Happy Spring

I'm so glad the leaves are turning green again. I love spring--with all the flowers blooming, birds are more abundant & the temperature is just about perfect. I even like all the rain storms! It makes me want to get out in the garden to clean up the debris from winter, plant new things & get my hands dirty with the earthy smells of mud & mulch. I just don't like to think about what comes after---SUMMER--uhg, hot weather & I don't get along at all. I feel like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz---I'm melting all the time. LOL So, I'll enjoy spring while I can and stay inside with the air conditioner all summer.

I've got some projects to share that I should have posted earlier, but first I want to share the Mother's Day card I designed for a workshop earlier this month. We used the stamp set Everything Eleanor. It's a terrific set with beautiful flowers, swirls & sentiments. The colors include Regal Rose (which retires at the end of May), So Saffron, Gumball Green & Primrose Petals. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. This is an absolutely MUST HAVE set. It has something for every holiday & event imaginable. If you can only buy one set right now, get this one!

This is a Z fold card. One of the Primrose Petals flowers on the front is stamped right onto the Whisper White CS. The other 2 are cut out and placed with Stampin' Dimensionals. All three have Basic Rhinestones in their centers. The Yellow flower was stamped with So Saffron and then colored in with a blender pen. We added accents to it with a More Mustard marker and Dazzling Diamonds. The flowers on the far right are stamped onto the inside piece of Whisper White & are accented with Dazzling Diamonds in their centers. The greeting is punched out & adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals. I think it turned out nicely. If I make it again, I might add another smaller flower with So Saffron just to even out the color scheme a little.


The next two projects are from my April club. We made 2 cards this month instead of 1 card & one 3D item. The cards were fairly easy & we finished club in record time. Linda was our hostess this month and she was able to order some nice products for free with her Hostess Dollars.

This card is made with Betsy's Blossoms and Teeny Tiny Wishes for the sentiment. I used the Rock n Roll technique for the flower with Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie ink pads. ALWAYS REMEMBER use your lightest color first! If you make more than one at a time, be sure to clean your stamp in between. The leaves are Gumball Green--LOVE that color--and the bird was stamped with Tempting Turquoise and then fussy cut. It is attached with Stampin' Dimensionals and has a Basic Rhinestone for the eye. This card is also a Z fold, but going in a different direction--it folds down. To make it stand up once it's opened, I punched a tab with our retired Slit punch. If you don't have one of these, you can use a craft knife to cut a V on the back of the card (upper right of the Designer Series Paper/CS behind the Real Red CS). The notch will hold the card upright for display. It seems like a happy card to give to someone with a spring birthday & would also be good for a child's birthday.


This card is made with the stamp set Lacy & Lovely. It has beautiful doily shapes, the flower shown in Lucky Limeade and also has 3 greetings. We stamped the large doily shapes with Perfect Plum. The Lucky Limeade flowers were stamped on scrap Whisper White and then punched out with the 1" Circle Punch. They have Wisteria Wonder In Color brads in the centers and are attached to Lucky Limeade CS punched with the 1 1/4" Scallop Circle punch.The punched flowers are attached to the scalloped circles with Stampin' Dimensionals. I used Mono Adhesive glue to adhere them to the card. The greeting is stamped in Lucky Limeade. The stamped Whisper White is attached to a Perfect Plum CS layer and then Certainly Celery layer. Each layer is 1/4" smaller than the one behind it. The top folding card is Wisteria Wonder. It was an easy card to make but I think it has a pleasant, simple design. Oh, we did put some Dazzling Diamonds in the centers of the Perfect Plum doilies to give it a little bling. Inside the card is a Whisper White piece that is also stamped with one Perfect Plum Doily in the bottom left corner and a Lucky Limeade flower above & to the side of it. I hope you like these two card shares.

If I can figure it out, I will post the tutorials for these club projects under the Tutorials Tab. If they aren't posted within the next few days, email me and I'll send them to you.

Some tips to share:

1.) If you get Mono adhesive on your hands it is hard to get off, even with soap & water. BUT our Stampin' Mist works like a charm to get that goo off your fingers. Just spray it on, rub your hands together and then wipe off with a cloth or paper towel.

2.) When designing cards, scrapbook pages or anything else, divide the area into thirds--draw an imaginary tic tac toe grid--place your elements, stamped images or other items of interest where the lines intersect (or near where they intersect). This is known as the rule of thirds and is a basic strategy for art and design.

3.) When thinking about where to place your stamped images, ribbon, pieces of Designer Series Paper or other embellishments, avoid the horizonal and vertical centers of your projects. Though this isn't a hard & fast rule, it will usually help make your project more visually appealing.

4.) Studies have shown that odd numbers of items are visually more interesting. So, try to use one item as a focal point, 3 or 5 items as design accents. Of course, sometimes even numbers are necessary, but in general, stick with odd numbers to make your creations balanced and attractive.

5.) In one of my college classes we learned the acronym CRAP for designing. It stands for C--Contrast (colors, images, etc, must be very different), R--Repetition (repeat some things to give good flow), A--Alignment (keep things placed in some sort of order--a triangle, square, oval, etc. or keep similar things together & separate from other similar things) P--Proximity (how close things are to each other--some white/empty space is a good thing). This has helped me many times when designing cards. I hope it helps you too.

Enjoy spring wherever you are!