The butterfly counts

Another of my Easter cards is this one using papers from last years DCWV Flower Shower pack. The glitter papers were perfect for this reverse butterfly strip technique. Two sheets of glitter were punched with the MS butterfly punch. I used 2 of the green ones as accents and the deep purple butterflies were placed into the holes on the green strip. The sentiment is from Sweet n Sassy Stamps stamped in Tuxedo Black and edged with Dusty Concord Distress Ink after being punched out with a CM 1 1/2"square punch. The ribbon is Offray Enhance.

Oops..

I hurt myself in a fall and my shoulder is really painful. I went to the doctor and now I have to go to physical therapy. Tomorrow is the first session so hopefully I will know more then.
I made a little boy birthday card for a friend's son. He is 4 and always says "I don't want to eat , I'll just have cake ". This is a great fit, with no bows, or "messy stuff". I bought him a book on bugs for his gift. I thought he might notice the ladybugs in the CC Design image. It was stamped with Momentos Tuxedo Black, and water colored. The sentiment is from SU Afterthoughts.I applied Antique Linen Distress Ink around the edges after it was corner rounded. The green plaid DP was from the scrapbox.
Happy Crafting!

Free Demo time

at my LSS last night for Lifestyle Crafts(QuicKutz new name).It was a demonstration of their new Letterpress products. We all got a chance to try it our using their Epic machine. It is very nice and would be great for mass producing stationery like invitations but nothing I would need now. We did get a freebie for coming,Icing RubOns. I haven't tried that before so that was nice. I did splurge on a new embossing folder Polka Dots. These are larger dots than the minidots on the Sizzix folder and I like the look. It is the A2 size right for card making and was 30% off. There were drawings for free dies, plus someone there was lucky and won $200.00 of free QuicKutz items so it was fun to help her shop for her goodies. Still other people won collections of dies. One lady won duplicates dies and offered me to choose one. I picked the treasure box die-it is 2 pieces which when cut and assembled looks like a flat treasure box. I plan to make coupons with the die cut for VBS for the children who learn their scripture verse each day to use in our treasure box area. I'm sure it will work into my cardmaking also . I'll get a card posted tomorrow I made with the new folder.
Happy Crafting!

There are two

cards today that I have ready. They are both images from LOTV (Lili of the Valley )stamps. I thought I had used up all of my pre-stamped images from a image swap but I found a few more. I just love the little sweetie(Rosie Posey) with the flowers. While sorting papers, I found this pack of MM Hul-La-Ba-Loo paper. I thought it waould work well with the flower wrap Rosie is holding. I had a roll of Celebrate-it Basic Narrows ribbon from Michael's Hunter Sheer Dots and the card quickly went together.Rosie was colored with Zig markers. Sage vellum was the first layer after the Bazzill Chocolate Folder. Sheer White ribbon is next. The 3 bows are made from the ribbons on the card. The second card is Spring Bunny. The folder Bazzill Sage was run through the CB using a CB Windowpane folder(Oh My Crafts). The image was edged with Distress Ink Bundled Sage after using a corner rounder on it. It was water colored. The sentiment was from Inky Antics, and also corner rounder and inked. The ribbon(Offray Enhance) was knotted and a flower(after having DI Spun Sugar applied) was attached with a glue dot and a MM yellow green brad in the center.
Happy crafting!

Torn paper

was one of the first techniques of card making I tried. I haven't used it often on a card but for this scripture verse from Unity Stamps(Devoted), I thought it would be good. The pale gray CS was first sponged with Distress Ink Forest Moss. Next, the center of the paper was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black. The Bazzill Peach folder was corner rounded and Versamark stamped with a stamp from CTMH Adorning Corners set. Lilac dotted ribbon(unknown) was glued underneath the sentiment panel. The flowers from Recollection were Glimmer Misted with silver and attached with glue dots. Finally Glimmer Mist was also added to the ribbon to add another touch of bling. I had a request for a glittery card for Easter with spring-like coloring and I am hoping this is enough glitter for her.

Happy Crafting.

My house

A second card created from the Unity stamp set Devoted is this one. I love the verse from Joshua 24:15 -"As for me and my house..we will serve the Lord". I used a touch of the blue vintage trim to act as clouds watching over the cozy house. The images were stamped with Tuxedo Black and water colored. I made grass by using a small brush to create a stipple effect beneath the house.The sentiment was lightly inked around the edge with Distress Ink Antique Linen. The vanilla folder is mat finished from a craft show ages ago.

Feeling better...

again those migraines hit me for a few days... I'm really getting tired of these flareups again.
Anyhow, I'm happy with this card I made. The sentiment is from a Unity set-Devoted I bought used from another card maker. I has 4 scripture verses and 4 images included. What a great set. This card is going off to a friend in Monday's mail. I pulled out my Glimmer Mist and created some MS punched butterflies but also lightly misted the card itself . The butterflies were treated to a bit of bling with Stickles -Cotton Candy,Yellow, and Star Dust.The tag was first distressed with a varied of inks and then the sentiment was added in Tuxedo Black. The brad in the tag hole was also enhanced with Cotton Candy Glimmer Mist. It was finished up with a bow made with Michael's glittery sheer teal ribbon.
Happy crafting!

Beautiful in His Time

This Hanglar image print was included in one of my birthday cards. She is sweet and I thought she would look great as a St. Patrick 's card for a friend. This is one of my favorite sentiments and I thought it would be perfect. The lacy lilac ribbon is vintage from an estate sale. The paper is unknown from the scrap box. The image was water colored and the flower was glimmer misted to match the ribbon. The brads are unknown.The corners were rounded with a punch. If you celebrate the day, an early Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

Just great

gifts that is for my birthday. I got 4 Distressed Inks, a magazine, refills for my ATG , and my son Erik made me a bowmaker from the directions on Amazing Paper Grace(created by Becca). Such thoughtful gifts and not a dish towel in sight(ha!-in our family ...when in doubt...buy Mom new dish towels).On Saturday, I actually used the last of my GC from Christmas and found Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine. It's from England and comes each time with some sort of a bonus. This time is is a set of Bentley Bear stamps(Feb issue). It's pricy at $9.99 in the US but with the stamps a great splurge.
To make the card, I used the car stamp from the group of stamps. It was inked with Memories Black, and edged with Distress Ink Forest Moss. I watercolored the image and created a tag ,then added some scraps of paper from Inque(it's old). A scrap of ribbon and a brad finished it off. I'm all set for the next emergency card for a guy or boy.
Happy Crafting!

Birthday Birthday

I decided to take a few days off to get ready for changing my craft room back into a guest room. My birthday was this week and family will be visiting from out of town. I am still trying to figure out how to do this more smoothly but also trying to be more careful about putting everything back after a stamping frenzy..I got such nice treats from the family . I'll share next time I post.
I am thinking today of everyone impacted by the Tsunami .

I get by with a little help..

I just love the song from John Lennon and when I found it in a SU set I had to get it. Of course it was a while back, but I was sorting through one of my stamp drawers and rediscovered it once more. I need to send a Thinking of you card out in the morning. I picked up this BG sequin cluster at the swap and thought it would be perfect for my card. A little scrap box raiding and it was nearly done. The sentiment was stamped with Memento Tuxedo black and edged with Distress Ink Dusty Concord. It was mounted with Glue Dots. The lilac Offray ribbon tied it all together.
Happy Crafting!

Celebrate Important Days!

At our paper crafting group at church meeting tonight, we made a page to share an important time in our lives. I decided to make my page about the joy we felt at the wedding of our son Andy and his wife Tracy. This special photo of Bob and I has been waiting for something more than a mere frame. Our leader tonight found these beautiful flowers and we all got a portion of them to do as we wished. She also cut out the word celebrate on the Cricut. I liked it just as it is but I think I will add the date later too. What a special day that was in the life of our family.

Another Challenge

I noticed a new challenge from one of my favorite blogs-Stampin' Sisters in Christ. I decided to try it out. The challenge required the use of a stamped image of a flower.The vintage SU image was stamped with Memories Sepia ink and water colored. After cutting it out with a Spellbinders Scalloped Square, it was edged with Distress Ink Bundled Sage.It was next propped up with Glue Dots to give it some emphasis. The sentiment from PSX was stamped on paper from the scrap box.Finally a touch of striped ribbon finishes it off.
I made this a "thinking of you" card for a friend at church . It is so important to let friends know how special they are and most of all to be there for them when they are dealing with difficult times.
Happy Crafting!

Inching along...

Another set I had forgotten was this one from Sweet n Sassy- Gone Buggy. I bought it to make cards for some young friends but of course... forgot all about it. It is a CAS (Clean & Simple ) and I picked out the cute caterpillar. It reminds me of one of my favorite childrens books ,Eric Carle -The Very Hungry Caterpillar.The set comes with several sayings and 3 different bugs. I decided to glam her up with glittery antenna and feet. Just some lime green ribbon and a bit of water coloring and a birthday card is complete. Happy Weekend!

Birthday Cards Time

I know many people with a March birthday. This is one of the cards I made for my March friends. This cutie for LOV was stamped with Momento Tuxedo black ink and water colored. The sentiment is from Fiskars Squarely Sentimental.The strip across the lower part of the card, was scored and folded reopened and stretched out to created a border (DP from the scrap box). The MS lace border punch was used as was the EK Success mini-tag punch. Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy) was added to create a vintage feel on the image and sentiment areas. Finally a Celebrated It flower was added to the tag along with an unknown brad.
Happy Crafting!

Believe card

I made another Confirmation card in this design using the same color BG papers just in a bit simplier style on a vanilla Bazzill folder. I did use more Stickles on the word Believe (stamped in Tuxedo Black of course) to make it stand out along with bling on the butterfly body.The corners of the card were rounded on the lower section. I am enjoying making each card unique just like each of the young people in the class.
Happy Crafting!

I won

a set of Kitchen Sink Stamps-Pretty Petals set from Melissa. Thanks a bunch. It arrived today so I have a new set to try out!I hadn't seen any of their stamps before but I will be checking out their website.