Topiary Thank you

Couldn't wait to play some more with the topiary set from Paper Trey Ink. I see them every where in green, but was inspired to go a little more out there colour wise - influenced by spring time Sakura blossoms, and an online game I play full of beautiful trees and hedges in pink. I'm not much of a girl for pink so this was a radical departure for me.
I used the Topiary tree stamp set and the matching dies to create the trees first. The dies were cut from white Recollections card stock. Then they were stamped with pink and lilac pigment Stampabilities ink pads. The leaves were stamped with Grape  (darker purple) and accented with a pink Prismacolour pencil. The trunks and pots were done in Sable brown and again picked out in Prismacolours. Finally blobs of hydrangea liquid pearls by Ranger and accent dots using a purple gelly roll were applied. Leaves on the upper layer were pushed forward. The tree was assembled using foam dots to give depth.
I masked off a negative rectangle and stamped the thank you repeatedly to fill it. The edges of the card were stamped with dots from Stampin Up's Itty Bitty background. The pink patterned paper was from a mixed 12"x12" pack from JoAnns. I made the strip by stippling pigment inks onto white cardstock and spritzing with water. After it dried I cut it and stamped thank you again using a darker pad. One I wasn't so happy with so I went over it with a gelly roll.

Bridal Shower

Wedding Shower Card

Bridal showers are not a "thing" in England, so I was rather stumped for what to make exactly. However some new goodies from Papertrey Ink soon made up my mind.  I used the lovely Topiary Tree set of stamps and dies. They were so easy to use! I don't have a magnetic platform for my Sizzix, so was worried how well I could line up dies and stamps. I experimented by punching the dies first from plain white card stock. Then I lined up the stamps and using Stampabilities pigment ink in a light green stamped on top. A second layer was accented with a darker green, and it was all simple to line up by eye! The trunk and pot were stamped with brown, and the whole thing layered with sticky foam pads.  Finally it was accented with Recollections clear glitter glue (discontinued) and some white ribbon.
The wedding circle was done with Silhouette Sketch Pens in the Silhouette studio, using the text to path function, and cut the same way. The outside was then swiped through the dark green pad. The background is a gold/white pearlescent cardstock and a stripe of Tan and White Damask cardstock, both from Recollections by Michaels. The gold pearlescent was sponged light green with make up sponges then over stamped with gold pigment ink. I used the ferns from Paper Treys Meadow Greens set and blots from Stampin Up's French Foliage set (discontinued). All backed up on a cream card.

Anniversary

70th Anniversary Card

It's my Grandparents 70th Wedding Anniversary coming up...yes that's right, 70 amazing years together. They are an inspirational couple in their 90's and now looking forward to their telegram from the Queen in congratulations :)
This is the card I came up with, thanks to some online inspiration.
The background is cream and kraft cardstock. Use this die from Simon Says Stamp for the stitched hearts, along with stitched nesting hearts from the Silhouette store. For the background I used Tim Holtz's Cracks and Specks set, Heidi Swapp's Music set, I also used the script and splatters from Stampin Up's French Foliage set (discontinued). A brown pigment pad and purple chalk Versapad gave the look I wanted. The text was done using Silhouette's sketch pens.

Cards for Men

Mother's Day in the US may be fast approaching, but that doesn't mean there aren't men to be thought of. Sometimes it's hard to think of cards that aren't so typical..beer, football (soccer)...but very few men don't use a computer!
The front was a Silhouette Cameo file I created myself of a computer mouse, coloured with Prismacolour. I also used Tim Holtz Cracks and Specks set for the background. The tape was a new discovery - Little B Foil tape. I love the way they come in their own dispenser with cutter and a hole to hang them somewhere, excellent design. I will certainly be using more of it!
The inside was a Silhouette Design store file by the lovely Lori Whitlock. Mini brads from JoAnns form the drawer handles. Coloured with gelly rolls and Prismacolours as always.

Mothers Day

My mother in law really loves telephone boxes, so I combined two sets of files from the Silhouette store. I was really pleased to find the English way of spelling "Mum". Cardstock is Michaels Recollections, and the stamps are Stampin Up's Itty Bitty Little Background and another set I have no name for. It makes a great unisex card and you could replace the window with any kind of image, greeting or make it a shaker card.

Birthdays in blue and pink

Birthday Blue

Birthday Pink

Close Up

More birthdays keep creeping up on me...however I was prepared! I made the file again for the base card, using my Silhouette Cameo to cut it. On one the bottom is circles, the other has an elegant leaf pattern. I tried to have very different feels, one with brights, which I decided to accent with candles, the other an ultra feminine pink, butterflies and flowers.

The candles were accented with Prismacolours. On the pink card I used the Inkadinkado dot flourishes set for the background and used my white and purple gelly roll pens on the flowers and butterfly. The flowers were finished with a purple self adhesive pearl. Plain cardstock is Recollections from Michaels.

Easter

Easter time

I was rather proud of these. They were my second, from scratch Silhouette Cameo files. I designed them, spent ages in Photoshop getting them how I wanted, then adjusted multiple times after test cuts, certainly a labour of love! The backgrounds use Toyboxes' Stipple Brushes with pigment ink pads again. The bunny ears are Tria markers (but any alcohol based would do). Decorated with white pearl stick ons from Michaels, Sakura gelly roll pens and stick on purple gems.

Springtime Flowers

Springtime

I confess, I like my flowers! Well it IS spring time, so why not! This time a Stampin Up (Sizzix) die called Fun Flowers(sadly discontinued). Prismacolours again, plus white pearl stickers from Michaels (Stampin Up also have version) and clear square crystal stickers from Hobby Lobby

Baby Cards

Baby Bundle

Some very dear friends of mine were blessed with a little girl, so I made this card for them. I didn't want to go with any cliches, so used blue and pink pastel colouring.

The circles were cut using my Sizzix Originals Circles die #2, crumpled and scrunched, then inked along the edges and re flattened out. They were cut from scrap brown kraft paper. The stamp set is Close to My Heart and it was coloured with my Prismacolour pencils. I love the look they give on kraft paper. Details were done a second time and attached with pop dots. Finally the little pearl accents were added with Ranger's Liquid Pearls. 

Floral Rhapsody

Floral Rhapsody

Another birthday, this time for my Grandmother. Something with some colour and impact for a wonderful lady in her 90's.
The paper is K & Company, Susan Winget Designer Paper. I really love her papers. Beautiful texture, double sided and cut like a dream.
The flower is cut with a Sizzix Bigz die, Memphis. It occasionally comes up on special offer, so well worth looking out for. It creates a flower a massive 4" across. And as with all the Bigz dies, you can use it with fabric too!
The edges were softened with stipple brushes (Toybox Art make my favourites, I have had them for years and use them all the time) and pigment ink pads, and then coloured with those Prismacolours again. The centre has stick on pearls from Michaels and my Sakura Gelly Roll pen in white. There were also a couple of square clear crystal stick on's.

Butterfly Dreams

Butterfly dreams.

Birthdays always seem to roll around so quick it scares me sometimes. I'm constantly playing catch up in terms of card making for sure! This was for one of my best friends back in Merry Ole England. I borrowed the stamp set, but I think it might have been Close to my Heart stamps. 

Coloured with Prismacolour pencils (my absolute favourites, their brand has more wax in than others, leaving a heavy application that is easy to blend!) and a white Sakura gelly roll (another must for accents. The only white pen I have found that doesn't clog up!). A couple of lilac stick on gems from Hobby Lobby complete the glitz :)