Apothecary Art Revisited and the Magic of Tags!

     This week I had fun revisiting an old favorite of mine, the Apothecary Art stamp set from Stampin' Up. This lovely feminine set of stamps and dies used to be one I used all the time, but it's been a while since I played with it. 

     This card design was inspired by Heather Klump at hlkdownstairsdesigns@blogspot.com. I used some old designer series paper for the background, but I wanted the main focal image to be a tag that functioned as its own decorative element. Tags are easy and fun to create with, and they can be used for both gifts and card fronts.

     I cut the tag from Naturals Ivory card stock and stamped the background with my Dictionary stamp in black. I had fun watercoloring the flowers with Real Red ink and then layering several of them twice for dimension. I glossy coated the butterfly and the raised flowers for a little pop that draws the eye.

     I know I will use this tag design again because changing the color of the flowers and butterfly can make this element work with any background! Of course this would also make a lovely removal bookmark or gift tag.

     Thanks so much for visiting my blog! If you're new, leave a comment and say hello! (Even if you're not new, for that matter!)

Sponged Sunrise

     Hi, everyone! Today I want to share a clean and simple project inspired by Paula Dobson and her blog, stampinantics.blogspot.com. I have been replenishing my stash of birthday cards over the last few weeks, and I have particularly been working on a few that will work for dads, brothers, and husbands!

     When I saw Paula's delicate sponged background that resembled the morning sun glowing through trees, I just had to try it. After I finished the first card, I realized this design would work well for a sympathy card, so I made one while I had my supplies out.

     Now, I must admit that when I was finished I had a moment of realization that my sunlit dawn or twilight had a bit of a forest fire smoke tinge, but maybe because living in the mountains makes this yellow haze a regular part of our summer experience. :) I only hope the recipient doesn't notice ... and next time I'll use a little less brown ink around the edges.

     I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by today!

Hidden Pocket Inserts

     A few weeks back the challenge at the Make it Monday blog was using camouflaged pocket inserts to add hidden messages to cards. I never make projects in time to enter them in challenges, but I found the idea inspiring anyway. 

     For my card I used the Rosie Posie and Rosie Posie 2 stamp sets and created a hidden bookmark for my card front with PTI's All Booked Up stamp set. The recipient can use the bookmark long after their birthday has passed as a special memento!

     Part of the fun of this card is layering the elements so that they all look attached until you remove the tag. I love creating interactive cards of all kinds, so now I have a new idea to add to my arsenal.
 
  I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!

Ahoy!

     I'm still working on replenishing my stash of birthday cards (especially masculine ones), so here's an idea I cased from https://crazypaperfreak.blogspot.com. She makes amazingly detailed cards, and I loved her use of the hardwood background stamp so much that I had to try it out!

     I shamelessly cased a number of elements from her original, including the color scheme for the ship and the porthole. The wood look is so fun I know I'll have to try it again soon!

     I used Early Espresso for the card base, and then stamped Early Espresso ink over Baked Brown Sugar card stock to create the planks. I sponged Bermuda Bay ink on white card stock to create the porthole and anchor and then added some splotches of Soft Suede and dark orange to create rust.

  Thanks for stopping by today, me hearties! (Yes, I am this big a dork in real life too.) See you soon!

Fall Diorama Card

     When I saw the Thankful Forest Friends stamp set in Stampin' Up's new holiday catalog, I knew immediately that it would be my first purchase! My craft group ladies were coming over for our monthly meeting where I planned to teach the diorama card fold, and I knew the two would make an adorable project!

     I always love seeing what my buddies come up with, and each of them created a slightly different but equally adorable project! I love you guys so much! (Lauren, you and your ADORABLE project are sadly missing - the picture turned out totally blurry. Next time I will check more closely!)

     We had so much fun making this card that I would like to share the directions here. Of course, the decorations can be altered, but we had fun playing with the coordinating paper and stamping our images with Stampin' Write markers for a fun, artistic look.

    

Directions to Create a Diorama Card

Overall Dimensions: 4 ¼ x 5 ½ (Standard Size Card)

Medium Horizontal Diorama

Cut one piece of Designer Series Paper and one piece of card stock for the front and back layers to 4 ¼ x 7 ½. Score 1” from each edge on the 7 ½” side.

Cut one piece of card stock to 4 ¼ x 6 ½ to create the middle layer. Score ½” from each edge on the 6 ½” side.

Cut one piece of Whisper White card stock to 4 ¼ x 5 ½. This will create a liner for the inside back of the card for stamping.

Die cut your largest opening in the front layer. Die cut a slightly smaller opening on the inside layer. (Jessica will show you a trick for lining up your windows perfectly!)

Stamp the inside layer and decorate before assembly.

Deep Vertical Diorama

Cut 2 pieces for the front and back layers to 5 ½ x 7 ¼.

Score 1 ½” from edges on the 7 ¼” side.

Cut 1 inside piece to 5 ¾ x 5 ½. Score ¾” from the edges on the 5 ¾” side.

Die cut openings and decorate as before.

Small Two Layer Horizontal Diorama

Cut one piece of Designer Series Paper and one piece of card stock to 4 ¼ x 6½. Score both pieces ½” and 1” from each edge on the 6 ½” side.

Die cut a window in the patterned paper. Decorate or stamp the card stock layer and assemble by taping the two layers together on the outermost score line.

Foxy Birthday

     Recently I had a blast donating a bunch of cards to my Jazzercise buddies to help them brighten the day of some of their friends, so I found myself a little short on birthday cards! The girls needed a card for a friend, so I turned to one of my favorite birthday/valentine sets.

     Betsy Veldman designed adorable I Love You to Pieces stamp set and sentiments for Papertrey Ink. The cute fox and creative sentiments combine with other creative PTI products to create fun interactive cards for kids.

     For this card, I decorated the inside of a regular card base, die cut the front of the card with a perforated die, and taped the card closed. I decorated the front using the fox stamp set and die. The recipient gets to pull the tab and reveal the sentiment inside.

     I love the creativity and versatility of PTI products! Thanks for stopping by today!

Wedding Card First

     One of the coolest guys I know got married this spring to his partner of many, many years. I am so grateful that two amazing people were finally able to get married, something that has brought so much joy to my own life!
     I made a card for the special occasion using my Papertrey Ink Simply Jane dies, vellum, and some of my extensive collection of vintage sheet music. Since the recipient and I are both piano teachers, it was a no brainer to add some music to this card!

    Thanks for stopping by today! See you soon!