Butterflies Shadow Box Frame

Stampin' Up!'s Sale-A-Bration is under way now where you can choose from a range of free goodies with purchases of £45 and £90.  There are some fabulous free goodies available in this year's offering!  The 'Botanical Butterfly' DSP is just beautiful and a bonus is that you can cut some butterflies out from the paper with the SU! 'Butterfly Duet' punch.  My friend Bev recently celebrated a birthday and as part of the gift for her I made a home decor piece - a decorated shadow box frame - using the patterned paper and the punch.

I used a piece of botanical foliage paper as a backdrop, punched out lots of butterflies and then chose the nine I wanted to use for the project.  I punched out nine plain black CS butterflies and glued the patterned butterflies on top - making sure to apply glue only to the body.  I have non SU! butterfly die sets in my stash that have antennae dies and I thought adding an antenna was the perfect detail!  Once I'd assembled the butterflies I adhered the bodies in place with Mini Dimensionals.  I then cut full size Dimensionals in half and attached a half behind each wing, leaving the backing paper on which keeps the wings popped up.  

Another Sale-A-Bration offering is a set of wooden shapes called 'Butterfly Elements'.  I chose a butterfly and coloured it by pressing each side down onto my Lemon Lime Twist ink pad a few times.  Once the wooden butterfly was dry I tied it around the box frame with a length of Old Olive linen thread.  Hmmm, I couldn't decide if I really liked that or not but I left it on as Bev can easily remove it if she decides she doesn't like it!

 

Here's a closer look at the pretty butterflies.  I really enjoyed making this project, it certainly banished the post Christmas blues!

Supplies:
Stamps: none
CS: SU! Basic Black
Patterned paper: SU! 'Botanical Butterfly' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Lemon Lime Twist
Tools: SU! 'Butterfly Duet' punch, Memory Box ??? butterfly die set
Embellishments & accessories: wooden butterfly shape from SU! 'Butterfly Elements' pack, Old Olive linen thread, Dimensionals, Wilko 8" x 8" white box photo frame
Ruth

Needlepoint Elements People Like You Thanks Card

This fab card made by Jenny Hall I saw on Pinterest really caught my eye.  I love the colour combo and the simple yet striking design.  I wanted to make a thank you card for my friend Lesley to show appreciation for the smashing Christmas gifts I received from her.  I've been on holiday from work and I am so enjoying being inspired and being able to dash off to my craft room immediately and make my own version of a card!  Back to reality now though!

Some retired SU! stuff found its way onto the card - the Pool Party glitter ribbon and the Fancy Frost sequins - along with my brand new goodies.  I popped up the sentiment label on Dimensionals.

 

Here's the inside of the card - quickly and easily done with the help of the SU! Stamparatus!

 

Here's the envelope.  I embossed the piece of Crumb Cake CS with the Needlepoint Elements design, adhered the piece of CS to the envelope flap and trimmed off the excess.  Then I thought a contrasting Pool Party flower would look nice - yeah, this was definitely one of those "it seemed a good idea at the time" ideas!  I embossed a Pool Party piece of CS and fussy cut the flower portion and nearly got to the end when I got too close to the holes and it acted like a perforation and I ended up with a very ragged edge.  Having got the idea firmly in my head I stubbornly carried on - and the same thing happened a second time!  The third time I fussy cut oh, so slowly and carefully and it turned out fine.  I rather think I won't be doing that again though!  I added a sequin to the flower centre and the card was finished.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Needle & Thread' set
CS: SU! Crumb Cake, Pool Party & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Crumb Cake & Pool Party
Tools: SU! 'Needlepoint Elements' Framelits die set, SU! 'Pretty Label' punch, SU! Stamparatus
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Pool Party glitter ribbon, Fancy Frost sequins, Dimensionals

Ruth

Rainbow Bow Wreath Birthday Card

I just loved this bright rainbow wreath card made by Lyssa at Song of My Heart Stampers when I saw it!  Lyssa has very helpfully produced a fab video tutorial for the design if you want to check it out and have a go yourself.  This bright design is absolutely perfect for a winter birthday I think - and it's my friend Bev's birthday on 6th January so I made this card for her!

I've used SU! Pacific Point and Melon Mambo for the card base and mat layer.  The card measures 4 3/4" square.  For my colourful rainbow wreath I've used Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Gorgeous Grape, Granny Apple Green, Melon Mambo, Pacific Point and Real Red inks.  It's vital to keep your stamp clean when you're changing ink colours so I made sure I had baby wipes and kitchen towel handy!  I added a few very pretty iridescent sequins to complete the card front.

 

Of course, no card of mine is finished until it has a decorated inside and envelope!  I decided to have a bow rainbow inside the card as well - but down the side rather than as a wreath.  I stamped and fussy cut a Pacific Point bow to decorate the envelope flap.  This bright, cheery design just screams happy so I thought the 'sending you lots + lots of happy' sentiment was ideal!  I used the embossing die from the SU! 'Needlepoint Elements' Framelits set and then cut out the shape with the SU! 'Pretty Label' punch.  A touch of detail I like muchly!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Wishing You Well' & 'Southern Serenade' sets, inside sentiment from SU! 'Lots of Happy' card kit
CS: SU! Melon Mambo, Pacific Point & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Gorgeous Grape, Granny Apple Green, Melon Mambo, Pacific Point & Real Red
Tools: SU! 'Needlepoint Elements' Framelits die set, SU! 'Pretty Label' punch
Embellishments & accessories:iridescent sequins

Ruth

Needlepoint Nook Thank You Card

This is a thank you card for a friend I made using the SU! 'Needlepoint Nook' suite of products available from the 2019 Spring/Summer catalogue.  I absolutely love this beautiful suite of products!  I made my version of the Get Well card shown on page 38 of the Spring/Summer catalogue.

There were quite a lot of ink pads out on my desk for this card - Berry Burst, Crushed Curry, Flirty Flamingo, Gray Granite, Highland Heather and Old Olive!  After stamping the flowers I used the dies from the 'Needlepoint Elements' set to cut them out.  I stamped and die cut the leafy design and I cut that apart into two pieces so I could tuck the leaves where I wanted them.  I die cut three Old Olive open leaves and glued those in place.  The flowers are all popped up on Dimensionals.

 

Here's the inside of the card and the envelope flap. I popped the sentiment label up inside the card and I also popped up the Berry Burst flower on the envelope flap.

 

One of the dies in the 'Needlepoint Elements' Framelits die set embosses stitch marks but doesn't cut - however, the clever thing is that you can then cut out the shape using the SU! 'Pretty Label' punch - brilliant, I love that!  Here's a closer look at the label.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Needle & Thread' set
CS: SU! Whisper White (regular & thick)
Patterned paper: SU! 'Needlepoint Nook' DSP
Ink: SU! Berry Burst, Crushed Curry, Flirty Flamingo, Gray Granite, Highland Heather & Old Olive
Tools: SU! 'Needlepoint Elements' Framelits die set, SU! 'Pretty Label' punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals
Ruth

Two Winter Scene Friendship Tealight Easel Cards

Here I'm sharing two cards made for good friends.  We were supposed to meet up on 22nd December but some of us were very poorly so we're getting together on New Year's Day instead.  I knew I wanted to make tealight easel cards for my friends but rather than using Christmas sentiments I've used friendship sentiments.

I've gone for a crisp navy and white colour combo for the card for Debs and Mike.  I added sparkle to the scene and tied a snowflake charm to the gingham ribbon with some white baker's twine.  I popped up the sentiment rectangle so that acts as the easel stop.

Here's the sentiment panel on the back of the easel card.  These lovely words come from a new SU! set called 'Needle & Thread' which will be available in the 2019 Spring Summer catalogue.  I fell completely in love with the 'Needlepoint Nook' suite, the products are gorgeous!  I added some seasonal snowflakes too.

 

Here's the card with the battery operated tealight on.

 

For our friend Gill I've gone for Bermuda Bay and white as I know she absolutely loves that colour.  I've used a different 'Hometown Greetings' Edgelit die, have omitted a sentiment and have used a long die cut border to act as the easel stop.  I still added sparkle and a snowflake charm and ribbon though!  I love making cards similar but changing a few things up!

 

Here's the panel on the back of the easel card with snowflakes in addition to that lovely sentiment.

 

A few years back I gave Gill an easel card for Christmas and when I visited her house a few days after Christmas I saw the card draped over a photo frame as she hadn't worked out how to display the card - bless!  I'm not taking any chances with the tealight - I've included an instruction - but anyway, I'll be there so I can set the card up!

 

Here's the card with the tealight switched on. 

As with the other tealight easel cards, I didn't use an envelope, instead I placed each card in a snowflake patterned cello bag together with a battery operated tealight. 

I've really enjoyed making these cards this year, I love that they're a bit different with a wow factor but are not difficult to make.  Huge thanks to Kerstin Wagner for sharing and inspiring!

Supplies for Night of Navy card:
Stamps: Woodware 'Very Special Couple' stamp, SU! 'Needle & Thread' & 'Snow is Glistening' sets
CS: SU! Night of Navy & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Night of Navy
Tools: SU! 'Hometown Greetings' Edgelits die set, SU! 'Softly Falling' embossing folder, M&C Boutique stitched rectangle die set
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Night of Navy gingham ribbon, Whisper White baker's twine, silver snowflake charm, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Dimensionals, Wilko battery operated tealight

Supplies for Bermuda Bay card:
Stamps: SU! 'Wetlands' set
CS: SU! Bermuda Bay & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Bermuda Bay
Tools: SU! 'Hometown Greetings; Edgelits die set, SU! 'Softly Falling' embossing folder, M&C Boutique stitched rectangle die set, MFT 'Scallop Ribbon' die
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Bermuda Bay ribbon, Whisper White baker's twine, silver snowflake charm, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Dimensionals, Wilko battery operated tealight
Ruth

A Dashing Deer Christmas Card & A Winter Scene Christmas Tealight Easel Card

I just can't believe we're at the final day of 2018, this year seems to have passed by in a blur!  I thought I'd post my last two 2018 Christmas card makes today. I'll also post two more cards in a separate post today as they turned into winter friendship cards as opposed to actual Christmas cards!

This card was for my friend Jan and is my CASEd version of the card shown on page 8 of the SU! 2018 Autumn/Winter catalogue.  I couldn't resist adding just a pop of red with some rhinestone jewels!

 

Here's the inside.

 

Here's the back of the envelope.

 

Here's the front of the envelope.

 

This next card is a winter scene tealight easel card I made for my hubby Owen.  He loves black and white cards so I used that combo for the card.  On my previous tealight easel cards I'd used a circle aperture but I changed to a rectangular aperture and also added a frame.  Some seasonal sparkle was also added with Dazzling Diamonds glitter sprinkled on the scene die cut.  I adhered a strip of ribbon and popped up the sentiment label and the small snowflake so they act as stops for the easel.  I added a few more die cut snowflakes and placed a silver nailhead on the centre of each one.  I got to use a new purchase on this card - the SU! 'Christmas Traditions Punch Box'.  I loved it as soon as I saw it but I didn't love the price!  When I spotted it on the SU! Clearance Rack at 40% off I snapped it up!

 

Here's a closer look at the scene.

 

Here's the message panel on the back of the easel card.  The Stamparatus made it easy to get a continuous snowflakes border across the top of my panel!

 

Because the card was for my hubby I allowed him two battery operated tealights to illuminate the scene!  I'm very pleased to say he loved this card and he's turned the tealights on every evening since the card has been on display!  No envelope for this card as I popped it into a cello bag with the two battery operated tealights.

Supplies for deer card:
Stamps: SU! 'Dashing Deer' set, Woodware 'Happiest of Christmases' set
CS: SU! Whsper White (thick), Gold Foil Sheet, Gold Glimmer Paper
Ink: Encore Gold pigment ink
Tools: SU! 'Detailed Deer' & 'Snowfall' Thinlits die sets, SU! 'Swirls & Curls' embossing folder, SU! 'Triple Banner' punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Gold embossing powder, Real Red rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Supplies for scene tealight easel card:
Stamps: SU! 'Snow is Glistening' & 'Christmas Traditions' sets
CS: SU! Basic Black & Whisper White (thick), vellum
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: SU! 'Hometown Greetings' Edgelits die set, SU! 'Snowfall' Thinlits die set, SU! 'Softly Falling' embossing folder, SU! 'Christmas Traditions' & 'Pretty Label' punches, SU! Stamparatus, M&C Boutique stitched rectangles die set
Embellishments & accessories: SU! white & silver ribbon, SU! Dazzling Diamonds glitter, SU! Dimensionals, silver nailheads, Wilko battery operated tealights

Ruth

Set Of Hometown Christmas Easel Tealight Cards

I came across Kerstin Wagner's video showing lovely tealight easel cards made using the SU! 'Hometown Greetings' die set and I fell in love with them.  I decided to CASE Kerstin's design and make tealight easel Christmas cards for my card group ladies.  Huge thanks to Kerstin for sharing and inspiring!

I mixed imperial and metric measurements for my cards - I made my cards from a 4" wide strip of CS (the whole A4 length) and scored at 9 and 18 cms as per Kerstin's instructions.

Here is one card on its own.  A circle aperture is cut out of the card front and a vellum circle is glued behind the aperture.  The vellum is embossed with the SU! 'Softly Falling' embossing folder which gives a fab snowy look.  I popped up the snowflake on the bottom so it acted as a stop for the easel. 

 

Here is a card with the tealight inside and switched on, love that warm glow!

 

Here's the base of the card where the tealight goes.  I adhered a large die cut snowflake and helpfully wrote the 'place tealight here' instruction on each snowflake!

 

Here's how I decorated the bottom of the cards using the beautiful SU! 'Snow Is Glistening' stamp set.

Here's a side view of the easel card.

 

Here's the pile of cards all made.

 

The cards ended up as not a standard size for an envelope so I decided to place each card inside a snowflake patterned cellophane bag which I decorated with a sparkly silver gift tag and parcel baubles.

 

Inside each bag I placed a card, a battery operated tealight and a few goodies - a boxed flavoured hot chocolate mix, a Malteser MerryTeaser reindeer chocolate bar, a Ferrero Rocher chocolate and an orange flavoured Lindor chocolate ball.   

 

I'm delighted to say that these went down a storm with my ladies and we'll definitely be making one of these as a card group project next winter!  I'd like to make a couple more for friends this year too but we'll see how that goes!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Hearts Come Home' & 'Snow Is Glistening' sets
CS: SU! Night of Navy & Whisper White, SU! vellum
Ink: SU! Night of Navy
Tools: SU! Simply Scored, SU! 'Layering Circles' Framelits die set, SU! 'Hometown Greetings' Edgelits die set, SU! 'Snowfall' Thinlits die set, SU! 1/4" circle punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels, SU! Dimensionals, Wilko battery operated tealights
Ruth