Cute Cards

You’re One in a Chameleon

| marialrussell

I am back today with Craftin Desert Divas and I am sharing this cute card for the January Mood Board challenge #CDDMonthly.  Below you will find the inspiration photo.

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I started out with by die-cutting my card stock using the Fancy Frame Dies. I used my distress inks to distress my background and splattered white paint all over the card panel.  I stamped my cute Chameleon on Neenah solar white card stock, and colored him in with my Copic markers.  Doesn’t this cutie remind you of Pascal?  He is the Chameleon in the Disney movie, Tangled.

To create my scene and to finish my design, I die-cut the grass, the white picket fence and the birch tree using the Outdoor Landscape 2 dies.

Here is my card:

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If you would like to participate and join in the fun, create a card using the inspiration photo and share your projects on the CDD Facebook Group Gallery or share your projects on Instagram using the hashtag #CDDMonthly.  You have the whole month of January to participate.  Tara will announce the winner on the CDD Facebook group.

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Craftin Desert Divas – Spare Parts Stamp Set Release

| marialrussell

January 20th was release day for Craftin’ Desert Divas and the Design Team is showcasing this adorable new stamp set called “Spare Parts” .  I absolutely adore the images on this set!  Please join us on the Facebook Gallery Page to share your creation and participate on the monthly challenges to win some amazing prizes.

Here are the new stamps and dies for the release.  If you placed an order of $50 or more before taxes and shipping, you will get a FREE Candy Jar die with your order whiles supplies last.

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I started out by die-cutting my card base and used some cute patterned papers to layer them on my card. I then stamped my images on Neenah solar white card stock and colored them in with my Copic markers. I wanted to create a Valentine’s Day card, and wanted to use some soft colors for my robots.

For the second card you see below, I distressed my background with spun sugar distress ink.  I used my wet watercolor brush to splatter some water on my background. I really love the distressed look it gives once the ink reacts with the water!

I used one of my all-time favorite stamp set from CDD, called Doodled Frames for both cards. I used the delicate bow image, coloring them in with my Copic markers and fuzzy-cut them with my cutter-bee scissors. I finished off the design by adding the pink hearts with glossy accents. I love how this card turned out.

Here are the two cards that I made:

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This stamp set is a must-have.  You can use it for everyday cards, anniversary or Valentine’s Day.  The kids will love this stamp set too.

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Newtons Nook Designs – January Release Day 3 ~ Pug Hugs

| marialrussell

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Oh my goodness! Are you ready for today’s total cuteness?  Today is release day (Day 3) at Newton’s Nook Designs.  I hope you have been checking out the daily posts since Monday.  The whole design team at NND has been busy creating wonderful projects to give you some daily inspiration. You also have a chance to win each stamp set during release week so check out the details I have indicated at the end of this blog post.

 

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For my cards, I used this cute Pug Hugs stamp set and Pug Hugs coordinating dies, stamping my images on Neenah solar white card stock with my memento tuxedo black ink. I colored the Pugs using my Copic markers and die-cut the images with its coordinating dies with my die-cutting machine.

 

Here is my first card:

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Since Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, I just had to make a Valentine-themed Pug card!  I created my own patterned paper by combining the hearts from the Pug Hugs stamp set and the Flirty Flamingos stamp set.

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Don’t you just love those cute Pugs?  This stamp set will be available for purchase on January 20 at 8:00 a.m. CST.

 

Would you like to win this “Pug Hugs” stamp set?  This set will be given away to ONE (1) lucky winner.

 

Here’s how to win: 

 

Comment on the NND blog and Design Team blogs (see list below)!  The winner will be chosen at random from the collective reveal posts. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning!  You have until Thursday January 19th at 9pm CST to comment  — winners will be announced on the Newton’s Nook Designs blog post on Friday, January 20th.

 

Check out all the awesome Design Team Blogs below to enter:

Newton’s Nook Designs

Amanda Bodine

Holly Endress

Ellen Haxelmans

Larissa Heskett

Samantha Mann

Juliana Michaels

Naki Rager

Maria Russell (you’re here)

Jennifer Timko

Tatiana Trafimovich

It Would Stink If We Weren’t Friends

| marialrussell

Hello and Happy 2017 everyone! This is my first design team post for the year for Kat Scrappiness and today I am sharing a card, showcasing the Little Stinker stamp set by Neat & Tangled, the Stitched-Rope Nested Rectangle dies and a bunch of other supplies available at the shop.

I apologize if I will not have a process video for you today because I still didn’t get my voice back. I currently have bronchitis and laryngitis, and I am still trying to get rid of this flu. It has been a few weeks now and it is starting to bum me out. Anyway, I have taken some step-by-step photos of my project so I will try and walk you through it.

I started out by stamping the image on Inkadinkado Masking Paper, and fuzzy-cut it with my honeybee scissors. Since this is a one-layer card, I will be using my mask to cover the image.

 

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I die-cut my card panel using the stitched rope nested die on Neenah solar white card stock. I then used my mask to cover the Little Stinker image so I can distress the background with my distress inks. I also cut a mask for my grass hill with the masking paper. I used Spun Sugar and Evergreen bough to distress my background. Once I was satisfied with the color combination, I used my paintbrush to splatter some water on my card panel. Distress ink reacts on water and it really gives a cool effect.
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I peeled the mask that was covering the skunk, and started coloring the image with my Copic markers. I used T0, T2 and T4 for my skunk. I also used R00 for the cheeks and the little sign that was being held by the little skunk. I stamped the sentiment on the sign using my Memento Tuxedo black ink.

 

Since this is a Valentine’s Day card, I felt that I needed to add some hearts. I had an older stamp set from my stash with splattered hearts images and I thought this would be perfect for my card. I used the same mask to cover my skunk again, and stamped the front panel of the card with the heart stamp. It turned out really beautiful!

 

To finish off the design of the card, and with the help of my favorite tool, the Crystal Katana, I  adhered a tiny red heart on the sign, and covered the heart with glossy accents. I love how the card turned out! I hope you love it too and got inspired today.

 

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Here is the final design:

 

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The supplies I have used are listed and linked below if you are interested to purchase them.  Have a wonderful day!

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Every Year I Fall For You

| marialrussell

I am super excited to share this post today because it is my first post as a design team member for Newton’s Nook Designs (“NND”).

Since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, I decided to start my projects early.  I wasn’t really sure in the beginning what images I wanted to use for the card so I had stamped out a couple of NND images on Neenah solar white card stock, using my stamping tool and colored the images using my Copic markers. I ended up not using the other images I colored and I have set it aside for a future project in mind. I die-cut the images with my die-cutting machine using the coordinating dies.

 

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For my card, I am showcasing the “What A Hoot stamp set and What A Hoot Die Set” and for my sentiment, I used “Fall-ing For You stamp set“. I did a little bit of masking so that I only use the words “every year, I fall for you”. I think it turned out perfectly!

 

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Here is the card. The supplies I have used are listed and linked below. I hope you like my card and somehow got inspired to create something beautiful today.  For cute stamp set and dies, please visit http://www.newtonsnookdesigns.com, and share your creations with us on Instagram (using hashtags, #newtonsnookdesigns, #NND) or share it on NND’s Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/NewtonsNookDesigns/).

Have an amazing day!

 

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Winter Scene Christmas Card

| marialrussell

Is everyone ready for Christmas? To tell you the truth, I’m not. This year, I am way behind the shopping and all the other things that I need to do before Christmas. The only thing I was able to do last weekend was to at least take the fall décor down and put the Christmas décor up. I am waiting for my kids to arrive so we can all decorate the tree. But enough about my procrastination!

I was listening to some Christmas music today and got inspired to create this Winter Scene Christmas card, showcasing the Winter House Scene Die and Merry Christmas script die by Gina Marie Designs, available at Kat Scrappiness. This die is a must-have! You can easily mass-produce the card below. I promise you, it’s really easy. Please watch the process video below to see how I made the card.

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Here’s the process video:

 

 

I hope you got inspired today. Supplies are listed and linked below in case you are interested to purchase them.

Have a wonderful day!

 

 

Dear Santa Christmas Cards

| marialrussell

Hello stampers and crafters! I am back today and I am sharing two cards that I designed, showcasing the Dear Santa stamp set, the Kat Scrappiness Christmas Tree and Happy Holidays Dies and a whole lot of other supplies available for purchase at the shop.

Since I have just arrived a few hours ago from spending Thanksgiving with my family, I will not have a process video for you today for these two cards. However, these cards are pretty simple and can be mass-produced.

For the first card, I started out by stamping a bunch of the cat images, the ball of yarn, and the presents on Neenah Solar White card stock, using memento tuxedo black ink. I colored the image using my Copic markers. I also die-cut the Christmas tree using the Doodlebug “Here Comes Santa Claus” patterned paper, then adhering the pieces together with my favorite Tombow liquid adhesive.

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I wanted a white-on-white background to make my images pop but I didn’t want my card panel to look flat, so I decided to use my Taylored Expressions Twinkling Holiday embossing folder. Embossing the card stock gave it more of a dimension. I adhered all of my pieces together using my liquid adhesive and Scotch foam tape, and finished the card design with a cute Lawn Fawn tag that says “Define Naughty!” with my Lawn Fawn Peppermint twine.

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Here is the first card:

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For the second card, I didn’t want to use traditional Christmas colors. I colored my cat image with light grays and pink Copic markers. I used a patterned paper from Pinkfresh Studio 6×6 paper pad to die-cut the front panel of my card.

Using my blending foam, I distressed my white card stock with Spun Sugar distressed ink and blended it until the colors matched the pink twine. I die-cut the sentiment using Kat Scrappiness Happy Holidays Script die. I LOVE THIS DIE! It cuts like butter! I then adhered all of my pieces to the front panel of my card using my liquid adhesive. I finished the design with my pink and gold twine, and White Diamonds Sequins by Kat Scrappiness. I think the card turned out simple yet classy!

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I hope you like both cards and got inspired today. I promise to have a process video for my next design team project.

I have listed and linked all the supplies that I have used below in case you’re interested to purchase them.

Have an amazing day!

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Angel Inspirational Card

| marialrussell

I finally had the chance to sit down, turn on my music, light some candles and start creating a card that is just simply for a friend, and not design-team related.

I recently ordered these cute Angel stamp set by Sunny Studio and I couldn’t wait to play with them. I had this design idea in my head for quite sometime now and decided to create a see-through card.  Here’s a step-by-step instruction below. It seems like a lot of work but I promise you, it’s really easy!

  1. Cut the white card-base at 4 ¼ by 11 and score at 5 ½.
  2. Trim the front panel at 4 ½, leaving the front of the card with an inch.
  3. Cut an acetate sheet measuring to 4 ¼ by 5 ½
  4. Adhere the acetate sheet behind the 1-inch flap. This will create the window part of the card.
  5. Using the leftover card stock that I just trimmed from the front card-panel, I used my Clouds border die to cut 3 different clouds pieces to create my “clouds”.
  6. Using my sponge, I distressed the clouds with Tim Holtz Spun Sugar and Shaded Lilac distressed inks. I wanted the card to have a unique pink and purple color.
  7. I then adhered the clouds on the front panel of the card. One cloud on top, and two at the bottom.
  9. I cut another white card stock measuring 4 1/8 by 5 3/8. Using my sponge again, I distressed the card stock with the same colors that I used for my clouds.
  10. I adhered this card stock on the inside of my card (I wanted to use the same colors that I used for my clouds for the inside of the card).
  11. Using my Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, I stamped the angels, cloud and lantern images on Neenah solar white card stock.
  12. I used my Copic markers to color the images.
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  14. Using the coordinating dies for the angels, I die-cut the images with my big shot machine.
  15. I used my ATG tape runner to adhere the Angels on the front panel.
  16. I used my mini-glue dots to adhere the lantern on the Angels’ hands.
  17. Using my Ranger Multi-Medium Matte adhesive, I adhered the little purple star sequins by Kat Scrappiness to decorate my card further.
  18. I stamped the sentiment inside the card, using my Lawn Fawn Hippo Ink.

 

Here are the photos of the finished card. I inserted an LED tea light so that my friend can also use this to display in her craft room.

 

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I really love how this card turned out. Would you give it a try? I would love to see your version of my design.

The supplies I have used are listed and linked below. Thanks so much for stopping by and have an amazing day!

SUPPLIES:

MFT Stamps ~ Grateful For You

| marialrussell

I am back today to share with you a card that I made as my third and final entry for the MFT Stamps 2016 Card Design Superstar.   It has been a wonderful, scary and intimidating experience thus far. As I write this blog post, there are almost 400 entries! Scary, huh?
Today’s card is a simple thank you card for my best friend, who lives in Washington, D.C. I am a little sad that we are not going to be able to spend Thanksgiving together again this year. I made this card to let her know that she means so much to me, and I am grateful to have her in my life!

 

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Grateful For You – Card Design by Maria Russell

 

I started out by stamping the images on Neenah solar white card stock using MFT stamps Black Licorice hybrid ink. I used Copic markers to color the images. Since I didn’t have the coordinating dies, I had to fuzzy cut all of the images using my precision scissors.

 

For my card scene, I had to think outside the box again to create a larger window for my critters so I decided to use the gift box cover up die. I think it turned out perfectly.

 

For the awning, I used the new Stitched Scallop Basic Edges. I love these dies so much it cuts like butter!

 

Here is the complete list of the supplies I’ve used for the card. They are all from MFT Stamps.

 

Happy Hedgehogs

Harvest Buddies

Grateful For You stamp set and coordinating die-namics

Die-namics Stitched Scallop Basic Edges

Die-namics Gift Box Cover Up

Sweet Celebration 6×6 Paper Pad (from the birthday card kit)

 

To finish off the card, I used my black gel pen to give the eyes more dimension, my white gel pen to highlight the cheeks and the leaves, and also used glossy accents on the acorns.

 

Wish me luck and thank you for stopping by!