What's Brewin?

Hi friends, I'm over on the SugarPea Designs Blog today sharing yet another spooky design! I had so much fun during the release, but there was one idea that I wanted to try, but ran out of time. I thought it would be fun to have some die cut circles bubbling up from the die cut cauldron. So...that is where my design started and I'll share with you the rest of my process as well!

It probably doesn't come as a surprise that my idea also entailed the Darling Dragons Stamp Set. It is one of my favorites from the new release and I just can't seem to put it down. I stamped the dragon and bats and got to work coloring them using an assortment of alcohol markers. I used the Darling Dragons SugarCuts to die cut them and set them aside while I got to work on the bubbles.

For the bubbles, I used three different purple Distress Oxide inks to blend a small panel to die cut the circles. I used the three smallest circles from the Zig Zag stitched circle SugarCuts to die cut them. I spritzed them with water and Sparkle Shimmer Spray and set them aside to dry. I also die cut the bubbling potion using the Hocus Pocus SugarCuts from the blended panel. The cauldron, which is also from the Hocus Pocus die set is cut out of black cardstock and spritzed with shimmer spray.

I decided to use up all of the scraps I had leftover from the witch tags I made during the release (you can see them in THIS post at the bottom) for my background. I attached at wonky angles and then die cut the panel using the second largest Zig Zag Stitched Rectangle SugarCuts. I used the largest one for the card base using black cardstock. After I had all of the elements ready, it was easy to build this spooky scene. The sentiment is heat embossed on the medium sized circle using silver embossing powder. I also added some clear Nuvo Drops to the bubbling cauldron as well as the bubbles. I had a lot of fun creating this and executing my idea that I had. This is a perfect card to send in October that isn't necessarily a "Halloween" card! Thanks for fluttering by!

Keeping Christmas {Season's Greetings}

Welcome, friends! It's the 25th and that means it is time for the monthly "Keeping Christmas" blog hop! With summer winding down, Christmas will be here before we know it! Also, don't forget to hop along to all of the designer's blogs to see what fresh Christmas inspiration they have in store for us! 

Kelly Lunceford

Anita Madden

Broni Holcombe

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth (off this month)

Rachel Bergfeld

Vicki Finger

I've generally steered clear of making Christmas cards for this particular hop because of my involvement with the Merry Monday Challenge team, but now that it has closed, I feel the need to make a few more Christmas cards for my stash before the Holiday season hits! I found my inspiration for today's card in the most unlikely of spots; my son's swimming lessons, of all places! LOL! One of the cute, young swim instructors had on a darling Christmas bathing suit that I knew could translate into a fabulous card!

The background of the suit was baby blue with candy canes and holly all over it in a random pattern. The straps were peppermint striped, which I was hoping to incorporate along the bottom or something, but I like how it turned out without it. I really wanted to snap a picture of the suit, but felt like I would be a total creeper, especially with it being a bathing suit! Ick! LOL! So...I just used my memory and I think it turned out nicely!

I used Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink to blend a panel of color. I used the A2 Vertical Stitched die to die cut it after I had the blending done. I prefer to blend and then die cut it so the edges are even. Once that was cut, I was able to get to work on the images. I used the peppermint sticks and candy canes from the Candy Cane Christmas stamp set. I die cut a lot of the these using the Candy Cane Christmas Die collection. Once they were all cut it was easy to get them stamped in Pure Poppy ink. I did the same thing with the Holly. I used the Spruce and Sprigs stamp set and the coordinating Spruce and Sprigs die collection. I spritzed the background piece and all of the stamped pieces using Shimmer Spray for some holiday sparkle!

I used the candy cane images if the crook would show, and if not, I just used the straight peppermint sticks for the ends that are coming in from the outside edges of the card. I hadn't really decided how I would incorporate a sentiment. This can often times be detrimental to the end result of a card, but I had high hopes I could figure it out. I thought it would be SUPER cute to bend a small sentiment and stamp it repeatedly in the bends of the holly leaves, here and there, but I didn't dare risk ruining all of my hard work. I'll just have to revisit that idea on a later design! 

In the end, I decided on one of my go-to sentiment solutions and that is embossing on vellum. I didn't want to hide any of my beloved background or chop the visual balance of the card, so vellum was the perfect solution. This particular sentiment is an oldie, but goodie. It is from the old SU! set called "Many Merry Messages". This is one that I will never part with! I also stamped one of the coordinating verses on the inside in red ink. Everything is popped up using foam squares, including the blue panel onto the card base. I glued on a trio of sparkling clear sequins for some extra shine. Thanks for joining me today! Don't forget to head to the other designer's blogs to see what they have come up with! Thanks for fluttering by!

Stamp-a-Faire 2018 {Community Garden}

Welcome, my friends! I hope you are all having a fabulous day as Papertrey Ink kicks off Stamp-a-faire 2018! You can head to the Papertrey Ink Blog to keep up with all of the amazing events happening this weekend! It'a always such a fun time of year as papercrafters from all over join in person or online as a papercrafting community! Today I am thrilled and honored to be sharing the amazing Stamp-a-faire exclusive set called "Community Garden"! What makes this set so special? Well...it is beautiful for starters, but it is a collaboration between a few of the PTI product designers who truly have crafted a "community garden" with this unique set! Make sure you head to the PTI blog (linked above) to find out how you can own this one-of-a-kind set!

I fell in love with this gorgeous lattice image paired with the climbing roses. It is a mini version of the fabulous lattice found in the Garden Gate Kit that came out a few years ago. It is just so sweet and perfect to accent this gorgeous cluster of climbing roses! 

To begin, I die cut the medium sized frame from the Pierced Feature Frames out of Kraft cardstock. It was the perfect size for this lattice image. I picked a color of cardstock that would take the white ink, but also stamp the leaves and roses nicely, too! I used my MISTI stamping tool so that I could get multiple impressions of each image for each step. The leaves are stamped in Simply Chartreuse Ink and the roses are stamped in Pale Peony and Autumn Rose. I just love this color combination on the Kraft cardstock!

Once that was done, I got to work die cutting the scallops from the Scallop Stackers: Large. I used Autumn Rose cardstock for the outer edge and matted it onto a piece of Stamper's Select White cardstock.

The sentiment is from the newly released set called You made my Day and is heat embossed in gold onto a strip of vellum. I am in love with all of these beautiful sentiments!

I finished the card off with a  bow of Jute Button Twine for some added texture and detail! I also added a trio of sparkling clear sequins for some shine! Thanks for fluttering by and enjoy Stamp-a-faire 2018!!!

SugarPea Designs Release Day 5 -Grateful

Welcome to the 5th and final day of the Sweet Peek Week! I hope you've enjoyed seeing all of the wonderful new products that will be available for purchase starting tonight in the SugarPea Designs Shop at 6 pm EST! I think there's something for everyone...or should I say everything for everyone? LOL! I am in love with it all! Also, make sure you take some time out to head to the SugarPea Designs Blog for links to the rest of the designer's blogs!

I just love the beautiful new stamps and die collection that is being featured today! It is called Eucalyptus Wreath and it pairs beautifully with the Grateful Greetings and Grateful word die. There are a lot of different and versatile ways to use this particular set, but I chose to use it in a simple, yet elegant way that makes it a staple for any level of stamper!

I love how eucalyptus has made a come-back but in a stylish and modern way! I used bouquets of seeded eucalyptus two years ago for my in-law's 50th Wedding Anniversary and it was just beautiful. I always love seeing it in bridal bouquets as well. I was so happy to see this set and I know that it will get used a lot!

I embossed the wreath image in gold onto Kraft cardstock that had been die cut using the Card Front Element Builders. I embossed the "to have you in my life" sentiment in gold as well. I just love how rich it looks against the green cardstock.

I die cut the grateful die 4 times out of the same green paper and glued them together. Once that was done, I was able to adhere it over the wreath using liquid glue.

A trio of gold sequins finish this design off! Don't forget to head to the shop tonight at 6 pm EST to get all of the things on your wish list! Thanks for fluttering by!

SugarPea Designs Release Day 4-Make a Wish!

Welcome to Day 4 of the SugarPea Designs Fall Release! Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments the last 3 days! I appreciate them so much! It is fun to read about which new sets you are loving! Also, don't forget to head to the SugarPea Designs Blog to see what the other designers have come up with! 

Today, we are featuring the super cute new set called "Birthday Balloons" and the coordinating "Party Balloon" SugarCut. For my card, I really wanted to create an "UP" type card by having the balloons attached to these sweet little houses from the Around Town SugarCuts, but sometimes things just don't work out like we imagine! LOL! I did decide to keep the houses and use a few of the balloons because I still thought they worked well together!

I created the rolling hills by using the Card Front Element Builders and then attached the houses and trees, here and there! I also did some distress oxide ink blending to make the sky. The balloons are also stamped in oxide ink and then I used the heart overlay in white to make the heart balloon.

There are so many fun sentiments included in this set that I just love! I chose to use the "Make a Wish" sentiment stamped in black. I used some crochet thread to mimic realistic balloon string, but the set does come with a "string" image that is just perfect. I can't wait to use this set some more because it is so much fun! Thanks for fluttering by!

SugarPea Designs Release Day 3-Eek,Shriek, and be Scary!

Welcome to Day 3 of the SugarPea Designs Fall release! I have A LOT of samples to share with you today because I AM IN LOVE! LOL! I love Halloween so all of these new products have me giddy! I seriously couldn't stop making cards because I was having so much fun!

This first card that I am sharing with you today uses the new stamp and die set called "Darling Dragons". One of the things that I love most about this set is that it isn't just for Halloween. You can use it for friendship and thinking of you cards as well.

I used the Card Front Element Builder once again for this card and the next one, too! I just love how versatile it is for so many designs. I wanted to create a funnel of sorts for this spooky brew to bubble and steam up into. I used Nuvo Drops for the bubbles in varying sizes for added interest. 

The sentiment is heat embossed in silver. I also spritzed the card heavily with shimmer spray for some sparkle and shine.

For my second card, I wanted something fun and sweet to highlight this cute sentiment! I used distress oxide inks to create the blended background and then used the Card Front Element Builder Sugarcuts to create this fun shaker card.

I filled it with an assortment of sequins that matched the different oxide inks that I used. I also included the wonderful cauldron from the new Hocus Pocus die set that I am in love with as well. I didn't even scratch the surface of the possibilities of this die set!

The sentiment is heat set in gold and I added some nuvo drops to this card as well.

My 3rd project was SO MUCH FUN to make! Well, they all were, but these were so fun to put together. I actually made 8 in total because I wanted to make sure I used every single sentiment and image....yeah, they're THAT  cute!

For the tag bases and stamped stripes at the top, I used the Christmas Tag Greetings stamp set and the coordinating Snowflake Tag. I love that these SugarCuts and stamps can be used for more than just Christmas! I created this set of tags to attach to some Jack-o-Lantern treat sacks I picked up a few years ago at Hobby Lobby. Every year I attempt to use them, but feel they need something "extra"! Well....they finally are getting that little something extra! LOL! I used the Spots and Stripes paper pad to create the accordion medallions with some chunky glitter. 

My final card uses the new "StarDust" sugarcut that I used both on Day 1 and 2. I thought it would be perfect to use to accent the cauldron SugarCut as well. I can tell this will be one of those go-to die cuts for all kinds of occasions.

This particular background is almost identical to the one I created for the space card I made on Day 1. It looks so different on this card. 

I spritzed it with water and shimmer spray and then mounted it onto a black card base. I really wanted the stars to pop and the black did the trick.

This particular sentiment from the new "Bewitched" set fit perfectly on the cauldron and I heat embossed it in silver. I also added a few gems and sequins to mimic the bubbles coming up from the cauldron. I also added some Nuvo drops to the brew in the cauldron. I had so much fun working on all of these projects! I hope you'll join me again tomorrow for Day 4 of the release! Thanks for fluttering by!