Doily, Rosette & Butterfly Congratulations Card

Michelle, from the Card Grotto, recently got a new job and I sent this card to congratulate her and wish her success.  Michelle makes beautiful cards, she is a queen of CAS.  I wanted to use some lovely products and colours for her card but to try to keep it CAS.

As I said before, I arrived late to the rosette craze - and now I'm jumping on the doily bandwagon ages after everyone else it seems!  I've used the Cheery Lynn French Pastry doily die.  I was a tad apprehensive as it's a very detailed die but it cuts out really well.  The Paper Rosette die cut shape fits perfectly in the doily centre - ah, happiness!

I made a 5 3/4" square Pool Party card, used Whisper White CS for the doily and Wisteria Wonder dotty paper to make the rosette.  I die cut a Pool Party CS butterfly, brayered the inside of the Lacy Brocade folder with Pool Party ink and embossed the butterfly shape.  I added a fancy silver brad to the centre with a tiny rhinestone brad.  I stamped the Curly Cute sentiment, cut it out with a flag die and added a button.  I rounded the top right corner of the card and added 3 silver pearls to finish the card front.

Here's the inside of the card with spots, scallops and a sentiment.

Here's the front of the envelope.

A very happy card to make!  Although I'm not happy that I now cannot find my Lacy Brocade embossing folder anywhere.  I remember rinsing the ink from the folder in the bathroom - but I haven't set eyes on it since.  I've looked in all the usual places - then in unusual places with mounting desperation - but still no joy.  Most vexing!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Curly Cute & Four Frames sets, Hobby Art 'Sentiments' clear set
CS: SU! Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder & Whisper White
Patterned paper:  Pool Party & Wisteria Wonder dotty DSP
Ink: SU! Pool Party & Wisteria Wonder
Tools: SU! Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Cheery Lynn French Pastry doily die, Sizzix Paper Rosette Decorative Strip die, MFT Fishtail Flag Stax die, plain and scalloped circle Nestabilities dies, SU! Scallop Border & Decorative Label punches, Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper, hot glue gun
Embellishments & accessories: aqua button, fancy silver brad, rhinestone brad, silver pearls,  rhinestone jewel

Circles Merry Christmas Card - Simply Stampin' Challenge #79

We have this great sketch for you at the Simply Stampin' challenge blog this week.

I thought this was the perfect layout for breaking out my new Mixed Medley stamp set and small scalloped circle punch.  The card measures 5 1/4" square and was made from Raspberry Ripple CS - LOVE this colour!  I used Gumball Green and Whisper White for the other layers.  I stamped 6 circles with Primrose Petals ink and 3 with Gumball Green ink and I gave each circle a popped up contrasting centre - apart from the sentiment circle.  For the Merry Christmas circle I glued the white circle to the Primrose Petals circle and punched a 3/4" circle from the centre.  I stamped and punched the Merry Christmas circle, glued that flat to the card but popped up the Primrose Petals circle so that the sentiment looks recessed within a wreath.  I added twinkle to each popped up centre circle with a rhinestone jewel.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I used markers to ink the wording stamp from the Season of Joy set and layered the white panel onto a Gumball Green mat.  A stamped snowflake and punched circles provided my decoration for the envelope flap. 

This is a fab layout, so versatile and suitable for any occasion.  I hope you can join us this week and play along with our challenge, I'd love to come and see what you create!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Mixed Medley & Season of Joy sets
CS: SU! Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Gumball Green & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals & Gumball Green
Tools: SU! 1/2", 3/4", 1 1/4 &1 3/8" plain circle punches, SU! 1 1/4" & 1 3/4" scalloped circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Christmas To Do List Holder Frame - 52 {C}CT Sept Anything Goes Challenge

It's Anything Goes week at 52 {C}CT - you can create anything Christmassy as long as it's NOT a card, tag or ATC.  I hope you'll play along with us, I'd love to come and see what you make!  Check out what the other DT members have made too, there's bound to be some good stuff on show!

I've made something for myself - just 'a bit of nonsense' as my friend Jan puts it.  Lists are important at Christmas and I make lots.  The trouble is when flat pieces of paper are left lying around they can get covered up and so easily get mislaid.  I bought a few of these Tolsby photo frames from Ikea and I decided to make one of the frames into a To Do List holder.  I see the frames are now £1 each but when I bought mine in June they were under 80p each!  It can stand up on my desk and there's no way I'm going to mislay this! 

I've used some silver glittery chipboard shapes to decorate the frame.  I punched small holes in the flourish and bauble shapes and tied the bauble to the flourish with twine so it dangles.  I adhered the shapes to the frame with super glue.  I then added the ritzy red glitter dome stickers to add a pop of colour.  I trimmed a page from a To Do List pad I had and placed it inside the frame.  The frame is double sided so I can have two lists in there.

Kitsch?  Naff?  Probably!  Anyway, I enjoyed myself immensely making it and I think it's festive, fun, fabulous - yet functional!  I've just thought the frames would make good recipe holders too.

Supplies:
Ikea 'Tolsby' photo frame, My Mind's Eye silver glitter chipboard shapes, PaperMania red glitter dome stickers, Crop-a-Dile, red & white baker's twine, super glue, sheet from a To Do List pad

 

Stacked Butterfly Birthday Wishes Card

This is a "bits from the box" card I've made.  I started making it ages ago at a Make and Take evening, didn't finish it on the night and it's languished in my unfinished projects box ever since.   A little while ago I said I'd like to make a "bits from the box" card once a week - yeah, not doing too well on that, must try harder!

I used Shimmer White CS for the A6 card base and the pretty patterned papers are SU! Twitterpated DSP.  After gluing the paper strip at the side I added a Riding Hood Red die cut border and tied some Island Indigo twine around.  I die cut 3 butterflies from patterned papers, sponged the edges with Island Indigo ink, tied on some twine for antennae and added a teeny Baja Breeze button.  I've placed half Dimensionals under the wings to keep them popped up.  A sentiment and two teeny butterflies finished off the card front.

Here's the inside and the envelope with more pretty butterflies.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Sincere Salutations set, Stampendous 'Sending Wishes'
CS: SU! Shimmer White, Riding Hood Red & Baja Breeze
Patterned paper:  Twitterpated DSP
Ink: ; SU! Island Indigo & Riding Hood Red
Tools: SU! Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Adorning Accents scalloped border Edgelits die, Labels Framelits die, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Island Indigo Baker's Twine, Baja Breeze Twitterpated button, pearl jewels, Dimensionals

Bird Window Hello Card For Kelly

When I went to Joanne's a few weeks ago to make the Ornament Keepsakes Christmas ornament I saw some of the swap projects she'd received recently.  This lovely card was made by Peg Coombes and I knew I wanted to make a version using the Woodgrain embossing folder, the Core'dinations CS and the Bird Builder punch.

I started off by making an Early Espresso A6 side opening landscape card.  I then embossed a piece of the Core'dinations CS with the Woodgrain folder, sanded it, cut it to size, glued it to the card front and cut out a window using a Labels Framelits die.  I stamped the 'hello' onto Bashful Blue CS, fussy cut the word out and popped it up.  I added a die cut butterfly to the 'hello' and some Old Olive dotted ribbon down the side of the card.  I just love the look of the Woodgrain after you've embossed and sanded the Core'dinations CS, it's fab - plus the folder is a larger size so it easily covers a card front!

I then stamped the Clouds onto a piece of Whisper White CS, cut it to size and glued it inside the card.  The Clouds stamp didn't cover the whole width of my white panel so I added an Old Olive punched border.  I glued a Lorelai Leaf die cut inside the card and popped up the punched bird.  I punched a wing from Bashful Blue DSP, sponged the edges with Early Espresso ink and added a tiny pearl for the bird's eye.  I used my Corner Chomper to round the top right corner of the card.

When I cut the window out of the card front I kept that piece to one side and I've used it to decorate the envelope flap.  I die cut a Bashful Blue DSP butterfly and attached it to the Woodgrain shape with an Antique brad.  More 'happy mail' that I enjoyed making and sending out - this time to my friend Kelly. 

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'My Friend' set, Hero Arts Clouds background stamp
CS: SU! Early Espresso & Whisper White, SU! Early Espresso Core'dinations CS
Patterned paper:  SU! Bashful Blue Prints DSP, SU! Festival of Prints DSP
Ink: SU! Bashful Blue, Old Olive & Early Espresso
Tools: SU! Labels Collection Framelits die, Bird Builder & Eyelet Border punches, Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Woodgrain embossing folder, PoppyStamps Lorelai Leaf die, Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper, sanding block, Dust Buddy, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Old Olive Dotted Scallop ribbon, pearl jewel, Antique brad, Dimensionals

Everything Eleanor CASEd Thanks Card

Cards with blue and green together seem to really catch my eye these days, I find the combo so appealing.  Recently I came across 2 lovely cards made by Lana and I immediately felt a CASE coming on. I changed the orientation of the card and used Midnight Muse rather than Not Quite Navy.

The card base is a Marina Mist A6 side opening landscape card.  I stamped the frame, flourishes and sentiment onto Shimmery White CS, layered onto a Midnight Muse mat and added the Marina Mist ribbon with a flat bow.  I then stamped 3 flowers - one in Baja Breeze, one in Marina Mist and the third with Midnight Muse ink.  Midnight Muse ink is a lovely intense colour, I used it full strength for the 'thanks' but stamped off once first for the flower.  I fussy cut the flowers and popped them up.  I placed a pearl onto the centre of the bow to finish off the front.

I cut a Shimmery White panel for inside, stamped the flourishes and added 2 stamped and fussy cut flowers.  I simply covered the envelope flap with some Lucky Limeade DSP.  I sent this card off to Joanne.  It's so enjoyable to send happy mail to lovely, kind people!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Everything Eleanor & Thank You Kindly sets
CS: SU! Marina Mist, Midnight Muse & Shimmery White
Patterned paper:  SU! Lucky Limeade DSP
Ink: SU! Marina Mist, Midnight Muse, Baja Breeze & Lucky Limeade
Tools: Stamp-a-ma-jig
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Marina Mist ribbon, pearl jewel & Dimensionals

Flower It's Your Day! Card - Simply Stampin' 'Stitch It' Challenge

This week at Simply Stampin' the challenge theme is Stitch it - Faux or Sew.  Hmmmm, stitching.  Faux?  Sew?  Honestly, I prefer NO!  If I draw lines with a pen my faux stitches come out all different lengths and wonky so I avoid that.  I'm rubbish at any needlecrafts, sewing on a button is my limit and so real stitching wasn't an option. I always admire sewing and stitching when I see it on cards other people have made, but I accept it's not going to happen on my cards!

So, I thought this challenge would be the perfect time to get out my In Stitches stamps to stamp some faux stitches.  I bought the wheel, unmounted the rubber and cut the stamps into individual strips.  Well, that was the plan - but the stamped faux stitching wasn't working out for me at all and I wasted a lot of CS and became frustrated and grumpy.  In the end I thought it would be better and quicker to bite the bullet and do real stitching!  I adhered the Wisteria Wonder patterned paper square to a larger square of Whisper White CS and used the template from the Mat Pack to pierce holes around the square.  Then I added simple black stitches - you ain't getting any fancy stitches from me LOL!  That done, it was onto the fun stuff!

I die cut the flower from the Blossom Party die and broke out my new Autumn Accents die and cut out two leaves.  As well as the Concord Crush dotty patterned paper, I used a piece of chipboard from the back of a used notepad to cut the flower so it has a bit of dimension. I attached a small Blossom Party flower to the centre with a Lucky Limeade brad and added the sentiment flag.  I mounted the white panel onto a square of Concord Crush CS and then adhered that to a Wisteria Wonder 5" square card. 

Here's the inside and the envelope.  Nothing complicated going on here, I'd been challenged enough with the stitching!

I hope you can join in with our Stitch it - Faux or Sew challenge this week - if I can do it, ANYONE can!  I'd love to come and see your cards, even though you will put me completely to shame, I will still enjoy seeing them!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Happiest Birthday Wishes set
CS: SU! Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade & Whisper White, chipboard from back of a notepad
Patterned paper:  Wisteria Wonder & Concord Crush In Color DSP
Ink: SU! Lucky Limeade
Tools: SU! Blossom Party & Autumn Accents dies, SU! Mat Pack, MFT Fishtail Flags Stax die, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Embellishments & SU! Lucky Limeade brad, Dimensionals, needle & black thread

Merry Christmas Bookmark Card - 52 {C}CT Sept Embellishment Challenge

It's embellishment time over at 52 {C}CT and we'd like to see eyelets on your Christmas cards this week.  I have to admit I use eyelets so rarely these days - but I still have a fair few in the stash! I found my little craft hammer too, I still have it although I use my Crop-a-dile to set eyelets nowadays - for which I'm sure the neighbours are thankful! 

I knew I wanted to make a bookmark card, use my Fishtail Flag dies to make the bookmark and to have a pocket on the bottom of the card to hold the bookmark.  I set to work on the bookmark first and I had a mind to use some pretty patterned paper so I went rummaging through my pack of SU! Candlelight DSP.  I came across the gorgeously touchable flocked acetate sheet and wondered would I be able to cut it out with a Fishtail Flag die seeing as they are the thin metal dies?  As it turned out - no!  I used the metal adaptor plate as a shim but the die didn't cut the acetate at all, however, it did leave strong indented marks so I was easily able to cut out the shape with a craft knife and metal ruler.  I die cut a larger flag from Old Olive CS and used a jumbo eyelet to attach the acetate flag to the CS flag.    Then I threaded some Old Olive ribbon through the eyelet hole and tied some red satin ribbon around in a knot.  I decided not to embellish the bookmark any further and leave it just as it was.

So then onto the card and I realised I'd need a tall card to accommodate the bookmark so I made a DL sized card using Real Red CS.  I cut a Very Vanilla panel and randomly stamped a mistletoe spray all over it.  I used my new SU! Old Olive firm foam ink pad - yikes, the ink came out darker than I expected!  So I ended up stamping off once first before stamping each spray.  The fab thing about the new pads is that a light tapping is all that's needed to ink your stamp fully.  I added two jumbo eyelets to the top of the panel purely for decoration and attached it to the card front.  I thought the panel needed a little pizzazz so I added a few red domed glitter stickers.  For the pocket, I die cut a Top Note shape with a piece of CS plus a piece of Candlelight DSP.  I glued the paper to the CS, cut the shape in half and attached one half to the bottom of the card and trimmed off the excess from the sides.  I used thin foam tape to attach the pocket to the card, putting the tape at the bottom and sides only.  I stamped and die cut the sentiment flags, glued those to the pocket and then placed the bookmark inside the pocket.

This photo shows the inside, the bookmark and the envelope.  I kept things really simple by just stamping the Mistletoe wheel down the side of the front of the envelope.  For inside, I cut a vanilla panel, stamped a sentiment, added some patterned paper and some ribbon. The bookmark hasn't got a Christmassy motif on it so although it's attached to a Christmas card it can happily be used all year round.

I hope you'll join in with our embellishment challenge this week but I wonder just how deep will you have to dig in your stash to find those neglected eyelets?!  The rest of the DT have made some great cards so don't forget to check those out too.  I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs to see your cards!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Peaceful Wishes set, SU! Mistletoe wheel, Elzybells 'Merry Christmas', Hero Arts  'Wonderful Christmas' set
CS: SU! Real Red, Old Olive & Very Vanilla
Patterned paper:  SU! Candlelight DSP
Ink: SU! Old Olive & Real Red
Tools: MFT Fishtail Flag Stax dies, SU! Top Note die, Crop-a-dile
Embellishments & accessories: SU! jumbo eyelets, SU! Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Anita's Radiant Red satin ribbon, PaperMania red domed glitter stickers, 1mm foam tape

Triple Time Stamped Thank You Card

I've seen lots and lots of cards recently made using the triple time stamping technique and I thought it was time I had a go.  Wow, what a great technique and the end results are fab!  If you haven't come across triple time stamping before and would like to check it out, Dawn Olchefske has a wonderful video tutorial here.

I started off with a Night of Navy A6 card blank but I trimmed a smidgen off the card so it was 5 3/4" wide.  I then cut my mat layers and my white stamping panels, decreasing by 1" as seen in the measurements given below.

Mats were cut at:
4 3/4" x 3 1/8"
3 3/4" x 2 1/8"

Stamping panels were cut at:
5 1/2" x 3 7/8"
4 1/2" x 2 7/8"
3 1/2" x 1 7/8"

I used repositionable tape to hold my 3 white panels in place while I repeatedly stamped the Baroque Motifs swirl in Crumb Cake ink.  I then stamped the sentiment and the Night of Navy Vintage Vogue flowers.  I stamped smaller flowers on a separate piece of CS, inking in Crumb Cake ink and rock 'n rolling in Night of Navy ink.   After cutting the small flowers out I popped them up onto the larger flowers and added jewel centres.

I started gluing my panels and mats together, added some Crumb Cake taffeta ribbon, glued  the layers to the largest white panel and then glued that to the card front.

I cut a white panel for inside the card and added some Crumb Cake swirls.

Using my Simply Scored and Diagonal Plate I made an envelope from Crumb Cake CS and decorated it with stamped swirls, cut out flowers and a punched label.

I gave this card to my friend Jan and invited her to spend a 'crafternoon' with me so she could make a triple time stamping card herself as I knew she'd love the technique.  Jan came round today and made her version using the Everything Eleanor set.  Jan used Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla for her colours - a fab combo!  She made a beautiful card - I should have snapped a photo before she went home! 

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Baroque Motifs, Vintage Vogue & Thank You Kindly sets
CS: SU! Night of Navy, Crumb Cake & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Night of Navy & Crumb Cake
Tools: SU! Simply Scored & Diagonal Plate, SU! Decorative Label punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Rhinestone Jewels & Dimensionals

Ornament Keepsakes Hanging Christmas Ornament

Here's what I made on Saturday at Joanne's - the hanging Christmas ornament featured on the front of the SU! Autumn/Winter catalogue.  A group of us got together and we each made one - it was great fun!  Joanne was so good, she had produced a print out with step-by-step instructions and photos, bless her.  Not only that, she had made delicious cookies using the Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps.  Crafting, chuckling and cookies - what a fab way to spend a few hours!

 

The large ornaments were stamped in Lucky Limeade ink and for the smaller ones I used Primrose Petals ink.  After stamping 20 of each ornament onto Very Vanilla CS I die cut the 40 shapes - making sure to cut the two different ornaments together so I only had to run the dies through the Big Shot 20 times!  5 of each ornament shape are left flat but all the others are folded in half.  3 folded ornaments are glued together and then glued to 1 flat ornament to make the 3D shapes.   

To assemble the ornament, Joanne cleverly provided us with a very useful star template with a circle in the centre which ensured we positioned the 5 green ornaments so they were equally spaced.  The SU! Silicone Craft Sheet is translucent so you can easily see the paper template underneath - brilliant!  Firstly a 1 3/4" punched circle was glued to the craft sheet and then I glued the green ornament shapes to the circle.  I left the glue to set for a couple of minutes and then the whole assembly just peels away from the craft sheet.  Then it was hot glue gun and tulle time - you need 5 lengths of tulle 3 scallops long and the tulle pieces are glued between the green shapes with the hot glue.  I didn't place my tulle far enough in but I know better for next time!  Joanne's ornament, like the ornament on the front of the catalogue, has loops of linen thread added at this stage but I opted to leave those out.  Then the smaller ornament pieces go on next and you squiggle them in at an angle so they face upwards a bit and rest just above the green ornament edges.  Next it's time for the rosette - I have to admit to cheating with my rosette - I die cut mine beforehand using the Sizzix Mini Paper Rosettes die.  Joanne made her rosette using a strip of paper and the SU! Simply Scored tool.  I hot glued the rosette on and then spent ages considering various options for the centre. 

Decisions, decisions!  I had a vintage glass button that I acquired from my neighbour Kath who has an old button tin full of all kinds and sizes of buttons and she said I could help myself to whatever I wanted.  I spent a very happy afternoon one day going through the tin and choosing a few buttons.  Anyway, I didn't like how the the clear glass button looked.  Joanne used an Antique brad on top of a 3/4" punched circle which looked really nice.  The punched circle would have covered up the pinky/red colours on my rosette and so I didn't like that look either!  I then tried a Build-a-Brad with different patterned papers and nearly went with that but the winning option was the simplest - a large pearl which came from the SU! Pretties kit.  I punched a small hole at the top and threaded linen thread through as a hanger.  There is a Primrose Petals punched 2 3/8" scalloped circle on the back so things look neat and tidy at the back. 

It's a time consuming project, I found the die cutting the most tedious part.  However, it is so worth the effort when you've completed the ornament!  I will definitely make at least another one and may even make more - we'll see!  My initial reaction when I saw the ornament was "no way!" and I envisioned myself failing miserably and ending up sobbing if I tried to make it!  Joanne, Elizabeth, Wendy and Zoe all persuaded me to attend the workshop and have a go and I am so glad they did!  Huge thanks to all of them for having more faith in me than I had in myself! 

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Ornament Keepsakes set
CS: SU! Very Vanilla & Primrose Petals
Patterned paper:  SU! Candlelight DSP
Ink: SU! Lucky Limeade & Primrose Petals
Tools: SU! Holiday Ornaments Framelits dies, hot glue gun, SU! Silicone Craft Sheet, 1 3/4" circle punch, 2 3/8" scalloped circle punch, Sizzix Mini Paper Rosettes Decorative Strip die
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Cherry Cobbler Scalloped Tulle Ribbon, large pearl from SU! Pretties kit, SU! Linen Thread

Holly Present Merry Christmas Card - 52 {C}CT September Theme Challenge

It's theme challenge time this week at 52 {C}CT and the theme is "Gifts of the Season".

I made my square card look like a wrapped gift with a tag.  I cut a piece of patterned paper and taped two strips of the lovely sparkly ribbon behind before attaching it to the front of my card.  The ribbon was tied round the fab Christmas gift Kelly sent to me last year and I saved it as I knew it would be perfect for a card one day! I die cut the tag, stamped the sentiment, cut out 3 holly sprigs from the patterned paper and glued those to the tag.  I punched a hole in the tag, threaded some more ribbon through, added some silver thread tied in a bow and popped up the tag on the card front.

 

When you open the card - ta dah!  Inside there's a pop up gift.  I used flocked holly paper and sparkly red CS to die cut the gift and I attached a silver snowflake charm brad to the bow.  I layered the sentiment onto a sparkly red mat.  At the bottom I added holly paper and sparkly red strips.

 

For the envelope flap I punched a sprig of holly from the flocked paper and added red sparkly berries to finish off.  What a fun card to put together!  I hope you have as much fun as I did when you make your own creations for our challenge this week!  Don't forget to check out the fab inspiration on offer from the other members of the DT!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Best Yet set, Hero Arts Christmas Cheer clear set
CS: PaperMania cream square card blank, SU! red Glimmer Paper
Patterned paper:  SU! Holly Berry Bouquet DSP, Making Memories flocked holly paper
Ink: SU! Real Red
Tools: Sizzix Rounded Tags Framelits die, Sizzix Pop Ups & Gift #2 dies, Martha Stewart Holly Branch punch
Embellishments & accessories: red sparkly ribbon saved from a gift, silver sparkly thread, snowflake charm brad, 3d foam tape

Butterfly Wishing You A Happy Birthday Card - Simply Stampin Challenge # 77

This week we have a colour combo challenge for you over at the Simply Stampin' blog. 

I hope you can take part in the challenge this week - if you don't have the exact colours please feel free to substitute similar shades.

I started off by making a square card just a tad over 5" square with Whisper White CS.  I embossed a square piece of Whisper White CS with the new Lacy Brocade embossing folder - oh my word, it's so gorgeous!   I stamped the sentiment on a piece of Blushing Bride patterned paper, attached it to the bottom of the panel and added a strip of Concord Crush ribbon.  I then die cut some butterflies using the Beautiful Butterflies die and the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die.  I attached my butterfly layers together with an SU! Build-A-Brad - these are retired now and weren't available in the UK but I obtained mine from eBay in the USA.  I would love SU! to bring them back, it's fab to be able to make a custom colour brad any time you want.  I punched a 1/2" circle of the striped paper, glued that to the brad and added the domed sticker over the top.  I popped up the embossed panel, attached my butterfly to the card and added some jewels to the wings.

Here's the inside and the envelope with more pretty die cut butterflies of course!

I hope you'll play along and link up your creations at the Simply Stampin' blog - or you can email them if you don't have a blog - I'd love to come and see what you do with these colours!

I'm off out this morning, a group of us are going to be making the spectacular ornament that's on the front of the SU! Autumn/Winter catalogue.  If you want to see how that turns out, pop back to Flower Sparkle soon as I'll post it to the blog!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Happiest Birthday Wishes set
CS: SU! Concord Crush, Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride & Whisper White
Patterned paper:  Blushing Bride DSP
Ink: SU! Concord Crush
Tools: SU! Beautiful Butterflies die, Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Lacy Brocade embossing folder, 1/2" circle punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Build-A-Brad, jewel rhinestones, Dimensionals

Raspberry Hanging Ornament

A group of us are getting together on Saturday at Joanne's house to make the glorious ornament that is on the front of the SU! Autumn/Winter catalogue.  When I first saw it my initial reaction was "no way am I going to tackle that!"  However, I've been persuaded to change my mind and in preparation I've purchased a hot glue gun.  I've never used one before and I'm not entirely sure I should be trusted with one LOL!  Anyway, I thought I'd practise before Saturday so I thought I'd try making one of the smaller ornaments shown on page 3 of the Autumn/Winter catty.  I chose to CASE the green one but I used Raspberry Ripple ink instead and chose not to have a sentiment banner.

I saw Laurie Zoellmer's video on Dawn Olchefske's blog so first I watched that to get an idea of what I should be doing.  Then I busily stamped and die cut 24 ornaments and then folded 18 of them in half.  I watched another video recently of someone making the big catty front ornament and she had glittered the edges of the die cut baubles.  I love a bit of sparkle so I thought I'd do that - umm yeah, this was one of those "it seemed a good idea at the time but I probably won't do that again!" ideas - there was glitter EVERYWHERE!

I then glued 6 lots of 3 folded ornaments together and then glued those to the 6 unfolded, flat ornaments to form the 'petals'.  Then I was ready to fire up the hot glue gun and attach the 6 petals together.  Oh my giddy aunt - that hot glue is messy and there are so many glue strings - but it holds stuff together really well!  I messed up when gluing my pieces together, I had much more of a gap in the centre than Laurie's ornament, I should have positioned my petals closer together.  I had to use a LOT of glue!  So I covered the centre with a 2" Gumball Green circle and then added my Snow Flurry die cuts.  I cut 2 each of the large and medium snowflakes, offset them and placed a snowflake patterned brad in the centre to hold them together.  Then I attached that to the Gumball Green circle and added a rhinestone jewel to the centre of the brad.  I punched a hole at the top of the ornament and used white baker's twine as a hanger.

Here's a close up so you can see some sparkle on the edges.

There was definitely a learning curve involved in making this and I know what I'd do differently next time.  I'm now looking forward to tackling the big ornament on Saturday, it will be great fun doing it as a group and there may be steam coming off our Big Shots with all that die cutting involved!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Ornament Keepsakes set
CS: SU! Whisper White & Gumball Green
Ink: SU! Raspberry Ripple
Tools: SU! Holiday Ornaments Framelits die, SU! Snow Flurry Bigz die, circle punch, hot glue gun & heatproof craft mat
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Dovecraft Christmas brad, jewel rhinestone

Rosette Flower Just Because Card

I wanted to make a rosette flower card using the dotty leaf stem from the SU! Sweetheart set but the stem on the stamp isn't very long.  I hit on the idea of covering the stamped stem with a thin strip of CS and then you can have a stem as long as you like!  I made the rosette using Pool Party patterned paper and I sponged the edges with Island Indigo ink.  I punched an Island Indigo circle, stamped the 'just because', punched it out with the Word Window punch and sponged the edges.  I attached the sentiment to the circle using a Build-a-Brad with dotty Island Indigo paper inside.  I die cut a Lucky Limeade decorative border using a Labels Framelits die and attached that to the Island Indigo mat layer.  I stamped the bird, cut it out and popped it up.  I added some jewel rhinestones to the border to finish off the front. 

I decorated a white panel for inside the card with patterned paper, a CS strip and a stamped birdie.  I then made a patterned paper envelope and added a rosette with a die cut flower centre and a stamped and punched label. A very happy card to make!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Sweetheart & It's Your Day sets
CS: SU! Pool Party, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade & Whisper White
Patterned paper:  SU! In Color DSP stack
Ink: SU! Island Indigo & Lucky Limeade
Tools: Sizzix Paper Rosette Decorative Strip die, SU! Labels Collection Framelits die, SU! Simply Scored & Diagonal Plate, SU! Blossom Party die, SU! Decorative Label & Word Window punches, circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Pewter Build-a-Brad, jewel rhinestones, 3d foam pads

Owl Merry Christmas Card - Simply Stampin' Challenge # 76

This week at Simply Stampin' we have this lovely sketch for you to follow. The other DT members will have great cards to inspire you so I hope you check them out and then get inky and create a card for our challenge.

I used some of my new SU! goodies to create my card.  I've gone for an owl theme again this week using the fab Owl Occasions set - plus I've tried some of the new In Colours.  I fell for the Owl Occasions set as soon as I saw it, there was just something about it that I couldn't resist!  I started off by making an A6 card from Raspberry Ripple CS - what a gorgeous colour, this will be my fave I think!  I stamped the branch in Chocolate Chip ink onto a piece of Very Vanilla CS.  I then got busy stamping and fussy cutting the owl, the hat, stockings and holly sprigs.  I stamped the owl first in Soft Suede ink and then again in Early Espresso and cut the chest piece and eyes out - I used the Itty Bitty circle punch for the eyes.   I cut a strip of Candlelight DSP and attached a Very Vanilla scalloped edge to a strip of Primrose Petals CS.  I layered the Vanilla panel onto a Gumball Green mat, stamped the sentiment in Primrose Petals ink and adhered the green mat to the card front.  I glued the holly sprigs flat to the branch but popped up the owl and stockings.  I love all the bits and pieces in this set, the Santa hat is so sweet!  I also love that the set can be used for non Christmas projects too.

For inside the card I cut a Very Vanilla panel and added a strip of the patterned paper.  I stamped and cut out 3 gifts and glued them above the paper.  The envelope flap got a holly sprig circle - my new 1 1/4" scallop circle punch makes its debut here!

I hope you'll join us this week for our challenge, I'd love to come and see how you interpret the sketch!

 Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Owl Occasions set
CS: SU! Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Gumball Green & Very Vanilla
Patterned paper: SU! Candlelight DSP
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Early Espresso. Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals & Gumball Green
Tools: SU! Scallop Border, Itty Bitty circle, 3/4 circle", 1" circle & 1 1/4" scallop circle punches, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals