Irresistible Butterfly

My title about says it all...the Butterfly Basics stamp set and coordinating Butterfly Thinlets are pretty much irresistible to me! I have to restrain myself from using them so that my other stamps get a turn!

I sponged on some Pear Pizzazz & Coastal Cabana to reveal the pretty foliage design on the Irresistibly Yours DSP...which is available for FREE during SAB! The splattered Calypso Coral print is from the Best Year Ever DSP and that is FREE as well!

I hand cut a piece of Vellum Cardstock by tracing around the negative space left inside my card stock after die cutting the large butterfly. Then after adhering it to the back of my butterfly I colored the back of the vellum using my Blendabilities Markers for a stained glass effect.

The smaller butterfly was heat embossed using White Embossing Powder and then sponged the same as my background.

Have a nice weekend!

Springtime World of Dreams

During my last stamping session sponging the Irresistibly Yours DSP to reveal the lovely patterns made me think of one of my favorite techniques...emboss resist. So I pulled out one of my favorite stamp sets for this technique...World of Dreams.

The sponged on colors of Calypso Coral, Pistachio Pudding and Coastal Cabana along with the subject show that I am dreaming of spring.

I was inspired by the simple layout of a card on page 7 of the recent Stampin' Success magazine. They used a stamp set I don't have, so I swapped it out for another image that took about the same size.

Thanks for visiting.

Irresistible Painted Blossoms

The Irresistibly Yours DSP from the Sale-a-Bration catalog really is irresistible! I've been having so much fun sponging to reveal the beautiful patterns.

The pattern revealed on this piece works perfectly with the Painted Petals set I thought. I used Pear Pizzazz & Pool Party for the sponged on color and the flower is Calypso Coral.

Basic Wisteria Lotus Blossom III

Today I have the final card in the set of three cards to share with you.

Here's is a look at the entire set.

All three cards use the same color combo of inks: Wisteria Wonder , Elegant Eggplant & Blackberry Bliss for the lotus flower*, Wild Wasabi & Mossy Meadow for the ferns and stem and finally,  Sahara Sand for the Hardwood background.

*NOTE: I have found it much easier to stamp the flower image by doing it backwards from what is suggested on page 6 in the SAB catalog...I stamp the largest, solid background in the lightest color first and finish with the smallest textured piece in the darkest ink. For me, it's much easier to line up each layer. Also, if using the same color of ink (stamped off) to create the flower, I found that the detail wasn't as good for me starting with the smallest, detailed stamp first as suggested.

Now that you have seen the entire set, do you have a favorite?

Thanks for visiting...have a GREAT weekend!

Basic Wisteria Lotus Blossom II

I'm back today to share the second card in my three card set using the Butterfly Basics and Lotus Blossoms stamp sets.

This one is the most masculine of the set because I used more Mossy Meadow instead of Wisteria Wonder & Blackberry Bliss when it came to the card stock. I also eliminated the bow and just went with a strip of Mossy Meadow Stitched Ribbon instead.

Check back to see the full set of cards and more info on how I created them in my next post. Until then, scroll down to see the first card in this set.

Thanks for visiting today!

Going, Going...Gone

As of right now, I have sold all of the kits I had on hand. The tutorials will continue to be available here: Butterfly Basics Watercolor Collage Set 

I may make this kit available again in the coming weeks, so if you are interested in ordering one to create the pretty set as shown above, please contact me.

Thanks to all who have purchased a kit or tutorial so far!

Basic Wisteria Lotus Blossom I

During my last stamping session I stamped using my favorite stamp set from the Occasions Catalog...Butterfly Basics and paired it up with my favorite stamp set from the Sale-a-Bration catalog...Lotus Blossom. Since I was using favorites...I figured I may as well use some of my favorite colors too, right? So, I had to go with some purple...Blackberry Bliss & Wisteria Wonder to be exact. Here's what I came up with...

I ended up making a set of three coordinating cards...all a little different. I'll share the rest of them this week...so make sure to check back.

Please take note: Wednesday, February 18th will be the last day I can fulfill an order for the kits to create my Butterfly Basics Watercolor Collage Set

If you have been considering ordering one of my kits to create this pretty set, please do so before Wednesday. The tutorials will continue to be available. Thanks so much to everyone who has ordered one of my kits or tutorials so far!

Love Canvas

Here's a special little Valentine gift I made for my hubby. I started with an 8x8 canvas, but everything else I used (besides a paint brush) was Stampin' Up!

To color the canvas I used a wash of re-inkers blended into each other. After that dried I sponged some hearts onto the background using the Heart Decorative Mask and a Sponge Dauber. Then I stamped some swirls from Everything Eleanor using the Aquamarine Chalk Ink and "tried" to add some of the tiny honeycomb  designs from the Basic Butterfly set to the background as well. Most of those didn't turn out like I wanted, so I blended them in with a damp sponge as best as I could. The background got a little muddy at bottom due to this, but I didn't want to start over so I went with it.

I wanted to add Pool Party to the color combo and that was easy using the two DSP packs I chose...both Typeset and Stacked With Love DSP have black and white patterns that makes it easy to sponge to fit whatever color scheme you can dream of. See the little Calypso Coral colored banner at the top of the canvas...that was sponged to add a pop of color.

The various sized hearts, cut using the Heart Framelits, the Tea Lace Paper Doily, and paper rose created using the Spiral Flower Die all add a romantic touch which is perfect for Valentines Day. As is the pretty font used for the word "love" in the Hello Life set that I used on the banner to the right of our photo.

I printed the photo in a sepia tone and then added a little Pool Party sponging to the background behind the palm trees and a little Crisp Cantaloupe and Crumb Cake around the edges as well. The photo is popped up with layered dimensionals.

When painting the canvas, I continued the color to the sides as well. The ribbon and Bakers Twine from the banner are continued around sides and secured in the back. I colored the rhinestone in the center of the Something Borrowed Embellishment with my Coastal Cabana Blendabilites Marker to finish off my canvas with a little sparkle. I may also add a few rhinestones as well.

Have a nice weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day!

Irresistibly Yours Butterfly

One of my favorite techniques is emboss resist...heat emboss an image on light colored cardstock using a light embossing powder and then using a sponge or brayer add darker color inks over the top of  it to reveal the design. The Irresistibly Yours DSP that is FREE during Sale-a-Bration this year has a glossy design that is wonderful as is...OR you can use the same technique described above to make those fabulous designs pop like magic...I LOVE it!

Check out my quick 'n easy & bright 'n cheery card using the Irresistibly Yours DSP.

The multicolored strip that the butterfly is resting on is one of the 6 designs included in the Irresistibly Yours pack. I sponged it with Coastal Cabana, Pear Pizzazz and Calypso Coral inks. I stamped the word HELLO three times using Black Memento Ink and the Hello Life stamp set. I must say...I am really loving the photopolymer stamp sets for making it so quick & easy to line things up. Using wood mount or clear mount rubber I would for sure had to use my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line the words up.

The butterfly was cut from Whisper White card stock using the Butterfly Thinlits and then sponged with Bermuda Bay and  Black Memento Ink.

Hope your day is bright & cheery! It is supposed to be a balmy 35 here in Michigan today. Here's hoping we see the sun!

Birthday Keepsake Mini Album

Frequent visitors of my blog may remember that this past November I shared a mini pocket album made using the envelope punch board and the All Is Calm products along with the Festival of Trees stamp set. Today I have another mini album to share...this one with a birthday theme!

I made this album the same way as the All Is Calm Album, I just changed up the papers and stamps. I used Basic Black for the base and bright, fun colors from the Brights Collection...Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive.

This keepsake album was a gift for a good friend who celebrated her 50th. The papers I used are all retired, but they were perfect for the photos from this fun party. I printed my photos wallet sized - 3x4 so that they would fit the pages.

Each page has a pocket with a pullout to include additional photos and memories. Here's a look at the pages pulled out...

Each side of the pocket pages have photos or journaling...just need to be sure to not make those pages over embellished or too thick so that they fit into the pocket easily.

I included fun facts of things that happened the year she was born along with a CD with all the photos I took at her party. She loved the little album, and I had fun making it.

While I no longer have kits available for the All Is Calm Album, I do have the tutorial available, here. Once you know how the album goes together, it is easy to change the theme to fit any occasion. It makes a wonderful gift that is sure to be cherished for years to come.

Hello Love

Valentines Day is only 10 days away, so it's about time I share a Valentine card! This one uses the Hello Life set from the Occasions Catalog.

I used this weeks great sketch from Mojo Monday and the Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack,so this card went together rather easily. The heart and the beautiful script "love" phrase were stamped in VersaMark ink and embossed with Black Embossing Powder.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blackberry Bliss Butterfly Basics

This is the card I made for my Mom on her birthday using her favorite colors and my favorite new toys...the Butterfly Basics Bundle.

I love how this turned out using the color combo of Blackberry Bliss and So Saffron. I used the same techniques to create this card as I did for the cards in my Butterfly Basics Watercolor Collage Card Set.

Thanks for visiting today!