CASE-ing LaVon

 I saw a card recently made by LaVon on Instagram, that checked all my boxes, and immediately pinned it.

Today I have a card that CASEs it.

supplies: white, Audrey Blue, aqua, 2 green cardstock, Woodgrain cardstock, Spellbinders  Perfect Touch rectangle and Woodland Tales Fern dies, Tim Holtz Speckles stencil and Detailed Butterflies dies, tumbled glass distress ink, Hero Arts (retired) woodblock script stamp from Artistic Windows, Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice Sentiment, tiny heart sprinkles

I love cards like this where we can use all our creative supplies!  Thank you, LaVon, for the inspiration!

Butterfly Hugs

Happy 4th of July to my stateside friends - hope your day is a fun one!

I've been wanting to revisit a postal collage set of stencils that I got earlier this year, and use it with the other postage collage goodies I already own.  Butterflies are certainly a July thing, so today is the day!

supplies: white and black cardstock, Waffle Flower Spring Breeze stencil set, Altenew and Pink Fresh Studio inks, Postage Collage stamps, Postage Collage and Postage Collage Blocks dies

The stencil set consists of 5 stencils, 2 for the butterflies, 2 for the flowers and leaves in the background, and a final one for small details: butterfly bodies and flower centers. But when you cut the large collage die from the finished panel, you lose alot of the floral and leaf details, so today I decided to use everything and paper-piece it back together.  First I cut the postage-edge panel from the stencilled panel and also from a plain white panel.  Next from the first cut I used the Postage Collage Blocks die to cut out the 6 individual panels, then pieced them into the plain white postage-edge panel.  Next I stamped on the black details to make these look more like postage stamps.  Then I very closely framed that with a black panel, and finally popped it above the background that I had saved. 

This postage collage idea from Waffle Flower is a fun one, and I'm so glad they continue to add to it! 

Butterfly Birthday

 I recently got myself a new Doodlebug pad of paper called Butterfly Kisses, and when I saw Sheri's sketch using lots of patterned papers, I wanted to use my new ones to CASE her cards.

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, dps from Doodlebug Butterfly Kisses and other Doodlebug dps from my scrap basket, Sunny Studio Fancy Frames Circle die, Simon Stitching Butterflies dies, sentiment from Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments

This is a great sketch to show off a variety of patterned papers - thank you, Sheri!  For me, using these sweet little papers is a carry-over from my quilting days, when I collected fat quarters of fabric just as I do papers now!  And Doodlebug is a wonderful source for them!

Have a lovely day!

Spring Breeze Hello

I thought the Waffle Flower Spring Breeze stencils would be a fun addition to my collection, especially because of the butterflies.   I enjoyed bringing the design to life, and then gave it an overnight to decide how I wanted to proceed with my card.  

This morning I decided to try the eclipse/hidden message technique.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Waffle Flower Spring Breeze stencil set, Simon Saturated inks trios 3, 9, 12, 15 and 17, Winnie & Walter (retired) In a Word: Hello die, Wplus9 (retired) Hand Lettered Hello stamp

Can you see the hidden "hello"?  There are 6 layers of it, the topmost cut from my stencilled panel, then layed back into the design.  Here's another shot.

Hopefully this will brighten someone's day!  

Enjoy your weekend - it's turned chillier here again, after an 80 degree day recently.  That's too hot too soon for me, so I'll take this moderation. 

Washi and a Turnabout!

 It's gardening season!  From now through June is the best time of year for enjoying our gardens, before they get to the "jungle" stage!  Recently I was in the mood for making a turnabout background, but then set it aside until now, when I paired it with some washi florals.

supplies: white and green cardstock, Concord & 9th In the Garden Turnabout stamp set, Sunny Studio Fancy Frames Circle die, Hero Arts Infinity Nesting Circle die, Waffle Flower Full Bloom Sentiments, Pink Fresh Studio Fluttering Butterfly Washi and matching die,  (retired) English Garden washi, adhesive foam squares

I don't use circles enough, so I chose this pretty scalloped one and one from a nested set to use as my focal point.  After stamping my sentiment, I added the bits of washi, then lifted the whole thing above my garden background.

Are you a gardener?  My husband does all the hard work, and I just choose the flowers and admire them!  Thanks for stopping by!

Beautiful Butterflies

 It should be no surprise that I love embossing folders; even without any manipulation on my part, they make a lovely background for our cards.  And in the scheme of things, they are pretty inexpensive.

Somewhere down the line I missed this Spellbinders Beautiful Butterflies 3D folder, so I used a holiday sale to add it to my collection.  I have 2 cards using it for today.

supplies: white cardstock, Beautiful Butterflies 3D embossing folder, alcohol markers to color, black ink pad, sentiment from All Seasons Spring PressPlate and Die set

I used the blackout technique, which works best with these 3D folders: emboss a white panel, turn it upside down so that it's debossed, color in the details with markers or inks, then rub a dark ink across the entire surface.

Next I embossed again on white, then gently rubbed a pink ink pad across the surface.  I didn't get pristine results this time, but it does bring out the lovely details in this folder.  

supplies: white and pink cardstock, Beautiful Butterflies 3D embossing folder, Carnation ink, A Little Hello Sentiments dies

All Spellbinders embossing folders are a big 5.5 by 8.5 inches, so you can move your paper around inside and get slightly different results each time.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today - hope I've brightened your day in a small way!

Butterfly Heart

 Today I have a Valentine's card using a lovely, but sadly retired, stamp.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Stampendous (retired) Laurel Burch Butterfly Heart cling stamp, sentiment from Hero Arts (retired) Sending Love Mail, tiny colored gems

It's always fun for me to color this one, because everything is so small scale.  This time I added some tiny sparkly gems to the centers of the flowers.

I'll enter this into the new Neglected Stuff Challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Spellbinders January Club Kits: Stylized Trellis 3D folder and Take Flight BetterPress plate

 Today's post features the 3D embossing folder, Stylized Lattice, mixed with the larger butterfly from the BetterPress kit this month.

supplies: white cardstock, Stylized Lattice 3D embossing folder, Take Flight BetterPress butterfly plate and matching die, (Caboodle) Take Flight layering stencils, distress inks, Nature's Dance sentiment and die, orange enamel dots, adhesive squares

I colored my butterfly like a Monarch one using the 3 layering stencils, which are the Caboodle bonus item for this month, then simply popped it above my embossed trellis background, and added another of the Nature's Dance sentiments.

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available for new subscribers only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all, plus a free bonus item each month, (this month it's the butterfly layering stencils), and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

Spellbinders January Club Kits: Nature's Canvas stencils and Take Flight BetterPress kit

 I always look forward each month to see what the Stencils of the Month might be, and this month is a winner!  They're called Nature's Frame.  

This year I'll be sharing the BetterPress kits with you, too, and these butterflies this month are a perfect pairing with the stencil kit!  The kit is called Take Flight.

supplies: white cardstock, Nature's Frame stencils, Cherry Blossom inks, Forest Glades ink, sentiment from Nature's Dance stamp of the month, Take Flight butterfly BetterPress plate and matching die, Caboodle Take Flight layering stencils, Berry color essentials gems

This month the Caboodle item is a 3-piece layering stencil set to color the 2 butterflies in the BetterPress set!  I used the same inks to color my butterfly as I did the flowers, then cut it out with the matching die that comes in the BetterPress set.  The sentiment is another of the 7 included in the Clear Stamp of the Month.  You can see 2 more of them in my previous post. 

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available for new subscribers only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all, plus a free bonus item each month, (the butterfly layering stencils), and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

Postage Collage and Design Papers

 Since last I played with my Postage Collage goodies, I've added another die to the group, the Postage Collage Blocks die.  I wanted this one so that I could use it with design papers, to cut out blocks the size of the openings in the regular Postage Collage die.  Here are 3 cards I made as soon as it arrived, and scroll down to see a bonus 4th card made a few days later.

supplies: Postage Collage die, Postage Collage Blocks die, Postage Collage stamps, all from Waffle flower, various design papers

Here are the individual photos; you will notice that I didn't glue down 2 sentiments that you see above; I've decided to wait until I need these cards, and then add something appropriate.

First up, I cut out the right side of a rainbow wreath from a Paper Rose Rainbow Twirl 6" pad.  One of the blocks was almost completely without detail (the middle of the wreath), so I added a butterfly.

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, Paper Rose Rainbow Twirl 6" pad,  Postage Collage die, Postage Collage Blocks die, Postage Collage stamps, and a postmark stamp from (retired)  Hero Arts Sending Love Mail, butterfly die from my supplies

My second card started with a fall scene from a Spellbinders Woodland Tales pad.  

supplies: white, gold, and a design paper from Spellbinders Woodland Tales 6" pad, Postage Collage die, Postage Collage Blocks die, Postage Collage stamps, a woodblock postmark stamp dated 1997 from All Night Media

And finally, I chose a large floral print for my third card.

supplies: pink and cream cardstock, design paper from Carta Bella Botanical Garden 6" pad, Postage Collage die, Postage Collage Blocks die, Postage Collage stamps, xoxo from Hero Arts Sending Love Mail stamps

In all of these cards, I used the Blocks die to cut out rectangles that then are glued inside the Collage die panel.  Then I did some overstamping before adding to my card front.

Here's 1 more example.  I think this floral panel was something digital that I had printed out years ago, then never used.  Here it is on the Postage Collage die.

Then I cut it apart and made this card.

supplies: green and white cardstock, a digital floral print, Postage Collage die, Postage Collage Blocks die, Postage Collage stamps, (retired) woodblock Hero Arts December Mark, sentiment from (retired) Hero Arts Sunshine Daisies, white embossing powder

I have a huge group of 6" paper pads and I hope that this will help me to use them up more quickly!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Simon Hurley Birthday Bash

 Simon Hurley recently launched another collection at Spellbinders, and I was intrigued by 2 of the embossing folders in it.  Both of them are 3D. Embossing folders are one of my favorite things to create with, and can be used simply just on white to add some texture, or as the focal image; it's up to you!

This first one is called Plaster, and I thought it would be a great one to have on hand for masculine cards.  So that's the direction I went for my first play with it.

supplies: white and various green cardstock, Plaster 3D embossing folder, (retired) Susan Tierney-Cockburn Ferns and Ivy dies, a Twilight butterfly sticker, sentiment banner from my stash

  I added some ferns cut from different green cardstock, one of the Twilight Butterfly stickers released earlier this year, and a sentiment that was in my sentiment box, all ready to go in the perfect color!

When you get this embossed, it also reminds me of the icing on a cake, so there's an idea for next time!

The next folder is called Flourish.  I made an easy card using some printed Stampendous artwork and a press plate sentiment..

supplies: white and bright yellow cardstock, Flourish embossing folder, fussy-cut sunflower from Stampendous Hope of Spring Quick Card Backgrounds, All Seasons Summer press plate sentiment (coming soon)

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you have a great day!

Hope Your Day is Full of Joy

I haven't done a glimmer card for awhile, so I went back through my glimmer plates and pulled out the one that came with my machine.  It has no name that I'm aware of, and it isn't being included anymore with the machine, so I guess it's retired. Story of my life!!

supplies: white cardstock, (retired) oval doily frame and Anytime Sentiments glimmer plates, champagne glimmer foil, (retired) English Garden and Fluttering Butterflies washi tape

I chose this sentiment because it was a vertical one, something I don't have many of.  I thought I was making a possible birthday card, but the more I look at this with the pretty gold foiling and accents in the washi elements, it would work for a wedding or anniversary card, too, don't you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by today - I hope you're enjoying your day!

Blue Butterflies

It's June - Happy Summer!   

Here's a card featuring the lovely Twilight Butterflies released last month at Spellbinders. I love these blues!

supplies: white cardstock, retired brushstroke stamps from Simon Says Stamp Brush Stroke Messages and Avery Elle Brushed, a mix of inks from Pink Fresh Studio Morning Sky and Altenew Lapis Lazuli mini ink cube sets, sentiment from Mama Elephant Paola's Wishes, Spellbinders Twilight Butterflies,  sequins

If this looks familiar, this card is a CASE of one of my own  made back in 2015!  Still love those brushstrokes!!  Mine are retired, but if you search "brush stroke stamps", you'll find some other options.  Also, there are stencils out there that will give the same results, too.  

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful summer ahead!

Timeless Butterflies

 Spellbinders has a new Timeless release, several of which are these gorgeous silvery-edged butterflies!  I received 2 sets, the Twilights, and the Summer Days; each consists of 7 different butterfly stickers in various sizes and colors, each 2 layers: a sticky bottom layer edged in silver, and a heavy acetate top printed with all the gorgeous details.  Here's what I made.

supplies: white and metallic silver cardstock, Spellbinders Efflorescent Flora 3D embossing folder, purple Twilight butterfly sticker, pink Summer Day sticker, sentiment from Snowflake Wishes stamp/die set, silver embossing powder, clear rhinestones

I wanted these butterflies to be the focal point, as they were a real WOW! when I opened my package; each one is edged with a silvery kaleidoscope and make quite the impact!  So I found an embossing folder with flowers and leaves in scale to them, and just added a sentiment in silver and some rhinestones on their bodies.

Here's a 2nd card, this time mixing just one of the larger butterflies with some Doodlebug 6" design papers that feature butterflies, too.

supplies: white cardstock base, Doodlebug Hello Again design papers (including sentiment), yellow Summer Day butterfly sticker

I used the largest of the butterflies on my first 2 cards today; the packs contain 3 large and 4 smaller designs, each one different.  For my final card, I used 2 of the smaller ones from the Summer Day set.

supplies: white and black cardstock, a plaid dp, Summer Day butterflies stickers, sentiment from Stampendous All the Sentiments, Doodlebug tiny heart sprinkles

My phone finally captured the sparkles on the top green butterfly - that's how all of them look - a lovely twinkle!

There are 6 different sets of these butterflies, each one prettier than the one before.  I hope you'll give them a look!  

Washi Butterflies!

It's May!  

Here are a couple of cards that I made after receiving the Pink Fresh Studio Fluttering Butterflies washi and matching dies.  I have a lovely collection of their floral washi designs, and thought that these butterflies would be a nice accompaniment to them.

First I used just the elements in this set, which are lots of butterflies, along with some leafy stems.  I simply arranged them on a pierced leafy background and popped up a sentiment.

supplies: white cardstock, Memory Box Pinpoint Leaf cover plate, Pink Fresh Studio Fluttering Butterflies washi, matching dies, Perfect Sentiments foiling plate and die, gold glimmer foil, adhesive foam

Next I mixed 2 of the butterflies with a floral washi design, Hydrangea and Rose.

supplies: white cardstock, Paper Smooches (retired) Fab Frames die, Pink Fresh Studio Hydrangea and Rose washi, Fluttering Butterflies washi, and matching die, Taylored Expressions (retired) Handlettered Sentiments cling, gold embossing powder, adhesive foam

These washi tapes are beautifully designed and colored, and are a joy to work with!  Hope your day is full of joy!

I'm entering these into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Feminine.

Lacey Stitched Butterfly

 Now that I have a bit more time, I've been enjoying pulling out my existing supplies and enjoying them again!  Today I have a butterfly card.

supplies: white and pink cardstock, Memory Box (retired) Cottage Meadow design paper, Spellbinders Stitched Glimmer Butterfly dies, pink variegated embroidery floss, 6 strands,  Wonderful Script Sentiments dies, Mini Blooms & Sprigs dies, stamped sentiment from Winnie & Walter (retired), enamel dots

I wanted to use some of my Mom's variegated floss again, and chose pink this time.  After constructing my butterfly, I went looking through my old printed papers for a background for it - don't you think this Cottage Meadows paper is perfect?  So pleased to use up something "old"!  I also really liked Yana's lovely font that she used for her "beautiful" die - it reinforces the femininity of this design!  As I did once before, I added some teensy flowers to the butterfly - these ones mimic the paper well!  

Hope you're having a great day - thanks much for stopping by today!

Spellbinders Club Kits for June

The Spellbinders Club Kits for June are now available!.  Here are my cards  -  this month's overall theme is based on the ocean.  

The 3D embossing folder of the month is called Scattered Shells.  

supplies: kraft, aqua, and white cardstock, Scattered Shells 3D embossing folder, white pigment ink, a retired sentiment

All of Spellbinder's embossing folders are a nice big 5 3/4" X 8 3/4" in size, so you can make a full-size slimline with any of them.  I chose to do so this time because I wanted you to see as many of the details as I could get onto my card!  I simply embossed a large kraft panel in this folder, then gently rubbed on white pigment ink to bring out the details for you.

The regular embossing folder of the month is called Splish Splash, and I adore this design!  I'm sure you'll be seeing it appearing here lots!  I made it into a birthday card, and embellished it with a butterfly.

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, Splish Splash embossing folder, white pigment ink, Hemstitch Rectangle die, Lots of Wishing You stamps and matching dies, butterfly and flower dies from a former card kit.

Here is the Glimmer Kit: Sending Waves.  It comes with 2 different wave designs to foil, dies to cut them out,  and a sentiment. There's also an add-on kit with 4 more sentiments that can be foiled, with matching shadow dies. This month the kit comes with Skybright glimmer foil, a pale, silvery blue color.

supplies: black, white, and 3 shades of aqua cardstock, Sending Waves glimmer plates, foiled sentiment from Ocean Wishes Sentiments Add-On hot foil plate set, Skybright glimmer foil, whale from Whale in a Bottle (this month's Large Die of the Month Club Kit), aqua jewels

Next is the Large Dies of the Month kit: Whale in a Bottle!  It has 20 different dies!  How fun to make a shaped card!

supplies: white, shades of grey, shades of blue and green, shades of brown cardstock, Whale in a Bottle dies

Just look at all the details we have to make an underwater scene!  And the bottle, cork and tag can be used for other projects, too.

The Small Dies of the Month are called Dancin' Octopus & Friends!  The Octopus and little squid have a hinge apparatus so that when the card is tilted, their legs swing back and forth!

supplies: various colors of cardstock, Dancin' Octopus & Friends dies, sentiment from the Ocean Wishes Sentiments add-on Glimmer sentiments, Teal glimmer foil

There are 12 dies in this set - I love the seaweed and starfish they included!  The sentiment is one from the Glimmer add-on sentiment kit.

And lastly, here's my card using the Stitching Dies of the Month: Stitched Shell Card Front.

supplies: cream, pale pink, and aqua cardstock, Stitched Shell Card Front dies, pink and cream embroidery floss, 3 strands, foiled sentiment from Sending Waves glimmer kit, Teal glimmer foil, pearls

I was inspired by the shells we find on the Florida Gulf Coast where we sometimes winter.  There are lots of shells on the beaches, and my favorites are the creamy scallop shells with pink markings on them.  So I cut 4 cream shells and stitched them with pink floss, and 3 pink shells and stitched them with cream floss for my card.  My sentiment is part of this month's Glimmer of the Month kit, foiled in Teal glimmer foil.

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the details of each product.  You can subscribe to the kits separately, but there are also lots of ways to combine several of them (scroll down and look under Value Clubs).  And you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty.

Woodblock Wednesday

 What a great idea Amy has, to start a challenge which I love, called Woodblock Wednesday, where she asks us to use a woodblock stamp for a new creation!  I started stamping back when there were almost nothing BUT woodblock stamps, so I have quite a collection.  I've been thinking about what I'd like to use for my first entry, and in looking back through my Pinterest boards, I decided on Hero Arts Heart Winged Butterfly.  Mine has a date of 2009 on it.  Here's my card.

supplies: unknown aqua and pink floral design paper, pink cardstock, Heart Winged Butterfly woodblock, Simon Spring Bouquets sentiment, enamel dots from Altenew Cherry Blossom collection, unknown stitched scalloped rectangle

I chose my printed paper, and stamped the butterfly twice, then cut them out and layered them, securing them only along the body so that I could pop up the wings.  

Amy asked to see how we store our woodblocks.  Here's a picture taken a long while back, maybe about the era of my butterfly stamp.  I have open shelving and some old printer drawers on the walls to the right of my desk.  

Since that picture was taken, we've added another 4 shelves on the left of my desk.  They do double duty to display cards, too!

Thank you, Amy, for giving me a reason to use these old beauties!  I hope to play every month.