We Make a Great Combo!

Good news was recently shared in my family- my brother-in-law got engaged! To be honest, he's been with his girlfriend for so long, I cannot remember what life was like before her. It'll be nice to make it official though!

I wanted to make them a congratulatory card and I knew the exact stamp set to use. Years ago, I bought this set from My Favorite Things (RIP to a real one) entitled We Make A Great Combo and it's all different kinds of food that go together. I thought the burger and fries was beyond adorable and before I had put everything back into storage, I had started to stamp and color but never made anything with it. Until now!

I used the stitched heart die from Waffle Flower and colored it with Fired Brick, Scattered Straw and Squeezed Lemonade distress ink. Using copics on the stamps, I also used a white Posca marker that my husband gave me a long time ago for accents. The next part literally took me two hours. I had different letter dies that I cut out to spell combo and I tried embossing the first half of the sentiment on black paper, but I haven't embossed in years and I forgot just how tricky it could be! I kept messing it up and then the letter dies were too big so I just went for a simple sentiment. (finally got the hang of embossing again!)

Excited for a fun wedding! I know my son is looking forward to ring-bearer duties. =)

2025

 An unexpected hiatus- probably one of my longest, but unavoidable. Life has completely transformed since that last post in August 2022. Crafting took a backseat for a long time. I managed to make a few cards but it's been so long that I no longer remember colors, techniques or even who they were for, sadly. So I'm just going to post them without comment. 

I've recently created a new craft space for myself and hope to get back into the swing of it by the holidays. Wish me luck.

Welcome Baby Girl!

Recently, I had to make a card for my husband's cousin who is having a girl! I had gotten these adorable bunnies on a cloud stamp set from Mama Elephant so I knew I wanted to make something with them.

To begin, I created a pink cloud background with Picked Raspberry and Kitsch Flamingo distress oxide. I added one of the stamps (I got the dies with it so it was so easy to cut!) and stamped the sentiment below it. I was already really excited because I had purchased embellishments from Trinity Stamps so long ago but kept forgetting to use them. This color palette was perfect so I added them randomly around the stamp. I think it gave the whole thing an extra pop. I really liked how this simple and sweet card turned out!

A Muggle Birthday!

This card was made for my sister-in-law who is a big Harry Potter fan.  I was trying to decide what kind to make and really wanted to keep it simple and classy.  I also wanted to use my distress oxides but not flood the entire card with it. So I did a few messy swipes with Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade and Scattered Straw, trying to showcase Gryffindor colors.  I also (for the very first time!) messed with water and the oxides using a paintbrush. I simply dabbed it very lightly and honestly, I could have done more, but I was paranoid it would oversaturate the cardstock. Maybe I'll get a little more adventurous with my next attempt! I added a little Harry and Hedwig below and colored those with copics. They are (of course) from The Sassy Club. The banner was from a set I got months ago from Concord and 9th and I really wondered why it had taken me so long to use it! 

Parlez Vous Français?

For this next card, I wanted to do something different and make a postcard. My friend Scott has a fancy job working in Paris. (he's an animator on the new Super Mario Brothers movie!) He was kind enough to indulge my massive Disney pin addiction and purchase two really cool villain pins when he was at Disneyland Paris. Were we not currently in a pandemic, I would have shown up on his doorstep a long time ago pretending to be Emily in Paris except instead of showcasing an amazing wardrobe, I'd have colorful Mickey ears. 

For the postcard, I used a Mickey stencil from The Sassy Club to try and create an ombre look with different colors, but it kept turning into a disaster no matter how much masking I used. So I chucked it and decided to go with a very simple color palate. The castle is from a Sassy stamp set and the words are from Simon Says Stamp. It still looked a little bare, so I used Squeezed Lemon distress oxide on a border.

For the other side, I created a stamp also from a Sassy set (she has the best Disney stamps) and then used my fanciest script writing to make it look sophisticated. I snapped this photo before writing out my note to him. I also blurred out his last name for this post. And of course, I had to include a picture of the pins! Paris had a really awesome villains release last Halloween. They glow in the dark! 

Unfortunately, my current pin collection is in storage or I would post a picture of that as well. However, I do have a picture of the pin bouquet I made for my wedding. I saw someone selling Disney pin bouquets on Etsy for a crazy amount of money and I realized I could just make it myself and be able to really personalize it just the way I want. It was a little heavy, but soooo beautiful and totally worth the effort. Lasts a lot longer than flowers too!

Holly, Jolly Christmas 2021

So I ended up scrambling to finish my Christmas cards, but working down to the wire usually suits me just fine. I really never toot my own horn, but I have to say, I was REALLY happy with how this batch came out. I spent a really long time just copic coloring pages and pages of nutcrackers and penguins but I finally forced myself to cut them out and start assembling. I also have SO many holiday stamps and embellishments that I didn't even come close to using everything. Perhaps I'll actually start next year's batch during the summer so that I could make the amount I want.

I probably won't though. 

This card was made for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law because I just loved the little penguin family and this year is my nephew's first Christmas!

This sentiment is YEARS old. I think it's one of the first Christmas stamps I ever bought but I've never used it! I realized it went perfectly with my stamps from My Favorite Things though so it just goes to show you that you should never throw out anything... haha

I really wanted to create a snowy look and I know a lot of people just use white paint, but I cheated and used the Avery Elle white ink spray. I just let it dry overnight and I really loved the effect.

This one was specifically made for JP. He actually picked out the Nutcracker set from Avery Elle the last time we were at a craft store so I had to make him one!

This is one that took me a couple of tries because I kept screwing up the snow drift effect with the blue distressed background, but when I finally got it, I was so happy with the end product. 

I really hope that if you're reading this, you had a safe and wonderful Christmas. I'm crossing my fingers for continued health and some peace of mind in the new year because thankfully, I'm already surrounded by more love than I probably deserve. I hope you are too. 

 

Better Late than Never

I'm extremely late with this Halloween post, but trying to find a quiet moment to blog has been challenging lately. As a result, I'm going to do my best to remember the particulars of these cards!

This first card I made for a friend of mine who is currently working and living in Paris! I wanted to send him a card and some candy since Halloween isn't really a big thing over there. Of course, due to our crazy postal system, it got there closer to December... But whatever. This stamp was one I bought AGES ago at Michael's and finally got to use. I tried to distress it a bit with Black Soot Distress ink and kept the coloring basic. I don't remember where the background cardstock was from though, but I'm willing to bet that came from Michael's too!

 

My last post had gotten me thinking about the wicked stepsisters from Cinderella and I remembered that I ordered these awesome stamps from Sandra at The Sassy Club last summer.  I played around with some backgrounds and die cut letters. Unfortunately, you can't really tell from the photos, but I was really proud how this coloring and blending came out- especially since I eyeballed all of my combos. (after lots of test swatches) The one thing is that I wish her stamps had accompanying dies because fussy cutting is so hard and annoying. Those corners are tricky!

I'm slowly starting my Christmas cards. Every year I tell myself I'll do it early and every year I'm always scrambling to finish. Maybe I'll get some Christmas magic in the form of free time soon!

A Very Penguin Birthday

 September is very a busy time around here! So many important Virgos in my life so it calls for more birthday cards. I took the Penguin Party stamp set from My Favorite Things and went to town. I really love this Stacey Yacula design and honestly, looking at her portfolio, you'll find SO many cute critters. I'm a sucker for these!

My first card was kept very simple because I had to make a video for my work Instagram and I wanted to come up with something that was quick to craft. I am forever trying to find more crafters out there and I was hoping to find other card-makers (alas, none yet). It was also my first attempt at a video tutorial and I must say, my hat is off to the folks who do this every day. It was exhausting! =) I took a stencil and blended Twisted Citron, Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch oxide for the background. After coloring my critter with copics, I used 3D foam to pop him up. I then cut a sentiment strip from Simon Says Stamp to finish it off. 

For the next one, I wanted to add a little something extra to the background. I heat embossed the polka dot stamp from Photo Play before pretty much following the same formula from above.

For my last card, I decided to try a different color palate.  This background was created using Spun Sugar, Seedless Preserves and Picked Raspberry. I wanted to try the penguins with the cute banner too. In retrospect, I should have created some kind of platform so it doesn't look like they are floating in midair? Next time!

Also, looking at these now, doesn't the color scheme remind you of something? =)

Birthdays, Galore!

Since I am so behind with these cards, I'm just going to put all of the birthday cards I've made in one post! Summer is a busy time around here!

For this card, I used a Waffle Flower stencil and the Be Her stamps which I love. 

I added some sparkle to her bow with a Wink of Stella pen. No idea why I haven't been using one this entire time!

For this card, I again used Waffle Flower stamps with a stencil. These cards are simple but I love how they come out.

I forgot about this Colorado Craft Company ice cream cone stamp that I bought forever ago. I took out my copics and with this large picture, it was a great blending exercise. 

For my brother-in-law's birthday, I used the Harry Potter stamps I got from The Sassy Club. Hagrid is his favorite character, but he looked lonely so I added Dobby and Hedwig since Hagrid is a lover of all creatures. I used a Waffle Flower stencil with Gryffindor colors. 

For this card, I used a Lawn Fawn ice cream stamp to create multiple scoops. The background was created with Shaded Lilac, Picked Raspberry and Cracked Pistachio and I used the stamp to create my own pattern. I really like how this one came out, but it look a long time to make it look right. 

Father's Day, 2021

I am so behind on this blog! It doesn't help that every free minute I get, I usually spend it crafting instead of blogging, but my posts are starting to pile up so here we go!

Father's Day, 2021. I made three cards for the Dads in my life. 

This was for my father in law. I used the Waffle Flower Be Him stamp set that I love and I gave the elephant a book since he's a big reader!

I made this for my husband since he actually picked out this Lawn Fawn stamp for me in a store! I used a cloud stencil for the background and a very old Recollections letter stamp set for the sentiment.

This card was for my brother in law who was celebrating his very first Father's Day! I really loved this Hugs stamp set from My Favorite Things. I tried to create a scene with the cloud stencil again and mowed lawn distress oxide. 

Lots more to come!