Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Springtime Inspired Birthday Card with Cherry Blossoms and a Bluebird!

Hello crafty friends! Today I'm sharing my springtime inspired card that features a few of my favorite previously released products! My inspiration comes from the gorgeous cherry trees I saw in full bloom on my recent trip to Oregon for the Honey Bee Stamps 10th Anniversary Retreat! These trees won't grow where I live and I had never seen them in real life! I was awed!

If you are wondering about my inspiration for the bluebird, while I was sitting in the dental hygienist's chair last week, I saw one outside the window!

It was a 'no-brainer" to use the beautiful Lovely Layers: Cherry Blossom set today!

I began by taking three pieces of Bristol Smooth cardstock and having some ink smooshing fun! I smooshed Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron Distress Inks onto my glass craft mat and spritzed them with some water. I pressed one piece of Bristol into the inks. Then I dried it with my heat tool and repeated the steps 2-3 more times.

For the two remaining pieces of Bristol, I used Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo, and Spun Sugar Distress Inks and went through the steps mentioned above for one panel. I decided I wanted a lighter pink panel and pressed the remaining cardstock into Kitsch Flamingo and Spun Sugar Distress Inks.

I used the dried inky panels and the Lovely Layers: Cherry Blossom to die cut all of the layers in the set. I used glue to adhere the layers and set the piece aside.

Next I die cut white cardstock with the dies from the Lovely Layers: Spring Birds Honey Cuts. I used a light and medium blue ink along with two brown inks to color the layers. I glued them together according to the Layering Guide.

I die cut white cardstock with the largest die in the Decorative Star Layering Frames die set. Then I used a blender brush to ink on blue ink. Then I pressed the ink pad onto my craft mat, sprayed a bit of water into the ink, and used a paint brush to splatter the diluted ink onto the panel.

When the Decorative Star piece was dry, I glued it to an A2 card base that I layered with the Spring Medley 3D embossing folder. I trimmed the overhang off with my scissors.

I stamped the sentiment from the Celebrating You stamp set with black ink and cut it out with the coordinating die. I added foam tape dots and squares to the sentiment, Cherry Blossom branch and Spring Bird to adhere them to the card.

I'm so thrilled to have finally seen Cherry Blossom trees!  I hope you are finding lots of inspiration around you this spring.  Thanks so much for stopping by!!!

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Wednesday, April 2, 2025

A Sweet Garden Scene With Kitties!

Hello crafty friends! Today I'm sharing details of how to make this sweet kitty card that features the new Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers: Cats along with another favorite, Lovely Layers: Sweetheart Roses. I can just visualize these sweet kitties prowling around in a beautiful springtime garden and was inspired to make this card!

To create my garden scene I chose light pink and light green cardstocks and die cut the roses, bush, and leaves from the Lovely Layers: Sweetheart Roses. I die cut the planter pot from white cardstock. Then I used blender brushes and coordinating inks to shade the flower layers, the shrub and leaves to add a bit of depth. I used glue to adhere the layers together. (Be sure to download the Layering Guide found in the product description on the website.)

To add shading to the planter, I used three gray Copic markers: C3, C1, and C00. After I glued the layers of the planter together, I added glue to the bottom of the Sweetheart Roses to adhere it to the planter.

Next I chose two of the kitties from the Lovely Layers: Cats and die cut them from white and a light gray cardstock. For the gray kitty I added shading with a blender brush and gray ink. I colored parts of the other cat with an E40 Copic marker. Again, I used glue to adhere the layers together.

Now that I had the card elements all colored and ready for the card, I was really stuck on what to do for a background!!! Does that happen to you?

After much muddling through ideas, I thought that a soft inked background would pair best with the focal images. I used a blending brush to lightly add green ink for the "grass". This was the same light green ink I used on the Sweetheart Rose bush. Then I inked on a very light blue ink for the sky. I really like how this turned out!!!

I used foam dots to pop up the Sweetheart Roses and the gray cat.  Tip: I love these foam dots and only used these! I just use my non-stick scissors to cut them into smaller pieces!

I glued on the white cat and adhered the Sweetheart Roses and the gray cat. The sentiment is from the Pet-tastic Stamp Set and stamped in black pigment ink. I cut it out with the coordinating die. To adhere it over the Sweetheart Rose bush, I added a small piece of a foam strip on the left side and glue to the rest.

I'm actually shocked that I made a card with softer colors that I like! Hahaha!! I hope you like it too! Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful and crafty day! 🩷

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Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Celebrating Honey Bee Stamps' 10th Anniversary Card

Hello, crafty friends! This time tomorrow I will be headed to the airport to go to Oregon for Honey Bee Stamps' 10th Anniversary Card Making Retreat! I'm so excited! As you may guess, this trip is what inspired my card for today!

I pulled out what was one of my very first Honey Bee purchases! I still love the Busy Bees stamps and Honey Cuts, and good news, these are still available!

I think that the Busy Bees stamps and Honey Cuts are timeless, as these pair perfectly with newer products!

The background for my card is an A2 card base. First I used a blender brush to add blue ink to the card for the sky. Then I used the hill die from the Horizon Slimline Borders Honey Cuts to die cut green cardstock. I glued this to the bottom of the card base.

Next I stamped the grass from the new Dog Gone Amazing stamp set with green ink onto the hill. Then I stamped two of the dogs from that set with Intense Black ink and colored them with my Copic markers. I cut them out with the coordinating Honey Cuts.

My next step was to stamp all of the flowers, leaves, and some bees from the Busy Bees stamp set with black ink. I repeated the stamping onto more white cardstock since I knew I would want extra. After I colored them with my Copic markers, I cut them out with the coordinating Busy Bees dies.

I decided on an arrangement for the flowers, then adhered some with foam and glued some to the bottom of the card. I used my scissors to trim anything hanging off the edge of the card. I used glue to tuck the leaves here and there around the flowers.

I die cut the 1 and 0 from the Bee Playful Numbers die set four times from white cardstock and once from black. I used glue to adhere the layers together.

I stamped the sentiment from the Celebrating You with black ink and die cut it with the coordinating die.

Next I adhered the Dog Gone Amazing pups with foam squares. Then I put a butterfly from that set onto a stamp block and stamped it with Intense black ink. Then I colored them with a few blue and yellow Copic markers.

To finish up, I glued the number 10 on the card. I added foam strips to the right side of the sentiment and glue to the left to adhere it.

Then I placed the cute little Busy Bees here and there on the card.

If you would like to see some photos from the retreat, then be sure to follow me on my Instagram!  I hope to have time to share some of the fun!

Thank you so much for stopping by! You are most appreciated!

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Monday, March 24, 2025

You Were Born To Sparkle!

Hi crafty friends!  Today I'm sharing this makeup bag shaped die set by Spellbinders that is absolutely THE cutest set ever!  Not only is the Gorgeous You Makeup Bag set totally adorable, it can also be a gift card holder!  My vision for this was to be more like a clutch purse, and I think it worked!

I die cut the pieces of the Gorgeous You Makeup Bag dies from Bellini, Coral, white, and mat gold cardstock (linked below).  I adhered the pieces with glue.  Then I die cut one more bag, omitting the decorative center, from Bellini cardstock.  I will use this piece for the back of the card, adhering the two together with the die cut hinge that's included.

Then I glued the gift card holder on the inside of the card.  Note:  This die just cuts the slit, but since I didn't think to do that before I glued the Markup Bag pieces together, I just trimmed it into a strip.

The two sentiments are from the Bougie Birthday Sentiments press plate & die set.  This set presses all the sentiments at once, then die cuts them all with one die.  I love this type of set to have all of the extra sentiments for other projects, like this one here!

I die cut Coral and Rainforest cardstock with flower and stem dies from the Sprinkle & Grow die set.  I arranged and tucked them under the sentiment using glue to adhere.

To go along with the sentiment on the outside, some bling was needed!  I found some coordinating gem stickers in my stash and placed them around on the card front.

Nothing like a sparkly makeup bag, right?!!  This collection also has a coordinating Gorgeous You Makeup die set that you can check out by clicking the link below.

I hope you've been inspired by my card featuring the MOST adorable Gorgeous You Makeup Bag!  Thanks so much for stopping by!!

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Saturday, March 22, 2025

Sending Love, Just Because I Care

Today I'm sharing my card I made with the Spellbinders' BetterPress Club Kit for March.  This beautiful press plate is called Quilted Memories and I love the more generic design so I can use it with different styles of cards!

I decided to use the Quilted Memories Press Plate with coordinating cardstock and ink for a subtle tone-on-tone background.  I used a piece of Bellini cardstock and inked up the press plate with a coordinating peachy color ink.  After running it through my BetterPress Letterpress System, I trimmed it to 4" x 5-¼" and glued it to an A2 card base.

I used the Sealed Blooming Stems die set and die cut the pieces from BelliniCoral and Rainforest cardstocks.  Before I glued the layers together, I inked up the flower edges and under layer with a darker peachy ink.

The main sentiment is the Copperplate Sending Love BetterPress letter press plate.  The March BetterPress club kit includes two sub-sentiments and I chose one to go along with the other sentiment.  They both are pressed onto Porcelain cotton card with BetterPress black ink.  I cut the main sentiment with a rectangle die from the A2 Matting Basics A set and the small sentiment with the die that is included in the BetterPress Club Kit.

I added foam tape to the back of both sentiments and adhered the Sending Love first.  Then I arranged the flowers and adhered them with glue.  I finished up by adding the other sentiment as shown.

If you have never checked out Spellbinders' Club Kits, I would encourage you to do so.  There is a club for several different products if you aren't into press plates.  Also you can cancel at any time!  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

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Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Rain Or Shine, I'm Here For You!

Hello, friends!  It's time for the new release by Simon Says Stamp called Rain or Shine!  Just as we can expect, this is a fabulous release filled with all sorts of crafty products in various themes.  There's something for everyone!

My card features the adorable Rain or Shine stamp set.  I created a sweet little scene with a few of the many stamps in the set.

I began by inking an easy background with a green and blue ink onto the A2 card front.

Next I chose five of the stamps from the Rain or Shine set and stamped them with Copic safe black ink.  After I colored the images with my Copic markers, I used my scissors to trim around each image.  (There are coordinating dies available!)

First I glued the bear image to the card.  Then I added foam tape to the back of the other images to adhere them to my card.  I stamped a sentiment from the Rain or Shine set with black pigment ink.

Then I trimmed it into a strip and used a corner rounder to round off the two bottom corners.  I popped it up with foam tape.

Super sweet and easy to make!  There are five other bears in this set along with another main sentiment and three sub sentiments too.

Be sure to check out all of the new crafty goodies in this release by visiting Simon Says Stamp.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Get Well Card With Adorable Kitties!

Hello Honey Bee friends! Today I have a card for all of the cat lovers out there! I'm a bit allergic to them, but still think they are so cute! I've used the so sweet and adorable Meow & Furever stamps and coordinating dies for my card today.

First I stamped the images I wanted to use from the Meow & Furever stamp set with Copic safe black ink. After I colored them with my Copic markers, I cut them out with the coordinating dies. (If you are interested in what marker colors I used, I have them listed at the end.)

I stamped the sentiment from the Meow & Furever stamp set with black pigment ink and cut it out with the coordinating die. The separate cat's die actually cuts slits below its paws so I used glue to adhere it to the sentiment.

I added foam tape dots and strips to the back of the images and the sentiment and set them aside while I made the card base and background.

The card base layer and the heart are both included with the Floral Heart 3D embossing folder. I love that this includes the heart die! I embossed a 5" x 7" piece of white cardstock with the Floral Heart embossing folder. I glued this to a 5" x 7" card base.

I die cut more white card stock with the heart die and used blender brushes to ink it with some green and blue inks. Then I placed the little grass stamp (Meow & Furever stamp set) onto a stamp block. I randomly stamped it over the inked grass using the same green ink as before.

Next I removed the backing from the foam tape on the images and adhered them to my card front.

The Meow & Furever stamp set has another focal image along with several more cats and sentiments too!  I thank you so much for stopping by!!

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