Altenew Peony Dream 3D Valentine

It's Monday. Lots of errands and getting set up for the week ahead. Just now getting to my computer to check emails and post. On the bright side, and I do mean it literally, we had another day of sunshine. Finally getting some vitamin D fixes.

I completed several Valentine cards this weekend, including this card. Had so much fun with the Altenew Peony dies, I ended up creating 4 of the same card. I've neglected this die set for a while, so it was high time I put it to good use. The leaf die is from Stamp Market. The background stamps are from MFT Distressed Patterns. If you're like me, impatient and/or not always comfortable creating a distressed background with watercolors or smooshing, this is a set for you. It's one of my all-time favorite sets, instant distressed background without the wait or mess. It created the perfect backdrop to show off the beautiful peony flowers.

I shimmer spritzed the background for lots of sparkle and added some reflective confetti. The photo doesn't do the card justice, so you're just going to have to trust me, in person, there is a lot of razzle-dazzle to make the recipients feel extra special. So very happy how these cards turned out.

Altenew Medallion Cover Dies

Happy Monday. We got snow this weekend which was a good enough excuse for me to spend some time in the craft room. I pulled out Altenew's Medallion cover dies and played for a while.

I spent a few hours positioning colors to create the elements. Embossed sentiments on vellum and then wrapped the design before mounting it onto the card base. Happy with the results and thinking if I can find the time during the next couple of weeks I may try a Valentine version.

Thank You

Happy Monday. 

Kicking off a new week and finally kickstarting the new year. It's a rough start. My niece is home sick so all my big goals for the day need to be modified to account for spending most of my day with her. Usually, I'm better organized and prepped. Full of energy and eagerness to set goals, clean out and very productive. Last week, not so much. Procrastion was my first, middle and last name. We did manage to get all the Christmas decorations put away. And I did get to spend some time in the craft room building a stash of Thank-You cards for the coming year. I'll require many more but it's a good beginning and I'm counting it as a win in an otherwise pretty lazy, laid-back start to the year. 

This was really more of a color challenge for me. I've had the turquoise cardstock from Paper Source for a number of years. I believe it is called Pool. Decided it was time to put it to better use than sitting on a shelf. Why I don't use this color combination more often is a mystery to me...I really like to cool greens and blues complimented by the warm brown. And it's not like this combo hasn't been everywhere during the past couple of years. Figures I'm picking it up just as it's going out. 

Stamps and dies are from Altenew, Concord & 9th, Mama Elephant, MFT and I might even have one from Simon Says in there. 

This first one uses the C&9 double cut alphabet dies. This is still one of my all-time favorite alphabet dies. And, yes, I'm still hoping they'll release some phrases because lining up the individual dies, even with a temple, is still a major pain. The fact that I do it is just an indication of how much I love the results. I've paired it with Altenew's Leaf Canopy stamp set. Another new favorite. 

This card uses a free little stamp set Altenew sent to their customers. It was such a wonderful year-end surprise in the mail. Though I'm pretty sure this meant I spent way too much money with them last year.  No matter, my loyaty is easily bought with kindness and great customer service. 

The sentiment is from Mama Elephant. The set contains the word thanks in several languages. Love that!

The final card is using the remaining die cuts and MFT Distressed Patterns stamp. Of all the stamps I purchased last year this one is definitely in the top 10 favorites. I predict it will get a healthy workout in the coming year.