Halloween Banner

Cats and Bats and Ghosts (no Rats or Elephants)

My sister and nephew love to celebrate Halloween.  I made a banner for them to help decorate the house, but I forgot to post it in October.  Better late than never! 

The Lawn Fawn Stitched Party Banners are perfect for a project like this.  I used the smaller banner and the circle included in the set.

Foiled Anniversary Cards

Gina K Designs Foil-mates

The Foil-mates designs include quite a variety of patterns and they are suitable for a lot of occasions. I decided to use some of them for anniversary cards for our parents.  Both anniversaries fall in October, but I wanted to use brighter colours because the weather has been terrible here - it is supposed to be fall, not winter!

For the card bases, I used Gina K Designs cardstock in Moonlit Fog and Turquoise Sea.

The foiled card panels are Gina K Designs Foil-mates foiled in Sweet Mango and Jelly Bean Green. 

I added sentiments, also from the Gina K Designs Foil-mates lines, that were foiled using Wild Dandilion and Turquoise Sea foils.

The foiled sentiments are popped-up on the panels using 3M foam tape.

On the inside of the card I stamped “Happy Anniversary” using a wood mounted stamp by Hero Arts that I have had in my stash for years.

I’ve used this stamp often; it is a staple!

Below are a side shots that show some of the shine on the foil.































Below is an image of the Foil-mates selection that I used for these cards.

Happy Halloween Witchy Lady!

Haunted Halloween Scene

These images were stamped in silhouette, using Midnight ink by Catherine Pooler Designs, on a Distress Oxide ink blended background.  The ink blended background was spritzed with water from a Distress Sprayer and dabbed with a paper towel.  The Halloween images are from the Spooky Hollow stamp set by Catherine Pooler Designs - CPD had a really fun Halloween release this year!

The card base is Nina Kraft cardstock with rectangles of patterned paper added underneath the box for a pop of colour.  The purple argyle paper is from the Sunny Studio Stamps Preppy Prints 6 x 6 paper pack.

The pop-up box and the bat are both from Lawn Fawn.  The box is the new Mini Pop-Up Box and the Bat is the Tiny Gift Box Bat add-on, also from the latest release.   The Bat add-on includes all the dies you need to create the cute little bat as well as the pop up banner.  The sentiment I used on the banner if from Lawn Fawn's Pick of the Patch stamp set.

This little bat is so adorable!  I used Gina K Designs Black Onyx paper for the box and face, with scraps of grey and white to create the detail.  The sparkle cardstock for the wings comes from Lawn Fawn's Autumn Sparkle Cardstock.

A close-up of the great sentiment from the Spooky Hollow set!  "Witchy lady" - it's so fun!

Pocket Scrapbooking Cards

Camping Theme

Have you ever thought of making your own pocket scrapbooking cards?  I have a lot that I've purchased, but sometimes they just aren't exactly what I want for my layout.  I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, but I've started making some of my own cards.  I have a ton of great background stamps, camping stamps and stencils that I can use for this purpose.  And, I have the Lawn Fawn dies for pocket scrapbooking - they create the perfect size of card, both large and small.  All you have to do is die cut, stamp, stencil and embellish.

For this set of cards I used Warm Cocoa ink by Gina K Designs to stamp the MFT In the Wilderness background stamp on Gina K Designs' Fresh Asparagus cardstock.  I added accents on the larger cards with a strip of Kraft cardstock, also by Gina K Designs.  When I'm ready to use the cards, I can add a sentiment or short description to that section.

Same design and cardstocks (in reverse) for this set, but I used dark green ink to stamp the SSS Tree Background stamp on the Kraft cardstock.  It seemed appropriate for trees.

For this set, I used the Holiday Foliage stencil from Newton's Nook as the pattern and applied green and brown distress inks, using a sponge dauber, to the leaves and pine cones.  The cardstock for the base is Kraft by Gina K Designs and the large card is accented with Dark Chocolate cardstock cut with the Forest Border Lawn Fawn die.

The cardstock base in this set is Honey Mustard (GKD) and I used  Tim Holtz Mini Stencil 32 with blending ink to create the tree pattern.  As I have the mini stencil, I had to overlap and repeat my blending several times on the larger cards to fill the entire panel.

In each set I tried to make vertical and horizontal cards in both the 4 X 6 and 2 X 3 sizes.  Some sets I used both sides of the card and made a vertical pattern on one side and a horizontal pattern on the other.  This way, the cards will fit with whatever layout style I choose.

Another tree-based set of cards using the MFT In the Woods stencil, distress ink blending and Honey Mustard (GKD) cardstock.

These background stamps by Impression Obsession, called "Rocks" and "Stones", create very realistic backgrounds.  These will be great for layouts of camping trips where we take the puppies down to the river.  I love the detail in these stamps.

This is a great stamp by So Suzy Stamps ("Hammock") and I thought it would be fun to incorporate into my scrapbook.  My husband and I received hammocks for Christmas one year and we use them for reading and relaxing while we are camping, so this stamp is perfect!  Again, a vertical and a horizontal version.  Simple cards with only the stamp, in Versafine Onyx Black ink, on plain Gina K Designs Kraft cardstock.

Tropically Yours Stamp of Approval Collection

Tropical Cards

I love everything tropical - the foliage, the birds, the animals, the colourful water and the humidity.  When I heard the theme for this Stamp of Approval collection (by Catherine Pooler Designs), was Tropically Yours, I was sold.  It falls squarely in my wheelhouse.  The stamp sets are so fun and so well coordinated - they work wonderfully together.  I just had to get inky! (And I took this collection on vacation so I wouldn't have to wait. 😉😊😇)

I used a variety of stamp sets on this card, starting with the Grunge Background, which I stamped in Coral Cabana ink (Catherine Pooler Designs).  I stamped the leaves from the Leave Me In Paradise set using green ink from Gina K Designs (because I could take the ink cubes with me!).  I stamped a variety of border stamps from the Good Vibes border stamp set, using brown ink (also GKD).  Of course, I had to add some tufts of grass and a border underneath the flamingo, so he would have a place to stand.  I used the Coral Cabana ink pad and the direct-to-paper technique to create some flamingo coloured paper, then stamped and die cut the flamingo from the Stand Tall stamp set.  And, flamingos (at least in my world) love bling, so I added some Nuvo Clear Sparkle pen over the entire die cut.  After it dried, I popped it up on the card with some dimensional adhesive and added my sentiment (also from the Stand Tall stamp set).  The final touch was to add some iridescent gems on the flamingo's path and in the top palm leaf.

I stamped a frame of tropical leaves in Jelly Bean, Grass and Fresh Asparagus green inks by Gina K Designs for the next card.  Then I added several small flower accents in Coral Cabana (Catherine Pooler Designs) and a lovely bright yellow (Wild Dandelion by Gina K Designs).  I stamped the sentiment, from Leave Me in Paradise, and added some iridescent gems to the centres of the small flowers.  The last step was to stamp the hibiscus flowers in Coral Cabana and the stamen in Wild Dandelion before adding Nuvo Clear Glitter pen to them.  Once they were dry, I popped them up on the card panel and added the panel to an A2 size card base.  

The next card is a similar design, but I used the leaves from Tropically Yours and stamped them over the entire background panel.  Then, I used a border stamp to provide a grounding for the hibiscus flowers and added a sentiment from the Stand Tall set to finish it off.  I used the same ink colours as for the card above, except I added Coral Reef (GKD) for the centre hibiscus.

Geometric Themed cards

The tropical style is not for everyone. This collection includes some geometric dies that are to die for!  I saw a card by Iliana Crouse that was incredible and I had to make a variation of it.  As I was on vacation I did not have coloured cardstock with me, so I made my own using my ink cubes, Coral Cabana ink pad and some Neenah Solar White 80lb cardstock.  Then, I die cut a bunch of pieces from my handmade coloured cardstock and started adhering them to my card panel.  Each hexagon has three separate pieces.

I stamped the sentiment and border stamps from the Stand Tall stamp set on a square of cardstock that I had coloured with Coral Cabana ink, but it didn't stand out enough from the card front.  My solution was to create a slate coloured geometric border on a strip of of white cardstock and adhere that behind the sentiment panel.  The finishing touch was to add gemstones to the centre of each hexagon stack.

I just couldn't leave the hexagon dies alone and had to make another card.  I used the same direct-to-paper technique with my ink pads to create coloured cardstock, then die cut my hexagons and traded the inner pieces of the die cuts with the outer frames of another colour.  It was a little time consuming, but I like the result.  I added a border along the bottom because there was too much white space for my taste and then I simply had to add a sentiment to finish the card.

I am a huge fan of the Stamp of Approval sets because they make it easy for my to coordinate stamp sets and dies.  This is definitely one of my favourite collections.

Clean and Simple Christmas Cards

Christmas Lights 

Colouring is therapeutic and fun.  I really enjoy it.  For this set of simple cards I stamped the Hero Arts Christmas Lights 6 x 6" background stamp on Neenah Solar White 80lb cardstock in Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  I chose this particular ink because it is Copic marker friendly.  Next, I chose markers in the red, green, blue and yellow families and sat down in front of the TV to colour.  I used two shades per colour, as the images are so small.

I tried to follow a pattern with my light colouring (red, blue, green, yellow), but I found the lights didn't line up perfectly for the pattern to work, so I added some purple lights in here and there to fill odd spots.  After the Copic colouring was finished, I added Wink Of Stella clear glitter pen highlighting to each bulb and touched up the base of each bulb with a silver Spica glitter pen. 

The 6 x 6 panel was large enough for me to cut into thirds and create three cards.  I adhered the coloured pattern to the left side of a side folding A2 card base, added a strip of red paper along the edge and stamped a holiday sentiment to the right of the red paper strip, near the bottom of the card.  The Christmas sentiments are from the Hero Arts Poster Christmas Carols stamp set, stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink.

This card is in the same style, but the sentiment is from the Gina K Designs Christmas Greenery stamp set.

General Purpose Cards

Gina K Designs Daisy Delight Stamp Set

I normally choose stamp sets that have matching dies, for convenience; however, when I saw this stamp set I could not resist.  The daisies are beautiful.  I decided to stamp two of each daisy image to colour with Copic markers and used a spring colour for one and a more fall feeling colour for the other (because those are my favourite seasons).

Once the images were coloured, I fussy cut them.  Instead of adhering them to a plain white card base, I raided my stash of coloured cardstock scraps and created pink and burnt yellow card bases, to coordinate with the Copic colouring.  In order to jazz up the white cardstock layer in between the card base and the image, I used embossing folders to add some texture.

Since I didn't want to take away from the beauty of the images, I did not add a sentiment.  I will add a sentiment on the inside, once I decide for what purpose I will use these cards.  Although, I very much like how they turned out and may decide to decorate my hobby room with them, instead.  ;-)

Foiled cards

I decided to do a set of foil cards for something a little different.  

I used Sookwang double-sided tape in 1/8, ¼, and ½ inch widths, adhering it to the cards either horizontally or vertically (see below).  Then, I used a variety of foils (Deco-foil & Gina K Designs) and, in one case Nuvo Guilding Flakes, to create a pattern on the card front.  

I then added a sentiment to each card from the Gina K Foil Mates.  

The last step was to add sentiments to the inside of the cards using the Young at Heart stamp set by Cas-ual Fridays.

The second version is similar, but I made a couple of changes -  diagonal lines for the pattern and gilding flakes instead of foil.  I like how a simple pattern change makes such a different look.

Cards for my nephew to give as gifts

My nephew is in grade one this year and two of his friends have moved away.  Both are big changes in his life.  I asked him if he would like me to make some cards to send to his friends and he liked that idea, so I am going to send him a set of cards with his Valentine's Day card.  Pictures and details of the cards are below.

Cute Birdies

I used the Concord & 9th Birdie Banners and Alpha Bits sets for both cards and, on the card on the right side, I added a tree from the Gina K. Designs set Friends 'til the End.  I stamped with a variety of Lawn Fawn inks and used Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Markers to draw the grass and colour the wings and tail on the birds.  The clouds were blended in using Distress Ink and the My Favorite Things mini clouds stencil.  The last step was to score a line around the edge of the front of the card.

Cute critter cards

These one-layer cards were made using the Gina K. Designs stamp set Friends 'til the End.  I stamped the images on the left card with Momento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured the images with Chameleon coloured pencils.  The card on the right was stamped using a combination of Lawn Fawn coloured inks and Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  The owl was coloured with coloured pencils and the grass was drawn in with a Ranger Distress marker.  I masked the owl with a trimmed post-it note and blended the clouds onto the card panel using Ranger Distress ink and the MFT mini cloud stencil.  The last step was, again, to score a line around the edge of the card.

Airplane cards

One of my nephew's interests is things that fly so I used this cute Lawn Fawn set, Plane and Simple, to stamp and die cut the images.  They were coloured with Copic markers and adhered to a card panel that was embossed using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Cloud Backdrop (Landscape) after being cut down to size with the second largest die from the Lawn Fawn 4-bar sized Stitched Rectangle Stackables.

Buzy Bees

The cute little bees from the Honey Bee stamp set Build-a-Bee set make me smile.  I hope they make my nephew smile, too.  I coloured the bees with Copic markers, embossed the coloured card panel with a Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder and used a sentiment on the inside from the Honey Bee Bee-You-Tiful Sentiments set.

Monster Truck cards

And, since he loves them, I had to make a couple of cards with monster trucks that he could send to his friends.  The notecard is a 4-bar sized Lawn Fawn card and the panel was cut with the second largest of the 4-bar sized Stitched Rectangle Stackables and embossed with the Stitched Cloud Backdrop (Portrait).  The grass and the label were also both Lawn Fawn dies. The trucks are from the Your Next Stamp set called "Got Mud?" and were coloured with Chameleon coloured pencils.