Happy Thursday everyone! I'm over on the MarkerPOP blog today sharing a unicorn card. I can't believe how popular unicorns are lately. It brings flashbacks to my childhood and My Little Ponies ;) I made this card for a special little girl who's turning 5 soon!

This card features Avery Elle stamps and dies. The light grey card stock was die cut using the largest die from the Sweet Scallops die set. It's the same size as a regular 4.25" x 5.5" card base. It's mounted to a Neenah Solar White card stock base. The stars, clouds, and stitched oval die are all cut from Neenah Solar White as well.

The rainbow & unicorn from the Be a Unicorn stamp set are stamped with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with black embossing powder. I used the following Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and a Waterbrush to color in the rainbow and the unicorn's mane, tail, and hooves: 21 Light Carmine, 29 Geranium Red, 50 Yellow, 70 Orange, 45 Pale Green, 47 May Green, 36 Light Blue, 32 Persian Blue, 83 Lilac, 80 Violet, 91 Light Gray. The star and horn on the unicorn are colored in with Clear Wink of Stella for a hint of sparkle! I also just fussy cut both pieces because I don't have the coordinating die for this set, but you can find it in the MarkerPOP store!

The sentiment is black heat embossed on the smallest oval from the Sweet Scallops die set. All the stars are also die cut from that set, and the clouds are die cut from the Special Delivery die set. The rainbow, unicorn, and oval are all popped up with foam tape.

Thank for popping in today! I hope you have enjoyed my project! Happy crafting!

Nicki
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We Flamin-go Together!

Hello crafty friends! I'm over on the MarkerPOP blog today sharing this super cute CAS flamingo card! I made this for my husband since our anniversary is coming up!

To start off, I used a Neenah Solar White card stock base. The Avery Elle "celebrate" die cuts also are Neenah Solar White, as well as the Lawn Fawn Flamingo Together palm trees and MFT banner die cut that "flamin-go" is on. The green part of the palm trees are stamped in Altenew's Forest Glades, and the brown pieces are stamped with Dark Chocolate.

The flamingos were stamped on watercolor card stock with VersaMark embossing ink, then heat embossed with black embossing powder. Using ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Markers in 028 Pale Pink & 021 Light Carmine, I colored in the flamingos lightly, and then used a water brush to blend the colors together. The beaks use ZIG CCRB 095 Dark Gray. Then they were die cut using Lawn Fawn's Flamingo Together die set. The heart was colored in using ZIG CCRB 024 Wine Red, then finished with a coat of Clear Wink of Stella.

Underneath the two groups of palm trees, I used ZIG CCRB 091 Light Gray to quickly color a shadow under them to ground them. The palm trees were adhered directly to the card base. The sentiment was stamped using black ink. The celebrate die cuts were adhered directly to the card base for some added texture, and a fun way to include another sentiment without taking away too much from the main sentiment. Since the card is being used as an anniversary card, I thought "celebrate" was perfect to include on it ;)

The flamingos were attached to the card base using foam tape, and the heart was glued directly to them.

I hope I've inspired you today! Thanks for stopping by!

Nicki
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MarkerPOP Challenge #101 Embossing

Hello! Today starts a BRAND NEW CHALLENGE over on the MarkerPOP blog!! The theme this time is EMBOSSING. Head on over to the blog to get the details on how to enter for a chance to win some awesome stamps!!

I'm sharing this fun baby shower card today. I started off by ink blending a soft blue sky on the Neenah card stock base with foam applicators and Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass. Using MFT's STAX Stitched Circle Scallop Frames, I die cut the largest circle from the set using Neenah card stock. Using black embossing powder and VersaMark ink, I stamped and heat embossed the stork, balloons, and baby bundle from Avery Elle's Special Delivery stamp set on watercolor card stock. Those images were then die cut from the Avery Elle Special Delivery Die Set.

The images were colored in using Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Bundled Sage, Tumbled Glass, and Wilted Violet. I then used a water brush to move the ink colors around and create a watercolor look.

After all the pieces were water colored, I adhered the circle die to the card base. I wanted to get the sentiment perfectly centered within the circle, so I used the wonderful MISTI tool to do that!! If you don't have one of these yet, I HIGHLY recommend it! It will greatly improve your stamping results!! So, I stamped the sentiment with VersaMark ink, and then heat embossed it with black embossing powder. When the sentiment is heat embossed, it really adds some 'punch' to the card. Love that shiny look!

The clouds were adhered directly to the card base, and the rest of the die cut elements were adhered using foam tape to add some dimension. A white gel pen was used to add a 'light spot' to the balloons.

I had a blast creating this card....I hope it brings you some crafty inspiration today! Thanks for stopping by!

Nicki
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Congratulations!

Happy Thursday! I have a fun one-layer card to share with you today that is featured on the MarkerPOP blog.

I started out with a piece of Neenah Solar White cardstock, and used a stencil, Hero Arts Charcoal Shadow Ink, and Foam Ink blenders to apply a subtle texture on the entire card base. Then, I also applied Ranger Distress Inks in this order, starting from the top left corner: Abandoned Coral, Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac, and Cracked Pistachio. I took my time and only applied a little ink at a time so that the colors were soft. The more ink you have on the foam pad, and the more you apply it to the card stock, the brighter and bolder the color is.

Using the same Hero Arts Charcoal ink, I created an angled pattern with various stamps in the Hero Arts Garden Flowers stamp set.

Lastly, I die cut the Avery Elle Sentimental "congratulations" sentiment from silver glitter card stock and a dark grey card stock. Layering them together, with the grey one slightly offset, makes the sentiment "Pop" more.

I hope you've enjoyed my card today. Thank you so much for stopping by! :D  Have a great day!

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Avery Elle April Guest Designer Search...

Today I'm sharing a card with you that was made specifically for the Avery Elle April Guest Designer Search.

Avery Elle has awesome stamps. I'm a new fan of this company, and if you've never seen their line of stamps and dies, you MUST check them out on their website. Their blog has lots of inspiration too, so be sure to pop over there!

I used a few elements from the Suzani stamp set to create a pattern on the card base. The sentiment is stamped on white cardstock and mounted to a Smokey Shadow panel, then popped up with foam tape for dimension. I just LOVE this card! There are so many great stamps in this set that you could create hundreds of different patterns! Soooo fun :D

Thanks for checking me out today!!

Supplies: 
Stamps: Avery Elle - Suzani, Petals and Stems (sentiment)
Cardstock: PTI - White, Smokey Shadow
Ink: SU - Cool Caribbean, Taken with Teal; PTI - Smokey Shadow
Other: Foam Tape