A Sweet & Simple Birthday card (stamped)

I am still pretty new to stamping and so it is with great trepidation that I try to make a card just using stamped images and no die cuts!  I also was tired of the same ole, same ole A2 sized cards.  Even the side-folded or top-folded ones are getting boring so I am on a kick to do more and make them more interactive. 
I started by getting  some fun paper out.  I used the 6 X 6 Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Paper pad.  It is so old, you'll not find it in any stores these days. 

Just ignore that cu[cake die in the picture as I decided it did not fit well in the card I ended up making.  

After the cutting of the papers for the card front and interior and their mats, it was time to get stamping.  I used two of the smaller unbranded versions of Birthday balloons stamps from AliExpress that I bought some time late last year.  The way that the shops on that site work, if you see something you want, grab it as it may be gone soon thereafter!   My Stampin Up inks came in handy for they are the best inks.

Unfortunately, the S Up inks were making a mess, or I was, so I switched over to the Marvy Uchida Le Plumme II Markers.  The balloon images were oh so tiny that it was hard to stamp them using those honking big ink pads.  I picked the colors based on the Challenge #117 that's happening over at Scrapping4funchallenges.  The picture showed summer colors and so I went with that idea.

I did some masking and stamping and got a bit carried away, I must admit!  

The inside of the card:

Thanks for stopping in and  hope to see you again.

Nina

Thinking of You Layered Flower Cards

I had a good friend lose her home in a fire the other day.  It was a huge tragedy but at least, no one (human or animal) was hurt.  I thought I'd like to make a couple of cards to lift her spirits.
I have some Unbranded 3 step Layering Flower Stamps.   you can buy them from AliExpress or from Amazon too( under the Seller Decora). These are very nice but one thing is you must have a clear stamping block or better yet, a stamp positioner to use as they do not line up easily otherwise.

The first thing was to emboss the card fronts so I dugout my very old PaperTrey Ink In Bloom Embossing plates..  I'm glad to tell you they still sell these!  Sorry about the lighting glare seen on some of these shots.

The next step should have happened first, oh well!  I decided to cut out a viewing window using more of my large stash of  Oval Unbranded Cutting dies

I have many of these Intricate Unbranded Cutting dies .  It's always better to use what I have and not buy more!  I wanted a place for the sentiment to show through.But unfortunately, putting it through the Big Shot caused the embossing to diminish to almost nothing!   Rats!

the next step is to do the 3 step inking of images in various colors.  I used my Momento Inks for this job.  It worked out so nicely.

Next, it was onto cutting them out!  Thank goodness for the matching dies that most stamp companies are now providing!  If I have to fuzzy cut out images, it makes me crazy!  

 

The sentiments I pulled from a Thoughtful greetings Stamp Set.  It is the best set of diverse sayings for any occasion.   I stamped these with StazOn ink in Jet Black onto the vellum to place behind the cards front windows.  I've heard that Brilliance Inks also work well on vellum, but my Graphite Black ink pad was all dried out and I don't have it's re-inker.  

I hate how StazOn inks stain the clear photo-polymer stamps but oh, well!  Now to finish up the cards.  I want to enter the CTD #497, o I've got to use those colors for this weeks challenges.  I do like all of the chosen colors, so it will be easy.  How lucky am I?  I also by happenstance, did end up using some orange ink hues to color one set of the flowers!   

I sprayed the front of the other card front to incorporate some of the Aqua color in CTD#497 as it was the only way to get it in there!  I know that was a total CHEAT!  Don't tell anyone, k?  And, guess what that spraying qualifies it for yet another challenge, ATSM#296- Anything Goes.  Plus, it fits the bill for a project over at Just Add Ink #412.  The trick was to spray and splatter on the front which I just did by chance!  Yeah!  Not too bad, eh?

While I was pursuing the various talented ladies blogs who have already submitted entries, I found yet another challenge I can get one of the cards into, CAS-- Colour and Sketches #275

 The idea of CAS "Clean & Simple" is always harder for me than it ought to be.  I never know when I'm done with a card or SB page.  There could always be more added to dress it up further, know what I mean??!  I decided to add the green in back of the cut window so it'll barely show through the vellum,  

I needed to get that pumpkin color in there and so I went with the die cut of the word "Hello" from my stash.  It may not look very pumpkin colored in this picture, but it is!

The end result:

Thanks for coming by and visiting.  

Hugs,

Nina

Another Father's Day card for my DH.

I decided to save he green plaid shirt card for some other occasion, not giving it to my Dear Husband, Jeff.  I wanted to use some Unbranded Stamps that are very close to the Mixed Drinks set from Stampin Up!.  These are much smaller and so will make a nice focal point on a card.  Jeff, loves to try his hand at making craft cocktails so this was just the right stamp set for him.  I just love to drink his efforts!  He is really getting so good that we find that it is impossible to order drinks when we go out, as they are not nearly as tasty good!
I started by stamping a few drink glasses and the sentiments using Momento Tuxedo Black Ink.  I wanted to use onto my favorite all purpose paper, Neenah Solar White 80# paper.  I also misted another piece of the same white paper and put it into a Darice hexagon patterned embossing folder.

I used a couple of cutting dies that are Unbranded to cut out the drink cups.  I'll also cut the sentiments from the set of three fishtail banners by My Favorite Things.   It seems like more work, and it probably is, but then, I'll know that at least the lines will cut straight, unlike, when I simply eye-ball it.  

Then, the next thing to do was to color these stamps in.  It did not seem like it was going to be easy to do with the stamping, so I decided that I'd just color them in.  I used my Kaisercraft Markers 48 pc set to try my hand at some color blending and it was not half bad.  

Then I found some old graphic printed paper and set the embossed paper onto that.  I used some dimensional tape to place the sentiments onto card front, that looked good.  The drinks had to be set off somehow, so I tried the ole trick of using a wad of thread underneath and that did the trick.  This was some gold and cream thread tht I got somewhere recently and I have 100 yards of it, so I'll be wadding thread up forever!  Nothing like getting a big spool to make sure one doesn't run out! 

Thanks for looking and have a great crafty day!

Nina

You Move Me Bundle

The Stampin Up You Move Me Bundle is super cool.  Unfortunately it is no longer available for sale in the SUp new 2018-19 catalog. But I have seen these sets on EBAY and you can buy it there.  I've been wanting to make cards using the set since I got the set.

 It was not a simple thing, however!  One thing you must know, it is imperative that you practice with the stamps and try to line up the two corresponding images (either the butterflies or humming birds) and see how to get it right.  Make sure you cut the window die first too, so you can see how your stamping works.  I did use the Hampton Arts Stamp Platform and it helps to make sure I'd lined up the images properly.

I used the Lawn Fawn 6" X 6" Perfectly Plaid- Spring to cut one of the windows out of.  I actually ended up cutting that window die out of the navy blue solid paper so it shows up better.  It was not as nice when I used the lighter colors for the window die.  It was hard to decide if I wanted to have the cards open up to the side or at the top, but finally it was decided that the side fold on the card bases is the way to go.  

Using the dies was a problem as they were manufactured exactly opposite to the stamped designs!.  But, no worries I just held the stamped paper up to the light and taped the dies onto it .  I'll also apply to the Co to get my refund for this nearly useless die set.

Did I already mention that you MUST practice with these stamps?  I  did, ok, don't skip this part!  Use scratch paper to do it and keep it handy to stamp off the color first before using the smallest of the two images (either the butterflies or humming birds)

The final cards also used a few of the smaller die cut embellishments from the set and they turned out nicely.   I did add some sparkle wit the Wink Of Stella pens I own to the stamped images to make them shine.  I found a couple of Unbranded butterfly dies that could go well also.  

The end results of all my efforts:

Close ups:

Thanks for stopping by.  

Hugs to you,

Nina

Father's Day Cards Featuring some Paper Cutting

Hello, thanks for joining me today.  I'm trying to make cards for the two fabulous Dad's in my life (Dhun-my Dad and Jeff-my kid's Dad).   I was eager to make a card that made use of my new Lawn Fawn 6 X 6 Spring Plaid Paper pad and mynew Stampin Up Dad Jokes stamp set.  I've had the latter for so long that it is no longer being sold by Stampin Up!  Oh, well, better late than never.

After cutting out out the main plaid paper for card fronts, it occurred to me that the plaid paper looks like men's shirt fabric.  Don't you think so?  So, I decided to then go about making shirt fronts (by making two simple cuts for mimicking the look of sleeves) on the cards.  I hand cut ties and collars also out of coordinating papers and then it was a simple matter of putting the "shirts" together.  I found liquid glue & Mini & Craft Glue Dots worked best.  Using my Tim Holtz Mini 5" Snips worked wonders to get all the tiny cuts made.  The top knot of the ties was just too plain when I simply cut out a ziggarat (a triangle without a top point).  So, then I folded together by cutting a full triangle and folding back the sides and the top to emulate an actual tie's top knot.  It worked great!

Next, I decided that the card fronts could use a bit more like maybe, a belt?  Oh, that was more fussy cutting and using some silver mirror paper is the trick to getting the buckle to look authentic!  

I hope you like how these came together.   As a bonus, the blue, white and black colors of the one is also going to be my entry in this weeks Color Throwdown #496 ( ctd496).   I'm proud of them.

This is the interior of the blue card.  My Dad is a real joker, so this stamp set worked out great for him.  I was not sure if the other card would end up for Father's Day for my DH, Jeff, so, I did not do the stamping on that card front.  

On the green shirt card, I decided to add the plaid paper to the collar and that really seemed to work out well.  What do you think? I may go back and do that on the blue shirted card front too.  

Yeah, much better with some plaid paper on the collar of the Blue shirted one too.

Thanks for taking time to check out my attempts at card making!

Smiles,

Nina

Tonic Studios Glass Cutting Mat

Woot, woot!  I finally got the BIG Tonic Studios A3 Glass Cutting Mat.  It measures 23.5" X 14.25" to the outer edges of glass surface) I am hoping to use this as a mixing palette and cutting mat and stamping platform (for use with those big background stamps).  I love it and it was much cheaper than the Tim Holtz / Tonic Glass Mat.  I don't need to have the extras his mat offers- a 7 X 11" mixing palette built into the mat as I've got a smaller piece of his non-stick mat that I use daily! 

 See, I told you it is huge.

 I may end up putting my Cutterpillar Glow Surface underneath and see how that turns out.  It works pretty great!  Sometimes the lighting up from underneath is just so useful!

The CutterPillar Glass Mat that matches the Glow is awesome but, it is so much smaller (16.25" X 12" measured to outer edges of glass)!  See here it is on top of the Tonic Mat and boy, what a difference in size.  

I am going to love using this thing!  It will be fantastic, I'm sure.

Thanks for coming by,

Smiles,

Nina