Things With Wings

Hello there!  Sure do love to use butterflies on my cards, but in today's post you'll also see dragonflies and a cute tiny bumblebee. 😄


With the first card, believe it or not, I began with a messy square of 'trial and error' kraft cardstock that I could not bear to throw away.  (I had used white spray ink through a sieve; not really loving it)  The black butterflies pick up the black text from the Stampin' Up! encyclopedia page patterned paper, and of course the sentiment.  Supply lists are in each caption.

Papertrey Ink 'Birthday Basics' sentiment - Martha Stewart 'Monarch Butterfly' punch

Ages ago, when I was on the Play Date Cafe challenge design team, we featured a rubber stamp company one week called Stampotique.  The design team members of PDC got to choose products from Stampotique's website to work with, and I chose one called 'Hutching's'.  I presume that the stamp's wording was originally an advertisement in a newspaper.  I love it.  However, it's a little bit of a challenge to fit it into my cards, so I decided to pair it with bits of nature:  two dragonflies, and some baby's breath flowers stamped subtly in the background (in green).  There's also a tiny sliver of silver glittered cardstock under the advertisement.  Just because.

Stampotique 'Hutching's' advertisement stamp - Stampin' Up! 'Organic Grace' dragonfly stamp & baby's breath flower stamp (subtle in green on background)

Long before I began to use an app called Evernote to organize all of my stamping supplies (with pictures and titles, tags and more), I used to photograph each stamp set and put it in a binder with clear plastic sleeves.  Once I abandoned that way of organizing, I had all these papers with photos of stamp sets printed on them.  Didn't want to throw them away if they were salvageable, and saved what I could.  The one below is an example.  The center panel is a miniature version of Hero Arts 'Antique Background' (with script and butterflies), which I cut from the photo page.  I mounted it onto a gray card base that was stamped with Stampin' Up!'s 'Print Pattern'.  The sentiment was lying as-is in a scrap box on my desk, and then I just grabbed a butterfly sticker to tie it all together.

K & Co. large green butterfly sticker - Stampin' Up! 'Print Pattern' background harlequin stamp - Flourishes 'Strawberries' sentiment -  Hero Arts 'Antique Background' script/butterfly stamp

The last card was super easy, because it used digital print-outs that were a gift from my aunt (thank you, Aunt Leanna!).  I just added some white rick-rack trim, yellow rhinestones, and a little bee that I stamped and trimmed.

Patterned paper, sentiment panel - digital printouts received as a gift - Simon Says Stamp 'Circle Friends' bee stamp

Thanks so much for reading my crafty ramblings!  God bless you! 😀

Sympathies and Topiaries

Hello!  I've got a grouping of sympathy cards, and one thank you card, to share today.  There's a topiary theme to a couple of them so they're appearing together here in this post.

The supply lists are in the captions beneath each photo.

Stampotique 'Big Bee with Medium Bee' rubber stamp - Colleen bow using seam binding from Hug Snug 'Metal Green' -  sentiment - My Favorite Things 'Essential Sentiments' - fern paper - Stampin' Up! scrap bag

Spellbinders 'Decorative Labels Eight' flourished rectangle die - Memory Box 'Large Sitting Cat' - pawprints - Papertrey Ink 'With Sympathy: Loss of a Pet' - Verve 'Deepest Sympathy'

Papertrey Ink 'Daily Designs Sentiments' - Unity 'Countryside Blooms' jar with flowers

Papertrey Ink background patterned paper - Verve 'Deepest Sympathy' - Martha Stewart Hydrangea Punch

Anita's 'Topiary' - Paper Smooches 'Salutations' (in silver embossing)

Papertrey Ink 'Topiary Trio' topiary and thank you sentiment

Thanks so much for the comments you've left on my blog in the last few days.  After not posting much at all for months on end, I am really blasting out posts this week! 

God bless you!

Golden bees buzzing

In last year's Stampin' Up! catalog & idea book, I found a terrific card that I wanted to CASE (copy and share everything).  Here's the result:

It's very eclectic, and I love it!  The Ton Stamps' Wild Peonies were stamped in Cameo Coral, and overstamped with black splatters from Inspired By Stamping's Create A Cupcake. 

Under the black striped patterned paper is a bit of page from a vintage book. The sentiment pairs Verve's Small Phrases with Everyday Tabs by Inspired By Stamping (stamped in Pool Party).

How about those shiny bees? Wow! They are from Stampotique's Big Bee with Medium Bee set, heat-embossed in gold.

This was a lot of fun to make. It's a wee bit different from my normal style, or maybe it's the color combo that felt different to me.

I appreciate your visit today! Be blessed!

Thank you cards....and a few others, too!

Hello! Glad you dropped by today. :-) I'm piling multiple cards in one post, 'cause there are just too many to keep up with posting here on the blog!

Beautiful hyacinths from Flourishes Hello Hyacinths, paired with an encouraging Bible verse from Papertrey Ink's Everyday Blessings.

Up next, a lovely sentiment from Verve's Dare To Be, paired with Mini Rolled Roses in pale pink felt (die by My Favorite Things). 

Next up, some thank you cards:

Hard to tell from the pic above, but that tiny bee and the square medallion stamps were gold-embossed. You can see it better below:

Thanks for coming by today!  Hope you are doing well in your little corner of the world. :-)

Jeremiah 29:11

Welcome back!  I made this card for a family member who is going through a rough patch.

I love using the Papertrey Ink A Cheerful Heart stamps.  The set includes very encouraging, uplifting verses that truly do make my heart happy. :-)

I used shades of black, ivory and white; one of the patterns is flocked!  I added golden touches with the ribbon, a gold-embossed bee from Stampotique, and gold sequins, too.

I think I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink for the sentiment, which has many bold areas on it.  Would've been a better choice to use Versafine Black, which is opaque and has a darker appearance. Noted for next time!

Stamps: A Cheerful Heart - Papertrey Ink; Big Bee with Medium Bee - Stampotique Paper: white - Papertrey Ink; patterns - La Creme matstack - DCWV Fibers: gold ribbon; vintage thread Accessories & Tools: gold sequins - Pretty Pink Posh; gold embossing powder, button - Stampin' Up!; Deckled Rectangles, circle dies - Spellbinders

Play Date Cafe 102 - Wishing You Bouquets of Joy

It's time for another Play Date Cafe challenge!  This week our sponsor is

and our design team got to pick out some goodies.  Thank you, Stampotique!  I chose these images:

and

I can see so many possibilities for these neat stamps.  Here's how I used them with our color story --

This is such an eclectic assortment, and I kind of like it!
The bees were stamped all over the orchid cardstock, but you really can't see it unless you're close up:

I punched some old Stampin' Up! Vintage Violet cardstock, and mounted it behind a book page and a piece of lace.  The lilac clip art is from Crafty Secrets.

This button (and many others) was passed on to me by my aunt, who holds the button collection that her mother had.  Thanks, Aunt Kay!  See the green stuff on the button?  I cannot scratch it off, but it worked out really well for our color challenge.

I used Crystal Effects on both bees, just 'cause.

You'll want to head over to The Play Date Cafe and see what the rest of our crafty team has made for you.  We hope you get a chance to play with us, too! 
Thanks a bunch for joining me today.  :)

Colleen

Stamps:  Medium Bee with Tiny Bee, Hutching's - Stampotique
Paper:  white - PTI; Basic Black, Vintage Violet, Whisper White, green patterned paper - SU; orchid - California Paper Goods; page from Miss Manner's book
Ink:  Antique Linen, Walnut Stain Distress inks - Ranger; Pale Plum - SU; Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Punch:  Lattice Edge border - Martha Stewart
Other:  lilac clip art - Crafty Secrets; button; lace; dimensionals; Crystal Effects

Play Date Cafe 81- In My Prayers

I really like this week's color story from The Play Date Cafe:

A grape, a lime and a silvery-light gray.  Pretty!  The closest lime I had in my stash is Kiwi Kiss cardstock, from Stampin' Up!.

Had some trouble photographing this in a charming way.  It didn't want to stand up, and I don't own a flower frog (as so many other crafters use to support their cards), so I had to lean it against the tablecloth backdrop. 

Since our sponsor this week is Stampotique Originals, each of us on the Design Team got to choose a stamp and a sentiment stamp.  I LOVE the ones I was blessed with:

and

I stamped the Baroque Background (#7109) in Dusty Concord Distress Ink, then used a circle die cut.

Just realized how many punches and die cuts I used here - 11 total!  And this is a small card, 4 1/4" around.

To construct the fan behind the sentiment, I used the Martha Stewart Deco Fan Corner Punch three times and trimmed away unnecessary parts.  The flower was made with a Flower Trio punch (SU) and a matte silver brad from JoAnn's.  Once the brad was placed through all three flower layers, I used my fingernail to distress the layers of paper. 

Our Guest Designer this week is the fabulous Debbie Hughes.  You can check out her creative stuff HERE.  Thanks for joining us, Debbie! 

And if you want to see the prize for our Cup of the Week winner, head on over to The Play Date Cafe!

Thanks for joining me today.  :)

Colleen

Stamps:  Baroque Background and sentiment from Stampotique Originals
Paper:  white from PTI, Kiwi Kiss (SU)
Ink:  Dusty Concord Distress Ink, Basic Black
Punch:  large oval and Flower Trio (SU), Deco Fan corner punch (Martha Stewart)
Other:  gray pearls - Queen & Co, piercing tool, gray satin ribbon - Offray, Big Shot, standard circles and  Beaded Circles Spellbinders Nesties