by Karen Endress | Oct 20, 2016 | Encouragement
Hello crafty friends! I finally had time to post this encouragement card I made a while ago. When my new crafty friend 🙂 came over to make cards with me, she chose this one to duplicate. I liked it so much myself that I ended up making another almost just like it.
The cardbase was (you guessed it!) Neenah Solar White 80 lb., covered with a nice gray followed by a slightly smaller panel of a light salmon, both linen textured from my stash of DCWV mat stacks. I continued layering with a panel of cheap white stock cut with one of the Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles and a panel of patterned glitter paper (My Mind’s Eye Home Glitter Book) cut with a long deckled rectangle from this Spellbinders set.
The sentiment verse is from Impression Obsession stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black on Neenah Solar White cut with the same Spellbinders die set. I added trim from the Celebrate It Aria “Vintage Blush” assorted trim roll (Michaels) about 2/3 of the way down the sentiment panel and cut an assortment of leaves & blooms with the Essentials by Ellen Bold Blossom dies from white, vellum & a dotted silver foil paper (CraftSmith Silver Gift). Both the trim & die cuts were adhered with matte medium using the Fineline precision applicator bottle for all of those intricate areas.
As you can see from the photos, I used all the same elements but a different arrangement of the leaves & blossoms and a different trim from the same Celebrate It Aria pack. I also found a match in some flat back adhesive pearls from my stash. Serendipity!
Blessings! 
by Karen Endress | Oct 13, 2016 | Hello--Thinking of You
As so often happens, you can follow the progression of my card making from scrap to scrap, so here’s another look at that oh so pretty Echo Park floral paper (We Are Family by Lori Whitlock) I used recently. It’s very similar to one of the papers in the My Mind’s Eye On Trend 2 collection by Jen Allyson (which I also have, so at least I’m consistent!). There’s just something I love about the shape of those little flowers!
This was a simple card, the part that took the longest was deciding what to use on top of the flags in the top left corner! As usual, Neenah Solar White 80 lb. for the cardbase, layered with the EP paper. The black & white side strips are the reverse of the floral paper. And if those aqua flag ends look just perfectly cut…well, they are!! Because I didn’t do it! These are from the Teresa Collins Studio Gold 7 Labels pack and they’ve come in very handy already 🙂
I used two more as a base for the sentiment. The hello is die cut from The Crafter’s Workshop hello die from scrap black cardstock which I layered onto one cut from black craft foam to give it more dimension. The “friend” part was stamped with The Paper Studio “Everyday Expressions” which has many useful single words.
To finish off the card I finally found the perfect match for that top corner—a heart shaped “button” epoxy chipboard sticker from a really old Heidi Grace collection called “Cartwheel.” The bling is from KaiserCraft in aquamarine. Stash!! I did add one more touch (unfortunately after I photographed) which was to fill the holes in the heart with silver Stickles.
As you can see from the photo, they’re just these two gaping holes & I had no matching fibers at my temporary craft area (a.k.a. the dining room table.) I’m hoping to do a post soon on this and the fun I’ve had there with my crafty friends this month then carry it all back up to my real craft room. My DH has been VERY understanding of the mess so far, but…
Blessings!
by Karen Endress | Sep 30, 2016 | Fall, Seasonal
Hi, all! I’ve been under the weather most of this week, but before I succumbed, I did have a fun new crafty friend over to make cards!!
We made “quilted” cards by punching hexagons (Stampin’ Up) out of coordinating patterned papers. “Patching” it together took a little time because we had to keep the same patterns from ending up next to each other. It helps to have at least four different papers. I added some definition by edging the pieces with VersaFine Vintage Sepia ink.
In the interest of using my stash, I chose the ancient My Mind’s Eye Wild Asparagus stack. This is the very first or maybe second paper stack I ever bought. The other one is called Everyday Tango. I can’t bear to part with either even though they are totally old school.
I used a Recollections kraft cardbase and left space between each hexagon. To further the quilted effect I added faux stitching with a Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (M dark sepia). I finished off the front with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Labels die and a sentiment put together by masking off two different stamps from the Hero Arts stamp & cut set Prayers.
Apparently I missed the stitching one of the hexagons!
These MFT dies come in very handy 🙂
Continuing the sewing theme, I cut the inside sentiment from MFT’s Stitched Alphabet, used the Clear & Simple set called “On the Mend” to stamp the spools, needle & thread, and added a little faux stitching around the inside panel with another PITT pen (M black) to finish it off.
I used my go-to VersaFine Onyx Black for both the outside sentiment and inside elements. I started out adhering my hexagons with Tombow tape runner but it was hard to keep the adhesive off the front of the pieces so I switched to my Zig 2 Way glue pen.
Since I only just very recently acknowledged that summer is over, this is my first nod to any fall crafting. Now that I’ve broken that barrier, though, I’m kinda thinking it would be fun to make some more fall cards! Would love to see any that you guys have made!
Blessings,
