Friday, December 24, 2021

Christmas Morning

   I have a little Christmas morning scene to share with you today.  


I masked off the building in this scene and then sponged a wintery sky using Distress Oxide inks in Shaded Lilac, Tumbled Glass and Spun Sugar.  I sprayed the background with water to get texture.  I then added some depth to the black stamped lines by adding some black marker on some of the trees.  This makes some trees appear more toward the foreground and some more in the background.  

I colored the buildings with markers and then added plenty of glitter glue to depict the snow.  I also added some white gel pen snowflakes.



This stamp is part of the I Brake for Stamps line. It is called Small Christmas Sheet and includes other super sweet images in the set.  

You can also find more inspiration at the links below:

The Blank Page Muse- https://blankpagemuse.com/

FB Fan Page- https://www.facebook.com/groups/blankpagemuse/

Instagram Shop- https://www.instagram.com/blankpagemuse/

Instagram Blog- https://www.instagram.com/blankpagemuseblog/

Twitter- https://twitter.com/BlankPageMuse

Pintrest- https://www.pinterest.com/blankpagemuse/boards/

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Vintage Look Distress Christmas Card

 I was in the mood to use some distress inks so I decided on making a vintage-look distressed Christmas card.  I really love the soft, muted tones.  The backgrounds were sponged and then I spritzed water on the backgrounds to remove ink. And I dried the panels and repeated the process until I loved the look.  The colors I used were Bundled Sage, Speckled Egg, Tea Dye and Antique Linen.  




I added shadows to the dove image with a grey marker, and then I applied some glitter glue over top to get a pretty holiday look.  

I finished the card off simply with some silver twine and gems.  

I hope this card reminds you of the spirit of Christmas past and present. 



 I used stamps from the Blank Page Muse shop:

Distressed Music Background

Classic Christmas by Pam Bray Designs

Use my affiliate code that will give you 15% off your BPM order, OR at the sister store I Brake for Stamps.  

BPMHeidi


You can also find more inspiration at the links below:

The Blank Page Muse- https://blankpagemuse.com/

FB Fan Page- https://www.facebook.com/groups/blankpagemuse/

Instagram Shop- https://www.instagram.com/blankpagemuse/

Instagram Blog- https://www.instagram.com/blankpagemuseblog/

Twitter- https://twitter.com/BlankPageMuse

Pintrest- https://www.pinterest.com/blankpagemuse/boards/


Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Autumn Leaves Thank You Card

 Hello everyone!  I am back with a design team post!  I had a productive time making cards the other day and this one was my absolute favorite of the bunch!


I frequently just make backgrounds so that I just about always have things to start from.  For this card, I decided to stamp the leaf on two watercolored backgrounds.  One was a plain green, and the other was brusho sepia.  After I fussy cut these, I sponged some Tea Dye Distress ink around the edges to add depth. I also used tool to curl up the edges of the leaf.  


Then I stamped this lovely flourished Thank You and die cut it.  I masked off the frame of the die cut and then stamped the little thicket stamp over top in a very light beige ink, and I also sponged over the edges with Speckled Egg Distress ink.  I really liked how that turned out.  

The stamps I used here are from Blank Page Muse.  I have a code that will give you 15% off your BPM order, OR at the sister store I Brake for Stamps.  

BPMHeidi

Fancy Thank You Stamp

Fall Rubber Stamp set by Pam Bray Designs (stamps also available individually)



You can also find more inspiration at the links below:

The Blank Page Muse- https://blankpagemuse.com/

FB Fan Page- https://www.facebook.com/groups/blankpagemuse/

Instagram Shop- https://www.instagram.com/blankpagemuse/

Instagram Blog- https://www.instagram.com/blankpagemuseblog/

Twitter- https://twitter.com/BlankPageMuse

Pintrest- https://www.pinterest.com/blankpagemuse/boards/

Friday, November 12, 2021

Be One With Nature

 Hello!  I have another design team post for sister stores Blank Page Muse and I Brake for Stamps.

Today I would like to share a nature themed card. 

This card using stamps and a stencil from the Woodlands Stamp and Stencil bundle designed by Donna Gray.  You can use my affiliate code BPMHeidi to save 15% at both stores.


I first stenciled over top of some patterned paper using brown Distress inks.  This piece of 12x12 patterned paper is super duper duper old.  I recently cut it up into card size pieces in an effort to use it up.  

Then I stamped my tree right over top. I used all Versafine inks for the stamping here.  I stamped, color and fussy cut out the owl and placed him near the tree. I really like the sentiments in this set. I think a walk in the woods is really great therapy.

I hope you have a wonderful day, less stress, craft more…

Monday, November 1, 2021

Floral Birthday Card - Coloring on Vellum

 Hello everyone!  

I’m back with another design team post for the I Brake for Stamps/Blank Page Muse sister stores!  Don’t forget you can use my affiliate code to get 15% off, and it works at BOTH stores!  

BPMHeidi

My card today uses all stamps from IBFS.  I stamped the bouquet on white vellum and then used black embossing powder.  I colored on the back with alcohol markers.  Some well placed little pieces of foam tape were completely invisible to the eye.

The inside of the card was finished with another stamp from the set in a darker pink ink.  I stamped over top with a sentiment.  I gave this card to a good friend for her birthday recently and she really liked it.  And I am happy to report we had both sunshine AND laughter on her special day!

The stamps I used today are Florals Sheet and Inspirational Plate #2.  


The background die is from Impression Obsession.  This was placed over a piece of watercolor cardstock with distress inks and gold perfect pearls. 

Thank you for visiting today!

Monday, October 25, 2021

Cat Lover’s Blog Hop: Have a Purrfect Day!

 Hello everyone!

First things first, I want to say I used nail polish on this card, and I loved it and will be doing this again!

Today is the start of the Cat Lover’s Blog Hop!  I am definitely a cat lover.  I have two right now, Misty and Simba.  If they are awake, they are misbehaving, and they are afraid of almost everything, but not the vacuum.  But I still love them, they are very sweet!


ANYHOW!  This is a hop about cardmaking too, so I do have a card. 

Note:  Blank Page Muse is a sponsor for this hop!  I am on the DT for BPM, and just to let you know, I have a coupon code for you to save 15% off your order at either the Blank Page Muse OR I Brake for Stamps stores! (This is an affiliate code.)  Both stores have some fun cat stamps, and many other stamps too!

BPMHeidi

For my card I am using Fleur the Cat and then the sentiment from Edgar Cat.  


I stamped Fleur on a watercolored background and fussy cut him out.  I then used NAIL POLISH, using a dotting tool to apply, to color in the flower in his back.  I really like the look of this and will totally be using nail polish on my cards again!

The rest of my card is using a brand new SNEAK PEEK of a 6x6 double-sided paper pack that BPM will be releasing later this week in their online store.  It is called Cyan Consortium by Pam Bray Designs. I adore the colors in this pack. (I put a few of them in the background of the next photo.) The scalloped die cut is also a piece of watercolor paper that I painted a coordinating green.

Thank you for visiting and I hope to see you around the hop!  If you aren’t already subscribed, I would love it if you did so! Please leave a comment if you have time!




Thursday, October 21, 2021

Butterflies and Dragonflies!

 Hello everyone!  A quick share tonight of two cards.  

I made the backgrounds for a challenge in my stamping group.  We were to used alcohol inks and then dot lines and blending solution down them to get a different blended look.  I used yellow, orange and pink inks.  I also used Yupo paper, which I do really like for alcohol inks.  I tried to transfer some foil to the ink, but it didn’t work out very well for me.  You might be able to see a bit of it.

I always have trouble covering up these kind of backgrounds, so I heat embossed my stamps from Close to My Heart over top of vellum and then cut them out to go over top.  I will add sentiments as I send them out.  

Thanks for visiting!

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Happy Happy Birthday!

 Hello again!  Today, I have this bright birthday card!  I already sent this one out.  October has a lot of birthdays in my family!


The background was an idea from my stamping group.  You stencil on glossy cardstock and then stamp a background over top. I can’t tell you how fun it is to stencil on glossy.  It makes such an impact!

I finished it off simply, and those stars?  I think they are from one of those packs of adhesive foam shapes for kid crafts.  They work really well on cards though. I only have a few left.  

Supplies: Hero Arts Number Pattern Background stamp, Hero Arts You’re So Kind set, Balzar Designs Mini Chevron Stencil

Thank you so much for visiting today!

Saturday, October 2, 2021

Teen Music Themed Card

 Hello everyone. Recently, the I Brake for Stamps store was purchased by the owners of Blank Page Muse!  This is such great news because it means that all the wonderful IBFS images are still available! Phew!  It would have been such a shame to lose access to these 4000 stamp designs.

Kim, from Blank Page Muse, asked me to become part of their design team.  I was really happy to say YES!  She seems super nice and there is a big and diverse group of ladies on the team with me.  

So this is my first design team post for the sister stores IBFS/BPM!  Woo!  The stores are keeping their own websites, so you can shop the same way you always did.

And to sweeten the deal, Kim has given me a coupon code that anyone can use to get 15% off, it works at both stores! Know that it is an affiliate code.

BPMHeidi

Okay, now my card.  This card is one I am proud of, if only because it is often hard to make cards for teen boys!

PLUS, I really think this card design will work for all skill levels of card-makers.  You can make a slightly fancy background like mine, a much fancier one, or just use patterned paper.  All the stamping on the outside of the card is basic stamping in black ink.  And I fussy cut and didn’t use any dies, so this really doesn’t use that many supplies. 


For the outside I used Jennifer McGuire’s technique where you mask off an area, use distress inks to blend, then brush some perfect pearls over top. Finally, you dry emboss the whole panel.  It looks pretty in any combination!  I added some glitter glue to accent the tiny stars in the sentiment stamp.

I did decorate the inside of the card with the drum stamp in a light blue ink. Although these stamps are intentionally distressed, I did want to add even more texture by swiping my inkpad across the stamp.  That texture shows up better in person than it does in the photo.  



The stamps I used on this card are all from the I Brake for Stamps store:

Music Sheet, Sentiment Circle Quad Thinking, Happy, Get Well, Thanks, Inspirational Phrases

Looking for more Inspiration? Click the links below!
The Blank Page Muse Shop https://blankpagemuse.com/

Saturday, September 18, 2021

Paper Scrap Background

 The other day, I was determined to use up this certain patterned paper pack. There were no whole sheets left, most were just 2 inch strips.  I thought of a card I received from my stamping friend April. She blogged about it in March 2019.  If you go to her post Here, you will see I commented there that I was going to try it.  Well, two and a half years later, I have!


The pansy stamp is sadly retired from I Brake for Stamps (but great news, their store has reopened, more on that soon) called Three Pansies. The sentiment is  from Close to my Heart Birthday Parade, paper is Recollections Backyard Table, Distress ink for edging was Picked Raspberry. 

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Bee-utiful

 Hi! I would like to share a cute bee card with you today. I have a new stamp set called Cute as a Bug by Close to my Heart, and I was thinking it would look cute as a wreath builder.  I hadn’t used the wreath builder stencil In AGES!


I stamped in yellow and black inks, the colored in the black bee, and added glitter Nuvo drops to the wings. I was able to find a scrap of honeycomb patterned paper for my sentiment. I was happy how this turned out. 

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Sunday, August 1, 2021

Happy August and catch up

 Hello everyone. I need to catch up on blogging the 33 Christmas cards I made in the month of July.



These were made with a one sheet wonder I found on this blog: https://pin.it/ntfT2tz .  I had all my Christmas stamps out, so I just then hunted around for ones that looked nice with the layout. I was very happy with how these turned out.  


 Thank you for visiting!


Friday, July 16, 2021

Christmas in July

 Hi everyone. I am trying to catch up on my 2021 Christmas card stash while feeling the Christmas in July vibes this month. 

Here are the first 4 from the Close to My Heart Holly Jolly kit. 



This is a fun kit to work with. I hope you are doing well.  

Monday, June 28, 2021

Happy Trails Camp Cards

 Hello.  Well, it is a swelteringly hot summer day, so that must mean it is camping time.  I made this card to send to my son at summer camp.  

The Hero Arts background was inked up randomly with navy and black ink.  I added some copper Nuvo glitter drops to the stars and colored in one of the moons.  The images are from Purple Onion and they were colored with alcohol markers.  The sentiment is from an older Close to My Heart set. I did write the name of his camp to the sign, before sending, to personalize the card.

Hope your are staying cool today.

Monday, June 7, 2021

Tie Dye Birthday Bear

 Hello everyone. I hope you are doing well. It is going to be a swelteringly hot day here today.  I decided not to take a walk this morning and instead make a card.  

I used a previously made tie dye background (made with a coffee filter, scrunched up and then applied distress inks).  This card is for a tween boy, so I know the bear image could be hit or miss, but I am hoping the cool tie dye background will make up for that.  Plus, I think the image is really cute.  

On the inside, I stamped “Sending you a Bear Hug” from Close to My Heart Bear Hugs set.  The outside images are from CTMH Birthday Parade. 

I was happy to have this card made on time.  

Have a wonderful day.

Thursday, May 27, 2021

A study of Pinks

 Hello everyone.  Yesterday I decided to use another new item I purchased recently.  There was a kit from Technique Junkies and a video that went with it to show you a way to use it.  I did use the kit items but decided to do something more simple with it, at first.

I did use 4 different PINK Distress Oxide colors for the sponging: Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick, Kitsch Flamingo and Spun Sugar. I then stamped over top with Wildflower Border.  I like this stamp, I think it is supposed to be Eucalyptus.  My French saying is from Stampin Up Gala de Papillons.  I think it is kindof fun to have some cards with a different language.  

We had a big rainstorm last evening and today it is sunny, cool and lovely.  We really needed the rain.  If not because it has been so dry, but just to wash all the pollen off of my car and deck, etc. 

I hope you are doing well.

Monday, May 24, 2021

Tie Dye Pocket Card

 Hello everyone.  Thanks for your kind comments on my last card.  Last week I made this anniversary card for DH.  In my online craft group, we have been meeting on zoom once a month to make a project.  April from Stampwilly Designs has been doing most of the teaching and she never disappoints for fun projects.  

The tie dye portion is made with a coffee filter, scrunched up, and distress ink pads.  The type of pocket card is really easy to make. If I need to mail it, I think I would add a “pull” tag to to the top to make sure they knew how to open it.


These stamp sets for NBUS for me.  Stampin Up Gala de Papillons and Close to My Heart Winged Masterpiece.  

There will be no crafting for me today because I just cleaned the carpet in that room (the marker stain did seem to come out) and I have the fan running to dry it out.  It is a small room but I do have a lot more carpet to clean in the coming days. I don’t want to do it all at once so there are dry places to walk.  

Hope you have a great Monday.

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Seahorse Father’s Day Card

 Hello. I wanted to use this wonderful old stamp from Just for Fun (now closed) and I thought it was perfect for a Father’s Day card because of how involved Seahorse dads are.  Lol.  A little silly but that was my thinking.



I used a gelli print for the background and then I used Archival Ink to stamp the image.  I cut up my sentiment (Hero Arts Celebrate Everyday Sentiments) and stamped on a scrap of turquoise cardstock from my scrap box.

Hey, I am starting to get my craft desk more organized to a point that I can actually make stuff. I did make some purchases in the last couple months, so I unpacked those and sorted stuff so I won’t forget to use the new items. I also got a bag of neglected stamps ready to give away.  I think I can find a new owner in a facebook group I am in.  

Hope you’re well and I will see you again soon.

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Thankful Spring

 Hello everyone.  I am sharing another card style I created with the same Close To My Heart Daisy Meadow kit that I used for my recent Easter card.  This was one of the card ideas in the kit and I made four cards.  Which is good because I tend to run out of Thank you cards.



This is a a great card for someone who likes to stamp because there is a lot of stamping involved.  I also like that each of my little meadows is a little different.  As I am getting back into stamping after several months of barely doing any, I just love the idea of using a kit like this.  I am not yet back into taking careful photos, but I know all of you bloggers understand. 

Thank you for visiting and for all the kind comments.  

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Happy Easter

 Happy Easter Everyone!

I have this card to share that was mostly made with Close to My Heart’s Daisy Meadow kit, but I swapped sentiments with Stampin Up Forest Friends to make them Easter cards. I made four of this design, which is all the Easter cards I sent out this year.


You can see the shadow of my screen door in this photo.

I am still struggling to get in my crafty time, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope you are all well and look forward to hearing from you all.

Heidi

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Bird Love Card

 Hello again.  Here is a card that I made with my online stamping group recently on zoom. 

 I thought that the bird stamp (Our Daily Bread Designs) would look cute in a heart die cut.  However, in order to make this fancy fold, I needed the die cut to be longer to get enough adhesive on the card base to secure it.  So I just put a label die cut behind this.  The paper is from Prima.

Here is the view from the side.  This card will fold flat in and envelope, but it does not open up, instead you can write your message on the back, and it stands up very easily to display it.  

Thanks for visiting.  Hope you are ver well.

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Learn to Trust

 Hello everyone.  

Hey, I should tell you, the number “one” and “exclamation point” button on my keyboard is broken.  It makes it hard to write a blog as usual, but I am getting by because I really don’t want to spend money on it right away.  (I think it shorted out last week when I spilt a little milk on it.)

Anyhow, than you very much for all your recent kind comments. I had a chance to make a quick card yesterday, during the storm, and here it is.


I used a previously-made gelli print background.  I believe this was mostly Distress Paints, spread around with some cardboard that I cut a decorative edge with some of those old, patterned scrapbook scissors.  The stamp is Our Daily Bread Designs, an old one, that was gifted to me by a stamping friend.  The saying is a nice reminder.

I did add some glitter glue to the frame part of the stamp, I think you may be able to see it in this close up shot.

I hope you are doing well, and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sunday, January 31, 2021

January Rudolph Days Challenge

 Hello again.  So, I sent a card kit to my nephew in early December, and with the Post office being in the state it was, it did not arrive till after Christmas.  We decided to do the cards together on zoom anyhow, and these are what we made.

These are mostly iterations of other cards I made last year, in a form that I thought he would enjoy.  The bird card was the easiest, and I am not sure how much he enjoyed coloring the others.  It was hard to teach a child how much adhesive to use, and so on, over zoom, but I think it was a good COVID activity anyhow.

So these are my first 3 Christmas cards of 2020.  I need to increase my monthly goal this year, but I haven’t quite decided by how much.  

I am entering the Rudolph Days January challenge.

We are about to get hit by a snowstorm.  Have a great week.

Thursday, January 28, 2021

After a Long Winters Nap....

 Hello everyone.  I took a longer break than expected.  I originally was just going to take time off blogging for the holidays, but my father died just before Christmas.  We did travel to attend the burial, which was very small and not a normal funeral at all, due to covid restrictions.  We, of course, also quarantined after travel.

Between the work for those arrangements, and then virtual school mandates after the holidays, troubles with house repairs, it was just too much to also do blogging. I was able to do some scrapbooking, but I have much more to do.

My online cardmaking group does monthly zoom meetings, and this card is one that we did together.  


The card panel was alcohol inks, using some hand sanitizer to blend, then after it dries, I embossed it.  I do not know the name of the card fold, but it was pretty easy and I really enjoyed making this card and the result.  The fern stamp is one of my oldest wood block stamps.  

I do look forward to checking everyone’s blogs.  I hope everyone didn’t forget about me.  I hope to have a better crafting routing going forward.  

Hope you are very well.