More with Interactive Cards

 Hey there, hello again! I'm back today to wrap up my theme this week of interactive cards, this time featuring the PTI products of Salt Air: Flora and Fauna, Reef Builder Dies, and sentiments. You can see that I'm still on a beach theme, but today's cards are to welcome a new little one. 

I'd never seen - or noticed - a Rocker card until recently in a blog challenge, and I just had to make one! They've been around for quite awhile - but now look so cute dressed up with dies. 

My card began with a 5" die cut circle scored in half. A smaller circle was glued just on to the bottom half and was embellished with the die cuts.  Just a note of caution - don't glue them down until you check the balance on your card. You don't want your rocker to be lopsided.  I loved making this, can't wait to try it again. Photos don't do them justice. 

The second card is a Flip Fold card, again, only requiring circle die cuts, no other special die needed. With this one, I added patterned papers to the front, and glitter to dust the seashells in sparkle. 

I definitely enjoyed stamping these sea creatures, and adding sponged color to the flora. All inks used are from PTI.  Here's a view of the inside. 

I love the way interactive cards give a surprise to the recipient upon opening. 

I will be back tomorrow with something I consider special! Hope to see you then. 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

Interactive Cards: Slimline Shadowbox

 How are you doing on this Tuesday morning? My past week allowed some wonderful family time, as my husband and I were out of town and able to help with the big sisters of the new baby! 

I had a few cards ready to go on the hopper that explore some special folds and interactive features. First up, the slimline shadowbox! 

I used an old favorite from Papertrey Ink - Fenceline: summer to create both cards. 

The first card measures, 4-1/4" by 8". The folds for the base are so easy, I got help from Jennifer's wonderful video HERE. I began by inking a simple scene of sand ocean and sky using Altenew inks. The fence was stamped on the bottom layer, other images were stamped and fussy cut to add depth to the front and the outer layer of the card. 

I used textured card stock in bermuda bay, adding a white frame over the top. 

For the second card - I will show you my mistake! THe first card is what I learned from it! 

Do you see what's missing?  The shadow box! OOPS. I glued the scene panel just behind the front of the card, instead of placing it onto the INSIDE of the box. Now you know what NOT to do, lol! 

Creating multiple cards with a set or a theme is helpful to me, as I learn and get better as I go. Learning from my mistakes may turn out to be helpful for you. Maybe not! This card measures 4" by 9". 

I've enjoyed pulling this set out to use again, I have only inked it up once before, HERE if you missed it. Oh, HERE is one more. 

The sentiment is from Altenew Craft Your Life Kit - Fragrant Florals.

Thanks for hanging on through this long post. Hope you caught some happy thoughts/vibes from your visit with me today!

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

Color Hues #27 Orange and Green

 It's time for a new month and new challenge at Color Hues! I love October as the weather turns cooler here but it's still most enjoyable to be outside. It also begins my frenzy of making Christmas cards which is one of my fav stamping seasons. 

For our challenge to use orange and green I began with an older kit that I still really love, Color Pop Autumn from PTI. It includes sturdy papers, stencils, stamps and pre-printed die cuts. 

Beginning with a charcoal textured card stock that has design in white (you can see a sample of that behind the card), I used the stencils and Distress Inks to color the leaves and blossoms in shades of orange and greens. Stamping over the images, I added details like the veining or berry centers. The sentiment is die cut in white and I stamped the thanks. The die and sentiment were part of the kit. 

I apologize for using products that are no longer available! These seemed perfect for the challenge and I am glad to have used them again after a long time of sitting on the shelf.

I sure hope that you will have fun creating and link your cards to the gallery! Have a wonderful weekend. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

The Merriest Ever

 Hello everyone! Here we are at mid-week again and I'm sharing from my latest rummage through my stash. I had time over the weekend to watch some card-making videos using card kits. You know how wonderful Vicky and Tina (and many others) are with whipping out the most amazing cards with paper and other bits from a kit? I marvel and learn something new about design each and every time. 

Whatever I made today just had to include elements from years past kits and lots of paper play! 

The "merriest" sentiment, the girl and the deer were die cuts from Papertrey Ink's Fairy Tale Christmas Kit.  I also used the pretty ribbon and papers from the kit and the stamped second part of the sentiment.
For the floral spray focal point I combined stamped and die cut images from The Greetery. 

In reflecting, I may have made this card too busy - I find the ten cards gals keep thing much simpler and I will keep that in mind for next time. But you know me - I had to add more than a few gold sequins and clear Nuvo drops to make it shine! 

If you are new to stamping, kits are a great value. I liked having a kit or two on hand when I was traveling for a month at a time. THAT seems like long ago! 

My fav part of this card is the "when we're together"  being the happiest of times. I hope you can find a way to be together with someone special in your life today!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

ETA: Those cute circles with the pinked edges were from dies also included in the kit. It's retired now but shows that with some kits the items are useful long after. 

Meadow Greens

Hello again! It's been quite a low key week for me. Some chronic health issues have returned lately so I'm curtailing some of my other activities in order to get more rest. That also means more time at home and more time to make. Being on a creative roll always makes me feel better. 

Today I pulled out an older set that I've never used and just experimented a bit with colors and design. Here's what I came up with. 

I first created a background using Spun Sugar and Squeezed Lemonade DOX inks, but rejected that combo and subbed in Tumbled Glass for the Spun Sugar. A much better result, I think. The flowers were stamped in Artic Iceberg (Altenew) and again with Versamark. The heat embossing was done on the blooms using WOW Spring Rain EP, which gives a nice iridescent sparkle to whatever color it is used with. It looks pretty neat with the tiny dots in each cluster having shine and texture.

I added a Soft Sky card front and the sentiment embossed on vellum plus a few small pearls to embellish. 

The Paper Players have a theme challenge this week, so I'm joining right in. Now you know why I just had to try one of my new to me embossing powders. 

Hope this inspires you to get crafty! I will be back soon.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI  - Meadow Greens and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110, Bristol Smooth, SU - Soft Sky

INK:  DOX, Altenew, Versamark

Accessories: Vellum card stock, pearls

For All You've Done

Just breezing by with another card to share! Card blog challenges have sure been boosting my creativity and I'm loving it. 

My Thank You card was made quickly and it will be easy to mail too. Not a sequin or jewel on it, HA! Just stamps paper and ink and a bit of twine. 

The die cut greenery (Gathered Garden stamps and dies from Papertrey Ink) form an elegant silhouette. 

I'm happy to be entering it in these challenges: 

Freshly Made Sketches

The Paper Players 

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Midsummer Blues 

Keeping this short sweet and simple today. Have a wonderful weekend! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

C is for... CARDS!

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog and a new week. 

How would you complete this phrase? C is for.......
Cards. Color. Cool. Coastal. Chocolate (yes, please!). Cookies. Challenge.
Here's what came to my mind. Christmas. Christmas Carols!

Here's my first Christmas card of the year using the Sing a Song of Christmas stamp set.I love the musical instruments in this set and the text of a few of my favorite songs of the season.

I kept the design simple so the colors and elements could shine. I'm playing with these challenges~

Color Throwdown

and

Just Add Ink 

My last entry with the Just Add Ink challenge received an Honorable Mention. Thank you!

It sure feels good having one easy to mail Christmas card ready to go.

Thanks for stopping by - hope it's a great day for you. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI - Sing A Song of Christmas; WPlus9 - Hellebore Builder stamps and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Black 

INK: sentiment is Old Gold (WPlus9); inked background using Lucky Clover DOX 

My last name is BEACH

Yes, that's a reminder in case some of you only know my blog name or don't know me at all. Cindy Beach is a great name! 
So when I saw the beautiful prompt at Inspired By ...the Sea, I just had to join in! 

There were many ideas to jump off from the photo, but I chose the shells and blue tones as I've been wanting to use the Cloche Quarters and Summer Fillers sets from Papertrey Ink. 

I was also highly influenced by THIS gorgeous card by Kelly. I loved the way she inked narrow paper strips to form an ombre colored background. I inked the strips in various blues to create this technique. I can't wait to try it again! 

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit. I don't usually post on weekends but you know what? I am on a roll with challenges now and I'm loving it! 

The more often I create, the easier it gets to create. Right now I'm happy with that, and have given up the notion that every card has to be a knockout. Does that make sense? 

Til next time, have a wonderful day! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Papertrey Ink : Cloche Quarters and CQ Summer Fillers and coordinating dies; Papertrey Ink - Salt Air Flora and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White,Kraft

INK: most stamped inks were from PTI; DOX for the blended strips

Accessories: clear dewdrops, kraft twine

Celebrate You!

I made a card for a special guy's birthday today with a nautical theme. I have quite a few nautical elements pulled from my stash and enjoyed combining them. 

It came together easily using the Sketch from The Paper Players. I kept the colors classic and found the sketch gave a great opportunity to add some striped paper and a metal jewel to enhance the theme. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Hope your week is winding up well for you. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI: Summer Fillers set from Cloche Quarters; sentiment is from Sentiment Suites Birthday (The Greetery) and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, SU - Night of Navy, Real Red

Accessories: Jewel is from SU (ret); red twine, Anchor die is from Verve

Strawberry Smiles

I'm so glad to have you visit this morning, sweet friends. 
Sweetness is the theme here today along with sunshine and smiles! Hope your day is including some or all of those. 

My card is filled with a cascade of beautiful berries from the Corner Adorner set and dies from Papertrey Ink. 

I've been wanting to use the color combo of red, yellow and green, and the berries work well with the polka dotted papers.

Now that I've been calling them strawberries - I'm beginning to wonder if they aren't raspberries?  Guess it will make no difference to the recipient, do you think?  

After stamping, I added Nuvo Crystal Drops in Red Berry to each berry and black for the flower centers. Thanks so much for your visit today. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 
          Make something beautiful!

I'm happily playing along with the challenge at Mojo Monday. 

Circle of Love Watercolor

Hello, how are you today? 
We had a fun and busy weekend but in between the activities I found some moments to watercolor. I have two cards to share with you today.

I fell in love with the Circle of Love set from Papertrey Ink.  I know I'll enjoy using the solid fill-in images for this floral bouquet on future projects. My desire was to be able to watercolor the images and feel pleased with the results. It's a very humble beginning!

The first card is a CASE of this card done by Betsy Veldman. Nothing like trying to imitate a master, right? Stamping in pale ink, I used the no line watercolor technique, with loose coloring. What you see is my second attempt at this, and I am pleased enough to post it. Number one was for the trash can. 

I added a few sequins, keeping the card very simple. 

For the second card, I embossed the image in gold and then watercolored. While this was easier, I'm not as pleased with the result because the embossing seems to stand out more boldly and the colors seem to get lost. I paired the die cut image with some patterned paper, and added a bow from gold thread.

I chose the Oh happy day sentiment because the card could be for a birthday, wedding or anniversary depending on the greeting inside.  Stamping the trio of hearts was a fun addition. 

I am so grateful to be able to share here on my blog. Many thanks for coming by to spend a little time with me today. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps:  Circle Of Love and coordinating dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Canson Cold Press watercolor paper, DSP from Penny Black - Beau Jardin 

INK: Versamerk, WPlus9 - V.I.Pink, Bloomsberry, Fairy Dust 

Accessories: Watercolors - Kuretakd Gansai Tambi, sequins

Framed Sentiments

Hello and welcome! 

I've been enjoying my stamping and have new-never-been-used-stuff to inspire me for today's share. 
I'm playing along with Laurie's Favorite Challenge to show our favorite way to frame sentiments. 

I love using an elegant die cut to provide impact for sentiments, and then surround them with flowers. You knew flowers were a favorite of mine, right? 

These flowers make stamp layering a breeze. I love that there is an outline as well as the solid stamps to add to their versatility. 

I'm also playing along with the Inspired By challenge for this week. I kept the colors fresh and summery and used the detailed circle die to represent the lacy fabric in the photo.

That's all from me today. Thanks so much for your visit and your kind comments! Supplies are listed below. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Sentiment is from PTI - Circle of Love; flowers from WPlus9 My Whole Life and companion dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, PTI Bitty Big papers

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black, WPlus9 - Lake House, Hayride, Queen Bee, Lime Light Dye inks, SU - Marina Mist

Accessories: PTI - Shape Shifters Circle Die, black enamel dots.