Butterfly fun with flowers

While in my garden today, I had a visit from a pair of beautiful butterflies. I came in and created this card in their honor.
Card Details:
Cardstock:Oats from Sonburn II page for both the card and the front panel
Paints:Glimmer Mist-Cherub Pink,Jazz Blue, and Sunflower(spatter sprayed and dabbed with a tissue),H2O's- Irridescent Blue accents,Copper accents
Stamps: The Write Impression-Butterfly,SU- Just because you're You
Ink: Memories-sepia
Accessories:Copper mini brads,The Yellow Bicycle -Stencil(sprayed over and removed)

La La Land Crafts is opening

New Shop in Town...Irinas been busy getting ready .The sneak peeks are so cute. Check her out and see for yourself!
Lalalandcrafts.blogspot.com. Also check out irinas-sneakpeak.html

No Time...

I was so frustrated with my glue mess of yesterday(TRI shutter card),I thought about taking a few days off. My Buddy called to see if I could help her make some signature boards for her Dad's surprise 80th birthday on Saturday.She has a new Cricut and we had fun trying it out. Her niece is Air Force bound soon and we decided to make her an Air Force signature board also. I found some AirForce 12x12 paper on clearance at my LSS and it really came in handy as we were organizing the plans. Of course...no photos but tomorrow is a new day. Bye for now.

Working On...

I have been cardmaking for most of the day. Everything is drying... so...Photos wiil be up with info tomorrow..See you then.Alas... my TRI shutter card glued itself SHUT... No sample but I will try again another day...8-(

Anniversary Memories

Our oldest niece and her husband are celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary this week. Just because we don't get to see them often since they live in NJ and we are in Michigan, doesn't mean we would miss their special day. They are so much fun and we enjoy the time with them along with their children. Her sister and her husband live close by them also so we get to see them as well when we do visit.Here's the card I made for them.
Card Information:
Cardstock:Bazzill white, lt gold.Scraps of glossy black and white from the scrapbox
Dies used:Cuttlebug Concentric Hearts,Olivia alphabet(numbers)
Stamp:Studio G -Coupon for a free Hug;ink:Ancient Page-Stone Grey
Ribbon:Club Wedd:Vanilla
Glue: Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue

Etsy Inspired Challenge.

The EtsyInspired Challenge(my blogging friend De sent me) caught my eye and I decided to try it this week. They have a link to Artistic Flair, an Etsy Store with beautiful glass creations and funky jewelry. The idea is to visit the Artistic Flair website, select a creation (I picked Tribal Mask) and come up with a papercrafting idea using the colors in the piece a person selects.

When you are done...send it to Ashley and mark it EIC 46. Give it a try. I did.

The world is...

My Verve Stamp Asian Flair set inspired me today to create a bright upbeat card. I used a bright blue card stock put through the Sizzix folder. The scroll papers accents were from my scrapbox in raspberry and bold peach colors.They were cut on the Cuttlebug using a Sizzix scroll die.The die cut flower was from the Cuttlebug flower set.The tag was drawn and cut using a HOTP stencil. The tag was then inked with Scaredy Cat Bold ink collection. The verse was added on the tag. The fabric flower was originally white but was dyed using the raspberry ink from Scaredy Cat and a deep purple brad marks the center. A touch of sheer white ribbon(unknown), and the card was complete.

Ladybug, Ladybug...

I found this adorable stamp set the other day. It was Bugs and Butterfly stamp kit by The Paper Company Studio.I really liked the verses and used one on this card. It is for a friend from church who recently had surgery and I thought it would brighten her day.

A Sizzix herringbone embossing folder was used first. Next, a rectangle Magenta Flower (vintage) was stamped with Calyspo Kaleidacolor and applied to a scrap of natural Bazzil just like the cardstock with two brass brads enhancing the area. A scrap of yellow from the scrap box was stamped with the verse after first being cut with the Marvy Mega scalloped circle punch.The ladybug stamp from the set was stamped using Mementos Tuxedo black ink.I picked out a Prima Flower and applied Cherub Pink Glimmer Mist to it and turned it reddish. Finally ,the bugs were colored with a Zig pure red marker. Everything went together quickly with glue dots.

Birthday Fun

A birthday card was needed for sending far away. I wanted it to be both something old(shabby chic like) and something fresh.I found a sheet of Doodlebug Cuppy Cakes at my LSS and it works so well with my plan. I got to try out a Labels 3 Nestibilities at a friend's and cut out several cardstock sheets of shapes (it comes with 6 sizes in the set).The shape next went into a Cuttlebug Distressed embossing folder. Then.. the paper was sanded to give it an old fashioned look.The image was from Inky Antics(one of my favorites), just edged it with Studio G raspberry ink. My favorite Club Wedd Vanilla ribbon was used for the bow. The cardstock was natural from a package of Sunburn II Earth tones.

Sweet treats in the mail

I joined a Birthday RAK Group with Jen and received a sweet treat from Michele.She sent an adorable Hello card and a cute notecard package with some great cards inside. It was so thoughtful and a nice surprise in my week!Here is what came...

Wherever You Are...

I found this Outline stamp in one of my stamp storage tubs, and it reminded me of why I bought it years ago. At this point in my life , I have friends living throughout the world along with the ones I get to see everyday. I made this card for a special friend living overseas for her birthday.It still is a project in progress and I will look it over again before it is sent. The card stock is teal(Joann's cards)The folder used was the Cuttlebug(circles)and , flower dies used with scraps. Matching teal ribbon(unknown)and Vivid Sky Blue Dye Ink was sponged lightly on the natural scrap paper upon which the verse was stamped in Memories Sepia Dye Ink.

Thinking of You

A thinking of you card was needed to send for a guy.What to do...nothing too gaudy, just a bit crisp . This is what I came up with for him. A Scrap of BG Boxer /Buckle paper, stamped impression of a Hero Arts "Thinking of you" with the flowers stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black on white cardstock cut with a scalloped circle punch. Next the flowers had just a smidge of Stickle Star Dust, and two old buttons from the button box glued on the palest of ribber blue card stock folders. There.. just enough!

Old stamps but are new to me

I found a older set of CTMH stamps at a swap for $2.00. They were in new condition so I figured... lets see what I come up with for this set.They are unmarked as to the set name and are wall painting designs maybe from the Southwest?? Here's the photo of one of my ideas. It is a trifold card with two medallion stamped images from the set plus an embossed saying from an unknown stamp. Ink used on the medallions was Kaleidoscope Calypso and the verse was embossed in bronze and lightly edged with Vivid Sky Blue ink(can't see it too well-sorry). The cardstock was from an earth tones pack of Sunborn papers.

Good Friends...

I have this stamp Good Friend from Printworks that I found again the other day...in the Christmas stamp box? Why- I have no idea but I'm glad to see it again. I was in my LSS today and had to take a peek at the BG row of new papers. As I walked by ,this new BG stamp set was saying hello to me... (we all know that story).The set includes a cute little girl with unique eyes which reminded me of that one sheet of BG Euphoria/Trance that was over there on the clearance rack... I thought...those two items could really work together and they had to come home with me. With the stamped image and words, the kraft paper,cardstock , Memories Sepia ink, a piece of the clearance paper and with just a touch of my Prismacolor pencils , this card was done. I have just the friend it will go to.. hope she likes it!

It's Blueberry Day

Today we are not at home, since my husband and I traveled to the other side of Michigan to visit our son and his wife. We have a tradition of going to pick blueberries with them to put in the freezer. We patiently try to eat them sparingly so they last for a long time. Nothing better than having homemade Blueberry sauce on our Christmas morning pancakes .YUM!

Here's a photo of the guys picking those berries.We picked 15 pounds this year.

Special Days

Dear friends of our are soon to be celebrating their thirty fifth wedding anniversary, and I wanted to create a special card. The image used was from Club Scrap and it was stamped with SU Pretty in Pink and embossed with clear powder.Pink Mulberry paper was applied between the image and the dark ivory card folder. Clubb Wedd vanilla ribbon for the bow and it was done.

Thank you notes

I needed to send out some thank you notes to some blog friends for some tasty treats I received recently. I couldn't figure out a great way to say thanks... I thought this card would do the trick. The front just says Thank You (CTMH Sweet Occasions)while the inside says So sweet(Studio G)! The DP used is EK Success Beauty Stripes found in the clearance area in one of the LSS .It was combined with a lt. Kraft paper card stock from Bazzill. Club Wedd vanilla ribbon was used on the bow. The stamped image of Susan Branch's Cookie Jar was from All Night Media.It was colored in with Zig Markers. Glue dots put it together and I was all set to write a message and pop it into the mail.

Flower Power

I was in the mood to experiment with my Cuttlebug and try out old stamps to rediscover them. I used the Herringbone folder and put a piece of raspberry Bazzill in it applying Bazzill BBP Pink on the folder before running it through the CB.The flower image was from the CTMH Rustic Flower set.The background of the small flower was stamped with Kaleidacolor Creole Spice with another stamp from that set and then the edges were torn to look shabby.The small flower ,still another piece from the same set, was stamped with Vivid Brick(looks like a reddish salmon color in person). The stem and leaves were torn from a green scrap and added to the flower. Glue dots held on a vintage button for the flower center.It is something a bit different for me.

More Christmas cards...

Christmas cards and the stamping is easy... This is one of my holiday favorite sets, CTMH My Acrylix Snow Friends.I picked it up at a stamp swap last summer and didn't use it as a Christmas card but instead used another image from the set as a thinking of you winter time card.It was stamped with my new favorite Memento Tuxedo Black Dye Ink. It works so well with the acrylic stamps.This was a quick card and it only needed a bit of color to pick up the details. The hat was colored with Marvy Marker Pale Green, and the cardinal was colored with Zig Pure Red and a touch of Zig Pure Brown for the beak.The snowflakes were punched with a MS punch and I added crystal Stickles on the snowflakes and on the flakes in the stamped image .The card was from the scrapbox as was the white cardstock used for the card front . This image will sure cool you off on a warm summer day.

Paper Piecing

One of my favorite techniques in papercrafting is paper piecing. It is exciting to take plain cardstock and turn it into something total unique. As I was looking through blogs ,I found this Canadian site Sunflowers and Dragonflies(www.sunflowers-dragonflies.ca/blog/). They also have these wonderful stamps including an adorable beaver. They are currently having their S &D Challenge #1 which is about piecing on a card/image. Unfortunately I do not have any of their stamps yet which created a slight problem. I looked through their stamps and noticed one of my favorite cultural images. It is an Inukshuk. It is a word in Inuktitut(Inuit language). It means to look like a person and the Inuit have been making them for thousands of years out of stone to mark good hunting or fishing or the way home.Imagine finding your way home on all the ice in the Arctic but with each one unique ,this would help.

For this purpose, I direct to paper ink created my own paper stones ,tore the paper and made my own version of this beautiful image. I chose to put Hello Friend for the saying since Inukshuks are a source of trust. I hope this will be considered in their contest. For more information ,check their website.

P.S .I was a Cultural Anthropology student in College.

One hour Cards-SNR

I tried a new event at least for me.Scrapbook News and Review(SNR) The Card Universe-My Sketch World had an event last night. They posted a sketch and participants had one hour to create a card using any theme and upload it unto the site. I made the deadline without the fancy tools so I was happy about my result.

Using a yellow cardstock as the base, with a lt.green background (run through the Cuttlebug in the Swiss Dots folder).I added a sage green raffia ribbon and punched 3 holes to add the required brads(mine were pewter hearts). My image was Kiki from Me and My Big Ideas stamps which was stamped on a rectangle shaped white cardstock.It was colored in using Marvy Markers. I have no Nestibilities so instead improvised by punching the corners with a small circle hole punch. I scored the edges of the image with my boning tool and my metal ruler.The Hello Friends stamp was part of the Stampendous Petals Plus Set. Just some glue dots and the card was complete...

Praying Hands

• I recently got the ODBD set, Lift up our Hands. It is a lovely set and I decided to use it for a thinking of you card. I used a sheet of BG porcelain paper as the background paper. First I cut it to fit on the top of my speckled green/gray cardstock.Next,I sponged around the edge of the BG paper with inks from the Kaleidoscope Creole Spice pad to pick up the colors in the BG paper. Digging through the scrapbox, I found a pale kraft scrap and using the praying hands stamp from the set, stamped it with Memories sepia ink.Next I carefully tore the edges of the hand image. The image was glued on the BG paper.I punched small hole and using Club Wedd Vanilla ribbon created a fancy tie and added a diamond bronze brad to jazz it a bit. I added a touch of Stickles Star Dusk on the brad to finish it off.The last step was to use glue dots to assemble the card.

It's Birthday Time for...

Give a shout out for Jodi (InkedInspirations.blogspot.com ).It's her birthday and she is giving presents to her readers. They include 3 stamp sets, and not 1 but 2 Nestabilities sets plus some pretty flowers.Check it out for yourself!

I 'm dreaming...

Yes, after the fireworks over the weekend, I have moved on to Christmas card headquarters. I'm hoping to make about 50 cards for the Cards for Heroes group and I want to get them done before I get too busy. I added Stickles and they take ever so long to dry. If you have the chance , make an extra or two cards next time to put aside for a special group that really helps out our military service personnel and their families. For more information check out their website.

The image is from CCDesigns/Allthatscraps. It is Swiss Pixies-Gretel. I stamped her in Momento Tuxedo Black and colored her in with a combination of Zig and Marvy markers. I used a Holiday Design Stamp for the bedspread in Memories Sepia and with a scrap of kraft cardstock cut out a pillow.I used a scrap of mint green and ran it through the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.I stamped Noel (MS stamps)and another scrap of sky blue underneath the word.I mounted it all on a teal card.

Christmas Card Time Again

I decided to work on some Christmas cards to get a head start on December. I worked on some cards tonight and I used my scrapbox again. The striped DP paper (unknown)includes cream with black, pink,red and gold mini squares in a line pattern .I used my 1 11/16th circle punch to cut out 3 red circles. I punched snowflakes from white scraps with my MS punch. I used one of the Bazzinks! Teal group inks with a sponge to edge both the snowflakes and the Hi rectangle backing from a white scrap(Cut with Sizzlit rectangle die) The Hi was cut on a black cardstock scrap from the Cuttlebug Alphabet set Olivia.My bow is from a MS clearance ice blue ribbon.I applied Stardust Stickles in the snowflakes and around the edge of the red circles to add some glitz to the card. The pieces were attached to the card with glue.

Red,White and Blue Challenge

This is my entry for the Cuttlebug -Be Inspired #37 Challenge

To celebrate the 4th of July, participants were asked to use the Star folder,and Red,White and Blue colors on their card. Since the star folder hasn't come out yet; I used the Swiss Dots folder instead.I ran my white cardstock through the Cuttlebug to use as the base. I cut out a scalloped circle with my Marvy (Purple) Punch in a scrap of bright yellow cardstock. I stamped and colored an patriotic boy image from the H&M Celebrate the Day set. After cutting him out ,I attached him using glue dots. I used a berry red scrap and using my MS zigzag border punch cut a piece the width of my card. I found a medium blue scrap cut it and used it as a layer on top of the Swiss Dots.I found another scrap of blue dotted paper(unknown). I used my 1 11/16ths Marvy (pink) circle punch and punched out a circle. I used the Studio G 4th of July set and stamped (using Nearly Navy)both the Celebrate Freedom 4th of July plus the Celebrate Star images. Just putting it together, and I was done.

Bloghopping

Today, there is a fun thing to participate with in connection with Scrapbook News and Review. They are having a patrotic blog hopping event "Oh-Say-Can-You-See-Blog-Hop. It is today 7/4 and 7/5 and there are 95 participants. These crafters have prepared cards, books, and miscelaneous papercrafting projects to share. Some people have surprises and some share their military experiences of people in their family.There are even some tutorials and it was a good experience. Check it out!
snrcarduniverse.ning.com/oh-say-can-you-see-blog-hop.com

Happy 4th of July!

Cuttlebug Thanks

I was in need of a quick Thank You card and decided to pull out my trusty Cuttlebug with the folders and an alphabet set-Olivia. The alphabet sets from Cuttlebug have extras in the packages. The Olivia has the word thanks with the letters all connected.I also selected a folder set,Mosaic to embellish the butterflies I had precut using my MS punch. It is important to cut before embellishing as the raised images will become flattened when put through the folder process. I used a creme card and scraps of yellow, and light blue for the design. I also sponged the front edges of the card with Studio G bright yellow,and sepia from Memories Dye Ink.The edging really finished off the card. I only glued half of each butterflies wings to give it some dimension.

Send greetings to Mushi

I enjoy reading other people's blogs and have learned so much from other paper crafters. One of them is Mushi's Creative Inspirations . She is celebrating her 1st year blog-a-versary by giving away wonderful "blog candy treats". For more information and to send her some greetings, check out-
mushi_pork@hotmail.com