Dianthus get well

 

So, I guess my sister got Covid-19 for the third time. And it was during a cruise and she got put off the ship. Her significant other and my sister-in-law got to go on and enjoy the rest of the cruise. Some people catch all the breaks, right?

The flower die is Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers Dianthus, and the plaid paper is from an old My Favorite Things paper pad. 

Christmas card season is finally here!

 

It's finally Christmas card season, and I'm so happy to be working with these Lovely Layers Doves from Honey Bee Stamps.  The first one, above, is an A2 card on a pre-printed panel.  The "peace" word is from Gina Marie Designs.

These 2 cards are in 5" x 7" format, which is prefered by my friend that I give a lot of cards to. I guess size really does matter.  These papers are from big paper pads from Michael's.

The sentiment stamp is from a set I got from a cheapie site.  The frame dies are also from Honey Bee Stamps.

Card kit of the month for September, Simon Says Stamp

This month's card kit from Simon Says Stamp is called Bee Happy. It features a lot of die-cuts of sunflowers and bees. It's just lovely.

The only stick in my side is that I broke the embossing folder and couldn't repair it. Most of the instructions for 3D embossing folders from SSS seem to think that I will have the Spellbinders' diecut machine. I still use my old Big Shot, thank you.

So, just to be stubborn, I used a bunch of other embossing folders on this group. And a few rectangle frames with no names.

These last 2 cards use the included embossing folder, before I broke it beyond usability. It's hard to tell in the photos, but the impressions are not very deep and they are deeper near the top than the bottom where the folder was warped.

 

More blooms, of course.

 Three more sets of flower cards.  This first one uses Spellbinders' Be Bold Blooms, the next was flowers cut from the tie-die paper pad I've been working on using up.  The third is a generic flower that was cut from white cardstock and lightly shaded with some Distress Oxide in Worn Libstick. The greenery is from my leftovers box, and the sentiments are from Honey Bee Stamps.

Favorite flower

 

A flower, cut out of Honeybee Stamps' tie-dye paper, on a fern background. The green strip on the side is washi tape from the Van Gogh tapes recently acquired from Temu.

Paper "busting" cards.

One more (5 x 7) using the Honey Bee Stamps' Lovely Layers Wildflowers.  The border is Distress Oxide Aged Mahogany, as is the stamped handwriting background and light inking. The center stripe is washi tape from a Van Gogh set I got at Temu.

I also did a trio of A2 "Thank You" cards using that same MFT paper pad I've been trying to use up.

 

Ferns everywhere!

 

In another session to "use up" older paper, here are 3 quickie cards using an old My Favorite Things patterned paper, with textured cardstock that was gifted to me many years ago.  The ferns are from Honey Bee Stamps.  These are A2 sized cards.

As a bonus, here is a 5 x 7" card using the same paper packs, with some washi tape around the outside. The flowers are Honey Bee Stamps' Layered Wildflowers.

That one paper I have been avoiding

 

I had a single 12 x 12 sheet of this pretty paper with gourds.  It is beautiful, but so busy that I have been saving this one sheet for over 7 years now.

Enough!  Let's use it up!  I die-cut the "Thanksgiving" sentiment from a "mat stack" that came from Joann's from someone who abandoned it, and used die-cut greenery that were leftovers from a different project. 

The inside of this one has 2 die-cut pumpkins that were also in my leftover box. I also used up some kraft card bases that I made a few years ago.

I also got a new lightbox this week. So far I'm loving it, especially for the stand-up pictures.

Down the rabbit hole of Chinese shopping...

I ordered a few (ha!) crafting supplies from that new "direct to consumer" supplier that ships in orange plastic bags.  I'm not saying who, but you all know.

Anyway, here are a couple of 5 x 7 cards I put together using the dies.

I also used some washi tape and a gold star for this one, above.  For the one below, I used very old stamps from Lawn Fawn and My Favorite Things for the sentiments and bats.

 I may have mentioned in the past that I didn't know Halloween was a card-sending occasion until I started making cards.  Who knew that was a thing?

Smiling planter

 

I needed a get-well card, in a hurry. I chose this embossed background (Spellbinders 3D embossing folder of the month for February 2023. I paired it with this planter die set from SB's January kit (the add-on die).

Most of my get-well sentiment stamps presume an illness, but in this case it was a broken foot that needed to be acknowleged.  

Flowers, rainbows & unicorns!

 

Using a couple more inked backgrounds, here are Whittle Unicorns from Poppy Stamps, and Be Bold Blooms from Spellbinders.

And, here are the Be Bold Blooms again, this time with an embossed background, also from Spellbinders.

Spellbinders' Card Kit of the Month went on a reducing diet for the new year.

 So, Spellbinders reconfigured their card kit of the month with no dies or stamps, and a reduced amout of patterned paper. They also trimmed down the cardstock into A2 size peices.  According to the YouTube influencers, they were trying to reduce the price of the kit.

I'm still not crazy about the so-called sentiments that came with the kit, but I used some of them anyway.  I don't know anyone who is a "proud plant parent".  No really, I don't.

Ok, I think haveing less patterened paper to "use up" is a good idea, and I did smack out 11 cards in one afternoon just using the kit contents.  Now I'm mentally done with it.  Really? Not something I'm super proud of, that's for sure.

Little Whittles

I'm playing with my little Whittle dies from Poppy Stamps. I'm also making envelopes with old 12 x 12 paper I'll never use otherwise.  

I'm using the hearts embossing folder that was last year's folder of the month from Spellbinders.  This may be the closest I come to making Valentines, but we have a few weeks to see about that.

As I'm typing this, I'm getting my new AC unit installed. It's been an expensive month for me so far: new washer, dryer, microwave and AC unit.  Oh well, at least I have plenty of craft supplies.