Quiet Meadow Cards

I like to buy stamp sets that come with dies that can be used for all sorts of things.  This stamp set, Quiet Meadow and its coordinating dies, Meadow Dies, comes with so many different shaped cut outs.  You can use the dies in this set for backgrounds on a variety of cards, especially flower cards.  There are large dies, fern dies, tall dies, flower dies, butterfly dies and more.  It's really one of the best sets to use.

I love the simplicity and soft colors in this card.  I got the idea from Gina Connor.  It's hard to see, but I embossed the white piece with the Subtle folder.  The butterflies are cut in both cardstock and vellum on the first card to give it a fluttery look.  

On the first card, I put gold ribbons and champagne rhinestones and on the second card, I used silver twine and silver rhinestones.  The first card has dimensionals under the leaf cut out and the second card has them under the gray flower.

For this next card, I wanted to do something simple.  You can see that I cut out the design and used that as the focal point.  I used paper from the Fine Art Floral designer package for the background.  The vertical stamp is from the Create With Flowers set in last year's catalog.  

This is the same card, only using a softer color from the designer pack.  I like the darker one better; it gives the card more contrast and really highlights the cut out.  The idea came from Viv's Visuals on Pinterest.  

For this card, I demonstrated a new embossing technique.  Run your cardstock through an embossing folder and rub it every so gently with the Versamark pad.  Pour on your powders and heat it until they melt.  I used gold embossing powders on my card and I love the vintage look that it gives the card!  This card was a big hit in my stamping class.

I got the idea from Kayla McCreadie.  I can't wait to try this idea on other cards, too.  The cut out flowers are cut from white and gold vellum, giving the card a soft look.  

After I made the card, I thought that it needed vanilla cardstock instead of the white. I softened the edges of the scalloped piece using a blending brush and some gold metallic Encore ink that I had from years ago.

And lastly, I made this sparkly card using copper foil paper for the accent layer and for the small flower cut outs.  The large flower cut out is sparkly rose-colored foil paper that I had from a few years ago.  I stamped the background of the rectangle with the script stamp from Very Versailles.  Then I added some of the script from Quiet Meadow to fill it in.  I embossed the flowers using copper embossing powders.

After I made the card, I thought this one would also look nicer in the vanilla cardstock.  Then I found some shiny papers from Love You Always designer paper pack.  The cards are much prettier in person.  The heat embossing and the foil papers give the cards a wonderful look.  I got this idea from Claire Daly.  

I loved using this set of wonderful dies.  I will be making more things with them, for sure.  Which card did you like the best?  They are all different techniques using the same stamp set and dies.  

 

Honeybee Home

I'm so glad that the stamp set called Honeybee Home has made it into the new catalog for the next year!  I found some pretty samples using this set on Pinterest and this week I put together some cards with my own spin on them.  

The idea for the first card is from Krisi Gray.  I used some blue paper from the Sunshine and Rainbow pack that was available from the last Sale-a-Bration.  I added the pretty hollyhocks and smaller flower (I'm not sure what kind of flowers they are!) and colored them in with Stampin blends.  I love the Hive 3D embossing folder that coordinates with this set.  If you look closely, there are some navy blue and white cut outs from the die set. 

Add the honeybee, some Wink of Stella and a few embellishments and you have a bee-utiful card!  

For my next card I used the Hive 3D folder as a stamp to make the honeycomb look on the background paper.  I just love the subtle honeycomb look.  I stamped two hollyhocks and added some white and vellum sprigs for the background for an easy and elegant card!  I got the idea from Vicki Boucher.

The last card in this series uses some watercolor painting.  I cut out the sprigs from the thick white cardstock and then painted on the color using the ink refills and a spritz bottle.  The flowers are stamped and cut out and then I watercolored them using the same technique.  

For the background on this card, I used the blending brushes and sponged on some Mint Macaroon ink to the center of the card base.  I added some flowers in Smoky Slate and a couple of older stamps to give it a "collage" look.

I added a strip of the new Vellum Layering designs and one from the Sunshine and Rainbows designer pack.  There is a little bit of scrunge dots on the front in green and grays to tie it all together. 

The ladies in my class loved making this card.  I'm not that much into "collage" cards, but we all thought that it looked great and all of the pieces came together.  

This card idea is from Janneke Dijkstra.  

I had fun with this set and hope to make some more pretty things with it.  Which card in the series do you like the best?  

 

Color & Contour

 For my cards this week, I chose the stamp set, Color & Contour.  I had seen some pretty samples using it, especially with black and white contrast.  I selected the new designer paper from Sale-a-Bration called Beautifully Penned to pair it with.

I also used the die cuts that coordinate with this stamp set, called Scalloped Contour Dies.  The flowers on the stem cut out well using the die, but the daisy-looking flower is hard to match up so I cut them out by hand.  

I copied the idea of using a jar to put the flowers in from Tammy Capone.  I think they look really sweet in the jar.  

For the two pink cards, I used the new color Polished Pink.  The pink card idea is from Stampin Pretty and the Happy for You card idea is from The Stamp Doc on Pinterest.  I especially like the cards with the gray papers on them the best.

I enjoyed using this set, and may have gotten a bit carried away.  I wanted to try the gray papers with some of the newer colors.  For these two cards, I used Soft Succulent as the main color.  I copied the two-panel card from Stampin Pretty.  

Next up are two cards using the Pale Papaya color in them.  The gingham paper is from the Pansy Petals paper collection.  

Here are the two cards using the Fresh Freesha color.  Which color scheme do you like the best?  

I had so much fun making these cards that I didn't want to stop.  There are so many pretty ways to use them with their coordinating dies.  Have you tried this set yet?

For my stamp class, I will let the ladies choose which 4 cards that they want to make.  I hope that goes well.  LOL