I am TOTALLY Taking Credit for this Discovery!

I have been very busy the last 2 weeks making samples for our New Catalog Event on June 18th.  It's 3 demonstrators and we're previewing the new colors, showing samples of old and new stamp sets, 6 Make-and-Takes, image stamping, door prizes...  it's going to be SPECTACULAR!

I worked on a Card in a Box, and here I'm previewing just a piece to show you a Sprinkles punch idea.

I punched out some pieces of DSP, and they seemed really perfect to work as balloon strings!

SO, that's my brilliant idea.  Use one or two of the Sprinkles punch pieces as balloon strings!  You could even cascade them to make really long curly strings.

Christmas Gifts - Working Ahead!

One of the ladies from my stamp club brought this project to show us, and I fell in LOVE!  I took a picture that evening, and then went on a search.  Thanks so much, Sandra!

The next day I went to all 3 Michael's in our area looking for these trays.  I struck out, but it was a fun day out shopping! When I got home, I then ordered them online. (Stay tuned for a link below.)

 Again, this project uses the DSP Painted Blooms.  Each time I use it I'm more in love with it.

 This detail I added from the original.  It's the new Metallic Thread.  Once you get over the (very small) learning curve, this is a great detail to add to cards/projects!
I really love this saying.

 When I'm finished with the 2 other shadow boxes I'm expecting, there will be a total of 9. This project didn't take that long, but when I really looked at it, there was a LOT of detail!

Lots of die cuts:  the sentiment background, and the 2 butterflies.
Lots of punching:  The sentiment, top scallops, and the bow which uses lots of glue dots.
Embossing:  New butterfly folder on the Soft Sky cs.
Paper tole technique on the flower for depth.
Metallic Thread flower under the rhinestone.
Double bow with the bow maker my Dad made for me!
Embosslits to cut the small butterflies.
Stickles and Crystal Effects on the flower.

Source for the Shadow Trays:  http://shop.canvascorpbrands.com/
This is the specific link for this Shadow Box/Tray: http://shop.canvascorpbrands.com/products/solo-tray-white.

Butterflies..... Again!

The stamp set Butterfly Basics debuted in the Occasions 2015 catalog.

As a 'sucker' for anything butterflies, I purchased it immediately!  This stamp set makes adorable cards, and can be used for so many things (stay tuned)!

I stamped the butterfly twice.  Once on the card background, then on another piece to die-cut it, and mounted it to give it a shadow.

I particularly like the sentiment.  "There is nothing in the caterpillar that tells you it is going to be a butterfly."

I strongly believe this can be used for children.  Here you have this little kid...  a good kid or not (I've known many) and you never know how they'll turn out as adults.  Homelife, their experiences, their personality (positive or negative); these things all depend on how they grow.  Sometimes you can see it when they're children, but often you cannot.

There's my deep thought for the month! 

More Painted Blooms

At the card class I gave, we made 8 cards, so each attendee had a choice of 2 more cards from the following selection.

The first one looks complicated, but it really isn't.  The most difficult thing was putting the bow together, and that's just fun - and lots of glue dots!!

I love all the cards, but this last one uses the strip you cut off to make the One-Sheet Wonders posted 2 days ago, so there was no waste! :)

Birthday Card for my Dear Friend

Happy Birthday, Melissa!

We've been playing with these spinner cards for awhile now...  actually less than a month, but it seems longer because I've now made 4 or 5 of them.

It takes a little engineering, but they're SO FUN, and Ms. Kathy challenged us, and I always LOVE a challenge!

This butterfly spins all the way around the cut-out circle.  I didn't want the background to be plain, so I used the same honeycomb stamp on the background to blend the two levels of card stock.

Here's the short video clip I took of this card so you could see the motion of the spinner cards.  Fun,  Fun, FUN!! 

More Painted Petals

I merged two stamp sets for this card.
Painted Petals and
Butterfly Basics

 I used my Stampin' Up markers to make this very colorful card.  Daffodil Delight, Blackberry Bliss, Bermuda Bay, and Melon Mambo.  I stamped the flowers twice, reinking with the markers for each stamping.  I then added the Wild Wasabi leaves.

The butterflies are stamped off once in each color listed above, punched, and added to the card with dimensionals.

BIG Thank You's for our Administrative Assistants.

I purchased the stamp set with the HUGE Thank you for the top piece on the left.  It has a perfect spot to put a rhinestone... and looks so nice!  I never thought I'd actually use that huge Thank You piece... but here it is!  I did it!

 I used 3 of my favorite colors together.  I've talked about these before.  Bermuda Bay (YAY), Melon Mambo, and Daffodil Delight.

I put 3 of these cards together.  They're quite large, with each one using an entire piece of 8 1/2" by 11" folded in half.  Between 22 and 26 students signed the inside of each card, so they needed to be quite large for all those signatures!

Our secretaries do so much for us throughout the school year.  This is just a token of our esteem for them.

Playing with the Butterfly Thinlits

These two cards are TOTALLY CASE'D from Pinterest.  Love Love LOVE them!  They're actually quite quick to put together just as my other two cards from an earlier post this week.

 I discovered a shortcut from the directions I found from the Pinterest link.  Don't go through all the trouble of cutting half the butterfly, and then turning and cutting the other half of the butterfly, leaving the center intact....

 Just cut the butterfly from the center of the card stock in one piece.  After you have all your pieces cut and matted, glue the center body back into its place.  No fussy die cutting.  Why?  1.  It saves a lot of hassle.  2.  It goes much faster.  and the best reason of all:  3.  It's EASIER!  :)

Here are 2 of my samples using the Painted Blooms background DSP, and I added some colored spiky gems from Queen and Co. on the corners that (in person) actually match the colors on the cards!

Supplies I used:
Stampin' Up DSP Painted Blooms
Butterfly Thinlits Dies
Blushing Bride Card Stock
Soft Sky Card Stock
Whisper White Card Stock

Sister's Birthday Card

 This is the birthday card I made for my sister this year.
I used two of the new butterfly die cuts and layered them.

 I used many of my favorite card backgrounds - Gorgeous Grunge, and the punch layering I discovered recently.

I do hope that when she finally receives it, she likes the card.  Her favorite color is purple, so I hope it does the trick!

Happy Nurse's Day!

This design was CASE'D from another card I saw online.  I love all things brightly colored and sparkly - and loved this card from the first moment I saw it!

This card uses the new stamp set from Stampin' Up available June 1st in the new catalog.  I was fortunate enough to received it at the end of April at the Catalog Reveal event.  It was very exciting, and it's always fun to have a new stamp set to play with.

Colors?  Top down, I used Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point, and Wisteria Wonder.  Each of the butterflies was stamped with the coordinating color, punched, and uses 2 rhinestones as their bodies.

I made 2 of these, almost identical, one for our Health Clerk Kathy, and our Nurse Devin.
Thank you for everything you do for us, ladies!

Aunt's Birthday

I've been playing with the stamp set Gorgeous Grunge lately, and I'm having way too much fun!

There are 3 main colors to this card - Wisteria Wonder, because my aunt's favorite color is purple - Wild Wasabi, and Daffodil Delight - because green and yellow both go so well with purple.  I stamped the Birthday Wishes with Elegant Eggplant.

Before punching the butterflies, I stamped the cardstock with the paint splatter to give them the same effect as the card.

After the butterflies were attached, I got out a can of gold glitter spray, and gave it a coat.

This card is going into a package with some stamp materials since Nancy always has a wonderful project when the family gets together.

Card in a Box - Balloons

After playing around with the Card in a Box technique, I decided to make one with my very favorite tropical colors.

Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Lovely Lilac (ret.), Peach Parfait (ret.) and Tempting Turquoise.

I found this combination while playing a game on Facebook, and thought how amazing they would look together.  After playing with them for quite awhile, I used this combination on an August calendar, and lots of other projects.

 I used window sheets and glue dots to make the balloons 'fly'.  The butterflies and sentiment all use the same colors.

I just couldn't resist a picture of this butterfly, using all the colors listed above.  After I've stamped, colored, punched, and added rhinestones, I like to add Diamond Stickles to give the butterflies extra sparkle!

 

Card in a Box 2

The base for this card, is Crisp Cantaloupe - seemed perfect for a spring-y bouquet of tulips!

My parents went on a trip to Europe a few years ago, and mom had MANY bulbs sent back from Holland.  They visited a very well-known tulip market.  When they arrived she had them planted in 2 areas of the yard.  When they bloomed - it was an explosion of color!  Every spring she has a huge bloom of the tulips around the yard.

After using this stamp a few times, I thought it would be perfect for the Card in a Box technique!

 All the tulips are colored with the blender pen - Pear Pizzazz and Wild Wasabi for the leaves, and Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Bashful Blue, and Marina Mist for the Tulips.   I also used the same colors in marker for each of the butterflies.

 There isn't a die cut for the tulips, so they are each hand-cut.  It didn't seem to take very long at all to cut each of the flowers... I made this on a Saturday crafting day when my friends were over, so the cutting went along with great conversation!

Here you can see one of the ways to fold up the card to place in a regularly sized envelope.  I love how the flowers look when it's folded too!

I've started using a 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inch piece of cardstock to cover the card and protect the embellishments during mailing.  It seems to work, and the envelope isn't torn as badly - especially with brads, or rhinestones.