Thinking of You

Hi, friends. It's a holiday here today, so I have a quick post for you. We spent most of the day outside and loved the beautiful weather we're having right now.

My card is for The Play Date Cafe's challenge. The Craft's Meow is the sponsor! Here's the photo/color inspiration:

Here's my card using TCM's Nature's Beauty and Inspired by Audrey (sentiment) stamp sets. The thin turquoise strip is embossed with Spellbinders M-Bossabilities (ES-006).

I heat embossed the flower silhouette images with white. Some Want2Scrap bling on the cute little butterflies and twine finish the card. It's a very simple card to make and perfect for this week's CAS-ual Friday challenge as well, but I'm a little late to the party :(.

Happy brithday Flower

Something exciting happened last night...my girls tasted their very first Peeps! A friend is visiting from America and brought us some. I'm personally not a big fan, and I think my girls are like me. My policy is always, if I'm going to waste calories, I'd rather waste them on chocolate :-).

Today's card uses a technique that I learned from the Hero Arts blog called Stamp Layering. This card took me more than the usual 30 minutes or less, but I really enjoyed the process. The layering was inspired by LilyPad's Sunday Video. You need to check it out.

I used Hero Arts' Big Flower Pattern clear set and Envelope Pattern stamp, which I stamped on the polka dot patterned paper. The sentiment is SRM WGYS Happy. The green papers are by October Afternoon. The kraft patterned papers are Basic Grey Kraft.

The brown layers are patterned papers, while the green layer is stamped then colored with Copic markers. I used my new favorite white cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest, for Copic coloring that my friend Asela sent me. It blends so well. I'm entering this to Copic Creations challenge to use our favorite paper for coloring.

The colors are inspired by the Play Date Cafe's challenge. And I'm also entering this to Scrapbook & Cards Today's current challenge.

Here's a close up shot to show the different layers.

Spring Card Set and a Mini Tutorial

Thank you so much for your kind comments from the announcement I made yesterday about changes with my design work. Your support and encouragement mean so much to me. I will have some new exciting things coming up, so I hope you'll continue to stop by and visit me on my little blog :-).

As soon as I saw Moxie Fab's Card Set challenge, I knew I had to enter. I love making card sets and make them often. They make great gifts, don't you think? The colors on my card set were inspired by the Play Date Cafe's colors of pink, blue and silver - a challenge for me, but I'm glad to have these Graphic 45 Once Upon A Springtime papers to get me started. The sketch (mini cards) is by Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #41 (my cards are 4.25 x 4.5").

I used some of my favorite Layers of Color's sets: Nature Walk (flower, which was colored with Copic markers), Regal Wings (wings), Sent with Love (card sentiments), Happy Wishes (box sentiment). I die cut the focal image with Spellbinders Labels 10 and adhered it slightly curved.

And here is the box I packaged it in. This set will be a gift for a good friend.

I posted another card set in a box a few days ago and I received many inquiries about how I made that box. Here's a short tutorial on how I made the card box. The only difference is I used the Grand Nestabilities Labels 4 for that one and Labels 1 for today's box. A ScorBuddy will come in handy when mass producing these card sets.

My envelopes were 5" x 5", so I scored the box at 2-5/8" on both sides. You can adjust that, of course, depending on the size of your envelopes. Add about 1/4" to the width of your envelope.

You can also adjust the measurements below, depending on how thick your stack of cards and envelopes are. Keep in mind that when your cards are bulkier, you may need to make the score lines farther apart.

I hope you find that helpful. Have a great day!