Floral Wreath

 When I am creating pretty flowers with Susan's Garden Notes dies, I don't have to think about all the snow outside.  Today I had fun creating Lilacs, Cosmos and Peonies.  Susan's Garden Notes Square Grapevine Wreath was die cut twice and layered.  The flowers were arranged around the left side of the wreath.  A few pieces of the Elizabeth Craft Designs Leafy Branch were tucked in behind the flowers.

Els van de Burgt Stitched Oval was used to stamp Susan's "Gardeners" Seeds of Thought.  Before taking the die cut out of the die,  Spun Sugar Distress Ink was sponged around the edges.  The oval was attached with dimensional tape.

One of Susan's CountryScapes Nantucket Picket Fence die cuts was tucked back behind the flowers and under the stamped oval.  Several Butterflies and Ladybugs were die cut, using dies from the Garden Notes Bugs & Butterflies die set, and attached to enjoy the beautiful flowers.  The family's black cat was die cut from the CountryScapes Country Critters 1 die set.  On the upper right corner, one of Els Small Butterfly die cuts was added. 

I thought I would show you how I complete the inside of my cards.  Unless you purchase a very heavy card stock, it is hard to get a card to stand.  I use 100 lb card stock then cut an additional square to glue to the inside of the card, to make it stronger.  For a decorative insert, I like to use Els van de Burgt's largest Stitched Square, but you can just cut a piece of card stock, slightly smaller than the size of your card, and attach it to the inside.  When you create a card, you usually have more than one layer on the front of the card, which makes it strong, so by adding the additional piece of card stock on the inside, your card will have plenty of strength to stand up for display.

The following products are from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

1134 - CountryScapes Nantucket Arbor & Picket Fence
1140 - Garden Notes Grapevine Wreath Square
996 - Garden Notes Peony
1136 - Garden Notes Cosmos
1017 - Garden Notes Lilac
1011 - Garden Notes Bugs & Butterflies
RS027 - Seeds of Thought  Gardeners
989 - CountryScapes Country Critters 1
1072 - Small Butterfly
1033 - Leafy Branch
1113 - Stitched Ovals
1118 - Stitched Squares
1158 - A Way With Words Dream

Rainbow Sky

Don't you love to see a rainbow in the sky after a rain!  Today's card was designed using the Joset Designs Rainbow Sky dies and one of the A Way With Words Sentiments.

The frame for this card was created using Els van de Burgt's Square Stitched and Fitted Frame dies.  Using a piece of 5 3/4 inch blue card stock, the largest Stitched frame die was centered and die cut an opening to create a frame that was attached on top of another piece of 5 3/4 inch card stock, using dimensional tape for dimension.  Using the next largest Stitched Frame,  a background piece was added in the center.  I like how the little dotted stitches give it some texture.  One of the dies in the Els van de Burgt Corners 1 set was used to die cut four white corners.

The Rainbow was die cut using Soft Finish Cardstock.  The rainbow die cuts individual half circles to create the rainbow, therefore it is very easy to color each circle.  I used Distress Inks and sponged on the color.  I really like the texture of the Soft Finish Cardstock.  It is not necessary, but I glued the rainbow together over a scrap piece of card stock, so I could attach it with dimensional tape. 

The clouds were die cut using the cloud dies from the Rainbow Sky die set.  Light blue ink was sponged around the edges and they were attached with dimensional tape.  To make the card "dreamy" I used the A Way With Words die cut "Dream" sentiment.  

All the new die sets are now available from Elizabeth Craft Designs.

1151 - Rainbow Sky

1158 - A Way With Words Dream

1118 - Stitched Squares

1124 - Corners 1 

 PSF -102 - Soft Finish Cardstock 100 lb 

Fun Flying Kites

 Today I am thinking of Spring when you can go out and have fun flying kites.   I used the Joset Design Kite dies  for the focal point on this card.  This is a 6x6 card.  Someone asked me what card stock to use to create a 6x6 card.  The easiest way is to use 12x12 card stock cut to 6" wide and scored in the middle.

A slightly smaller piece of card stock was cut for the design front.  It was sponged using Susan's CountryScapes Cloud/Grass dies for the background. The kites were die cut and the yellow/green kite decorated using one of the Els van de Burgt Ribbon 1 dies.  The edges of the kites were sponged.

The dimensional clouds were die cut using the cloud die from Joset's Rainbow Sky die set.  They were added with dimensional tape.  The kits were then also added with dimensional tape.

The fence was die cut using Susan's new CountryScapes Nantucket Arbor & Picket Fence dies.  In front of the fence I added Susan's CountryScapes Garden Edges Tulip.  Aren't the three new Garden Edges sets cute!  She has the Garden Edges Tulips, Hyacinth, and Daffodil die sets in her new release.

I felt like I needed something tall on the right side of the card, so I die cut the tree in Karen Burniston's All Seasons Tree and added leaves from the ECD Leafy Branch die cut.  To add a sentiment, I used the Els van de Burgt Alphabet 2 - Lower Case dies. 

This was a fun card to create.  I think we are all looking forward to Spring when we can get out and do fun things!

The products from Elizabeth Craft Design are:

1152 - Kites
1151 - Rainbow Sky
1122 -  Ribbons 1
1075 -  Alphabet 2 - Lower Case
781- All Seasons Tree
1094 - CountryScapes Cloud Grass
1134 - CountryScapes Nantucket Arbor & Picket Fence
1133 - CountryScapes Garden Edges Tulips
1033 - Leafy Branch 
 PSF102 - Soft Finish Card Stock

Live

Good Morning.  This is the card I designed for my Quietfire Creations Design Team Post today.  Please go over to the Quietfire Creations Blog to read about it at this LINK.

Fun With Fitted Frames

 Have you seen the new Els van de Burgt Fitted and Stitched Frames?  These two die  sets are spaced to work together with a spacing of 1/4" for easy layering.  You can use these dies as a solid frame or use them to create cut open frames.   I hope you will go to this LINK to watch Els YouTube video showing exactly how they work.  I am sure these are dies you will want to add to your collection.

 

I used the largest Stitched Square on top of a a red backing.  On top I used the largest Fitted Square die and embossed it with the Lots of Dots Embossing folder.  It was attached with dimensional tape.  Next I die cut the third largest Stitched Square for a backing for the small squares. For the small squares I used a combination of the small squares in both the Fitted and Stitched Square die sets.  The two smallest squares were glue together and attached at a diagonal using dimensional tape. 

The roses were created using Susan's Garden Notes Rose 2 dies.  This die set comes with rose leaves, but I wanted a little larger leaf, so I used the triple leaf die from Susan's Garden Notes Rose 1 die set.

On the bottom of the card, I used two of the El van de Burgt Stitched Rectangles and one Fitted Rectangle.  A third small square with rose was attached to the left side, using dimensional tape.  The heart was die cut using one of the dies in the A Way With Words Calligraphic Elements 1 die set.

 On the inside of the card, I used Els largest Stitched Square die.  This is a 6x6 inch card, and this die fits perfect for a pretty frame on the inside of the card.  The beautiful sentiment is the A Way With Words - Love die.  The little hearts were die cut using the little die in the Joset Designs - Hot Air Balloons die set. 

There are so many combinations you can come up with the Els van de Burgt Fitted and Stitched dies.  Have fun creating!

The following products are available from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

1119 - Fitted Squares
1118 - Stitched Squares
1121 - Fitted Rectangles
1120 - Stitched Rectangles
1154 - A Way With Words Calligraphic Elements 1
998 - Garden Notes Rose 2
997 - Garden Notes Rose 1
1165 - A Way With Words - Love
1150 - Hot Air Balloons

Floral Picture Frame

Good Morning.  Today I am showing you a picture frame I decorated with the five new Susan's Garden Notes Flowers; Cosmos, Daffodil, Queen Anne's Lace, Southern Magnolia and Zinnia.  This is my project on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog for Susan's Design Team.  I also used Susan's new Garden Notes Square Grapevine Wreath, and one of her new Seeds of Thoughts Rubber stamps.  A couple of other new dies include the new Stitched Squares and Fitted Squares from the Els van de Burgt collection.
Below are pictures of the five new flower die sets Susan has added to her flower garden collection.  There will be videos very soon on YouTube showing how to create each one.

 

 

The wood frame used is one available from Michael's Craft Stores.  It measures 7 3/4 inches square.

To decorate the frame:

1.  Die cut a black square to fit inside the picture opening using the Fitted Frame Square die, and die cut a yellow Stitched Square that is slightly smaller.
2. Use the "A Friend" Seeds of Thought stamp and black VersaMark mark ink to stamp on the yellow square.
3. Die cut the A Way With Words Friends sentiment using black card stock and attach to the upper right corner.
4. Die cut two Grapevine Wreath - Squares and attach around the picture opening in the frame.
5. Die cut, and create as many flowers as you want for the frame.
6. Use the ECD Leafy Branch die to die cut leaves for the background.
7. Attach all the flowers with dimensional glue dots over the Leafy Branches.
8. Die cut the ECD Small Butterfly using  Yellow Iridescent Shimmer Sheets for the base and Black card stock for the overlay.  Attach the butterfly on the right side.

Using Susan's dies is a great way to create very pretty home decor pieces.

Products Used:
1136 - Garden Notes - Cosmos
1137 - Garden Notes - Daffodil
1140 - Garden Notes Grapevine Wreath Square
1141 - Garden Notes Queen Anne's Lace
1142 - Garden Notes Southern Magnolia
1118 - Stitched Squares
1119 - Fitted Squares
1072 - Small Butterfly
1052 - A Way With Words - Friends
RS025 - Seeds of Thought - A Friend
SS106 - Purple Iridescent Shimmer Sheets
1033 - Leafy Branch

A Visit to the Coast

 

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to go to beach.  We love to travel down the Oregon coast and stop at all the lighthouses. Today I have a card designed using the new Joset Designs Lighthouse die set. 

This is a 6x6 inch card.  The cloudy sky was created by using Susan's CountryScapes Clouds die.  A piece of Post-It Note was placed at the  bottom of the sky line and a darker blue ink sponged on for the ocean.  The sand was created by using one of the Els van de Burgt Ropes dies.  I used the negative part from the die cut.  The cattails and other flora were die cut from Susan's CountryScapes - Country Flora 1 die set. Die cut grass from the CountryScapes Grass die set was added under the cattails and flora.  The sun was die cut using one of the dies from the Joset Designs Rainbow Sky die set.  To finish the card birds were drawn in, using a fine line black marker.

Theses supplies can be purchased from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

1145 - Lighthouse

1151 - Rainbow Sky

991 - CountryScapes Flora 1

1094 -  CountryScapes Clouds & Grass

1125 - Ropes 1

 

 

My Yorkie Welcomes You

It is always exciting to see what Susan Tierney-Cockburn will be adding to her new CountryScapes Die Collection, to help us build creative scenes for our cards.  Along with some of the previously released CountryScape dies, I used the new Carolina Farmhouse Door, Flora, Critters 5, and Garden Edges Tulip.

This is a 6x6 inch card.  A piece of textured, tan card stock was used for the background;  I wanted it to resemble a stucco wall.  I used both, Susan's PanPastels and Distress Inks to color elements on this card.   I die cut and colored the New England Stone Wall, then cut it in half to fit behind the Carolina Farmhouse Door. To make the door dimensional, I cut out the panels from extra door die cuts and layered them, sponging around the edges.  A brass brad was added for the door knob. To add a  doorstep, a piece of gray card stock was cut, scored and glued below the door.  A few stones from the New England Stone Wall were glued to the front edge.  

 

On each side of the step are two topiary trees die cut from the CountryScapes Flora set.  To give the trees dimension, I used the die from Susan's Garden Notes Queen Anne's Lace set to cut tiny "leaves" and glued them to the topiary trees die cut.  

On each side of the step, I added tulips that were die cut from the CountryScapes Garden Edges Tulip.  On the left side of the Door, the tree from the CountryScapes Woods 1set was die cut and leaves from the ECD Leafy Branch set glued on.   At the front door, this cute little Yorkie dog is there to greet you; he was  die cut from the new Critters 5 set. 

On the right side of the door I added a piece of the Garden Notes Carolina Window. One window pane from the bottom of the die cut  was cut off, then the right side cut to fit the card.  Behind the "glass" windows of both the door and the window, I added a piece of Yellow Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz.  It is hard to see in the picture, but on the card, it really looks like glass windows.  To complete the scene, three little butterflies were added  from the Garden Notes Bugs & Butterflies die set.

It is a little time consuming, but very easy and FUN to create a card like this.  Sometimes it amazes me what I can think of when I start looking at all the different dies!  

Here are links to the products used from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

1128 - CountryScapes Carolina Farmhouse Door

1129 - CountryScapes Critters 5

1130 - CountryScapes Flora

1133 - CountryScapes Garden Edges Tulip

1084 - CountryScapes New England Stonewall & Gate

992 -  CountryScapes Woods 1

1011 - Garden Notes Bugs & Butterflies

1086 - Garden Notes Carolina Window & Shutters

1141 - Garden Notes Queen Anne's Lace

SS0108 - Yellow Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz

1033 - Leafy Branch 

30115/30116 - Pan Pastels

Thank You

 

Good Morning.  This is the card I designed for my Design Team Member post on the Quietfire Blog today.   You can see all the information at this LINK.

 

Lighthouse

Today I am excited to be posting as a new designer for the Elizabeth Craft Designs, Design Team, which will be posted monthly on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog.   For the above card,  I will be using products from Els van de Burgt Studio and Joset Designs that are in the new Elizabeth Craft Designs product release this month.

Some of the new products include a variety of Fitted Frames that all work together.  You are going to love being creative with these new dies.  They come in Fitted Ovals, Fitted Squares, Fitted Circles and Fitted Rectangles.  There are also Stitched sets in all four categories, and last but not least there are also Fitted Frames that come in the same four shapes.

Below are the pictures of the three Square Frame sets, that work together.

 

 

 

I will show you how I created frames for my card.

Use the two largest dies in the Stitched Squares set. Tape them down on the card stock, with even spacing between the dies, all the way around.  When die cut, you will have a frame plus a die cut square out of the center you can use for another project.

 

Use the third smallest die (shown on top) for the center frame backing.  From the center of the die set, use the second (with dots) and third (with stitches) dies to create a frame.  I have the dies facing up, but be sure you turn them over and tape them down, to die cut.

Use the same stitched die you use for the small frame to cut a backing for the small frame
.
Die cut the Fitted Frames 2 Lace Squares, and use the second largest frame.

Here are the pieces you need to create the frames.

The largest Stitched frame measures 5 1/4" square.  Cut a piece of blue card stock 5 1/2" for a base for the frames.  Glue the two largest frames to the blue square, as shown on the card.

Now to decorate the card.  Die cut the Star Fish from the Small Shells Die set.  Use gold card stock for the overlay and white card stock for the base.  Color the solid piece using markers.  Attach the two pieces together.

On the small square die cut, create dots in the center that will show behind the Star Fish die cut and attach the Star Fish with a dimensional glue dot.

Glue the small Stitched Frame inside the larger frame.

Using the Joset Designs Lighthouse die set, die cut the two pieces for the Lighthouse.  Use gold card stock for the overlay and white card stock for the base.  Color the base with markers and attach the gold overlay on top.  Die cut the flag and attach at the top of the Lighthouse.

Attach the Lighthouse on the left side of the card.

Die cut the Anchor, from the Lighthouse set,  using gold card stock and attach to the right side.

Using one of the rope dies from the Els van de Burgt, Ropes 1 die set, die cut it using Kraft card stock and shade with brown ink.  Attach it along the bottom edge.

The following new products will be available soon at Elizabeth Craft Designs.

118 - Stitched Squares
1062 - Fitted Frames 2 - Lace Squares
1145 - Lighthouse
1147 - Small Shells
1125 - Ropes 1

Dream of Strawberries

This card makes my mouth water just thinking about fresh strawberries, which is my favorite fruit.  Today I used the Joset Designs Strawberries dies, from Elizabeth Craft Designs, to create this card. 

This is a 6x6 inch card.  I started by creating a frame for the strawberries by using Els van de Burgt Studio Stitched Rectangles and Fitted Rectangles dies.  It is a little hard to see but I used the largest of the Stitched Rectangles for the back layer, then used the largest Fitted Rectangles die to die cut the red frame.  The top white layer, was die cut using the second largest Stitched Rectangles die, then embossed with the Lots of Dots Embossing Folder.  The top white frame was attached with dimensional tape. The frame was glued to a  white card.  

The Strawberries were die cut using Soft Finish Cardstock.  The top overlay (red part) was sponged using bright red ink.  The berries were patted down with VersaMark Ink then clear embossed.  The base for the strawberries was sponged yellow and attached to the back of the red overlay.  I used a black thin line marker to place a small line in the center of the yellow seeds.  The berries were shaped with the largest stylus in Susan's Flower Tool Kit.  

The stems of the Strawberry were die cut using white card stock and sponged green.  I used the ECD scissors to cut between each of the leaves up toward the stem.  On the large Strawberry, I over-lapped two of the die cut stems, and glued them together, alternating the leaves.  This was not done for the small strawberry.

The Strawberry Leaves were die cut using Soft finish Cardstock then sponged with two shades of green ink, and also shaped with Susan's Flower Tools. 

 

The White Strawberry Flowers were die cut using the flower die in the Joset Designs Cupcake set.  They were shaped with the Flower Tools and yellow Flower Soft added to the middle.  Three ECD Flourishes were added.

The sentiment is one of the new dies in the A Way With Words collection.  Four sets of white "Dream" die cuts were glued together then a red Dream glued on top, to give it dimension.  The red hearts were die cut from the Cupcake set.

Links to products used from Elizabeth Craft Designs.

1149 - Strawberries

1144 - Cupcakes

1158 - A Way With Words, Dream

1120 - Stitch Rectangles

1121 - Fitted Rectangles 

1034 - Flourishes & Branches

E114 - Lots of Dots Embossing Folder

Susan's Flower Tool Set

PSF101 - Soft Finish Cardstock 85lb

 

CountryScapes Wishing Well

Good Morning.  This is with my first 2016 design team member post for Susan's Garden Club on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog..   I am very excited to show you some of the new products that will be in Susan's new release later this month.  You can be so creative using Susan's CountryScapes dies.  They all work together to create beautiful,  dimensional scenes.

This is how I created this beautiful 6x6" card using CountryScapes dies:

 Create an outdoor background on white card stock, using Susan's CountryScapes Cloud & Grass die cuts.  The cloud stencil was used to sponge on clouds, using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, on the upper three-fourths of the card.  On the bottom portion of the card, use the grass stencil and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink, for the back ground grass behind the fence.

Die cut the CountryScapes Wishing Well and assemble.  To create a dimensional  wood shake shingle roof, die cut the roof four times.  Using only the shingle part of the die cut, cut the rows across on the three extra roofs, cutting off rows so you have three separate rows.  Cut between each shingle (vertical) and curl the edges up slightly - there are good embossed lines on this die cut to make it easy to see where to cut.  Starting with the die cut with three rows of shingles, glue to the large die cut roof.  Next, glue down the row with two rows of shingles, then on top, glue down the row with just one row of shingles.  They now appear very layered.

Die cut the Picket Fence twice.  Cut one die cut in half so you can use half on each side of the Wishing Well.

Die Cut the CountryScapes Flora Twice.  Cut bottom stem off one and glue the two together.  Die cut the flowers and leaves and attach to the branch.

Die cut the Garden Edges Hyacinth and glue on flower petals.

Die cut the Garden Edges Daffodil. ( I attached two die cuts only adding glue to the stems/leaves and slightly lowered the one on top to make the flowers dimensional.)

Weave the Garden Edges Hyacinth together with the Garden Edges Daffodil so you are alternating the flowers, for a mixed flower border.

Die cut and assemble the CountryScapes Azalea.

Die cut and color the birds from the CountryScapes Critters 2 die set.

Die cut the Elizabeth Craft Designs Outdoor Edges grass.

Die cut and color the Ducks from the CountryScapes Critters 5 die set.

Assemble as shown on the card or make your own arrangement.  


Products used from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

1135 - CountryScapes Wishing Well
1134 - CountryScapes Nantucket Arbor & Picket Fence
1132 - CountryScapes Garden Edges Hyacinth
1131 - CountryScapes Garden Edges Daffodil
1130 - CountryScapes Flora
1129 - CountryScapes Critters 5
1012 - CountryScapes Critters 2
1094 - Clouds & Grass
914 - Outdoor Edges

 

Celebrate with Southern Magnolias

HAPPY NEW YEAR.  Now that the holidays are behind us, are you ready to add some new beautiful flowers to your paper garden?  Susan Tierney-Cockburn has five new flower dies in her Garden Notes Collection that will be available this month at Elizabeth Craft Designs --  Cosmos,  Daffodil,  Queen Anne's Lace,  Southern Magnolia and  Zinnia.  

The new flowers I am showing you today are the Southern Magnolia.  Don't they look gorgeous! Here is a close up of the flowers I created using Susan's dies.

I was not sure what the stamen in the Southern Magnolia looked like.  I found this picture on the Internet and tried to duplicate it for my flowers.  Susan will have new videos available on YouTube, with detailed instructions, after CHA.  The new video updates are always announced on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Facebook page.

 On the card above, I used another new die in the Garden Notes line, which is the Grapevine Wreath - Oval.  There are three different Grapevine Wreaths coming out -- Oval, Round and Square.  For my card, I die cut the Oval Wreath three times and layered it, alternating the branches.  On the lower portion of the Grapevine Wreath I added ECD Leafy Branches.  The Southern Magnolias were attached with Dimensional Glue Dots.

At the top of the Wreath I added one of the new A Way With Words sentiments - Celebrate.  The sentiment was die cut three times and layered.  On the sides of the card I used one of the new Els van de Burgt Studio Chains 1 dies for a border. 

 I created a lot of the Southern Magnolia, so decided to create a gift box to go with the above card.  Two other new products I used are the Els van de Burgt Studio Corners 1 and Stitched Ovals.

 You can see the new products, that will be released soon, at this LINK at Elizabeth Craft Designs.

1142 - Garden Notes Southern Magnolia
1138 - Garden Notes Grapevine Wreath Oval
1158 - A Way With Words, Celebrate 
1126 - Chains 1
1113 - Stitched Ovals
1124 - Corners 1
1033 - Leafy Branch