DARLING POPPIES

The California state flower is the California Poppy. When they are in bloom, you see gorgeous fields of these beautiful orange-colored flowers. During our years of living in Canada, it was very evident that the red poppy holds great significance in regard to remembering those who gave their lives for their country. On Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day in the U.S.), everyone wears a red poppy on their lapel, blouse, shirt, etc. as a sign of their gratitude for and recognition of, those who have served in the military.  Poppies have also become popular flowers in crafting - lots of dies, stamps, etc. incorporate the poppy. I recently received this beautiful poppy die (from Memory Box) and was so excited to give it a try! Here's the card I made:

I'm a very simple person, and like simple designs. I've been called a minimalist by friends. (I hope they mean it in a good way! :D)  This die from Memory Box is so beautifully detailed and delicate, I just didn't want to add much else to the card that could take away from it! I'm very pleased with the clean and simple, but elegantness (if that's a word!) of this A2 size card. Here's how I did it:

The die cut was made with white cardstock. I saved the inner pieces of the flowers, colored them red (with Copic markers), then re-inserted them into the die cut. I really like that look better than just coloring in the empty space. The die cut was adhered to a piece of kraft cardstock then adhered, to a slightly larger piece of red cardstock with foam tape. I love dimension on my cards! This was then adhered, off-centered, to my white cardstock base. Then I added a very simple sentiment to the bottom right corner.

The die used for this card is Memory Box's "Darling Poppies" (#98879). To purchase the Memory Box dies used here, as well as other high quality craft items, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  
for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

YOU'RE SPECIAL

I just received some new items from Memory Box and am having so much fun creating with them!!  Here's the first card I made using a brand spankin' new stencil set:

This is a 5x7" card made with Memory Box's "Garden Leaf & Berry" and "Garden Whimsy Branch" stencils (#'s 88552 and 88553 respectively). This is a double-layer stencil. I did mask some areas of the stencil (shortened a branch and decreased the amount of berries). I think the look that the layered stencils make is soooooo cool!

Here's how I did it:
First I stenciled the "Garden Whimsey Branch" onto a 5x7" piece of kraft cardstock. I used "Frayed Burlap" and "Peeled Paint" Distress Inks. I've found that you have to be VERY careful inking around some of the branches, as some of the areas where the branches join lift easily, making it difficult to stencil without any smudges. (I had to practice a few times before I was happy with the result. There's still some smudging on this one, but they are tolerable!)

Second, I layered the "Garden Leaf & Berry" stencil over my stenciled image. These stencils are made to fit together, so lining it up was quite easy! I then stenciled over the "leaf" areas with "Walnut Stain" and "Forest Moss" Distress Inks. This gave the really awesome two-tone affect of the stencil.  I masked off the berries that I didn't want to use, and inked the rest with "Aged Mahogany" Distress Ink. The sentiment stamp (Hero Arts #CL497) was inked with Memento's "Rich Cocoa" ink.

I trimmed the stenciled portion of the card, rounded the corners, and glued it to a slightly larger piece of coordinating paper. This was then affixed to a 5x7" kraft cardstock base.

For the final touch, I glued flat-back pearls to the card for dimension to the berries.

To purchase the Memory Box dies used here, as well as other high quality craft items, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.blogspot.com  
for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

Thanks for looking!!

CITYSCAPE HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Here's another card with Memory Box's "Cityscape" die set:

The dies used for this card are Memory Box "Cityscape Nightline" (#98398) and "Cityscape Silhouette" (#98399).

To purchase the Memory Box dies used here, as well as other high quality craft items, please visit 
www.thefruitofmyhands.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

JUST BECAUSE

I've been wanting to use this Memory Box Cityscape die set for a long time!! I'm trying a few different things, so hopefully there'll be more posts with these dies in the near future!!

The dies used for this card are Memory Box "Cityscape Nightline" (#98398) and "Cityscape Silhouette" (#98399).

To make this A2 size card, I masked off the bottom portion of the card (to leave white for my sentiment). I swiped "Squeezed Lemonade" Distress Ink over the unmasked portion. I punched a circle mask (for my sun), and continued to sponge various colors of distress ink around it to give the appearance of a sunset. Distress Ink colors used were: "Mustard Seed", "Spiced Marmalade", "Fired Brick" and "Chipped Sapphire". 

To purchase the Memory Box dies used here, as well as other high quality craft items, please visit 
www.thefruitofmyhands.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

THE LORD BLESS YOU

This card incorporates one of my favorite Scripture passages. These verses always bring me so much comfort and peace!

This is a 5X7" card. The poppy die cut is Memory Box "Prim Poppy" (#98310) which was cut out of white cardstock, then colored with Copic markers. The black frame is a piece that I cut using my Silhouette Cameo. The stamp is Stampendous "Shine on You".

To purchase the Memory Box die used here, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

I MISS YOU!

Lately, I've been playing around with dies and patterned paper. Here's a card I came up with:

I love the look of the spring hillsides with the torn paper. All the paper used is from My Mind's Eye's "On the Bright Side - One" and "On the Bright Side - Two". The die cut horizon is Memory Box "Country Landscape" (#98239). The stamped greeting is from Avery Elle "Handwritten Notes".

To purchase the Memory Box die or the Avery Elle stamp set used here, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

Thanks so much for visiting!

THINKING OF YOU

This card was inspired by the incredible talented work of Jennifer McGuire, posted on her blog here. 

To make this 5x7" card, I used a white cardstock base. I then cut 1" strips out of a variety of coordinating patterned paper. I lightly distressed the edges with "Peeled Paint" Distress inks, then adhered them diagonally to my card base. The dies used for the floral pieces and butterflies are Memory Box "Blooming Vine", "Pippi Butterfly" and "Isabella Butterfly" dies. 

To purchase any of the Memory Box products used here, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

WINTER SCENE

For most of my adult life (up until the last 8 years) I've lived in a colder climate where our winters consisted of very cold temperatures and LOTS of snow! I live in a warmer climate now (can't say I miss the cold), but I do miss the beauty of freshly fallen snow and the way the sun glistens off it making it look like millions of tiny diamonds. This card brought back a lot of memories for me!

I incorporated the masking technique a lot on this card, which was actually pretty fun! First, I masked off the bottom half of my background piece with a torn piece of removable masking paper. I sponged the top half with "Stormy Sky" and "Weathered Wood" Distress Inks to create the sky. I then spritxed it with Perfect Pearls mist to add a little sparkle! Before removing the mask, I stamped the trees (Stampin' Up! "Lovely as a Tree" stamp set) onto the background. Then I used a sponge dauber to add a little more of "Stormy Sky" just along the edge of the mask. To create the "rolling hills", I moved the mask down and to the sides a bit, then sponged the edges only with my distress ink. I then used another stamp from the Stampin' Up! set to add the trees in the foreground. The deer images where cut out of white cardstock using the Memory Box "Deer Trio" die. The deer die cut was then adhered to the background with foam squares to add dimension.

I love winter scenes......but just to look at, not so much to live in!! ;D

To purchase any of the Memory Box products used here, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

YOUNG LOVE

I've had this Stamping Bella "Young Love" stamp for a while, and never used it........until I got the Memory Box "Garden Birch Trees" stencil. I thought the two items would be a perfect combo together!

To make this 5x7" card, I sponged over the birch tree stencil with "Faded Jeans" Distress Ink, sponging a little more heavily in random areas for a little more dimension. The stamped image was colored with Copic markers and adhered to the card base with foam squares. The grass was cut with the Impression Obsession die #DIE060-I and sponged with "Peeled Paint" and "Forest Moss" Distress Inks.

To purchase any of the Memory Box products used here, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY :D

I have to admit that I'm really pleased with the way this card turned out. It's so bright and cheery!! It puts a smile on my face!

To make this A2 size card, I used the Memory Box "Texture Shine" stencil and sponged over it with "Squeezed Lemonade", "Mustard Seed", "Spiced Marmalade" and a wee bit of "Rusty Hinge" Distress Inks. The stamped image (Little Darlings "Just Swingin'") was colored with Copic markers, cut out, and adhered to the sunshine background with foam squares. The background piece was then adhered to the card base with foam strips.

I hope this card put a smile on your face as well!

To purchase any of the Memory Box products used here, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

HUBBY'S VALENTINE CARD

Here's the card I made for my wonderful hubby for Valentine's Day this year.

I used white embossing paste with the Memory Box "Texture Mesh" stencil on a 6"x6" black card base. The red heart was cut with my Silhouette Cameo out of red cardstock and adhered to a white cardstock background. The final additions were the red pearls to add just a touch of accent!

To purchase any of the Memory Box products used here, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

DELIGHTFUL PEONY

I recently purchased the "Delightful Peony" die set from Memory Box (#'s 98742 and 98744). This is truly a gorgeous die and I'm looking forward to creating more cards with it!!

This is a 5"x7" in card with a kraft card base. I used white embossing paste with the Memory Box "Texture Mesh" stencil on the card base. I cut the background of the peony out of kraft cardstock and colored it with "Faded Jeans" and "Peeled Paint" Distress Inks. Because they were sponged on kraft paper, the color ended up a little muted, but I was okay with that!. The peony outline was then cut out of white cardstock and adhered over the peony background die cut.

To purchase any of the Memory Box products used here, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

ANOTHER QUICK CARD CHALLENGE

Here's another card I made for a 90 minute scramble with the Hero Arts Flickr Group.  This scramble was actually about 5 weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting it!!! The challenge was to use the colors of silver and pink.

For this A2 size card, I used embossing paste with the Memory Box "Texture Mesh" stencil. This has to be my favorite stencil (that I own anyway) as the possibilities with it are endless. Anyway.....after I smeared the embossing paste over my stencil, I removed the stencil, and (while the paste was still wet) sprinkled silver embossing powder over it, then heat embossed. The butterflies (Hero Arts CL497) were stamped with Versamark ink on white cardstock, then heat embossed with white embossing powder. I then sponged Distress Ink "Pickled Raspberry", and Hero Arts "Bubble Gum" ink over the butterflies. I also used a silver gel pen to add a little silver to the butterflies. Then I gently smeared "Diamond" Distress Stickles over the butterflies for a little more shimmer. The little heart stamps were inked with the same colors as the butterflies. 

Thanks for looking!!

To purchase any of the Memory Box products used here, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.blogspot.com  for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

QUICK CARD CHALLENGE

This card was made for another 90 minute scramble with the Hero Arts Flickr Group. The directions were to create a card with a neutral base (I chose white) and at least 3 other colors. I had 90 minutes to come up with the idea, create the card, photograph it, and post it! It can be a tense 90 minutes, but I really enjoy the challenge!

My additional colors were the Distress Ink colors of "Mustard Seed", "Spiced Marmalade", "Festive Berries" and "Fired Brick". I used small sponge daubers to apply the ink to the circular background of my flower. The flower (Hero Arts CG194) was inked with Versamark, stamped on vellum, then heat embossed with white embossing powder and cut out. 

Check out the Hero Arts Flickr Group to see some more AMAZING cards!!