Creating a Peanuts-Inspired Card

Last week, I was lucky enough to get my hands on Creative Stamping issue #156, which included a fabulous freebie stamp set called Positively Peanuts. The set features lots of lovely images from the Peanuts gang, and I was so excited to start creating with it. Here in New Zealand, UK magazines usually take around six months to arrive, so this one felt like a real treat. After a quick look online, I discovered just how popular this issue has been—it has sold out on the CraftWork website and in many other places around the world.

To get some inspiration, I joined a Facebook group dedicated to using this stamp set.  There are so many talented makers out there, and I loved seeing the beautiful designs people were sharing. It was the perfect way to spark ideas before starting my own project.

Here’s the card I created using this adorable set.

I decided to use a square panel and a heart aperture die for the design, backing the panel with black card to make the shape stand out. For the main image, I chose Snoopy and Charlie Brown. I first stamped the image directly onto the panel so that it overlapped the heart opening, then stamped it again onto a scrap piece of white card. After colouring the second image, I carefully fussy cut it, trimming away the fine outline lines, and layered it over the original stamped image for extra dimension.

To finish the card, I added a few red die-cut hearts around the image and included a sentiment from the stamp set. I’m really happy with how it turned out, and this project was such a fun way to use this fabulous magazine freebie. My friend, Carol, saw this one on Facebook and has let me know she got the last one at her local bookstore too!   

A Masculine Mixed Media Card for Sweet Stampin' Challenge

If I’m honest, masculine cards are probably one of the hardest things for me to make. I always seem to drift toward flowers, pretty layers, and all the softer details, so coming up with something for a guy usually takes me a bit longer! But this fortnight’s Sweet Stampin’ Challenge gave me the perfect excuse to step out of my comfort zone and have a play with a more textured, mixed media look.

I’ve been watching quite a few mixed media videos on YouTube lately, and they’ve inspired me. All those grungy layers, bits of texture and slightly industrial details had me wanting to try something a little different. It also gave me the chance to use one of my newer buys—an All & Create stamp set called Dynamics—which felt just right for this kind of project.

So here’s how the finished card came together.

I started with a mid-grey square card base and blended Evergreen Bough and Lost Shadow Distress Oxide inks over the background. From there, I built up the texture by stamping with the Dynamics set in black ink, Lost Shadow, and Vintage Photo Distress Oxide, which gave it that nicely worn, layered look without making it feel too busy. After that, I added some texture paste through Tim Holtz’s Clockwork stencil, and I loved how it picked up hints of the green and brown underneath. To finish it all off I added a dark grey die-cut clocks (another new purchase from my local bookstore) and splattered on some grey and white Dina Wakely acrylic paint for a bit more grunge, then added a pre-printed sentiment from Paper Roses.

I’m really happy with how this one turned out, and it’ll soon be heading off to a friend for his birthday. It’s always nice when a challenge pushes me to try a style I wouldn’t normally go for, and this card certainly did that. I’m sure it won’t be my last.

Monet Colours and a Craft Roulette Surprise

Friday, Suna and I were chatting about the Craft Roulette show, and it reminded me just how much I enjoy playing along. I haven’t joined in for quite a while, mostly because of the timing—the live show airs on a Saturday morning, which usually clashes with my grocery run. This weekend, though, I managed to catch the replay on Saturday afternoon, and as soon as I saw the four parameters, I was inspired to create.

The prompt for Monet colours instantly took me back to our visit to Claude Monet’s cottage in Giverny many years ago. The lily pond there is absolutely stunning, and his Water Lilies paintings really inspired me. Those soft blues, greens, yellows, and touches of pink felt like the perfect palette to bring that memory into this project.

My card began as an A2 design, but after making my Crinkle Inkle background with a smooshing tool, I realised I had trimmed the panels to 4.25 inches long instead of 5.5 inches. Rather than starting over, I switched gears and turned it into a 4.25-inch square gatefold card—an “Ardyth” square size, which felt especially fitting since Ardyth was the guest designer on Craft Roulette this week. At first, my natural element was going to be a daisy, but then I saw that Ardyth had used one too, so I changed direction again and chose a butterfly instead. As luck would have it, a new butterfly die had arrived that very morning, so it all came together perfectly. In the end, this card involved a couple of happy surprises and last-minute changes, which made it even more fun to create.

Entering this into Darnell's NBUS challenge as this was my first time using the butterfly die. 

Celebrate with Two Cards for Die Cut Divas

It’s the last day of the month, which means it’s time to share my card for the final day of our challenge at Die Cut Divas. This month’s theme is Celebrate—a wonderfully open prompt with so many creative directions to explore, from birthdays and weddings to milestones and holidays.

Our wonderful sponsor this month is Poppy Stamps.

For today’s post, I have not one but two cards to share.

First up is a Christmas celebration card.

For this card, I chose a cream card base and matching panel. I have a few small edger embossing folders, and one of them features this sweet snowflake design that decorates the top of the panel. The ornaments were created using the Poppy Stamps Clarissa Ornament Outline die, cut from shiny silver card. Because I don’t have the matching background die, I adhered the ornaments to blue cardstock and then fussy cut them. I found the perfect sentiment in a Rosie’s Studio stamp set called Hearth + Home and heat embossed it directly onto the panel in silver. To finish, I used a fine silver gel pen to add the ornament strings. There’s just something so lovely about a blue and silver Christmas colour combination.

 My second card celebrates a birthday.

For this card, I used the Poppy Stamps Intricate Leaf Square Frame. I first cut the frame, then used a Spellbinders square die to create an aperture in the card. Behind the aperture, I added patterned paper and layered the frame over the top. I also used a die set from an old magazine to cut two decorative elements, which I backed with the same patterned paper before fussy cutting them. The finished panel was mounted onto a 4.75” square card base, and the sentiment comes from a Woodware stamp set.

Come and join us at Die Cut Divas with you Celebration card - just remember to use your die cut machine

A Crafty Play Date

Yesterday I had the loveliest crafty play date with my talented friend Suna, who drove about 20 minutes to spend the day creating with me. We had around four and a half hours together, complete with homemade soup for lunch and plenty of crafty chatter. Suna spent her time ink blending, assembling Simon Says Stamp roses, and colouring a Gina K image with her Polychromos pencils—something she does beautifully. While she worked on her projects, I managed to make two and a half cards during our time together and finished the last one after she left.

Here’s a look at the three cards I created during our crafty afternoon.

For my first card, I pulled out a tulip die set I bought a while ago and followed the assembly method demonstrated by Christine Stokes on her YouTube channel here. Although the tulips are designed as a single layer, Christine cleverly cuts them twice and trims them to create a dimensional two-layer effect. I ink blended purples for the tulip petals and fresh greens for the stems and leaves, then added texture by spritzing everything with water droplets. To build the background, I die cut a panel using Gina K Master Layouts 2 and added patterned paper cut with the same die for a coordinated grounding layer. I finished it with an Altenew pitcher die cut and embossed from brown textured card and a foiled Spellbinders sentiment from my stash.

My second card was inspired by a video from Natasha Foote, where she used the Altenew Dancing Cosmos stencil on its own. The stencil coordinates with an embossing folder, and I’ve previously used it to colour the embossed design, so I enjoyed trying a different approach this time. After a slightly rocky start, I finally got the stenciling just right, and I was really happy with how it turned out. I trimmed the finished panel with a die, matted it with dark pink cardstock, and then created a decorative frame by fussy cutting the centre from a Kaisercraft scalloped rectangle. The final touch was a stamped and die cut sentiment from the Pinkfresh Studio Artistic Dahlia set.

My third card was inspired by a video from Natalie Bowers, where she used an embossing folder to “stamp” onto cardstock. I inked up the Couture Creations “Jane” embossing folder with Distress Oxide in Picked Raspberry, added touches of Wilted Violet here and there, spritzed it with water, and then pressed it onto cardstock. While the panel was still damp, I sprinkled on tiny bits of gold embossing powder and heat set them for a little extra sparkle. Natalie cut her panel into smaller pieces to make several cards, but I loved my background too much to chop it up, so I kept it whole. I trimmed and matted it with gold cardstock, then added a flower from the older Simon Says Stamp Fresh Daisies die with a vellum layer behind it. The sentiment came from a Spellbinders set that was included with a magazine a few years ago.

It was such a fun and refreshing day of crafting, conversation, and inspiration. With a long weekend here in New Zealand for King Charles’ Birthday, it feels even more special to have four days off work—and I couldn’t think of a better way to start it than with a crafty catch-up and three new cards to show for it.

Embossed Elegance: A Card Inspired by Jo Simons

Over the weekend, I watched a YouTube video by Jo Simons that used a technique I had not done in quite some time—using dies to emboss a card. It immediately inspired me to pull out my supplies and give it another try.

For this card, I used the Spellbinders 5 x 7 Elegant Labels 4 die and ran it through to create an embossed frame. Before removing the label die, I did some ink blending with a soft blue ink, both inside and outside the shape to add extra depth and softness. For the sentiment, I chose one from the Peony Glow stamp set by Pinkfresh Studio. I also used the coordinating washi tape and matching dies from the same collection to cut the floral elements. To finish the design, I arranged two of the floral die cuts around the embossed frame and added a few black dots to tie in with the stamped sentiment.

It was so enjoyable to revisit these older techniques.  

Celebrating With Poppy Stamps: My May Challenge Card

 I’m back with another inspiration piece for this month’s challenge over at Die Cut Divas. Our May sponsor is Poppy Stamps, and the theme is Celebrate—a wonderfully open prompt with so many directions to explore. Birthdays, weddings, milestones, holidays… you name it.

For my project today, I decided to lean into a warm, seasonal vibe and create a Thanksgiving card.

I pulled out a few of my older Poppy Stamps dies—always fun to revisit—and paired them with a leftover piece from a recent gesso resist panel I created (you can see that project in my earlier post). That little scrap was just waiting to become something, so I used it with the Orchard Leaves die to cut a handful of textured leaves. I also cut additional leaves from a rich mahogany patterned paper to bring in more depth and contrast.

For the background, I spritzed a panel with Distress Spray Stains and Distress Oxide Spray in Tarnished Brass and Picked Raspberry. Once it dried, I trimmed it down to fit one an “Ardyth-style” 4.25" square card base.

To build the focal point, I die cut an orange ribbon and bow using the Poppy Stamps Grosgrain Ribbon and Grosgrain Bow dies. I adhered the ribbon across the background panel, then tucked the leaves on either side to create a full, autumnal cluster.

A Spellbinders hot-foiled sentiment, die cut and added over the ribbon, finished the card beautifully.

Another celebration card complete—and a lovely way to use up those special little scraps we all hang onto.

Come and join us at Die Cut Divas with you Celebration card - just remember to use your die cut machine

Catching up!

I’ve still been finding time to craft, but blogging has definitely taken a back seat lately. Today, though, on my non-work day, I finally found some time after lunch to head into the craft room, get creative, and catch up on sharing what I’ve been making. I have three cards to show you today, each with its own little story.

The first card is what I’d call a “Mesk” card — made from the bits and pieces that were sitting on my messy desk waiting to be turned into something useful.

I had a 3.75-inch strip of 12x12 patterned paper left over from making an envelope, so I trimmed it down to fit a white panel and rounded one side for a softer look. I added another scrap of patterned paper along the side, then went digging through my container of saved bits and found a sentiment I’d pre-cut awhile ago. A scrap of vellum became the circle tag, and I finished everything off with a few little gold hearts from my die-cut embellishments. This one actually came together earlier in the week, and I love how it made good use of leftovers.

The next card is a Christmas card, also made earlier this week. Back in March, I picked up some non-branded Christmas dies from my local stationery store, and they turned out to be such a great buy.

For this card, I die cut the pieces from green and red cardstock, then used scraps of gold and dark brown for the star and trunk. After that, it was simply a matter of piecing everything together to create the tree. To give the design a focal area, I used an old embossing folder to create a border around the panel and softly ink blended around the edges. A few gold dots on and around the tree finished it off nicely.

And finally, today’s make — another Christmas card.

This one came about while I was putting some of my stash back where it belonged. As I tidied up my Tim Holtz Bigz dies, I came across the Christmas Cardinal die and knew it would be perfect for the Christmas Kickstart Challenge — Season’s Tweetings.

I die cut the design — it’s an all-in-one die — and then used Tri-Blends alcohol markers to colour each section. For a snowy touch, I added White Nuvo Crystal Drops to the branch. To really let the die-cut image shine, I mounted it on a 5-inch square panel embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The sentiment is from an LDRS Creative stamp set and was die cut with the coordinating Sentiment Stack II die.

And card #2 is being entered into Darnell's NBUS May Challenge 

Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end. I really do appreciate every one of my readers and commenters.

Happy crafting!