Happy Birthday

I have had emails asking if you have been missing my posts since I haven't posted for over a week.  I had a fall the day of my last post and haven't been able to walk up stairs to get to my craftroom.  I am still hobbling around and nursing bruises, but feeling better and happy to be back designing.

Today I worked with a few of Susan's CountryScapes dies.  The card is 6x6 inches.  I die cut the tag using the Elizabeth Craft Designs Tags and More 5 - Sunburst die.  The bottom portion was covered with design paper.  Next I created the pot of geraniums from the CountryScapes - Backyard 1 die set.  It is very dimensional.  The birdhouse was die cut from the CountryScapes - The Woods 1 die set, using design paper.  The top and sides of the tag were sponged using Scattered Straw Distress Ink.  To complete the tag, I added an ECD sentiment and glitter border stickers.

The tree was die cut using the dies from the CountryScapes - The Woods 1 dies.  I wanted to create a flowering Spring tree, so used the petals from the Garden Notes - Hydrangea set.  Around the flowers, I glued in some of the leaves from The Woods 1 die set.  I used a die from the CountryScapes - Backyard 1 set for grass at the base of the tree.  A kitty was die cut from the CountryScapes - Country Critters 1 die set and tucked in by the grass.  The gold corners are also ECD stickers.

It is so fun to create scenes with Susan's CountryScapes dies.  

The following products can be purchased from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

988 - CountryScapes - Backyard 1

992 - CountryScapes - The Woods 1

989 - CountryScapes - Country Critters 1

994 - Garden Notes - Hydrangea

958 - Tags & More - Sunburst

7010 - Glitter Gold/Silver Glitter Borders stickers

324 - Black Assorted Word Stickers

1018 - Gold Corner Stickers

    

Rose in Accordion Oval Card

 Do you enjoy creating fun shaped cards?  Today I used the Elizabeth Craft Designs Accordion Oval Card die set along with the Garden Notes - Rose 2 dies to create this fun card.  I used black card stock to die cut the main card shape.  The red frame was created using the Oval Flourish Frame Edge dies.  I watched Susan's video on steps to create this small rose and bud.  I love this Rose 2 die set because it includes the dies to create the small rose, stem/leaves and the rose bud. 

 This is a picture of the Accordion Oval Card open.  For the background piece on the oval, I used the smaller oval shape in the die set then embossed it in the ECD Damask embossing folder.  It was glued to the center of the larger oval.  As you can see, on the front panel I added the rose I created, then added a small red heart which is also a die in the Accordion Oval Card die set. On one of the rose leaves I created a ladybug using Viva Paper Pens.

On the right (or inside) oval, I used ECD stickers (listed below).  For the card to look really complete, I die cut four of the red frames so all four panels are decorated.  These accordion cards do lay flat when closed as you can see in the top picture.  

The products used can be purchased from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

998 - Garden Notes - Rose 2
772 - Accordion Oval Card
777 - Oval Flourish Frame Edges
KB104 - Damask Embossing Folder
2577 - Gold Happy Birthday Stickers
1283 - Red/Gold Elegant Swirls Glitter Stickers

Playing with Glitter

Who doesn't love glitter!   I love working with new products.  This morning I had so much fun learning how to color the Elizabeth Craft Designs Silk, Cool Diamond, Microfine Glitter.  I watched the video (LINK) where Els shows us how to use the Diamond Glitter with the Peel off Stickers and color the design with Copic markers. Els gives us very detailed, easy to follow instructions.   I am so hooked, I think I could color glitter designs all day.  The results are so beautiful every time.

Here is a picture of the daisies that I chose to color.  I love that you can color just a small portion of the design and blend it out with the Copic Blender Pen for a very dimensional look.  You will enjoy watching Els video and learning all the steps for completing this fun project.

I really love the Peel Off Stick daisy glitter design and wondered if I could use the glitter on Susan's dimensional flowers.  I decided to use the Garden Notes - Sunflower dies to create a similar daisy as in the Peel Off Sticker design. You know, I always like a challenge!

I used the Elizabeth  Craft Clear Double Sided Adhesive on a piece of white card stock to die cut the Sunflower.  In this picture I was not sure if I would need extra petals so I die cut two of the large flat sunflower die and several of the petals.  I ended up not needing the extra petals.

 I used a shallow box and followed Els instructions on how to use the glitter on the coffee filter.  My die cut pieces were all glittered.  I used Copic markers to color the petals just like I did on the glittered Peel Off  Stickers. I only used two of the large sunflower die cuts.   I wanted to try and duplicate the flowers on the Peel Off Stickers, so I used the stem die from the Garden Notes - Tulip set.  It was backed with the same adhesive and also colored with Copic Markers. Susan's new Flower Tool Set was used to shape the petals and leaves.  When shaping, the glitter did not come off on the molding pad.

The oval dies I used are from the ECD Accordion Oval Card.  This was a very fun project and I hope you will give it a try.  I think the Peel Off Sticker Glittered Daisies were be beautiful on a card and the Glittered dimensional flower could go on top of a gift box. 

The products I used can be purchased from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

999 - Garden Notes Sunflower

1000 - Garden Notes Tulip

808 - Susan's Flower Tool Set

809 - Mini Molding Pad

772 - Accordion Oval Card die

503 - Clear Double Sided Adhesive

642 -  Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter

2558 - Outline Daisy Stickers (black)

Roses in my Garden

I love roses and had so much fun creating these little flowers using the Garden Patch - Mini Rose dies.  These roses are very small so it was fun creating a lot of them to climb up the Elizabeth Craft Design Trellis.  The rose petals were die cut using pink card stock.  I created some of them in full bloom and some are just rose buds.  

The Bamboo Trellis was created using a sheet of Elizabeth Craft Designs Clear Double Sided Adhesive attached to a piece of white card stock.  To make the Trellis to stand out from the white embossed background, I added ECD Silk Cool Diamond Microfine Glitter to it. You pour the glitter over the sticky sheet and rub it in to make it very shiny.   To make the Trellis sturdier, I die cut another one, using white card stock, and glued the glittered Trellis over it. 

The embossed background was created with the ECD Spring Leaves embossing folder.  This is a 6"x6" card so I embossed the left half of the card stock, then embossed the right half, to get full coverage.  The design matched up perfect. 

At the top of the card I used the ECD Paris Edges die.  It was die cut on a piece of 6x6 inch card stock then the embossed piece was glued below the die cut design.  In the Paris Edges dies, there is a long die that I created the pink trim with, under the die cut piece.  I used the negative of that die cut at the top, and the positive piece at the bottom of the card. 

The Trellis was attached with dimensional tape in the center of the card.  The roses were attached with Glue Dots and pieces of the ECD die cut Berry Branch were tucked (glued) around the flowers.  This branch goes well with the Embossing Folder and looks pretty for a filler behind the flowers.  In the center of the Trellis, I added the sentiment, which are ECD stickers.  

To ground the Trellis, I added grass,  die cut using the CountryScapes - Background 1 dies.  I die cut the watering can from that same die set using brushed silver card stock.  The little squirrel is die cut from the CountryScapes - Country Critters 1 die set.  

The butterflies were die cut using the tiny butterfly from the ECD Butterfly Pivot Card.  I used two of the die cuts for each butterfly.  The bottom one was colored a darker yellow.  To finish the card, I added corners die cut from the ECD Tags & More 7 - Vine die set.  They were also glittered like the Trellis. 

 Susan's flowers always look so realistic; it doesn't matter if you are using the large flower dies or these mini dies.   Aren't they beautiful!

You can purchase the following products from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

1001 - Garden Patch - 1 1/2 inch & Mini Roses
808 - Susan's  new  All Metal Tool Kit
809 - Susan's Mini Molding Pad
988 - CountryScapes - Backyard 1
989 - CountryScapes - Country Critters 1
758 -  Berry Branch
727 - Bamboo Trellis
767 - Butterfly Pivot Card
979 - Paris Edges
118 - Spring Leaves
960 - Tags & More 7 - Vine
503 - Clear Double Sided Adhesive
642 - Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter
324 - Text Stickers

Easter Bunny and Baskets

Today is my turn to share a project on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog.  I have created Spring flowers for an Easter centerpiece.  I used three different flower dies from Susan's new dies to decorate this cute bunny from Pier I Imports and around the rim of the little basket of eggs.  It is so fun to create all these new smaller flowers.  Isn't that little basket of daffodils cute; they look so real!

Around the Bunny's neck is a necklace of Susan's Garden Notes - Lily.

This basket is filled with Daffodils created with the Garden Patch - Daffodils.

And to decorate the basket of eggs I created Daisies from the Garden Patch - Daisy dies.  There are a variety of sizes to choose from.

I hope you enjoy seeing my new Easter Centerpiece. I hope I gave you inspiration to create something special for your Easter projects.

To read the entire post, go over to the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog at this LINK.

Have a Great Day.

 

Garden Notes Peony

Peonies are one of my favorite flowers.   The new Susan's Garden Notes - Peony dies are just the perfect size for cards.  Today I created a 6"x6" card with layers of design paper from the Graphic 45 Botanical Tea 6x6 pad.  I watched Susan's Peony video at this LINK and followed her instructions for completing the flower. As Susan states on the video, there are several different types of peony.  I created one that does not have the yellow stamen.  I die cut  white petals and used two shades of pink markers to color the them.  A darker pink was used for the center petals and the bud.  

The sentiment I used is one of Susan's new stamps; it is the" Let Us Be Grateful" stamp.  It was stamped using green ink then cut around with scissors.  A backing was cut and attached with dimensional tape.  The Elizabeth Craft Designs "Small Butterfly" was die cut using purple card stock.  A narrow piece of lace was added under the middle strip of design paper.  I used the Zutter Distrezz-it-All tool to distress the edges of the design paper.  Pearls were added to complete the card.

 Here is a close up of the flower.

All the Elizabeth Craft Design products used are listed below:

996 - Garden Notes - Peony
RS005 - Let Us Be Grateful stamp
713 - Small Butterfly
808 - Susan's 4pc All Metal Tool Set
809 - Mini Molding Pad

Beautiful Bluebonnet

I am so excited to show you this gorgeous flower created with Susan's, Garden Notes - Blue Bonnet/Lupine dies.  It is so realistic.  You can follow Susan's step-by-step instructions  on her video at this LINK.  

I followed Susan's instructions and colored the petals with the three colors of Copic Markers, B29, B34, and B41.  My coloring (blending) is not always great so I used Pan Pastels over the inked petals for better blending.  I used Violet  470.5 at the base of each petal.  Next I used Titanium White 100.5 to rub over all the coloring which seemed to blend all the coloring together.  I used a pointed Fantastix coloring Tool Brush Point tool to add the color and used my finger to rub it in. White was also added to the very base of each petal but it was not rubbed in. Once the flower was assembled, I went back and added Ultramarine Blue Shade 520.3 to add additional dark shading at the base of some of the petals.  If I wanted the top edge of the petals a little lighter, I used the white Pan Pastel.  I love how the final color turned out by coloring the petals with the Copic markers then adding shading with the Pan Pastels.   Susan's new flower tools were used for shaping the petals. I used a moss green card stock for the leaves.  I used the leaf tool as shown on the video for shaping the leaves, then shaded them with  Chrom. Ox Green Tint 660.8  Pan Pastel.

I used the Elizabeth Craft Designs Tags & More 6 - Daisy dies for the tag.  It is easy to create many different looking tags with this tag die set.  On the overlay I used the decorative top die at the top of the tag then the long die with holes, which created punched holes under that design.  On the bottom of the tag, I used that same die to die cut holes in a narrow piece of the same card stock that is used for the lining. There is dimensional tape between the die cut tag and lining.   The sentiment is from the ECD Text Stickers.  On the background behind the flower, I white embossed small dots using a background stamp.  To finish the card, I added a ladybug created with red and black Viva Paper Pens, and a bow.  

This Bluebonnet flower tag is going to be so pretty on a birthday gift.

The products used from Elizabeth Craft Designs are listed below:

993 - Garden Notes - Blue Bonnet/Lupine

808 - Susan's Garden 4pc, all metal tool set with luxury case

959  - Tags & More 6 - Daisy

397 - Text Stickers Happy Birthday

Easel Card with Coneflowers

Today I had fun creating Susan's Garden new Coneflowers for a Birthday Easel card.  

 This is a picture I found on the Internet with a variety of Coneflowers.  I chose to create the pink one in the foreground with the orange stamen.

Susan's Garden - Coneflower dies were used to create the flowers.  I used pink card stock for the petals and used a bright pink marker (which doesn't show up well in my photo) to create the lines on the petals. 

 The stamen, from Susan's dies, was die cut using orange card stock.  Each stamen point was cut in half to make them very thin.  I used a brown marker to color most of the stamen; coloring to leave the tips orange.  Next I added tiny dots of glue to all the points and dipped the stamen in Susan's Orange Pollen.  My stamens don't look exactly the same, but I think they turned out pretty realistic.

 This is a 6"x6" Easel Card.  I used a piece of design paper from an old design paper pad for the background.  The Coneflowers were attached to the ECD, Tags & More 6 - Daisy tag.  The tag was attached with dimensional glue dots.  On the front of the tag I added an embossed piece of white card stock; I used the ECD Swirly Curves Embossing Folder.  

On the bottom of the easel card I cut a piece of white card stock slightly smaller, then used the ECD, Happy Birthday Stand Up Helper die to cut the stand up sentiment to hold up the easel portion of the card when it is open.  A black strip of card stock was glued to the bottom of the top panel to help the sentiment show up well.  That Happy Birthday sentiment will lay flat when you close the card.  Additional black strips and a strip of the design paper were added to that bottom panel that the sentiment is die cut. A pearl flourish was added to complete the card.
 

The following products can be purchased from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

1007 Susan's Garden - Coneflower

808 - Susan's Garden 4pcs All Metal Tool Kit

959 - Tags and More 6  - Daisy

937 - Happy Birthday Stand Up Helper

119 Swirly Curves Embossing Folder

Anemone Happy Birthday Card

 Anemone are such pretty little flowers.  I created this 6"x6" card using Susan's Garden - Anemone dies.  For the background frame,  I die cut the Elizabeth Craft Designs Garden Patch 7/8-inch grid using purple design paper.  It was framed with the ECD  Fancy Frame Edges.  The frame was die cut using black card stock and backed with purple design paper. The white back piece was embossed with the ECD, Lots of Dots Embossing Folder.  I used the 7/8-inch grid die to die cut a piece of design paper and used four of the squares in the center of the frame. 

I love to try different things with my flower dies.  I found this picture of Anemone flowers on the Internet and wanted to create my flowers similar to them.  I used Susan's instructions for assembling her flower but created different stamens. 

To create the stamens, I used a large flat backed pearl for the center part.  Glue was spread over the pearl and black Flower Soft pressed in to give a "fuzzy" look.  I die cut two purple stamens from the Susan's Garden - Anemone die set for each flower.  Each stamen leg was cut in half to make it thin, then Susan's Black Pollen was glued to the tips of each.  First the "fuzzy" center was glued in the center of the flower and I let it dry so it was secure.  While that was drying, I glued two of Susan's stamens together so there were no large spaces between them.  Glue was added to the inside edge and the bottom edge and attached around the center piece.  I pushed the bottom edge up very close to the center making sure it stayed attached. I used ECD stickers for the sentiment.

Do you like to try different things with your flower dies?

The products I used can be purchased from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

1005 - Susan's Garden - Anemone

1004 - Garden Patch - 7/8-inch & Mini Leaves

114 - Lots of Dots Embossing Folder

976 - Star Fancy Frame Edges

397 Starform Text Stickers (Happy Birthday)

Daisy and Butterfly Tag

 Who doesn't love daisies and butterflies!  Today I created a pretty tag using the Elizabeth Craft Design Tags & More 1 - Lace dies.  To decorate the tag, I used the ECD Swirly Curves Embossing Folder for a background on the solid portion of the white die cut tag piece; for a different look, I used the debossed side.  Double sided dimensional tape was used to attach the white tag to the lower yellow die cut tag.

The cute little daisies were created using the Garden Patch - 1-inch Mini Daisy & Chrysanthemum dies.  There are six small flower dies in this package which can also be used to create cute little chrysanthemums, but I die cut all the little flowers using white card stock to have different size daisies.  A grouping of daisies were glued under the die cut at the top of the tag.

I used "The Butterfly Is Proof" sentiment stamp for the center of the card.  It was stamped on white card stock then the words cut apart.  Each piece was sponged with Mustard Seed Distress Ink, then the sentiment glued to the background.  I used the Mustard Seed Distress Ink to sponge around the edges of the tag too.  

Under the sentiment, I glued on three more daisies and the ECD Small Butterfly. At the top of the tag I used some matching yellow and white twine through the hole. 

Elizabeth Craft Designs has many beautiful tag dies that are so fun to decorate.  You can make them any length you want and the new small flower dies by Susan are just perfect for tags and cards.

Here is a list of products from Elizabeth Craft Designs used:

951  - Tags & More 1 - Lace

1003 - Garden Patch - 1-inch & Mini Daisy & Chrysanthemum

RS007 - The Butterfly is Proof stamp

713 - Small Butterfly

119 -Swirly Curves Embossing Folder  

Lily Box

There are so many things we can decorate with pretty flowers.  Today I have used a small box I have had in my stash for years,  and decorated it with flowers using Susan's Garden Notes - Lily dies.  This flower was very quick and easy to assemble.  The diameter of this little round box is 3 1/2 inches, so you can see the flowers are small.   

Three lilies were added to the lid along with one pearl flourish.  The petals were die cut using a very light pink card stock.  A light pink pen was used to draw lines up from the base of each petal.  The leaves were die cut using a light green card stock then shaded with Bundled Sage Distress Ink.

Around the side of the box, I added a piece of lace; it was attached with two pieces of the Elizabeth Craft Design Clear  Double Sided Adhesive tape.

What do you have in your stash that you could make beautiful by adding a few flowers?

Have a great weekend!

The following products can be purchased from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

995 - Garden Notes - Lily
506 Clear Double Sided Adhesive
 

Garden Notes Sunflower

 Are you ready to get out and garden?  I have a paper pad called Green Thumb by Paper House that I thought worked perfectly with Susan's Garden Notes Sunflower and her new sentiment "Planted in Faith".  

I die cut the pieces in the Sunflower set using a light yellow card stock for the flower petals and lightly sponged Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink at the base of the petals and highlighted the upper portion with Mustard Seed Distress Ink.  For some reason I was not able to get a great picture because I think it looks spotty in the photo but isn't in real life.  For the seeds in the center of the flower, I used two shades of brown and a black card stock.  Once shaped, the colors were mixed in placing them in the center.  Using a variety of colors gives more dimension.   I used two of the stem sets to create a growing sunflower.  To ground the sunflower I used two grass die cuts from the CountryScapes - Backyard 1 die set.  Each blade of grass was cut down the middle to make thin blades.  

The "Planted in Faith" sentiment works so well with this design paper.  I wanted it to stand out; it was stamped on the second sheet of that design paper and mounted to a piece of black card stock, then attached with dimensional tape. 

The Small Dragonfly was die cut twice.  I used Shimmer Sheetz for the detailed parts and black card stock for the lining of the dragon fly.  I love the Shimmer Sheetz for the dragon fly.  In the upper corners, I used one of the little tag pieces from the Tags & More 1 - Lace die set.  It had a hole in the center because it was meant to be used over the hole in the top of the tag, so I added two large black pearls to create pretty little corners to help frame the scene. 

It is fun to work with these smaller flowers.  You can view Susan's flower instruction videos at this LINK on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog. 

Products used from Elizabeth Craft Designs:

999 - Garden Notes - Sunflower

RS002 - Planted in Faith stamp

988 - CountryScapes - Backyard 1

712 - Small Dragonfly die

951 - Tags & More 1 - Lace

SS0101 - Black Iris Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz

Dogwoods

Today I have a card using more new Susan's Garden dies.  One of my favorite flowering trees is the dogwood.  The flowers on these trees can be either white or pink.  I used the grid die from the Garden Patch 1 3/8-inch dies for my background.  In this package you also receive dies for Mini Daffodils. I created two branches of flowers using the Susan's Garden - Dogwood dies.  I created the branches the same as I did on the Cherry Blossom post done yesterday.  I used a light tan card stock and sponged the branches with Crushed Olive Distress Ink, shaped them, then sponged on Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  They look so realistic.  The flowers were die cut using white card stock.  On the indention on the end of each petal, I used the Copic marker R59 (Cardinal); place the tip of the point in the indention.  For the stamen, I die cut two stamen pieces for each flower and used scissors to cut each stamen stem in half.  Two stamen pieces were glued together to give fullness to it.  The ends were spread apart and tiny dots of Viva Light Moss Green Paper Pen was placed on the tips. 

This is a 6"x6" card.  I attached a piece of design paper from an old Jodie Lee Designs "Nature Garden Collection" 6x6 paper stack over a 6x6 piece of black card stock.  The Garden Patch grid was die cut using black card stock then the same die used to die cut the squares using a piece of design paper from an older BasicGray "Green at Heart" paper pad.  The grid frame was attached with dimensional tape.  Over the grid, I attached a pearl swirl from my stash.  

The sentiment is one of Susan's new sentiment stamps from Elizabeth Craft Designs "Take Time".  It was stamped on white card stock, cut out with scissors and backed with black card stock.  Black pearls were added to complete the card.

The new smaller flower dies by Susan are so perfect for creating beautiful cards.  

Below is a link to each of the Elizabeth Craft Designs products used:

1009 - Susan's Garden - Dogwood

1002 - Garden Patch - 1 3/8-inch and; Mini Daffodils

RS008 -  Take Time, sentiment stamp

  

Cherry Blossom Time

Today is my first post on The Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog as a member of the Susan Tierney-Cockburn Design Team.   I have Spring Fever and am looking forward to all the beautiful flowers that should start blooming soon.  I have decorated a 10 inch square mirrored frame with a beautiful branch of Susan's Cherry Blossoms at the top.  Along the bottom I have included three white flowers using Susan's Garden-Anemone dies.  

Before I started creating my flowers, I used a couple of stencils and texture paste to create a background on the frame. 

This is a picture of the Susan's Garden - Cherry Blossom die.  

I die cut the cherry blossoms using a very light pink card stock.  There are two sets of dies to create flowers and you can see that the flower has only two die cut pieces to form the flower (one piece has 3 petals and the other 2 petals).  These flowers are so easy to create.  I wanted to add cherry blossom buds so I die cut the 3 piece petal in a darker pink to create them.  I shaped (cupped) the petals, added glue over most of the topside, then pinched the petals to form a bud.

Below is a Tutorial on how to create a realistic branch:

To form the branches,  I die cut two branches using Kraft card stock.  The branches were sponged with several colors of Distress Ink then both branches sprayed with a light mist of water to spread the ink and loosen the fibers of the card stock.  They were shaped using a ball stylus (just press down in the center of all the branches to give them shape). In the picture above the top branch has been sponged but has not been shaped.

You will need to let the branches dry thoroughly (either air dry or use a heat gun) then glue the two branches together.  This creates a sturdy branch and helps make it look realistic.  Once they are glued together, you can sponge a darker brown ink over the creates to help it look like bark, if you want to.

After your branches are ready, you can start attaching the cherry blossoms and buds.  I only have two branches pictured here but actually used three for the frame. 

In the center of the frame is a mirror.  It was not possible for me to get a picture without my reflection so I die cut a piece of card stock to cover most of the mirror.  The sentiment I used is the Susan's Garden "Sunshine and Love" sentiment stamp.  ( I will be removing the pink card stock and have the sentiment attached directly to the mirror when I use it for a piece of home decor.

Along the bottom of the frame, I attached several pieces of lace.  The flowers on the white lace were created using Susan's Garden - Anemone dies.  The pretty lavender butterfly was die cut using the Elizabeth Craft "Small Butterfly" dies. 

Have you signed up for the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog updates and the Newsletter?  You can do that at this LINK. You will find a lot of inspiration on the Blog including videos by Susan showing how to create her flowers. 

The products from Elizabeth Craft Design are linked below.

Susan's Garden Cherry Blossom (1006)

Susan's Garden - Anemone (1005)

Elizabeth Craft, Susan's Garden, Sunshine and Love stamp RS001

Elizabeth Craft Small Butterfly (713)