Complicated Is Not Necessarily Better

Today I thought I would return to a simple card design.  Sometimes it is just nice to do something that looks pretty when finished but is not so hard to complete.  I don't know about you but I don't always have a lot of time to sit down to work on a card so I turn to some of the simple ones so that I can complete my task easily.  I hope you can find some inspiration from this one.

 

Isn't it pretty?!!!!  Now I know I poppies are red but I decided to make them blue.  It's a nice and easy card to make that requires few supplies.  So let me share with you what I used to make this one.

I started with a base card of Gumball Green cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" Midnight Muse and attached it to the base using runner adhesive.  For the final top layer, I took a piece of Whisper White and cut it at 4" x 5 1/4".  Using the Pleasant Poppies stamp, I stamped the image onto the white using Midnight Muse ink.  I then pulled out my favorite colored pencils and colored in the stems and flowers.  Once they were colored, I attached the white piece to the base card with the runner adhesive.

 

I wanted to add a little something more to my card and chose to add butterflies.  I used the Beautiful Wings embosslit and my big shot.  I cut butterflies out using all of the 2012-2014 in colors:  Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, and Summer Starfruit.  I used only the ones with the polka dots on them.  They are attached to the card using glue dots.  I then add rhinestones to form their bodies and added one to each wing also.  To the flowers whose centers showed, I added a yellow rhinestone.

I did not put a greeting on this one yet.  I will when I decide who is receiving it and for what occasion.  I do hope the ease of making this card came through to you.  I know there are lots of samples that are intricate and take lots of time.  Trust me I do some of those too.  They are beautiful but the more simple ones are beautiful too.  

I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday.  I plan on spending some much needed time with my husband.  He has been working a lot lately and I have been missing him.  I will be back with a new share for you though so be sure to stop by to see me tomorrow.  Thanks for visiting today!!!!

Another Wedding Invitation

Hi everyone.  Well we have made it through a very sad week and I am hoping we are coming out of the darkness finally.  My heart is still broken for all the families and I send lots of prayers out to all of them. 

I thought I would start this week by sharing with you an invitation to a wedding.  I think I might have mentioned I have been working on a sample wedding invitation for one of my daughter's friends.  I think I will just jump in and start.

 

I went with the square card for this one.  I started with a piece of Night of Navy card stock cut at 5 1/4" x 10 1/2", scored at 5 1/4".  I added a layer of Old Olive to this cut to be 5" x 5".   The final layer on the front is a 4 3/4" square of Whisper White.  I stamped this image from the retired stamp set called Wedding Sweet onto the white using VersaMark ink and Night of Navy ink.  First ink the stamp with the VersaMark and then the navy.  Once the image is stamped, I added clear embossing powder to it and heat embossed it.  I took a 4 3/4" strip of navy and used my eyelet lace punch to punch both sides of it.  I attached it and all the layers together using runner adhesive.  I added a few pearls to the eyelet lace for added effect.  For the final touch, I typed the saying on my computer and printed it out onto white card stock.  I punched this out using the full heart punch, sponged the edges with olive ink and layered it onto a navy scallop heart made using my big shot and an embosslit.   It was adhered with runner adhesive to the scallop heart.  The finished heart was attached to the card using dimensionals.

 

This would be the left hand side of the inside of the card.  I created a pocket on this side with a strip of navy card stock.  I used sticky strip to attach this so it was really secure.  I put a layer of olive and then white card stock onto this to keep the theme.  I added the stamp from Wedding Sweet (retired) to this using olive ink.   The pocket will hold the RSVP card and an envelope for it to be returned,  It will also contain the reception information and a map.  The words on the front let recipients know when to return the RSVP card by to the couple.  I always have my brides include the return envelope and encourage them to address them and add the stamp.  You have a better chance of people actually returning these if you make it easy for them.

 

The right hand side contains the wedding info itself.  Again I added a layer of olive to the base using runner adhesive.  I then took a piece of white and stamped the image of the tree from the set Thoughts and Prayers using olive ink.  The heart is from the retired set called Tiny Tags.  They are stamped using navy and olive ink.  The information for the wedding is printed out onto vellum.  The vellum is cut to match this white layer.  I attached it to the white using brads.  It softened the look of the stamps underneath.  The white is attached to the olive using the same runner adhesive.  

Well that's it for today.  My plan is to be here every day this week.  Thanks for all your understanding and thanks for stopping by today to visit.  I will see you all tomorrow.

Lucky Clovers

Hi everyone.  We have made it to another Monday.  I do hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  I thought I would catch you up on mine just a little.  As you know I did not blog last week on Thursday because I was spending the day with my aunt.  Sadly, she woke up that morning with a horrible sore throat and had to cancel.  I hope we get to reschedule soon because I was so looking forward to it.  Instead, I got to spend the day grocery shopping and running errands.  Luckily my hubby was off so we went to lunch together too. 

Friday was so much fun.  I spent part of the day with my little nephew Jackson.  He is 5 months old and too cute for words.  I loved playing with him and seeing him smile.  He has a wonderful laugh to listen to and I was happy my silly little dog was able to make him laugh.  Of course our doggy needed a long nap once he was gone.  Working that hard made her soooooo tired!!!  I so enjoyed every minute with him.  It reminded me of just how fast the time goes and it is nice to enjoy a baby again. 

Now let's get on with the card since I am sure I have bored you to tears by now.  I decided to do a couple of St. Patrick's Day cards to share with you.  Both my husband and I have Irish ancestry in our family.  While we do not go all out for the day, we do enjoy the spirit of it.  This first card is reminiscent of one I made last year but I like the style so much that I had to make one for this year too.  Ready?  Let's go!

 

I started with a base card of Gumball Green measuring 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" Whisper White.  It is attached to the base with runner adhesive.  The final layer on top is a 4" x 5 1/4" Daffodil Delight.  I ran this piece through my big shot using an impression folder who's name escapes me right now but is not a Stampin' Up! folder.  Once embossed, I attached it with the same runner adhesive.  Then it was time for the shamrock.

 

I used Whisper White and Gumball Green card stock to make my 4 leaf clover.  I wanted it to be a lucky clover so it had to have 4 leaves.  I started by cutting out 4 white scallop hearts using my scallop heart embosslit and big shot.  Then I punched out 4 Gumball hearts with the full heart punch.  I carefully placed these inside the scallop heart embosslit being sure it did not reach the edges.  I attached these to the white hearts using runner adhesive.  The stem of the shamrock is just a scrap of Gumball Green that I cut free hand.  I glued the stem to the card with liquid glue.  I then placed and attached the petals to the card using dimensionals.  The center of the shamrock is made with circle punches.  I punched a white 1 1/4" circle and added dazzling diamond glitter to the edge of it using my 2 way glue pen.  Next I added a 1" circle of green with runner adhesive to that.  The final layer is a 3/4" circle in white.  I stamped this little shamrock I had and heat embossed it using Wild Wasabi embossing powder.  It is attached to the green with runner adhesive.  The finished center piece was attached to the card using a dimensional.  

 

My greeting comes from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  I stamped it onto white using Gumball Green ink and punched it out with the modern label punch.  I brushed the edges with Daffodil Delight and layered it onto a Gumball Green modern label.  The finished piece was attached to the card using dimensionals.

The final touch to this card is the rhinestones.  I added these after I had the shamrock and greeting secured down.  I just felt the background need a little pizzazz!!  

Well that is all I have for you today.  I hope you come by tomorrow and see what I have for you.  Thanks for dropping by today!!!

Finally Punching Again!!

Hi everybody and happy Wednesday.  I cannot believe we are almost at the end of January.  Where has this month gone?  It seems to just be flying by.  I have had so much going on that my punch art time was lacking.  I have really missed it.  I did not realize just how much until I sat down to make today's card.  It was so nice to be surrounded by punches once again.  I know that may sound weird to some but for me it is so true.  So let's get started so I can show you what I did.

 

I chose to use one of my favorite punches today - the owl punch.  But before we get to them, let me tell you about the base card.  I started with a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" base card of Rich Razzleberry card stock.  It is scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of Bashful Blue card stock cut at 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  Prior to attaching it to the base card, I ran it through my big shot using the cloudy day impression folder.  I added some Whisper White craft ink to the inside of the clouds using a sponge dauber and brushed the edges of it with Marina Mist ink.  It is adhered to the base using runner adhesive.  I then took a scrap of Garden Green card stock and tore off strips to make the grass.  They are adhered using the runner adhesive and then Dazzling Diamond glitter was added to the edges of the grass using my 2 way glue pen.  For the final touch, I made the tree.  The trunk and branches are made using Chocolate Chip card stock.  I cut the trunk to be 2 inches wide and the branches are just scraps.  I ran these pieces through my big shot using the woodgrain impression folder.  I adhered it to the card using the runner adhesive after the owl was placed in the hole and backed using a piece of Basic Black card stock.

 

The leaves of the tree were made using the branch from the 2 step bird punch.  I punched several out of Garden green card stock and glued them down using the 2 way glue pen.  I overlapped them to create the dense look and trimmed off the excess that hung over the edge.  The greeting was stamped on using on of my alphabet stamp set and Pacific Point ink.  I stamped directly onto the card.

 

My girl owl is all dressed up for her Valentine date.  I used the chocolate card stock for the body.  All pieces except the center dot of her bow are from the owl builder punch.  Her dress and bow are Melon Mambo .  For her eyelids, I used Pink Pirouette card stock.  It is the largest circle of the owl punch cut in half.  Here eyes are Basic Black and Whisper White while her mouth is Tangerine Tango.  The dot in the center of the bow is a 1/4" circle punch.  All pieces were adhered using the 2 way glue pen.  I placed her in the hole which was made using the 1 3/8" circle punch and glued a piece of black behind her.   White gel pen adds highlights to her eyes, dress and bow.

 

My little man owl was made using the owl punch also.  His body, eyes, beak and feet were made using the same colors as the girl (chocolate, black, white, and tangerine).  I made him a bow tie to where with the center being a 1/4" circle.  The vest is made with Pacific Point card stock and has black marker lines added to it for design.  I made the top hat for him free hand. All pieces are attached using the 2 way glue pen and the finished owl is attached to the card using dimensionals.

The hearts that decorate the tree are made using the big shot and an embosslit folder called Fashionable Hearts.  I cut them out of Silver Glimmer card stock and attached them to the tree using liquid glue.  I did add some Perfect Plum and Rose Red ink to the silver hearts but it really does not show up in the photo.

Well I am off to see what else I can punch today before the house goes crazy again.  Please come by tomorrow and see if I am successful.  Thanks for dropping by today!