July Larkspur Card for Any Occasion

Hello everyone! I would love to share this pretty floral stamp with you.  The I Brake for Stamps store carries stamps that I call Flower of the Month Stamps.  This Larkspur is for July.  Each of the Flower of the Month stamp comes in a regular size and a Jumbo size.  The stamp I used is the regular size, but if you often make cards that are larger than A2, or if you like to fill up most of the card front, you may prefer the jumbo size.  Both stamps are found in the store HERE called July’s Larkspur and July Larkspur - Jumbo. (As always, you can use my affiliate code BPM15 to save 15% off your order, I would receive a small percentage of the sale also.)

I stamped and colored my image with alcohol markers. I did emphasize the flower centers with a white gel pen.  My background is a gelli print made with an embossing folder.  I didn’t put the sentiment on this card yet because I think it can be used for anything and I don’t yet know to whom I will send it.  

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/

Floral Silhouette Birthday Card

Hello everyone and Happy Wednesday!  It is a beautiful morning, crisp and cool, but it will warm up later on today.  I decided to use a stamp I just used recently, but in a different way.  You can see the previous card HERE.

First, I used watercolors to create a pretty background on mixed media paper.  Then, I die cut out the paper. Finally, I masked off the sides of the die cut because the stamp was just a little too wide.  I stamped the image in black.  I thought it turned out so pretty, and I love the detail of this stamp, especially the centers of the flowers. Isn’t it funny how a detail can please you so much?

I simply framed the image with a scrap of patterned paper, and also found a pretty scrap of hot pink cardstock for the sentiment tag.  My scrap box has gotten a little full, so I am hoping to attend to that this next month, as I am creating.

Supplies: I Brake for Stamps Half Sheet 138B, Versafine Onyx Black Ink, Spellbinders Fancy Edge rectangles dies, and Fancy Framed tags 2, Recollections Backyard Table 6x6 patterned paper pad, other items from my stash. (As always, save 10% on your entire order at the I Brake for Stamps Store by using my coupon code, SAVE10HEIDI )

I have a pin picked out to use for my Pinned It, Try It! series later this week, AND I have been working on some Christmas cards.  So hopefully, I will see you again soon once I have finished those up.  

Thank you for your visit!  I think I am up to date on my blog visits, but if not, leave me a comment and I will be sure to stop by and see what you have been up to!

Heidi

Flower of the Month: September Aster

Hello!  Did you know that September’s Birth Flower is the Aster?  That isn’t a big surprise as you may see them for sale all over during the early fall.  I made this card for my friend, whose birthday is in just a couple days!  

I tried to color the image in what I think is the quintessential color for an Aster, a pretty periwinkle. I used a blue and a purple alcohol marker to get this look.  I die cut the image, and then with the die in place, sponged light blue distress ink over top, to get the delicate white frame.  

I like to decorate the inside by stamping the flower in a very light ink with the sentiment over top.

  

Supplies: I Brake for Stamps September Asters, Sentiment from Half Sheet 138B, Versafine and Memento Black inks, Hero Arts Soft Sky shadow ink, Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers, Spellbinders Labels 18 dies, Bo Bunny Early Bird 6x6 Patterned paper pad, other items from my stash. 

I sure appreciate your visiting the blog today!  Happy Stamping!

Blue Poppy Card with Hand-stamped acetate embellishments

Hello!  This is a card that was inspired by two different things.  First, I signed up for a swap where one needed to make stamped embellishments with acetate.  The second was a gorgeous blue poppy flower that I saw at the greenhouse portion of a garden estate.  It was a showstopper plant and my absolute favorite flower I saw that day.   I snapped this picture with my phone.

I decided to use this poppy stamp by Our Daily Bread Designs (they just recently rebranded themselves as Divinity Designs), so I decided to limit myself to using only stamps from this brand, just to narrow my choices.  I find that makes creating easier, sometimes.  I stamped on watercolor paper and used watercolor markers to color.  

For the acetate embellishment, I stamped the bees, cut them out and colored with both some alcohol markers and then stickles glitter glue.  After stamping the honeycomb twice on the card front, I arranged my flower, bees and a banner die cut.  I was pretty pleased with how it turned out!

Supplies: Our Daily Bread Designs Crocheted Poppy and die, Pennant Banner set, Butterfly and bugs stamp set, watercolor paper, Tombow Water Based markers, stickles glitter glue, other items from my stash.  

I would love to enter ModSquad Blog’s Use a Metal Die challenge, Lost Coast Portal to Creativity’s, Round & Round challenge, and Cute Card Thursday’s Spring Fever Challenge.

Thank you for your visit today!  Please consider subscribing to my blog or leaving a comment to let me know you were here!  Have a great day!

Verbena Handmade Card

Hello stamping friends!  (Actually, from the length of my to-read list in the blogger reader, some of you have also been stamping fiends!)  We had more snow overnight!  So here comes another flower card to cheer myself up!

Impression Obsession doesn’t put the name of the flowers on their labels, so I had to look this up to see that it is a Verbena.  If I had started coloring it, it might have become clear.  I got some really bright pink Verbenas last year for my garden, and it is fun to think about what colors I will use in the front garden this year.  I do not have a very green thumb, but I always try!

Impression Obsession Verbena Flower stamp, Memento black ink, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, Close to My Heart Wordfetti sentiment stamp set, Versafine Onyx Black ink, MFT Die Namics Pierced Square dies, Recollections Backyard Table 6x6 paper pad.

I’d love to enter CASeThisSketch #311, The Flower Challenge Anything Goes, SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge Anything Goes and WordArtWednesday Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you will have a chance to leave a comment or subscribe!

Flower of the Month - November Chrysanthemum

Hello everyone!  I nearly didn’t finish my Flower of the Month card in time!  The flower for November is the Chrysanthemum.  I am using this Asian style stamp today.  I like it a lot AND the shape of this flower reminds me of some of the flowers that were in the arrangements at my wedding, so lovely memories there too.

I colored the stamp with pencils, then trimmed it out with scissors. I did this at my stamp group the other day and believe it or not, I had forgotten my scissors again. I borrowed some from one of the other ladies.  It is funny, it felt weird to be using another brand and I was not as fast as usual.

Anyhow....  When I got home I used some Versamark ink to stamp the bamboo background over green cardstock and die cut that out.  I hemmed and hawed a lot about adding a sentiment, but I decided I would rather use the room to add lots of embellishments with the ribbon and gems.  

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Asian Spider Mum and Bamboo background stamps, Versafine Black ink, Versamark ink, Gina K Dark Sage cardstock, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched rectangles dies, other items from my stash.

Thanks so much for visiting.  

All my Flower of the Month cards can be found HERE.

Clean & Simple Snowdrops - Two Cards

Hello!  I am glad you visited today because I have two very pretty Clean & Simple cards to share with you.  I have had a lot of fun stamping this last week, but just have gotten around to photographing the cards I made.  

For my first card, I stamped the snowdrops, colored them with markers, then masked it off with thin copy paper.  I stamped over top with the bubble wrap image in light pool ink.  I finished the card off by framing the image in dark grey and adding score lines to my card base.

The second card was a lot of fun to stamp!  I used a light green ink called applemint. I stamped the flower for the background in the second generation repeatedly to get a very light, clean look. I added the heat embossed sentiment and fussy cut snowdrop image to complete the look.

Supplies: I Brake for Stamps Bubble Wrap, Lattice and Flowers Sheet, Gina K Applemint ink, Hero Arts Soft Pool ink, Memento and Versafine Black inks, Versamark Ink and white detail embossing powder, Applemint cardstock.

I Brake for Stamps has allowed me to offer my readers a coupon code that will give you 10% off your order at their store.  

SAVE10HEIDI

Thank you for your visit today!

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

May Flower of the Month - Lily of the Valley

I’m back with this month’s Flower of the Month post!  This is my self-imposed challenge to make at least one card a month using birth flowers and stamps I already have.  

You can find all my Flower of the Month posts HERE!

This month’s flower is Lily of the Valley and it is a favorite flower of mine. I love the scent, and the sweet little blossoms.  My patch is currently in bloom, but is just fading. 

I colored this sweet little image with alcohol markers.  I had an idea on how to create some texture in the sky. I first colored all around the flower with light blue, then I went over the area with my colorless blender marker. It looks almost like watercoloring, and I love it!

Supplies: Power Poppy Natural Beauties stamp set, Memento and Versafine black inks, Spellbinders Oval and Scalloped Oval dies, Recollections Backyard Table 6x6 paper pad, Scrap of light green vellum

I would love to play along with Snippets #326 (the floral paper and the vellum are scraps).

Thanks so much for stopping by, and a double thanks if you subscribe or left a comment!

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

April Flower of the Month Card - Part Two - Sweet Peas

Hello and hope you are having a good day.  I have been quite busy recently and it is harder to get cards not only made, but then photographed and blogged.  I am also in the process of moving my craft space to another room (I currently craft in an old computer armoire, and will be moving to a larger desk soon - stay tuned...).   

However, I was able to get a second card made for the April Edition of my Flower of the Month Series!  The first flower for April was Daisy, and the second is the Sweet Pea!  They won’t bloom where I live till around June, but they are so pretty.  I have this framed stamp from Stacy Stamps’ Framed Flowers line, which I found out was another flower of the month stamp line!  I didn’t even realize it!  Peruse all of them here.

I started coloring this stamp with alcohol markers one evening, and when it came time to work on the frame, I blanked.  I set it aside.  The next morning right before I woke up, I dreamed that I was paper piecing that frame.  Not kidding!  That was the perfect idea, and that is what I ended up doing.  The rest of the card is clean - just added a pretty sentiment from Just for Fun.

Supplies: Stacy Stamps April Sweet Pea stamp, Memento and Versafine black inks, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, Prima Nature Garden 6x6 Paper pad, Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Unmounted Sentiments 1, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched rectangles die, speckled paper and cardstocks from my stash.

I would love to enter SimonSaysStamp Monday Challenge Flower Power.

Thank you SO MUCH for your visit! I hope you will have time to comment or subscribe to my blog.  

You can find all my flower of the month posts HERE!

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Flower of the Month Card Series - April Daisies

Hello! I’m back with another post for my Flower of the Month series.  This is where I am trying to use more of my flowers stamps by making as many cards each month as I can with the stamps I already have.  The second flower for April is the Daisy!  This is a fun and versatile flower to stamp with, so today I have a card using my stamp two ways!

My first card is very clean and simple, using bright colors, a bold design and heat embossing.  

My second card is more organic, I created this daisy chain out of colored and fussy cut flowers and put it over a tattered screen background stamp.

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Flora and Fauna sheet, Tattered screen background, Sentiment Word Block, Memento and Versafine black inks, Hero Arts Soft Sand ink, Versamark ink, White detail embossing powder, all cardstock was in my scrap box, Cuttlebug Daisy embossing folder

Thank you SO MUCH for your visit! I hope you will have time to comment or subscribe to my blog.  

You can find all my flower of the month posts HERE!

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Flower of the Month - February Violet Card with Envelope

Hello!  We woke up to a gorgeous blanket of snow!  It is very pretty and didn’t cause any problem with the roads, and I know it won’t last long. I have to say, I am predicting an early spring, but we shall see!

Back to my Flower of the Month theme.  Each month, I am going to make at least one card using my floral stamps that correspond to birth flowers.  For February, I didn’t even need to look up what the flower is.  The violet is the favorite flower of both my mother and grandmother.  I colored these a traditional purple, but my favorites are the more rare yellow ones.

For this card, I colored with a base of purple marker, then used pencils to add the detail.  It was much easier to combine mediums to get the look I wanted.  I also made an envelope, but colored this more simply and just with pencils.

Supplies: Gina K Designs Stately Flowers 1 and Assorted Greetings stamp sets, Memento black ink, Spectrum Noir markers, Prismacolor pencils, Recollections Coastal Village 6x6 paper pad, Nuvo Crystal drops, MFT Pierced Squares dies

I would love to play along with these challenges:
StampTV February Challenge - Add the Envelope, please
SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Add a Die Cut
WordArtWednesday Anything Goes 322-323

This is kind of a bold card for the delicate violet!  Not everyone’s style, but I do like to mix it up.  I do have other violet stamps, so I may have more than one card this month.  Do you have any?  Let me know if you use the flower of the month and I will link you in my next post.  

Thanks for stopping by!

All of my Flower of the Month posts can be found here.

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Old Country Roses Card

Hello, thanks for stopping by!  My posts have been wordy lately, so here’s a quick share!

Supplies:  Gina K Designs by Claire Brennan Old Country Roses stamp set, Flowers Ink colors: Gina K Innocent Pink, Passionate Pink, Hero Arts Raspberry Jam, Leaves Ink color: Gina K Applemint, Hero Arts Green Hills, Gina K Christams Pine,  Sentiment Ink Versafine Black, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies, Spellbinders Oval dies, Sizzix Moguls Embossing Folder, Gina K Innocent Pink cardstock, other supplies from my stash.

Special thanks to these challenges for helping inspire this card:

Stamp TV January Challenge - Kindness

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Have a great day!

Flower of the Month - January Snowdrops Card

Hello!  Hope you are having a great weekend!  I have a second card for my Flower of the Month theme.  

I saw that Snowdrops are also considered a birth flower for January. I have always loved how the snowdrops come up from the snow in early spring.  Last year, we did have them bloom in February, because it was unusually warm, but typically they come up in March.  So it was a surprise that they are actually a January flower.  Maybe down South?  Or maybe people plant the bulbs indoors to bloom in the winter?

Again, my stamp comes from I Brake for Stamps.  It is my only snowdrop stamp, but I search around and found just a few more that are available.  I stamped it with green Distress Oxide ink onto ivory card.  Then I used a water brush to bring out the color.  The background lattice was stamped with the same ink, but I spritzed the stamp with water before stamping.  I was in the mood for a bright, springy look, so that is why I used the pretty lemon yellow.

Supplies:  I Brake for Stamps Bubble Wrap, Lattice and Flowers stamp set, Distress Oxide Lucky Clover ink, Gina Marie X Stitched Circle Die, DieNamics Pierced Squares dies, Tim Holtz tag dies, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder

Special Thanks to these challenges that helped inspire my card today:

Tuesday Morning Sketches #437

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Layer it up

I was thrilled to see that Bonnie is also making cards with a Flower of the Month theme too!  See her January Card here!

You can see all my Flower of the Month Cards for 2018 at this link.

Thanks for stopping by!

Flower of the Month - January Carnation Card

This year, I have decided to try to make good use of my flower stamps.  There are several flowers that are either official or unofficial flowers for each month.  I want to make at least one card each month to go along with that theme.  

For January, I am using this Carnation stamp from I Brake for Stamps.**  Carnations are on both the British list and the USA list for Birth Flowers.  Sometimes, I feel that carnations are an underrated flower.  I really think they are pretty on their own and in bouquets, and there are so many colors.

(**They are one of a few companies that make stamps with a flower of the month theme (in the Embossing Arts category.)  I have just a few of these!)

 I used a pinky peach when I colored with alcohol markers.  I need some Sympathy cards, so I used a simple layout and embossed my sentiment in black. 

Supplies:  IBFS Jumbo Carnation stamp (there is a regular version too), Memento Black ink, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers (light corals), Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies, grey and black cardstocks from my stash.

I would love to play along with these challenges:

WordArtWednesday Anything Goes

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Add a Sentiment

Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.  You are much appreciated!

Plant Trio by Gina K - Patterned Paper December Challenge

I have a friend who is coming up on one of those “milestone” birthdays.  I don’t like to overemphazise such things, BUT, as I was going through my stamps, I saw this Plant Trio set with a saying that I thought was very appropriate for the occasion.

I am also announcing Crafty Hazelnut’s December Patterned Paper challenge!  Anything Goes so long as you use some patterned paper from your stash on your project!  

I colored this image with my Derwent Coloursoft Pencils.  I initially planned on using a marker to highlight the word, “long,” however, I sortof unevenly inked up that sentiment, so it was already bolder.  It works!  I also used some coordinating paper on the inside of the card.

Supplies: Gina K Plant Trio stamp duo, Versafine Olympia Green ink, Happy Birthday from Anita’s Stamps, Versafine Onyx Black ink, Derwent Coloursoft Pencils, LoveNicole Aquarelle 6x6 Patterned Paper pad, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangle dies.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tweet! Chirp! Card project

Hello!  Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  October sure has flown by.  I wanted to participate in a color challenge, but the colors were clearly Halloween inspired, and I wasn’t planning on making any more Halloween cards.  (The colors were purple, orange, yellow and black.)  So I tried a few things and finally came up with this card.

The birds were colored with my Prismacolor pencils and blended with the blender pencil. I added little dots to them with a gel pen.  I happened to find this patterned paper that mostly went along with the color combo, so I used it to jazz up the background.  

Supplies: Ranger Little Birdies stamp set, Versafine Onyx Black ink, Prismacolor pencils, MFT Die Namics Pierced Squares die, Love Nicole Aquarelle 6x6 Paper pad, embellishments from my stash.

I would love to play along with the SplitCoast Stampers Color Challenges CC658, SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great weekend!  Are you stamping?

Card Drive - One Layer Distress Oxide Floral

Hello stamping friends!  Today I am asking for your help with a card drive organized by my blogging friend, Carole from My Carolina Home.  You will want to visit her blog to see her amazing quilting projects, tablescapes and cards.  She has a need for encouragement cards AND monetary sponsors to complete care packages for women in a domestic abuse shelter.  

Here is the link to her blog post with all the details.  There will be a really great prize for one lucky donor and donations are needed by August 1st.

Here is a card I created and will send in.

(Click to enlarge photos.)

It is a one-layer card on a light blue cardstock with a tiny bit of speckles.  I inked up my stamp with Distress Oxide inks, adding a touch of darker pink and green marker to portions.  Then I sprayed the stamp with water and stamped onto my blue card base.  I love the variation of color where the ink oxidized and then other areas where you can see the marker.  Finally, I added Nuvo drops for embellishment.

I used an uplifting sentiment and then matted that with navy cardstock.  I will write a little note inside.  Carole asked that we not write anything religious because we won't know who our recipient is.  When I have trouble figuring out the right words to write inside, I often do a little internet search. There are lots of ideas out there that are simple or complex, depending on what you are going for.

I do hope you will consider sending a card or supporting this drive monetarily!  I am so glad Carole asked me to be a part of this drive, it feels good to do good.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies: Inkadinkado Flower Blossom by Brenda Walton, Gina K Designs Inspiration Mosaic stamp set (sentiment), Distress Oxide ink Worn Lipstick and Peeled Paint, Tombow markers, Versafine Onyx Black ink, cardstock from my stash, Nuvo Crystal drops

I would love to enter this challenge:
Tuesday Throwdown - One Layer

Spring Daisy - Stamping with Watercolors

Hello! I have a couple springy cards that I stamped with watercolor paint.  In fact, I only stamped the image once, and then cut it up into two pieces so I could get two cards.  I plan to try to get these cards sent out in today's mail, if I hurry!

(Lilac experiment update at the end.)

I have done this before, here is a post where I describe it better, but basically you paint the pan watercolor to your rubber stamp and then stamp onto regular or watercolor cardstock.  The nice thing is that you can use more than one color.  Here I used a couple shades of yellow.  

Supplies:  USA Stamp Quest Daisy Stamp, Hero Arts Sentiment, Koi Pan watercolors, Versafine Smokey Grey ink, MFT Pierced Square dies, GKD Wild Dandelion and Turquoise Sea cardstock, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder.

I would love to participate in the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday Anything Goes

Double D Challenges Think Spring

Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes 272-273

CAS Watercolor Spring

I also want to give an update of the Lilac branch experiment I am doing to force them to bloom early indoors.  I first posted this 8 days ago with bare branches and look at it now!  It has been amazing to watch the leaves and flowers unfold from their insanely complicated origami buds.

Look at the blooms, so many of them!  I was concerned that I might not have many since I couldn't tell between a leaf bud and a flower bud, but I have so many!  I just hope I can keep it healthy enough till it blooms.

Thanks for stopping by oday!  Have a great one!