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Fall Dahlias

I’m up on the Memory Box blog today with a floral card for fall. Dahlias are one of my favorite flowers, and the dahlias are the latest of the flowers to bloom here in Western New York. They don’t begin to bloom until mid-August and then bloom right through September if all goes well.

The Dahlia Stems Cling Stamp creates a 6X6 image. I used the Dahlia Stems Art Stencil to color the image, using just two inks with a light hand for the first stencil, and a heavier hand with the second stencil. Next I added some additional color to each petal with Copic markers. The leaves got a lighter emphasis at the bottom of each leaf.

The Happy Fall Stylish Script was die cut from the same cardstock, but I deepened the color with some ink blending. After adding the sentiment to the vellum shadow, I added it to the card. This sentiment lends itself to any number of occasions based on what you choose for the inside sentiment or in a personal note. 

Warm Wishes

Yesterday I was on the Memory Box blog with one of my favorite images from the Christmas Charm release, the Heirloom Candle Holder. I knew right away, it would make an elegant Christmas card. 

All the pieces were die cut from Bristol cardstock and ink blended before assembling. I used some metallic gold watercolor to splatter a piece of cream cord stock. While that dried I cut one of the Nested Globes from an A2 panel of black paper to create a frame for the candle.

Before adding the candle to the card, I die cut a piece of holly from the Evergreen Holly Bundle and some berries from the Pine and Berries Sprigs to tuck behind the candle. The Warm Wishes Gold Foil Greeting Tab finished the card. 

Another card for the Christmas stash which is not growing as fast as it should be! And another card for NBUS–a first for the Heritage Candle, but surely not the last.

Holiday Robin

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I pulled out the Memory Box Holiday Robin for my post on the Memory Box blog today. I thought this charming fellow with his Santa hat and scarf would look great perched on the Pine Berry Branch from last year’s Christmas release. 

After die cutting, I ink blended all the individual pieces, and assembled the robin, and then did the same with the pine and berry branch. Then I die cut a Round Eyelet Circle Frame and a slightly smaller Basic Circle die from white cardstock and layered them on a Cherry Red card base. I placed Mr. Robin on one of the berry branches with dimensional tape. I snipped the evergreens from a second branch and tucked them behind the robin.


 Next, I added some berries from the Pine and Berries Sprigs (from this year’s release), die cut from Cherry Red cardstock with a coat of Nuvo Crystal Glaze for some dimension. A Gold Foiled Black Tab from the Holiday Wishes set finished the card. 

This is my second helping, as my friend Michele would say, to The Card Concept Challenge: Christmas in July (extending into August). And it’s another Clean and Layered Card.

Christmas Holly Arch

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I’m on the Memory Box blog today with another Christmas card created with several products from the new Christmas Cheer release. I started with one of the white Nested Globes which I added to a card base of Cherry Red cardstock—a perfect Christmas red.


After die cutting the holly from a pretty green paper in the Greenery Paper Pad, I added some ink blending to the base of the holly leaves.  To arrange the holly around the top of the arch, I needed to snip some of the holly branches apart and reassemble them so they would follow the curve of the globe. 


By applying a darker red ink to red cardstock from the Blush Paper Pad I created an ombre panel for die cutting the sentiment. I added it to a vellum shadow layer and then to the white globe. I splattered some gold watercolor paint to create some interest on the white panel which would have been much easier if I had done it before adding the globe to the card base! The beautiful new Perky Bow was added to the center of the arch along with some gold berries. To balance the design I added a holly leaf and some berries to accent the sentiment as well as some gold berries to the holly on the arch.

I’m adding this to the gallery at The Card Concept for the optional challenge: Christmas in July (the challenge is open until the end of August). It’s a Clean and Layered card inspired by the colors red, green, gold, and white. One more Christmas card for the stash!

The Wishful Snowman

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It’s definitely unusual, but this is the second post for today! One of the dies from the Memory Box’s new Christmas Cheer release is a cute snowman, The Wishful Snowman.”  This card went up on the Memory Box blog this morning. I opted to keep it simple, creating a landscape of glittering snow, bare tree branches, and a bright blue sky. 

Although the glittering snowflakes in the sky are hard to detect in the photo, they doe reflect the light when the card is in your hand. I added a gold star to the snowman’s hand. This Wishful Snowman is sending lots of good vibes for a Merry Christmas.

I’m way behind on creating Christmas cards. A couple of years ago I started creating sets of cards each month, so by now, I’d have nearly 70 cards in my stash. Not so much this year, so every single one is a win. I’m sending this off to Addicted to Stamps and More where creating Christmas cards is the current challenge.

Christmas Greenery

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I’m on the Memory Box Blog today with a festive Christmas basket featuring some wonderful new products from the just released Christmas Cheer collection. The Harvest Basket, Pine and Berry Sprigs and Fresh Poinsettia Bundle work together beautifully.  Die cutting, a bit of ink blending, and some glittery snow on the pine branches & it all came together nicely.

All the details are on the Memory Box Blog.

For the last several years, I’ve made 10 Christmas cards each month. By now I’d have 60! I’ve made a few Christmas cards, but not many, so I’m happy to have another in the stash!

I’m sending this off to The Card Concept where Christmas in July is one of the options. I was inspired by the Christmas theme and colors to create a Clean and Layered card.

Thinking of You Shaker Card

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Earlier this week I was on the Memory Box Blog with a shaker card inspired by Laura Bassen for a recent Online Card Class. I had perfect products to CASE Laura’s card. I started with the Raindrop Plate diecuttting it with light blue cardstock and backing it with matte silver which gives the raindrops a wonderful shimmer. The Umbrella Trio had just the right size umbrella which I die cut from red and yellow scraps with some matte silver for the handle. 


I chose a circle from Circle Basics that was the perfect size for the umbrella and cut it from the raindrop panel, and backed it with a piece of acetate. The card base was created with white cardstock, and I layered a piece of blue cardstock to back the shaker.


I added a pile of pretty white sequins to the blue background. After lining the raindrop panel with dimensional tape, I carefully layered in onto the card base. The sentiment is one from the Sunshine and Wildflowers stamp set, stamped in black and then trimmed out. It was added to the card front with thin dimensional tape.


I’d been thinking about using these products for a shaker card for a long time. Once I saw Laura’s card it came together very quickly.

Butterflies and Flowers

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I was on the Memory Box Blog yesterday with a new card showcasing the wonderful Wild Leaves and Brilliant Butterflies along with some white flowers from the Arched Flower Basket.


I was on the Memory Box Blog yesterday with a new card showcasing the wonderful Wild Leaves and Brilliant Butterflies along with some white flowers from the Arched Flower Basket.

Although there’s a lot going on here, it’s still a Clean and Simple design because all the “action” is in the circle. The leaves were die cut from very light yellow cardstock and then ink blended with three shades of green. The butterflies were cut from white cardstock and then ink blended after they were assembled. Another of my favorite Memory Box sentiment tabs finished it off.


There is a detailed description on the Memory Box Blog.

Just a Note

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I’m on the Memory Box blog today with a sentiment-focused notecard using flowers from the Arched Flower Basket, the Woven Flower Basket and the Flower Basket Bouquet dies. I used the largest of the Cinched Frame dies to create a shaped card. The front panel was cut from a pretty teal paper from the Lagoon Paper Pack. I die cut a second frame from white cardstock (so it’s easy to write a note!). I scored about 3/8” down from the top of the white panel to create a hinge and glued the two pieces together.



The next step was to cut a third Cinched Frame in white for the focal panel. I chose a teal cardstock just a shade darker from the Lagoon pack for the sentiment, die cut and stacked three of the Just a Note dies before adding them to the center of the front panel.



Then I just needed to arrange my flowers which were die cut from various papers in the Lagoon, Sunrise, Blush, and Greenery paper pads. I’m sending this off to the Word Power Challenge (focal point is the sentiment) and A Cut Above Challenge—die cuts!

Flower-Filled Watering Can

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It’s my day on the Memory Box blog. I love the Rustic Watering Can die. It’s the perfect size to hold a flower arrangement.


I die cut and assembled a LOT of flowers and foliage from the Arched Flower Basker recently, and chose primarily yellow and orange ones for this bouquet. The watering can was die cut from gray cardstock. I added a little darker ink blending to add some interest and dimension. After creating a card base from white woodgrain cardstock, I die cut a slightly smaller panel with the Heritage Rectangle Frame die and layered it on the card base. Once the watering can was added to the panel, I spent some time arranging the foliage and flowers in the can, tucking some behind others and some peeking out from the top of the watering can.


I chose one of the White Gold Foiled Greeting Tags for the sentiment, adding two tiny flowers as embellishment.

I’m sending this off to AAA Birthday Challenge where they’re celebrating their 6th birthday with an Anything Goes Challenge and to Darnell’s NBUS. The watering can is making its debut.

Two Clean and Simple Cards for Memory Box

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It’s been a wild week, and although I’ve been busy at the crafting table in between commitments (of which there were far too many), I haven’t had a chance to photograph or edit most of them. These two cards went up on the Memory Box Blog on Wednesday. Last year I received a wonderful birthday card which I saved for inspiration. These cards are a close CASE of that card.

I loved the design and decided that one of the many florals in the Arched Flower Basket die would work perfectly for it. I love that just one small die from a large set can be inspiring on its own.

I created the card with yellow flowers first, and then made a smaller version with vellum flowers like the ones on the card I received. 


Both card bases were created with Fresh Snow Linen cardstock from Papertrey Ink. The first one is 5 1/2 X % 1/2 inches with a 5 X 5 panel layered on top with dimensional tape. The flowers were die cut from yellow cardstock in the Sunrise Paper Pack with gold mirror centers. Once the flowers were assembled, I arranged them on the panel, and glued a piece of white cord behind each flower. I tucked the ends under the panel and adhered the panel to the card base. For this card I stamped a small greeting with the Sunshine and Wildflowers stamp set on a strip of cardstock attached with dimensional tape.


I followed the same steps to create the smaller card, creating a 5” x5” card base and a 4 1/4” X 4 1/4” panel. I had a piece of lovely purple vellum in my stash and used that for the florals for the Arched Flower Basket and added Clear Fairy Drops for the centers. I chose one of the Happy Birthday Foil Greetings Black Tabs for this sentiment.


The weather has been less than ideal for Memorial Day. Yesterday it poured and the wind took down trees and power lines–luckily not on our street. There’s been no rain today, but it’s still way too chilly for the end of May and the sun is still hiding out elsewhere. The good news is I’ve gotten a lot done inside!

Just a Note

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I’m up on the Memory Box blog today with a card featuring three of the new products from the Sunkissed Summer release. It has been awhile since I did any watercoloring so I pulled out my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors to create this card.


I die cut the Wild Leaves and one of the Brilliant Butterflies from watercolor paper as well as a background panel. I used three different greens, mixing some together to watercolor the leaves, letting them dry between applications of the watercolor. For the background panel, I used a large brush to watercolor the whole piece in blue. Once it dried I die cut it with new Cinched Frames. The butterfly was last. I used some of the same blue as the background and added a violet to the edges of its wings.


This is off to the Double D Challenge where they want watercolor, and to Darnell’s NBUS–all these products have just been released.


It’s lovely to have some new products to work with, but the name of the release, Sunkissed Summer, is certainly a misnomer here. We’re definitely not close to summertime weather yet. The temps go up and down, but generally is just cool and, too frequently, wet and chilly. It looks like it will improve early next week. The test will be if it can maintain the warm temperatures! We’re off to buy some flowers at our favorite Amish nursery on Friday. I want to be able to put them outside without any fear of frost.

Gifts Galore

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I was on the Memory Box Blog yesterday with a festive birthday card using the Gifts Galore die cut set. I’ve used some pieces of the Gifts Galore die before, but haven’t created a card specifically for them. To start, I die cut all the pieces from white cardstock and colored them with Copic markers before assembling them.


Once that was done, I die cut two circles from the Round Eyelet Circle Frames and layered them on top of one another with some dimensional tape. I created the square cardbase and then added layer of bright green and yellow to the white card. The I spent some time arranging the gifts. Once I was happy with it, I laid a piece of Press n’ Seal over them and flipped it over to add glue to the backs of the gifts. That makes laying them down on the white frames easy peasy.


Finally, I added one of the Happy Birthday White Foil Tabs from Memory Box across the bottom of the circle with dimensional tape. 

I’m sending this off to the AAA Birthday Challenge where they’re celebrating seven years of creating fun challenges for card makers. It’s also off to the Wednesday Simon Says Challenge (they’re looking for Colorful.)

Shaped Poppies Card

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I’m here to share a new card that went up on the Memory Box Blog this morning. Red poppies are my favorites, and I’ve been meaning to get back to the delightful Playful Poppies stamp set. This stamp is large enough for a 5X7 card, but I wanted one that was A2. 


I stamped the image with Copic friendly ink on white cardstock and then placed one of the Nested Globes over the design to decide which part of the design I wanted to highlight. I die cut it before I colored it with Copic markers. It’s been awhile since I did any Copic coloring, so this was lots of fun.


To createdthe card base, I die cut two of the next largest Nested Globes from black cardstock. On one piece I scored about 1/2 inch from the top and folded it back. I applied glue above the fold, and added the other piece to the front. 


I attached the poppy panel to the front of the card base, and added a Black Tab Birthday sentiment. I decided to keep this very Clean and Simple, so didn’t add any embellishments. 

I’m sending this off to Seize the Birthday: Spring Garden, my second entry this round.

A Pocket Full of Poseys

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I’m back on the Memory Box blog with another card using the wonderful floral die cuts from the Woven Flower Basket. This time I created a card with a faux pocket and arranged the flowers at the top edge of the pocket.


The first step was to die cut the flowers from papers in the Lagoon, Blush, Greenery, and Sunrise paper packs. Next I die cut the largest of the Round Eyelet Circle Frames from white cardstock followed by a circle from the Basic Circles Dies just a bit smaller than the Eyelet Frame. I die cut the plain circle with the Pinpoint Flower Plate and cut it to a little more than half to create a pretty pocket which I attached to the Eyelet Frame.


I arranged the flowers and leave on the pocket, some with dimensional tape, and attached one of the cute gold embossed Happy Birthday Greeting Tags, also with some dimensional tape. 

I’m sending this off to the As You See It Challenge where you fill in the blank:

I definitely mail birthday cards more than any other! In fact, I’ll be mailing 14 birthday cards in the month of May! I’m also sending it off to Seize the Birthday: Spring Garden.