Monochromatic Betterpress

These are my second projects with the February Betterpress Society plates, "Bloom with Happiness".

I wanted to do a monochromatic design, so reached for my Simple Stories Colour Vibe 'Winter' paper pad - and each card just takes one sheet.  I pressed the frame onto the plain side of the paper with Distress Oxide inks.  Vintage Photo/Walnut Stain on the taupe card, and Evergreen Bough with a black sentiment on the teal card.  For the taupe version, I used a lighter shade of cardstock for the sentiment, as it was getting a little lost against the background.

After die cutting out the middles, I used the negative to press the sentiments.

The remaining strip of paper was glued to the card base with the dots face up.  The frames and sentiments were adhered with 1mm foam adhesive, and this made a huge difference!  The shadow created really highlights the pretty floral frame.

You can't really see in the photo, but I inked the centers of the flowers on the taupe card with my Lisa Horton Crafts metallic gold ink.  You could also use a gold gel pen.  *You can get a subscription to the Betterpress Society through the Papercrafter's Workshop.

Cosmos Background

This was one of the first Betterpress plates that I purchased!  And I still adore it.  I had a few panels pressed and ready to go, so wanted to play with colour a little bit.  This is the Cosmos Background.

My first one was just pressed onto regular white cardstock.  I pulled out two Pinkfresh coral inks for the flowers, intending for it to be very soft - but after I inked them with the matching stencils, they were darker than I'd planned.  I switched gears, and used Stormy Sky and Hickory Smoke distress inks to stencil the leaves - and ended up REALLY loving the colour combo.

I matted it onto coordinating cardstock, then inked up the Dashing Sentiment set from Pigment Craft Co in Hickory Smoke, layering it three times for some dimension.  I may add a few gems to this depending on who I send it to?

Card number two was pressed onto a Porcelain Cotton Card Panel.  I wanted something pretty but a bit subdued (not sure if I nailed the subdued part...)

The flowers were inked with Spun Sugar/Picked Raspberry/Milled Lavendar/Seedless Preserves, with Antique Linen in the centers.

For the leaves, I didn't want regular green, so I used Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers - loved the result for this one, too!  For the card design, I die cut a large Essential Arches shape, and glued it down to my black background.  I popped up the outer portion with 3D foam adhesive, and added a black embossed Betterpress sentiment, and added a few black jewels.

Chrysanthemum Slimline

The Chrysanthemum Slimline stamp set from Pinkfresh Studio is one that I haven't used in a while - but I adore how simple cards look just amazing with it.  It's intended as a slimline set, but works really well cut down as an A2.

I stamped the outline in Versafine Onyx Black, and used several Pinkfresh Studio inks with the coordinating stencils to colour it in.  After trimming the panel down, I matted it with a 1/16" black mat, and attached it to the white card base.

The sentiment is from the You Are Everything Sentiments set from Spellbinders, popped up with 3D foam adhesive.

I am playing along with the April Pinkfresh Studio Challenge - Floral theme!

Beautiful Blooms

As ever, I'm on a quest to use up the extra bits and pieces that are sitting around my craft room.  I've had these die cut pieces from Pinkfresh Studio's Beautiful Blooms coloured up for a few months, so I am happy to get them put onto a card!

The blooms were all inked with Pinkfresh Studio inks, and I paired them with a sentiment from a different PFS set, Charming Floral Border - that I white embossed onto some black cardstock.

I mounted the blooms on some patterned paper from my stash, and then onto some pale green cardstock.  A few black jewels finished it off.

I am playing along with the Pinkfresh Studio April challenge - which is Floral Frenzy!

PCW Sketch Challenge

The Papercrafter's Workshop has a monthly sketch challenge, so I am playing along with April's sketch today.  I am in 'use up' mode lately, so I pulled out these floral bits (Citrus Bloom by Pinkfresh Studio), that I had inked up a few months ago, and used them up!

I cut my oval out of some linen textured white cardstock, and inked up the top edge in pale yellow, and the bottom in pale green to coordinate with the flowers.  The sentiment is the Serenade Sentiments die set from Spellbinders, cut in a pale green cardstock that I did an ombre ink effect on, and layered it with a second die cut for some added height.

I am using the Inspirational Easter paper pack from Art Impressions, and I added a few irridescent jewels for some added sparkle.

Bloom with Happiness

The February Betterpress Society plates are Bloom with Happiness.  I made my first card as another Pocket Shaker!  

I noticed that the flowers were mostly on the inner edge of the plate, and the foliage mostly on the outside.  So I decided to do some ink blending with Distress Oxide inks, using Wilted Violet on the center of the plate, then did a row of Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn around the outside - in a sort of circular pattern.  I darkened the edges with some Rustic Wilderness, and wasn't loving the Salty Ocean, so I covered most of it lightly with Blueprint Sketch - and love the final effect.  I used the coordinating die to cut out the center portion of the image, and pressed one of the plates from the Sentiment add-on set in the same inks.

To assemble my shaker, I pressed a piece of white cardstock with a pierced plate from Altenew, and attached my sentiment to it before placing it face down in a A2 Shaker Cover from Pink & Main.  I sealed three sides of the cover, leaving the top edge open, and added Diamond Confetti (also Pink & Main) and some micro glass beads from my stash.  I don't put a ton in my shakers - as long as they move well and make noise, I'm happy.  I sealed the top edge, and adhered my pressed panel to the front, after fussy cutting around the outside of it.

I used a sturdy double sided adhesive to attach my shaker to a card base.  All supplies and a Betterpress Society subscription can be obtained through the Papercrafter's Workshop!

Folk Floral Stem Wedding Card

I am in need of a wedding card, so I pulled out the Folk Floral Stem set from Pinkfresh Studio.

I stamped the image in Lisa Horton Crafts Copper Pot ink (lovely metallic shimmer!), then used the coordinating stencil to shade it in using 3 Pinkfresh Studio ink colours.  It was cut out with the coordinating die, and layered with another white die cut to give it some extra stability.

For the background, I ink blended the same three colours onto some white cardstock, then ran it through my die cut machine with the Dotted Tile Debossing Cover Plate from Altenew - which gives it the pierced design.  I spattered it with some Frayed Burlap Distress Spray and some of the matching inks.  To complement the warm colours, I mounted it onto a panel of rose gold metallic cardstock, that also shows through the tiny perforations on the panel.  I used the same cardstock to cut out the Scripty Sentiment dies from Spellbinders, and added two layers of cardstock to bulk them up a bit.

After adhering everything, I added a few champagne pearls from Pinkfresh Studio to finish it off. 

Inspired By... Rain

I am playing along with the Inspired By Challenge this week!  I haven't done a challenge in a while, but was inspired by the photo.  I knew I had this image (Tiny Townie Rachel Loves the Rain) stamped out from many years ago, so pulled it out and coloured it up with my Copics.

For some reason I decided to colour in rainbow order!?  So starting with her umbrella, I worked my way down her outfit to her boots, using about 15 different markers.  

I pulled out the Colour My World paper pack from Crafter's Companion for the background paper, and matted my image on some dark brown cardstock.  

The sentiment is from Verve's Rain or Shine stamp set, and is popped up with foam adhesive.  The card itself is 6" x 4 3/4".

Ai Easter Cards

 I'm on the Art Impressions blog today for their Watercolour Weekend post!

I have a couple of bunny-themed projects today, incorporating several of the newest releases.  First up is the 6008 - Bunny Hugs Set.

I started by stamping the bunny, basket and carrot on some smooth watercolour paper, using Versamark Onyx Black ink.  *This was different for me, as I usually stamp with Tombows, but I thought I'd give the black outline a try.  I also wanted to create a background scene, so stamped the wagon from 5597 - Harvest Wheelbarrow Set, then added flowers and foliage from 5825 - Geranium Set and 5919 - Long Stem Floral Set with a little masking.

I painted everything using Tombow markers picked up off of my palette, using layers of colour to achieve the darker shades.  I created a wash of #126 to create the grass, and a wash of #526 for the sky.  After painting the flowers, there was still a lot of white space between the leaves, so I painted in some yellow flowers and darker foliage, then used a black fineline marker to outline my daisy-like shapes.  I also used the marker on the grass to add a few lines of definition. I die cut the Bunny Hugs pieces using the coordinating dies, and adhered them to my scene with varying thicknesses of 3D foam adhesives.  The sentiment is from 5867 - Mini Easter Sentiment Set stamped with Versamark Onyx Black.  I used the 5061 - Square Double Stitched Dies, and the 5132 - Tag Stitched Dies to cut out the scene and sentiment, narrowly matting both with periwinkle cardstock.

My card is 5 1/2" square, and I used the new 6033 - Inspirational Easter PP for the background papers, with the scalloped edge die from the 5543 - Journal Template Die Set on one of them.  I popped up the image after tying a white organdy ribbon into a bow underneath it.  A few irridescent jewels finished things off.

My second project is the sweet new 6014 - MB Easter Bunnies Matchbook set!  I adore making the Matchbooks as they're so wonderfully tiny!

I stamped the five images and sentiment onto some smooth watercolour paper, and painted everything in an Easter colour theme using Tombow markers picked up off of my palette, then cut them out with the coordinating dies.  To create the base, I cut the 5317 - MB Template die from the new 6011 - Basic Teal PP, and cut out the tiny windows on either side.  The Ai papers are so perfect for Matchbooks, as they are two sided, coordinating prints.  I cut the small rug die from the 6010 - Basic Pink PP and glued it onto the floor, then glued all of the pieces in position as shown.  

The 5318 - MB Envelope Die was also cut from the 6010 papers to make a cute little matching envelope.

**Bonus Third Project!**  I'm adding this one at the last minute... I had several extra pieces from the 6008 - Bunny Hugs Set that I had already cut out and painted up...

I had the idea to use the new 5910 - Large Letter Die Set, so I cut it out of some pretty paper from the 5939 - Fairy Garden PP.  After cutting out the letters, I cut them out again from plain white cardstock, which I glued underneath, before gluing the patterned paper letters back in place.  It provides just a subtle texture to the letters, and keeps the focus on the bunny.

The colours that I'd painted on the egg clashed a little with my project, so I just went over the stripes with Copic markers to slightly change from pink & yellow, to be purple and green.  You could easily make this a personalized card by spelling out a family member's name, or just use the word Easter - so many possibilities!

Wildly Cute!

I've been working on a baby gift for the past couple of months... having fun knitting, and then creating a card to go with it.  I haven't shared my knitting in quite a while, and knitting for a baby is definitely a favourite thing of mine.  I found a wonderful book at my library using Cascade Superwash yarn, and knit up a pair of socks, a hat with ears, and a sweet toy.

The hat and socks aren't for a newborn!  So they look a little large... and I'll admit that the hat ears look a little goofy, but they should be cute on a little guy's head.  I really loved making the little lovey, which is just a square with a teddy head sewn on - something to snuggle with.

And for the card, I reprised a card that I'd made 11 years ago!!  The Wildly Cute stamp set from Art Impressions was retired years ago, but I won't part with it, as it makes such sweet baby cards.  The ancient papers are Babycakes from CTMH.

I coloured with Copic markers on Cryogen paper, fussy cut it, and created by background with a little paper piecing.  The image and sentiment are adhered with foam adhesive for some dimension.

Nothing like making something for a new baby - especially when it's for one of my daughter's best friends.