Heartfelt Creations Alumni Blog Hop

It is time for more ideas from the Heartfelt Creations Alumni Design Team.  There are six designers participating in this month's  blog hop.  If you came from Olga Jewell's Blog, you started at the beginning.  

I am always anxious for this time of year because we can start looking forward to all the beautiful flowers of Spring.  I was excited to use one of my very favorite Heartfelt Creations floral stamps.  It is the "Dutch Iris Oval PreCut Set (HCPC 3371). It is the most gorgeous Iris stamp, don't you think!   I stamped the image using Memento black ink and colored it with colored pencils and oms.  I love purple and yellow iris!   The iris from the "Dutch Iris Medley PreCut Set" (HCPC 3373) was stamped and die cut using the Heartfelt Creations matching "Dutch Iris Die" (HCD 711).  It was colored the same way then cut apart so that different petals could be attached with pop-dots to make it look very dimensional.  It looks like a real flower!  Along the left side I have added a portion of the Heartfelt Creations "Decorative Lace Border" (HCD 713).  The background was embossed with a Marianne Cut and Emboss folder (DS0908) and under the top of the iris is the pretty die cut corner from the Heartfelt Creation "Decorative Butterfly - Border" die set (HCD 702).  The sentiment is from the Heartfelt Creations "Inspire Me Sentiments Precut Set" (HCPC 3363).  It was cut out with a Spellbinders Tag.  A lavender silk bow was added to complete the card.

The next stop is Carla Suto.  Be sure to visit all the blogs in this blog hop.  One lucky person will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to Heartfelt Creations.  The winner will be randomly selected from comments left  the designer's blogs, so be sure to leave a comment on all six blog posts. The winner will be announced Saturday, March 3. 

You can purchase all the products I use from Joan's Gardens.

Sympathy Card

I have been working on some projects for Joan's Gardens Workshops that will be held next month, so I have a quick card for you today.  Joan sent me the Kaiser Craft "These Days" paper pad and in it is this gorgeous design paper with roses on it.  I wanted to create a rose using the same color scheme so found a piece of taupe card stock and used the Begonia flower punch by Punch Bunch.  It was created just like I explained in my Rose tutorial.  It was layered over the Memory Box "Quinn Flourish" (98267).  The leaves were die cut using the Spellbinder leaves die.  They were sponged prior to taking them out of the die.  The sentiment is from the new JustRite "With Sympathy" (CR-03570) stamp set.  It was stamped right on the design paper.

Kaiser Craft "These Days" 6 1/2" Paper Pad

Memory Box "Quinn Flourish" (98267)

JustRite "With Sympathy" stamp set.  This is a really great sympathy stamp set with lots of sentiments.

As you know, you can purchase all these products from Joan's Gardens.

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Friends Make Everyday Special

As a rule I am trying to teach you new techniques and today I was in the mood to learning something new myself.  I have this book from Joan's Gardens called "A Compendium of Curiosities" by Tim Holtz.  I think you all know I love working with Tim Holtz products.  I am anxiously awaiting the new Distress Markers but until then, I started going through this book and found something neat I wanted to try.  It is on page 46 and is called Distress Stickles.  I did not know there is a big difference between regular Stickles and Distress Stickles, did you?   With Distress Stickles you add a "blob" over the surface then use your finger to create a thin layer over the area you want the glitter.  You can work with as many colors as you want.  What I love about this is that you can use your heat gun to dry the Distress Stickles.  You know you can't do that with regular Stickles.  I only have one color of Distress Stickles which is "Vintage Photo" but I plan to order a lot of other colors now that I understand how to use it.  I can especially see lots of different colored sparklie butterflies! 

In case you are wondering, I used the "Distress Stickles" on the butterflies. The Memory Box "Moonlight Butterfly" (98260) and "Kaleidoscope Butterfly" (998261) were perfect for this project.  I die cut the "Moonlight Butterfly" using white card stock then used the Tim Holtz Blending Tool and added "Mustard Seed" and "Spiced Marmalade" to it.  This is the solid butterfly on the bottom of the layered butterfly.  Next I added the "Vintage Photo" Distress Stickles and rubbed it in with my finger, then dried it with the heat gun.  What is really neat is that my colors were brighter than I wanted, so I used the blending tool and "Tea Dye" Distress Ink to tone it down.  I just rubbed the inked pad over the whole butterfly.  In the photo, the butterflies look a lot darker than in real life.  The pretty yellow and orange really show up well and the glittery Distress Stickles puts on a beautiful shine.  I then glued on the "Kaleidoscope Butterfly" which was die cut using black card stock.  

The pretty border along the left side of this card was created using the Marianne Design "Anji Edge"  I placed a piece of green card stock under the left side of the card and snipped off the Anji Edge from the piece of card stock and created a green border between the two pieces.  Before attaching the green card stock, I ran it through the Dotted Swiss embossing folder for texture.  

I love the stamped image.  It is the Penny Black "Flower Amongst Flowers" stamp.  This is a solid stamp, so I used markers to color right on the stamp, then misted it with a fine mist before stamping.  The colors blend together well plus you must moisten the stamp to be sure the ink is wet before stamping.  In the center of the flowers I added "Bronze" Stickles. The corner I used is one of the Marianne corners (LR0143).  The front of the card was shaded using the Blending Tool and "Tea  Dye" Distress Ink.  The sentiment is from the new JustRite "Your Special Day Medallion Labels" stamp set.  To finish the card, the butterflies were glued on.

As you know, all the products I use can be purchased from Joan's Gardens.  If you love to work with Tim Holtz Products, I know you will love having the "A Compendium of Curiosities" Instructional book by Tim Holtz.  It has step by step pictures and instructions for each product.  

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Pink Peony

Today I am not feel real great so decided to sit down and just start playing with punches and dies to see what I could come up with.  I ended up having a lot of fun creating this card.  I had the Punch Bunch "Super Giant Begonia Petals" punch on my desk and thought I would see if I could make a peony flower.  I'll let you be the judge on whether or not this looks like a peony.  I always get very happy when my peony bushes flower out because they are such a large beautiful flower.  I made about seven layers to build the flower, like I have taught you in my tutorials.  To get it even fuller, I added glue to some of the single "conditioned" petals and just poked them down in between the layers to get the fullness I wanted.  I know it isn't perfect but I was happy with it.  I also wanted to tell you that today I used the DG3 Art Gel for my adhesive and loved it.  It dies quickly and was very easy to work with. 

For the background, which is hard to see now, I embossed white card stock with the Cuttlebug "Kassie's Brocade" embossing folder.  This is a 5"x7" card.  Along the bottom edge, I added a portion of the Heartfelt Creations "Decorative Lace Border" die cut (HCD 713).  The peony is layered over two die cut leaves from the Cheery Lynn "Tropical Leaves" (B119) leaf set.  Under those leaves I attached the Memory Box "Quinn Flourish" (98267).  

The birdcage is the Poppy Stamps "Carousel Bird Cage" (800) and the bird is the Memory Box "Perched Reed Bird" (98160).  Up in the left corner and on top of the bird cage, I added flowers created with the Memory Box "Scalloped Posie" (98269) and the Pinwheel Posie" (98270).    These are little flowers that once die cut, you roll to shape them.  Very quick and easy!  These small flowers are a light pink but for some reason they look peach to me in the photo.  The two flowers on the birdcage were made the same way, but to give them a slightly different look, I kind of "smashed" them in and they look more like a vintage rose.  Love that you can get more than one look with these die cut flowers.  The green under the little posies on the left is the die cut Memory Box "Madera Corner" (98237).  The green leaves under the roses on the bird cage are small pieces from the Cheery Lynn "Pair of Ferns" (B118).  I had a little blank space above the peony so glued in a white feather.  

Here is another view of the peony.  Looks fuller from this angle, doesn't it.

I know a lot of you have ordered this Super Giant Begonia Petals punch from Joan's Gardens and I hope this gives you another idea for using it.  For those of you who have this punch, have you created other flowers besides a rose?  I 'd love to hear what else you  have created with it.   Joan does have a supply of these punches in stock if you haven't ordered one yet.

Looks like some warmer weather has arrived, so I am going outside to enjoy the fresh air.  Have a great day.

All the products I use can be purchased from Joan's Gardens.

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Joan's Gardens Weekly Challenge

It is time for another challenge at Joan's Gardens.  This week we are asking you to create a  pink and white card with lots of layers.  In your layers, please use a rectangle and an oval layer and add some dimensional flowers. 

I have some new dies, you can purchase from Joan's Gardens, that I have not used yet so have included them on this card.  The design paper is pink and white polka dots.  The rectangle layer is the Cheery Lynn "Mediterranean Lace Rectangle" (FRM119) and the oval doily is the Marianne Design "Oval Frame and Flower" (CR1204).  In this new series of frames, there are four different frames and included with each frame are flower dies.  I have used a mixture of the flower dies, from these frame sets, on this card.  You can go over to Joan's Gardens to see all four frames; there is an oval, a square, a rectangle and a circle frame.  The flowers are different with each frame.

I have used three different types of leaves.  The leaves on the left side are from the Cheery Lynn "Victoria Garden Doily Frame" (FRM128) die set (you get a frame plus leaves in this set).  Along the bottom you can see small leaves from the Cheery Lynn "Japanese Garden Lace Oval" die set (DL136),  and the pretty open leaves are from the Marianne "Flower and Leaves" (LR0156).  

The pretty medallion in the center of the oval is from the new JustRite "Starburst Medallion Labels" stamp set. It was white embossed on pink card stock.  The butterfly is from the Heartfelt Creations "Butterfly and Lilies PreCut Set" (HCPC3455).  To complete the card, I added a few Kaiser Craft white pearls.

I hope you will join us again this week for our challenge.  Be sure to go over to Joan's Gardens to get all the information about the challenge and see what the prize is this week.  We love to see all your cards in the challenges. 

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Lazy Susan Card and Punch Storage

Today I noticed a poor little punch I have been neglecting - well it's really not so little!  It is called the Punch Bunch "Mega Elongated Leaves".  I think I have only used it a couple of times so thought I better try and figure out something different I could create with it.  I came up with a Lazy Susan.  I did not have anything to look, at so hopefully this looks pretty close to that type of flower.

This is the punch I used.  I punched out yellow, light weight card stock three times and used  a combination of all the petals except the largest one.  I used a marker to lightly draw in vertical lines for shading then sponged on "Spiced Marmalade" Distress Ink on the tips of both ends of each petal.  For the center of the daisy, I die cut a very small Spellbinders Scalloped Oval and cut one end of it off.  The yellow petals were glued under the center.  I used scissors to cut out a stem.  I thought it looked more realistic not to cut it straight so made a little curve in it.  The leaves were also punched with this same punch.  

For the background, I embossed the new Marianne Design (DS0915) embossing folder two times.  My card is 5.5" wide so I cut down one piece of embossed folder so I could glue them together and have the die cut design on both sides.  Black card stock was attached under the die cut portions.   I played with that a little and ended up with the seam pretty close to the middle.  To cover the seam, I used the Cheery Lynn "Polynesian Sails Oval" (DL153) doily.  This doily ends up with an open center because there is another small round doily in the center in this die set.  I decided to glue the doily to a piece of white card stock and cut around the outside edges to give it a solid center.  I then ran it through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder.  The reason I added a back to the doily was because I wanted to add it to the background with dimensional dots.  I didn't like the plain edges on the top and bottom so I die cut the Cheery Lynn "Wedding Garter" (B158) border and cut it down the center so I could use half of it on the top of the card and the other part on the bottom.  I think it helped dress up the card. Beads were added to the center of the daisy and a Cheery Lynn Mini Butterfly (DL112) was added to complete the card.

I wanted to show you how I store all my punches.  I use a couple of those expandable racks that you can use to store spices or other small things on in the kitchen.  This system allows me to see all the punches without having to move them around.  The tool in the lower right hand corner of this picture is the Magnum Power Punch.  My Martha Stewart punches are stored on a rod on the wall with the corner and border punches together. 

All the products I use can be purchased from Joan's  Gardens.

Flowers and Butterfly

I just realized I am using yellow a lot lately.  Wonder if I'm just anxious to see the sun.  We had snow again last night so it is very cloudy. Today I used the Cherry Lynn "Cuties 4" (B156) flowers to create my card.   They are so easy to use, to create flowers, because you roll them to create the flower.  

In this picture you can see how I created this flower.  I cut the long strip in half -- one piece will have one less petal which is what you need because you are going to stack the two pieces alternating the petals. Above I have die cut three strips of the Cuties 4 and cut them all in half.   I used  1/8" ScorTape along the bottom edge of the two pieces.  This tape will hold securely while rolling.  Before attaching the two strips together, I used the self-closing tweezers from the Flower Tool Kit to shape each petal.  It make a big difference in the final appearance of the flower when you shape the petals.  Place the ScorTape on both strips you are going to attach.  Pull the cover off ScorTape of the longer strip, and place the smaller strip on top, alternating the petals.  Next I pulled the strip off the top and used a "Quilling Tool" to roll it tightly.  The Quilling Tool pulls out easily even though you have used ScorTape. 

The background was created with the Cheery Lynn "French Lattice Small Frame" (FRM132) over a piece of striped designed paper.  On the left side I embossed a piece of white card stock with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder.  Over this embossed piece I added the Memory Box "Fauntleroy Crest" (98222) die cut for additional texture.  Under the flowers I added two Marianne Design "Garden Branches" (LR0151) and the three leaves from the Cheery Lynn "Stacker Flower #1" (SF1).  The pretty butterfly was created by die cutting the Memory Box "Butterfly" (98261) and Butterfly" (98260).  

All these products in bold can be purchased from Joan's Gardens.

  

Beautiful Heartfelt Creations Lily

I just realized I forgot to post some of the cards I created for the Heartfelt Creations new "Flora Cross Collection" this month.  They were posted on Joan's Gardens blog when she posted all the new stamps and dies.  This card was designed using the largest lily from the "Pristine Lilies PreCut Set" (HCPC 3452).  It was stamped with VersaMark and embossed with a pale yellow embossing powder on yellow vellum.  It was die cut with the matching die from the Cross and Lilies, (HCD 719) Spellbinders die.  To help separate the petals, I used scissors to cut between the petals, down toward the center of the flower.  It was then spritzed with a fine spay of water.  Within a minute, the water caused the vellum to curl.  I shaped it while it was still damp. A punched stamen was added to the center of the lily.

The design paper was from my old stash of paper.  The pretty die cut behind the lily is one of the Heartfelt Creations dies in the "Decorative Chateau Gate Die Set (HCD 718).  I die cut two of them - one for the top and one for the bottom.  On top of that I added a Spellbinder "Fleur de Lis Rectangle", then a plain Spellbinders rectangle on top of that one.  The sentiment from the Heartfelt Creations "Cross and Lilies PreCut Set" (HCPC 3450).  It was black embossed at the top of the rectangle.  A Spellbinder corner was added to complete this card.

If you haven't done it yet, you can still order all the stamps and dies in this new Heartfelt Creations "Floral Cross Collection" from Joan's Gardens. 

  

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Window Box of Tulips

Today I want to show you something different I did with the Poppy Stamps "Grand Madison Window" (815).  I also used the matching "Grand Flower Box" (821) for the tulips.  To create a decorative "header" for the window, I used the Spellbinders "Labels Twenty-two" and one of the Spellbinders "Parisian Motifs".  You can see these dies below.                   

I die cut the second to largest "Labels Twenty-two" for the header then used the embossing mat, rather than die cutting, to embossing the "Parisian Motif"  up under the curve at the top of the label. The label was then cut off below the embossed motif and glued under the top of the window.  I think this turned out pretty cool to create a "fancier" window frame.  On the backside of the window, I attached a punched "curtain topper" created with the Martha Stewart "Swirling Lace" border punch.  A light blue card stock was added behind the window so the design in the design paper did not show through.  The design paper used is from the Webster's Pages "Your Life Beautiful" paper pad.  The butterflies are in the design paper.  The tulips, Marianne (LR)209) were die cut and  added behind the window box.  To help make the window box look fuller, I added the Marianne Design "Ivy" (LR0206).  I always save little pieces punched out from border punch or dies, and the little tiny purple flowers were pulled from a box of these saved pieces.   Two Spellbinders corners were added to complete this card. 

I hope you like the way I altered the Madison Window to create a whole new look for this window die.  I bet you can come up with some very creative ideas too.  I do want to let you know that if you haven't gotten your Windows dies yet, Joan's Gardens now has a lot of them in stock.  They  have been so popular and she has had a hard time keeping them in stock, but now there will be no waiting if you order them.   You can also purchase all the other supplies I used to create this card from Joan's Gardens.

I want to thank all of you for stopping by my blog to see my projects.  I appreciate all your sweet comments.   Have a wonderful weekend.

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You've Been So Sweet

This card was created using a new punch you can order from Joan's Gardens.  It is called "Mega Giant Snapdragon Petals".  This punch is not shown on Joan's Blog, but if you want it you can either email or call her to ask for it.  The embossing folder I used is the Marianne (DS0913).  It was backed with a piece of purple card stock.  The flower was created by punching three different shades of purple card stock.  Each petal was conditioned and shaped using the tools from the Flower Tool Kit then assembled in layers.  The leaves under the flower are from the Cheery Lynn "Stacker Flower #1" Leaf (SF-1).  The ferns were die cut using the Cheery Lynn "Pair of Ferns" (B118) dies.  In the center of the card I added a small doily die cut using the Cheery Lynn "Nautical Wheeler Doily" (DL180) die.  I used the doily from the center of this die cut.  On top of it I layered a JustRite sentiment from the "Vintage Floral Labels" set. It was die cut using a Spellbinders scalloped circle die.  The sentiment is white embossed on purple card stock.  The pretty butterfly was layered using the Memory Box "Moonlight Butterfly (98260) and the "Kaleidoscope Butterfly" (98261).  Up in the left corner I added one of the Marianne "Corners" (LR0143). 

Sometimes I receive emails from my Followers telling me they can't find certain products on Joan's Gardens blog.  Many times she sends me products and I end up using them before she has a chance to post them.  She puts shipping out your orders her priority.  I always use products you can purchase from Joan, so if you don't find it in her store, please just call or email her about it.  I usually list product numbers so she knows exactly what I used.  Also with the hike in postage, I'm sure you all appreciate that Joan only charges you actual postage with no extra fees.