Showering Blessings

This little pop up card was fun to make, and is very pretty in pastel Bazzill Bling cardstock.  I had leftovers from a couple of baby chipboard books that I made so I made some matching cards.  The pop up umbrella is of course from Cricut Everyday Pop Up Cards cartridge, as is the layered sentiment on the front of the card.  I cut the Showering Blessings from a thin die I have had for a while--cannot remember the name of the company--besides the company is called something else now.  The buttons on the front of the card are cut from Paper Trey Ink button dies.  A few stickles on my umbrella make it shine.  I hope you have a sunshiny day, not a rainy one!  Maybe this umbrella is more of a parasol!

Winter Wonderland snowflake

This is one of the pages in my newest chipboard album called "Winter Wonderland".  It is a pocket page that holds four large tags.  Each tag acts as a mat for a 4" x 6" photo.  I put little snowflake brads in the hole of each tag.  The focus point on the page is the large decorative snowflake on the pocket itself.  I cut the pocket and tags from the Cricut Mini books cartridge using Craft Room, where I was able to enlarge them to suit my book.  I also cut the decorative snowflake using Cricut, from the Anna Griffin Winter Wonderland cartridge.  I love this cartridge!  I bought the universal overlay to use with it, since it is a newer cartridge that does not come with an overlay.  Also, the instruction book is very much smaller, and I find it a lot easier to read than the older format, especially for layering images.  I layered blue and white cardstock to make the snowflake, which is Option 26 on the cartridge.  I did not use Craft Room for this project--I just set my size to 3" and all four layered images cut beautifully and layered perfectly to make the snowflake.  I did add a small glitter brad to the center of the snowflake before adhering it to the outside of the pocket.  I know it is nowhere near to snow here, but I do think snow may soon be coming to parts of the country.  I had fun making this page of the book.  The whole mini book is nearly complete--it is a flip album with 6 pages front and back.  I used the blue and brown Magenta paper throughout, supplemented with blue, white, and brown Bazzill cardstock.  Lots of deer and snowflakes!

Is it time for Fall yet?????

Is it time for fall yet?? I keep waiting for that hint of cool in the air--sometimes I can almost feel it on my morning walks, but this morning was just too warm.  I am always eager for a change in season, especially fall, which is my favorite time.  It can't get here fast enough, since we are all tired of the hot summer heat.  The card above depicts my all time favorite go-to stamp for fall--Hero Arts F5270--Traditional Pumpkin.  I have had it for some time and I think used it for fall cards for the last three years.  Yet again, I drag it out, and do the same old technique I love--paper piecing beautiful fall printed papers.  This time the papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Nutmeg collection--another 6" x 6" pad waiting in my vast stash to be used and made into something beautiful, cute, memorable, or useful.  I paired this stamp with some new findings in my craft room--my not so recently acquired but still waiting to be used ZigZag stamp from Hero Arts (CG422) and my newest acquisition--my button studio from Epiphany Crafts.  (An item which I have mixed feelings about--certainly overpriced for the simple job it does not quite as well as I would have liked, but oh, well, it's a new toy and I can use it.)  The sentiment on the card is from Hero Arts' Season of Giving clear stamp collection, and the felt leaves I believe are also from Hero Arts.  I stamped the zig zag background with three colors of Clearsnap Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink-Pumpkin Spice, Yellow Ochre, and Olive Pastel.  A few ties of May Arts twine pulls the card together.  I love Bazzill paper for cardstock for cards!  I didn't even have to use a score tool on this--it just folded nicely!  I think I read that Bazzill papers have polyester fibers in them--maybe this is why it folds so nicely.  Not a perfect card--I see mis-alignment rampant and I had to use an orange pigment pen to get the sentiment to look decent, but I like it.  It reminds me of fun autumn times ahead and the promise of a little cooler weather.   Let's taste the last of the summer heat, maybe let it linger in our mouths just for a while, but let's wash it down with a draught of cool autumn.