My Retirement Wishes Card 

My Retirement Wishes Card - A retirement card with a trailer and a sunrise in the background
My Retirement Wishes Card

Hello Crafty Friends! Laurie here again! I am sharing My Retirement Wishes Card using the Paradise Palms Stamp Set and the Tree Lot Dies by Stampin’ Up! with a beautiful Distressed Oxide Inks sunrise. I had a lot of fun creating this card for a friend who is retiring. She is planning to go touring for the summer with her trailer. So, I decided to create a fun pink (she is a pink kind of person) trailer on her card.

The Details of My Card

For my card, I decided to go with a mini slimline design so that I could really show off a beautiful sunrise with the Distress Oxide inks. Especially since this is all about driving off into the sunset to enjoy retirement! 

Using my Blending Brushes, I blended the sky colours together in the order of Fossilized Amber, Worn Lipstick, Wilted Violet, Broken China and Faded Jeans on a piece of Basic White card stock. Once that was done, I created a Crumb Cake sand hill with one of the Slimline Stitched Hillside Border Dies. I used this for placement as I stamped my palm trees and seagulls in Early Espresso onto my sky piece. Next, I adhered the sand hill down and die cut everything at the same time with a mini slimline stitched die. 

Close Up of Sunset
Close Up of Sunset

The sentiment was stamped in Black Onyx Versafine Ink and die cut with one of the flags from the Stylish Shapes Dies. Since I wanted this to hang over the edge of the sky piece and match up with my Basic White mat, I used my Paper Snips to cut off the edge.

Now, it was time to build my trailer with all the different dies. I loved this cute trailer once it was built! I also couldn’t resist adding some Pretty in Pink glimmer flags to match the trailer since we were celebrating!

Finally, the finishing touch was a couple of Pretty in Pink Shimmer Gems placed around my sentiment.

Close Up of Trailer
Close Up of Trailer

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Card Recipe for My Retirement Wishes Card:

Paradise Palms Stamp Set, Stampin’ Up!
On the Horizon Stamp Set (seagulls), Stampin’ Up!
Tree Lot Dies, Stampin’ Up!
Large Mini Slimline Stackables, Lawn Fawn
Slimline Stitched Hillside Border Dies, Lawn Fawn
Stylish Shapes Dies, Stampin’ Up!
2024–2026 In Color Glimmer Specialty Paper, Stampin’ Up!
Blending Brush, Stampin’ Up!”
Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide Ink, Ranger
Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide Ink, Ranger
Wilted Violet Distress Oxide Ink, Ranger
Broken China Distress Oxide Ink, Ranger
Faded Jeans Distress Oxide Ink, Ranger
Early Espresso Classic Ink Pad, Stampin’ Up!
Black Onyx Versafine Ink, Tsukineko
2024–2026 In Color Shimmer Gems, Stampin’ Up!
Paper Snips, Stampin’ Up!
Pretty in Pink, Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Basic Black and Basic White Card Stock, Stampin’ Up!

Finished card size: 6 ¼” x 3 ¼”

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Hope you liked My Retirement Wishes Card using the Paradise Palms Stamp Set and the Tree Lot Dies by Stampin’ Up! with a beautiful Distressed Oxide Inks sunrise.

For more of my Stampin’ Up! cards, please click here.

You will find the items listed above in my online store.

Thank you for stopping by!

Hugs,
Laurie

Our Steampunk Journey Card

My Steampunk Journey Card - an anniversary card with gears and love on it
My Steampunk Journey Card

Hello Crafty Friends! Laurie here again! I am sharing Our Steampunk Journey Card using the Stamperia Vagabond Series of paper and die cuts to create my anniversary card for my Hubby. 

The Details of Our Steampunk Journey Card

My Hubby is always encouraging me to do what I love and explore mixed media more since I am still a novice. So, I decided to create a fun mixed media front with a steampunk feel for his anniversary card. He loves anything steampunk and I bought the Stamperia papers and all the bits in anticipation of making a card for him.

Angled View of Folds of the card
Angled View of Folds of the Card

For my card, I only used papers and die cuts…no stamping or colouring for me which is a rarity for me! Lol! But, when I saw the Stamperia papers, I knew that I wanted to create a 3-step fun fold card that would keep on going as my hubby opened it…almost like a mini album. I even decorated the back of it and made a custom envelope with the papers.

Top View of Card
Top View of Card

Fun with Mixed Media

For my mixed media, I sponged black gesso on my chipboards and then rubbed with my fingertips the Brushed Iron and Firebird waxes over the “Love” piece to help differentiate it from the other chipboard pieces. Next, I added some Gilding Flakes to give it some shimmer and brushed more wax where needed to give it a gritty feel. More gears that were rubbed with the Brushed Iron wax were adhered with glossy accents on top of the “Love” piece for dimension.

Mixed Media of gears and word love
Mixed Media

Once that was done, I added a gear frame tag behind the decorated chipboard that consisted of a snippet of paper with a small clock. The gears on this tag were lightly rubbed with the Brushed Iron wax as well. I added a few clear die cuts from Stamperia to represent my theme of a marriage being a journey, albeit a steampunk one! Lol!

Close Up of the gears and word love
Close Up of Mixed Media Focal Point

A monocle with an attached ball bead chain was glued in place with glossy accents. A scattering of red rhinestones added some sparkle and brightness to the front.

Part of Inside of Card
Inside of Card – Part 1

For my backdrop of my focal point, I decided to use a clock since it is the epitome of steampunk! I fussy cut two clocks out from the papers…one for the front and one for the back of the circle since you will see it when the card is opened. I needed a 5 ½” circle to mount these clocks and since I didn’t have a die that big, I pulled out my retired circle cutter from Stampin’ Up! It was what they used before they had dies!

Another Part of Inside of Card
Inside of Card – Part 2

Inside Our Steampunk Journey Card

For the inside of my card, I used several steampunk dies cuts and brushed the Brushed Iron wax on them to bring out the details. I even brushed it on the black edges of all the folds and card base. Of course, I used lots of die cut gears again with a stylized steampunk key, watch and wings! A few clear die cuts from Stamperia were added inside to continue my theme of a journey.

Full Inside of Card
Full Inside of Card Laid Flat

Since the back was so long, I used two different papers and pieced them together to create a continual scene of a pilot in flight on one side and flight gear on the other.

Full Back of Card with pilot and flight gear
Full Back of Card Laid Flat

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Card Recipe for Our Steampunk Journey Card:

12” x 12” Paper, Sir Vagabond Aviator, Stamperia
6” x 6” Paper, Sir Vagabond Aviator, Stamperia
Sir Vagabond Aviator Collectables, Stamperia
Steampunk Greyboard Cuts and Scraps, Stamperia
Sir Vagabond Aviator Clear Die Cuts, Stamperia
Black Gesso, Deco Arts Americana
Makeup Sponges
Verdigris Gilding Flakes, Cosmic Shimmer
Art Alchemy-Metallique Wax – Brushed Iron, Prima Marketing
Art Alchemy-Metallique Wax – Firebird, Prima Marketing
Industrial Chic – Frame & Tag Dies, Sue Wilson, Creative Expressions
Industrial Chic – Mixed Essentials Dies, Sue Wilson, Creative Expressions
Garage Gear Thinlits Dies, Stampin’ Up!
Monocles, Idea-ology, Tim Holtz
6” Ball Bead Chain with Connector Clasp, Local Hardware Store
Red Rhinestone Jewels, Stampin’ Up!
Black Ribbon, From my Stash
Floral Romance Seal, Stampin’ Up!
Silicon Craft Mat, Stampin’ Up!
Glossy Accents, Ranger
Circle Cutter, Stampin’ Up!
Paper Snips, Stampin’ Up!
Liquid Glue, Stampin’ Up!

Basic Black and Very Vanilla Card Stock, Stampin’ Up!

Finished card size: 6” x 6”

Our Steampunk Journey Card in Action
A Pictorial of the Card
Different Views of the Card

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To view my other mixed media piece, please click here.

To view my other steampunk cards, please click here.

Hope you like Our Steampunk Journey Card using the Stamperia Vagabond Series!

Thank you for stopping by!

Hugs,
Laurie

My Winter Wonderland Mixed Media Piece

Mixed Media Piece using Eskimo Ellie by Paper Nest Dolls
My Winter Wonderland Mixed Media Piece

Hello Crafty Friends! It’s Laurie here! I am sharing My Winter Wonderland Mixed Media Piece using Eskimo Ellie by Paper Nest Dolls for my Design Team Inspiration Project. We are still in the depths of winter here is Canada. So, I thought I would make something pretty to brighten the last of the winter days.

The Details of My Project

I decided to create a Mixed Media piece. Something that I haven’t done before but have always wanted to create. So, I pulled out my 8” x 10” Gel Printing Plate, my Distress Paints and brayer and went to town. Once I had paint laid down and before it dried, I stamped several different stamps to add interest to my background piece. I placed my mixed media paper over the gel plate and pulled several prints from it.

Prints from Gel Press
My Prints from Gel Press

Once everything was dried, I added some shimmery embossing paste using a stencil. I then splattered some paint all over with my splatter brush.

Splattering Paint
Splattering Paint in my Splatter Box

At this point, I painted the sides of the wood frame with Seedless Preserves to bring out that colour from the print.

Painted Frame
Painted Frame with Seedless Preserves

I trimmed down my print, framed it with a matching blue card stock and glued it to my dried frame. Then, I added my “snow” and snowflake dies. Next came, the white embossed sentiment which used the same blue card stock as the frame. I fussy cut my Copic coloured images and used a die cut iceberg to help ground them. A scattering of rhinestones added more shimmer to the piece.

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Eskimo Ellie

Skin: E04/E11/E21/E00/E000/R20
Hair: C10/C7/C5/C4
Jacket: B97/B95/B93/B91
Trim: E44/E43/E42/E41
Mitts: E44/E43/E42
Boots: C10/C7/C5/C4
Seal: E43/E42/E41

Close Up of Eskimo Ellie and Friend
Close Up of Eskimo Ellie and Friend

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Supplies for My Winter Wonderland Mixed Media Piece:

Eskimo Ellie, Paper Nest Dolls
Paper Basics – Stamper’s Select White Cardstock, Papertrey Ink
Mixed Media Paper, Canson
8” x 10” Gel Printing Plate, Gelli Arts
Peacock Feathers Distress Paint, Tim Holtz, Ranger
Seedless Preserves Distress Paint, Tim Holtz, Ranger
Spun Sugar Distress Paint, Tim Holtz, Ranger
Frost White All-Purpose Ink, Tsukineko
Shimmery White Embossing Paste, Stampin’ Up!
Ledger Script CMS241, Tim Holtz Collection, Stampers Anonymous
Distressed Textures Stamp #10105756, BoBunny
Distressed Textures Stamp #10105762, BoBunny
The Right Words DS016, Dylusions
Water Mandala Stencil, Sweet Sentiment
Snowflake Border Die, Frostyville, Memory Box
Polar Bears Dies, Stampin’ Up!
Snowfall Thinlits Dies, Stampin’ Up!
Seasonal Frames Thinlits Dies, Stampin’ Up!
Versamark Ink, Stampin’ Up!
Basics Embossing Powder, Stampin’ Up!
Heat Gun, Stampin’ Up!
Tim Holtz Distress Splatter Brush, Ranger
Splatter Booth
Brayer, Recollections, Michaels Arts & Crafts
Palette Knives, Stampin’ Up!
Paper Snips, Stampin’ Up!
Exacto Knife
6” x 8” Wood Painting Panel, Currys
Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stampin’ Up!
Misty Moonlight and Basic White Card Stock, Stampin’ Up!

Finished piece size: 6” x 8”

Side View of Mixed Media Piece
Side View of My Mixed Media Piece

To view my other Paper Nest Dolls projects, please click here.

Hope you like My Winter Wonderland Mixed Media Piece using Eskimo Ellie by Paper Nest Dolls!

Thank you for stopping by!

Hugs,
Laurie