Butterflies and Flowers

As this work week comes to an end, I hope you find the energy to play in one more challenge.  The talented Tammy, over @ Sketch Frenzy Friday, has an unique sketch to push your creativity.

here is what I made:

I used things that I love.  Circles, butterflies, buttons, flowers, and burlap-type ribbon, and a lot of machine stitching.  I do know that not all girls are girly girls, so this card is for them.

The card base is baked brown sugar cardstock.  I used two different pattern papers from the same collection: Etc. dsp.  

The circles are made from soft suede card stock and Etc. dsp.  I used the ruler print.

The butterflies were cut from soft sky cardstock and stamped with en francias inked in crumb cake classic ink.  The centers are different.  I thought it would add a bit more visual interest.  I used the trio blossom punch for two of the floral shapes and the floral fusion die for the 4 petal flower.  The bottom flower and the top button are created with clay and the Buttons and Flowers molds.  The center butterfly has a simple floral shape with a pearl center.

All edges are sponged with crumb cake classic ink.  (all edges: the panels, the butterflies, and the blossoms).

I love adding machine stitching to my cards.  And this card is sporting some stitching {smile}.  I did a simple border around the center panel.  I also did a quick stitch through the strips of burlap ribbon.

The butterflies are adhered to the card front with dimensionals.  The floral centers are adhered to the butterflies with dimensionals

I added a simple sentiment tag.  I really wanted to add a tiny tag, but its retired.  So, I have to move on, and embrace these current products.  I added the simple 'Thanks' to the lower wing of the middle butterfly.

Once the card was complete, I spritz it with some smooch, and a few splatters of crumb cake ink.

Thank you for looking!  Now head to your craft space, and share with us what you create with our sketch over @ Sketch Frenzy Friday.  

this card is now available for sale in my Etsy shop, here

create

I have some productive plans for this weekend.  I need to clean my craft room.  I basically 'know' where everything is.  But, it really needs to get put back together.  My son-in-law is racing this weekend, too.  So, I'll be out at the race track, showing my support.  And, I need to spend some time with my grandchildren.  So, fun-filled, and busy.  But, I'm sure that your weekend is busy too.

Before the weekend, gets off to its official start, lets swing by the Sketch Frenzy Friday challenge blog to see what we can create.  Tammy, is this week's sketch designer, and here is her sketch:

the sketch

here is my take on this week's sketch:

I just love how wonderfully pink pirouette and calypso coral pair together.  And so, with no restrictions, I chose to work with these two colors.

The main panel is calypso coral with distressed polka dots heat embossed in white.  I just love how these polka dots look worn and vintage.  

For the strip of card stock that runs across the middle of the card is pink pirouette with some stamping.  I inked the very vintage wheel in calypso coral and ran it horizontally.  I inked the en francias back ground stamp in basic black classic ink.  Then I tapped the card stock, so that the text would be random.  I brushed some whisper white craft ink across this same panel randomly.  And lastly, I sponged some crumb cake classic ink along the edges of the panel.  I matted this piece with basic black card stock.  I used the scallop edge border punch to create the decorative trim.

Now, for this little cluster.  I stamped the grossamer lace in versa mark and heat embossed in white on vellum.  I just love this stamp.  And yeah, it's a retiring stamp. {frown}

The butterfly was created with the butterfly die.  I used pink pirouette card stock and stamped the en francias background stamp onto this butterfly piece.  I then edged the butterfly with whisper white craft ink using a paint brush. Then dunked the butterfly into my tub of dazzling diamond glitter.  (the glitter adhers to the wet craft ink, and when dried, the glitter is fixed to the ink)  I layered a circle of first edition dsp. I also cut a blossom piece from pink pirouette card stock.  I made the button with some clay and a new button mold by Stampin' Up!  I tied the whole piece together with some linen thread.

For the sentiment banner, I used very vanilla and calypso coral card stocks.  I stamped the 'create' in basic black classic ink.  This word is from the creative elements stamp set.

I hope you have found some inspiration here.  And I hope that you play along with us.  Use your favorite color combinations, stamps and papers to create a beautiful paper craft to share with us @ SFF. 

Banners of Blue

Happy Friday.   I'm glad you had a chance to stop by and take a look around.  This week over @ Sketch Frenzy Friday, I am the designer of this weeks sketch.  How cool is that?  Anyways, you know me.  Love a challenge, and the whole creative process of it all.

Here is this weeks sketch:

See how much fun this is?  There is alot of potential for this sketch, just take a look.  The arrows can be arrows or some other horizontal piece.  The tag can be a tag, or any other vertical rectangle.  The scallop circle on the tag can be a flower, a star, a butterfly, a circle, or any other shape.  The sentiment placement, well, that's a no brainer.  Put that puppy on the right lower corner of your creation.  To me, easy peasy.  And I hope you don't get stumped or derailed by the arrows.  Remember, this is a sketch.  Play, have fun! and lets create!

Here is what I did with the sketch:

When I went in my craft room, I knew that I wanted to make something vintage.  I have a wonderful girlfriend, who I call my sister, but we aren't blood relatives.  Well, she got some horrible news from her doctor, and her heart is hurting.  As well as her family, and friends.  Anyways, I wanted to make a card for her.  She is very special to ALOT of folks, who only want the very best for her.  So, I made this card with her in mind.  I will be getting this out to her in the mail today.

As you can tell from my sketch, there is alot of horizontal lines.  I wanted to add a little more vertical lines, to give the card a nice balance.  The pattern paper I selected from the Fan Fair DSP collection I cut, so the lines would be running up and down.  I also  made my tag's orientation tall.  To add a bit more vertical, I added a hand-stamped ticket to the left side of the tag.  

I used my square hand held punch to create the flag ends of the horizontal tape measure pattern papers. Also from fan fair dsp.  As is the tag.

I used the first edition DSP for the scallop circle.  I used the silver glimmer paper for the butterfly, and the butterfly die.  I used very vanilla cardstock and the fusion flowers die for the blossom.  I cut one lone blossom from the floral trim, to help build the center portion of the butterfly.

For my' sentiments, I did a double banner.  I stamped the words in basic black classic ink onto very vanilla card stock.  

I used the burlap ribbon for the top of my tag.  I also added some pearl jewels to the card, to help give it a feminine look.  All edges of each paper piece has been distressed with crumb cake classic ink and a sponge.

I hope that we have inspired you to play along with us this week, using my sketch @ SFF.

Create Happiness

This week, over @ Nacho Average Challenge have a color challenge for you this week.  I have to admit, when I first saw the colors, I thought, 'what can I make with these colors?'  You see, they are not the typical colors that I work with.  But, it is called a challenge.

Here are the colors:

here is what I made:

I stamped the back ground stamp in VersaMark ink onto the Marina Mist card stock.  I used clear embossing powder and heat set the image.  I placed my embellish pieces over the label portion of the main panel piece.  

For the butterfly cluster:  I used the doily die to cut the small doily under the butterfly.  The paper is actually very vanilla card stock.  I sponged daffodil delight onto the card stock.  I used a piece of First Edition DSP and the butterfly die.  I used real red card stock and the beautiful wings die.  I sponged daffodil delight classic ink onto a paper blossom.  I adhered the paper blossom to the red butterfly with a dimensional.  I tied some white bakers twine through a faceted button and added it to the center of the paper blossom.

I used the Loving Thoughts word stamp set to create the two banners.  I stamped the words in Basic Grey classic ink, and used a 1 1/4" square hand-held punch to create the flagged ends.

For the postage stamps:  I first stamped the images in Marina Mist classic ink.  I then used the postage stamp punch and punched out the images.  I sponged crumb cake classic ink along the edges to distress the stamps.  I then used the Paris postmark stamp, on the Eiffel tower postage stamp, in Basic Grey classic ink.  I rolled the text wheel, over the Travel Post postage stamp, in Basic Grey classic ink.

I hope that we have inspired you to play along with us @ NAC.  You never know, you could be our next Top Nacho!

Thanks Tag

Thank you, for taking the time to check back with me.  If I were to say, that this weekend was a challenge, I think I would be sugar coating it.  I created a tag for the challenge over @ Our Creative Corner.  Susan, wants you to create your own background on your paper craft, and absolutely NO pattern paper.  And don't cover up your background.  Sounds like a fun challenge, huh?  Well, I have been making paper crafts for the Arts & Crafts Fairs that I am selling at, and well, my focus has been on Holiday themed items.  I needed a little inspiration, so I headed over to Tim Holtz blog, to see what he has done for the November Tag.  And so, I basically did what he did.  I did a stamp resist technique and a color wash for my background color.  I used minimal embellishments, which was a struggle for me.  So, here is the tag that I created.  It is not my typically style, but I do like it.

Let me first apologize for the photo quality.  I took the photo of this tag earlier with my camera.  But then I lost my camera.  I know that sounds odd, but, I can't' find it anywhere.  So, I had to use my cell phone.  Then I had to email the photo to myself.  Then our modem crashed.  Replaced the modem.  (yes, we had to drive into town to do that.)  Then our internet went out.  Not sure if it is from the snow (yes, we got snow), or our mountain location (elevation 7500ft), or my luck.  Either way, I really had to work at this post.

Here is how I created this tag:

I cut a tag from Shimmer white card stock, 4 1/4" x 2 1/4".  I stamped the two leaves from the French Foliage stamp set, in Versa Mark, sprinkled on some ultra detail clear embossing powder, and then heat set it.  I sprayed the tag with water, and used my aqua painter to 'water-color' the tag with So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, and Old Olive re-inkers.  I did spray the tag with a spritz or two of more water, to help blend the colors.  I used my heat gun to speed up the drying time.  I stamped the sentiment in Jet Black Staz-On.  The stamp is a little off set.  I did that on purpose.  I used some crumb cake seam binding to tie the bow at the top of the tag.  I stamped the small thanks onto a vintage tag in soft suede, and used a tiny clothes pin to attach the vintage tag to the seam binding.  For the butterfly, I used a die to cut the shape from some beautiful pattern paper (city sidewalk from Pink Paislee).  I used picket fence distressed paint to edge the butterfly, and then dunked the painted butterfly into my tub of dazzling diamond glitter.  I had a beautiful black crystal brad left over from my MME lost and found 2 collection.  And viola!

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope that you have a chance to play along with us this week @ Our Creative Corner.  I know you will have fun!  And if nothing else, it gives you an excuse to 'play' in your craft space {smile}.

S... is for me

Wow, this weekend went by pretty quick, but I did get a lot of chores done.  I spent half of yesterday in my craft room.  

A while ago, I purchased an initial, from a national craft store, made of chipboard.  I had a scrap of a very pretty pattern paper that I just treasure.  The pattern paper is from Lost & Found.  There are pink and red roses with pale blue leaves, on a background of vanilla.  First, i painted the initial a similar shade of pale blue, found in the pattern paper.  Then, I adhered the pattern paper to my initial.  I cut as close to the letter as I could, and then used a paper file to clean up the rough edges.  I used E6000 glue to adhere some magnets to the back.  And then I went on to embellish the front of the initial.   

I cut a butterfly from some coordinating pattern paper.  Then, I layered a paper blossom on top of a different paper blossom.  Then I adhered this layered paper blossom onto a fabric blossom.  I punched out three leaf shapes from aqua mist card stock and crinkled and distressed them with white craft ink.  The completed flower was adhered to the body of the butterfly.  I added a metal note holder tied with a scrap piece of crochet trim. 

I added a mini clothes pin to the upper part of the initial.  I rubbed white craft ink on the top of the clothes pin.  Then I added some vintage white embossing powder and heat embossed it.  I tied a small piece of cream  linen thread thru a tiny pink button and adhered it to the clothes pin.  I added a tiny half faux pearl to the center of the bow.

 I added some half faux pearls to the ends of the initial.  

Here is my magnet!  I made it for my locker at work.  A little piece of craftiness at work {smile}

Thank you for stopping by!  Glad to have the company.  Check back tomorrow, as I am working on another altered spiral notebook to sell in my Etsy shop.  I am using the same pattern paper I used for the spiral notebook I made for my granddaughter.  I hope you have a great week.  

So Grateful

I've received my box of new Stampin' Up! products earlier this week, and I'm just loving the new stuff!  There is this pattern paper that reminds me of a French flea market:  Attic Boutique.  It has a wonderful mix of pattern, text, and pretty colors.  

It's Friday, and its another blog hop over @ Sketch Frenzy Friday.  Tammy F., over at Sketch Frenzy Friday has created a wonderful sketch for us to work with this week.  

Check out the sketch:

Here is what I did!

One of the great things about this sketch, is that the empty space can be pattern paper, or an image, or dry embossed cardstock, etc.  Very versatile and easy to work with.  Also, the rectangle piece at the upper right doesn't have to be rectangle.  I used one of the Label Framelits, to die cut the First Edition DSP to make the first layer of my 'rectangle'.  Then I stamped one of the frames from the Frame It stamp set, and used the hand-held punch to create the shape.  Then I used a wood sheet to die cut a butterfly from the Butterfly Die.  I then made a multi-loop bow with some cherry cobbler seam binding, and then added a pretty in pink button on top.  I added a half faux pearl to the button.  I made a quick tiny tag with the Tiny Tags stamp set and jewelry hand-held punch.  The banner-sentiment piece was made with the petal cone die and the Apothecary Art stamp set.  To give my 'rectangle' piece a little shabby feel, I stapled a scrap piece of crochet trim to the left edge.

Now, head over to Tammy B.'s blog, to see what she has created.  And, don't forget to leave some love, and let me know what you think!

Late Birthday Wishes

While surfing the web over the weekend, I found alot of inspiration from some of the folks that I follow.  And I wanted to try an interesting color combo.  I found this decorators photo on Little Princess Cards blog. The colors are pink, yellow, and black.  I know, this color combo sounds far fetched.  But, I was determined to see if I could get it to work.  So, I rummaged threw my scrap stash.  I located some pink and yellow ribbons.  And set out to work.  I needed a bit more direction, so I went to a sketch challenge blog @ Simple Desire to scrap.  This challenge blog is in Russian, so you will need to translate the blog if you are interested in reading it.  (This blog has a translate button at the top of the page.)

Here is the original inspiration photo:

 Here is the sketch:

  

And here is my card:

When I first saw this color combo, my first thought was, 'are you kidding?'.  But I really like it!  Like I said this card is made from scraps.  I believe the large yellow polka dot paper is a Cosmo Cricket paper.  The pink script is from Sceinic Route, the hounds tooth pattern paper is from Authentique, the cream text paper is from Stampin' Up!, as well as the yellow small polka dot paper and the glitter paper.  The pink flourish paper I have no idea.  The yellow ribbon is from Stampin' Up! and the pink small polka dot ribbon is from Paper Trey Ink.  The ribbon slide is from Paper Studio.  The stamps (Birthday Wishes, and friends) are from Stampin' Up!  So is the die to cut the cardstock scallop circle.  The flower comes from Kaiser.  The card base is Crumb Cake, from Stampin' Up!.  

Thank you for looking! and I hope this new year is off to a great start for you! 

Give Thanks

It's Friday! yahoo!  and you know what that means, its time for another sketch from one of the design team members from Sketch Frenzy Friday challenge.  Please join us for our blog tour.  Tammy F. is the talented member that provided us with this week's sketch.   The only thing we ask, is that you use your Stampin' Up! supplies.

Here's the sketch:

Here is what I created:

This card was alot of fun to create!  I like to add layers to my cards, and sometimes the layers are in ink and not paper.  I took a scrap piece of Pool Party cardstock.  I used the same color classic ink and this wonderful stencil to create that blurry flourish to the left side.  I then inked the En Francais script background stamp in Sahara Sand classic ink.  I layed the pool party cardstock onto of the stamp and tapped with my finger tips.  I didn't want the script to be complete.  I wanted the lettering to be random and faded in some areas.  I stamped 'Give Thanks' in soft suede classic ink towards the bottom right of the card.  I used scrap pieces of Crumb Cake DSP to create the rectangle and scallop circle.  I used Certainly Celery DSP to create the different sized butterflies.  For the large, middle butterfly, I also cut a butterfly with the matching cardstock.  I layered them together.  I also used a dimensional to give this creature some height off the card, and curled the wings.  I added three tiny faux half pearls to the body of the butterfly.

Thank you for spending a few minutes with me.  Now, don't forget, Tammy B. is your next stop on the blog tour!