We Can Do This Seahorse Encouragement Card

I had fun making this encouragement card and started by stamping the school of fish with a stamp by Designs by Ryn on a square blue background, then applied Nuvo Boatyard Blue Expanding Mousse through a Prima stencil. I heated the Expanding Mousse with a heat gun which makes it raised and bubbly for great texture. I stamped a few extra fish, cut them out and attached them with pop dots so they were raised above the rest. "We can do this" is a stamp from Gina K. Designs and was layered on a blue rectangle before attaching. 

The seahorse is a Sizzix Tim Holtz die cut out of chipboard and covered with Seth Apter Deep Sea Embossing Powder and some Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing powder which I melted with a heat gun. While it was still molten, I stamped with a Rubber Stamper Geometric Swirl Stamp for awesome texture and added a pearl for his eye. The completed card front was attached to a square dark blue card base.

I am entering this card in the May Take It Make It Challenge at Craft Stamper Magazine. 

Brutus Monroe Fantastic Foiled Cards With New Designer Toner Sheets

In addition to the three fantastic Sketch colors of Deco Foil that Brutus Monroe and Therm O Web just released (and featured in my blogpost yesterday here), they have also introduced many new Designer Toner Sheets with funky patterns like the Crosshatch Designer Toner Sheets as I share in my newest video here. I show step by step how to create this card with triangle dies from Reverse Confetti and a layered sentiment die from Creative Expressions. Here is the same Crosshatch Designer Toner Sheet in the clear version with Purple Sketch Deco Foil:

I love how different colors of the Sketch Foil and versions of the Designer Toner Sheets create a totally different and unique card! I used a Penny Black Bashful Daisy die and a sentiment die from Impression Obsession on this card. 

I needed a masculine teen card to congratulate my grandson for achieving his black belt recently and used all three colors of the new Brutus Monroe Sketch Foils and the new Paint Brushed Designer Toner Sheet to make this card. I applied black Gina K Designs/Therm O Web Glitz Glitter Gel through a Dina Wakley wave stencil to create the "black belt" and the "congrats" was made with a die from Karen Burniston. Here is the inside of this special card for my grandson:

Needless to say I am very proud of my grandson and he loved his personalized card from Grandma. 

 

Video - Fantastic Foiled Cards with New Brutus Monroe and Deco Foil

I am loving the new foils and Designer Toner Sheets from Brutus Monroe and Deco Foil and I share many fantastic cards made with these new products from Therm O Web in my newest video here. 

I used the new Brutus Monroe Silver Sketch foil with Deco Foil Transfer Gel and a new stencil from Gina K Designs and Therm O Web to make this lovely sympathy card. I show how easy it is to do that in the video and then show how to take the remaining foil and a Deco Foil Toner Sheet to create a card similar to this one:

The stencil used with the negative of the Brutus Monroe Green Sketch foiled card front is a favorite from Stencil Girl. The "celebrate" die on the front is from Tonic Studios and the Happy Birthday on the inside is by Karen Burniston.

The third new color of Sketch Foils from Brutus Monroe and Deco Foil is Purple Sketch and I made this card with it and new stamps and stencils from Gina K Designs and Therm O Web. To see many more cards and how easy it is to make fantastic cards with these new products, watch here.

I am entering the 2nd card in the Birthday challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

Cards 4 Dads From the Kids OR Anything Goes 4 Kids at SAS4Kids

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! Again this year, all challenges at SAS4Kids are Anything Goes 4 Kids! We will often have an alternative theme that you can choose to follow, but are not required to. Create and link any card that is appropriate for a child and your card could be chosen as one of our top three cards and you could join us as a guest dt member on a future challenge. We are also changing to a monthly challenge so new challenges will be posted on the first Saturday of every month and you will have a whole month to make and link your cards.

The theme for this challenge is: For Dads from the Kids OR Anything Goes 4 Kids.

I made this card for a special Dad using new dies from Karen Burniston including the Rockin’ Rectangle Die Set and the Argyle Border Blends. When the card is opened, the Dad panel pops up and out in a fun interactive way.

Be sure to check out the rest of the cards from TEAM SAS here and we would love it if you entered our challenge.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Scrapy Land.

 

Celebrating 20 Years of Stamping as the Best New Stamper in Rubber Stamp Madness Magazine

Guess who is the Best New Stamper in the Summer 2019 issue of Rubber Stamp Madness?  I am celebrating 20 years of stamping and cardmaking this month with that rather ironic title- check it out here. I remember the first stamping I ever did was to make my son's graduation announcements in 1999! What the title of "Best New Stamper" really means is this is the first time I have been published in this magazine and I was honored to have this card chosen for their Backgrounds feature:

RSM interviews their artists and The Best New Stamper so I am thrilled to be featured on pages 33 and 61 of this issue. I love to create unique backgrounds and this one was made with Nuvo Misted Mauve and Bramley Apple Expanding Mousse through stencils by Altenew and Heidi Swapp. The stamps were all from the Visible Image Jazz It Up Stamp Set and the paper was from the Notable Notes Paper Pad from Our Daily Bread. 

I remember buying this Visible Image stamp set at Valley Stamp and Scrap in Neenah and so was so happy to see them chosen as the featured stamp shop on page 67!

There are only a few stamping magazines left in publication so I am very proud to be published in this issue of Rubber Stamp Madness and hope you get a copy and check out all the great inspiration in it! 

Glitz Glitter Gels, Stencils and Tonic Studios Layered Strip Dies

As I show in my latest YouTube video, I am loving the new Glitz Glitter Gels from Gina K Designs and Therm O Web and on these two cards I also feature another new favorite: Sentiment Strip Dies from Tonic Studios. Each one has a scripty font and a layer you can choose to use or not. I sponged purple ink through a Newton's Nook balloon stencil, then moved it over and applied Wild Lilac Glitz Glitter Gel through it for the colorful textured background on this card. I die cut "Celebrate" and its coordinating layer and added a couple more glitzy glittery balloons I cut out. On the inside is a favorite Happy Birthday die from Karen Burniston and another glittery balloon:

To make this lovely wedding card, I applied white Glitz Glitter Gel through a stencil from TCW and Gabrielle Pollaco onto a December Skies Tonic Studios Craft Perfect cardstock. I cut the background into strips and added some hearts and Tonic Studio's Always Sentiment Strip Die. I love layered sentiment dies and added Mr. & Mrs. Layered Dies from Honey Bee Stamps on the inside of this wedding card:

To see many more cards with the new Glitz Glitter Gels, be sure to watch my video here. I hope you give them a try!

I am entering the first card in the Happy Birthday challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

See Karen Burniston Dies and My Cards at Milwaukee's Stamp and Scrapbook Expo This Weekend!

If you are anywhere near Milwaukee WI this Friday and Saturday, you should check out the It's Cheaper Than Therapy booth at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo to see all of Karen Burniston's awesome dies (as well as many other companies' products) and see if you can find some of my handmade cards like these:

I was honored to be contacted by Maria of It's Cheaper Than Therapy (so true!) and asked to make some cards using Karen Burniston's dies for her booth when she does stamp shows. I made the birthday card above with Karen's new Oval Frames Pop Up Die as well as many other KB dies. 

This baby card was made with the new Circle Tag Book Pop-up and Baby Charms dies. As with most of Karen Burniston's dies, the real magic happens when the card is opened:

Super cute, right? I am entering the first card in the Happy Birthday challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.