Butterfly Birthday

Today's quick and simple card uses the latest sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches. I cut out the strip separating the corner, and added a bit of ribbon in there too. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Butterfly Basics (retired), Places You'll Go (retired)

Ink: Gorgeous Grape, Blackberry Bliss

Paper: Basic White, Gorgeous Grape card stocks

Accessories: Gingham Ribbon (retired)

Retired Butterflies!

In continuing to make thank you cards for my recently graduated daughter to send out, I keep trying to make challenges work and then thinking "thaaat's not really her..." I finally asked her to choose ten of her favorite shades from my ink stash, and then pulled out some retired stamp sets that *are her.

So for today, I used a sketch that ended last week but I still liked, from Inspire.Create.Challenges and two totally different, old butterfly images. Same sketch, same colors, different images. And while the colors are current, everything else is retired. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, A Touch of Ink
Ink: Boho Blue, Fresh Freesia, Starry Sky
Paper: Basic White & Fresh Freesia card stocks
Accessories: forgotten Paper Pumpkin gems 

Supplies:

Stamps: A Touch of Ink
Ink: Boho Blue, Fresh Freesia, Starry Sky
Paper: Basic White & Fresh Freesia card stocks
Accessories: forgotten Paper Pumpkin gems 

We Create Last-Chance Blog Hop

I missed the April blog hop, so I'm excited we're having a little bonus blog hop! This is because we don't want you to miss out on all the soon-to-be-gone-for-good great stuff!

For my post, I am sharing the much-loved Butterfly Basics stamp set (and coordinating dies!) and two colors I have used a ton over the past few years- Always Artichoke and Elegant Eggplant. In fact, when I went looking for how I've used the butterflies in the past, there are a lot of purple cards! I also threw on some retiring Silver ribbon. Yep, that means everything you see here is on the Retiring List, which you can view HERE.
I also used last week's Clean & Simple sketch for the card layout.

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke
Paper: Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White card stock
Accessories: Silver Ribbon, Big Shot, Butterflies dies

I "stamped off" once to get the lighter shade of Always Artichoke for the ferns, and the full strength for the greeting.  It has been such a great green- so pretty for Christmas, autumn, and even summer! I am going to miss this shade! I have a lot of family and friends who really love purple so I'm glad we have some new purple shades coming to replace all the ones going away!

Don't forget to place your order quickly if you need to stock up on card stocks or ink refills for the retiring colors you own, and if you need some new-old colors for your inventory too!

Keep hopping through to see more stamps and colors we're about to say goodbye to! It's not a long hop, but it is a great one!

Blog Hop: Stepped over butterflies

Happy August....?? I sincerely cannot believe how fast this year has flown...I think that's how you know you're getting old...
ANYWAY it's time for a new blog hop! Each month we each share a couple projects and today mine is slightly stepped up.

My card is based on the latest Clean & Simple sketch. I wanted to use some new paper and new colors. My first attempt was collage-y and I think ended up too busy, so I had to try again. I am much happier with this version. I kept it pretty simple, but stuck to the sketch.

Supplies:
Stamps; Butterfly Basics
Ink: Lemon Lime Twist, Fresh Fig
Paper: Whisper White & Peekaboo Peach card stock, Naturally Eclectic DP
Accessories: Butterflies Die, Big Shot, Dimensionals

I stepped my card up with one tiny detail and I honestly think it polishes the card off! What do you think?

Supplies:

Stamps: Butterfly Basics

Ink: Lemon Lime Twist, Fresh Fig

Paper: Whisper White & Peekaboo Peach card stock, Naturally Eclectic DP

Accessories: Fresh Fig 1/8 Sheer Ribbon, Big Shot, Butterfly Dies, Dimensionals

And here the side-by-side comparison. What do you think? 

Be sure to hop on thru to the whole blog hop- it's not very long. And leave us your thoughts, we all love comments! 

Blog Hop: Stepped "over"!

Happy September to you, and welcome to our monthly Blog Hop!

Lately with our Blog Hops we've been showing you a basic card and then a Stepped Up version....Today, at least some of us are sharing a "stepped over" version- using an every day card and a holiday card to show different supplies used in basically the same way!

One reason we wanted to share a holiday themed card is that the brand new Holiday Mini goes live today and YOU can order from it!!! (and trust me, you'll fall in love with something! I placed a huge order and the customers who have talked to me about their catalog also have long wish lists!)

First of all, I used a recent TGIF Challenge to CASE (copy and share everything) a favorite something that has been shared in the month of August. I picked the third project in THIS post- the chalkboard card that I found so striking. And I used it for both of my card designs.
And I'm just going to apologize now for the quality of photos before the sun is up here today...it was so much one of those months and I didn't get these projects done til after 11pm last night!

So starting with the everyday card, I used the exact same layout Krista did. The color scheme came from some curtains I recently saw- mint curtains trimmed in a shade very similar to our Tip Top Taupe! The cute DP and the ribbon come from the Holiday Mini!

Supplies:

Stamps: Butterfly Basics

Ink: Tip Top Taupe, Mint Macaron

Paper: Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe, Very Vanilla card stocks, Petals & Paisleys DP

Accessories: Ribbon Trio Pack, Linen Thread, Dimensionals

Then I used the exact same design for this Christmas card, other than I turned it on its side! You, well, *I can never have enough Christmas cards and this stamp set is found in the regular catalog but I ordered it with my Holiday Mini order and have been anxiously awaiting using it. The gold twine comes from the Holiday Mini! 

And the DP? That's the Pop of Pink that is mostly pink and black in the regular catalog! haha...! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Joyful Nativity

Ink: Real Red, Memento Black

Paper: Whisper White, Real Red card stocks, Pop Of Pink DP

Accessories: Bakers Twine Trio Pack, Dimensionals

I kept my projects fairly simple, but the layers seem to add a lot. Isn't it cool how the very same card can be used in so many ways and have a completely different feel? It is a simple concept, but I'm the first to admit that when I signed up to be a demonstrator, it took me a long while to figure out how to swap out images to make completely different cards from the same design. haha.... So don't feel bad if something trips you up too!

Now, hop on over to Jeanna's blog and continue on to see what everyone else has created for your inspiration! Also, leave us your thoughts! We all love comments!

Cards in The Mail!

Hello again! I hope my United States readers had a great 4th of July weekend! We definitely did, tho there aren't very many pictures...2016 has been a weird one for me, haha!

Today I'm sharing some very cool cards using some brand new products, made by other demonstrators. I love swapping with this group! There are always so many great card ideas and I love being able to feature things I don't even own! The creators names are on the cards, so enjoy!

A Butterfly Birthday!

Happy Wednesday!
Today I have a pretty card for you.
I love this set. I love collaging with it, because it looks complicated but it isn't. AND I love that it is not on the Retired List!!! This time, I went with purples.

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics
Ink: Pear Pizazz, Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant card stocks
Accessories: Big Shot, Butterflies Dies, Hexagon Punch

Butterfly Birthday!

Happy Saturday! Well the holidays have come to an end around here. Life is returning to normal...Christmas decorations are down...today was a pretty typical Saturday doing all the cleaning chores and we dive back in to reality with early church tomorrow morning! But for today, I made a card to show you!

I specifically made this one to participate in what claims to be the last challenge from the Nacho Average Challenge blog! I really enjoy their sketches, even tho I'm not usually so great with the color challenges, so I will miss them for sure! And therefore I had to play along! And so, my first card of 2016 uses Soft Sky, Night of Navy and silver!

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Sprinkles of Life
Ink: Night of Navy
Paper: Soft Sky, Night of Navy card stocks, Silver Glimmer DP (retired??)
Accessories: Butterflies Thinlits, Big Shot, Pearls, Dimensionals, Hexagon Punch

It's a pretty simple card, but it's also a pretty card. And I was a total slacker with a birthday recently so clearly I need to have more on hand!
This one has the big butterfly die cut out of the glimmer paper which is in my retired stash... Then the littler butterfly is stamped and die cut, and popped up on a Dimensional, with a pearl on top! The greeting is just stamped and the end is flagged with the Hexagon Punch. That's it! Pretty and sparkly and done!

Hello!

Yep, even a Sunday post this week!
I haven't had much stamping time lately, and what I have had has been spent working towards a Christmas Card class. Today I thought I'd switch gears and do a little more autumn before December starts! This afternoon I am planning to write some thank you notes, so of course I'll need to replenish that stash just a bit too!
This card design comes from wanting to play along with the NAC color challenge before time was up, and I also used a sketch from the Viva La Verve blog. And I completely switched things up with a stamp set I haven't paid much attention to in what feels like forever, but is really probably just a matter of weeks... haha! The fern is stamped off in Old Olive, for the lighter shade, and then I inked it with Early Espresso, stamped first on my scratch paper, then twice on the card panel for the two shades. I like that method!
And again with the lighting!! I have got to be done stamping earlier in the day!

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Six Sided Sampler
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Early Espresso
Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White, Early Espresso card stocks, Into The Woods DP
Accessories: Into The Woods ribbon, Butterflies dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, stapler

Autumn Butterflies!!

When I take too long of a break from stamping, it always seems to take a while to get going again. Yesterday wasn't super productive in my stamping, but I love this card I created! 

This time I used the sketch from the TGIF Challenge blog. But instead of circles, I used two butterflies! I stamped the fern twice for the different shades, and stamped the honeycomb-looking image on the other side for a bit of balance. I layered the two ribbons, and attached them with a stapler on the straight end, and Glue Dots on the tapered end. The big butterfly is cut from Cajun Craze card stock, and the little butterfly is punched out- and they both have a Candy Dot on them for a bit of accent! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Butterfly Basics

Ink: Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow, Rich Razzleberry

Paper: Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla card stocks

Accessories: Burlap Ribbon, Into The Woods Ribbon, Neutrals Candy Dots, Itty Bitty Butterfly Punch, Buterflies Thinlits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, stapler

This will be another in my Thank You card class. I know I'm holding one at my mom's next week, and I have yet to set a date for a local class... 

But if you love this card- you should know the Butterflies Thinlits are on the Weekly Deals, which you can view HERE! 

Cards In The Mail

I promise to start posting again! But before that, I'm going to share these beautiful cards I've received from other demonstrators, in the mail. All are credited to the creator. Enjoy!

Blog Hop: Step It Up!

Happy new month to you! It's August...?!! Yikes! Summer is almost over!

Well, a new month means a new blog hop!! This time my blogging friends and I are going to try a little something new. We're going to each create a pretty card, and then step it up to show you just how much adding a bit more can do for your creations!

Personally, I used the latest from Freshly Made Sketches as my starting point. I kept it very simple this time, but I still think it's pretty. Also, it took probably less than five minutes to make! Gotta love that!

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics
Ink: Blackberry Bliss
Paper: Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Blackberry Bliss, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Hexagon Punch (pennant end), Big Shot, Butterflies Thinlits

However, if I make the base less plain with some embossing, and a bit of distressing via stamps and ink, then pop the butterfly up, and add a pretty little pearl accent, it can look even better!

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Crumb Cake, Tip Top Taupe, Versamark
Paper: Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Blackberry Bliss, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Basic Pearls, Hexagon Punch (pennant end), Big Shot, Butterflies Thinlits, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

What do you think? Of course the second one requires more time, and more supplies on hand, but it also adds so much to the fun of the card!

Now click the hand on to get to Cheryl's blog, then hop on thru to see what everyone has ready to inspire your crafting!

Mother's Day!

...is Sunday! Did you know that? I barely did...! I whipped up a couple specifically-Mother's-Day cards and then laid out allll the flowery, butterfly-y cards I have in my stash (there are a LOT) and had my kids choose which ones to send their grandmothers, and my husband chose one for his mother. I know my husband likes cards that say right on them what they're for, so I needed to add a few that say "happy Mother's Day" on the front. So even tho my stash is pretty large, adding two cards to it, but mailing out 6 seems a fair trade, haha! And that is why retiring products are on today's cards!

Sketches are my favorite go-to to get me started with cards. This card uses the current Freshly Made Sketch, and is really quite a simple card, but I really love how it turned out!

Supplies:
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Soft Suede, Coastal Cabana
Paper: Soft Sky, Crumb Cake & Coastal Cabana card stocks
Accessories: Big Shot, Butterflies Framelits, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

For this card, I used the May 1 sketch from the Viva La Verve blog. A few weeks ago I received a couple cards, thru the Cards In The Mail swap I participate in, using this stamp set on white panels, stuck on a white card. I thought it was a very striking look. (You can see them at the end of THIS post.) I chose Very Vanilla to achieve the same idea. What do you think? I really like it, and the touch of pearls!

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Memento Black, Pear Pizazz (marker), Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride (marker)
Paper: Very Vanilla & Blushing Bride card stocks
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

Hopefully these inspire you to create something pretty for the mothers in your life! And I need to get the Mother's Day cards out today!

What is retiring from today's projects?

• Coastal Cabana ink
• Coastal Cabana card stock
• Scallop Edge Punch

News, News and more News!

I got some stamp time! And this card leads us right in to all the news of the day too! Bonus!!
First of all, the card.
It's a simple one, using a Viva La Verve sketch from earlier in the month. I bling-ed it up a bit with the sequins, since I made a standard size card, and I like how it turned out!

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Lots of Thanks, Snuggles & Smooches
Ink: Smoky Slate, Strawberry Slush
Paper: Strawberry Slush & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Epic Day Washi Tape, In Color Sequins, Butterflies Thinlits, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Big Shot

Now, how does this tell you news? Well, the Butterflies Thinlits are back in stock, which means you can order them again! Yeay!!! And! Thru April 30, Stampin' Up! has a limited time offer to help with the frustration of the Framelits being unavailable-

1. Get the Butterflies Thinlits at a 15 percent discount--just $21.20!
2. Buy any of the Butterflies Thinlits Bundles at a 15 percent discount and choose one of three FREE Sale-A-Bration items (only available while supplies last)!

• Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper (item 138633)
• Best Year Ever Accessory Pack (item 138634)
• Irresistibly Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper (item 138635)

And! Four items on this card are on the retiring list!!! That's right- the retiring lists came out today! Check out the retiring stamps HERE.
Check out the retiring accessories HERE.
Check out the retiring MDS items (all of them are retiring, but the updated discounted prices) HERE.

Which ones are retiring from today's project?

• Strawberry Slush card stock and ink, 
• In Color Sequins 
• Epic Day Washi Tape!

*I should also note, I don't yet know which products will carry over from the Occasions Mini, nor do I know what will happen to the Photopolymer stamp sets that were released monthly, instead of in a catalog. That means you might want to consider ordering Butterfly Basics and Snuggles & Smooches before they too are gone!

Cards In the Mail!

I haven't created anything (besides ya know...dinner) since Saturday! Let's see if I can fix that today...! In the meantime, I've got some Cards In The Mail to share! I really love the different ideas that come in my mailbox! So for today, enjoy these gorgeous ideas other people had!

 Stamps: Build a Bouquet

 Stamps: Big On You, Work of Art

Stamps: Million and One

 Stamps: Butterfly Basics

Stamps: Butterfly Basics

Blog Hop: March Madness!

Another new month! This time for our Blog Hop we are going with March Madness- and mostly that means: anything that applies to March! You never know what you're going to find!

I chose to go with a Spring theme! ...our winter has been really weird. Hardly any snow, and jacket weather or less...til this week when its been very cold and snowy again! Which is good...we need the snow..... But my birthday is coming up very soon and I'm in the mood for Spring!
I also stuck to one set to show off some versatility! Love dong that!
*Bonus- these projects were part of my workshop yesterday morning!

First up- this card, which was also the Make & Take! We sponged Old Olive ink onto the polka dot patterned DP. The butterflies were punched out, and they have a tiny pearl on them, that was colored with the Blendabilities. The ribbon was frayed...or really, in my case, pulled apart, haha, And the flower image was also colored with Blendabilities.

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics
Ink: Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, Crumb Cake, Memento Black, Wisteria Wonder Blendabilities, Old Olive Blendabilities
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Very Vanilla card stocks, Irresistibly Yours DP (Sale-a-Bration only)
Accessories: Basic Pearls, White Jute Ribbon, Itty Bitty Butterfly Punch

Here is the scrapbook page I demonstrated, and I think the blue butterflies definitely bring Spring to this page!

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Skinny Mini ABC
Ink: Soft Sky, Lost Lagoon, Lost Lagoon Marker
Paper: Whisper White, Night Of Navy, Soft Sky card stocks
Accessories: Epic Day washi tape, Butterfly Thinlits, Big Shot

Now that you've enjoyed my dose of Spring, head on over to Cheryl's blog and see what fun projects she has to share! Then continue thru the rest of the bloggers, and! leave some comments telling us what you think! And enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Yellow Flowers

Quick post today..busy week, busy day!
For today's card, I used last week's Mojo Monday sketch. (I actually made it last week but I had lots to post last week too!) I didn't love how it turned out, maybe too busy? But I threw this Sale-A-Bration greeting on yesterday and it will be going out in the mail this week too!

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Simply Wonderful
Ink: Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede and marker, So Saffron Marker, Crushed Curry marker, Mossy Meadow marker, Pear Pizazz marker
Paper: Sahara Sand, Soft Suede & Very Vanilla card stocks, Park Lane DP
Accessories: Chevron Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, Decorative Label Punch

Blog Hop: Occasions Mini!

Welcome to a new month AND a new year!! I'm excited to share our fun blog hop with you!

Have you received the new Occasions Mini? It doesn't actually begin until January 6th, but we wanted to feature it today, to whet your appetites for the fun new products! I know my wishlist is long...so many pretty things in this Mini! And, you know...Demonstrators can pre-order catalog products...! (yep, that's a perk! Wanna sign up??)

First up, I have this sweet tulip stamp! That's right, we have barely had snow for a whole week and my stamping has moved on to Spring... hahaha! I used the current Retro Sketch for the card layout (which I flipped upside down), and a bit of a crossover...the Holiday Mini stays current thru January 5 so I went ahead and used a button from it on this card!

Supplies:
Stamps: Love Is Kindness
Ink: Memento Black
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Sweet Taffy DP
Accessories: Wisteria Blendabilities, Nordic Buttons, Crushed Curry baker's twine, Big Shot, Banners Die

This card was fun to make! I used the latest Mojo Monday sketch, and enjoyed the collage-y-ness of the Butterfly Basic set!

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Basics
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar
Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar & Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Big Shot, Banners Die, Butterflies Die

And finally, I have this card which I didn't love quite so much, but I'm sharing it anyway, haha... I used the latest Freshly Made Sketch, but I changed the focal point to a square instead of circle. This time I colored the tulips with Calypso Coral Blendabilities.

Supplies:
Stamps: Love Is Kindness, Butterfly Basics
Ink: Memento Black
Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Calypso Coral card stocks, Park Lane DP
Accessories: Big Shot, Hexagon Hive Die, Dimensionals

Now, carry on to Cheryl's blog, and hop on thru! Please leave us comments to let us know what you think! and Happy New Year to you!!!