Punny Mother's Day Card

 

I have always loved a good pun, & when I saw this card on Pinterest, I thought, I've got to make one myself. I used the "Color Layering Orchid in a Pot" stamps & coordinating dies from Hero Arts (discontinued) for my flower. Because of the relatively large sizes of the various elements, I made my card about 4-1/4x7-1/4"

I found some reference photos for orchids online, & one that had yellow & magenta petals with white centers intrigued me. I began by die cutting the main orchid image, so I could get the flowers & stems placed correctly. I stamped the first flower layer in Hero Arts Lemon Yellow. I used Hero Arts Raspberry Jam for the magenta, & heat embossed the centers with Ranger White Super Fine Detail powder. I stamped the stems with Lawn Fawn's Doe ink; & used Hero Arts Lime Green, Lawn Fawn Freshly Cut Grass, & Hero Arts Pine inks for the leaves. I stamped the dirt with Memento Espresso Truffle ink, & finally the pot with Lawn Fawn Moonstone. I then die cut the pot, leaves, & dirt with the coordinating dies. I used a small strip of lightweight cardstock as a backing piece to glue the pot, dirt, & leaves together, to make them easier to handle & position.

I die cut the letters for "Y'Orchid" with Lawn Fawn's "Quinn's Capital ABCs," pulling in the apostrophe from "Quinn's 123s." Then I stamped them with the coordinating stamps & Raspberry Jam ink. I stamped the first part of the greeting using Papertrey Ink's "Polka Dot Parade" alphabet stamps (discontinued). Initially, I was going to use those for the "Happy Mother's Day" at the bottom as well, but they were too large, so I opted for Lawn Fawn's "Claire's ABCs" instead.

After I stamped the top & bottom portions of the greeting, I glued down the die cut & stamped letters. Finally, I glued on the orchid, letting the very top overlap the "Y'Orchid" word slightly. My mom really got a kick out of this!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #274: "Flowers + a Sentiment"

613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Repeat Impressions Theme Challenge M521: "All About Moms"

Hoppy Birthday!

  

The current challenge at Double Trouble is "Fun Fold." They are partnering with Crafting Happiness for their Challenge #95, "Frogs (or Anything Goes)." I am entering this card in both challenges.

 

I followed a tutorial for a Flap Fold card at Splitcoaststampers.com. I used Bazzill Marine Mist cardstock for the card base, & patterned paper from Echo Park's "It's a Celebration" 6x6" pad to decorate. I punched along the upper short panel with the "Scallop Sentiment" border punch from Fiskars.

 

I stamped the frog (from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Birthday Pals" set) onto a scrap of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I colored it with my Tombow markers. I die cut the frog with a We R Memory Keepers "Nesting Circles" die, & cut a mat from pink Core'dinations cardstock with a Waffle Flower "Additional Circles" die, to give me a 1/16" border. I also stamped the present on a 1" circle I'd punched from bristol paper, and colored it with my markers. I die cut a 1-1/8" pink cardstock circle for the mat.

 

I use a 1-1/2" circle die to cut the hole in my card base. After I adhered the patterned paper on the front lower flap, I glued my matted focal circle within the opening, adding the glue only to the bottom area of the circle. I adhered the present circle with foam tape over the edge of the top flap, as a closure for the flap. Finally, I stamped the greeting on the upper flap.

 

Inside of card

 

For the inside of the card, I cut a 4" square of cream cardstock, & added a 1" tall border of patterned paper to the bottom edge. I masked off the border strip with a piece of Post It tape, & stamped the balloon & inside sentiment. I stamped the balloon again onto bristol paper, colored it, & fussy cut it out. To finish, I glued the colored balloon over the stamped on on the inside of the card.

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist).

Happy Mother's Day

 

Double Trouble's Challenge #80 theme is "Something, Anything, Everything," with an optional challenge twist of coloring. I made this Mother's Day card to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids, inspired by that challenge. The design for my card is based on Sketch #SC843 from Splitcoaststampers.com.

I got the "Flower Boy" digital image from Just ME Digital Stamps. (Sadly, they are no longer in business.) I thought it would be perfect for a Mother's Day card from a little boy.

I did the image/greeting panel in Photoshop. I created a blank "canvas" to the size I needed, & copied the image onto that. Then I resized the image to fit. For the greeting, I used a font on my computer. I typed each word on a separate layer, and moved them into place, so they snugged together in the space under the flower. Finally, I printed the image/greeting onto a piece of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper that I'd cut to size.

I used my Prismacolor colored pencils to color the boy & flower. I went for a complementary color scheme with his orange shirt & blue jeans. I have been into purple & green for a few years now, and so I colored the flower in those colors. I made the flower center yellow, which is the complement of purple, to keep with a complementary color scheme idea.

I matted a piece of patterned paper from Echo Park's "Fine and Dandy" 6x6" paper pad with dark blue cardstock, playing off the boy's jeans color. I matted 3 sides of the image/greeting panel with grey cardstock, added a green cardstock strip to my background, & adhered the main panel in place. Finally, I mounted my card front on a white A2-sized card base.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: "Easter/Spring"

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Repeat Impression's Challenge: "Anything Goes" ~ M2421

One-of-a-Kind Mom

 

Send a Smile 4 Kids needs Mother's Day cards, so I created this one for them. The theme of Double Trouble's current challenge, "A Magical Day," inspired the imagery & the font for the greeting. I also did the Double Dare for this challenge, by using a "Checkered Frames" die from Impression Obsession. The inspiration for this card came from one I saw on Pinterest.

I downloaded the unicorn image from Pixabay.com. I opened it in Photoshop, and sized it to fit my panel inside the frame. I used the Springtime Flourish font on my computer for the greeting. I typed each line on a separate layer, and then used the Move tool to position them. After I merged just the greeting layers into one layer, I added a purple-to-pink gradient layer for the unicorn. I created a clipping mask so it would affect just the image. I did the same gradient--reversed--on another layer, for the greeting, & did a clipping mask for that as well. Finally, I printed it onto a piece of white cardstock.

I die cut my frame from a piece of purple "Watercolor" patterned paper from Recollections. I also cut a panel of white cardstock with the same frame die. I adhered the outer white cardstock frame to an A2 size card base, and inlaid the purple frame inside. I saved the squares from the white cardstock I'd die cut, & inlaid each into its place in the purple frame.

I matted my focal panel with some more of the purple "Watercolor" paper, and adhered it to my card base. Finally, I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to glue on sequins around the unicorn's neck, & added Star Dust Stickles to the horn.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create March Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Repeat Impressions "Anything Goes" Challenge ~ M2421

Have a Magical Day!

  

Dies R Us Challenge Blog has teamed up with the Double Trouble Challenge for the current challenge. The Double Trouble theme is "A Magical Day," with the optional twist of using a metal die. For Dies R Us, the challenge is to use a metal die. I created this card to send to a woman I met at a virtual retreat last Fall, whose birthday is coming up soon.

I recently received the "Party Unicorn" mini stamp set & coordinating dies from Lawn Fawn as a gift during my birthday month. I had not gotten to play with it yet, but thought it went perfectly with the themes of both these challenges. I stamped the unicorn & cupcake on Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper in Simon Says Stamp Fog ink. I used my Tombow markers to color the images, and cut them out with the coordinating dies.

For the background, I used the "Mini Cloud Edges" stencil from My Favorite Things to add a rainbow cloud sky. I used Kitsch Flamingo, Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Tumbled Glass, & Milled Lavender Distress inks. After I finished inking, I splattered the panel with water droplets, let that sit for several seconds, then blotted with a dry cloth to create some bleached spots for a more ethereal look.

I die cut a cloud from a scrap of Canson XL Mixed Media paper with a die from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Clouds & Raindrops" set (discontinued). I lightly inked the bottom edge with Milled Lavender & did Tumbled Glass on the top, just so it wasn't so stark white.

I wanted some accent around the edges of my background, so I die cut with the largest of the "Large Cross-stitched Rectangle" dies from Lawn Fawn. I adhered that to a white A2-size card base. I adhered the die cut cloud with foam tape, to help it stand out from the background a bit. I glued the cupcake to the unicorn, and adhered her in place. I added foam tape behind her head, & glued her flat to the cloud. That way she is on the same level as the cloud. I added Diamond Stickles to her horn & the heart topper on the cupcake, & streaks of it on the die cut cloud.

I used a greeting from Lawn Fawn that they had also sent me for my birthday month. I stamped that in Lawn Fawn's Fresh Lavender ink. I wanted a soft color to go with the whole look of the card, but that would still show up against the background. Since I had foam-mounted my images, I did use my MISTI stamp positioning tool to stamp the greeting, just in case I didn't get a good impression on the first try. Thankfully, it stamped well & I didn't have to re-stamp. As a finishing touch, I added Diamond Stickles dots around the panel, because you always need more glitter with unicorns! :)

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's March "Anything Goes" Challenge (not playing the twist).

The Best Birthday Ever

 

A woman I met at a virtual retreat last Fall has a birthday coming up soon. I decided to pull out the Gina K. Wreath Builder Template & coordinating "Wreath Builder" stamp set for her card. The theme of Creative Knockouts' current challenge, "Spring is in the Air," inspired the bright color palette.

I first cut a piece of white cardstock to 4" square. I taped the larger wreath template into my MISTI stamp positioning tool to use as a guide. I stamped the first flower in Simon Says Stamp Sunshine ink, turning the cardstock in the template until I had stamped 8 times. I followed with the pink flowers, using Lawn Fawn's Wild Rose ink. I stamped the dark green leaves around the outer perimeter with Memento Cottage Ivy ink, and the 2-leaf image with Memento Pear Tart. Finally, to fill out the wreath a bit more on the inside, I stamped a little accent image in Hero Arts Orchid ink.

I wanted to make an A2-size card, and wanted my panel to fill the card front with only a 1/8" mat on all 4 sides. So I cut my wreath panel in half, & added it to a dark green cardstock mat that I'd adhered to my card base. I left a gap in between the 2 wreath panels.

I stamped one of the rings from the "Wreath Builder" set in Cottage Ivy ink, and stamped the greeting in the center in Wild Rose. I die cut that with a 2" circle die from We R Memory Keepers, and used a Waffle Flower "Additional Circles" die to cut the mat from lavender cardstock. I matted a strip of white cardstock with lavender, and adhered it to cover the gap between my stamped panels. Finally, I adhered the matted greeting circle in the center of my card.

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's March Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist).

Birthday Rose

 

I had printed the "Rose Blossom" digital image from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps onto a piece of cotton fabric several months ago. I had intended it for a project that I ended up not doing, so it's been sitting on a shelf over my desk ever since. I wanted to paint it with watercolors, so I had coated it with Daniel Smith Transparent Watercolor Ground. I've never done this before (painting watercolors on fabric), even with the watercolor ground, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I finally decided to go ahead & paint it, then make it into a card.

To prepare my fabric, after I'd printed the image onto it, I adhered it with double-sided sheet adhesive to a piece of white cardstock. Then I added the watercolor ground. As I said, this was all quite some time ago. I began painting wet-on-dry, adding the watercolor to the dry fabric. It didn't move quite as much as I wanted, so I switched to a wet-in-wet technique. I painted one petal at a time, adding clear water to the petal, then flooding in color. That worked OK, though the paint then tended to move more than I wanted. So I ended up doing a wet-on-kind-of-dry technique. I did make sure not to paint 2 adjacent petals before allowing the first to dry, so the rose wouldn't become all one solid color.

When I painted one of the leaves, the paint ended up getting away from me a bit, & stained the fabric outside the leaf. I tried wetting that area with just plain water & blotting with a paper towel, but it wouldn't come up. So I decided to embrace that, & just added green to the whole background, again painting wet-in-wet. I like the variegated color I ended up getting.

I heat embossed the "happy birthday" from Altenew's "Painted Greetings" set with Ranger Silver powder onto a strip of Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. vellum. I cut the strip longer than the width of my panel, folded the ends around the sides of the panel, & adhered them to the back. That way, I didn't have to worry about adhesive showing through the vellum. I matted my panel with black cardstock & adhered it to a white A2-size card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts #392: "Birthday Wishes"

613 Avenue Create March Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)