Make Sweet St. Patrick's Day Cards and Treats with Stitched Clovers

Are you feeling LUCKY?! Today I have some St. Patrick's Day cards and treat bag just in time for celebrating the land of the leprechauns! Today's crafts feature the Dainty Clover die and the Happy St. Patty's Day sentiment stamp. 

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I had a fun surprise when I opened this Dainty Clover Die. I loved the stitched detailing and I was so focused on that, I didn't realize until I cut it the first time, that the die also cuts out a separate skinny border! SO cute. Each element is adorable on it's own, as well as together, which is how I used it for today's cards. I die cut the shamrock in two shades of green and them mixed and matched them. 

I love the fresh pale blue along with the shades of green, and really all these cards needed was a simple sentiment to finish them off. 

I love the fresh pale blue color in contrast to the shades of green. I'm trying to use up some cardstock bits of this & that, and these colors are all from Bazzill Card Shoppe. It's a great heavy-weight cardstock and it embosses beautifully. 

Today's post is part of Die Cut Obsession Day at Impression Obsession. The design team is celebrating the latest springtime dies released at IO. Click over to the IO blog for a list of everyone participating. There's so much springtime goodness to see, and I'm so grateful you stopped by today! xoxo

Was this your first time here? Let's connect again! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest where I'm sharing crafty goodness all week long. 

IO Supplies Used on Today's Project:

Dainty Clover Die

Happy St. Patty's Day Stamp

Stitched Tag Die Set

Other Supplies:

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock - Icy Mint, Easter Grass, Evergreen

Spring Treat Bags

Lemongrass Thread

Looking for more St. Patrick's Day crafty fun? Click the link under each image to check out these projects that I've created to celebrate all things GREEN and LUCKY!

Kiss Me I'm Lucky handmade card with Lucky Clover dies

LUCKY Banner, with coordinating treat bag, card and letterboard

Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Day Card and Pencil Toppers

Christmas Countdown Day 6 {Christmas Eve!!!}

I have a few more cards to share with you today. . . .because we're running out of time! Today, Christmas Eve, is day 6 of my oldie-but-goodie Christmas countdown. I'm sharing one of my favorite past holiday projects each day as we count down to Christmas.   

These cards feature a few more of my favorite things. . . a little more October Afternoon paper, plus some dotted swiss cardstock. 

I'll keep it short and sweet today . . . we all have lots to do!  Enjoy the celebrating, the festivity, the warmth, and the joy of the days! xoxo

Summer snowflakes {Gina K Designs}

Well? Are you ready? The days are ticking by at warp spread - seriously, how is it already December 12th? No - how is it already December 13th!!??? Funny how I thought my son had a week, plus a half before school gets out. Turns out it's only the HALF of a week. Umm - YIKES. Thanksgiving being so late this year has REALLY messed with me. I finally got the rest of my calendars printed, that we give to our families, but I am not exactly sure they will be here in time to mail to our long-distance relatives! (OOPS.) 

But onward to a card for the day. . . .

I absolutely love this snowflake stamp from Gina K Designs set, Blessed is the Season, and for today's card I paired the snowflakes with some not-so-snowflaky colors! Kinda fun, huh? I used two different colors of ink (Stampin' Up Calypso Coral, and Tsukeniko Mango Madness I think!) and blended them together on my stamp with a sponge dauber (basically a little sponge that fits on your finger.) When stamping more than one color on a stamp, always start with the lightest color first. Then tap the edges of the stamp in the darker color, and blend with the sponge. When I was done, I used the remaining ink on the sponge dauber to add color to the edges of my cardstock block. 

Have a beautiful day! Thanks so much for stopping by, my friends!!!!

Bazzill Beach House Winner!

Hooray, hooray for Cami J! :) 

I asked my kiddo to pick a random number for my winner, and he picked number SIX!!

Congrats Cami! Bazzill Beach House, plus an awesome pack of Bazzill Card Shoppe cardstock are coming your way!!!

And because I hate to post without pictures, here's a quick and simple card I made using the Bazzill Card Shoppe cardstock, plus dies and stamp from The {Stamps} of Life, and jewels from Want2Scrap.

Bazzill Beach House giveaway

I suppose that *technically* it's almost fall.  But here in sunny Florida, it won't REALLY feel like fall until November.  Granted, the meteorologist informed us we are having a cold front this week, and I must admit, it IS cooler.  Today I believe the high is 87. (Can that REALLY be classified as a "cold front?")

Ahh, but I digress. . .Bazzill Basics Paper has a lovely colletion of patterned paper called Beach House.  It's beachy, but in a "let's sit in a cottage and play board games, and look at the ocean" sort of way. . .not in a "let's go run wild on the beach and wear florescent flip flops" sort of way. (And that's a GOOD thing.) The paper has a BEAUTIFUL texture to it. And I made about a million cards with the 6x6 pack that they generously sent me.  But the best news? They sent me a pack of 6x6 Beach House paper to share with one of YOU too!!!! So please, please, tell me you're still here - and comment, so that the sweet people at Bazzill will send me MORE goodies to share next time!  

Here are just a few of the many cards I created, paired with cardstock (also from Bazzill,) stamps from Gina K Designs, Close To My Heart, and The {Stamps} of Life, and my favorite twine from May Arts.

Please leave a comment on this post by Saturday and I will draw a random winner to receive a 6x6 pad of Bazzill Beach House paper, plus a few other goodies that I will add in! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

xoxo

Getting the Most From Your Stamps

This is the latest article I've written for A Cherry On Top. .  .you can find all of the great products I 

used, over in the ACOT store! :)

Stamps are an investment.  We buy them because they seem like a long-lasting, worthwhile, crafty purchase. We justify the expense, promising ourselves that we will get tons of use from them and they'll be super practical. And guess what? That is completely true.  But if you're like me, you whip up a few projects with a stamp set... and then you get bored.  Into the bottom of the drawer it goes, collecting dust with the rest of those must-have stamp sets.
Today I challenge you to bust out one of those stamp sets (and hey, if you realllly want to... go buy a new one, I won't tell) and try some of these simple techniques and ideas to get some use 
out of those great stamps! 

I'm going to share 5 projects, which focus on some of my favorite techniques and ideas, that you can recreate using just about any stamp set, paper pack and color scheme you'd like.  So that you can see exactly what I'm working with, here is the stamp set I'm featuring today.  It's the Buttercup clear stamp set by Lily Bee.  (These are great high-quality stamps, which are really easy to use!)

1.  Layer Your Stamps

Stamp a background over an outline image.  To create the tag on this card, I stamped the polka-dot background, and then the tag outline and sentiment right over it.  Polka-dots are my FAVORITE; they just make me HAPPY!  Think about what stamped images you can add a pattern to. (a polka-dotted tree, teacup, or cloud? ADORABLE.) 

2. Trim and overlap stamped images:

To create this candy tube, I stamped and trimmed the background square, and then stamped the flowers on patterned paper and cardstock.  I trimmed them, and layered them on, using foam tape to add some dimension. (Remember how I love polka-dots? Well, I love foam tape almost as much!)

3. KISS! (Keep it simple, silly!)

Grab the one or two stamps you like the best and let them work their magic. Don't get bogged down in the details.  On this card I used two stamps, added a bit of colored pencil, tied a piece of twine, and called it DONE. It took less than 5 minutes.  YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!!!

4.  Repeat, repeat, repeat:

Take a stamp. . .just about any stamp. . .and make a background.  To really add some depth, try "second-generation stamping", where you stamp twice before reinking. Stamp, stamp, ink.  Stamp, stamp, ink. Got it? ;)  Make sure you stamp over the edges to make it look more like an actual piece of patterned paper.  And on this card, I didn't even do the entire background of the card.  A nice stripe at the bottom was enough.  (Add "simple" to my list of favorite things, right after polka-dots and foam tape!)

5. Think Outside of the Box:

On this card, I wanted to use the square backgrond stamps in a new way.  So I stamped them on cardstock a few times, and then after I trimmed the squares, I trimmed them each in half.  It made a fun easy design that fills my card. (And lookie there. . .polka-dots, foam tape, simplicity! ahhhh!)

 Remember, nothing I've shown you today is groundbreaking or complicated. But sometimes we all need a refresher, and an inspiration to look at our stamps in a new way.  I hope you'll take one (or two, or five) of these ideas, and you'll dive in and CREATE with what you love! 

Products Used:

 

catching up with some hexagons!

Just here to catch you up with a few TSOL projects I haven't yet posted . . . .

This first is a flip-it card, (using a Sizzix die) which are so fun to make, but really difficult to photograph! I found this great website though, called PicMonkey, and I highly recommend you go play! You can make collages, and banners for your Facebook page, and it was REALLY quick and easy to drop these two photos into one image. Anyhooo. . . here it is!

 Stephanie released a set of smiley faces last month, and they are PERFECTION to add a smile to anything and everything! Candy really SHOULD be smiling, shouldn't it!? (cardstock is Bazzill Card Shoppe)

 And the new hexagons2love set. . . .sheer bliss! This set is a BLAST. Hexagons are so trendy and hip right now, and they are quite possibly the perfect shape. . .it can function as a circle, but it has straight edges, which makes cutting SO much easier! (Discount Cardstock's soon to be retiring Cyclamen Cascata Cardstock. . .my favorite pink color EVER.) 

This one is my favorite though.  . . .I know, I cannot get away from green and aqua, (or pink and aqua. . .or pink and green, ..  .or pink and green and aqua!) I used a regular old hole punch to cut out the center of my hexagons, and popped them up on foam tape. Easy peasy, and super cute. (more Bazzill Card Shoppe cardstock)

In a few days, we are dashing off to the Hamptons! (I love saying that. . .it makes us sound VERY fa-fa-fa-fa!) My brother in law is getting married out there, so my little guys will be donning their new seersucker suits, and (hopefully) walking down the aisle, on the beach, as co-ring bearers! (And my hubby is performing the ceremony!) After the wedding, we are going to spend a few days in New York City. We'll go to the Empire State Building -Bryce has wanted to go, ever since he got the Empire State Building in Legos! We're also going to see the Space Shuttle Enterprise, at the Intrepid. Add in FAO Schwarz, Grand Central Station, and Central Park, and I think our two days in the city will be PACKED! 

I'll try to schedule some posts while I am away, but we all know that might not happen! Summer and my little guys take priority right now!  But I AM going to have a sweet summer giveaway, sponsored by Bazzill coming up soon, so don't be a stranger!  And while I'm thinking of it, Bazzill is going to be doing giveaways on their Facebook page, and sharing sneak peeks of their new products, during every hour of CHA, starting on Tuesday! So be sure to hop over to Bazzill's Facebook page and score some sneaks!

Handmade Popsicle Cards with Delicious Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock

Hello, hello!

Today I'd like to show you two fun cards I created with this month's special releases at The {Stamps} of Life.  The alphabet set and the patterns4pops set were the mid-month releases, and (obviously) the patterns4pops pairs with the pops2eat set from the 1st of the month.  

The cardstock I used on these cards is from Bazzill Card Shoppe.

I LOVE the colors - their names are darling, and the colors are beautiful! Lots of bright cheeriness, just what I love! The card stock is a HEAVY 100# weight.  I highly recommend using a scoring tool to fold cards with this cardstock.  

I think Juicy Pear is one of my favorite colors in this pack. If you know me, you know I ALWAYS go for green and aqua. (Robin's Egg is a GORGEOUS aqua, just so you know!)

On this second card, I used Circus Peanuts and Sour Lemon.  (See, I told you the colors have great names!!!)  Below you can see a chart of all of them.  I'm happy to report that A Cherry On Top sells Bazzill's Card Shoppe in individual sheets, and I am not exactly sure who sells the multi-pack, but if you find it, let me know! :) Bazzill graciously provided me with a multi-pack to try out. . . .but guess what!? They provided me with an EXTRA multi-pack to share with one of YOU!!!! 

Please leave a comment and tell me which of these colors is your favorite, and I will draw a random winner on Saturday morning, May 19th.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! My poor little blog has been a bit lonely lately. . .you and I BOTH need to spend more time here! ;) Have a terrific end of the week. It's all downhill from here!