With Sympathy -- How To Create A Watermark Card Background

Hello crafty friends!  Today I'm sharing a sympathy card featuring Honey Bee Stamps beautiful Zelia's English Garden stamp.  Read all of the details below!

First I selected a blue cardstock and die cut it with the rectangle die in the Lace Heart Layering Frames Honey Cuts.  I added a bit of subtle shading around the edges with a blender brush and Shaded Lilac Distress Ink.

Next I placed the die cut panel into my MISTI and then inked up the Zelia's English Garden stamp with clear embossing ink and stamped it onto the blue cardstock piece.

I let the stamped piece dry for several hours (overnight) so I wouldn't accidentally smear the ink.  I love the watermarked background this created.  It is subtle but the image of the stamp is still clearly visible.  I used glue to adhere it to an A2 card base

I die cut two greenery sprigs from the Lovely Layers: Greenery Honey Cuts.  Two from white cardstock and one from mat silver cardstock.  I used glue to adhere these to the card.

The sentiment is from the Great Greetings: Sympathy die set.  I die cut the shadow layer from 110# cardstock and the top layer from mat silver cardstock.  I used foam tape strips to adhere them to the card.

It's always great to have these type of cards in my stash ready to send, when needed.  This card would also be very easy to mass produce in other colors!

I always appreciate you stopping!  Thank you!!  Have a fabulous day!

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Ciao Bella! Sending Warm Thoughts Your Way

Have you seen the La Dolce Vita Collection by Spellbinders?  I absolutely love it!  This card features three of the products from this collection!  I am actually about to head out for a trip to Italy and Greece and this collection just makes me even more excited!

Because of my trip, I need to keep this post brief!  I'll share all of the product links in the list below.  

The background is the gorgeous Lemon Fresco 3D embossing folder embossed onto teal card stock.

I die cut the die from the Citrus Spritz die set from white and colored cardstocks.

The sentiment is one of several in the La Dolce Vita Sentiments Press Plate & Die Set.  Again, I love that all of the sentiments are on one plate and then cut out with the die that is included!

I added white gel pen dots on the lemons, and a few yellow gem stickers for some sparkle!

Well, all that's left for me to say is, "Ciao Bella"!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

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You're The Best, Sweet Friend!

Happy Wednesday crafty friends!  Today I'm sharing my card that requires just two dies sets and one stamp set!  I've used Honey Bee Stamps' new Bold Background: Chinoiserie with the older Big Time Kindness stamp set and Honey Cuts.

To make the coloring easier, I started by die cutting green and light coral colored cardstocks with the Bold Background: Chinoiserie dies.  Then I used a blending brush to add a coordinating green ink color to the layers for shading.  I used a couple of Copic markers to shade the flowers.  Don't forget to die cut the flowers two times each!

Next I referred to the Layering Guide while I used glue to adhere the layers.  Then I glued the piece to an A2 white cardstock card base.

For more detail and interest I added some pretty metallic Champagne Gold paint splatters and set it aside to dry.

I pulled out the Big Time Kindness stamp set, one of my favorite sentiment sets!  I stamped the sentiments with clear embossing ink and then added Princess Gold embossing powder.  I used my heat tool to set the powder.  I cut out the large sentiment with the coordinating Big Time Kindness die and used my paper trimmer for the other.

I added foam tape strips to the sentiments to adhere each one to the card.

I love this card with its sweet flowers and metallic sentiment!  Perfect for many occasions  to send to a friend!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Stay crafty!

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Hello, My Sweet Friend

Hello crafty friends!  Today I'm sharing a card I made that features Honey Bee Stamps beautiful Lovely Layers: Wishing Well.  The Scene Builder die sets have always been a favorite of mine and I was happy to get to use one again!  I love how these older and new products work together!

First I die cut the Lovely Layers: Wishing Well dies from light gray and 80# white cardstock.  I used various brown and gray inks to color most of the pieces with Blender Brushes.  I had fun using three different shades of gray inks on the wishing well stones.  Then I splattered the stones with white paint.  For some reason it started smudging off even after it dried.  So I just used a clean paper towel to smudge it and it turns out, I liked the look!

To color the smaller pieces that I wanted more detail on (the well handle, the bucket, and rope) I used a few Copic markers.

Next I followed the Layering Guide to adhere the layers with glue.

I pulled out the Farmhouse Fields Scene Builder Cover Plate die and cut it out from 80# white cardstock.  To color the scene, I used the coordinating stencil set with Blender Brushes and various shades of green inks and a brown ink.

I trimmed the left edge of the colored scene with my paper trimmer.  Before I glued the scene to my A2 card base, I inked on some blue ink for the sky.

I wanted some more color on the card, so I die cut white cardstock with three of the floral dies found in the Lovely Layers: Front Porch Spring Add-On set.  I used blending brushes for some quick coloring of the layers.  Then I used glue to adhere the layers together.  These remind of wildflowers that might be growing at the base of a wishing well!

The wishing well and flowers are adhered to the card base with foam tape.  Then I stamped the sentiments from the So Special stamp set with black pigment ink.  I cut them out with the coordinating dies and adhered each one with a double layer of foam tape.

I totally love this scene and hope you do too!  Also, I hope you've been inspired to give this type of scene card a try.  It's fun!  Have an awesome and crafty week!!

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Altenew June 2025 Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in total prizes)!

Welcome to Altenew's June 2025 Release blog hop!  This is another amazing release by Altenew that has products in it to inspire any crafting style!

There are awesome designers in this hop sharing some beautiful inspiration for the June 2025 Release.  Check out the hop list below.  If you would like to start at the beginning, head on over to the Altenew blog.  Be sure to read until the end to see what Altenew has for prizes this month!  For the best chance to win, be sure to leave a comment on my blog and at each stop along the way.

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I have three (actually four) cards to share with you today!  This first one is filled with sunshine and features the beautiful Build-A-Garden Radiant Blossoms stamps, stencils, and dies.

The card base is A2 sized and is layered with Fresh Lemon Crafty Necessities Cardstock that I embossed with the Batik Blooms 3D embossing folder.

I stamped the florals from the Build-A-Garden stamp set with Obsidian black ink.  Then I used my beloved Mini Blending Brushes to add in shades of yellow and green inks.  I used inks from the Pocketful of Sunshine and the Green Valley Fresh Dye ink collections.  The basket is lightly shaded with Limestone ink.

I cut out the flowers and basket with the coordinating Radiant Blossoms dies.  Then I adhered the pieces with Instant Dimension Foam Tape.

There is lots of subtle sparkle on this card!  I added the new Clear Iridescent Stellar Stellar Sequins (3 of 5 sizes used) to the flower centers and then a few more around the sentiments.  The sentiments are also in the Radiant Blossoms stamp set and cut out with the coordinating dies.

My next card is filled with lots of beautiful shine and features the stamps and dies from the Crafty-Your-Life Bold & Beautiful set.

I'm going to keep the rest of this post fairly brief.  Be sure to check out the product links in the list below.

This card has gold heat embossing, a gold cardstock layer, and gold die cut flowers!  I love the Craft-Your-Life Project Kits since you get the stamps, dies, stencils, and embossing folder all together!  This Bold & Beautiful kit can be used so many ways, as demonstrated in my next card.

I added more sparkle by placing some Sparkling Gold Sequins to the flower centers.

This next project is a two-from-one stenciling session using the beautiful Craft-Your-Life Bold & Beautiful embossing folder and stencils.

My Stampwheel 2.0 gave me plenty of room to use the Bold & Beautiful stencils and color the panel I had already embossed with the embossing folder.

I used Mini Blending Brushes to color through the stencils.  I used inks from these Fresh Dye ink collections:  Sweet Dreams,  Green Meadows, and Cherry Blossom.  Then I used my paper trimmer to cut the piece in half.

Each half piece was adhered to coordinating teal cardstock (embossed with the Bold & Beautiful 3D embossing folder) with Instant Dimension foam tape.  The sentiments are included in the stamp set and popped up with foam tape.

This card is just the same as the previous card except for the foiled sentiment.  This sentiment is from the Versatile Greetings 3 Press Plates.  (You do know that these press plates can be foiled, right?)  I was happy to find that I had the perfectly coordinating foil in my stash!

Both cards have Clear Iridescent sequins adhered around the sentiments for some pretty sparkles!

I just have to finish up by sharing a photo of the awesome new Crafter's Showcase Mini Blending Brush Storage!  I love how this keeps all my brushes together and within easy reach!  I actually have it front and center by my work space!

Be sure to leave me a comment below for your chance to win a prize before you head to the next stop on the hop.

Giveaway info: 

• • $300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $50 gift certificate to 4 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by June 16th for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 5 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew's Blog Hop Post on June 17th, 2025.

  • The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog.

Blog Hop List:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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In The Quiet Hum Of The Hummingbird's Wings -- A Beautiful Dimensional Floral Card

Hi friends!  My card today features three sets from the absolutely gorgeous Summer Solstice Collection by Susan Tierney-Cockburn for Spellbinders.  I absolutely love creating these beautiful dimensional flowers!

I die cut all of the dies in the Petunia and Hummingbird set from Susan's Garden Specialty Cardstock.  This is a slightly textured cardstock that is so easy to use to make gorgeous shaped florals.

I used various inks with ink blending brushes to color all of the pieces of the petunias.  I have the ink colors I used in the list below.  I used mainly blue green and blue Copic markers to color the hummingbird.

To make shaping and forming the flowers super easy, Spellbinders has a YouTube video where Susan shows how to do it.  You will find it by scrolling through the photos in the product description.

I used a few flower shaping tools (a stylus, loop tool, foam pad, and reverse tweezers) to shape the flowers and other pieces.  I glued them together and set them aside to dry.

I embossed more of the Specialty Cardstock with the coordinating Petunia Cascade 3D embossing folder.  It is such a beautiful embossed image!!  I trimmed the piece to 4-¼" x 5-½" and glued it to an A2 card base.

When I had decided on an arrangement, I used glue to adhere the elements to my card.

The sentiment is from the Summer Solstice Garden Sentiments Press Plate & Die set.  I can't even say how much I love that the press plate, and the die, are both just one piece!  When you use the Porcelain Cotton cardstock to press it with your BettterPress system, the pressed sentiments are SO crisp!  I adhered the sentiment with thick foam tape.

I wish you could see this card in real life!  Because of the extreme dimension, I will most likely tuck this card into a gift bag to hand deliver.  However, I would not have a problem putting it into a small box to mail.

Thank you, always, for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful and crafty weekend!

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Lots Of Butterflies For Birthday Wishes

Happy Wednesday crafty friends!  Today I'm sharing my card that features Honey Bee Stamps beautiful All Things New stamps and coordinating dies along with the Bold Background: Chinoiserie.

I absolutely love a textured white background on a card and the Bold Background: Chinoiserie was perfect for this.  I die cut all of the pieces of the die set from 80# Neenah cardstock.  After I printed off the Layering Guide (available in the product description on the website) I used Bee Creative glue to adhere all of the layers together.

Then I glued this gorgeous piece onto an A2 white card base.  I set this aside while I colored the butterflies from the All Things new stamp set.

Next I stamped all of the butterflies in the All Things New stamp set with Intense Black ink onto 80# Neenah.  I used various Copic markers to color each one.  I mostly stuck with blue, yellow, and orange shades.

I die cut all of the butterflies with the coordinating All Things New Honey Cuts.  I used my fingers to gently shape and curve the butterfly wings.  To adhere them I added glue just to the back of the butterfly body.  I added a small piece of foam tape to the back of the blue butterfly's wing (upper right corner) to support the wing dimension.

I stamped one of the sentiments from the All Things New stamp set with black pigment ink.  There are seven in this set to choose from!  Then I cut it out with the coordinating die.  I added a foam tape strip on the back right side of the sentiment to adhere it.

For a bit of bling, I added gem stickers from the Back To Basics set.

I love how this turned out!  The textured white on a white card really makes the I love how this turned out!  The textured white on a white card really makes the butterflies pop!  I hope you know how much I appreciate you for stopping by today!  Thank you!

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