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!