Spring Is In The Air

Hello there! Vicki here today with a fun spring card for you.  Here in North Texas, we've had a few really nice spring days, but most of them seem to come with freezing cold winds which kind of shoots the whole Spring Day down the tubes.  I don't know about you, but I am so ready for spring to come and stay!  My Day Lily foliage is already pretty high, but we definitely haven't had warm enough weather to get them really going good and consistent.

For today's card, I wanted to use a few of the new products from the most recent release along with some favorites from last year.

Starting with a panel of Cougar Digital White Cardstock and misting it with a fine mist of water on the front and back sides, I ran it through my die cutting machine with an embossing sandwich using the Memory Box Chrysthanemum 3D Embossing Folder.  The water helps the paper to stretch enough to get a really good impression.  I did this late in the evening so I let that dry overnight and then using my ink blending brushes, I added ink blending to the entire panel in Berry Sorbet and Summer Sunrise Inks.  Then I misted it with Tattered Angels Spray in Iridescent Gold.  I set that aside and let it dry as well.

I cut a 4.25 x 5.5-inch panel of the light peach color of the Delicate Pastels Glitter Paper Pad as a mat to go behind the ink blended panel.  Next, I cut several of the Side Butterfly Circles as I wasn't sure which way or if I wanted to color it.  In the end, I liked it in plain white while I wanted to really make the butterfly stand out.

I tried some ink blending with little sponge daubers, adding Fairy Sugar to individual petals on the flowers.  In the end, I chose to keep the circle part plain white and to add a gold outline for the butterfly with some scrap orange card stock for the back layer.  Then I added some of the Goldfinch Fairy Sugar on top of all that. 

I used foam tape behind the circle by cutting a piece about 4 inches long, and then cutting a skinny strip (1/16th inch or so) two times from the half-inch width of the foam tape.  This makes it skinny enough to place it in the circle shape by going slowly, all the way around.

I have a tendency to change my mind mid-card, so I've learned to roll with the punches and go with my flow.  That's probably one of the reasons that I haven't tried to do video yet, but it's on my list of things to do by the end of this year.  I hope you enjoy this quick and easy card today and that it will warm your heart to think about Spring things for a few minutes.

Supplies

GP1001 Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad

94232 Side Butterfly Circle craft die

EF1001 Chrysanthemum Field

94392 Hello Banner Script craft die

30086 Rectangle Basics Set

Memory Box Chandele Star and Chandele Snowflake

I have two Blog Posts today so if you're looking for the Keeping Christmas Blog Hop, you'll find it is the next one down.

I have a new project for you today featuring some fantastic items from Memory Box's latest Holiday 2019 Release.  I fell in love with this Chandele Star Die and knew I wanted to make it shiny & sparkly!  Those are my two favorite colors after all!  I also used the coordinating Chandele Snowflake Die to both die-cut and to dry emboss my background panel. Just FYI, this word is pronounced "shan-dell" just in case you are like me and want to make sure you are pronouncing things correctly.

I have a huge bin of scraps that I try to use as often as possible.  I noticed I had one in a coordinating color that had been die cut and had also been heat embossed - ON THE WRONG SIDE!  This is exactly why I keep those scraps.  So I took the Chandele Snowflake Die and using an embossing sandwich, dry embossed the image into this scrap card panel of Peacock Metallic Cardstock.

Then I die-cut the Chandele Snowflake from White Glitter Cardstock.   This die does cut each of the tiny dots and other pieces that are shown in the image, but I am just not that patient so I wanted only the white glitter snowflake to put behind the Chandele Star Die.

I chose a light pool colored glitter cardstock and die-cut the Chandele Star Die from that.  Then I used the Memory Box Shining Star Set to die cut a simple Star shape in the largest size to go behind the Chandele star and the next size down to cut one from white to go behind the die-cut Chandele Star. You'll probably have to open the image in a new tab to see the color differences, but I promise you it's there.  I definitely needed that White to make the glitter cardstock die cuts really pop.

I wanted to add a few simple embellishments, so I added a jewel in the center of the star and also at the pointed tips of the star.  I also chose to cut the "Peace" word die from the same white glitter cardstock.  I tried a few different colors and the white definitely was the right choice.  Who doesn't wish for a little peace around the holidays?

Originally, I had planned to line the star up in true North/South orientation, but when I was playing around with orientation before I adhered it, I liked it better in this "tipped" to the left version, which also does a better job of highlighting the Chandele Snowflake.  I used foam tape on the back-side of the snowflake to give it a little bit of dimension.

Between the Shimmer Cardstock, the Glitter Cardstock and the little gems, this card is absolutely breathtaking in person.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll link as many of the products as I can below for your convenience and I hope you'll consider shopping through my affiliate links. I love it when you take the time to leave me a comment!

Affiliate Links may be used at no additional cost to you.

GKD Connect Glue Shop at: SSS | GKD	Memory Box - Chandele Snowflake Die Shop at: SSS | MB	Memory Box - Chandele Star Die Shop at: SSS | MB	Memory Box - Shining Star Die Set Shop at: MB
SSS Glitter Cardstock Assortment Shop at: SSS	SSS Silver Glitter Cardstock Shop at: SSS	SSS White Glitter Cardstock Shop at: SSS	SSS White Glitter Cardstock 8.5 x 11 Shop at: SSS
Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Tonic Paper Trimmer Shop at: SSS	Tonic 6 Inch Personal Trimmer Shop at: SSS

June 2019 Keeping Christmas Blog Hop

Hello everyone!  I am back this month now that all of the graduations and birthdays are over.  We had three grand-kids graduating from High School this year, several nephews and our great-grandbaby's 1st birthday party just in our immediate family.  We were so busy last month but we had so much fun seeing everyone and traveling a little bit.  I am always happy to back on my own home.

I've also been helping my best friend in making several cotton dresses for her July trip to Puerto Rico but I finally claimed this week for myself to get some cards done and some blogging done as well.  I have four Blog Hops coming up so I definitely have projects to work on.

For this month's Keeping Christmas Blog Hop projects, I have some tags and some cards.  One of my all time favorite dies was released last year by Papertrey Ink, now known as Ink To Paper.  Bold Borders: Yuletide is a Christmas Greens type of frame and I just love it in a variety of ways so I opted to show you some simple and some more time-consuming ideas.

If you want something super fast and easy, grab a couple of your favorite cardstock colors, and die cut the frame from gold or silver foil paper and it's easy to whip several cards together in very short order.  I've found that the easiest way to do this is to run my cardstock through the Xyron first and then die cut it.  When I remove the release paper, I do it so the die cut is laying face down.  Then I cut about 1/8th inch off each side of my background panel and lay it carefully over the adhesive.  Then I attach that to a card base and embellish as much or as little as I want.

In both of these examples, I used Little Things from Lucy's Cards Glossy Porcelain Mix to add as white berries to the golden foliage.  It is a little bit time- consuming to glue all of the berries down, but worth the effort for the final result.

While it is very difficult to capture in photos, both of these cards use a satin finish metallic cardstock from PaperPapers.com for the background.  Red Satin and Blue Satin.  The names are simple and easy to remember.  Lots of the other cardstocks have more complex names but not the Satin Finish ones.

My next card uses an unusual (for me anyway) color pairing.  I die cut the frame from Moss Shimmer Cardstock and paired it up with Aquamarine Metallic Cardstock.  For this card, I layered a white glitter "Joy" die-cut over a gold one,  to make it appear as a golden shadow for the front die-cut word. 

I put Tonic Aqua Shimmer Pen all over the center area to make it really sparkle as well as the Glossy Porcelain Pearls.  You can really see the sparkle on this card!

As always, when I begin to run low on background panels, I sit down with either watercolors or alcohol inks and make some backgrounds until I have to quit and move on to other more pressing things such as dinner. For my last two cards, I used Alcohol Inked Backgrounds in two different ways.

For the first card, I die cut the frame from the background panel.  The panel had lots of emeralds, blues, and teals with gold, so I thought it would be pretty for the frame.  More of Lucy's Pearls, this time in Glossy Eggshell, were added for the berries.  I used some Teal Foil Cardstock for the die cut word.  I should probably mention that the word die is from a different Bold Borders die, Bold Borders: Flurries.  But I think it is universal and can be used for pretty much anyone around the holidays.  You might notice that the teal foil picks up all of the various colors in the frame and has that same kind of marble look to it.

For my last card, I did the reverse of the previous card.  This time I die cut the frame from gold foil cardstock and left the alcohol inked background panel intact.   I went all out here and added red sequins first and a little gem inside each one for the finishing touch.

I did this side view so you could get an idea of all the shimmer and shine there is on this card.  This particular background panel was done with orange, pink, red, and gold alcohol inks.

These are really very quick and easy to put together if you have a lot of cards to make.  Substitute a foiled designer paper for the background for instant elegance!

For the tags, I wanted to make some festive ones to put on a bottle of sparkling cider or wine so I just stamped and heat embossed several panels of the PTI What The Doodle: Snowflakes, and the center sentiment, then die-cut all the of the other elements.  I mixed and matched as I went along with just a few variations.  All of the wine bottle tags were die cut from Papertrey Ink Tag Stock which is extra thick and sturdy at #160.  Then I also added a layer of either patterned, shimmer or glitter cardstock on top of that.  This gives additional sturdiness.  The first tag has Pure Poppy Bitty Big Stripe on it.  The two middle tags have white glitter paper, while the last one has white shimmer cardstock.

The Tag Sale: #12 was cut from Red Satin Cardstock for all of the ornament looking tags.  Then I die cut a Gina K Designs stitched circle from Gold Foiled cardstock for the outer circle.  Next, I heat embossed the center circle on 3 of the tags, with Versamark and Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder using one of the images from an older PTI set called "Holiday Photo Finishers". As you can see, I combined that with the snowflakes to add to 3 of the wine bottle tags.  On the last tag, I wanted something that felt festive, but more generic for the holiday season for those folks who think more scientifically than spiritually.  I put one of the large snowflakes in the center of that with the small circle of glitter paper behind it, then the gold foil circle.  I used foam tape for most of the layers combined with a bit of Ranger Multi Medium Matte for some of the die cut elements.

My favorite of the group is the one with Pure Poppy Bitty Big Paper on it as there is something so fun about that vertical stripe.

Be sure to stop at all of the blogs along the hop to see everyone's projects!

Kelly Lunceford

Anita Madden

Broni Holcombe (Off This Month)

Claire Broadwater (Off This Month)

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Vicki Finger (You Are Here)

Nancy Guse

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today.  Be sure to check back next month on the 25th for the next edition of "Keeping Christmas".  I have several upcoming projects for other blog hops as well, so check back often.

Affiliate Links Used Whenever Possible

Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS	Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS	Little Things from Lucy's - Glossy Eggshell Mix Shop at: SSS	Little Things from Lucy's - Glossy Porcelain Mix Shop at: SSS
Marvy Jewel Picker Shop at: SSS	MSP Original MISTI Stamping Tool Shop at: SSS	PaperPapers.com - Cougar Super Smooth Digital White - #110, 200 pack Shop at: PP.com	PaperPapers.com - Curious Metallic Aquamarine Shop at: PP.com
PaperPapers.com Shine Blue Satin Shop at: PP.com	PaperPapers.com Shine Moss Green Shop at: PP.com	PaperPapers.com Shine Red Satin Shop at: PP.com	PTI Bitty Big: Pure Poppy Shop at: PTI
PTI Bold Borders: Flurries Shop at: PTI	PTI Bold Borders: Yuletide Shop at: PTI	PTI Tag Sale #12 Shop at: PTI	PTI White Tag Stock #160 Shop at: PTI
PTI Wine Bottle Tag II Shop at: PTI	Ranger Multi Medium Matte Shop at: SSS	Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet Shop at: SSS	Scor-Pal Scoring Board Shop at: SSS
Scotch 3M Foam Tape Shop at: SSS	Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Ranger Alcohol Pearls - Set of 12 Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz/Ranger Alcohol Ink Blending Solution Shop at: SSS
Tonic 6 Inch Personal Trimmer Shop at: SSS	Tonic Aqua Shimmer Pen Shop at: SSS	Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS