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.

Friendly Valentine

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I've been busy putting together some greeting cards. Typically cards for this holiday go out to friends and family, so I'm less focussed on romantic sentiments and more on friendly reminders on how much their friendship is valued. Of course, being told you're appreciated never goes out of season. Am I right?!

This first card I'm sharing is using non-typical valentine colors, perfect for your guy friends or co-workers. The images are from the Silhouette library. I print and cut several images, some with borders and some without so I could layer.

A window was cut using one of the MFT Peek-a-boo die-namics. The square and the rectangle Peek-a-boos are definitely one of my favorite dies.

A little stenciling to create the window backdrop and washi tape trim, which surprisingly matched up with the colors in the hearts pretty well. In my world, this seems to rarely happen despite my large stash of washi. Card one and done.

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.

CN9 Thank You Cards

Few more thank you cards this week. These are made using Concord & 9th products.

The background image is using the Lace Leaf stamp set. I see many people doing beautiful swashes of watercolor and inks as backgrounds. I've tried a few times but I'm just not very good. What I envision and the results are far different. More practice is needed but with so many nice messy background stamps available I really have little motivation to improve my hand at watercolor. I much rather expand my background stamp collection! This one is a winner. Like the results and it's a good size. 

What I'm really swooning over at the moment though is their Double Cut Alphabet dies. Nice modern, bold feel lending itself well to masculine cards and clean design. I'm hoping they come out with the same font as already formulated words. I made 8 cards and by #6 I was a bit tired of lining up  YOU to create the shadow effect. Maybe they can help a gal out?!