LEAFY BIRTHDAY

Recently I was visiting my mom, and she had a card on display made by my sister several years ago. I picked it up to examine it because I'd noticed that she had used vellum on it. To be perfectly honest, the vellum didn't look just too healthy in that the torn edges had all curled quite unattractively. This had happened because the piece of vellum had been attached to the card front with brads, leaving too much freedom for the edges to curl. 

I liked the look of the torn vellum, took a photo of the card, and decided I was going to create a card with the same look, but with the vellum edges covered.

A closeup so you can see the torn edges, not of the vellum, but of the DSP.

After I'd attached the vellum to the two torn pieces of the DSP, 

I cut a strip of white cardstock to add to the back of the vellum. Big mistake.

How I put everything in place:

The finished look. 

At this point, I asked myself why I put the white behind the vellum? 

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

Doing it this way, it was nearly impossible to tell 

that the embossed greeting was on VELLUM. 

I decided to change things up a bit and not include white cardstock, 

so the Poppy Parade cardstock showed through, 

making it obvious that the red was showing through vellum.

New and improved:

I really don't know why the photos for this blog post were of the card with the white cardstock, and not with the red showing through. One of life's little mysteries, when living inside my wonky head.

Here's a tutorial. If you make a card like this one, you can do it either way. If you want it to be obvious that you are doing a good trick with vellum,, do it  the new and improved way, and forget the extra piece of white cardstock:

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Poppy Parade cardstock

Celebrate Everything Designer Series Paper (page 87, Mini Catalog)

Vellum

Happiness Abounds stamp set (page 109, Annual Catalog)

VersaMark ink

Heat Tool

Black Embossing Powder

Green Gems

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of white cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

To this, add a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Poppy Parade cardstock.

Cut a piece of vellum to 3 3/4" x 2 1/2". About halfway up and centered, stamp "happy birthday" in VersaMark ink. With black embossing powder, heat emboss this sentiment.

Tear a 3 3/4" x 4 1/2" piece of Designer Series Paper about an inch or so from the bottom.

Adhere the top of the vellum to the back of the bottom of the largest torn piece of DSP.

Adhere the top of the DSP onto the Poppy Parade leaving even borders at the top and sides.

Add adhesive to the back of the smaller piece of DSP. Making sure everything is even on the sides and the bottom border is good, adhere this piece to the card.

Add two glittery embellishments to either side of the sentiment.

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A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.

- Knute Rockne -

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Leafy

Smiles.

WASHI TAPE ORNAMENT

I realize that Washi Tape isn't as in vogue -- at least at Stampin' Up! -- as it was in the recent past, although you can find it in stores and online everywhere. But it is still a very valid art supply and can be used in a plethora of ways.

Admittedly I don't always use it as often as I used to, but occasionally I do grab it for a project, and have lots of fun with it while I am working on the project.

One wonderful way to use Washi Tapes is to "decorate" an ornament as I did in the photo below.

A closeup of the ornament on my card. Isn't it fun? 

And you can create an infinate array of variations!

To make a viable ornament, start out with a template. I used an ornament-shaped die on a piece of cardstock.

The next step is to build a background for your ornament by lining up strips of various Washi Tapes on a piece of scrap cardstock that is larger than the ornament template.

You can make sure you like the design by placing the template over your strips. If it's a good look, you use the same die on a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of light-colored cardstock. 

Because I thought this large piece of cardstock could use a bit more zip, I embossed it with the Subtle Embossing Folder.

Here is a tutorial on how to make a card similar to this.

SUPPLIES:

Very Vanilla cardstock

Gold Metallic cardstock

Die Cutting/Embossing Machine

A die of a larger size ornament

Seasonal word die

An embossing folder to give a little interest to the die layer of cardstock

Various Washi Tapes

Gold Cord

Stampin' Dimensionals

Glue Dots

DIRECTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Very Vanilla cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Take a piece of the same cardstock that measures 4" x 5 1/4" and run it through your die cutting machine with the ornament die about an inch from the top. After cutting out the ornament, run it through the Embossing Machine inside the Subtle Embossing Folder.

The next step will be done on a scrap piece of white cardstock that measures 2 1/2" x 3". From a selection of Washi Tapes, choose a combination that you would like to use for your ornamemmt. With the chosen tapes, starting at the top of the scrap piece, cover the entire piece with tape, butting them tightly to each other, until the entire piece of scrap is filled. Either wrap the ends of the tapes to the back or snip them off at the edges.

Place the taped piece onto the card front. Once you have the ornament where you need it to show through the ornament diecut, adhere it in place onto the card front.

Add the embossed piece to the card base with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Tie a piece of gold cord into a bow and add it to the top of the ornament with a Glue Dot. You may have to scrunch the Glue Dot a bit so it doesn't show.

From gold metallic cardstock, cut your seasonal word of choice. Using tiny drops of glue, adhere the word to the card underneath the ornament.

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Shoot for the moon. 

Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars.

- Les Brown -

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Washi

Smiles.

MANY SNOWFLAKES

Recently I was going through some stuff. Yes, stuff. And I came across a handful of cards I'd created and never posted to my blog. I decided that they were still relevant, even if some of the product has retired. So, periodically I am going to include them in blog posts. You will probably never even know the difference, that they were from awhile ago. I hope you enjoy and benefit from them!

The technique used to make the gigantic snowflake on this 4 3/4" square card is called Reverse Masking. Using this technique, a creator is able to get results with a real wow factor.

A closeup of the snowflake and all its imperfections:

Here's a tutorial on how to make a card similar to this one, and to teach you how to do the Reverse Masking Technique. Have fun!

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Pacific Point cardstock

Silver Glimmer Paper

Retired snowflake stamps (I used a variety of stamps)

Pacific Point ink

Die Cutting/Embossing Machine

Snowflake dies 

Layering Circles Dies (page 172, Annual Catalog)

Stampin' Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 9 1/2" x 4 3/4" piece of Pacific Point cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Make a template from a 5" x 5" piece of copy paper using a large snowflake outline die. Dispose of the snowflake itself, or save it for another project. Center the square piece that you die cut from copy paper over a 4 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of white cardstock. Tape the edges securely. 

Starting with one of the larger, more open snowflake stamps, stamp randomly withint the snowflake shape in Pacific Point ink. Fill in some more spots with another open snowflake. Once these are distributed nicely, take a smaller snowflake stamp and finish filling in the space, leaving little bits of white showing. Be extra careful on the tips of the snowflakes. If you don't have stamping filling in those tips, the finished product will look spotty in those places.

You can pick up a few of the taped edges and peek underneath to check on your snowflake-producing progress. If you need a bit more stamping, simply press the tape back in place, and finish up.

Once you are happy with your reverse masked snowflake (made from MANY snowflakes!), adhere this to the card base.

Using the Layering Circles dies, choose one that measures about 1 3/4" across and cut a Pacific Point circle. With a die about 1 3/8" across, make a white circle. Adhere these circles together. 

Using a snowflake die, cut a snowflake from silver Glimmer Paper. Using tiny drops of glue, adhere the sparkly snowflake to the center of the adhered circles. Attach this with a Stampin' Dimensional over a part of the large snowflake.

This card could be used for any winter occasion. If you wish, use Pacific Point ink to stamp a tiny sentiment in the lower right corner of the card, or else, inside the card.

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Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance, and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun. Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices in life no more easily made. And give. Give in any way you can, of whatever you possess. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared, and your life will have meaning. And your heart will have peace.

- Kent Nerburn, from "Letters to My Son" -

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Wishing you and yours a safe and peaceful Thanksgiving. 

Thankful

Smiles.

STAR ORNAMENT

The Christmas bug bit me a bit early this year for some reason. I wasn't even offended by the cartoons about The witch, the turkey and Santa all in their vehicles going down the road and the first two yelling at Santa to stay in his own lane. 

I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping. All my handmade cards are ready and waiting for me to write them out. I have been listening to Christmas music for weeks now. And I have been experimenting with other Christmas cards. 

The card below is one that I've come up with, using the darling Decorated Pines dies featured in the Stampin' Up! Mini Catalog. This bundle, including the stamp set, immediately set my heart aflutter. It is just so so happy.

I used the die without the cute ornament stamp that coordinates with it. I simply used a smidgen of paper from the Celebrate Everything Designer Series Paper. Just the shape of the ornament is adorable; adding the poofy star embellishment finishes it off.

The paper in the background, with even MORE ornaments, is also from the same Celebrate Everything DSP pack. I love how colorful this card is!

A closeup of all the fun stuff going on in this card:

When I was putting the card together, wanting to have a white background for the ornament and branch, so they didn't get lost among the busy ornament DSP, I realized that a flat white cardstock was not conducive to a good look. I fixed that by embossing the large tag with the splatters from the Stripes & Splatters 3D Embossing Folder.

Here's a tutorial on how to make a card sort of like mine. Of course, you can always substitute something you already have if you don't possess all the supplies I've used.

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Celebrate Everything Designer Series Paper (page 87, Mini Catalog)

Shaded Spruce cardstock

Poppy Parade cardstock

Itty Bitty Christmas stamp set (retired)

Shaded Spruce ink

Die Cutting/ Embossing Machine

Decorated Pines dies (page 27, Mini Catalog)

Stitched Nested Labels (retired)

Adhesive Star (retired)

Stripes & Splatters 3D Embossing Folder (page 177, Annual Catalog)

Stampin' Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of white cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

To this card base, add a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Christmas Designer Series Paper.

Using dies from the Decoraed Pines dies, cut an evergreen branch from Shaded Spruce cardstock, one of the ornaments from the DSP, as well as a bow from the Poppy Parade cardstock.

From white cardstock, and using the retired Stitched Nested Labels dies, cut a label that measures 4 3/4" from point to point. Inside the splatter of the Stripes & Splatters 3D Embossing Folder, run the pointed label through your embossing machine.

Arrange your Christmas tableau atop this label so it pleases you. I adhered everything flat to the label.

Add a gold star embellishment to the center of the ornament.

Stamp in Shaded Spruce ink a sentiment on a 1/2" x 1 1/2" piece of white cardstock. With Stampin' Dimensionals, adhere this to the lower right portion of the label.

Add the finished label flat to the card front.

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If you aren't happy in one place,

chances are that you won't be happy in another place.

- Ernie Banks -

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Seasonal

Smiles.

SUNFLOWER THOUGHTS

If you are a follower of my blog, you probably realize that I am a real lover of sunflowers. Aren't they simply glorious?

So, when a new Stampin' Up! or Paper Pumpkin sunflower stamp comes out, I am totally on board. 

The precious sunflower I used in this card was one of the stamps that came in the August 2022 Paper Pumpkin kit, called Sweet Sunflowers.

I found some adhesive-backed cork at Dollar Tree. Thinking it looked quite fallish, I incorporated a circle of it in my card. I cut this circle of the cork with a die, so easy and quick.

Added to a fall-themed piece of retired Designer Series Paper -- isn't it a great combination? -- the look was complete.

Here you go, a tutorial on how to recreate this card. Oh, FYI, the cork comes in a sheet in a plastic wrapper and can be found in the crafting section at Dollar Tree.

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Daffodil Delight cardstock

A fallish-looking piece of Designer Series Paper

Sweet Sunflowers stamp (Sweet Sunflowers, August 2022 Paper Pumpkin kit)

Quiet Meadow stamp set (page 68, Annual Catalog)

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Stampin' Blends in: Dark Daffodil Delight, Light and Dark Old Olive, Light Soft Suede and Light Pumpkin Pie

Die Cutting/Embossing Machine

A sheet of adhesive-backed cork

Layering Circles dies (page 172, Annual Catalog)

Old Olive/White Bakers Twine

Stampin' Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of white cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Choose a fallish-looking Designer Series Paper, cut it to 3 3/4" x 5", and adhere this to a piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock that measures 4" x 5 1/4". 

Around the lower portion of this piece, wrap green and white bakers twine three times, taping the ends to the back. Arrange the twine so it is not just straight across to give it a little personality.

Add this piece to the card base.

On white cardstock, stamp the sunflower from the Sweet Sunflowes Paper Pumpkin kit in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, as well as the center of the flower and two of the leaves. Color these images as you wish.

Fussy cut all the components and put them together. NOTE:The center doesn't fit snugly. Before adhering this in place, use a fine line black marker to extend a few of the flower lines to the center, then color in a little further than the stamped center of the flower.

From an adhesive-backed cork sheet, use a circle die that measures 3" in diameter to cut a circle on which your sunflower can rest. Add the sunflower. Adhere this to the DSP, with equal margins at the top and sides.

On a 1/2" x 2 1/4" piece of white cardstock, stamp a sentiment in black ink. Use Stampin' Dimensionals to add this over the bakers twine strands.

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Confidence is contagious; so is lack of confidence.

- Vince Lombardi -

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Sunny

Smiles.

PLANTY BIRTHDAY

Nearly 50 years ago, I used to be a real "plant lady". When we moved from one town to another about 100 miles away, we moved all 125 of my plants with us. At the time, when we were first married, we called them our kids.

That new apartment didn't have great lighting, so my kids gradually moved away from home. Over the years, I did have plants, but nothing even close to the 125 we were raising way back then.

Anyway, back to the purpose of my blog post. When I discovered this planty set, with the wonderful-looking plants and their decorative pots, I was smitten -- and sort of brought back to the olden days.

After stamping the plants in Shaded Spruce ink and the pots in Cajun Craze, I fussy cut all the components.

Rather than placing them against a solid (Soft Succulent) background, I thought it would be cool if it looked like they were against a backdrop with some interest. So I embossed the cardstock with the Stripes and Splatter 3D Embossing Folder. I like the way it looks because it is reminiscent of a textured painted wall.

I matted this piece onto Cajun Craze, then to a white card base. This took up only 3" at the top of the card, leaving a nice 1" of clean white space. Perfect for adding the sentiment in bold letters. I used the words from the Biggest Wish set on page 40.

This set, Plentiful Plants (page 63), is one of a Stampin' Up! selection they have named Dist.ink.tive. They are supposed to be ultra realistic. Maybe it's because of the severe arthritis in my hands, but I can never get my images to look realistic. I am so curious to hear what you who have used any of these sets think of them, and whether you are successful with your stamping. 

Shown in the photo below is a closeup of the stamped plants and pots:

Unless you really hate fussy cutting, this is a very easy card to make.

Please share with us how you feel about the Dist.ink.tive stamp set line. If you are successful in your stamping with these, can you divulge your secrets?

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Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, 

and only you can determine how it will be spent. 

Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

- Carl Sandburg -

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Instinctive

Smiles.

SUNFLOWER WITH RIBBON

I guess it's still sunflower season, so I'm bringing you a card with a smaller size sunflower on it. As you can see, it's a very simple card, with all of the important stuff above the halfway mark.

Actually, the most time consuming part of this card, is, you guessed it, coloring in the flower. The rest of it comes together easily. Using Stampin' Blends to do this part at least makes it fun!

I added a simple piece of Designer Series Paper, a strip of ribbon around the end of this, and, along with the colored portion, created one 2 1/2" strip that fits across the entire width of the card.

An appropriate sentiment stamped in black ink to echo the outlines of the flower, centered underneath the flower portion, finishes off the card nicely and simply.

I must admit that my original intent was to have just the sentiment. However, as luck often has it, since the sentiment was the LAST thing I did, of course, I messed up. I don't know what happened, but I ended up with two little dots of black ink exactly where I didn't want it. I tried everything to remove it, but nothing worked. Thus, two golden spots of bling to cover up the mishap. I really think the card would be nicer and more effective without this, but . . .

Here's a tutorial for dimensions and all you need to make a card similar to this one. Simply change things up to coordinate with what you decide to work with.

SUPPLIES:

So Saffron cardstock

White cardstock

Coordinatiing piece of Designer Series Paper

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Stampin' Blends in: Dark So Saffron, Dark Daffodil Delight, SU 400, SU 300, Light Old Olive

Quiet Meadow stamp set (page 68, Annual Catalog)

Celebrate Sunflowers (page 35, Annual Catalog)

Checked Ribbon

Gilded Gems 

DIRECTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of So Saffron cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Select a piece of Designer Series Paper that coordinates with the So Saffron cardstock (or whichever color you choose) and cut it to 1 3/4" x 2 1/2".

Wrap a coordinating piece of ribbon measuring about 3 1/2" long around the very edge of the right side and tape the ends in place on the back of the DSP.

Set this aside for now.

Cut a piece of white cardstock to measure 2 1/2" square. In the center of this piece, stamp in Memento Tuxedo Black ink the smaller sunflower from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set. Color in the flower as you wish.

Add the DSP piece flush with the fold about 1" from the top of the card.

Adhere the colored piece to the card front so it touches the DSP piece. If you have a bit of excess cardstock at the open edge, trim it off. Technically it should fit perfectly.

In black ink, stamp a sentiment of your choice under the sunflower and to the right. NOTE: I did not intend to have the two gems to the right of the sentiment. However, I messed up there and used them to cover my mess-up. Feel free to not add the embellishments.

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He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas.

- Benjamin Franklin -

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Sunny

Smiles.

#dailycreating AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022

Even though at this time (August and September), I was drawing a little more than I had in the winter/early spring months, I still was not up to my old standard of one-a-day. So, once again, I am going to condense my #dailycreating drawings into two months. I am bringing you August and September 2022 today.

As part of Terry Runyan's #dailycreating group, we are strongly encouraged to create something every day and then <if we want> to post it on the group's site. Each week, Terry posts a list of daily prompts for the coming week. The prompts are just suggestions, with Terry telling us to create whatever moves us.

On October 3, a member of the group -- knowing how much I love to draw birds -- asked me if I was going to participate in #birdtober, #birdtober2022. Not knowing of its existence, I was excited to check it out, and, upon seeing the month's prompts, I jumped in with both feet. So, just warning you, for October, you will see birds, birds, birds from me. And since I'd missed the first two days of the challenge, I did Days 1 and 2 after I finished Days 3-31. I didn't miss one day of the challenge -- and enjoyed every single minute of ite.

In fact, . . . hmmm, I will let you in on my plans at the end of this post.

For now, above each of my drawings in this post, I will include the prompt, as well as any other information on my subject matter that you may find interesting.

 #thing on thing

white-crested turaco, africa

#thing on thing

black-crested coquette, mexico/south america

#thing on thing

crested owl, central and south america

#thing on thing

spinifex pigeon, australia

#red

northern cardinal

#caturday

#thing on thing

sultan tit, asia

#green

javan green magpie, indonesia island of java

critically endangered

#black and gray

peregrine falcon, all continents except antarctica

#world rhino day

#shampoo

#goose

#thing on thing

golden-crowned kinglet, north america

And, there you have it.

Now, I will fill you in on my plans. Since I enjoyed #birdtober so much, I set a grand goal for myself. I am going to draw a bird each day for a year. Yes, 365 birds! I spent a few days compiling my list of all these birds from all over the world, typing it up, and cutting them into skinny strips. I then threw all 365 bird names into a big jar. The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is randomly choose my bird of the day. I started this on November 3. After I finish writing this post, I will draw my fourth bird for this personal challenge. Gulp. I know this is quite an undertaking, but I think I'm up for it.

If you are on Instagram, where I post my drawings each day, I would love for you to follow me. I can be found under #paperseedlings. 

Please respect that these are my personal drawings and photographs (always seen at the end of each post with a quote). If you ever would like a print, I would be happy to have one (or more?) made for you. Just let me know.

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The future belongs to those 

who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

- Eleanor Roosevelt -

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Drawn

Smiles.