When you’re using washi, you need smooth white cardstock that’s big enough for one repeat of the pattern. Most of Pinkfresh’s washi tape patterns are about the size of a slimline card, so cutting a letter size piece of cardstock lengthwise works great.

For this card, I used the Spellbinders Stitching Die of the Month for April 2024. It’s called Stitched Wall Hanging and includes an oval embroidery hoop, as well as two stitched flowers and a stitched leaf.

To highlight the vintage floral pattern, I used my Tim Holtz Medium Brayer to add some Lost Shadow Distress Oxide on the raised areas.

The Satin Gold Glimmer Foil is from the Satin Metallics Variety Pack. Then we have Polished Brass (Essential Metallics) and just plain Gold (Holiday). The plain gold came with my Glimmer machine.

Everything had the same intensity, so nothing was emphasized. Adding a white off-set layer to the bottom of most die cuts helped a lot.

Become a member of the Sneak Peak Club to get early access to coming releases like this one.

I want this card to be shabby chic, so I’m using a lot of gesso. Over-simplified, gesso is thick, matte white paint. People who are into shabby chic often use gesso to unify the color scheme. It’s similar to how in a vintage card, you’d use brown to unify the color scheme.

Today’s card is a shaped shaker card, so I’m starting with the card base.

I took advantage of the Sizzix Spring Sale. Here’s my haul.

The main feature of this card is created with the Honey Bee Lovely Layers Amaryllis Die Set. It creates a lush amaryllis plant with a choice of two planters.

Once I had laid out the scene on the Glimmer surface, it was easy to foil more, so I created one card with rainbow foil, and one with gold foil.

I just got the last two ink pads I was missing from the Distress Oxide palette: Rustic Wilderness and Crackling Campfire. Distress Oxides are easily the ink pads I reach for most of the time. So getting the complete 72-pad collection was really worth it for me.

The best cardstock for hot foiling is the smoothest. But you can make your own smooth cardstock in a few simple steps.

There are some great deals on Tim Holtz dies and embossing folders in the Sizzix Spring Sale. Here are some that stood out to me.

I wanted to organize a new tin watercolor palette for cardmaking.

The adorable little gnome with her poinsettia is from Trinity Stamps’ From Our Gnome To Yours stamp and die set. Because it had to be a single-layer card, it took a couple of tries to get right.

Here in Silicon Valley the Chinese New Year is celebrated almost as much as Valentine’s Day. Next year is the year of the dragon, so there are lots of dragon toys and dragon-shaped sweets in stores right now. The Lunar New Year is on February 10, 2024. Traditionally red and gold are associated with the Lunar New Year.

When the decorative elements “look” at the sentiment, it signals that the sentiment is important. That’s why the direction critters face is an important consideration when designing a card. Their gaze directs the viewers gaze, so use it to your advantage.

For this card I used the MFT Vanity License Plate Alphabet Stamp Set and MFT Vanity License Plate Die. I have so many ideas for how to use these! How about a 🍕PIZZA, 🎂 HBD, 🐻 BEAR, 🦌 DEER or 🐋 WHALE license plate?

For this card I used the Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil Kit of the Month for December 2023. Getting a new toy to play with every month is just so much fun!