A Very Simply Cut Out Card

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

I’ve wanted to try this cut out technique for a while. I’m pretty sure it was Jennifer McGuire that inspired this card.

My Empty Nest Creations Cut Out window card using Paper Smooches Best Buds stamps and dies

I started with a vertical top folding A2 card base. I die cut the flower/mason jar image from Paper Smooches Best Buds dies. Using the cut out as a template, I fit the matching stamp in the cut out space and stamped it through the window using Memento Tuxedo Black ink (love my Tim Holtz Stamp Platform). I colored the image using Copic markers with very simple blending. To give the flowers a little more detail, I pulled out my white gel pen and Micron black marker. The sentiment is from Altenew’s Penned Rose stamp set.

This was such a simple card, but I really loved how it turned out. I hope you like it, too.

Computer Signature

4Apr2018

Diagonal Floral Peeking Card

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

I am a huge fan of Ardyth’s blog Maskerade, and this card is a copy of one of her latest cards. Be sure to check out her card here.

My Empty Nest Creations Diagonal Floral So Very Blessed Card

I started by masking off the diagonal portion using painter’s tape. Using Honey Bee Stamp’s Zen Floral stamp set, I stamped several images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I didn’t bother masking any of this stamping because I was able to use many of the small stamps to fill in any spaces. I colored some of the flowers with Copic markers (just one color with no blending). My sentiment is from an older Technique Tuesday set called So Blessed. After that was stamped, I felt that the floral area would stand out a bit better if I just drew a thin black border on the edges. I felt that just adding those small lines made such a difference.

thanks for visiting!

Computer Signature

28Mar2018

My Entry for Freshly Made Sketches #330

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

I love the latest sketch on the Freshly Made Sketches site. It gives just enough structure, but allows for a lot of creativity.

Here’s my take on this sketch…

To create the background, I taped off a section of the card base and blended Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink over the Tim Holtz Dot Fade Layering Stencil. This is the first time that I’ve used this stencil. I can see it’s going to be a new favorite!

Using Simon Says Stamp’s What’s Brewing stamp set, the coffee cup was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Faber Castell Aquarelle watercolor pencils. The heart accent was stamped with Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink to coordinate with the stenciled background, and the sentiment was white heat embossed on black card stock. After fussy cutting the coffee mug and using a circle punch to cut out the heart accent, I was ready to put my card together.

To finish, I glued the sentiment strip onto the stenciled area and adhered the coffee mug with foam tape to give it a little dimension.

Thanks for visiting!

25Jul2017

Inspired by Stamping Cherry Blossoms

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

Okay…My Version of Cherry Blossoms 🙂

Inspired by Stamping is a new-to-me stamp company, and I’m so glad I found them. I purchased the Cherry Blossoms stamp set recently, and I’ve been dying to use it on a card. I saw an Instagram post by Kathy Racoosin where she drew black horizontal stripes on her card base using a Copic marker. I knew that I wanted to give that a try, and since I love yellow and black together, I decided to make my cherry blossoms yellow. Crazy right?

My Empty Nest Creations using Inspired by Stamping Cherry Blossoms

Like I said, I drew the dark gray lines (Copic N10) on my card front first and put that aside. Using Bristol paper, I stamped several floral groupings and used Copics Y15, Y17 and YG63 to do very simple coloring. I cut out the stamped base for the floral piece and added individual petals with foam glue dots to give it dimension. I wanted the flowers to appear as if they were coming off of the card. All that was left was to add a greeting. I chose one from the same stamp set.

I was going to frame the card front with black card stock but decided against it. I truly wanted the flowers to be the focal point.

I hope you like it.

Supplies Used:

Neenah Solar White 110# card stock
Bristol paper
Copic markers
Memento Tuxedo Black ink

21Jul2017

Unity Stamp Co. Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

I love clear stamps for a multitude of reasons, but I will never give up on my cling stamps. Their clean, crisp stamp images are fantastic! Some of the best cling stamps come from Unity Stamp Co. They have several sets with an adorable owl that I just can’t resist. The Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes is a large set that includes many different birthday sentiments along with this adorable owl surrounded by a large bouquet of balloons.

My Empty Nest Creations Unity Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes Stamp Set

I stamped him on Bristol paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink (Copic friendly), and colored the image with various Copic markers. When cutting it out, I didn’t worry about the balloon strings because I knew that I could just draw them on the card at the end.

I just received the My Favorite Things cloud stencil, so I used it to create a soft cloud/sky background with my ink blending tool and Distress Ink. I used fun foam to adhere the owl image and added a very thin pink strip of card stock to each side. For a little bit of color balance, I glued a bright blue piece of card stock to my card base.

I chose one of the many wonderful birthday greetings from the stamp set and added that to the top. To finish it off, I used my clear Wink of Stella marker on the balloons (unfortunately, you can’t see that in the photo).

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Unity Stamp Co. Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers: Copic Sketch Markers, Clear Wink of Stella
Paper: Neenah Solar White 110#
Other: My Favorite Things cloud stencil