Two Butterflies Thank You Magic Envelope Cards

Recently I came across this tutorial for a magic envelope card and after I'd watched Debs' fab video I had to have a go myself!  Such a clever idea, just a few scores and folds and the magic envelope card is done!  Not a great card for having on display I suppose but it's a bit different and that's always fun - and it's a brilliant way to use up patterned paper! 

I wanted to make two thank you cards for friends who ordered the SU! 'Butterfly Gala' bundle from me and I used that bundle plus the matching SU! 'Botanical Butterfly' DSP which they both also have to make the magic envelope cards.

I have a lot of retired SU! stamps and tools in my stash and every now and then I'm just SO glad I kept a particular item.  This card uses the diagonal scoring plate for the Simply Scored and the postage stamp image from the 'Fresh Vintage' set which is just perfect for this style of card!  After stamping the postage stamp images I cut it them out with a square Stitched Shape die and mounted them on larger black squares.  I used punches to make name labels which I mounted into larger black rectangles, I punched a teeny butterfly for each label and to finish I added Glitter Enamel Dots.

Here's card one.

Here's card one opened out.

 

Here's a closer look at the panel inside card one. 

Here's card two.

 

Here's card two opened out.

Here's a closer look at the panel inside card two.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Butterfly Gala' & 'Fresh Vintage'  sets
CS: SU! Highland Heather, Grapefruit Grove, Basic Black & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Botanical Butterfly' DSP
Ink: SU! Highland Heather, Grapefruit Grove, Memento Tuxedo Black
Tools: SU! Simply Scored & diagonal scoring plate, 'Stitched Shapes' Framelits die set, 'Butterfly Duet', 'Everyday Label' & 'Pretty Label' punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Glitter Enamel Dots
Ruth

Three Thank You Cards For SU! Day Of Service 2019

On Wednesday 15th May Stampin' Up! are having a Day of Service and this year SU! have teamed up with the Wycombe Homeless Connection. Demonstrators have been invited to help with the task of making thank you cards and I was very happy to join in with the project. Here is some information:

The Wycombe Homeless Connection

At Wycombe Homeless Connection, we inspire hope and reignite ambitions by helping people understand their rights, find accommodation and keep their homes. Every working day, we provide advice and support to those facing homelessness at our support centre in High Wycombe. Every fortnight, we run legal drop-in sessions for those requiring legal aid to fight evictions. Every year, we run the Wycombe Winter Night Shelter, which acts as a life-saving measure for local rough sleepers by providing them with temporary accommodation during Britain’s bleakest months. With the help of a small, dedicated team of staff and an army of local volunteers, we lead the fight against homelessness in High Wycombe.

How Stampin’ Up! is going to support the Wycombe Homeless Connection

The Wycombe Homeless Connection has a large number of volunteers who give up their time to support the organisation throughout the year and it's time to say 'Thank You'. Our aim is to make approximately 400 thank you cards to be sent on to these wonderful people who give up their time.

SU! have asked that demonstrators make cards that will fit inside C6 envelopes which SU! will provide so there are no matching decorated envelopes from me this time!  I started off by making a daisy card.  I punched three daisies from Whisper White thick CS, stacked them together and added a hint of pink to the daisy by using a sponge dauber to add Powder Pink ink to the tips of the petals.  I punched a few 1/2" circles, one from Lemon Lime Twist Gingham Gala gingham paper and three from Lemon Lime Twist CS.  I stacked the circles together, inked the circle with Lemon Lime Twist ink and a sponge dauber, glued the circle in place and popped the daisy up.

 

Here's the inside of the card.

The gorgeous papers in the SU! 'Petal Promenade' DSP pack work brilliantly to make a quick card, all you need to add is a sentiment and some embellishments.  My colour combo is Fresh Fig, Sweet Sugarplum and Whisper White.  I popped the sentiment rectangle panel up.

 

Here's the inside of the card.  I just adore that beautiful roses image from the SU! 'Climbing Roses' set so after finishing this card I decided I just had to make another card using that stamp!

 

For the third card I kept to simple stamping and some die cutting.  I stamped the images on opposite corners of the card base and the 'Thank You' using full strength Fresh Fig ink.  For the rosy  background on the sentiment label I used stamped off once Fresh Fig ink.  I cut some Fresh Fig leaves using dies from the 'Rose Trellis' Thinlits die set, glued them to the label and then popped the label up.  Such a simple design but I really like how this card turned out!

 

More simple stamping of the beautiful rosy image decorates the inside of this third thank you card.

 

Last Monday was an unexpected day off from work for me and I was so glad to have the time to make these cards to contribute to the SU! project to support the Wycombe Homeless Connection!   

Supplies for daisy card:
Stamps: SU! 'Daisy Delight' set
CS: SU! Basic Black & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Gingham Gala' 6" x 6" DSP pack
Ink: SU! Lemon Lime Twist, Powder Pink & Basic Black Archival
Tools: SU! 'Daisy' punch, 1/2" circle punch, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for floral paper card:
Stamps: SU! 'Climbing Roses' set
CS: SU! Fresh Fig, Sweet Sugarplum & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Petal Promenade' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Fresh Fig & Sweet Sugarplum
Tools: SU! 'Rose Trellis' Thinlits die set
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Sweet Sugarplum glitter ribbon, Fancy Frost sequins, Dimensionals

Supplies for rosy design card:
Stamps: SU! 'Climbing Roses' set
CS: SU! Fresh Fig & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Fresh Fig
Tools: SU! 'Rose Trellis' Thinlits die set
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals
Ruth

May 2019 Card Group Projects

I can't believe how quickly this year is going by!  The time for our monthly card group meeting  rolled around again and as usual I made three cards for the ladies to make.

The first card features the SU! 'Country Floral' embossing folder alongside the 'Petal Palette' stamp set - both beautiful products!  Last month Wendy asked about inking the inside of embossing folders so I said we'd do that as a project this time.  I absolutely love this bisque pottery technique I learnt years ago from Diana Gibbs.  The retired SU! 'Vintage Wallpaper' embossing folder works wonderfully but I wanted to try a 3D Dynamic folder and I chose the 'Country Floral' folder.  I took a variety of embossing folders with me so the ladies had options!

Whenever I use the bisque pottery technique I use a large panel and I don't like to cover up the design too much.  My colour combo is Lovely Lipstick, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla.  I brayered the inside of the folder with Crumb Cake ink, embossed the Very Vanilla panel, added a strip of Lovely Lipstick CS and adhered it to the front of the card.  I stamped the images and sentiment, die cut them and popped them all up.

 

Here's the inside of the card and the envelope.

 

Dena Rekow from the Creativity Cave is such an inspirational card maker, I love her style, warmth and sense of humour!  Dena has a series called 'Simple to Stunning Sundays' where she makes a simple card, then steps it up a bit for a second card and then steps it up even more for a third card.  I loved the cards Dena made with the 'Rooted in Nature' set and I've CASEd the third card.  I glued a panel of SU! 'Wood Textures' DSP to the front of an Old Olive C6 sized card base.  I inked the tree canopy in Old Olive ink, used a Soft Suede marker to add colour to the tree trunk and die cut the tree.  I stamped the leaves onto the strip of wood textured paper using stamped off once Early Espresso ink, stamped the sentiment in full strength Early Espresso ink, added some Old Olive linen thread and popped the strip up.  I also popped the tree up.

 

Here's the inside and the envelope flap.

 

A little while ago I made this thank you card and I liked how it turned out so decided to use it as a card group project.  I've used SU! Grapefruit Grove, a new colour to me and I'm not usually a fan of orange but this is a pretty colour!  I do love the pop of black on this card!  The card base measures 5 1/4" square, it's been a while since we made a square card at card group.  

I've always loved Stampin' Up!'s two-step stamping flower sets but they require the use of a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig stamp placement tool which strikes dread into the heart of a lot of my ladies!  The flower and leaf stamps in the SU! 'Roses in Winter' stamp set are of a more abstract design so you don't need 100% perfect placement so there's no need for a stamp positioning tool.  I stamped the first layer of the rose using stamped off once Grapefruit Grove ink, stamped the second layer using full strength Grapefruit Grove ink and the third layer using full strength Watermelon Wonder ink.  I used stamped off once and full strength Granny Apple Green ink for the leaves.  I fussy cut the rose and leaves, glued the leaves behind the rose and popped it up. I stamped the sentiment, cut the words out using scissors and glued them to the card.  To finish the front I added three silver nailheads.

 

Here's the inside and the envelope.  To echo the gingham paper on the front of the card I've used a retired SU! 'Gingham' wheel stamp to decorate the inside and envelope.  I was always challenged using wheel stamps as wheels so I unmounted them from the rollers and mounted them on cling foam so I can use them as normal cling stamps!  I used the Stamparatus to stamp the gingham image so that if part of the design was missed it would be easy to repeat stamp to get a complete image.  I stamped directly to the front of the envelope but for the inside of the card I stamped on a strip of Whisper White CS, trimmed the strip to size and glued it in place.  I added a stamped and punched sentiment label to complete the inside of the card.

Supplies for Best Wishes card:
Stamps: SU! 'Petal Palette' set
CS: SU! Lovely Lipstick, Crumb Cake & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Lovely Lipstick & Crumb Cake
Tools: SU! 'Petals & More' Thinlits die set, 'Country Floral' 3D Dynamic embossing folder, brayer
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for tree Happy Birthday card:
Stamps: SU! 'Rooted in Nature'  & 'Southern Serenade' sets, Stampendous 'Sending Wishes'
CS: SU! Old Olive & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Wood Textures' 6" x 6" DSP stack
Ink: SU! Old Olive & Early Espresso, SU! Soft Suede marker
Tools: SU! 'Nature's Roots' Framelits die set
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Old Olive linen thread, Dimensionals

Supplies for rose Happy Birthday card:
Stamps: SU! 'Roses in Winter' set, inside sentiment from SU! 'Lots of Happy' card kit, MFT 'Label Maker Sentiments' set, SU! 'Gingham' wheel stamp
CS: SU! Basic Black & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Gingham Gala' 6" x 6" DSP stack
Ink: SU! Grapefruit Grove, Granny Apple Green & Watermelon Wonder, VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: SU! Stamparatus, 'Everyday Label' punch, circle punch,
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals, silver nailheads
Ruth

Gingham & Roses Thank You Card

This is the card I made to say thank you to a friend for my birthday gift.  I know she likes purple so I chose to use the Highland Heather gingham paper from the SU! 'Gingham Gala' DSP pack, it's so pretty and fresh!

I've always loved floral two-step stamping sets and the old, retired SU! 'Roses in Winter' set is such an easy set to work with as you don't need to get exact placement as the images are fairly abstract.  I stamped the solid image in Highland Heather ink (stamped off once), stamped the next layer in full strength Highland Heather ink and stamped the final flower layer in full strength Gorgeous Grape ink.  I repeated just the last two layers to get a smaller rose.  I used Granny Apple Green ink for the leaves (stamped off once and then full strength).  After stamping all the images I fussy cut them and adhered the leaves to the backs of the flowers.  I glued the gingham mat layer to the card front, stamped the sentiment and popped the main image mat layer up on 3D foam tape.  I popped up the roses and added some Glitter Enamel Dots to complete the card front.

 

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I added a strip of the gingham paper inside the card, used a flagged banner die for the sentiment and added a few more Glitter Enamel Dots.  I popped up the rose on the envelope flap.

 

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Roses in Winter', 'One Big Meaning' & 'Tropical Chic' sets
CS: SU! Basic Black & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Gingham Gala' 6" x 6" DSP pack
Ink: SU! Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape & Granny Apple Green, VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: MFT Die-namics 'Fishtail Flags' Stax die set
Embellishments & accessories: 3D foam tape, SU! Glitter Enamel Dots, Dimensionals
Ruth

Rainbow Floral Lots Of Happy Card - RRCB#108

Last night I checked out the current challenge over at Retro Rubber and I very much  liked what I saw - a rainbow challenge!  I was determined to spend some time in my craft room on my day off from work today and I wanted to make an encouragement card for someone.  What's better than rainbow colours to spread a little happiness?!

I've used the Stampin' Up! 'Vintage Vogue' set for my card and that's been in my stash for nine years - and it's not going anywhere!  Even though the style of the stamps is vintage I think the rainbow colours give a fresh contemporary look to the card - amazing that colours can make such a difference!

First off I stamped the flowers using Lovely Lipstick, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape inks.  My card base is a standard A6 size and I die cut a white wonky stitched rectangle for my main image panel and I layered that onto a mat of SU! 'Gorgeous Grape' CS.  After I'd stamped the sentiment I stamped the background leafy image a few times in stamped off once Granny Apple Green ink.  I fussy cut each flower and added a wee bit of shaping and then glued them to the panel.  I added pearls to the centres of the small flowers but placed an iridescent domed embellishment in the centre of the large flower. 

A couple of fun facts: the word iridescent was coined from the Latin word for rainbow which is iris.  Also, Iris was a messenger of the Greek gods and was the Greek goddess of the rainbow.

Here's the inside and the envelope flap. 

 

This card was made for a lovely person who I wanted to send positive vibes and happiness to.  I just hope she enjoys receiving the card as much as I enjoyed making it!  

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Vintage Vogue' & 'Rooted In Nature' sets, sentiment on card front from SU! 'Lots of Happy' card kit
CS: SU! Gorgeous Grape & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Lovely Lipstick, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Marina Mist, Highland Heather & Gorgeous Grape
Tools: Creative Dies Plus 'Wonky Stitches' nested rectangles die set
Embellishments & accessories: the Works iridescent embellishments, self adhesive pearls
Ruth

Peony Thank You Card

Last week I spent a couple of days with my lovely friend Gill.  I had such a great time and I wanted to thank her for that as well as for my birthday gifts.  One of the birthday gifts I received from my hubby was the Altenew 'Hope' stamp set and matching dies - I fell in love with the beautiful layered peony as soon as I saw it!  Gill is very feminine and so a pretty design is always called for when I make a card for her and I decided the peony from the 'Hope' set would be ideal.

I started off by stamping the flower and leaves using a number of SU! ink colours - Powder Pink, Blushing Bride, Flirty Flamingo, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sea Foam, Lemon Lime Twist and Granny Apple Green.  The layered flower is so bold and I think it shows up perfectly against white.  I wanted to add a bit of texture and interest though so I embossed a panel of Whisper White thick CS using the 'Lace' Dynamic embossing folder and I adhered that to the front of a Flirty Flamingo A6 sized card base.  Oh my word, that lace embossing folder is so gloriously pretty and feminine - just gorgeous!

I popped up a die cut wonky stitched rectangle frame and added the leaves and flower.  I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark, heat embossed with white embossing powder and die cut a wonky stitched square.  I'd applied the frame to the card front at a wonky angle but I applied the sentiment square straight.  Whilst Gill and I were out shopping together we went into the Works and she pointed out some iridescent embellishments to me which I bought.  Obviously, I had to add a few to this card!  I also upped the pretty, feminine factor with a few pearls as well.

 

Here's the card at a different angle which shows off the gorgeous lace embossing.

 

Here's the inside of the card.  I stamped the scrap of lace image using stamped off once Flirty Flamingo ink, the heartfelt sentiment in Granny Apple Green ink and the little hearts in full strength Flirty Flamingo ink. 

 

Here's the envelope flap with another stamped lace scrap, a sentiment and a stamped and punched butterfly.

 

We'd love to have some girly friendship time again and I hope it's soon!

Supplies:
Stamps: Altenew 'Hope' set, SU! 'Southern Serenade', 'Perpetual Birthday Calendar', 'Tin of Cards' & 'Butterfly Gala' sets
CS: SU! Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green & Whisper White (thick & regular)
Ink: SU! Powder Pink, Blushing Bride, Flirty Flamingo, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sea Foam, Lemon Lime Twist & Granny Apple Green
Tools: Altenew 'Hope' die set, SU! 'Lace' Dynamic embossing folder, Creative Dies Plus 'Wonky Stitches' nested rectangle and square die sets, SU! 'Butterfly Duet' punch
Embellishments & accessories: the Works iridescent embellishments, SU! pearl jewels, Dimensionals
Ruth

Pusheen Thank You Card & Quote Gift

A lovely young lady at work, Beth, made me a birthday cake decorated with Pusheen the cat.  It was very sweet of her and I was really touched!

 

Beth placed three of the Pusheen tags on the cake board and I thought it'd be fun to use one on a thank you card for her! 

One of the new crafty goodies I got as a birthday pressie was the Altenew 'Caps Bold Alphabet' die set.  Wendy made Lesley a beautiful birthday card using the eclipse technique with these dies and they got added to the birthday wish list pretty smartish!  The eclipse technique is where you die cut a shape or shapes from a panel of stamped CS, patterned paper or CS so you have positive die cut shapes and the negative space.  The positive die cut shapes are adhered slightly offset from the negative space in order to get the eclipse effect, usually they're popped up on foam tape.

Jennifer McGuire has a fab tip for this technique - you place your dies together on a mat using the measurement lines as a guide for straight placement and then you tape the dies together with strips of painter's tape so that the letters stay together.  I placed the dies onto a panel of pink dotted paper and cut out the word 'THANK'.  I then cut out the letters again, cutting each letter three times from SU! Early Espresso CS.  I glued the Early Espresso letters together in a stack and then glued on the pink dotted letters.  I glued the pink dotted paper to a piece of Whisper White CS, added a strip of Early Espresso stitched ribbon and glued the whole panel to the front of a side opening 7" x 5" Early Espresso card base.  To make the card 7" x 5" I joined two pieces of Early Espresso CS together because whenever I make landscape cards I prefer to have the fold at the side as opposed to a tent fold at the top as the cards always stand up better that way.  

I trimmed around the Pusheen tag and attached a wobble action spring to the tag and stuck that in place.  Pusheen is already so cute but to have a Pusheen on a spring so you can make her wobble - that's even cuter!  I stamped the 'YOU', trimmed it to size and popped it up.  I punched hearts, again stacking Early Espresso CS shapes followed by pink dotted paper shapes.  I went over the letters and hearts with a clear Wink of Stella pen for some shimmer.  I popped up the positive letters just slightly offset from the negative space, glued the hearts in place and added rhinestone jewels to the hearts to complete the card front.

 

Here's a closer look at the shimmery letters.

 

Here's the inside of the card.  I stacked punched hearts again and used the Wink of Stella pen to add shimmer.

 

Here's the front of the envelope.  I used the Altenew 'Invisible Alpha' stamp set to stamp the name.

 

After I'd finished the card and while my supplies were still out I thought it would be nice to make Beth a little something to accompany the card.  I decided on stamping a quote piece which I attached to a card with an easel so it can stand up on display.  I love this quote, not a bad philosophy to live by!  I stamped the quote and then stamped the watercolour wash image over the top in stamped off once Flirty Flamingo ink.  I die cut the oval and I popped that up on 3D foam tape on top of my matted layers.  I punched stacked hearts again and added Wink of Stella and rhinestone jewels to the hearts.

 

Here's a closer look at the quote panel and the sweet shimmery hearts.

 

I used the Tim Holtz 'Small Easel' Bigz die to create the easel I attached to the back - such a useful die!

 

Seeing matching items together makes me so happy so here's the card and quote piece together!  I'm so pleased to say that Beth loved the card and gift - I had a blast making these for her!

Supplies:
Stamps:  'YOU' from a stamp in the SU! 'One Big Meaning' set, inside sentiment from Hero Arts 'Hugs 'n Hearts' set, Altenew 'Invisible Alpha' set, Inkylicious 'Be Whatever' stamp, watercolour wash from SU! 'Perpetual Birthday Calendar' set
CS: SU! Early Espresso, Flirty Flamingo & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Bo Bunny 'Flamingo' Double Dot double sided paper
Ink: SU! Early Espresso & Flirty Flamingo, Early Espresso marker
Tools: Altenew 'Caps Bold Alphabet' die set, SU! 'Heart to Heart' punch, Creative Dies Plus nesting oval 'Wonky Stitches' die set, Tim Holtz 'Small Easel' Bigz die
Embellishments & accessories: Pusheen tag, 3D foam tape, Woodware Action Wobble Spring, SU! Early Espresso stitched ribbon, clear Wink of Stella pen, rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals
Ruth