MEMORY BOX - Maribelle & Selena Butterfly

Months ago I had die cut some of the Maribelle Butterfly (the outline) in black.  I also cut various pieces of Origami papers using the coordinating Selena Butterfly (the solid piece).  The butterflies had been assembled at the time but were on a shelf above my table for way too long.  The last three of the ones I had made were finally used.  Two were mounted on the yellow mats and one on a coordinating mat which was more of a salmon color.  Since the card bases were all black, I cut a pieces of white card stock 4" x 5 1/4" and added those to the insides of the cards.

Another month of 2018 has gone by and in about 2 1/2 weeks children will be heading back to school locally.  My husband is a bus driver for our school district so our schedule will become more routine around here too.  Thank you for coming by!

YUPO BACKGROUND

This card was made with the help of one of our granddaughters.  She did the background which is such a pretty combination of alcohol ink blues and purples.  I had made this die cut when I was in Des Moines.  I cut down the die cut piece to 4" x 5 1/4" and added the alcohol ink piece behind the die cut area.  The white space was perfect or a vertical stamp.  The piece was added to the card base.

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SPELLBINDERS Cut & Emboss Folder

In June  we discovered these Spellbinders folders that Cut and Emboss the design in just one pass through the machine.  

NOTE:  If you purchase one of these contact Spellbinders to find out the correct "sandwich" to run them through the machine you have.

The design actually used the full 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece but I cut off enough of each edge to add it to the navy background.  There was just enough room to stamp the "Wishing You" from a Verve stamp set.  Inside I stamped "a very happy Anniversary".  This card will go to my sister and her husband later this month.  This would make a pretty design for a 50th Anniversary and have gold foil behind the openings.

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BEAUTIFUL PAPERS FROM DES MOINES

This is another card I made using those beautiful papers I purchased in Des Moines.  For this one I decided to add a piece of vellum over the already soft colors and then added the sheer pink ribbon.  This card will be used for my mother to send our daughter for her birthday.

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POPPY STAMPS - Perched BIrd Collage

I recently purchased this die and then actually had a little difficulty deciding how to use it.  It's a new design so Pinterest wasn't much help.  First, I simply added the matted bird onto the Tempting Turquoise card base.  It was just too plain and I wasn't happy with it.  

A few days later I ran across the scrap of that piece that had been colored with alcohol ink and decided it could make a great addition to the card.  I removed the "bird", attached the scrap of the alcohol design and then added the bird back onto the card.

The gold foil highlights on the alcohol are added just before the inks are dry by rubbing transfer gold foil over the damp ink.  I love the look!

USING A CARD PART

I was cleaning out some card parts one day and decided to get this gold foil piece onto a card.  The navy piece was also on my table.  I have a package of Stampin' Up! designer paper with patterns that are all navy and white.  One more of many card pieces used up.

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ARTplorations STENCIL - A Bloom & 3 Buds

Recently my friend Harriet posted a card that was made with this stencil.  Our group tends to be great enablers so naturally I "needed" to have that stencil too.  

I sponged the design onto the white card stock using Distress Inks.  The piece was trimmed by cutting it using a stitched rectangle die.  The white space at the upper left corner seemed to need something.  I die cut a butterfly and then sponged it with the same ink.

A few days later one of my daughters asked me to make her a thank you card.  This is the one I gave her to use after stamping an appropriate message inside.

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TWO MORE SYMPATHY CARDS

One of our daughters requested two sympathy cards.  For these two cards, I used a Magenta Cling Stamp.  I sponged a background using Stampin' Up! inks and then stamped the image over the colors.  For this card the image was then double matted and added to a white card base.

I had inked and stamped a larger piece of white card stock so I could add a sentiment on the outside of the card so I added only one mat before attaching it to the card base.  The colors I used for both cards were Stampin' Up! Pear Pizzaz and So Saffron.

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WITH DEEPEST SYMPATHY

Inspire Papercrafting in historical Valley Junction, West Des Moines IA  is the store where my friends and I gather each June to share our things and of course buy more.  The paper I used on the front of this card is one that I got there.  The papers are actually 8 1/4" x 11 3/4" but I wanted to be able to make the most of it so I cut it up and used the pieces, wasting very little of it.  You will be seeing more of the papers down the line in my posts.  The papers all have such beautiful designs and soft colors.

The sentiment die is one I used from one of my friends.  

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THANK YOU TO MY SISTER

My sister and her husband gave us a beautiful basket of goodies for our 50th Wedding Anniversary.  I thanked her in person, but it just didn't seem like enough.  Recently we received a card using this layout and using the same die cut.  When I was in Des Moines with my friends, I had cut a couple of these so I decided to  CASE my friend's card.  I'm sorry I don't know who makes that particular die.  The sentiment is from a 3-pc stamp set from Hero Arts.

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60th ANNIVERSARY CARD

A dentist that we used to go to and his wife live across the hall from my mother.  We always really liked him so when I found out that this was a milestone anniversary for them, I made this card for them.  The stamp is from Impression Obsessions. The fancy edge was made using a Martha Stewart punch.  The sentiments used for the front and the inside are from a Verve stamp set.

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PENNY BLACK DIES

This Iris die cut was on my table for several weeks.  I sponged color onto it using Stampin' Up! inks.
The background die is actually larger than it appears on the card.  I cut a window with a "stitched" rectangle and then put the die cut behind the window.

I debated about adding a sentiment on the front but haven't so far.  What do you think?  Should I add a sentiment or maybe just a butterfly in the lower right corner?

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TWO CAS CHRISTMAS CARDS

Nativity

One of my friends had some wonderful dies that were perfect to cut using the shiny gold card stock.  These made very quick and easy cards.  I had a really hard time getting a picture of these two cards without having shadows in the gold.  These would be great dies to use if you were making multiples of the same design because the cards went together very quickly.

Bells with Holly

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ALCOHOL INK BACKGROUND

I'm not really thrilled with this card but here it is.  I'm not sure I can explain how it actually came about so I'll just say that it was kind of a scrap that I tried not to waste.  I also had the piece of colored Yupo paper on my table.  Once I added the die cut piece to the Yupo, I really struggled with what to do with the open space.  It just looked like something needed to be there.  I used the vertical "Happy Birthday"  This is NOT a card that I am terribly proud of, but in the interest of full disclosure, I'm showing one that didn't turn out like I wanted.  Sometimes projects just don't work.

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HEAT EMBOSSED SENTIMENT

One of my friends had this beautiful die when we were in Des Moines.  I don't know what company makes it - isn't it pretty?  I cut A LOT of different pieces while we were together but then when I got home I wasn't quite sure how best to use some of them.

Since I was making an A2 card, I added it to the right portion of the front.  The sentiment is from "the Stamp Barn", a Canadian stamp company.  I have used this one many times and also have it in a horizontal stamp.  I stamped it with Stampin' Up! Craft White and then heat embossed with white powder.

IRL the embossed sentiment actually does look more white.  Thank you for coming by!

TWO FUN CARDS

When our group was together in June, Kris had a project for all of us to make.  Each of us got to choose if we wanted to use "strawberry" gems or "pineapples".  This is the card I made.  Fortunately I left just enough room under the squares to add a small sentiment.

While we were still together I purchased two packages of other little designs that would work great with this type of card.  The cute little shapes on the card below were more expensive than I care to spend but everything was 20% off and instead of four I used just three so that I could get the most use from the purchase.

Although I have square dies, it is much quicker to be able to punch since I needed more than one so I used a circle punch.  These little stickers are just so cute.  I'm pretty sure this card will go to one of our granddaughters since there are three who have birthdays in August.

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GLITTERY BUTTERFLIES

I was just ready to sign off for the night and realized I hadn't posted my card.

QUICK AND EASY BIRTHDAY CARD

TWO MEMORY BOX DIES

I had another piece of Yupo paper that had been colored with alcohol inks.  One of the inks goes really well with the Stampin' Up! Pool Party card stock so I cut a bird and mat using that color.   The "twig" is cut from the Memory Box "Graceful Branch Oval" die and the bird is the Memory Box "Perched Reed Bird".

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4th of JULY - OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY

I married my high school sweetheart and we are so blessed to be able to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of our marriage.  Neither of our parents were able to do that.  So today instead of a card, I'm sharing our day with you.  One of our daughters is having a dinner at their home for our family.  We will be taking a long awaited trip sometime this fall.

Our daughters surprised us by having this put in the Sunday Cedar Rapids Gazette Milestone section.

My husband gave me this beautiful bouquet of roses.  The colors are gorgeous and the smell of rose is heavenly.

My sister lives in Wisconsin but was here recently for a family reunion and presented us with this wonderful basket of goodies for our anniversary.

GENTLE WHISPER ll and TULISA COLLAGE

Today's card uses the Penny Black "Gentle Whisper ll" and Poppy Stamps Tulisa Collage dies. The background  is a piece I had made using alcohol inks.

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PATRIOTIC BIRTHDAY CARD

The Paper Players - PP400 Challenge allows two entries on the challenge.  With the 4th of July coming up in a couple of days, I thought it would be fun to make a patriotic birthday card.  

The embossed stars are from a Stampin' Up! folder.  I'm sorry I don't remember who makes the dies for the Happy Birthday or the die cut across the bottom of the card.    The runner across the bottom was cut using SU dp.  I then cut portions of it again for the solid navy and red pieces.  These were glued on top of the full cut.

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PRETTY BUTERFLIES - Celebrate

The Paper Players are celebrating their 400th Challenge.  I decided it would be fun to participate in a challenge again.   I had purchased some beautiful papers at Inspire Papercrafting in West Des Moines, IA while at the annual meeting of  friends from several states.

There were two types of papers.  Each measure 8 1/4" x 11 3/4".  The solid colors are more of a card stock weight and the others are lightweight papers and intended to be inserts in the large cards.  I wanted to get the most out of each sheet so I cut them apart and used pieces.  My card is a standard A2.  

The card base is light blue.  The bottom portion is actually a scrap of light blue that has a very light variation in color.  The butterflies are a strip from another piece of the papers.  I love the soft colors.  All of the scraps from cutting sheets apart were saved so I die cut the "celebrate" and the butterfly from those scraps

I think this will make a very pretty feminine birthday card for someone. Thanks for coming by!