Holiday Design Team spot for Purple Onion Stamps!

I'm happy to say that I'm one of the new members on the Holiday Design Team for Purple Onion Designs!!

I've liked Purple Onion stamps for some time now... here are a couple of my past cards, made using some of their products:

Pop 'n Cuts and Scoreboard 16th Birthday Card

I made another 16th birthday card recently, this time for one of my daughter's best friends.

I have been dying to get my hands on Karen Burniston's new Multi-tier Pop 'n Cuts insert, and it didn't disappoint! I've also been itching to use Eileen Hull's beautiful Garden Gate Album die. I have an actual album planned that uses it, but for this card I used the front fence section of the album to cut some thick mount board, and attached it to the tier insert, which was used in the Pop 'n Cuts Square Card with Ornate Edges base die.

I made 'wooden' poles using Karen's Flagpole die, and hand cut some bunting flags, and added clouds cut with a Papertrey Ink die (I've used it loads lately!)

 I made a little mount board sign, with eyelets and twine threaded through, to hang over the fence, and used Beacon's glue to attach a couple of paper flowers.

I inked the edges of all the pieces. 

I chose not to use the top pop-out part of the tier insert, so just folded it back.

For the bottom pop-out part of the tier insert, I added a hand cut grass strip, and another to the fence.

The large glittery letters were cut with Cuttlebug's Olivia Alphabet, and glued down with a fine tipped glue pen.

 The pink swirl comes on the card base die.

I die cut an extra end white piece of card stock, and embossed it with one of Karen's new folders from her Trellis and Swirls set.

You can see all the great layers of the Multi-tier insert die better, below.

Some of products used:


   

Happy Birthday Lucy!

 Our eldest child Lucy, is 16 today! I made this card for her yesterday afternoon in short bursts, as she kept coming in the room while I was working on it!

I used Karen Burniston's Pop 'n Cuts Square Card with Ornate Edges base with the Ornate Square Frame insert.

 I covered the frame with another frame I die cut from some October Afternoon wood grain paper, and added some poles cut with Karen's Flagpole die. I put a recent picture of Lucy in the frame behind some acetate sheeting, and added stars from Tim Holtz's Cresecnt Moon and Stars Bigz die, and glued some Sizzix Stampin' Up numbers onto twine.

I inked all the edges of everything.

 For the card base, I cut the Happy Birthday with Cheery Lynn dies, the 'Lucy' with Cuttlebug's Olivia Alphabet, and the banner with Karen's new Banner and Borders Thinlits set.
The ruler sticker (which conveniently had a number 16 on it!) is from October Afternoon, and the star is from Karen's Star and Circle Movers and Shapers set.

I also decided last night to make some cupcakes for Lucy to take for her Seminary class this morning. One of the other girls is also celebrating her 16th birthday today! Seminary is a scripture class which Lucy takes before school, with other 14-18 year olds from our church. They can do four years of study - one year learning about the Old Testament, one on the New Testament, one on The Book Of Mormon, and one of Church History. Anyway, this year they are studying The Book of Mormon, so I though it would be funny to send in Book of Mormon cupcakes! I didn't intend for the icing to be quite so lurid, but at 10.30pm I wasn't starting again!

I used some cleaned rubber stamps for the 'B M'!

Some of the products used:


   

New Sizzix Releases from Stephanie Barnard, and a Stand-Ups card!

I was super excited to receive 'Sizzix post' this week... some dies from Stephanie Barnard's new Flip-its and Stand-ups collection!

I enjoy working with her Flip-its dies, and she has some lovely new shapes out, including the Fancy Flip-its and the Ornate Flip-its, along with their accompanying Framelit sets.

I also received another of the new A2 (or UK A6) Framelit Flip-it sets - this time the Fancy Frame one, and finally, one of Stephanie's new Stand-ups card dies.

The top two Flip-its dies in the picture and the Stand-ups die are all 'Movers and Shapers', meaning they have an opening in them allowing you to put smaller magnetic Movers and Shapers dies inside!

Eeek! Thank you Stephanie!

I didn't have a great deal of time to play with my new dies when they arrived, but quickly put this card together using the Square Stand-ups die. It uses a single layer of double sided card stock (this is from October Afternoon), and I just added some simple layers, Tim Holtz Bird & Cage Movers and Shapers die cuts, and a cute little tag from the Fancy Frame Framelit Flip-its set. (Try saying that fast!)

The stamped sentiment is from this 'The Stamps of Life' set.

 The Stand-ups dies puts all the cuts and fold lines in, and also make a little notch, to stop your card front slipping forwards, and it all folds flat for easily putting in an envelope. Fun!

Some of the products shown:


   

Pop 'n Cuts Feathers Male Birthday Card

A card I made today for my brother-in-law who lives in Estonia. I needed it to be able to fold nice and flat so kept embellishments simple.

I used the A2 Pop 'n Cuts card, with Funky Label insert, and I stamped the sentiment onto card stock cut with a Funky Label Framelit die.

For my background card, I layered strips of self-adhesive linen textured card stock onto some background card, then die cut it with the Pop 'n Cuts insert in the base die.

I then cut about 1/4 inch off all the way round the edges in my trimmer, and rounded the edges with a Zutter Cutter, and it then fit nicely onto the background card, cut with the A2 Card base die, with no insert in place.

 I added die cut feathers and letters, both from My Favourite Things, a banner from Karen Burniston's Banner & Brders Thinlits set, and hearts cut with Sizzix Bigz Owl#2 die.

Some of the products used:


   

New Dies being released at The Stamps of Life!

Three new die sets are being released today at The Stamps of Life: Ticket Dies (which you will have already received at the beginning of the month, if you are a member of the Die Hard Club!), Bubble Gum Dies, and Pinwheel Dies.

I just wanted to show you some cards I made with the Pinwheel dies...

I really love this set!! Not only can you cut out a whole outside shape of a pinwheel (like on my second card), but you get dies for the smaller sail shapes too. They co-ordinate with the pinwheels2stamp set.

 I stuck the larger sails on with foam pads, so they pop out.

For my second card, I cut a window using a Labels, Fancy #5 Framelit, and put embossed card behind. I used the outline pinwheel die, and also the separate sail dies too. I love how clean and neat it all looks when you combine the stamps and dies!

For my third card, I used the Square Flip-its card, and some papers from First Edition's 'Floral Pavilion' pad.

I also used a Karen Burniston Bigz 'Label, Frame and Bracket' die for the blue polka dot frame.

Did you know that The Stamps of Life also makes personalised stamps?

It was a lovely surprise to be sent this one!

And one last card, using the pinwheels2stamp set, pinwheel dies, and formalwords2stamp set.

Penny Black Pop 'n Cuts Birthday Card

I finally got out my birthday calendar, and realised I have loads of birthdays coming up in the next few weeks. This card is for one of my little nieces, Emma.

I used a Penny Black stamp, which I coloured with Copics, cut out and added to the Sassy Label insert from Karen Burniston's fab new 'Snippets' range. 

I used the insert in the A2 Pop 'n Cuts card base die. I also added an extra layer of bright pink card stock to the whole card.

The top and bottom of the inner card layer was shaped using the largest of the 'Sassy Labels and Stitched Frames' Framelits, and I added the row of stitching using the same set. The pink gingham label was also cut and given a stitching effect using the same set.

 I added clouds from Papertrey Ink, and a sun from Lil' Inkers, plus various blobs of Stickles and Liquid pearls to the stamped picture.

 I cut the balloons by hand, and added one to the back of the card on foam pads, and the other two balloons I added by gluing them onto one end of a clear acetate strip, and gluing the other end to behind the scooter. You can see it better in the picture below. I got the idea of the transparent strip from Caz Counsell's cute Bee card, which was featured in Karen Burniston's post on the Sizzix Blog yesterday. I wanted the balloons to kind of be bobbing along behind her.

The banner and 'Happy Birthday' stamp are from Papertrey Ink, and the alphabet dies are from Die-namics.

I just inked the edges of everything, and added them with foam pads.

Some of products used:


   

Thank You Card for Eileen Hull

Some cards are just a whole lot of fun to make, and come together so easily... this was one of those!

I wanted to make a card for Eileen Hull of Sizzix, to say thank you for some of her beautiful dies, and as I knew that she had recently acquired a fabulous vintage caravan, I decided to make a miniature version of it for her.

I used Karen Burniston's Pop 'n Cuts Square Card with Ornate edges, with the round label insert. This makes a great card base for when you want something to really pop out!

I used some of Eileen's pretty dies from her Borders and Hydrangeas Bigz die - for the blue scalloped borders, and the layered flowers.

The clouds are from Papertrey Ink.

For the caravan, I embossed some white card, stuck on blue strips, then cut out the shape by hand. I cut a door, and added the wheel, tow bar, and vents, also cut by hand. (Cutter Bee scissors are brilliant for this kind of fiddly stuff!) For the windows, I used Karen Burniston's new House Thinlits die set, and adapted the window die from it, making little curtains too.

The 'Thanks' is from Cuttlebug's Olivia alphabet set.

 For the card front, I added some more scallops and flowers from Eileen's Borders and Hydrageas die, and some of Stephanie Barnard's Labels, Fancy #4 Framelits.

The floral paper is from First Edition's 'Floral Pavilion, and it has a lovely linen texture.

I also inked the edges of all the pieces.

I hope it makes Eileen smile!

Some of products used:


   

Accordion Album Hello Kitty Birthday Card

I have a birthday card to make for my friend's little girl (which is sadly late - I have been hopeless at looking in my birthday book lately...) and I thought I would combine Karen Burniston's Designer Challenge to 'Defy Gravity' with some of my favourite bunting!

I used Karen's Accordion Album die to cut four acetate sheets, and then used the same die to cut some patterned paper frames. I snipped out the middle sections from the patterned paper, leaving me with just the flaps to join to the next panel. (My acetate sheets were too small to leave me with the flaps!)

I also cut out card stock frames from the accompanying 'Frame and label, Bracket' die, to stick onto the backs of the patterend paper, to strengthen them.

For the first panel, I used Karen's Love Sizzlit set, to cut the little heart paper clip, and inner heart, and the Sizzlits Card Phrases 3 set for the Happy Birthday. It's a bit hard to see, but I also added a glittery cardstock '2'.

 Through the second and third panels, I made some bunting, using Karen's new Thinlits Banners & Borders set, to cut the larger flags, and added little swirls, again from Karen's Sizzlits Love set. I love how the bunting just hangs there in the air!

I also added a bow from the new Sizzix Bows Bigz die (with a glittery heart from the Sizzlits Love set).

I need to be able to fold this card flat, so made the bow removable, by sticking some velcro to the card, and back of the bow. I'll just pop the bow in the envelope separately.

On the last panel, I had fun making a Hello Kitty figure from a Sizzlits die, and gave her a balloon to hold.

I love the effect of having no backing paper!

This was a fun card to make!

Some of products used:

   

Framelits Flip-its Square #2 Cards

The Stamps of Life is introducing another of the new Framelits Flip-its die sets today... this time it's the Square #2 set.

The previous Flip-it cards are thick, steel rule dies, and make a squarer shaped card, but these new Framelits Flip-its are wafer thin metal dies, and they make cards which are A2 (or A6 in the UK, ie. 4'' x 6'') when folded. They also come with loads of decorator dies, including ones which cut a handy, slightly smaller layer for the left and right-hand sides of the card. (In both my cards below, I just used the extra layers for the right-hand sides.) Also included are lots of smaller shapes too, such as the mini scalloped edged square, which I used on the insides of both cards here.

My 'thinking of you' card also uses the formalwords2stamp set, from The Stamps of Life, a Memory Box Bird cage, Marianne Collectables Bird covered with Glossy Accents, and Tim Holtz swirls.

The gorgeous papers are from My Mind's Eye 'Lost & Found - Oliver' 6x6 pad.

The heart is from Sizzix Owl #2, and I hand cut an extra layer round it. The ribbon is from Tim Holtz.

My 2nd card uses paper from Echo Park 'The Apothecary Emporium' 6x6 pad, and a Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers set.

The Framelets Flip-its set makes it so quick and easy to put together a card!!

Some of products used:

   

Pop 'n Cuts Label Window Christmas Card

This week's Designer Challenge from Karen Burniston, is entitled 'Defying Gravity', so I was playing around with some clear acetate sheeting, and thought it would be fun to create a see-through window on a card.

I made the basic card using the Label Window insert in the Pop 'n Cuts Square Card with Ornate Edges.

I then cut a window in the largest floating label, with a Framelits die from the Wavy Label set.

 I used the bit of card stock I had just cut out, to act as a rough guide for me to cut out by hand a slightly larger shape, from acetate sheeting. I then stuck this over the hole I had created in my larger floating label. 

I made a gold corrugated frame, using the same dies, to cover the edges of the acetate piece.

 I then added some glitter card stars, from Tim Holtz's Moon and Stars Bigz die.

The card is based on one of my favourite Christmas hymns 'O Holy Night', so I made a Christmas night themed card.

For the front of the card I made a spine piece, using the Edge & Scroll Bigz die, and added some banner pieces cut from paper-backed satin, using a die from Karen's new Banner & Borders Thinlits set.

I added some metallic snowflakes throughout the card, with little foam pads.

For the smaller floating label, I stuck on a label cut with the Butterflies & Labels Bigz die, and stamped 'O Holy Night' with Hero Arts Printer's Lowercase Alphabet stamps.

The paper is by October Afternoon.

I used the scroll from the Square Card with Ornate Edges to cut the gold corrugated scroll at the side, and one of Karen's lovely new embossing folders from her Trellis & Swirls set for the cream embossed card (which I hand cut to fit the shape of the scroll).

Some of products used:


   

Sizzix Accordion Album Autumn Wedding Card

I've been suffering from a sadly depleted mojo lately (probably because I've not felt very well for a couple of weeks), but today I absolutely had to make a wedding card. I received an invitation from America, from a young man who I used to teach at church a few years ago, when he was over here with his military family. It was great to hear about his upcoming marriage, and see pictures of him and his lovely fiance.

I wanted to make them an Autumny card, but with a soft, country, romantic feel too.

I used Karen Burniston's classic Accordion Album die, along with the 'Frame and Label, Bracket' die for the outer patterned frames. I also got to use my brand new 'Labels and Stitched Frames' Framelits set, also by Karen, which co-ordinates perfectly with the Accordion Album shape, and also has three dies which add the wonderful stitched effect, in different sizes!

I used Beacon's glue to add thin twine across the card, and the same glue to stick little leaves and bunting flags onto it. The leaves are from Tim Holtz's 'Autumn Gathering' decorative strip die. The stamped sentiment (which I clear embossed) is also from Tim Holtz, and the '&' is from Cricut 'Base Camp' cartridge.

The stitched hearts are from Lil' Inker Designs.

Everything was edged with black distress ink, and the papers are from K&Co a 'Classic K Charlotte' pad.

Some of products used: