Another Way to Use Butterfly Dies

Today's card isn't quite as messy as Brusho, but still has a fun surprise / wow factor.  I have some tissue papers in various colors that I got a while back (from Amazon) called 'Bleeding Tissue Paper.'  I didn't save the wrapper and don't remember the brand, but I know that's where I got it.  It caught my eye when I was looking for some other craft materials to use with my sweet Olive Jane.  It's such a blessing that she loves to come to Nanna's house and 'do projects' together.  We have so much fun.  I'm working on my son to give us another sleepover together.  Before she left last time, she had already planned a list of what she wants us to do next time.  One project she wants to try is a dream catcher.  What a girl!
Anyway, back to the bleeding tissue.  I carefully cut out the butterflies using the die.  It was really tricky to pick them up, once cut, and lay them onto a piece of watercolor paper - because the tissue is pretty thin.  All you do after that is spritz it all with water and watch it start to bleed.  What fun!
Once it's dry, you lift off the tissue paper and see what magic is waiting for you.  I love it.  Olive and I each experimented with several different colors.  She chose pink, green and turquoise and they turned out gorgeous.  She took them home before I got a photo.  I used blues, greens and purples - also gorgeous.  For this card and have just the blues and purples.  Here's what I ended up with after it dried and I put my card together.

As with my previous post, I haven't decided if I want to add a sentiment to the front.  Sometimes, I just like the clean, simplicity of it and let the image be the star.

What do you think?

UP NEXT:

April 8 --- Scraps and Prayers / 5:30-7:30 / $18.
We're going to have a blast playing with BRUSHO.  We're going to make several beautiful cards using Brusho ... AND ... I'll show you how you could make your own Swatch Book at home, to highlight some of the many fun ways to use Brusho.
DON'T FORGET:
We're going to have a '25 Cents Sale' for anyone in the class wishing to participate.  Bring your stamping goodies in a box or container and we'll put a little cup in front of it.  We'll 'shop' on the honor system, dropping quarters in the cup for each item we wish to get.  We'll see if anyone goes home with anything left in their cup:)  You may still shop, even if you don't have anything you wish to add to this fun little sale.  It's a great way to build your stamping supplies.  You may want to bring a shopping tote:)

SAVE THE DATE:   

June 23 --- Summer Open House Party with our new catalog.

My Own Special Technique... for Christmas

I have a 'wow' couple of cards for you today, using my own special technique.  They were inspired by a previous card I made, when I first came up with this technique.

Remember this card?  This is where I first came up with my new technique.   (Click here to see my previous post.)

I loved this butterfly card so much.  This is what inspired me to come up with my 2 Christmas versions.

The first Christmas version is made using the smaller ornament die.  I cut 3, scored them down the middle and then attached them (carefully), using Liquid Tombow Adhesive.

The second Christmas version is basically the same, but uses the larger ornament.

The ornament dies are absolutely gorgeous, especially when cut from our Gold Foil Sheets.

I used a larger ribbon on the larger ornament, but the backgrounds are basically the same on both cards.

I love how these turned out.  They are a bit labor intensive, but absolutely worth the extra effort.  Another nice feature about these cards is that they will fold flat for mailing.

- 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 look on the left for sneak peeks. 

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

Watercolor Wings in the Corner Garden

In my previous post, I promised I'd share another card using our Corner Garden set but without all the detailed coloring.  I decided to use it in this card as a beautiful background setting for yet another butterfly.

I went with a simple color story of Pacific Point with black and white accents.  The Corner Garden stamp is embossed with black EP.

With our gorgeous new Pacific Point ribbon, it was easy to make a simple, yet elegant little bit of accent for the card.
Tip:
Whenever you have a card with a black or very dark card base, be sure to add a layer of white inside, so you can have a place to stamp or write your message or note.  It adds yet another level of elegance to the card, too, and you can always add a bit of stamping on the edge to fancy it up even more:)

Today is going to be a fun and busy day.  I'm doing a bit of work in my studio this morning, along with enjoying Aaron's 8th birthday with him.  Later, I'm having lunch with my daughter and then we're going to start painting her nursery.  I hope you have a great day, too.

- 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 Trio of Berry Baskets, A Video, A Promise, A Tip ...and An Update on My Creative Binge

I must confess that, when the Spring Occasions Catalog came out, I was super excited to get the Berry Basket Bigz Die.  And then... it sat and waited for me to get around to playing with it.  Well, last week, I finally had time to do just that.  I love it!!!  Thanks goodness it didn't retire before I could create with it.  So, today, I have a trio of berry baskets to share with you.

Aren't they cute?  I used some of our new Cotton Papers (Watermelon Wonder) for the 'filler' in my baskets.  I have an old shredder that only cuts one way.  I got it and reserved it for just this purpose... tearing up perfectly good papers... to make filler:)

I made bunches of butterflies... gold foil and Delightful Dijon... and used them to decorate (and for a non-fattening treat in the baskets:)  Do you see some new ribbon on the two end baskets?  It is like our retired In Colors ribbon... soft, smooth, shiny and luscious... not to mention how easy it is to work with it.

If you plan to make some berry baskets of your own, be sure to watch this video.  It will make your work absolutely easy as pie! 
Click here for the video.

My promise:
When a new product arrives in the little brown truck, I will not put it away until I've played with it a bit and put it to good creative use.  I've already made sure that all my new stamps got put together and totally ready to use as soon as I unpacked them.

Tip:
How do I store my stamps?  I organize them according to the categories in the table of contents in each new catalog when it comes out each year.  I number the categories and then write that number on the back of the stamp case.  If it does not retire but moves to a new category when a new catalog comes out, I simply remove the number (alcohol wipe) and label it with its new number.  It makes it super easy to put them all away and to find them when I need them.  Each box has a labeled tag on it with the category title and the number.

When the box is full, no more stamps for that category.  I've always made it fit.  I do have 2 boxes for Artistic Expression.  It's easy to tell what style of stamps I love the most.  The tiny Christmas stash will grow soon... no problem:)

Are you ready for my creative binge update?
- 12 albums completed and printed from MDS, right before it retired
-  4 framed projects
- 70 brand new cards... yes, 70!

Now, I must sign off and go make something beautiful today.

- 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.

Watercolor Wings with New In Colors... 2 Ways

Sometimes, it's fun to try to 'CASE' a card you see that you like.  This one was inspired by someone's photo of a display board from Stampin' Up's Australian Convention.  I don't want to ever copy exactly and don't think I could.  Once my creative juices get flowing, things start to change pretty fast.  I'll share my cards and then explain a bit about them. 

The photo I saw had In Colors DSP for the banner strip.  I didn't have mine (yet) so I decided to go with silver foil paper on 1 of each color and our new Corrugated Paper on 1 of each color.  I love this new paper.  It comes in white and Kraft.

Here are the 2 variations.  I wasn't sure if, on the card in the photo, they used vellum for the tiny butterfly, but decided that's what I'd like on mine.  After stamping and cutting out the large butterflies, I spritzed them with some of my shimmer concoction.  They have a nice shimmer coming through behind the vellum.  You have to see it in real life.

I also added a tiny bit of stamping on the card base, using 2 of the little stamps that came with the Watercolor Wings stamp set.

I love our new little Blossom Accents.  I used the Bitty Banners framelits for the 'Just for You' strip and then cut one end off straight, then attached it under the blossom.

I added a strip of our new Dotted Lace trim over each of the banners, to show off how pretty it is.  These cards were quite time consuming, but I love the results.  I used a lot of product, so I hope I didn't forget anything.

I must confess that, with all my intense work time I've had in my studio lately, that I'm having trouble choosing a favorite stamp set and a favorite new In Color.   The party is this Sunday, so I have to decide this week.  I thought I knew right away but, after working with so many lately, I just love them all.  Ok, I'll think hard and choose... by Sunday afternoon.  Yikes!

- 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.

5 New In Colors... Framed

I've had a rough past week, filled with technology issues and sick puppies.  Here's hoping for a better week and fun stamping projects, using lots of new products.   I continue to be super busy getting ready for the big party and 'mini sale' and it's all a ton of fun! 

Each year, when our new In Colors come out, I like to make a few projects to highlight the new colors.  This year, I decided (since I love our Butterfly Framelits so much) to make a frame of butterflies.  This will be on display at my upcoming Open House/New Catalog Party, so everyone can see it 'in person' and admire the new colors. 

Whenever I do a project like this, I put the frame back together with the glass behind the project, so I can add all the dimension that I want to add to it.  The glass helps to stabilize the project and the frame can be reused again and again, because nothing is permanently attached to the frame itself.

This is one of my favorite frames.  I think the delicate cut work of the frame and the butterflies compliment each other.  Don't you love the cute little accessories that come in every new In Color?  They are attached with Liquid Tombow Adhesive.
 

- 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.

Striped Scallop Card

I have a card for you today that I made with our recently retired Strawberry Slush.  I think it would look pretty in some of the new In Colors, too.  I had an extra butterfly left over from a previous class project, so I decided to put it to good use.

It's a pretty simple card to make, actually.  It has a Strawberry Slush card base and then the scallop layer on the front is attached over a white layer of CS with an embossed strip and finished off with a piece of ribbon.  It's more complicated to write it out than to do it:)

One thing that makes this card so easy is that the embossed strip is the only thing holding on the striped scallop layer.  It's really all it needs to stay in place.  (The butterfly helps keep the front from coming up, too.)  I added a double layer of butterflies... sahara sand and then my specially embossed butterfly over it.
Click here to review how I created the embossed the butterfly.

I only attach the middle of the butterfly bodies, so their wings are free and add some beautiful dimension to the card.  I just got my order for our newest butterfly set last night (Thank you UPS man!) so I will have some fun playing with that today.  The 2 sets coordinate!!!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world.  Have a beautiful day.

Something Old / Something New Vintage Layout

Sometimes, when I finish a project for a class, I end up with some left over pieces that are too good not to keep.  I used a few to create this new vintage layout.   

I love showcasing my ancestors and preserving as much history as I can about them.  I cannot think of a better way to do this than with my Heritage Album. 
My plan is to use the large mat for a larger photo and place a smaller photo inside the oval frame.  I will use the series of tags for journaling or very small photos that would otherwise be difficult to use in a layout.

Of course, I added a lot of new pieces and embellishments to complete my layout.  I love how this turned out and I can't wait to add the photos.  

- 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.

Mother's Day Card for 2015

A nice thing about living fairly close to my MIL and getting to visit her often is that I can make a Mother's Day card for her that is as full of layers and dimension as I want... because I can hand deliver it.  Because her flowers were delivered yesterday, I decided to go ahead and give her my card, too.  So, since she's seen it, I can go ahead and share it with you.  She really liked it, so I hope you will, too.

- 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. 

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

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

Butterfly Basics for Earth Day

My calendar reminds me that today is Earth Day, so Happy Earth Day.  What better way to enjoy Earth Day than with a card that is a tribute to nature.

This is actually one of the cards that we'll be making at my May 16 class ... all about making beautiful cards using our thinlits and framelits.  I have stamped ferns on the inside of the card and on the envelope, as well.

Good News:
You can now order the Butterfly Basics... as a stamp set and/or thinlits OR as a bundle.

Click here to see the retired list.
Please note --- If you are planning on getting something from the retired list, do not wait.  I cannot begin to tell you how many times I've had customers regret waiting and then, when they tried to order, it was too late.
     When supplies are gone ... that's it.
Now, click here for a quick review.

- 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. 

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

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