Snowflake Shaker

This card started with a piece of watercolor paper that I used to clean Distress Oxides off up with! When I saw all the blues splattered all over the paper I thought it would be a good background for the new Snowfall die set and Snow is Glistening stamp set from Stampin' Up! If you don't have this set, it is ONLY available in November!

So, of course I had to do a shaker card and the die set has many, many snowflakes in it that I cut out and adhered two to the background and then filled the area with all kinds of white "stuff" for the shaker. (If you want to know what it all is, just leave a comment and I'll look them all up!)

I used a piece of Night of Navy cardstock for the card front and die cut the stitched square out with Lawn Fawn's Stitched rectangle dies (Inside and Outside stitches). I was trying to design a card for this month's Stamp Camp, but decided this one would be just too ambitious! I have 2 cards designed for camp and now need to get busy on a 3rd!

Stamp It On

For the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge I am stamping the truck from Country Livin' by Stampin' Up onto white cardstock and coloring it with watercolor pencils. I distressed the edges with
Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink and added it to a white deckle frame by Penny Black. I wanted this to look like an old photo album picture, so I added black photo corners (sponged on edges with white  ink) and white embossed a handwritten sentiment below. I mounted this to a piece of black cardstock and then onto a Crumb Cake card base. Thanks for looking!

Fall/Autumn Challenge

When I saw this coffee pot stamp and the floral images that could be put into it I knew it would be an enamelware one like a coffee pot I used to have when we went camping. I've entered this card into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for Fall/Autumn cards.
The pot wasn't stamped as enamelware, so after coloring it the blue I added white gel pen for the speckles. The stamp set is "Country Home" from the new Holiday catalog from Stampin' Up.
I added it to a piece of woodgrain double-sided paper and used the Stitched Seasons Framelits die for the greeting.

Pleasant Pheasants

The new Stampin' Up Holiday catalog is here and I am really enjoying using the stamp sets that I recently received last week! I can't wait to show you all the new products, especially the 3D embossing folder that makes the paper look like tin tile! I am entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Fall Challenge for this week.

Of course, since I have English Springers, you know I always get pheasant stamps and this set is Pleasant Pheasants and will be a great Thanksgiving set. For the first card I decided to stamp the pheasant pair in Momento Black ink as I was planning on coloring them with Copic markers. After that I added some Wink of Stella clear to give the feathers some shine, which I am sad to say does not show in the photo.

After die cutting the pair out and then added another oval frame of Early Espresso cardstock I used a piece of copper cardstock and ran it through the Big Shot with the new Tin Tile 3D embossing folder.  And then added it to a 4 x 5 1/4" piece of Early Espresso cardstock and then onto the front of a white card base. I just love this tin tile look!!

Now, coloring the pheasants was a bit time consuming, so I thought I'd make a "simple" card, so here's another example, stamped in Early Espresso ink on Crumb Cake cardstock with Vintage Photo Distress ink sponged around the edge, affixed to another square of Early Espresso ink and then onto a piece of woodgrain DS paper. (This is the 6 xd 6 woodgrain paper from Stampin' Up.) I gold embossed the "Thinking of You" right onto the woodgrain paper.

Sprinkles & Splatters!

It's been a difficult week in NE PA with all the "sprinkles" we've been getting lately! Actually, it's been more like torrential downpours with roads washed out and flash flooding. This card is one I water-colored and then splattered with watered-down watercolors and it's for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Sprinkles and Splatters. 
The stamp set is Winter Joy by Penny Black and I embossed it on Arches hot press watercolor paper.

Blended Seasons - Watercolor

Hello, thanks for visiting my blog! I've got two different water-colored cards to share today using the Blended Seasons stamp set from Stampin' Up and I've water-colored these with Sakura's Koi watercolors on Arches hot press watercolor paper. Here's the two cards:

 The first card uses the basketweave 3D embossing folder with Pool Party cardstock for the background. I embossed the floral image with black embossing powder on the watercolor paper and after painting it, I used Coliro Pearlcolors to add the shimmer. I fussy-cut the image out very close to the edges. The sentiment is from the same set, stamped in Gorgeous Grape on white cardstock and die cut with Stampin' Up's Stitched Labels Framelets.

The second card uses the same image, again with the Pearlcolors painted over the watercolor and the shine shows more in this photo. Not wanting to fussy-cut this as time-consuming I left the white border. This is affixed to a piece of Marina Mist cardstock that I ran through the Big Shot with another die from the Stitched Labels Framelets. This die just pierces stitching holes in the paper and I like the interest it adds.

Thanks for visiting!

Distress It

This card is water-colored with Distress Oxide inks and is entered in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge, "Distress It." I masked and embossed the images from Simon's "Winter Flowers" with white embossing powder and then painted with the Distress Oxide inks. Then I embossed the "Merry Christmas" sentiment from Altenew's Holiday Wishes set. Then I used Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink to sponge around the edges and finally added some gold embossing on the four edges of the cardstock. I stamped other images from "Winter Flowers" on the matching envelope.

Blended Seasons

Well, the voice over stopped at the end of this video, but you will see how the card is made. It's a little long, but I've included a little information about the watercolor pencils and the advantages of using them instead of traditional watercolors, especially on cardstock that isn't watercolor paper. The card that I make in this video is the fall leaves card that is shown on the previous post. I'm working with two different computers and don't have the photo on this and wanted to get the video online. Sorry about the audio cutting out!

Blended Seasons with Watercolor Pencils

Well, I've been working on a video for these and for some reason it's not working! So, I will keep working on it but thought I'd show you step-by-step how to use Stampin' Up's watercolor pencils on Crumb Cake cardstock. Here's the cards I made to share for today that use the new "Blended Seasons" stamp set and matching dies that became available August 1st. Mine arrived yesterday and so I had to play with them!

The stamp set also includes a bell for a wedding card (or another Christmas one) but I haven't used that yet. Following is a step-by-step for how I made the floral card. First, the materials I used were: Crumb Cake and Bermuda Bay cardstock, Versafine Onyx Black ink, Wink of Stella clear, and watercolor pencils in the colors shown plus the Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie. Each photo will show where I added each individual color.

First I applied the Pacific Point Pencil to the flower centers and any part of the petals that are covered by another petal and the flower buds:

Next Bermuda Bay was blended from the Pacific Point out and in, leaving the highlights with no color:

Then the white was added to the highlight areas of the flower petals:

The centers of the flowers were first colored with Daffodil delight and then Pumpkin Pie was added around the edges.

All the leaves and stems were done with Old Olive:

The open ares of the leaves were where I wanted highlights so I added Daffodil Delight in those areas to blend with the olive and make a lighter yellow-green:

Once I had all the color on the card with the pencils I used a Silver Black Velvet Brush (4 Round) and added water to blend. Note that I used a slightly damp brush and I did not let any pooling of water on the paper. I used light stroking motions, moving from the outer edge of each petal or leaf and dragged the color down into the dark areas where the shadows would be. I also blotted the brush off every time on a paper towel before using it and cleaned off excess color from the brush so as not to put too much pigment on the highlighted areas.

Finally, to give the card a little sparkle, I went over the painted areas with the Wink of Stella. Then I affixed this to a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Bermuda Bay cardstock piece and then to the front of the card base.

Using the watercolor pencils is fast and easy and might be the best way to introduce you into watercolor painting, as it is very forgiving. Notice that I colored the entire image before I added the water to blend. This means you can stamp multiple images and have them ready to go and are able to "color on the go," and blend with the water later. Another advantage to this method is that mistakes are easily corrected as you can erase any color that might stray out of the lines before adding the water. 
Hopefully if I can get the movie to work I'll be able to post the fall Thank You card! Thanks for reading all this and leave a comment if you like as I do read them.

Die Leftovers...

The Nativity set from Simon Says Stamp has been in my stash for months, waiting for me to feel like making Christmas cards. I know it's usually "Christmas in July," for most people, but I just wasn't ready to think about that yet! Anyway, after making the Nativity card the inside of the creche was cardstock I was not willing to waste by throwing it out, especially after I stamped a wood grain on it, so I decided to turn it into a birdhouse. So under each individual card I've explained how I made the card. All cardstock and inks are from Stampin' Up unless otherwise stated. Thanks for looking and I hope you like these!

First card I made was the Nativity one:

I stamped the Holy family in Momento Black ink and colored them with Copic markers and cut them out with the matching dies. I also stamped the star with Momento Black and cut it out with the matching die. I also sponged over the star with More Mustard ink so that the white outlines would not show. I sponged around the Holy Family with Soft Suede ink for the same reason.

I stamped Smokey Slate cardstock with the Hardwood background in Grey Granite ink and cut it out with the creche die. For the outside night scene I blended Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves and Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide inks over a piece of Bristol Smooth cardstock and spritzed it with a fine mist of water and let it dry. I cut off the bottom 1 1/4" of this (which had the Seedless Preserves ink on it) and cut it in half with Memory Box's Stitched Curves dies and glued them together and then glued them back onto the remaining bottom of the "sky" piece.

The background is a stamp that I purchased years ago and don't even know who made it but it gave me the Middle-Eastern look for a wall that I wanted. I used River Rock cardstock (which I have to tell you that I NEVER use as I don't like the color, but it has that "yellowish" tint to it that I thought would give a sandstone look. I used Soft Suede ink on that stamp and "slid" the pad across the stamp instead of pouncing it over it and stamped off 1st on a piece of scrap. That way the solid stamp gave me the mottled look. I sponged around the background in Soft Suede ink and mounted everything on a piece of Baked Brown Sugar cardstock. I stamped the greeting from the Nativity set in Versafine Onyx Black ink.

I made a dozen of the Nativity card so I had a dozen "house shapes" that already had the wood grain stamped on them, so I sponged around them with Soft Suede ink, added a black 1" circle and a Soft Suede 1/2" circle to the front, a scrap of  Smokey Slate for the pole, sponged to give it a dimensional look. And I used the roof edge of the creche die to cut out just the roof and glued it to the top of the birdhouse. I used Glossy Accents and drizzled a fine line along the top of the roof, dipped it in a white flock and then in Nuvo Pure Sheen glitter (Ice White).

The background is Bristol Smooth which I blended Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide on the top half and then stamped the Tree Line stamp from Paper Roses in Smokey Slate ink across it. I liked this stamp as it was not just a line of spruce trees but had the winter bare-branch trees with them.

The roof and backing are both Handsome Hunter cardstock but the photo makes it look blue. Anyway, the bird is Hero Arts Color Layering Cardinal which I cut out with the matching dies. I stamped the first layer in Poppy Parade, the 2nd in Real Red, and the 3rd in Cherry Cobbler. I also trimmed any of the white cardstock around the edges as I did not want white trim around it and then sponged around the edge with Soft Suede ink. I added two foam pieces behind only the body to hold it up and bent the edges of the bird back for a more realistic look.

Finally, I stamped the pine branches, also from the Hero Arts Color Layering Cardinal set in Old Olive ink and added the red bow.

So now I have 24 of my Christmas cards done and a bunch more to go!!

Watercolor Backgrounds

Watercoloring backgrounds around images can be stressful... you've watercolored the entire image and then often don't know what to do with the background, so we try watercoloring it and find we often mess it all up. I've done that! This image from Concord & 9th's Hello Lovely stamp set was heat embossed with white embossing powder on the smooth side of a piece of watercolor paper.

I used Zig's Clean Color watercolor brushes and a plain water brush to color the image and then used two of the same brushes to add color to the background by dragging and blending the ink out away from the image. Then it needed more in the background so I used those two colors of ink and added a green and scribbled them on an acrylic block and spritzed the block with water. I picked up each color on a brush and sprinkled the background for a splattered look.

The sentiment is from the same set and was embossed in white on black cardstock and raised up with a piece of foam. Then affixed the entire image to purple cardstock.

This stamp set comes with several "fills" for the flowers and leaves for a very simple "sloppy watercolor" look and that card is below as a single-layer very simple card. Again, the sentiment is from the same set. This card is entered in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge, "Make Your Own Background." Thanks for looking!

Single layer card:

Simply Embossed Backgrounds

Although the coloring of this image took a while, as the image has such small flowers and leaves, but coloring with Copics worked as they have such a sharp point. The stamp set is Concord & 9th's Happy Days and the background is die cut with Simon Says Stamp's Frames and the center panel is embossed with Stampin' Up's Tufted 3D embossing folder. The gold inlay was also cut from the Frames die set. This card is entered into this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Make Your Own Background. Embossing folders are simple ways to create interesting backgrounds, especially when part of the background is not embossed while another part is. Nested dies allow you to do this easily.

Wild Things...

This week the Monday challenge for Simon Says Stamp is for Wild Things, so I've made some cards for that. I often stamp a bunch of images all at once to color in later and this past week I stamped a lot of images from Simon Says Stamp's Encouraging Animals. I colored the images with Copics and cut them out with the matching die set.

These images make great cards for children of all ages. The first card uses two bees from the set and the background die used is the hexagon background from Stampin' Up, which is discontinued (sorry). The paper used is So Saffron, also from Stampin' Up. I embossed the sentiment in white and cut it out with the stitched fish-tail die set from Lawn Fawn.

 

 Then there's my favorite, the toucan, with the Leaf Frame cover die from Altenew. I modified the sentiment a bit by only stamping the word "toucan" from the Encouraging Animals set and then used Stampin' Up's Thoughtful Banners with the matching punch for the rest of the sentiment. After stamping the banner, I sponged Broken China Distress Oxide ink over it and added clear embossing powder to give it some shine.

Final "Wild Thing" is the whale. I used Hero Arts wave stencil to add waves in Broken China and Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink and sponged the sky with Tumbled Glass Oxide ink. I added the Swirly Scribbles die cut in white from Stampin' Up over the waves.

Peruvian Lillies

So this week my new order from Altenew arrived and I was so excited to use the Peruvian Lily stamp set and matching dies. It is a multi-layer stamp set, which I must confess I've had a little trouble with in the past. I guess you can teach an "old dog" new tricks as I had a "DUH" moment! I know you'll think, "How dumb could she be?" after I tell you what I learned: If you are using a stamp positioning tool to make multiple images from multi-layer stamps you need to make sure THE PAPER IS THE EXACT SAME SIZE!

Maybe you've struggled with having these types of stamps line up, maybe  not. I realized that if my paper is off by 1/16" in measurement then the stamps do not line up correctly. Well, I am now in love with multi-layer stamps, especially this set!

Here's some cards I made with the set and I also used Simon Says Stamp's Frames die set and Stampin' Up's 3D embossing folder "tufted." The paper is all from Stampin' Up, the gold frame is Stampin' Up's 12 x 12 gold cardstock.
Thanks for looking and if you like, leave a comment!

The purple flowers are done with Altenew's Crisp Dye ink. I like this ink as you can get up to 4 colors in the same family that go together. The rest of the inks are Stampin' Up.

Bragging Rights

I just love the Art Impressions "old ladies" stamps... maybe because I'm becoming one!! Anyway, this card has a background made with Distress Oxide inks and the image is stamped in Momento Tuxedo Black ink as I colored the images with Copic markers. The verse is embossed in white and is from Rubbernecker stamps, which I only stamped the first two lines of on the outside of the card on black cardstock. The inside of the card has the rest of the lines of the verse, "I still fit in the earrings I wore in high school." I've entered this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes challenge for this week. Thanks for looking!

No-Line Watercolor Poppies

This card uses a Penny Black Poppy stamp that I stamped with Antique Linen Distress Oxide ink twice on a piece of 140 lb cold press watercolor paper. After watercoloring it with Koi Water Colors by Sakura I added Broken China Distress Oxide ink around the image. The sentiment from Rubbernecker Stamps was stamped in black and cut out with Stampin' Up's small stitched oval die. This card is entered in the Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday challenge for this month.

Christmas In July

So, I'm not ready for Christmas yet, are you?! I'm not even ready for summer to be over! BUT, here's a card to maybe get us thinking about the 21 weeks left until Christmas! I used Distress Oxide inks to blend the colors on the background and then stamped the holly and berries from Christmas Blueprint Sketch, sprayed with a mist of Shimmer Mist and then used the Festive layering stencil to add white embossing paste. The embossing paste shows the Distress Oxide inks through it, even though it is not the transparent. I was hoping for white embossed image, but it's one of those happy mistakes!
The die cut is from Penny Black and I am entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge, Christmas in July. Thanks for looking!

Die or Punch?!

This card uses a background die from Birch Press (Dazzle A) and the word die is from Avery Elle. I used a piece of 110 lb. Neenah white cardstock that I used Distress Oxides on to blend all those colors together and then adhered it with Stick-It to a piece of white craft foam. Then I ran it through the die cutting machine and added glue to the pieces I wanted on the front of the card and lifted the die off. I layered two words from black cardstock and added two layers of clear embossing powder to the word and heat set. The "You Are" was embossed in white on a piece of black cardstock and is from the Stampin' Up set Thoughtful Banners. This card is entered into this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. Thanks for looking!!

Add a Little Sparkle

This card is for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, "Add a Little Sparkle," and uses Stampin' Up's older shell set and Jar of Love set. I masked and stamped the shells and colored them with Copics and to make the sand at the bottom of the jar I  mixed clear embossing powder with Elizabeth's Crafts Sand Dune microfine silk glitter and used a Versamark pen to adhere it to the cardstock and then heat set. I adhered it to a piece of black cardstock and then onto a piece of wood grain double-sided paper.

Summer Fun

Good morning! This early-morning shell seeker scene uses older Stampin' Up stamps and a Distress Oxide background. I created the background on a piece of Bristol Smooth cardstock by masking off the sand, sea and sky. Then I used the "waves" stamp from Stampin' Up's High Tide and stamped with plain water on the middle ocean section and heat set to get the soft variations in the waves.
Then I stamped the girls in Versafine black because I was going to remove the color and use water-based markers to add the colors back in. I used a paint brush with just water and gently brushed over the girls' dresses and other sections where I wanted to remove the oxide ink, dabbed the areas with a clean paper towel. Then I recolored them with the water-based markers. I added the foam at the edge of the water with Dr. Ph Martin's bleed-proof white ink.
The shells were stamped on a piece of Neenah white cardstock with Momento black and colored with Copics and then fussy-cut out.
The frame is a piece of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Soft Suede cardstock and I cut out the rectangle with Lawn Fawn's Inside-Out rectangle stitched dies. This card is for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday "Fun In The Sun" challenge.

Nothing Says Summer Like...

When summer is in full bloom, it is the hibiscus that blooms. This card is for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Summer Fun challenge. This card was stamped with Janneke Brinkman Stamps "Hibiscus," colored with Altenew's alcohol markers. Then I used Elizabeth Crafts adhesive sheet to completely cover the image and then added the clear  Silk Microfine Glitter from Elizabeth Crafts to completely cover the image. Then I adhered it to a piece of Granny Apple green cardstock.

Stained Glass Technique

Hello, and sorry for the extra long video, but I decided to not do a "voice over" and there's some information you might be interested in, especially in the type of dies to choose.  This is the card we will be making on the 27th, so be sure to sign up if you are coming to class!

Wednesday's Red White and/or Blue

Happy Independence Day! This crazy bird  looks like he's watching the parade go by! This is a card for Simon Says Stamp Wednesday's Challenge, Red, White, and/or Blue. I used Concord & 9th's background plaid stamp in Brilliant Blue ink and used a crazy bird from Tim Holtz's Crazy Birds set and the flag and sunglasses from the crazy bird accessories and all the matching dies. Sentiment is from the matching sentiments.

Red, White & Blue

Here's a card I made for Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge, Red White or Blue. This card uses Our Daily Bread background flag stamp, an old Stampin' Up star that I embossed with pewter embossing powder, and a couple of old Stampin' Up postage stamps. I used Distress Ink in Vintage Photo around the edges.

Anything Goes

This week the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is "Anything Goes," using W Plus 9 stamps. As I've posted this set before, you must know it's one of my favorites to color in. I just love the set of flowers in Kind Soul. Actually, I liked it so much I went back to purchase the matching die, however decided to stamp a single layer card with the flowers hanging off all around the edges. I colored all the flowers with Copic markers and the blue background is also B00 and blended into B0000 toward the center. The greeting is also in this set of stamps.
"Single Layer" is a misnomer for this as I stamped the image with Momento Black on Bristol Smooth cardstock. The only problem with Copics, as you know is that they bleed to the other side, so after coloring the 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece I adhered it to the front of an A2 card base.
 Thanks for looking!

Recessed Magnolia

I've been trying out the new Silk Microfine Glitter from Elizabeth Craft Designs and this card uses the crystal clear. I stamped the image in Momento Black ink with Avery Elle's Magnolia and colored it with Copic markers. I also stamped the image on a piece of Granny Apple green cardstock in the same position. Then I used the matching die to cut the stamped image out of the green cardstock and also a piece of craft foam, which I glued to the back of the green cardstock.
I used a piece of Elizabeth Craft Designs adhesive sheets and completely covered the stamped and colored image, set it in a box lid and sprinkled on the glitter. After shaking off the excess glitter into a coffee filter I rubbed my finger over the front of the image to "polish" the glitter into the adhesive. I don't think the photo shows how shiny and glittery it is, but it's really a beautiful finish. It gives a slight "hazy" but sparkly finish to a stamped image, where the Wink of Stella just adds sparkle but doesn't give that haze.

Life's Short

The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge this week is for a food/drink theme card so I pulled out an older set (Perfect Blend by  Stampin' Up) and stamped the image on Crumb Cake cardstock with Soft Suede ink and then again on vanilla cardstock and fussy-cut out the pieces of vanilla. I don't remember where I got the "Life's Too Short..." stamp but it fits as my son-in-law and his friend own Recess Coffee in Syracuse, NY., and we all know GOOD coffee isn't cheap!! Thanks for looking and leave a comment or questions and visit Recess!

Bright & Cheerful Sweet Pea

Here's a card using Stampin' Up's new Granny Apple green that is bright and clean. This card is entered in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Bright & Cheerful challenge and features a stamp set from Hero Arts with matching dies. I also used Hero Arts Infinity Circle die set to cut out the circle and the frame from gold mirror paper. Thanks for looking, have a Bright & Cheerful Day!!

All Framed Up!

This shaker card was made by cutting a piece of Coastal Cabana cardstock 4 times with the curved stitched die from Memory Box's Stitched Curves. The background was done with alcohol inks on yuppo paper with teals, green, and gold mixative. Also, I cut the Big Hello (Memory Box) out of gold mirror paper and the background die from Bermuda Bay cardstock. I doodled "dots" around the letters with a white gel pen. I have entered this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday "Frame It" Challenge.  Thanks for looking, if you like it, leave a comment!

Anything but a Card??

So, I've often said that if something holds still long enough I will stamp on it! Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge this week surprised me as I had to come up with something that wasn't a card. So it's a good thing I hadn't thrown out this box of "junk" from my stamp room as I found this wooden bird house sitting there, so here's what I created with a stamp set with matching dies (Simon's Even More Spring Flowers), some Copic coloring, and some paint and Mod Podge. Also, I wanted to make the roof look a little rustic, so I colored some DAP spackling paste with some grey ink. (I could have used some actual texture paste, but I didn't have enough of it and this is less expensive!)

Bright & Beautiful

Evidently I love coloring this stamp, so I use it often! This is another version of WPlus9's Kind Soul, this time colored with Altenew's alcohol markers (Set A) that were on sale this week, so I had to try them!! I cut the sentiment from Avery Elle "Hugs" die and the order in black and white cardstock and added to the front. This could be done as a single layer card, but the alcohol markers always show through to the other side, so I colored it on a piece of Bristol smooth and then put it on a top-folding white card base. I added clear Wink of Stella to the flowers, but know that it's difficult to get just the right angle so it shows. I am entering this in Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge for this week. Thanks for looking!

Wedding Best Wishes

If you have some watercolor backgrounds around or some Brusho or Ken Oliver color bursts that you've played with and now don't know what to do with your creations, here's an idea: Cut a fancy die from a piece of vanilla  or white cardstock (I used Stampin' Up's Window Box die set) and then used a stitched rectangle die to cut the entire piece out. I affixed it over my Color Burst background that I did on watercolor paper. Then I used another section of the watercolor paper and cut out the Best Wishes with Impression Obsession's Best Wishes die. Finally, I affixed the entire piece to a piece of craft foam and then onto the front of a vanilla 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" side-folding note card.
Again, I am entering this card into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anniversary-Wedding challenge.

Anniversary-Wedding Challenge 3

Here's another card for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anniversary-Wedding challenge. This card uses Pool Party cardstock and the silver foil behind is from Gina K Fancy Foils (Silver Sequins) that was added after I put Deco Foil transfer gel over a piece of Pool Party cardstock with a Simon Says Stamp Circular Lace stencil. I cut the heart with a Memory Box die (Vernay Heart) out of shimmery white cardstock. I added tiny dots to the center of the flowers with Nuvo Crystal Drops in "silver lining." The top pieces of Pool Party cardstock I cut with Memory Box "Stitched Curves" dies. Finally, I stamped the greeting on a piece of vellum and embossed it in white. This was an older Stampin' Up stamp.

Another Anniversay/Wedding

This card is entered into the Simon Says Stamp Anniversary Wedding Wednesday Challenge.
I stamped the flowers from a W-Plus 9's Kind Soul and colored it with watercolors on Bristol  Smooth cardstock, and added shading with colored pencils.
The verse is cut with Impression Obsession's "All The Best" die and I layered 2 layers of white cardstock and then added one layer of Gorgeous Grape cardstock. I added some white gel pen to the stamens of the purple flowers, added some clear Wink of Stella to the purple flowers and affixed the piece to a piece of cantaloupe cardstock and then onto some Gorgeous Grape cardstock, and onto a white top-folding card base. Then I added some flat confetti pieces from Honey Bee's Carousel Lights. 

Floral Anniversary or Wedding

This card is entered in Simon Says Stamp's Anniversary/Wedding Wednesday Challenge.
It's that time of year when we receive wedding invitations, and of course since June weddings are popular, many anniversaries are throughout the summer. This card is simple to make with the background sky made with blending Distress Oxide inks and then stamping a simple silhouette in black ink over top. I used a Penny Black stamp (A Little Secret) and for the verse I gold embossed the large sentiment from Mama Elephant's Wishing You set and white embossed a companion verse from that set on black cardstock and raised it up with foam tape. Finally, I affixed the entire piece onto a piece of Gorgeous Grape cardstock and onto a side-folding note card. Thanks for looking!