Butterfly birthday

Posted: July 12, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Social Butterfly | 21 Comments

I have seen a few cards lately with backgrounds made using acrylic blocks so I decided to give it a try. I dabbed ink onto the block using the memento dew drop inks then spritzed it with water and let it blend and run on the block before stamping the block onto the card base. On top of that I stamped the maidenhair several times in three greens before completing the scene with a black butterfly and sentiment. I have seen similar backgrounds with a lot more colour and ink so I will continue experiment with the technique. We are enjoying gorgeous summer weather this week and I am seeing some butterflies too.

Thanks for dropping by.

Supplies

Stamps: Flourish Birthday,  Social Butterfly (PB)
Ink: Memento  New Sprout, Pear Tart, Bamboo Shoot & Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)

Inspired by tiles

Posted: July 10, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Oh Spring!, Penny Black | 13 Comments

I often find inspiration for cards in House magazines or flyers but I don’t always do something with the inspiration. When I saw the tiled bathroom wall below, however, I decided to turn it into a card.

I sponged all the tiles first by moving a post-it note gradually left to right and top to bottom sponging the edge after each move. The branches are stamped in versafine onyx black and highlighted with FaberCastell PolyChromos pencils.

It has been a bit quiet on the blog the last few days because we had a surprise party for my younger daughter’s 16th birthday. My older daughter made all the plans, contacted the guests, decorated and ran some games, my husband and I handled the food and my son lent his video editing talents to make a clever celebrity quiz. I had the job of getting her out of the house which was not too hard with the mention of shopping. The girls had a great time and my daughter was completely surprised!

Supplies:

Stamps:Oh Spring! , Free Flight (Penny Black)
Inks: Wheat Versamagic Chalk ink, Versfine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
Also: Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils

Collage Thank You cards

Posted: July 4, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: A Flight of Thread, CAS, Collage cards, Penny Black, Queen Anne's Lace | 18 Comments

Our daughter graduated from high school last week and when thinking back over the years I started recalling the many people who have positively impacted her life, contributed to her education and prayed for her through thick and thin. I thought I might get a few photos and slip them inside cards and send them, especially to our friends and family in Australia who love her dearly but rarely get to see her.

I enjoyed making my own collages although it does take a little time and does not always work the way I intend. In order to blend the images together without unattractive overlap it is sometimes necessary to ink only part of the stamp or as I did, ink it all then wipe off some ink with a cloth. It is hard to describe my process, especially as I am not sure that I remember what order I did things; perhaps it’s time for another tutorial?

Edited to add: I have posted a tutorial here on the blog and it is on my youtube channel

Supplies:

Stamps: A Flight of Thread, Queen Anne’s Lace, Letter Background, Flourish Thank You 4175F, Gratitude (PB)
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa & Desert Sand, Summer Sky, Nautical Blue & Teal Zeal (Tsukineko)

Butterfly corners

Posted: July 3, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Penny Black, Social Butterfly | 10 Comments

I mentioned last week how much I like the new Social Butterfly set from Penny Black. It is funny though how I keep gravitating to the smallest stamps in the set.

This little butterfly corner reminds me of Art Nouveau tiles and decorations. To create this card I stamped the corner six times in versamark and embossed in black before sponging each corner with a different Memento ink.  I realized after that I could have just embossed the corner on six different colours of cardstock; might have been more straightforward don’t you think?

I cut each corner out and arranged them on a strip of ivory cardstock which I popped up on an ivory card base before adding the ‘Smiles’ from the Petal Party set.

Supplies

Stamps: Petal Party,  Social Butterfly (PB)
Ink: Memento  New Sprout, Tangelo, Danube Blue, Summer Sky, Dandelion, Lulu Lavender & Versamark (Tsukineko)
Also: Black e.p.

Classic Wedding Blessings

Posted: June 30, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Flowers Sweet, Music Background | 23 Comments

I attended the wedding of one of our school’s violin teachers today. I knew I needed to make a card this morning before I went and it just so happened that the Less is More challenge provided the right inspiration. I planned to use a music motif anyway but the colour scheme and layout of the Less is More blog header helped me complete the rest of my design. I had no idea what the colour scheme of the wedding was but my card reflects the colours of the invitation: classic black & white with a touch of beige. The sentiment panel matted in black is popped up on dimensionals as is the square music and floral panel.

The bride looked beautiful in ivory lace, as did the maid of honor in burgundy and gorgeous flower girl in ivory with a burgundy sash.

Supplies

Stamps: Flowers Sweet,  Music Background, Blessings(PB)
Ink: Memento Desert Sand, Versfine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)

Breezy Butterfly

Posted: June 27, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Penny Black, Social Butterfly | 8 Comments

Clean & Simple is the theme at the Penny Black blog today. Make sure you check out the competition which is up and running at Penny Black too. (Sorry about the false start on this post. It was there; it was gone; now it’s back)

I once again used a tried and true layout. I inked the butterfly from Social Butterfly with versamark and Bamboo Leaves and embossed it in clear before I positioned the masks. The background is a combination of sponging in greens and yellow and the Breezy stamp. I am having fun with the Social Butterfly set; there are five gorgeous butterflies and the dragonfly, which, though small might just be my favourite of the set.

Thanks to all who participated in the One Layer Wednesday challenge I set last week, I really enjoyed all the submissions. There is a new one layer challenge now from Cheryl.

Supplies

Stamps: Breezy, Wishes, Social Butterfly (PB)
Ink: Memento  New Sprout, Pear Tart, Bamboo Leaves, Dandelion & Versamark (Tsukineko)
Also: Clear e.p.

Popping petals

Posted: June 26, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Penny Black, Petal Party | 12 Comments

Today’s card features one of the new Penny Black transparent sets, Petal Party. You will probably notice that the layout is not new; I have used one of my favourite masked layouts with a popped up flower as a variation. The flowers and leaves are embossed in clear then sponged outside the lines in order to blend the colours a little. The sentiment is from Sweet Wishes.

Back tomorrow with another CAS card.

Supplies:

Stamps: Petal Party, Sweet Wishes  (Penny Black)
Inks: Summer Sun, Pear Tart, Lilac Posies, versamark (Tsukineko)
Also: clear e.p.

Summer silhouette

Posted: June 23, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Berry red snow white, CAS, Dreamy, Penny Black, Stamped Landscapes | 16 Comments

I haven’t stamped a landscape for a while so I decided to create something summery. Don’t bother thinking too long about why the moon is out and the the grass is sunlit and yet there is still a silhouette in the foreground. I didn’t really think that one through myself; I just wanted to make it pretty.

I started with border masks and a circle for the moon. I sponged in blue, then yellow and finally orange. The wispy grass in orange is the top of the Dreamy stamp and the the silhouette is Berry red, Snow white. If I was making this one again I would stamp my sentiment a smidge higher, but on the whole I was happy with the way it turned out.

I hope you are enjoying some summer weather or if you’re in the southern hemisphere at least some sunshine.

Supplies:

Stamps: Dreamy, Berry Red Snow White, Wishes(Penny Black)
Inks:  Memento Danube Blue, Summer Sky, Daffodil, Cantaloupe,  Versafine Onyx Black(Tsukineko)

Blue Lace

Posted: June 22, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: A Flight of Thread, CAS | 12 Comments

There is another new set featured on the Penny Black blog today, A Flight of Thread and this sweet little lace butterfly is one of two stamps in the set. The stamp is a little bigger than what you see above because I trimmed some of the image off before popping it up. I paired the butterfly with a lace border and sentiment from Lace Delight all stamped in Memento Nautical Blue.

Have a great weekend.

 

Blended round and round

Posted: June 21, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Penny Black, Round and Round | 6 Comments

This card is my second one using the new round and round set. The first one I did was very geometric and symmetrical but this one is a little more organic, more my style really. I inked the medallion stamp randomly using the pointy end of the Memento Dewdrop ink pads and swiped the same colours across the sentiment too.

Thanks for dropping in here, I’ll be back tomorrow with another new summer release from Penny Black.

Supplies:

Stamps: Round and Round (Penny Black)
Inks:  Memento Danube Blue, Daffodil, Bamboo leaves (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Penny Black mix & match papers Clear Skies


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