Susan's Garden Fairy & mini tutorial

This is a cute Susan's Garden Fairy I created last week and am just getting around to posting.  The body and wings for this fairy were die cut using the Sizzix, Susan Tierney-Cockburn "Moveable Garden Fairy" die.   I used Ellen Hutson's "Craft-a-Board" for these pieces.  There are coordinating stamps you use for this fairy.  In the Sizzix Susan's Garden "Framelites & Stamps" 658420 package you get the stamps and dies for the body.  In the "Framelites & Stamps" 658421, you get the stamps and dies for the feet and wings.  To create the skirt on the fairy, you use any of the Susan's Garden Flower dies that you want.  On my fairy I used the Susan's Garden "Rose" dies.

I took this picture showing the body cut out of the "Craft-a-Board", then next to it pieces die cut out of colored card stock/design paper.  Mod Podge was used to glue the pieces together.   I used a flesh colored card stock for the body and both pieces of the arms - I then colored them with Copic Markers.   I used a piece of design paper that looked like "net" stocking on both pieces of her legs.   You have two choices of faces, which you can see on the upper left side - I chose the face with the leaves for a hat.  For the skirt, I used the piece that is to be used around a rose bud (it has 5 points) for a base and glued on 8 rose petals to create the skirt (4 on each row).   Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit and Pan Pastels were used to shape and color the petals.  I cut out a piece of card stock the shape of the lower body to add some ruffled lace to go under the rose petal skirt.  The lace was attached with Scor-Tape then that piece taped to the body positioning it half way down her thigh.   In this picture you can also see the wings, shoes, and socks on the lower left.  In the upper right corner I stamped the face twice and cut out the leaves from one to make the "hat" dimensional.  I used Copic markers to color.  The fairy was assembled using small brads.  For the wings in the picture above, I die cut the wings using clear acetate, embossed them with the Impress" Retro Swirls 1 embossing folder, then applied a thin layer of clear glue and sprinkled on pink glitter.  In the front of the wings I added 4 layers of tulle then attached to the back of the fairy. Down the front of her blouse, I added pink rhinestones.  I forgot to mention that I drew in lines for her fingers and even added nail polish to her nails.  This was so much fun to create.  There are a lot of ways to create different types of fairies, using some of the other Susan's Garden Flower dies.

 Here is another picture of my fairy with feathers for her wings.  I know you will have fun creating your own pretty fairies.

I have had emails asking about my daughter;  she had a successful surgery and is staying with me so I can take care of her.  She does have a lot of pain but is so thankful everything went ok with the surgery.   Yesterday was her birthday and we did spoil her - she loved it!

Sizzix, Susan's Garden "Moveable Garden Fairy" 658426

Susan's Garden, Framelits & Stamps, 658421

Susan's Garden, Framelits & Stamps, 658420

Ellen Hutson" Craft-a-Board" 12 sheets, 12x12, EECAB1212

Susan's Garden, Rose dies, 658411

Susan's Garden Tool Kit, 658437

Susan's Garden, Pan Pastels

 1029806

Heartfelt Creations Alumni Designer Blog Hop

 It is my favorite time of the month - it is time for the Heartfelt Creations Blog Hop.  There are 12 designers in the hop this month.  That gives you 12 chances to win a $25 Gift Certificate to shop at Heartfelt Creations.  All you need to do is leave a comment on each blog in this hop for a chance to win.  You have until Friday, September 27th at midnight to leave a comment.  The winner of the $25 Gift Certificate will be announced at noon September 28th. 

Here is a list of the designers participating in this blog hop:

Selma Stevenson- (you are here)

Dina Kowal

Emilia van den Heuvel 

Vicki Dutcher 

Caroline Duncan 

Alissa Wells 

Cibele Glazer 

Mary Faus 

Linda Payne 

Debbie Seyer 

Candy Slabaugh 

Lisa Allen 

 Everyone seems to be getting ready for the holiday season by creating Christmas cards before the holiday rush.  I decided to design a white-on-white card Christmas card using the new Heartfelt Creations "Christmas Poinsettias" stamps for the focal point.  This  poinsettia stamp has 10 different size poinsettias and two leaf stamps on it.  I white embossed the poinsettias on white vellum then die cut them with the matching, "Sun Kissed Fleur" die.  This is such a quick and easy way to create a lot of flowers with just one stamping and die cut.  Under the flowers, I used the Heartfelt Creations "Holly Berry PreCut Set" for the flourishes/leaves. 

This is a 6"x6" card.  For the base of the card I embossed a background using the eBosser "Delicate Dots" embossing folder.  On top of the embossed piece, I added the beautiful Heartfelt Creations "Decorative Lattice Swirl" die cuts.  The lattice creates such an elegant card.  A piece of lace, with pearls, was added to both the top and bottom of the card. To finish the card, white pearls were added to the center of the  poinsettias. 

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post and well as the other eleven blog posts in this hop for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Heartfelt Creations.

  Your next stop will be Dina's Blog. 

Products used on this card:
Heartfelt Creations, Decorative Lattice Swirl Die, HCD733
Heartfelt Creations, Christmas Poinsettia PreCut Set, HCPC3557
Heartfelt Creations, Sun Kissed Fleur Die, HCPC734
Heartfelt Creations, Holly Berry PreCut Set, HCPC3551

Christmas Tags

These are two Christmas tags I put together by pulling things out of a box I have tossed die cuts in that I decided not to use at the time.  Do you have a box that you save die cuts you decide not to use on your current project?  They seem to stack up but it makes it easy to create a quick and easy tag!  We always need tags for the holidays!

I want to let you know that I will have a post Tuesday for the Heartfelt Creations Alumni Designers Blog Hop, then I probably won't be creating anything new for a while.   My daughter is having neck surgery early Monday morning and I will be taking care of her for a while.  Many of you have asked about how she is doing since her foot surgeries and she is doing well.  She is so happy to be able to walk again without a lot of pain.  It is a shame the injuries of the auto accident  resulted in another surgery but she is looking forward to a pain free body after she recovers from this surgery.  We were told she will be in a lot of pain for a few weeks, then be in a neck brace for a while.  This is a lot more serious surgery than the other two were as they are fixing several vertebrae that are leaning on her spinal cord.  If you would like to send her a card to cheer her up, here is her address:

Shari Stevenson
814 N Oasis Avenue
Deer Park, WA   99006

I really appreciate all your prayers and concern for her - she has had a very rough year.   I will be back with more posts and will try to keep up with emails as I have time.

Susan's Garden Sun Flower

 

With all the cool weather, the leaves are starting to change color.   Today I used the Cheery Lynn Fall Leaf Doily for the background for the sunflower created with the Susan's Garden Sunflower dies.  To shape the flower I used the Susan's Garden Tool Kit and colored the petals with the Susan's Garden Pan Pastels.   I used two very old JustRite stamps (from the Autumn Blessing Set) for the bronze embossed sentiment and pumpkins.  To color the Fall Leave Doily I sponged on a variety of Distress Inks.  

 On the inside of the card I added the Cheery Lynn "Fall Leaf Mesh Border".  It was also colored by sponging on Distress inks.  I wanted to give the leaves a little dimension so die cut a second border, colored the leaves, and cut them off the border and mounted them with a thin dimensional tape.  I did not stamp a sentiment inside yet because I'm not sure who this card will be sent to.

1026090

Christmas Box

 

I have been playing with the new dies in the Heartfelt Creations "Season of Joy Collection".   I used one of the "tree dies" to create this dimensional tree for the top of a recycled box.  If you go over to the Heartfelt Creations Blog, you can watch a video Emma Lou did showing how to create this type of dimensional tree.  She shows you how to create a glittery, dimensional tree, using this die, that you can use on the front of a card and will lie flat for mailing.

 On the top of the lid, I white embossed the beautiful flourish from the Heartfelt Creations "Elegant Joy PreCut Set", HCPC 3560.  The poinsettias add are from the "Christmas Poinsettia PreCut Set", HCPC3557, and die cut with the matching "Sun Kissed Fleur Die", HCD734. 

 This is a close up of the beautiful tree in the "Banner and Tree Die", HCD 739, die set.  I die cut six of these and created the tree the same way Emma Lou shows in her video.

Here is a close up of the tree once all sections are glued together.  A red star rhinestone was attached to the top of the tree.

I plan to use this box for a small gift at Christmas.   I know you will have lots of fun with the beautiful stamps and dies in the Heartfelt Creations "Season of Joy Collection".

1024852

Warm Holiday Wishes

We had a big storm last night and today is very cloudy and dreary.  I decided to dig out an old Inkadinkado stamp set that has my favorite snowman to make another Christmas card.  

To frame this darling snowman, I first used the Marianne Design DS0908 embossing folder to embossing the bottom of the card.  This is a 6x6" card and I had some empty space on top of the embossed frame,  so embossed that space using the eBosser Darling Dots embossing folder to resemble snow.  The Snowman was stamped in the widest portion of the frame and colored with Copic Markers.  

The poinsettia was die cut using the Poppy Stamps "Blooming Poinsettia" dies.  The center of each petal was shaded with a very light sponging of Milled Lavender Distress Ink.  The sentiment is from the same Inkadinkado stamp set.  I do not know the name of this set or if it is still available because I have had it for a long time.  The sentiment was die cut using scallop Nestabilities and each scallop pierced.  The large snowflakes were punched using the Martha Stewart "Polar Snowflake" punch.  The tiny snowflakes were some previously punched in my stash.  I believe they came out of a border punch.

Well, one more card completed before the holidays arrive!

1022692

JOY

 Today I have another card created with the new Heartfelt Creations "Season of Joy" stamps.  The Sentiment and pretty Flourish are from the "Elegant Joy PreCut Set" (HCPC 3560).  The card stock I used does not show up as beautiful in the photo as it should; the color is a pearlized platinum, and I stamped using VersaMark ink and white embossing powder.  

The poinsettias are all on one big stamp and you use the matching "Sun Kissed Fleur Die" to cut them out.  They were stamped with VersaMark Ink and White embossed on white Vellum.  The leaves were colored on the back with the DG3 Spectrum Noir marker.

 

You get all these flowers on the "Christmas Poinsettia PreCut Set" stamp, and when you use the matching die to die cut them, you have 10 flowers and two sets of leaves without much work. This is so much easier than having to die cut each flower individually.

The outside edge of the platinum card stock was distressed then a piece of Webster's Pages Trim added along the bottom.  Pearls were added to complete the card.

Tis' the season for fresh apples!  We love to go up to the orchards and get fresh fruit.  I am not the greatest at making a beautiful pie but made an apple pie this morning.  I have a recipe from America's Test Kitchen and you put Vodka in the crust (you don't even know it is in there) but it makes the crust so flaky and tender.   Apple pie for dessert tonight with a scoop of Tillamook, Carmel Pecan ice cream.  YUM! 

1022174

Mum Tutorial using Susan's Garden Dies

 

Don't you love Autumn with all the beautiful mums, colorful leaves and pumpkins!   Today I have added all these to my card, plus I have a tutorial below on how I created the mums.  The background paper is from the Bazzill "All Hallows Eve" design paper pad.  The pretty lacy pumpkin background was die cut using the Cheery Lynn "Fall Harvest" die.  It was backed with a piece of light yellow card stock that was sponged around the edges with a darker yellow.   

Two different sets of pumpkin dies were used; the larger pumpkins were die cut using the SB pumpkin dies and the smaller pumpkins were die cut using the Cheery Lynn "Fall Pumpkins" die.  All pumpkins were die cut using orange card stock and sponged  to give them additional texture.  The two crows were cut out of a piece of design paper from the Webster's Pages "Once upon a Halloween" design paper pack.  For the leaves, I used SB Fall Leaves dies.   The sentiment is from GKD (Theresa Momber) "Life is Good" stamp set and was die cut using SB Romantic Rectangles.  The Mums were created with the Susan's Garden "Mini Lily" dies and leaves under them were die cut using Marianne Design dies.

Here is a tutorial on how I created the mums using a mini lily die:

Did  you know you can create pretty little mums using the Susan's Garden "Mini Lily" dies?   Don't you love it when you can use your dies for more than just one purpose!  It was not hard at all; I created three different colors of mums for this card. 

I used both the "leaf" and "petal" plates from the Mini Lily die set for petals for the mum.  The outer petals are a little wider and I used the narrow "leaf" petals to form the center bud of the mum.  Because I am l creating 5 layers to create this flower, I die cut the base (calyx) piece in yellow (or same color as flower) so it won't show.  

 All the petals were shaped with the small end of the loop tool from the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit. 

The calyx (base) that comes in the Mini Lily die set has 6 points.  As I have stated before, I always attach a petal to every other point then go back and add the remaining petals.

After the six petals were dry, I added additional petals inside because I want a very full flower - alternate petals as you go around.  Notice that all the petals are shaped curling up rather than down.  For the very center of the mum, I created the bud using the very narrow petals.  When creating that center bud, it is easiest to add the six petals to the calyx, let it dry, then add additional petals to the bottom pushing up to get a closed center.   Once all the layers have dried, I layered (glued) them on top of each other, pushing the petals up to form a closed flower.  Once it was dry, I pulled some of the petals out to shape the mum.

I hope you enjoy having another tutorial showing you how to create a totally different flower with your Susan's Garden Mini Lily dies.

1021479

Susan's Garden Sunflower

 Everywhere you go you can see beautiful sunflowers in bloom.  Today I created a Fall card using one of the Marianne Design embossing folders for the background.  The leaves were create by applying Kaleidacolor Late November ink over glossy card stock then die cutting them with the Cheery Lynn Small Leaves dies.  They were shaped with the tools from the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit.  In the center of the leaves I added a sunflower; it  was created using the Susan's Garden Sunflower dies.  The petals were die cut using yellow card stock, then the center of each petal colored with the Susan's Garden Pan Pastels.  For added embellishments I added some berries from a floral stem from Michaels and colored twine that matches the colors in the leaves.  The sentiment is from GKD and was die cut using a Spellbinders scallop Nestability. 

Have a great weekend.

1020698

Merry Christmas Popup

 

 Today I have another Christmas card.  I used the Memory Box "Merry Christmas Tiding" die for the main image.  In the upper corner I added the Memory Box "Snowflake Corner".  Along the bottom edge is the Cheery Lynn "Francesca Border".

For the inside of the card, I used the Joy! Crafts "Popup Trees" die on the right side and on the left side, I used one of the Marianne Design Houses and Lamp Post. The popup tree die also die cuts holes to represent snow; these are under the reindeer.  Polar White Flower Soft was added to the trees and house. The Santa in the sleigh is from Impression Obsession.  A yellow moon was punched for the background then the three Memory Box "Puffy Clouds"  attached.  The "Ho Ho Ho"  sentiment is from one of the Marianne Design Vintage Christmas stamp sets.  The large sentiment on the bottom is the Penny Black "A Wonderful Christmas" stamp. 

 

This picture shows the dimension of the popup trees. There is dimensional tape under the house, Santa/reindeer and the clouds.

1020228

Season of Joy

 

Today is the Heartfelt Creations debut of the Season of Joy Collection.  

The Season of Joy Collection has been put together so you can create your most elegant Christmas cards, layouts and 3D projects.  With this set you can create delicate creations your friends and family  will love to receive.  These beautiful stamps and dies coordinate with the  Frosty Blanket Paper Collection. For beautiful quick and easy flowers, match the ornate poinsettia stamp with the cutting-edge Sun Kissed Fleur die and you'll save time while creating your Christmas projects.

For 4 weeks only, Heartfelt Creations is offering you the entire "Season of Joy Collection with a savings of $20 off the regular price! Also, you have a chance to win the "Season of Joy Collection.   All you have to do is leave a comment on the Heartfelt Creations blog by September 17th to be eligible to win the entire collection. The winner will be announced on the Heartfelt Creations blog on September 18th.

For a lot of creative ideas, be sure to watch the latest video produced by Heartfelt Creations:   Click Here to watch the video and learn how to make a quick glittery background, a dimensional Christmas Tree, and see how to cut out 10 poinsettias at once.

For my card, I used the Striped Candy Cane PreCut Set (HCPC 3558).  The candy cane image was stamped twice.  One image was die cut using the Spellbinders "Enchanted Labels 28" , and from the other stamped image, the candy canes cut out.  To color this image, I used Derwent Inktense pencils. The die cut stamped image was embossed with the Impress Retro Swirls 1 embossing folder then the image that was cut out attched over it with dimensional tape.

I love the new poinsettia stamp, and the matching dies makes it so quick and easy to have a lot of flowers all at once.  Be sure to watch the video Emma Lou posted today to see how this is done.  The flower stamp was stamped with VersaMark Ink on Vellum then cut out with the matching die.  The back of the vellum flowers were colored with with the Deep Scarlet Red 219 Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen.

The sentiment is one of the stamps in the Christmas Sentiment Circles PreCut Set, HCPC 3561.  It was die cut using a Spellbinders Scallop Nestability.  The snowflakes were die cut using the Banner and Trees die, HCD 739.  You can see this entire collection at this LINK.

For a lot more inspiration be sure to go over the the Heartfelt Creations Blog to view all the beautiful cards created by the design team.

1019540

Another Susan's Garden Rose and Rose Bud Tutorial

I had a great short vacation and am back with a new tutorial on how to use the rose dies from Susan's Garden.  I know a lot of you have these dies and I'm sure wanting to be able to do different things with them.

Today I used Cason, 99# watercolor paper to create this rose and the rosebuds. Dies on this card include: Susan's Garden Rose 658411, Susan's Garden Sunflower 658417,  Marianne Design Corner LR00281, Heart LR0280, Doily LR0280, Embossalicious embossing folder EF6-CHEV,  and JustRite, Your Special Day Medallion Labels stamp set CL-03545. 

 I die cut all the petals I thought would be needed to create this rose then colored just the base of each petal with Distress Inks. I usually use the Susan's Garden "Pan Pastels  to color flower petals, but when using the watercolor paper for the petals,  the Distress Inks work better for blending.   I used a yellow and an orange ink. This picture just shows some of the larger petals but all petals for this flower were colored this way.  The smaller petals were even colored on the back as they will be in the center of the rose and front and back will show.

 Next, working on the Teflon mat,  all the petals were spritzed with water, on front and back, to blend the colors together.  I think this looks better than harsh ink lines. 

While the petals were wet, I "scrunched" the them across between my fingers to create dimension.   You can see the difference in the one petal on the left and the others.  Some of these crease lines will flatten out as you assemble the flowers.  I created two separate bottom rows of petals, following the instructions in the die set.  

 Next I used the self-closing tweezers in the Susan's Garden Flower tool kit  658437, to create a "bud" for the center of the rose.  I think I used six or seven petals to do this.

 Once I felt I had enough petals glued around the bud to form a pretty center, I pull the petals off the tweezers and sniped  off the pointed end so it will fit down in the center of the assembled flower and sit straight. 

The two base rows of petals were glued together then the "bud" was glued in the center. The glue I feel works best for working with flowers is the "Crafter's Pick Ultimate Glue".  It is a thick, quick drying glue. Additional petals were glued in around the "bud' portion of the flower until I had the fullness I wanted for the rose.  This rose looks a little different than the traditional roses I have been creating but love this look for something different.

 Next I used the smaller petals in the Susan's Garden Rose die set to create rose buds.  Susan has included every die you need to create beautiful roses and rose buds in this flower set.

 This is a top view of the rose buds.

I hope this gives you another idea for creating beautiful flowers with your Susan's Garden Rose dies.  At a later date I will do a tutorial on how I created the pretty purple flowers.

1018451

Winter Wonderland

This week the challenge at Joan's Gardens is to create a Christmas card with the following requirements:

• Christmas pattern Paper for background
• Warn and Cozy Colors
• Snow Flakes
• Christmas Trees or Santa or anything reflecting Christmas

The design paper I used for my card is from the MME "Vintage Christmas" 6x6 Pad.  The pretty winter scene is a stamp from the Heartfelt Creations "Winter Season PreCut Set".  It was stamped with black VersaMark ink and clear embossed on a piece of sparkly white card stock.  The beauty of the sparkles does not show up in this photo.  The image was colored then Ranger Distress Stickles added for additional shine.  The image and background were die cut using Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities.     This image was attached with dimensional tape.

In front of the Winter Scene, I added a die cut tree from Marianne Design.  The pine branch at the top was die cut using a Impression Obsession die.  On the branch I added one of the Heartfelt Creations "Petite Poinsettia" flowers.  It was die cut using the matching dies.The sentiment is from the Heartfelt Creations "Winter Season PreCut Set".  It was white embossed then die cut using the Spellbinders "Labels One" die.  The snowflake by the sentiment is from the Marianne Design, COL 1330, die set.   To add snow effects on this card, I used Tulip Puffy paint.  It was heat set and glitter added.  

I hope you will join in on this challenge.  It is so nice to get a head start on all your Christmas cards.

Well I am off for a short vacation with my husband and son up to Canada.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

MME, Vintage Christmas 6x6 design paper pad

Heartfelt Creations, Winter Season PreCut Set, HCPC 3543

Heartfelt Creations, Petite Poinsettia PreCut Set, HCPC 3415

Heartfelt Creations, Spellbinders, Layered Poinsettia Shapeabilities

Marianne Design, Tree #1, LR0174

Marianne Design, Snowflake, COL 1330

Spellbinders, Label One, S4-161

Impression Obsession, Pine, DIE-021-N

1016598