forgotten but not gone (3)

 A few more cards that seem to have been forgotten in my photo file...

Today I'm sharing two techniques you might want to revisit. The first is one of my faves learned from the oh-so-talented Yana S. - random stamping. And while you're at it, make a whole sheet and turn it into four cards. I shared a spotlight tutorial on this over at STAMPlorations if you're interested.

First stamp all over keeping in mind where the four card panels will be.

Cut and adhere your panels.

Add sentiments and you've got a set.

Hero Arts Bird and Branch stamp

floral stamps

Stempelkueche sentiment stamp

Speaking of sets. Here's one made with a solid stamp image using selective inking and spritzing to achieve a truly watercolored look.

Altenew Watercolor Wonders stamp

Altenew Super Script sentiment stamp

Distress Inks

Happy weekend!  

sympathy cards stamped with real leaves

I've got a set of stamped-with-real-leaves sympathy cards to share with you this Friday. It's true, once you start doing this, you cannot stop. I loved the serene look of the print made with the Smoke bush leaf, so I pulled out some pastel CS and this happened.

Leaves

Catherine Pooler Spa inks

RKartenkunst Trauer stamp

And because I liked the simple design so much, and need sympathy cards so often... 

Have you tried this yet? 

I'm heading to:

Papercraft Challenge - Herbst/Fall

Inkspirational - #197

a simple design for a simple stamped sympathy card

Summer programming ...

Here's a simple sympathy card using one of my favorite designs - a bloom with a sentiment as a stem. I've done this here and here and here too.

.Altenew Striped Florals stamp 

Kartenkunst Trauer stamp

Have a great weekend!

spellbinders heart like a wildflower - positive negative

I was lucky to get the Spellbinders Heart like a Wildflower etched die from the Stephanie Low collection to play with and today I have two more card ideas for you that showcase the fun you can have with die cut positives and negatives. Seems like so often I find myself more inspired by the negatives!

Here is the die. For today's cards I used only the die on the bottom left! 

In this post I mentioned that when test driving the intricate dies, the first thing I noticed was the cool negative space they make. (Those two dies on the top are to create "shadows" for the intricate dies and though I will have examples of that too, I'm still just playing with the positive and negatives of the intricate leaf and wildflower branches.) So I cut the leaf branch from a black rectangle.

Because I needed another sympathy card, I used the same design idea and made this with the positive die cut.

  Spellbinders Heart like a Wildflower Etched die

Kartenkunst Trauer stamp
Distress Oxides

Then I die cut a few more and used the negatives...

Spellbinders Heart like a Wildflower Etched die

Hero Arts All Occasion Messages stamp
PP
gold embossing powder

washi

I added a tropical PP to my cardbase and foam mounted the negatives. I added a heat embossed sentiment on a strip of washi and voila! I love the mix of B/W graphic with the natural elements, don't you?

Thank you to Team Spellbinders for this lovely die to create with. I'm joining in at:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Anniversary/Wedding

Daring Cardmakers - Tropical
Crafty Hazelnut's PP Challenge - June
Happy Little Stampers - June AG with Dies

Crafter's Cafe - Tic Tac Toe (I've used white, PP and embossing)

2 Sisters on the blog - #16

spellbinders heart like a wildflower - rainbow

I was lucky to get the Spellbinders Heart like a Wildflower etched die from the Stephanie Low collection to play with and I have two super easy card ideas for you that showcase the watercolor with black as well as the nature with graphic combos that I love so much. And I used up some artsy backgrounds from my stash in the process!

Here is the die. For today's cards I used only the die on the right! 

When I did a test drive of that die, the first thing I noticed was the cool negative space it makes. So I cut it from a black rectangle and backed it with a smooshed Distress Oxide piece from my stash.

  Spellbinders Heart like a Wildflower Etched die

Kartenkunst Trauer stamp
Distress Oxides
PP snippet

I added a strip of striped PP to the edge of the panel and ran my sympathy sentiment vertically too.

Then I used the positive die cut as a silhouette in the foreground of a bright watercolored strip. Inspired by this card I made a bit ago.

Spellbinders Heart like a Wildflower Etched die

STAMPlorations Trendy Spring Blooms stamp
watercolors

washi

I added a heat embossed sentiment on vellum and a touch of gold/black graphic washi for balance at the base of the focal panel. It took me forever to figure out exactly how I wanted to do my sentiment on this thank you card, but it's super easy to recreate if you like the idea ;) I blogged about the watercolored piece here.

Thank you to Team Spellbinders for this lovely die to create with. I'm joining in at:

Pinspirational - #216 (card #1)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Anything Goes

Watercooler Wednesday - Anything Goes

sympathy card with blossom sprays

Needed a quick sympathy card and STAMPlorations Blossom Spray #3 came to the rescue.

Don't you agree that this spray of lilies works well for a sympathy card? I applied a light wash of Victorian Velvet Distress Ink and stamped a KartenKunst sentiment.

Stay tuned for a birthday card using this stamp...

the heart desires beachy challenge - take one

Ahhh summer! I realize it's only true in my hemisphere. But doesn't this mood board just scream summertime? And oh that touch of Wilted Violet ;)

I had to play along with The Heart Desires challenge #14, not only cuz I missed last month's but cuz it's the store's first anniversary so all the more reason to join the fun. Their challenge mood boards are always gorgeous, don't you agree?

Well my first inclination was to pull out some Lilypad digi papers which I discovered through Kate L. I thought the color scheme kinda fit. Though beachy it's not.

(I also watercolored some seashells with my Gansai Tambi but they didn't "work" with my digi papers, so I turned them into two additional cards you'll see tomorrow.)

Decided to channel my inner Kate and play around with PP and layers.

On my first card I just started die cutting some panels.... big print, neutral print...

Added a strip of washi, a piece of die cut vellum, some die cut stems and a circle and then topped it all off with a heat-embossed-on-vellum seashell and "hugs" cut from cardstock I'd swiped some Wilted Violet Distress Oxide onto.

And needing a sympathy card I layered a stripe cover die cut from woodgrain cardstock over the darkest PP from the pack.

Added a single white stem and a heat embossed sentiment on ripped vellum. I've only partially adhered the die cuts so there is movement to the design. I really like how the artsy PP works paired with the graphic white stripes. Did I capture the striped-beach-towel-summery-feeling?

crazy double stitched rectangle die

 polka dot cover plate die

slender leaves die

circle die

hugs die

Herbology digi paper

seashell

striped cover plate die

sympathy sentiment stamp

I'm hooking these cards up at Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Die Cuts. Thanks for visiting. Hope you're enjoying your weekend. We had a lovely summery one. And beer!

sympathy cards

When I return from a visit to Michigan, my mojo always suffers from a bad case of jet lag. Checked out some challenges to get me creating cuz unfortunately, I needed a few sympathy cards.

Went to CASe this Sketch and saw this.

And the code word at Addicted to CAS is

So it was pretty easy to come up with this card thanks to Winnie and Walter Big, Bold and Comfort and its die.

Then I checked out CAS Mix Up and CASology.

Out came the watercolors in soft shades of gray to make more ombre backgrounds and these cards were born. They are going to DH's cousins who lost their mom.

I masked off areas on the fronts with painters tape before heat embossing and watercoloring (and even splattering on the last card). The first card's image is from Clearly Wordsworth Poetry of the Earth. The second uses Altenew Freeform Greenery. Sentiments are from KartenKunst.

Notice the yellow in the last card? That was in a nod to the November Altenew challenge which celebrates Summer in the Winter - like my Schneewittchen rose that blooms into December in my yard. Sympathy cards in Germany tend to stick to black and white, but Tante Hilde was a bubbly gal so I think a spot of yellow is allowed amidst the gray.

Thanks for coming by today. Have a great Thanksgiving if you're celebrating. Eat some turkey and sweet potatoes (and stuffing and beans and cranberry relish and pumpkin pie and cornbread muffins....) for me too, will ya?

more zig clean brush pen fun

Did you see my card yesterday? Inspired by the MIM #251 I watercolored a panel with Zig markers and die cut it. Today's card is made with yesterday's leftovers ;)

I still felt that this design made for a good sympathy card, so I simply added a sentiment heat embossed on vellum to the panel before adhering it to my cardbase.

I'm sharing this card at:
Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Monochromatic
Cards in Envy - Deep Blue and mailable
Fusion -  Something Blue

Supplies:
watercolor CS for kids from Target, Zig Clean Color Brush pens, water, brush, PTI Mighty Oak die, vellum, stamp KartenKunst