moana

Sheltering Tree

Spring is in the air and blossoms are all over my fruit trees.  I thought I would try to re-create that with my maiden voyage of this beautiful stamp set.  It worked.

Sheltering Tree

I tried  to add more interest with white stazon flowers in the trees, but my color pallet was too light and they were kind of lost.  Seeing them in person makes it easier that through a photo.  I thought I could color with some blendabilities over the stazon parts, but decided against it.

Sheltering Tree

The card base is wild wasabi with whisper white and blushing bride layers.  To keep the boarders nice and tidy I adhered them with tombo multipurpose glue so I could wiggle them in just the right place.  I love the skinny boarders, but they can be a bit tricky.

Sheltering Tree

It needed some kind of embellishment, but it had to be subtle.  The linen thread became the perfect choice and finished it off perfectly.

Sheltering Tree

Now, with these cards looking so happy and ready to go, I wish I had a bunch more to send to all my dear friends.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Little Buddy Birthday

I have another Valentine’s card set to share, but when I made this last night I just about died of cuteness!  So, it cut in line.  Really, isn’t is just the cutest thing ever?

Little Buddy

I know I don’t have little children, but I couldn’t help myself.  And just to validate myself, both of my teenage girls totally fell in love with this little guy!  We all have a weakness for cute things, and this stamp set is no different.  If you haven’t seen it yet, you should.  There is also an adorable toucan and an armadillo.  Yup, an armadillo.  All are so adorable.

Little Buddy

I brought in some of that delicious embossed card stock that I really can’t get enough of.  I know it is all pretty and scalloped, but I was thinking of dragon scales here.  My husband agreed right away.  How lucky am I that my family is so involved with my love of paper crafting?

Little Buddy

So find yourself some wild wasabi and wisteria wonder and make something adorable.

Have a creative day!

Moana