Summer Popsicle Card

Happy Friday Crafters! It's been a long week and I'm really looking forward to some R&R this weekend. For this card, I was inspired by the Paper Players challenge to do "Something Sweet." These adorable little popsicle stamps have been sitting in my "to use" pile for a few weeks and this was the perfect opportunity to use them. 

I began my card by grabbing some of my favorite bright ink pads. I stamped each of the popsicle designs in a different color. I then used a Copic marker in a slightly darker shade to give each pop a little bit of shadow. Each pop was then die cut using the corresponding die. For the background piece, I ink blended some Salty Ocean distress ink to give them a nice light blue background. I then layered the pops to my liking and adhered the back ones flat while popping up the two front ones some dimensionals. I had this super cute summer paper pad and choose a piece that incorporated all of the popsicle colors. Plus I love that it's a bunch of summer-time words! I decided it needed a little mat so I chose a bright yellow cardstock to put behind it. After adhering all of the papers to the card base, I grabbed some sparkling clear sequins and some Stickles because I always need a little bling! That really finished my design. I love how this card really captured summer!

I'm entering it into the Paper Players Something Sweet challenge. There are lots of yummy cards on their blog so be sure to go check them out below!

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back soon!

Supplies Used:

Mermaid Birthday Card

Happy Sunday! Today I wanted to share a whimsical birthday card I made for someone who loves Disney's The Little Mermaid. It's my favorite Disney movie as well so it was fun to pay homage to such an iconic character.

When I purchased this cute Newton's Nook stamp set, I just knew I had to make one of the mermaids look like Ariel. I started by stamping the image on some X-Press cardstock using My Favorite Things black licorice hybrid ink. I then ran the image through my ScanNCut2 machine. No more fussy cutting for me! I'm still amazed at how it cuts so close and perfectly.

After coloring the mermaid with Copic markers, I went to work on the card base. I had an idea to have her swimming in a shaker window. To accomplish this, I created a shaker pocket with my Fuse tool and filled it with blue, iridescent, clear and some ocean themed sequins. I used a large stitched circle die to cut a hole in the front of the card base and also in another piece of blue cardstock to cover the inside of the card so the back of my shaker pocket wouldn't show.

To complete the front of the card, I daubed on some blue ink around the edges of the circle to give it a little dimension. I then stamped some bubbles in Versamark ink and heat embossed them in clear. It gave them a little shine and really pops in person. Here's a close-up:

Next it was time to create the inside scene. I blended a couple of blue distress inks to create an ocean like background. I then grabbed a wave stencil and placed it over the card panel. I used a baby wipe to remove some of the ink from the places where I wanted to create waves. I love using this technique because you get a soft look that's perfect for ocean scenes. I built up a little sea floor using several different green inks and the seaweed stamp in the set. I adhered my mermaid making sure she was visible in the front panel. My last few touches were adding a sentiment, some bubbles and a little Wink of Stella for some shimmer.

I really liked the way the card turned out and I think the recipient will too! It's just plain fun! Since it's a birthday card, I thought I'd enter it into the Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes challenge. Be sure to check out the other great entries below!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Newton's Nook Designs MERMAID CROSSING Clear Stamp Set 20150802 Copic BLENDING CARD X-Press It Paper Pack of 10 My Favorite Things BLACK LICORICE Hybrid Ink Pad MFT Copic SKETCH 72 PC SET A Markers AAAS72A Brother ScanNCut2 Home and Hobby Cutting Machine with Rhinestone Trial Kit Stampin' Up Heat Tool Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Watermark VM-001 Ranger Embossing Powder SUPER FINE CLEAR Detail EPJ37385 Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# AUDREY BLUE AB19 Lil' Inker Designs STITCHED MATS: CIRCLE DIE Set LILD125 We R Memory Keepers EUROPEAN VOLTAGE PHOTO SLEEVE FUSE Tool 662533 Avery Elle STAMP STORAGE POCKETS SS25 25 Quantity Pretty Pink Posh SPARKLING CLEAR MIX Cupped Sequins Darice 5MM CRYSTAL IRIDESCENT Sequins 10043-8 Martha Stewart IRIDESCENT HEARTS AND STARS GLITTER SET 40-34006 6mm Ocean Spray Sequins Little Mermaid Confetti 1.2oz Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad SALTY OCEAN Ranger TDP40132 Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad PEACOCK FEATHERS Ranger TDP40064 Simon Says Stamp Stencil WAVES ssst121357 This is the Life Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad LUCKY ink056 Splash of Color Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad JELLYBEAN ink044 The Color of Fun *Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad GREEN LEAF ink011 *ZIG Wink of Stella GLITTER CLEAR Brush Tip Marker 025320

InLinkz.com

Pretty Pumpkins

Happy Wednesday! For today's post I was inspired by the Pretty Pumpkin Challenge going on at Curtain Call. I had recently ordered a fun pumpkin set from Newton's Nook and it was sitting in my "stamps to use" basket just begging to used. Yes I have a "stamps to use" basket on my desk where I put new stamps sets that I need to use before order more, lol! It's such an addiction! Anywho, here is my card and the photo inspiration from Curtain Call.

I started out by picking four different pumpkin designs and stamped then in different colors I then stamped the stems in varying brown tones. Next I die cut all of the pieces with the coordinating dies and assembled then using a tiny bit of multi medium matte. I struggled a bit with a design then I remember purchasing some ribbon with a burlap feel from Jo-Ann's. I laid it out on the card and aligned the pumpkins. This seemed to work for me.

I then played around with sequins on the stark white background but it just seemed too busy. So my next idea was ink splatter. I used coordinating inks and went to town. I really like the subtle effect it gave the piece and also how it toned down all that bright white. I added a little bit of glossy accents to the word "thanks" on the gray pumpkin so it stood out a bit more. Here's a close up of the details.

Overall, simple little design and I liked the clean look of the card. I think it matched pretty well with the challenge photo. Please go over to Curtain Call and check out some of the amazing entries. I really enjoyed this challenge and will definitely be joining again in the future. Have a great day! Until next time!

http://www.simonsaysstamp.com/product.aspx?id=334323 *Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad LIPSTICK RED ink010 Lawn Fawn BLACK LICORICE Premium Dye Ink Pad Fawndamentals LF868 Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad FOG Gray Ink025 Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad CATKIN ink048 The Color of Fun http://www.simonsaysstamp.com/product.aspx?id=334321 Ranger .5 Oz. MINI MULTI MEDIUM MATTE Glue Adhesive Paint INK41511 Ranger Inkssentials MINI GLOSSY ACCENTS Glue Adhesive .5oz GAC27898 Simon Says Stamp WHITE CARDSTOCK 120 LB Base Weight 12 Pack Stampin' Dimensionals WHITE FUN FOAM 12 Pack 118711 9 x 12

InLinkz.com

*The yellow ink I used was Stampin' Up Summer Starfruit which is now retired. Simon Says Stamp Catkin ink would be a very close substitute!