Set Sail for Adventure with a Handmade Nautical Card

Hello crafty friends!  In this week's craft post we are setting sail into a wave of creativity with the gorgeous  Spellbinder's die set "Set Sail" from the Fair Winds Collection (no longer available).  This set is perfect for crafting a delightful, ocean-inspired handmade card for summer greetings, birthdays,  Father's Day and anyone who loves the water!

Also used in this set is  Spellbinder's "Tunnel Clouds"  to create the sun.

I created this card when I saw the Splitcoaststamper's sketch SC1121.  The sketch reminded me of waves so I wanted to create a nautical card with it. 

To make the card I started with a dark blue piece of cardstock then I hand cut a lighter blue for the "wave" and glued it on top of the dark blue.

Once I had the base of the card completed I simply cut out all the die pieces from the two Spellbinder's sets, glued them together, and then adhered it onto the card base to create my nautical scene.  I popped the sun up on dimensionals.

To keep true to the sketch, I added a sentiment from a retired Stampin' Up! set "Live Like You Mean It" and then stuck three epoxy dew drops near the sentiment.

 Whether you're crafting for an avid sailor or just sending a little sunshine, a nautical card is the perfect way to anchor your warmest wishes.  Happy crafting, and may you always have fair winds and following seas in your craft room.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Cute as a Bug: How to Make a Spellbinder's Stitched Ladybug Card

I am back from vacation;  we had a wonderful week even though we faced severe storms and flooding almost every day.  I will be sharing more when I begin a new travel series on Wednesday.   I hope to visit your blogs soon and return the love you all have graciously left on my blog in my absence, but as you are all probably aware, when one is away from home for a while, there is so much to be done when you return...especially if you have a garden.  There are so many tomatoes that need to be picked, and I had to toss at least a dozen cucumbers because they had gotten so big on the vine!  

In the meantime, I want to get back to a regular blogging schedule, starting with a craft post.  Below is a card I made for my daughter and son-in-laws birthdays which are just a couple of weeks apart.  This card was a labor of love as the stitching took forever, but I love the way it turned out.  The frame is just breath-taking to me.

To make this card I used Spellbinder's Stitched Ladybug die set (It's on clearance right now, so if you want it I'd scoop it up right now as it's half price!).   I cut all the pieces out using different shades of card stock, then I did the stitching and assembled everything together.  I used white floss for the frame, ladybug head, and dots and red floss for the wings.  I didn't do anything creative with this card but just followed the example given on the back of the die card set.  

For the background, I used a "Meandering Floral" embossing folder (no longer available) and dry embossed a beautiful shade of green cardstock.   

The hardest part of doing a card with die cuts is cutting all the different shades of cardstock, stitching, and then piecing them all together.  Once that part is done, it's basically just creating a layout on your card front that you like.  

 I love ladybugs and I love how this card turned out, it's as "Cute as a Bug".

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

How to Use Dried Flowers on Handmade Cards

Many, many years ago my daughter gave me some dried flowers she purchased from somewhere and then she gave them to me because she thought I could use them on a card.  Well those flowers sat in my craft room unused for years until I discovered them while cleaning out my craft room.  My winter project this year was to clean out and reorganize my craft room.  It was a huge undertaking and I still plan on doing a blog post about it.  I donated truck loads of supplies I never used.  When I came across the flowers, I felt bad that I never used the flowers given to me, so I decided to finally make that card with them.

Unfortunately, the flowers were so old by now they were very fragile;  but I did my best trying to keep the blooms for disintegrating as I worked with them.  To make my card I carefully glued the flowers to a white card panel, then to keep them from disintegrating further, I sprayed them with a fixative.

The flower panel looked very vintage to me, so I decided a vintage style card would look best with the dried flowers.  I used designer paper that reminded me of old wall paper;  it is from DCWV "Tres Chic".  Then I added some lace and ribbon and put gold gems in the corners of the flower panel.  the sentiment is a sticker.

 Creating this card made me think that I should really press my own flowers from my garden.  I have some Bachelor Buttons that would be perfect for drying.  But if I do that, hopefully they won't sit for years before I finally use them 😀.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Folded with Love: A Handmade Card

Did you ever make paper boats as a child?  It is so nostalgic to fold a piece of piece of paper and then watch it float!  Spellbinder's captured this nostalgia with their die stitching die "Hand Folded Stitch" (I see it's on clearance now too, so grab it while you can!).

I really love this die because it is very different from most die cuts I see today, and I have three grandsons, so I will get a lot of use out of it! 😀

Whenever I use a new die, I either just follow the example the die came with, or I case a card.  I feel that is necessary until I get acquainted with the card.  After I become familiar with all the different pieces then I am more comfortable creating my own design.  This card was cased from this one on Pinterest.  I really liked her design and about the only thing I really changed was the sentiment.

To make my card I just die cut all the pieces, did the stitching and assembled them.  Sorry for the glue showing, I don't think my 4 year old grandson minded 😀.  I used different shades of white and light grey for the background and boat.  The waves were cut with another die cut out of two different shades of blue.  The sentiment is from the set.  The oval panel and the boat are popped up on dimensionals.

This is such a sweet card! I love the design of the original paper craft artist.  It would be perfect for a baby boy gift too.  I can't wait to try other designs with this fun set.

 Have A Great Day! Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Grandma's Living Room, A Handmade Card

I had an elderly neighbor fall and break her hip and thus was hospitalized for quite some time.  Thankfully she is back at home again.  She is a huge cat lover, so I made this card for her.

When I first saw this die set it was instant love.  I mean, what's not to love:  cats, plants, and a vintage home.  The die set is called "Stitched Study Nook" and is by Spellbinders, but is unfortunately no longer available.  I'm sure this one sold out fast as it is so CUTE!

To make my card I simply cut out all the pieces and then inked them up a little using a sponge dauber. I then stitched them up and glued the pieces together.  For the background,  I used designer paper from DCWV "Tres Chic" that I thought mimicked wall paper.  I then glued all the pieces to the designer paper, popping a few things up on dimensional like the cat, chair, and light. 

I enjoyed this set so much I made another card using different colors and I skipped the ink blending. 

I dry embossed the background instead of using designer paper.  I think this design looks like wallpaper too.  I added stripes to the cat's back (although I didn't do a very good job 😀.

I hope you enjoyed my two cards today.  I certainly enjoyed making them, and the recipient really loved hers.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

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A Handmade Friendship Card

I made this card back in March for a Splitcoaststampers Card Sketch Challenge.  Splitcoaststampers is an on-line community of card makers, stampers, and scrapbook enthusiasts.  They have challenges every day of the week and one of my favorite challenges is the Sketch Challenge.

Although I look at the sketch challenge every week, I rarely play along.  Mostly, because I don't have time, but I am also picky about the type of sketches I want to do.  This week, I happened to like the sketch so much I decided to play along.  Here is the sketch pictured below:

Photo Credit

I had this old Crafty Secrets (no longer in business) image that was perfect for this sketch because it was already in the shape of a circle.  All I had to do was color it in and cut it out.  Easy peasy.

Here's a close up of my coloring.  I used Copic Markers to color.

I used designer paper from My Mind's Eye "Stella Rose" for the background.  I cut the scalloped border and the sentiment using dies from Spellbinders and My Favorite Things.

 I enjoyed this sketch and had a lot of fun playing along with the other Splitcoaststampers ladies.

I'm entering this card in the Four Seasons Challenge.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!