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Saturday, May 28, 2022

negative die cutting, glimmer paste & essentials by ellem

I love using die cuts in my cardmaking but even more than using the "positive" die cut, I love using the "negative space" left behind. Let's call it negative die cutting, lol!

Here's an example of how I love to use negative die cutting...
The negative die cut space is my favorite why to make a shaker window! For this card I used one of the cloud dies from the Essentials by Ellen Essential Cloud die set.

And behind the shaker window, I love to make a background of ink blending topped with glimmer paste!
Have a great day!
Carly

supplies:
affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!

Friday, May 27, 2022

how to stretch your dies

Are you looking for a way to stretch your dies and get more from your cardmaking supplies? Well I'm sharing a card that does just that on the Ellen Hutson blog!

I would love it if you stopped by!

Hugs,
Carly

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

i love you more than my plants card

Do you have a crazy plant person in your life? Or maybe that description fits you, lol? Well I have a card that anyone who loves plants will get a chuckle out of!

I created this clean and simple card with the MFT Stamps Greetings From The Couch card kit.


To create this card I die cut three circles from a white cardstock panel. I used patterned paper from the Finishes and Textiles paper pad as the background for each circle.

I die cut the Potted Plants from white cardstock and colored them with Copic markers YG11, YG05 and YG09.

This card design would be easy to customize with any patterned papers as the backgrounds for the circles and any colors for the plants.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have time to pop over to the MFT blog to check out more Greetings From The Couch cards (and maybe treat yourself to the kit)!

Hugs!
Carly

Monday, May 23, 2022

greetings from the couch card kit

Do you have someone you love to do nothing with but be a couch potato? Have you given them a card lately? The MFT Stamps Greetings From The Couch card kit is just what you need to make them one!

The kit is available tomorrow but here's a little sneak peek...

I love patterned paper but I have a hard time figuring out how to use it in my cards so I decided to just "dip my toe in". I used one of the patterns as a background on the top of my card and then two others for the throw pillows.

And speaking of the throw pillows, how adorable is this couch die from the Take A Seat die set? I love the mid-century modern feel of the furniture and the paper!

Make sure to mark your calendars for the kit release tomorrow and head over to the MFT blog today to see more about the kit!


Thanks so much for stopping by!
Carly

Sunday, May 22, 2022

essentials by ellen monthly challenges

I have exciting news...Ellen Hutson has a new cardmaking challenge with the chance to win $25 to the EH shop! 

Now I'm not going to enter because I'm already lucky enough to be on their team but I couldn't resist playing along because the first challenge is a sketch! And if you didn't know, I LOVE card sketches!

Here's the challenge sketch...

And here's my take...

I started by masking a stripe along the bottom of the card with some Pixie Tape. I love that stuff! I ink blended with some Distress Oxide inks.

I removed the tape and adhered the EBE Mod Floral die cut to the card.

Then I masked the same section again and added more ink over the Mod Floral. Why ink blend twice? Well I wasn't sure I would be able to get ink on the background through the floral die cut so to be safe, I did it twice.

The sentiment is from the EBE Many More set. It is embossed in white on black cardstock and die cut into a circle. And I took a little liberty to vary from the sketch and put the circle up a little. I wanted the pretty ink blending to show, haha!

I really love how it turned out!

I hope you are inspired to join in! Learn more about the May EBE Challenge here!

Have a great day!
Carly

supplies:
affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!

Thursday, May 19, 2022

mft's slimline challenge - thanks

Do you make many slimline cards? Did you know that MFT has a monthly slimline challenge and you can enter for a chance to win $50 to the MFT shop?

This month's slimline challenge is an extra bit of encouragement to add one type of slimline cards to your stash...thank you cards!

Thank you cards are the cards I send the most (because I'm rubbish at remembering birthdays, haha) so I had to join in the challenge! Here's the card I created...

You may know that I LOVE using alphabet dies and the MFT Modern Serif Alphabet is one of my latest favorites. For this card I die cut the word "thanks" for a scrap of white cardstock.

I placed each letter back into the scrap piece so I could easily stamp the brushstrokes from the Abstract Art set with Distress Oxide inks.

After stamping the brushstrokes my letters still felt a little too stark white so I did some very light ink blending with the same ink I stamped in.

I adhered the "thanks" word to my slimline card front and finished with the Paintbrush dieFor the paint brush, I die cut the bristle section from black cardstock, the metal section is silver foil cardstock and the handle is wood veneer paper. I also cut the bristle section along the embossed lines.

Wanna learn more about the MFT Slimline Challenge? I hope you do! Pop over to their blog!

Have a great day!
Carly

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

mft may vault release

MFT Stamps has opened the vault to release some of the most sought-after retired stamps, dies and other goodies! This release is such a fun collection with a retro pop vibe and you won't want to miss it!

I know you can't wait to check it out but before you run off to shop, I've got a card to share with you...
For this card I paired the Ring Me phone die cut & stamps with the new Modern Serif Alphabet dies, along with bright colors, Glossy Accents and glitter!
One of my favorite ways to dress my die cuts is to layer them for stability (about 3 adhered together), then coat them with Glossy Accents and sprinkle with a little glitter while the accents is still wet.
I love how this card turned out, even if I get the Blondie song stuck in my head each time I look at it. Haha!
To see more of collection from MFT, pop over to the MFT blog and YT.

Hugs!
Carly

Monday, May 16, 2022

mft vault release countdown day 1

MFT Stamps is opening the vault and bringing back some of their fan favorites tomorrow! And today I've got a card to share with you using some of the stamps, dies & stencils coming from the vault...

I started by doing a little ink blending with the Equalizer stencil. After ink blending I decided to put a little Glossy Accents over the ink (with a sprinkle of glitter). I had already lifted the stencil after ink blending but it was super easy to put it back down & line things up. I think I'm going to use this stencil bunches!

I layered the Headphones die cuts, combining silver foil cardstock, black cardstock and some ink blended pink cardstock. I added more Glossy Accents & glitter to the pink parts.

The "you rock" sentiment is from the Keep On Rockin' stamp set, just stamped in black with a few sequins & a little faux black splatter created with a pen.

The card is simple but bright & colorful just like I like!

Thanks so much for stopping by and if you have time, over to the MFT blog to see more of what is coming tomorrow!

Hugs!
Carly

Sunday, May 15, 2022

something fun is coming from mft...

Don't you hate it when a stamp or die set gets retired before you order it? Well MFT Stamps is doing something fun this week to help with non-buyer's remorse...they are opening the "vault" and giving us a second chance at some old favorites!

Today I've got a little peek at what will be available on the 17th...

The paint strokes from the Abstract Art stamp set are so fun! The strokes are narrow enough to be the perfect background for sentiment stamps but I wanted the width to match more closely to the Paint Brush die cut so I stamped 2 or 3 strokes in each color of Distress Oxide ink.

For the paint brush, I die cut the bristle section from black cardstock, the metal section is silver foil cardstock and the handle is wood veneer paper.

I swiped the Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide ink pad on the bristles and then cut it along the embossed lines.

To see more of what's coming from the MFT vault, pop over to the MFT blog and YT.

Hugs!
Carly

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

mft's sketch challenge 593

Happy Sketch Day, also known as Wednesday! It's sketch day because there is a new sketch challenge over on the MFT Stamps blog.

The sketch challenge is my favorite way to get my creativity flowing. I highly recommend joining in! Plus you might win $50 to the MFT shop if you enter?!

Here's this week's sketch...

And here's my card...

One of my favorite cardmaking techniques is ink blending so I basically do it whenever I can. For this card I used some low-tack tape to mask off the stripes in the middle of the card and then I ink blended them one at a time with with Distress Oxide ink.

The top stripe is a blend of Salvaged Patina and Shaded Lilac. The bottom stripe is Shaded Lilac and Picked Raspberry.

Next I stamped the Pure Poppies on the right edge and a sentiment from the Everyday Scripted Greetings. I finished with a little faux black splatter created with a pen.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are inspired to join the sketch challenge! You can find all the info HERE on their blog.

Hugs!

Carly

happy little mini notes with essentials by ellen

I'm over on the Ellen Hutson blog today with a quick run through of how to make these happy little mini notes. I would love for you to stop by and check it out!

Hugs,

Carly

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

sending big hugs with mft

Do you know someone who could use a big hug? How about a hug in card form made with some adorable MFT stamps & dies? 

By the way, it's new goodie day over at MFT but before you go shopping, I've got that hug card to show you...
I love sending "hugs" in the mail so at least the ones I love know I'm thinking of them when we are too far away to actually hug. I also love alphabet dies and combining them with stamped sentiments.
For this card I used part of the "sending big hugs" stamp from the Everyday Scripted Greetings. For easy masking I just place a piece of low-tack tape directly on the stamp to cover the part I don't want to ink. In this case I covered the "hugs", then inked the stamp, removed the tape and stamped onto my card.

Then I used the Modern Serif Alphabet dies to cut hugs. And it's hard to see in my pics but the "h" and "g" are the positive die cuts sitting on top of the card. The "u" and "s" are the negative die cuts, actually cut from the card front and then with the color behind the opening.
Thanks for stopping by!
Carly

P.S. See more cardmaking goodies and inspiration on the MFT blog!

Monday, May 9, 2022

my favorite card to make + one day until new mft

There is just one more day until the new MFT release and today I've got a card to show you that is might favorite type of card to make...a shaker!

And it's not just a regular shaker, it is a word shaker which is my extra favorite type of card!

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I love alphabet dies and I'm smitten with this MFT Modern Serif Alphabet. I like to use the alpha dies to make a shaker window and even better when I can combine it with a stamped sentiment like I did for this card.

"You Make Me Hoppy" is a sentiment stamp in the adorable You Make Me Hoppy set so I just masked the "Hoppy" when inking and replaced it with the negative die cut word.

I did a little ink blending and topped it with glimmer paste for the shaker background.

I stamped two of the frogs "hopping" off the card panel. Then I stamped, die cut, colored and foam mounted one. Here are the colors I used for the frog...

To see more of what's coming from MFT this May, pop over to the MFT blog and YT.

Hugs!
Carly

Sunday, May 8, 2022

a sunny striped card + 2 days until the mft may release

There are only 2 days left in the countdown to the MFT Stamps May release and I've got a sunny striped card to share with you.

The design was inspired by the name of this stamp set, You Make My Days Sunshiny, and the sweet sentiment, "Sending You Sunshine". How could I not go with yellow & glitter?!

To create the stripes I used masking tape, yellow ink and glimmer paste.


It's hard to see in these pics but it is really sparkly and bright in real life. And it makes the perfect background for the happy little teddy.

I colored the images with a few Copic colors and adhered them to the striped background.

To see more of the MFT May release, make sure you pop over to the MFT blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope to see you again tomorrow for the last little sneak peek!

Hugs!
Carly