Butterfly Time.and Some Wildflower Shares!

I wanted to make another card with this old favorite Hero Arts woodblock stamp called Heart Winged Butterfly, ca 2009.  I made this design a few times before, and I like the butterfly stamped over a small ditzy floral pattern.   Today's card is in honor of those pretty blue swallowtail butterfles.

supplies: unknown blue print design paper, Lawn Fawn  Spring Fling dotty yellow dp, Hero Arts Heart Winged Butterfly woodblock, Spellbinders Postage Edge die, sentiment from Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice sentiments, Altenew Lapis Lazuli enamel dots

The butterfly is stamped twice, fussy-cut, then stacked, securing them only along the body, which allows the wings to be bent upward.  Then I use the same floral print as my card edging.

My husband and I have been trying to walk everyday at a county park very close to us that used to be a 36 hole golf course.  When the owners retired, their kids decided to donate most of it to the park systems here, and over the years, the parks have sprinkled wild flowers everywhere.  Not a day goes by that we don't discover something new.  I take my phone with me, and if I don't know what the plant is, there's an identifier on the phone that usually does a pretty good job of telling me what it is.

Here are some flowers we've seen so far this year.

Dame's Rocket

This is a little lupine!  I was thrilled to find patches of these; I didn't know we had these in Ohio!  They're about 6 to 8 inches tall.

Spiderwort

A tree swallow.  These birdhouses have been placed all over the property and, though we've seen a few bluebirds, this is what we see most often.  Look at that gorgeous irridescent blue!

According to my identifier, these are foxglove beardtongue.  There are great swaths of these in several areas.  

Just in the last few weeks, coneflower, butterfly weed and milkweed have been opening.

The bees were all over these today and they smell wonderful!  AND we've seen several deer now and again.  No fawns yet, though. 

Right now the park has 3 trails, some using the old cart paths from the golf course in places, augmented with mown grass paths and gravel ones, and sprinkled with woods, all going up hill and down dale!  We are SO lucky to have this!  You'll be seeing more pics going forward.

A Bouquet of Hugs

 This card is for someone who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.  I hope the pinks make her smile.

supplies: ivory, various pinks, and green cardstock, The Greetery Botanicuts Sunflower dies, stems and ribbon from PTI Build a Bouquet dies, Simon Says Stamp Daisy Floral Field embossing folder and sentiment from Garden Greetings, ancient Spellbinders Label die, green enamel dots, adhesive foam to pop up bow and one of the flowers

I put together the bouquet and then set it aside for a day to think about how I wanted to present it.  Then I remembered this big fancy label from years ago and it just fit!  So after adding the bouquet to it I placed it against an embossed daisy background.  

We are having a gorgeous June, with blue skies, big fluffy clouds, cool breezes, and temps in the 70s!  Wishing the same for you!

Lots of Texture

 June is the month of roses, and that was a good excuse to make a card featuring them.  I pulled out my Altenew Antique Rose dies for this one.  The details are amazing, aren't they?

supplies: white, 4 pinks, and 3 teals cardstock, Altenew Antique Rose layering dies (includes leaves), Spellbinders Floral Expressions 3D embossing folder

The roses are 4 layers and the leaves are 3.   They would be pretty against a plain white background, but I wanted more, so I put the on a large floral embossed background that is sadly retired. The roses are still available, though!  

Since this will work for many occasions, I decided to leave off my sentiment until I need it.  But I think I'd choose a banner die placed across the flowers.

HERE and HERE are some other cards that I've made using these dies.

How are you enjoying June?

A CASE

Back in 2014 I took one of Jennifer McGuires's online card classes called Stretch Your Stamps 2, and Shari Carroll was one of the instructors.  I CASEd one of Shari's cards then and have always wanted to do another one in a different set of colors.  Here's that card, only 12 years later!

supplies: white and watercolor cardstock, vellum, (retired) Hero Arts Flower Bird Garden cling stamp, picked raspberry, carved pumpkin, and mustard seed distress inks, Simon/CZ Design With Love die, adhesive foam squares, tiny pale pink and peach adhesive pearls

Here's my original card.

Both cards use the same cling stamp called Flower Bird Garden, a 3" by 3 1/2" negative background.  Inking it allows the details to come through as white (or whatever color of cardstock you use to stamp on), and colors the background.  Shari's idea was to ink it in several distress inks, spray it lightly with water to help the inks blend, and then stamp it on watercolor paper.  Then you cut it into 1" squares and mix them back up to make a more random background.  In order to get enough squares, I had to stamp twice, and after cutting them apart into 1" squares, randomly popped them above a backing panel, which was then attached to my white card base.  Then I just added a die-cut sentiment and embellishments.  

If you wish further details on the older card, it's linked at the top of this post or you can also click on its picture here to be taken back to the original post.

How are you all doing?  We've been enjoying the cool sunny weather lately, taking a walk daily.  Thanks for stopping by!