IO Last Hurrah- Quick and Easy Cards

Greetings friends. As the title says, this is the last IO designer blog hop. Impression Obsession will close tomorrow, Monday, December 2nd at midnight EST.  The theme today is quick and easy cards. Quick and easy is the name of the game this time of year! If you would like to see all the designer ideas, you can follow this hop list:

Impression Obsession Blog
Anna Wight
Dina Kowal
Giovana Smith
Jeanne Streiff
Laura Fulcher
Laura Williams
Robin Clendenning

 

I have a TON of cards to share with you to celebrate the last designer challenge. The items were all available when I made the cards, but inventory keeps changing. 

For my first card, I made a quick and easy card using the Wishes clear stamp set. I also used the coordinating Wishes die because I often like to layer that sentiment on top of things, and you can't do that as well with a stamp. However, the Wishes set comes with the word, so it is completely optional to have the die as well:

To make the card, I created a watercolor background with some Peerless watercolor paint and then added my sentiments with IO black ink. To add a bit more interest, I used the sun and glasses from the Summer Cupcake Topper die set. I also added a bit of clear gel pen to the glasses to make them look a bit more like sunglasses. Unfortunately, that set has sold out since I made the card yesterday. Sorry about that.

The second card is incredibly quick and easy. It uses perhaps the most versatile item left in stock, the Oval Labels dies. They layer really well together:

I paired it with a sentiment from the Let's Chat clear stamp set:

I layered everything onto the last paper pack available, which is called Art Supplies. I'm not sure why it is left. I would have thought stampers and crafters would have snapped it up:

Speaking of the Let's Chat stamp set pictured above, here is a previous sample I made with it that is also a quick and easy card.

For my next card, I once again used the Art Supplies paper as a background. This one was much more muted than the pencils:

I wanted to add "peace" to this card, but I don't have a stamp or die with that sentiment that is still available. Instead, I just paired the Bluebird die with the Mistletoe die. I also really wanted a Santa hat for my bird. Animals this time of year just seem to need Santa hats.

The popsicle card uses a die I talk about all the time, the Butterfly and Scalloped Frame die. The set comes with a butterfly, but honestly, I pretty much always use it for a scalloped frame oval on my cards:

To make the card, I made a watercolor background and then layered my popsicle onto my oval frame:

I added a sentiment from the Farm Fresh clear stamp set. I also used a sentiment from this set for my next card (the strawberries):

As I stated above, the punny sentiment for my strawberry card comes from the Farm Fresh clear stamp set. I also used strawberries from that same clear set. For the border, I chose different shades of red and cut them out using one of the borders from the Border Duo 1 die set:

I have two last quick and easy samples to show you. they are from previous posts.

For the oranges, I used the Sweet Citrus clear set:

I wasn't going to post this last sample, but I was once again surprised that it is still available. The Follow the Bunny set is just too cute! I also paired it with that Butterfly and Scalloped Frame die I mentioned earlier. I really don't use that butterfly much.

I just want to take a quick moment to thank Impression Obsession for allowing me to be a part of the team for so many years. In fact I am the only designer who was on the team from start to finish. I consider that to be an incredible honor.

As far as my blog goes, I will still be sharing cards with you. Card making is still something that I really enjoy and something that brings me peace. I will probably share more of my Memory Box projects even though they are also on the Outside the Box blog. I think I will also participate in more challenges and try out new techniques. There are so many possibilities.

I appreciate all of you!

Laura

Impression Obsession Items Used:

Wishes Card

DIE364 Wishes die

MC657 Wishes clear stamp set

DIE1227 Summer Cupcake Topper die set  (sold out)

Let's Chat

DIE1221 Oval Labels die

CS1303 Let's Chat sentiment

PP027 Art Supplies 6" x 6" paper

 

Bluebird

PP027 Art Supplies 6" x 6" paper

DIE880 Bluebird die

DIE1025 Mistletoe die 

 

Popsicle 

DIE1140 Butterfly and Scalloped Frame die

DIE1174 Popsicle die

CL655 Farm Fresh clear stamp set

 

Strawberries

 CL655 Farm Fresh clear stamp set

DIE017 Border Duo 1 die set 

 

Oranges

CL1300 Sweet Citrus

 

Bunny

MC1107 Follow the Bunny clear stamp set

DIE1140 Butterfly and Scalloped Frame die

Impression Obsession- New Cards

 

Greetings friends. I made a couple of new cards using products that are still available at IO. The first is a night/winter scene using the European Buildings die:

To make the card, I cut out the buildings using black cardstock and then put yellow paper behind the windows. I set that aside and then created my background. To do that, I sponged a white card with Scattered Straw, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot Distress Oxide inks. I then lightly spritzed the paper with water to get a blotchy look to the sky and then splattered everything using watered-down white acrylic paint and a toothbrush.

For my second card, I used the Swallowtail Frame die:

When you cut out the butterfly using black cardstock, it cuts it out in one piece. The butterfly is attached to the frame. I had a scrap piece of paper that had a bunch of acrylic paint on it that I didn't how to use. I thought it would look great underneath the butterfly wings. Next, I cut out the butterfly frame again using white cardstock. That left me with a white butterfly frame to use for another card. However, it also gave me the white pieces I used to glue around the butterfly. The white pieces really made the black butterfly pop and they also covered up the background piece of acrylic paint I had placed under the butterfly. Does that make sense? 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Impression Obsession Items Used:

DIE585 European Buildings

DIE864 Swallowtail Frame die

Collection of IO Favorites

 

Greetings friends. Today I am going through old samples that are still available, but my posts for Saturday and Sunday will be new cards featuring IO products. Remember, the store closes for good on the 2nd. 

For my first card, I used the Fuzzy Monster 1 die. I can't believe he is still available. He is good for Halloween, but he can also be used for hello cards, or even surprise cards. I have plans to use him with a birthday hat. He is simply a die cut placed over a watercolor background.

The next two cards use bunny images from the same clear set, even though they are vastly different from each other. The set is called Rabbits, Rabbits Everywhere and looks like this:

I love the diversity of the bunnies in the set.

The next cards use the Sweet as Honey clear stamp set:

Finally, these images from the Monster Set crack me up. They are great for Halloween, but I really like sending them to my ghoul friends year-round:

This set gets bonus points for working well with googly eyes.

There is only one of the Monster Set coordinating die set left. Of course, you don't need to have the coordinating dies!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Impression Obsession Items Used:

DIE1348 Fuzzy Monster 1

CL1336 Rabbits, Rabbits Everywhere clear set 

CS1321 Sweet as Honey clear set

CS1087 Monster Set clear set

DIE1121 Monster Set die set (1 left)

Candle Duo Set

 

Greetings friends. I was feeling all kinds of feels yesterday writing my post about the last designer blog hop with IO. Joke is on me though because there will be one last hop on Dec 1st before the store closes for good.

As I was going through old samples and products, I kept finding things that I wanted to share. Please humor me this last week as I go through some of my old samples, make new ones and basically walk down memory lane.

I saw that the candle block duo is still available. 

 

Most of you have used stamps with coordinating dies. However, the block duos work a little bit differently, and I wanted to review it so that you can remember how they work. Basically, they allow you to cut out a ton of images at the same time.

When you stamp the candles, you will get the candles as well as a stamped box around the images:

I stamped this set of candles in red ink for the candles and yellow for the flames. Next, place the die on top of the box:

Please forgive the photo. I used one I had on file that was of a different die than the candles. The idea is the same though. The die is the exact same size as stamped box. It is so easy to line up the die and the stamped box. You don't have to center anything.

Run your stamped images through the die cut machine. You might as well cut out a whole bunch of candles while you are at it for quick and easy birthday cards:

Here is a close up of the card:

You may have some of the other block duos that IO sold such as the peppermints, candy corn or keys. I hope the tutorial will help those who need help remembering how to use them. I believe that the candles are the only set left.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Impression Obsession Items Used:

DIE316 Small Candle Block

Impression Obsession- Designer's Choice

Well, it is the last week of operation for Impression Obsession. The designers have all made cards to show off what stock is left and items that you can get for an amazing 70% off. This is our last hop as designers, so I hope you give everyone a look.  Here is a list of the participating designers:

Impression Obsession Blog
Anna Wight
Dina Kowal
Giovana Smith
Jeanne Streiff
Laura Fulcher
Laura Williams
Robin Clendenning
Angela Bode

 Greetings friends. I am so sad about this being the last Impression Obsession designer hop. I hope you find lots of inspiration.

For many of my cards, I used the the coordinated Santa stamps and dies. They are sold as a set:

For my first card, I paired my Santa with a Spider web tag that I use all the time. To be honest, I use the tag most of the time without the spider web. It is just a good pinked circle tag die. I get a lot of use out of it:

For the Santa belt, I just used a strip of black cardstock and made a "buckle" using silver cardstock and two square punches.

For my second card, I used the same stamp and die set and paired it with one of my favorite IO tag dies. I honestly can't believe that the Stitched Tag die is still available. It is one of the most practical dies I own:

My third card with the Santa stamp/die combo is paired with the Snowflake frame, which works well for Christmas or general winter cards:

 

Finally, I made a simple card using the Holly Square Frame along with the Christmas Lights die. Instead of using the holly as a frame, I cut it apart and used it as a border:

I then added some Christmas lights that I colored with Copic markers and then added some clear gel pen to make them look like glass.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Impression Obsession Items Used:

CL1260 Die and Stamp Bundle (Santa/Tree/Sleigh set)

DIE877 Web Tag

DIE937 Stitched Tag die 

DIE1262 Snowflake Frame die

DIE1264 Holly Square Frame die

DIE768 Christmas Lights die