A Cute Little Bird in A Frame

Our weather is a bit gloomy here today, so let's brighten things up with a bright and cherry card.  I used punches AND dies for this one.  

I added a few punched flowers, along with a couple of sprigs for our bird to begin its nesting.  That's kind of a sore subject for me right now, actually.  We have a dove who chose to build her next on top our outdoor light... right beside our front door!  We knocked down the messy twigs day after day and then stopped when we realized she'd stayed up and worked on it all night (evidently) and by morning had 2 eggs nestled in it.  We're trying to give her a chance to raise her babies, but she's not the most welcome addition around here.

I decided to try something different inside my card this time.  I kind of like the contrast against the darker blue.  I love this Flower Pot DSP.  It's retired now, but you can always find a good substitute for stamps, dies, punches, and/or papers when you like a design and want to create your own version of it.  Always check the Clearance Rack, too, because you can find good stuff there all the time.

If you look very closely, you can (maybe) see that I traced the 'hi' letters with Crystal Effects to make them stand out more.  It's pretty difficult to get that to show up well in a photo.

I really like my little bird card and am glad to enjoy a bright and cheerful bit of color on this gloomy morning, until the sun is back. 

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

A Simply Stunning Card

What I mean by my title is ... this card is simple to create and the result is stunning.  It's all thanks to a gorgeous DSP called Something Borrowed.  Out of all the cards we made at last Saturday's class, this was the most popular of all.  We had a fabulous class.  It was super fun and everyone did an amazing job... AND we finished exactly on time.  That means that everyone worked really hard.  I love classes like that!  Here's my card:

This card looks more complicated than it really is.  This time, the frame (created with 2 graduated sizes of framelits) is simply attached over the layer of DSP.

To really bump up the card several notches to a real wow, I added a double layer of butterflies.  The bottom layer is sahara sand CS and the top layer is vellum.  To create the gorgeous, sparkly look, I embossed the butterfly with VersaMark Ink and my concoction of Whisper White and Iridescent Ice EP.  In the past, I've used this concoction mostly for snowy and wintry look cards, especially at Christmas time.  (I came up with the idea to mimic the beautiful look you see when the light hits the snow and gives it a sparkly look.)  I decided that, with a Sahara Sand/Whisper White color story, that it could be the perfect finishing touch.

The butterflies are attached only with the center/body portion, leaving the wings free, for added dimension.  I slightly off-set the top butterfly when I attached it, so you could really get the full effect of the dimensional look of it all.  In real life, it has a beautiful sparkle to it.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

It's All About the Team / A Teeny Weeny Mini Tutorial

I had my Team Meeting yesterday for my downline and we did a shoebox swap.  Would you like to see what we made?  This post kind of runs like a narration for a fashion show ... and fashion and style is what we have here!

First up is Lynn's design.  She used a delightful combo of Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake and Island Indigo.  The stamp set and framelits coordinate --- Secret Garden.  If you love to add cut flowers to your design but don't like fussy cutting, these framelits were made for you!  The large framelits are from our Window Frame Collection of framelits.  The DSP is Print Poetry.

 

Next up is my daughter Jenn's design.  She's used Tea for Two DSP and the cute little stamps and coordinating punch from our Sale-A-Bration collection.  Once the 2 pieces of DSP were attached to the Lucky Limeade layer, we embossed the entire piece, giving it the look of a wonderful, cuddly quilt.  I'm not a big pink lover, but this card is a winner for sure.

For Laura's card, she used the chalkboard technique.  You can find more about this fun technique here.  I really love this card.  Banners are really hot right now and the Hearts A Flutter stamps and coordinating framelits help to make this card a winner. She's used them in a very creative way, too.

Didn't my team do a great job?

Before I show you mine, I want to share one more of Lynn's projects with you.  This is a Valentine's Day card she made for her kids.  She even added real stitching, which I just love!

 

Is this cute or what?  Love it!

Now, I've saved my card for last because I have a teeny weeny mini tutorial to go with it.  Is there such a thing?  Well, there is today. 

I've had lots of questions about how the layers were created for the project in the top, left photo on page 20 or our Spring Catalog.  Do you see how the frame sits higher than the circular part of the image?  I love the look and just worked until I figured out how they did it. 

Here's what I did.

Stamp the image TWO times.  Cut out 1 of the images using the framelit from our Window Frame Collection.  Now, using paper snips, cut out the circle from your second image.  (We do not have a punch the size you need for this circle.)

Now, cut around the outside edges of the frame image.  Place dimensionals (You'll have to use the tiny edge pieces, so they'll fit.) on the back of the cut frame, all around the edges.  Attach the frame to the larger piece.  That's all there is to it.  It has a really nice look.

So, that's it for our Team's designs.  I'm really proud of them and hope you love their creations as much as I do.  None of these cards were overly complicated, either, so they were fun and relaxing to make.  I'll hope you'll give them a try.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.