Beautiful like snowflakes

 The mornings here have cooled dramatically this week and even though I have no desire to skip beautiful fall, I felt like playing with cooler colors and came up with this card using the We Are Like Snowflakes stamp combined with the Beautiful die.

To create the background, I started with a white base and made a mask using painters tape.  I used the snowflake from the Flourished Christmas Mini 2 set and Brrr die sets.  If you don't have these dies, any of your favorite snowflake dies will work.  I love masking this way because it gives me a wonderfully intricate but subtle background.  Since my dies were on the smaller side, I was able to use a wide painters tape on the release paper from the Elizabeth Craft Design's double sided adhesive.  It's always a good idea to save those sheets.  It make removing the painters tape a breeze.

I then sponged over the edges with a couple of different blue inks, leaving a space for where my stamped sentiment will go.  I do love peeling that blue off - even though it looks pretty good like that too! 

I thought I took a picture of my next step but I did not - got carried away crafting.  After stamping my sentiment, I decided I wanted the word Beautiful running up the side of the card to emphasize that part of the sentiment.  However, the white Beautiful die got lost with all the snowflakes.  To darken the background, I masked off a little more than an inch and sponged more blue on just that section.  To frame that section more, a thin strip of silver washi tape was added. 

I also used the new Modern Gilding Powder Gesso White to make that white really white.  To tie in the silver washi tape, I also gilded several snowflakes with the Modern Gilding Powder Forever Platinum.

 

Thank you so much and I hope you are enjoying the weather wherever you are!

Quietfire Design supplies used:

We Are Like Snowflakes stamp

Modern Gilding Powder Gesso White

Modern Gilding Powder Forever Platinum

Beautiful die

Flourished Christmas Mini 2 set

U R Beautiful, Unforgettable, and Amazing

Today I'm sharing a set of cards with you that I really enjoyed making - especially because they include butterflies and I was able to use both the negative and positive of some dies.

The Momenta alphabet die are pretty big so you can't fit too many letter dies on there so I had to resort to "text" lingo.  Any letter dies work for this design and even printing out a big U and R in a block font would work too.   

Suzanne has several Quietfire Design word dies that are great adjectives that would work with the "you are" including Brave, Bold, perfect, family.  

I centered and die cut the U and R out.  I popped up the negative on grey card stock so the letters would pop but not too much.  I had sponged distress inks on a sheet of card stock a while back (this is also a great way to use up scrap backgrounds out of watercolor paper).  I had enough to die cut several butterflies out so I made 3 cards with them. 

This last card was made by using the U and R from the other cards and stacking them on top of each other.  I did die cut another U and R to make it a little thicker.

Amazing Beautiful (Quietfire Design | Elizabeth Craft Designs)

Unforgettable (Quietfire Design | Elizabeth Craft Designs)

Butterfly Flourish (Quietfire Design | Elizabeth Craft Designs)

B-oo-tiful Halloween - Elizabeth Craft Designs Designer Challenge

Since I don’t have any Halloween Elizabeth Craft Designs product, this month’s Designer Challenge Halloween theme really was a challenge for me!

 Here is how I overcame the obstacles!  Ghosts are just shapes, right?

Supplies:

Elizabeth Craft Design Products: Elizabeth Craft Designs, Inc. 
A Way With Words - Amazing Beautiful (Quietfire Site)
Alphabet 1 – Caps
Stitched Fishtail Banners
Fitted Ovals
Fitted Circles
Clear Double Sided Adhesive

Other:

White, black and orange cardstock

Instructions:

1.       Form a side fold card base from an 8.5 x 11” sheet of black cardstock.

2.       Die cut Beautiful from black cardstock as well as the Alphabet 1 Caps.  Die cut the largest Fitted Oval from white cardstock and cut in half. Die cut the second largest Fishtail Banner from orange cardstock.  Cut a rectangle from white cardstock measuring the width of the card base and about 1/3 of the card face in height.

3.       Die cut two of the smallest Fitted Circles from black cardstock and then overlap the same die and die cut the circles in approximately half.  These crescents will be the laughing eyes of our ghost.

4.       Surgically remove “eau” from the Beautiful diecut with a craft knife.  Adhere “ b---tiful” on the banner and glue two “o”s from the Alphabet 1 Caps in the blank space.

5.       Adhere the large oval to the cardbase.  Trim overhanging bits.  Adhere white rectangle below it with no gap.  Position the banner across the seam and adhere.  Trim any parts of the card necessary.

6.       Add the crescent eyes as shown.

7.       Boo! 

Happy Halloween!
Suzanne

Beautiful You - I Don't Tell You - Stamped Die Cut Technique

    

Yogi Here today with a stamped die cut technique. A Crafting friend pointed me to one of Jennifer McGuire's recent uTube videos - Stamping on die cuts, so I decided to try it right away.

I'm using a couple of an A Way With Words die "Amazing Beautiful" 2pce set and "Wishing You a" 3pce set from Elizabeth Craft Designs, also available on Quietfire Design HERE and HERE

And I'm using a sentiment stamp set from Quietfire Design ("I Don't Tell You Often Enough" 5pce set); 
 

Scored and folded my pink toned cardstock to create the easel (7"w x 5"h easel closed). Cut another piece same size as front and adhered.

Created my stamped background and the stamped die cut layer (see pics and instructions below).

Trimmed down my background to 7"w x 5"h, then punched around the sides using an EK Success "English Ivy" border punch. I positioned the punch in the center of a side and worked the punch to the left and then to the right. Repeated on the opposite side. Then continued on the other 2 sides, stopping before it hit the edge. Manually trimmed down the corners. Adhered to front.

On the floor: Embossed a piece of white cardstock using the Cuttlebug "Happy Birthday" embossing folder. Hit the high points direct to paper with "Spun Sugar". Trimmed down to size.

Stamped the sentiments on another piece of white cardstock using Versafine Black Onyx and clear embossed. Die cut it and the pink layer using Elizabeth Craft Designs "Stitched Rectangle" set. Adhered both layers together.

Adhered a piece of narrow blue satin ribbon to the Birthday embossed piece, then adhered the sentiment assembly. Adhered all this to the floor with 3D foam tape to act as my stopper.

Tied a bow and adhered with  hot glue. Adhered some heart/pearl rhinestone to the ribbon.

DIE STAMPING TECHNIQUE:
Using my Misti (so that I could register my images for the die cutting and assembly) and the Penny Black "Magnolia Rhapsody" stamp. Inked the stamp using Distress mini pads - "Picked Raspberry" all over the flowers and buds,  "Wilted Violet" flicked on the base of the flowers and buds, then hit here and there on the flowers and buds with "Fossilized Amber".

All over the leaves and branches with "Mowed Lawn", here and there on the leaves with "Forest Moss" and here and there on the branches with "Ground Espresso". Misted with water and stamped onto white cardstock.

Repeated the process to stamp on another piece of white cardstock.

Placed the 2 dies on a desirable area of one of the stamping and die cut piees. (that's the above image)

You'll notice that some of that image has the background colored... I experimented on it to pick my blue watercolor for the background.

I filled a waterbrush with water and some of that blue color. Squeezed some out while painting around my stamped image to get a nice wet on wet technique. I also picked up some of the blue paint to add intensity is some areas, blending and moving the color around. I purposely touched part of the stamped image which became activated with the wetness giving a diffused edge. Allowed my background to dry.
I die cut 2 more layers of the words from white cardstock and adhered them to the stamped die cut (adds height to my words). Used the negative die cut piece aligned with my painted background piece to position my die cut words to fall exactly on the correct area of the  stamped image. Glued them down. Used a pencil and then a Zig Writer to shadow the letters on the bottom and right side of each letter.

Click on any card image to enlarge. Enjoy 

 

Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful You

Using one of the newest dies - another, batch of fantastic calligraphed die cut words by signature designer Suzanne Cannon available on Elizabeth Craft Designs A Way With Words "Beautiful" and one from a previous release YOU from "Thank You" both also available on Quietfire Design HERE and HERE

Scored, and folded my white card (5"w x 7"h).

Cut a bunch of the "Beautiful" word, sprayed the back with removable adhesive (Krylon "Easy Tack") and used it as a mask, sponging and direct to paper with Various Distress pads - "Spun Sugar" all over; sponging more heavily with the sugar around the word. Moving the mask down and sponging with "Mustard Seed" blending slightly into the pink above.

Used my hard rubber mallet to selectively emboss around the card front using Elizabeth Craft Design folder "Bouquet". Sponged around the edges with "Picked Raspberry".Shadow detailed the words with an HB pencil.

Die cut another "Beautiful" and "You" from purple cardstock. Applied Glossy Accents and set aside to dry. Adhered to front.

Adhered some "Curvy Leaves" (Elizabeth Craft Designs), die cut from Brusho colored watercolor paper sprinkled with Gold powder.

Created the flower from punched circles and Mulberry paper. Edged the circles with a "Vintage Photo" pad. Tooled the circles and then adhered to create the flower. Added PVA glue and the beads in the center. Adhered to front.

Used a corner rounder punch for the card edges.