SOS556: The Cat is in the Bag

There's a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. For "The Cat is in the Bag" we'd like you to feature any kind of bag (purse, backpack, beach bag) and/or a cat; so there are LOTS of ways to go this time! I chose the "cat" option, as you can see:

I have several different "cat" options, but my favorite is this adorable guy from the Halloween Add-On to Wendy Vecchi's Essential Envelopes set. Since I had the bin out, I also used two of the Pinking Edge Frames and sentiment from the Birthday Add-On to her Not Your Ordinary Card Collection from Spellbinders; and one of the Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops frames as well as the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder, which are both part of From the Garden Collection. I love piecing the cat using sticky-back black felt, it's hard to tell in a photo, but IRL it has lots of texture. I split the birthday diecuts and added "PURR" in velvetty pink letters to make the whole thing a tiny bit punny. ;)

SOS556: The Cat is in the Bag will run at SOS until the evening of Monday, September 22nd. Be sure to hop over to Shopping Our Stash and see the inspiring cards the Crew have made!

Five Faves of 2024: Wendy Vecchi Edition

This year we saw not one but two fantastic releases from Wendy Vecchi and Spellbinders (From the Garden and NOT Your Ordinary Card Collection) making it extra hard to choose just five projects, but... in no particular order... here goes!

This mandala card features nearly all the sets in the From the Garden collection. A favorite background (closeup below) was made with Wendy's Ranger Archival Inks and multiple repeats of the Garden Party Layered Stencil Set used WITHOUT the stamped outline. I used the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder on the central circle, diecut the "petals" with dies from Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops; and tiny flowers from the Vintage Florals set.

The sweet kitty from the Halloween Add-On, is definitely one of the stars from NOT Your Ordinary Card Collection; the only problem is deciding what colors and accessories to use. The multicolor background was made with Wendy's Ranger Archivals and the Build-a-Plaid Layered Stencil Set, which is both useful and very, very fun! The sentiment is from the Pinking Edge Birthday Add On (plus extraneous diecut letters spelling "PURR"). 

This super-collagey ATC set has its own special pocket that I made with the Essential Envelops Die Set. The tuck-in tag uses two of the three frames in the Pinking Edge Birthday Add On; I love that the scale of the pinking is perfectly appropriate to each size of frame.

I could easily have done FIVE faves featuring the sweet kitty from the Halloween Add-On, but I restrained myself to just two... and two quite different ones, at that. This one actually IS Halloween themed; I love pink and orange (especially the Archivals from Wendy's Designer Series) so that's how I used the the Build-a-Plaid Layrered Stencil Set this time. Again I've used two of the three frames in the Pinking Edge Birthday Add On; this time WITH the largest frame from Garden Collection's Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops. I think they look exponentially even cooler when used together.

Yep, it's another mandala! This one involves probably 15 shades of Archival Ink and 6 or 7 older Studio 490 background stamps and stencils (some of which are available at SB!) paired with the large floral from the Garden Party set. With Petals out of Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops.

♥♥♥

Many thanks to Wendy for designing some of my favorite products of 2024. By the way, if you're a WV fan and you don't watch her Tip Tuesday videos on Instagram and check out the Make Art with Wendy Vecchi group on FaceBook, you are really missing out!!!

You're Not the (EM-)Boss of Me!

Flashing back to Wendy Vecchi's first collection for Spellbinders (The Garden Collection) and specifically playing with the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder with a selection of Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger. I've used a bunch of different techniques that Wendy has shown off in various Tip Tuesday posts, such as inking and spritzing the emboss- or deboss-side before embossing; painting the flowers with diluted Archival Reinkers from the back or front; applying ink directly from the Archival Ink Pad (on the emboss- or deboss-side); and inking, stenciling, stamping (with some older Studio 490 stamps) and/or doodling on top. I love how you can get so many completely different variations with the same embossing folder, but they're all equally beautiful!

Bold & Bright

It's a coolish, greyish day in central New Jersey, which seems like the perfect time for a big, bold Mandala to brighten up your Monday! This one features Wendy Vecchi's Garden Party stamps from Spellbinders; radiant, radiating, rainbow shades of Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger; and a whole lot of MAKE ART and Studio 490 stamps and stencils applied over and under the hand-drawn mandala shapes I rendered with my Letter It Fineliners. 

I work on mandalas in many different ways to keep things interesting, but for those interested in process, this piece went... roughly... like this:

• Lightly pencil-sketch a few concentric circles, centered on an 11x11" piece of bristol board. An old school compass is good for this, you can even trace rolls of tape or your nested circle dies, but I do also love the Helix Circle Tool!
• Apply Archival Inks with a Mini Ink Blending Tool and Domed Foams, working in rings from the center outwards and allowing them to blend wherever they overlap. Colors are: Prickly Pear, Bluebird, Night Sky, Cactus Flower, Rosey Posey, Peachy Keen, and Sunflower... then around again to Prickly Pear, etc.
• Stamp the large floral cluster from the Garden Party set in the center in Watering Can Archival.
• Add background patterns by stamping a variety of small elements and portions of large background stamps more or less randomly, in coordinating colors.
• Draw the basic structural lines with a .01 or .04 Letter It Fineliner, again working from the center outwards; starting with the two large concentric circles, adding large petal shapes and large circles between the petals.
• Add detail lines and shapes such as the rings of smaller circles and petals, plus the secondary "shadow" lines inside or outside the larger shapes.
• Using sticky notes to mask if necessary, neaten up the loose rings of color with Ranger Detail Blending Tools; for example I applied more Bluebird ink to the area around the Garden Party florals so the circle border is a darker green; I pulled more Peachy Keen out into the large hand-drawn petals; darkened the ring of smaller circles around the center, etc.
• Add more definition with a white paint pen in the form of lines, dots and small hearts, then outline with a .01 Fineliner.
• One final neatening up of shapes and shadow lines with coordinating brush pens wherever necessary.

Too Many Prints? (...naaaahhhh...)

I may have gotten slightly carried away combining Wendy Vecchi's Vintage Florals die set (from Spellbinders' In the Garden Collection) with some of her older Studio 490 background stamps (Herringbone and Perfectly Plaid to name just two!) and of course I had to try a few experiments with inking the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder before running it through the diecutter... but... it's finally Spring and our gardens are full of a riot of real-life colors, shapes and patterns, right? (Not to mention what feels like record-setting amounts of POLLEN; but that's a completely different issue...) 

SOS518: Spring Has Sprung

As you may already have guessed from the title of this post, the brief this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash is to create a Spring or Easter card! I chose the former:

This creation incorporates every age of my (considerable!) Wendy Vecchi stash from her Studio 490 days (Perfectly Plaid Background and Wild Rose Collage Stamp & Stencil combo) to her Ranger collection (A Million Thanks Stamp, Die and Stencil Set plus Archival Inks and Embossing Powders) right up to this year's beautiful In the Garden Collection from Spellbinders (Vintage Florals Die Set). I stamped and embossed the two backgrounds (in White and Watering Can Powders); stamped the big Lily once in Rosey Posey and once in Leaf Green; added color to all the images with the coordinating stencils and Archival Inks; did a little diecutting, outlining, machine-stitching and matting.... et voila! 

I hope you'll hop over to SOS to see the gorgeous cards from the rest of The Crew, then start planning what you'll link up with us this time.

The Embossable Dream

One of the best ever embossing folders has to be Wendy Vecchi's 3D Flowers and Foliage, featured in her Spellbinders' From the Garden Collection. It's nice and big; it embosses deeply; and you can turn it literally in any direction without feeling upside-down or off-kilter!

This time I embossed some grocer's kraft cardstock and a LOVE Chippie (from the Statements set), then painted all of the raised flowers and leaves with Wendy's designer series Liquid Pearls from Ranger. I diecut the smaller blossoms and leaves from the Vintage Florals set, and mounted the whole thing on a light green mat, made "edgier" by the largest frame in the Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops set. Not to brag, but I LOVE how this turned out!

It's a Very Vecchi Mandala Monday

This week I've combined some of my all-time favorite Wendy Vecchi products, stretching from her brand new Spellbinders' Garden Collection (Garden Party Stencils and Heartfelt Thanks & Scallops Dies); to her Ranger Archival Inks (full list of colors below); and all the way back to her gorgeous Studio 490 stamps and stencils to make a massive multi-media mandala! 

I used the older Studio 490 background stamps and stencils to create seven different panels of patterned paper. I used one for the central circle and one for the background; then diecut with all five sizes of Heart dies from Heartfelt Thanks to make the petals. For the center medallion I used the Garden Party Stencils WITHOUT the stamp, deciding instead to use a black finepoint Letter It Fineliner to add some really rough outlines that fitted the funky/grungy mood of the piece.

Wendy Vecchi Designer Series Archival Ink colors used are: Rosey Posey, Pink Peony, Orange Blossom, Sunflower, Tea Rose, Prickly Pear, Leaf Green, Cornflower, Sky Blue and  Night Sky.

One Die Set, Three Ways: Wendy Vecchi Vintage Florals

Longing for Spring? Join me at Paper Anthology for a bright and bloomin' class, featuring Wendy Vecchi's beautiful new Vintage Florals die set; plus additional elements from Wendy'c Garden Collection by Spellbinders. We'll do some diecutting (obviously, lol) including the inset diecut technique; we'll hand-ink a beautiful set of blooms; and create a big (BIG!) blossom using one of Wendy's own Tip Tuesday ideas! 

Visit the Paper Anthology Blog for all the dates, details and sign-up information. Paper Anthology is located at 717 US Highway 46 in Kenvil, New Jersey in the heart of beautiful Morris County, accessible by Routes 80, 10 and 202/206. Click here to see it on an interactive map!

Enjoy Your Day

Happy mail ALWAYS makes my day, so I try to make sure I send out plenty of special cards to friends and family. This A7 card features Wendy Vecchi's gorgeous Vintage Florals die set (new from Spellbinders) colored with three shades of yellow Archival Ink from Ranger (Buttercup, Sunflower and Goldenrod, to be precise) and popped up on layers of foam tape for extra dimension.

My plan for this card was to make a mostly-white collage of vintage text paper, run it through with the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder, and use that for the background. Unfortunately, the text paper kind of hid more of the embossed flowers than I liked, so I used a Mini Blending Tool to apply yellow and green Archival to the design, which is kind of cool; but the embossing still didn't show up as much as I had hoped. However, a torn section of the collaged piece did make a nice accent for a plain white panel that I cut out with the largest die from the Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops set. Then I embossed plain white cardstock with the folder, added a little bit of Buttercup Archival to the flowers and some Leaf Green around the edges and finally, I had the look I was going for! 

I used one of the label-maker-style sentiments from the Garden Party Stamp and Die set as a sentiment, et voila! Be sure to check out Wendy Vecchi's Instagram Account and the Make Art with Wendy Vecchi Facebook Group for lots more ideas and inspiration for using Wendy's fabulous Garden Party Collection!

Hey Friend, Hello

As you know, I'm absolutely smitten with Wendy Vecchi's Garden Collection from Spellbinders. Today I'm test driving the Garden Party Stamp and Die set, which also has coordinating stencils... meaning that coloring this gorgeous bouquet is effortless! I used Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger in Buttercup, Sunflower and Goldenrod to color the roses, Pink Peony and Rosey Posey for the smaller flowers and a blend of Prickly Pear and Leaf Green on the foliage. The background was created by stamping (...and stamping...and stamping, lol...) the dymo-style Hey Friend and Hello sentiments over and over, on the diagonal until I had filled a Perfect Cardstock panel. Then I diecut the flower cluster from it's backer and used the same die on the background so I could inset the bouquet; adding a couple of (hand cut) extra blooms on top. Finally, I used the nearly-discarded outside piece of of cardstock from diecutting the biggest frame from Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops (for another card that I'll show you later this week) and matted on Goldenrod cardstock. The "Hello" sentiment comes from Wendy's Vintage Florals die set.

The Blues Are Still Blue*

Central New Jersey continues to be cold and wintery but the bloomin' beautiful flowers in Wendy Vecchi's Garden Collection from Spellbinders definitely warm things up and Wendy's selection of blue Archival inks from Ranger is (arguably) the cure for the blues. This card has A LOT of blue... and A LOT of layers... as you may have noticed.

From the bottom working upwards we have: white cardstock (it's a 6 x 5" card... weird size but... that's what happened, lol); pale blue cardstock; lavender cardstock; Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART Washi Tape; Chippie from the Bases and Frames set, tinted with Bluebird Archival; white cardstock stamped with multiple repeats of the large flower cluster from Wendy's Garden Party Stamp and Die Set, colored using the coordinating layering stencils with Bluebird, Morning Glory, Cornflower, Cactus Flower, Violet, Rosey Posey and Leaf Green Archivals; Heart Chippie from the Bases and Frames set, stamped and colored in the same manner, then lined up over the same area in the background; stack of ancient paper flowers; Eyelet Outlet Dragonfly Brads.

Very much loving the convenience and quickness of using the layering stencils to add color. You can purchase the stamp and die set on its own, but I recommend the Garden Party Bundle. The stencils are numbered AND have registration marks at the four corners to make aligning them a no-brainer. and they're generously sized so that there's plenty of room to place all four magnets on the Stay-tion.

If it's a bit cold and grey where you are, why not immerse yourself in glorious color... it'll be Spring in no time! ♥

*"The Blues Are Still Blue" is my favorite Belle and Sebastian song. Just sayin'...

Garden Mandala

It's a bloomin' beautiful Mandala Monday, thanks to Wendy Vecchi's gorgeous new Garden Collection from Spellbinders. If you're new to mandala-making I have to tell you my all-time favorite trick: Using heart dies to make the "petals" of a mandala! Since it just so happens that Wendy's new Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops set has nested heart dies, the possibilities are pretty much endless. I wanted to make a card so I only used two of the sizes, but you could go all out and make a BIG art piece, using all five sizes in sequential order.

For this project I also used the Garden Party Stencils, the Flowers and Foliage Embossing Folder, and three of the sixteen dies in the amazing Vintage Florals set. And, of course, a selection of my favorite Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks, including Pink Peony, Rosey Posey, Sunflower, Leaf Green, Prickly Pear and Tea Rose. 

The first thing I made was the floral panel, using the Garden Party Stencils, but without the coordinating stamp or die. (I should mention here that these layering stencils are super-easy to line up and use with perfect alignment to use alone OR to color the stamped image; they have registration marks on all four corners, and they're numbered too!) On this occasion, I chose to line the stencil layers up verrrrrrrry loosely and then fill in any blank space around them with extra ink. At the very end, on top of the flowers, I used Wendy's Studio 490 Plaid Flannel Background, inked with light shades of yellow and green, and spritzed with Isoproply Alcohol. I love how it gave the finished panel a sort of textural look, like vintage table linens.

To make the center medallion, I cut a medium-sized circle from one of Wendy's MAKE ART Perfect Cardstock Panels, embossed it with the Flowers & Foliage folder, then used the Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool with Domed Foam Applicators to add color to the flowers, foliage and background. In between applications, I spritzed the whole thing with rubbing alcohol to encourage the colors to blend into each other just a bit. 

I stamped another panel of white Perfect Cardstock with the Plaid Flannel Background first in Prickly Pear and then Tea Rose, and diecut a bunch of the medium-sized heart from Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops. I cut a second set of the same size from medium pink cardstock, then a set of the second-to-smallest heart in light pink, which I placed between and slightly behind the first ring of petals. I used the small double blossom die and the tiny leaf from the Vintage Florals set to add interest to both rounds of hearts. 

Here's one last picture of the center section, it's my attempt to capture the depth of the texture here. Because when Spellbinders calls something a 3D Embossing Folder they are not messing around! These products are currently available online at Spellbinders, Ranger and other fine retailers. Or, if you happen to be in Central New Jersey, these delightful goodies are also in stock at my favorite brick and mortar crafting store... Paper Anthology!

Wendy Vecchi's Garden Collection

Sooooooo excited to get my hands on Wendy Vecchi's beautiful Garden Collection from Spellbinders AND it's just arrived at Paper Anthology as well! In this little tag set I've used the Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops Die Set, the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder and the amazing 16-die Vintage Florals set. The collection also includes Wendy's Garden Party Stamp and Die Set, which I haven't opened yet, so stay tuned for that!

I didn't sit down for crafty time until quite late last night, but I couldn't wait to make a few little goodies. Since I happened to have a beautiful piece of vintage map sitting on my work table, with white tags and my Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks, that's what I used. Though, in retrospect, the detail of the map means you cannot quiiiiite see all the amazing detail and texture of the Vintage Floral dies, so next time I think I'll go with plain cardstock.

One of my favorite things about Wendy is that she really is an avid cardmaker and papercrafter, so the sets she designs are both beautiful and useable, with amazing attention to scale and combinability... (Is that a word? Well, it should be, lol!) ...by which I mean that everything across the entire collection works together perfectly AND most elements can be used in multiple ways. Since Spellbinders is one of the brand leaders for diecutting, obviously the products are of high quality, work perfectly, and are items I'll reach for again and again! (Case in point: I still have multiple sets of Spellbinders' Nestabilities from several decades ago, which I still use constantly!)

This collection has just arrived at my LSS, Paper Anthology and will be listed on the website this week, or you can email elisabeth@paperanthology.com to reserve your favorites; or better yet stop by and see it IRL. It's also available directly from Spellbinders, too! To see more gorgeous makes, check out Wendy's Instagram or join the Make Art with Wendy Vecchi FaceBook Group!