Sweet Stems

So excited to have added this set to my craft room!  This is the Sweet Stems product suite from Concord & 9th that came out last year.

The main panel is all one die, so I cut it out in white, aqua, pale yellow and a moss green.  Then I mixed and matched the pieces to put my Hello card together.

I got creative with my next two cards, as I really wanted the leaves to be green, so for the card with the aqua frame, I used yellow leaves and blended some Bundled Sage Distress Oxide ink on them.  I also added a little Speckled Egg ink to the centers of the white flowers, to make the centers stand out more.

The first two cards are using the Dashing Sentiments from Pigment Craft Co., double layered.

For the Yellow framed card, I used the white leaves & stems, adding some Scattered Straw and Bundled Sage ink onto each, and added some Speckled Egg ink to the flower centers.

For this card, I used the sentiments included in the set, which you can create several different sayings.

Father's Day card

A fairly quick Father's Day card for my Dad today, as I wanted to get it off in the mail pretty soon.  This is the 5927 - Father's Day Die Set from Art Impressions.

I had this ancient patterned paper from CTMH in my stash, with the decorative blue border, so I cut the sentiment die twice in a matching blue cardstock and stacked them together.  I mounted it on a cream stitched circle, then adhered it over a larger brown circle with 3D foam adhesive for a little dimension.

The paper itself has a soft, slightly distressed look to it, so I used some Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink, and softly inked around all the card edges, as well as the cream circle.  A few cream enamel dots finished it off.

Floral J and Sentiment

I finished just under the wire to have this for the May Alphabet Soup challenge in the Papercrafter's Inner Circle Facebook group.  May was letters I & J.

This is the Floral J and Sentiment press plate - inked up with 3 Distress Oxide inks to create a rainbow ombre effect.  I used the Essential Arches dies to cut a little blue frame, and a larger orange arch for underneath.  The J panel is adhered with 3D foam adhesive.

I added a couple of flowers and some foliage from the Perfect Pies line, and added Wink of Stella to the image for some sparkle that doesn't show in the photos!  The paper is ancient Doodlebug, called 'Sunkissed'.  I love the summer vibe of this card!

Jolly St. Nick

I picked up a few wonderful new-to-me items at The Papercrafter's Workshop Crafty Destash sale yesterday!  I was actually a vendor... but of course you have to check out what others are selling.  Here is the Jolly St. Nick stamp/stencil/die set that was released last fall by Concord & 9th:

I used Distress Oxide inks on a white, A2 panel, and used five of the stencils to put him together.  There are several sentiment stamps that fit on his beard, so I picked one of them, and stamped it in Hickory Smoke ink.

I also stamped and die cut several of the holly & leaf bits, then used the coordinating dies to cut them out and added them around him.  I cut then entire image with a stitched edge die.  I may add a little glitter before I mail this one out?

Warm painted background

This card is the warm version of the blue watercolour card I posted recently.  I painted them at the same time, doing the same wet-on-wet technique to move the colour around.  I painted both the card base, and a large scrap strip that I used to cut out the bits and pieces.

I hot foiled the grid plate from the March Betterpress Society set, Teardrop Mosaic onto my background using Rose Gold foil - and it's stunning!  The Floral Spray die set from Spellbinders was used to cut the flowers and foliage from my painted scraps.  I had a little metallic rose gold cardstock, so cut the small leaves and flower centers from it for a little shimmer.

After creating my floral grouping, I used the You Are Everything Sentiments plate to press my sentiment in Lisa Horton Copper Pot metallic ink on watercolour paper, and added it with some foam adhesive.

You can get a Betterpress Society subscription from The Papercrafter's Workshop.

Bridal Shower card

 I had these bits and pieces on my craft desk from another project, and needed a bridal shower card - so they were perfect!  

This is the Arch Pierce and Press plate, Fresh Picked Buttercups and Serenade Sentiments.

I used the Essential Arches dies to cut the card base into the arch shape.  All dies are Spellbinders.

The outer and inner arches are popped up with 3D foam adhesive.  I added a little ink blending to the flowers and to the peach arch shape.

Foiled Lotus Field

I tried hot foiling the gorgeous Lotus Field press plate from Hero Arts - and it turned out beautifully!

I am using Aura hot foil from Spellbinders, which is actually a pale gold in real life, with a subtle glimmer of colour - it's not nearly as rainbowy as the photos show!  Still, it is absolutely gorgeous.

This one was pressed on white Hammermill cardstock, with only some very slight imperfections.  I wanted to keep most of the image, so the card is a little larger than A2 size.  I matted it with black, and adhered it onto a panel of Concord & 9th's Bluebell cardstock.

I used my Pinkfresh Studio reverse foiling plate to use the negative, which gave me the foiled flowers.  The image foiled really well with just a few imperfections.  My most successful reverse foil so far!

Here's a slightly better representation of the colour!  I used a hot foiled sentiment on black, and added a few black jewels.  Below shows the two foiled images.