Tag:

nordic frames

Wildflower Mix with Kelly + Save the Date

by Betsy May 13, 2022

written by Betsy

Happy Friday! Kelly is here with a couple of gorgeous projects! But first, a little heads up that new products are coming to the shop soon! We’ll start sharing some sneak peeks a week from today. Our newest collection is called Garden Variety and I can’t wait to show you all of the fun things!

Now let’s hear from Kelly and the amazing projects she’s sharing today…

Hello friends, it’s Kelly here today! I’m so thrilled you’ve joined me today as I share a duo of bold
wildflower birthday cards! I can’t decide which layout I like better: landscape or vertical, so I made one
of each! The flower clusters are so much fun to create, so I just kept going and going, which turned out
to be plenty for two cards.

To begin, I die cut all of the flowers and stems twice using the BotaniCuts Wildflower Mix dies. I also had
a few stems and flowers left over from a previous project so I added those in as well. I colored all of the
stems and flowers using finger daubers and Distress Oxide inks. I chose to give each type of stem a
unique combination of inks to really give some variation and depth to the stems and leaves. I chose
traditional colors for the flowers and then glued them to the stems using liquid glue. I was having such a
fabulous time as each new sprig was added to the pile.

For the background, I simply die cut the largest frame in the Nordic Frames collection using black
cardstock. I added some white paint splatter, allowed it to dry, and then added it to the black card base
using foam squares for dimension. Once that was done, I got to work on the sentiments.
I die cut the outline for both the “Celebrate” and “Birthday” words and then stamped them using the
Birthday Blooms stamp set in black ink. The companion sentiments, which are also from the Birthday
Blooms stamp set, are heat embossed in white onto strips of black cardstock. I added the main
sentiment piece to the front of each card using foam squares. I glued the different wildflower clusters
here and there until I was happy with each arrangement. I added the companion sentiment to the card
using additional foam squares.

Once I finished, I realized that I hadn’t added any pen or colored pencil details to the leaves and flowers.
I used a black pen to add centers to some of the flowers and then a few colored pencils for the leaves
and additional flowers. I opted not to add any glitter or sequins, which is surprising for me! Ha ha! There
is a method to my madness, however; I didn’t want any stray glitter specks to fall onto the black
cardstock and make the cards look too busy. I felt it would compete with the ink splatter, so I resisted. If
you can’t live without a little sparkle, you could always use a Wink of Stella glitter pen or something
similar to add glitter where you’d like. Thanks for joining me today!

May 13, 2022 30 comments

TGIF – Cozy Winter Card with Kelly

by Betsy January 7, 2022

written by Betsy

After a little break for the holidays, TGIF is back and Kelly is here today to bring us some gorgeous winter inspiration! Her beautiful project makes me want to curl up under a cozy blanket, grab some hot cocoa, and get crafty. Sounds like a weekend plan to me! 🙂

Hello friends! It’s Kelly here and it’s my turn for this week’s TGIF! I’m the type of person who enjoys
“celebrating the season” no matter what it may be! I love the beauty of winter; freshly fallen snow
glittering in the sunlight, cozy blankets and cups of hot cocoa, flickering candles to brighten the evenings
and so much more! While it’s fun to pull out our neglected floral sets right after Christmas, I think it’s
just as fun to use snowflakes and such to create winter cards as well!

To begin today’s card, I die cut some pinecones and pine boughs using the BotaniCuts Pine Bough die
set. I die cut everything from Rustic White cardstock and then inked the pine boughs using Iced Spruce
Distress Oxide ink and then a brighter green from a random finger dauber (sorry for that unspecific
detail) LOL! I didn’t saturate the pine boughs so they would have some white areas to pick up the light.
For the pinecones, I left them white with just a touch of Weathered Wood Distress Oxide ink and some
colored pencil details. Betsy made a fabulous video when these pinecone dies were first released
explaining how to make them look like this. I did add the ink around the edges, which is a little bit
different than hers, but that video is very helpful for this look.

I set the assembled branches and pinecones aside and got to work on the background. I die cut a piece
of Kraft cardstock using the Square Dance die and added some Ground Espresso ink using the Square
Dance stencils. Once that was done, I adhered it to a top-folding A2 Rustic White card base. I added a
panel of watercolor paper that was die cut with the middle size in the Nordic Frame die collection. I
adhered the branches and pinecones using foam squares for dimension and then added some white
paint splatter to create the snowy look.

The snowflakes are adhered using liquid glue and are die cut from the same Rustic White cardstock die
cut using the Frosty Corners dies. I die cut the “Hello” word using the Written in Ribbons die set and
stamped it using Brushed Corduroy and Ground Espresso Distress Oxide inks with the Written in Ribbons
stamp set. I love the dimension that this two-step stamped image gives the card! The Written in Ribbons
stamp set has a nice collection of companion sentiments to finish off the phrase you have planned to
use, but for this card, I decided to use the Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You stamp set to accent the
“hello” portion. This particular card is headed to someone who is going through Chemo right now, so I
wanted the extra depth of the “thinking of you” sentiment.

Once it was stamped, I die cut it using the Sentiment Suite Basics die collection and then tucked it under
the bottom wisp of the H in “hello”. The finishing touch is a sprinkling of chunky glitter to really enhance
the snowy, winter vibe I was going for! Thanks so much for joining me today! I hope you’ll take some
crafty time to capture some of the things you love about winter, too!

BotaniCuts Pine Bough die
Sentiment Suite Basics die
Square Dance die
Square Dance stencils
Nordic Frame die
Frosty Corners dies
Written in Ribbons stamp set
Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You stamp set

January 7, 2022 24 comments

All TGIF

TGIF – Holding Hands Holiday

by Betsy December 17, 2021

written by Betsy

Happy Friday! It’s been a weird week here…how about you? But it’s Friday and I’m pretty excited about that! 🙂

I’m taking a turn for this week’s TGIF, which means I finally had an excuse to sit down and just have fun pulling together a few last minute holiday ideas that have been floating through my mind! I’ve been wanting to pull out my Holding Hands set and play with a few holiday ideas.

For this first card, I created a gift to place in the hands. I used a few different dies for this – one of the dotted rectangles from the Curio: Divider & Details II set, topped off with the puffy bow from the Fit to Be Tied set. I sponged the “box” with green ink and stamped some little sprigs onto it to create the “wrapping paper”.

I attached a tiny tag from the Sentiment Suite: Basics die set, stamped with a sentiment from the Sentiment Suite: Christmas set. I also tucked in some diecut Pine Bough sprigs, and Inside & Out Berry Branch sprigs, and glittered them up, along with the bow. For the hands, I sponged them with Fine Linen ink and stamped the detail layer. Then I added the sweater sleeves, cut from kraft cardstock and stamped with brown ink for the sweater detail.

For my second card, I wanted to create a pretty holiday bouquet for the hand to hold. I created my bouquet using several different elements…the berry branch from Winter Sketches, some BotaniCuts Pine Bough sprigs, and a few stems of Petite Eucalyptus. I tied them all together with some linen string, and attached another tiny tag from the Sentiment Suite stamps and dies.

I love embellishing these little hands with the jewelry that comes in the set. I cut the bracelet and ring from gold cardstock, and added a red gem to the ring.

For both cards, I attached a Nordic Frames diecut panel to a kraft card base and sponged just a bit of Tumbled Glass ink to the background. I also added lots of white ink splatters to give everything a snowy look.

Thanks so much for joining me today, I hope you enjoyed these projects! Have a lovely weekend…the last one before Christmas! Time to get those presents wrapped…or at least start shopping – lol!

December 17, 2021 13 comments

All TGIF

TGIF – Spring is in bloom with Kay

by Betsy May 8, 2020

written by Betsy

Happy Friday! Kay is here with some beautiful springy projects using the Fleur Impressions set. We just had this set come back into stock in the shop, so Kay’s timing is perfect. Whether you’re new to this set or you’ve had it in your stash for a while, Kay’s beautiful cards will make you want to get this set inky!

Spring has finally made it’s way to my neck of the woods, and the flowers are blooming everywhere! We live out in the country here, and we have so many beautiful wildflowers. I am totally loving the flowers and warmer temperatures and it has inspired my card making too. I love the Fleur Impressions stamp set so much and wanted to explore some different color schemes using the different flowers in the set. I came up with two different cards, one with a warmer feel and one with a cooler feel.

My first card uses the warmer colors. I stamped the flowers in shades of red, orange and yellows. For the background, I used the Flappable Stencils. I used the stencil that makes the stripes and just rotated and stenciled a second time to give the look of plaid. I then speckled with a little bit of the same color ink.

For the frame, I used the Nordic Frames dies. I cut out the medium one and then used the smallest to cut out the center. I layered this over my background with foam tape. I then die cut all of the flowers with the Fleur Impressions coordinating dies and adhered those to the frame with foam tape. The sentiment is from the Sentiment Suite: Birthday stamp set.

And here is the same card, using the same supplies just with different colors! And if you know me very well, you know that purple and blue is one of my all time favorite color combinations!

I hope you have enjoyed my card today and I hope you are enjoying sunshine and flowers where you live too!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

May 8, 2020 14 comments

All TGIF

TGIF – Easy floral thank yous by Dawn

by Betsy May 1, 2020

written by Betsy

It’s Friday! I hope the sun is shining and you’re enjoying some of the same beautiful weather we’re having here. Dawn is here for today’s TGIF post with some pretty thank you cards that are fun and easy to mass produce using her formula! Let’s check them out…

I’ve been going through quite a few thank you notes lately, as I’ve been tucking them into artwork I’ve been shipping out! So I decided I’d better beef up my stash of thank yous, and these cards fit the bill perfectly!

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And because they really just consist of four main elements, they’re so easy to put together. They’re even the perfect type of card you could create elements for, while hanging out in front of the TV or maybe out on the deck with your family! All you need is a background (I used Painterly Stripes), a big focal element (like Sketchbook Roses), an eye-catching sentiment (how about Written in Ribbons) and a simple die cut (Nordic Frames) to separate the focal items from the background.

The really fun part about these, is that you can put them together in a wide array of color combinations, like I’m sharing today! Create your focal elements in whatever colors you can dream up, and then let those colors be the same ones you use on your background and sentiment. Easy peasy!

I love Dawn’s formula for creating these cards! Focal point, sentiment, background + a mat layer…a simple concept you can use over and over for unlimited looks. What sets would you plug into her formula?

May 1, 2020 13 comments

All Make & Tell Tuesdays Video Tutorials

Make & Tell Tuesday: BotaniCuts Lily + Colored Pencils

by Betsy March 3, 2020

written by Betsy

Hello evening crew! It’s Tuesday, and that means I got to spend some time creating! I put together a new Make & Tell video to share with you. There have been several requests to do some coloring videos for the BotaniCuts Lily, so today I pulled out my colored pencils and put one together for you.

In the video, I’ll show two variations of the same basic technique. First we’ll color a white lily, and then switch the colors for something a little bolder and create a Stargazer lily – one of my favorites.

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I’ve been wanting to pull out my Simple Things set again after Laurie shared her beautiful project a week or so ago for her TGIF post, so I did that to create a few cards using the lilies I colored in the video. I thought it would be the perfect filler for a few of the lilies.

For the card with the stargazers, I layered the Simple Things eucalyptus under the lilies, along with the medium rectangle from the Nordic Frames die. I sponged some Spun Sugar Distress Oxide ink underneath. The eucalyptus was stamped with Bundled Sage and Iced Spruce, along with Frayed Burlap for the stems. The sentiment is a combination of stamps from the Bountiful Wreath and Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You sets.

I wanted a softer, monochromatic look for the card with the white lilies, so I did a simple watercolor background and layered the white lilies and eucalyptus over the top. The sentiment is here is from the Simple Things set.

And good news! The BotaniCuts Lily dies were just restocked in the store!

I hope you enjoyed today’s Make & Tell, and you’re inspired to go create something!

March 3, 2020 19 comments

All TGIF

TGIF – Spring-time Robins with Kay

by Betsy February 28, 2020

written by Betsy

Most of us here in the midwest are looking for signs of spring…any sign of spring! One of the best is to see the first robin of the year. Those little guys are smart and if they’re around, you know spring has arrived (or will be here very soon)! Kay is here for today’s TGIF with a beautiful project that’s the perfect reminder that spring will be here soon…

As winter draws to an end here, my thoughts have totally turned towards warmer days and spring flowers, and so I was inspired to bring out some pretty floral stamps to play with. I love the Fleur Impressions stamp set from The Greetery and had not had a chance to use that set yet, so was exited to play with it for this card. I also paired it up with a cute little bird from the Robin & Wren set, and created a frame to set it all off with the Nordic Frames dies.

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For the background, I blended some purple and blue distress inks, then splattered some of those same colors along with some white acrylic paint.

To create the frame, I used the two smaller size frames from the Nordic Frame dies, layered the smaller one inside the larger of the two and cut them out together. I adhered this to my blended panel with foam tape. I stamped all of the pretty flowers from the Fleur Impressions stamp set, and little bird from the Robin & Wren stamp set, in different shades of purples and blues. I then cut them out with the coordinating dies, and added them around the frame with foam tape.

For the sentiment, I used the Hello from the Signed and Sealed Stamp set, and Beautiful from the Sketchbook Roses stamp set. I cut these out with the coordinating dies and added them along the frame with foam tape.

I hope you have enjoyed my card today and I hope it inspires you to do some spring crafting!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hugs,
Kay 🙂

February 28, 2020 26 comments

All TGIF

TGIF – Winter Blue Birds with Angelica

by Betsy January 10, 2020

written by Betsy

It’s finally Friday! TGIF time!

Angela is here this week and she’s going to knock your socks off with the gorgeous project she’s sharing with you today! I have to tell you, I was the lucky recipient of this card and it is even prettier in real life (if that’s possible)! If you like hearing all of the supply details you’re in for a treat as well. Angela has it all for you today…

**Edited to add: The Winter Sketches set Angelica used in her project today was restocked this morning in case you’re on the look-out for it! 🙂

Hi friends! We are almost halfway into January, and I finally finished my post-Christmas Thank you cards. The last card went out into the mail today, but not before I took a couple pictures to share with you today.

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I started with stamping a Winter Sketches branch. I used Gathered Twigs, Evergreen, Saphire, and Stargazer Pinkfresh Studio inks as my colors. Then I pulled out my Copic Markers to really enhance the branch. I added a dark shadow to with limb with E79, contrasting greens to the needles and leaves with G29 and YG05, and shaded the blue berries with B26 and B28. I die-cut the branch with the coordinating die, and finished by adding Ranger Distress Rock Candy Glitter, using Multi Media Matte as my adhesive. I set the branch aside to dry, and set up my MISTI to stamp two matching blue Robins from the Robin an d W ren stamp set.

I stamped the birds with Slumber, Sapphire, and Stargazer PF inks, and Antique Linen and Weathered Wood Distress Oxide inks for their bellies. Gathered Twigs PF ink was used for beaks and feet. I used the coordinating dies to die-cut them.

I made a quick watercolored background, using Mijello watercolors. I let the panel dry, then splattered watered-down acrylic paint and shimmer water all over the panel. I die-cut the panel with the middle rectangle from Nordic Frame Dies, and attached it to Blueberry card stock, die-cut with the large Nordic Frame Die. I mounted the panel onto a white card base, and attached the branch and birds with foam squares. I finished the card with a Sentiment Suite: Thank you Sentiment in the upper corner.

Aren’t Angela’s colors (and her coloring) amazing? Such a pretty project.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! And just a reminder…next week will be busy here on the blog as we introduce our newest collection. I hope you’ll join us for sneak peeks, product reveals, projects, and giveaways! I’ve already seen just a few bits and pieces of what the Inspiration Team has been working on and it’s just beautiful. I can’t wait to show you!

January 10, 2020 40 comments

All Make & Tell Tuesdays

Make & Tell – Oopsie Daisy Bouquets + Colored Pencil Shading

by Betsy January 7, 2020

written by Betsy

Is your work table still covered in holiday goodies? I’m not sure I’m ready to put away all of the Christmas and winter stamps and dies, but I know that I am ready for a little spring!

For today’s Make & Tell video, I’ll be giving some wintery items from our November collection a fresh spring look by combining them with the Oopsie Daisy set.

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I used one of my current favorite techniques – using colored pencils to add shading to stamped images. It’s like half the work of coloring is done before you even start! Plus the solid stamped images, especially those that have some layers like the Oopsie Daisies, usually have some shading already built in that you can just enhance a little further using the colored pencils.

Here is this week’s video…

I had some bits and pieces left after making the video, so I created this second card as well. Which one is your favorite – the blue or the pink? I love the big blue daisy on this one and the fuller bouquet. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by for today’s Make & Tell Tuesday! I hope these projects brought a bit of springy sunshine to your day!

January 7, 2020 29 comments

All TGIF

TGIF – Cozy Cup Thank Yous by Dawn

by Betsy January 3, 2020

written by Betsy

You’re in for a treat once again with today’s TGIF projects! Dawn is sharing some gorgeous wintery thank yous using our Cozy Cup set paired with lots of florals from our recent releases. They’re done in Dawn’s classic vibrant colors – just the thing to warm up these dreary winter days. Let’s read on and see what Dawn has to say about today’s projects…

So, this time of year, I always like to make a stack of thank you notes to send out after Christmas, and I love to have them feel a bit holiday-ish or at least a bit wintery. I still had quite a big pile of leftover Christmas floral die cuts from previous card making sessions, so they were perfect to use on my post-Christmas thank you notes.

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I wanted to make a cohesive set of cards though, and my die cuts weren’t all totally coordinated. To tie all of my random leftovers together, I stamped a new pile of common denominators! I stamped several coffee cups in coordinating colors, and those helped to tie in the randomness from the florals, and make it all look like it goes together!!

I further unified the card set, by using the same color card base, same dark green die cut mats and similar white frames on each card.

Now you’d never know all of these pieces started out as a random pile! They look like they were made to go together! Such a fun way to use up some after Christmas leftovers!”

Don’t you just love Dawn’s cheery projects today? I can’t stop looking at all of the details, and of course her photography and vintage touches are so inspiring!

Before I close today’s post, I have just a couple of updates. We did a large die restock earlier this week, so if you’ve been waiting on dies, most of them are now in stock. We’re still having some issues with our Back in Stock email notifications, unfortunately. They are going out, but at a snail’s pace I’m afraid. We will be switching to a different service provider once these have been completed that will hopefully fix the issue and we’ll be back to real-time updates.

You may also notice if you’re looking to purchase the Cozy Cup set Dawn used in today’s post, that it is out of stock. We’re expecting that back next week, along with a few other sets that are out of stock, so it won’t be a long wait.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! I hope your 2020 is off to a terrific start!

January 3, 2020 10 comments