Your Own Magic

 While I have long admired all of the fairy cards other artists have made I didn't jump on that bandwagon until recently.  I love colorful backgrounds, pre-made and hand made, and these fairies just pop! Dies R Us now carries most of the Fairy Hugs brand of stamps, glitter and background paper and I just think everyone needs some fairies to play with!  I used nothing but Fairy Hugs stamps on this card, I hope you enjoy it!

What I Used to Make my Card:
5" x 7" white card base
Watercolor Paper {I use this}
Gina K Amalgam Ink Pad in Obsidian Ink
Fairy Hugs Tree Condo, #FHS-107
Fairy Hugs Condo Dwellers, #FHS-060
Fairy Hugs Condo Dwellers 2, #FHS-108
Fairy Hugs About You, #FHS-129
Tutti Dies Nesting Stitched Rectangles, #TUTTI-217
Oxide Inks Background - Mermaid Lagoon, Kitsch Flamingo, Squeezed Lemon & Salvaged Patina
Gansi Tambi Starry Colors, Light Gold {available all over}
Nuvo Embossing Powder - Fine Detail Black
Simon Says Stamp Embossing Ink
Trinity Stamps Fairy Rocks

I had made the Oxide ink background especially to use these stamps on so I used light ink colors and lots of spritzing.  I colored and spritzed this background probably 4 times so I could get just the right look; I wanted the background to look whimsical and colorful but not over power the stamps.  Once I was done, I splattered light gold watercolor paint onto the background.  You can see the background before I stamped on it in this picture.

Once the background was dry I proceeded to stamp my images directly onto it.  That is when I learned I should have waited to splatter the gold ink as my stamping ink refused to cover the metallic paint.  The worst part was where I was placing the tree trunk but since I know I was going to be covering it with a sentiment, I wasn't too concerned.  I'm not sure if an ink such as Staz On would have covered the gold; I didn't want to take the chance of not being able to line up the card in the exact place to try another ink. I stamped my tree with black ink and then embossing ink and

The Products I used

embossed the tree, leaving the fairies stamped only.  I stamped the sentiment on a piece of white scrap card and cut it down with a stitched rectangle die adhering to the panel in the middle of the tree.  I then trimmed down the watercolor panel and adhered it to the 5" x 7" card base. For a finishing touch I embellished the card with some fanciful clear gems.

I hope you enjoyed my card! Remember, these products as well as MUCH more are available at the Dies R Us store! Please make sure to check out all our pages; links below.  Thanks SO much!! Christi

Don't forget to come join in the fun at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog. There's a new challenge theme offered on the 1st and 15th of each month and one lucky randomly drawn winner will receive a gift voucher prize to the Dies R Us Store.  

 For your convenience, all the important Dies R Us links are provided below.

 click below for:

STORE

CHALLENGE BLOG

FACEBOOK

INSPIRATION BLOG

FRIENDS OF DIES R US PINTEREST PAGE

I am entering my card in the following challenges:
Cute Card Thursday, #691 - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Unicorn Challenge, #68 - Anything Goes
Cupcake Inspirations Challenge, #526 - Take Flight
Love to Craft, #60 - Anything Goes
NBUS, #29 - Anything Goes w/ New Stuff (all the stamps are new!)
DL Art August Challenge - Anything Goes

You Are So Much More to Me

Hi everyone!

I hope this post finds you all well! I have been insanely busy for what seems like forever, I found out that moving is not as easy as it used to be! In addition to moving all of my stuff, I have been helping a friend pack his home to prepare for his move back to the East Coast and then I got hit with a horrible sinus infection!  Finally things are settling down and I made this card to remind me that there are new beginnings all around us as Spring has Spring, which just so happens to be the May Twist {all of our challenges are always Anything Goes, but feel free to use the twist} at The Paper Funday Challenge this month!

What I Used to Make my Card:
5" x 7" White Card Base
Simon Says Stamp You Have My Heart Bundle, #SET382YMH
Pinkfresh Studios Simply Sentiments: You, #PFSA0120
Pinkfresh Studios Sentiment Suite You Die Set
Watercolor Paper {I use this}
Zig Clean Color Brush Markers
Gina K Amalgam Ink Pad in Obsidian Ink
Distress Ink in Hickory Smoke
Grey Cardstock

Once I had stamped and colored the flowers I realized I wanted them both on one card but they wouldn't fit on the standard A2 cards I typically make; so, this is my third 5" x 7" card in less than a month. It's strange because I rarely make them t his size. Anyway, after the flowers were cut out and I had figured out the placement I wanted, I stamped the sentiment on white card using grey ink before die cutting the "you" from grey card.  I trimmed the sentiment down to fit where I wanted, glued it on and attached the word die cut above it. 

As I said in my opening I have been crazy with both moving and helping my friend move back to the East Coast.  By the time you read this he will have gone home and I hope to have gotten my new space in some order.  At least now I can open the windows and let the breeze in! This card is one of my favorite cards ever; it really says spring to me! I adore the flowers, the sentiment, the coloring, everything. I am going to be sending this to my sister, just because she does mean the world to me. Thank you all for stopping by, and for reading my post! I appreciate you more than you know!

Fondly,
Christi

I am proudly entering my card into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Feminine
The House that Stamps Built M521- All About Moms
Addicted to Stamps, 404 - Any Occasion
Double D Challenges - Flower of the Month {honestly, I have NO idea about flowers LOL}
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Feminine
Dare 2B Artsy - Flowers
Allsorts, 622 - Flowers
Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Challenge - Anything Goes
Moving Along with the Times 130 - Bouquet

 

Spring has Sprung at The Paper Funday Challenge!

Hello everyone!

First, sorry this is late!! Moving has got my life all upside down!! For my Paper Funday Design Team card this month I used a card I made a while back, but hadn't decided what sentiment to use. The Paper Funday Challenges are always "Anything Goes" and I used the April Twist of Spring has Sprung! When I made this I hadn't played with stencils in so long that I wasn't even sure how the card was going to turn out, however, I'm happy with it and I hope you like it too! 

 What I Used to Make my Card:
5" x 7" White Card Base
Hero Arts Large Flower Stencil, #SA069
Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks in Worn Lipstick, Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio, Tumbled Glass and Seedless Preserves
Neat & Tangled "Hello Spring" Die {retired but available}
White Card
Purple Card

It was so easy to make this card and the background came out so well that I have been ordering more stencils to play with! I hope to be able to show you more cards using stencils and ink blending; it's one of those techniques that looks complicated but is SO easy to do! I began by blending Oxide inks {using the "make up" blending brushes that I am absolutely in love with!} in the middle of the flower and worked my way to the outside of the stencil.  I used Purple Tape to hold the stencil onto the paper and, if I had known how pretty it was going to come out, I would have stenciled directly onto the card base but, being unsure, I used another sheet of regular heavy weight cardstock. Once I removed (and cleaned thoroughly) the stencil, I trimmed the design down a bit and centered it on the 5" x 7" card.  I rarely use other sizes than A2 {5 1/2 x 4 1/4} but lately I've been so inspired by the slimline cards I have made a bunch of larger cards; postage isn't an issue since I plan on hand delivering them.

Once the background was finished, I let it set overnight {honestly, I don't know if this is necessary, but I felt like I could somehow rub the Oxides and ruin the stencil and I didn't want to take any chances. I am happy to say the ink has stayed put with no problem} and then started searching for a sentiment. I recently changed my stamps & dies storage system from sorting "by manufacturer" to "by season", "occasion" etc, and I found so many products I'd never used simply because I had forgotten I had them and this word die was one of the "finds".  I cut the shadow of the die out using white card and the inner piece using light purple, to match the ink colors.  This simple sentiment fits this card perfectly as I didn't want to obscure too much of the design and I have plenty of room to write anything else on the inside of the card.  I hope this inspires you to get some stamps and what not out that you haven't played with for a while {maybe even forgot you had like I did!} and give them some love. I'm glad I did! 

Thank you SO much for stopping by and I hope to see you in the May Paper Funday Challenge! 

Fondly, Christi

I am entering my card in the following challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft, #137 - Anything Goes
The Crafters Cafe, #263 - Anything Goes
Creatalicious Challenges, #208 - Anything Goes w/ Option of Flower(s)
MIUCB, #48 - Anything Goes & No Stamping
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Easter/Spring
Try it on Tuesday - Hello Spring!
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Easter/Spring
Make My Monday, #145 - Easter/Spring
Stamps & Fun = Creativity, #386 - Spring and/or Easter
Make the Cards, #10 - Colors

Thanks!!!