Butterflies Flutterby

Who among us doesn't like butterflies? The delicate beauty of these little creatures and their carefree spirit as they flit among the flowers leaves those of us who are firmly bound to the earth wistful and longing. However, in truth, the little beauties lead a rather difficult and short life as they are easy prey for the weather, birds and other creatures. Ah well, enough of reality, let's get back to the sheer beauty and joy of the lovely little butterfly.

Butterflies seem to be a favorite embellishment among card makers, and I am no exception, so I was totally delighted when I received this butterfly die in the set of Marianne's Craftable dies that was my latest DT assignment for Dutch Paper Crafts. This die (CR1205) is absolutely beautiful with details!

For this first card, I combined kraft brown, yellow and purple to create a stunning Easter card. Starting with a white card base, I added a layer of kraft and then a layer of a deep yellow dotty paper. On top of the yellow paper, I added a kraft die that I cut using my Spellbinder beaded oval die. The sentiment is typed and printed off onto white card. It reads, "Glad wishes wing their way to greet you on this Easter day." I cut it out using a Spellbinder plain oval die.

I cut the butterfly twice. Once from a dark lavendar and once from a lighter lavendar card. I glued the two butterflies together in the middle (body) area only, leaving their wings separate. I added some small lavendar pearls to the body, then attached the butterfly to my card at the right of the sentiment. I then gently folded the top wings upward to give the butterfly dimension. I added the lavendar ribbon and bow and some Wild Orchid Crafts flowers. Stunning little card.

One of the lovely things about butterflies is they appeal both to women and men. I decided to make a second card and try to capture a more masculine feel using the same die. This time, I used the kraft card as my base card. On top of that, I layered a darker, chocolate brown. Then on top of that, I added a layer of DP paper from a little 6"x6" pad by Bo Bunny called the et cetera collection. Using another piece from the same pad, I matted that with the dark brown.

I selected a piece from the same little pad that was a deeper golden color. The sheet had subtle brown wording on it, but I thought that added to the interest of the butterfly shape and gave it more dimension. Again, I cut two butterflies, layering them on top of each other and gluing the bodies together.

Lastly, I added ribbon, two amber colored gems and the sentiment. I think the overall look is quite nice and achieves the masculine look that I was after. I think you can see from my two samples that despite the delecate cuts and embossed details of this Marianne die, it is quite a versatile shape. I'm thrilled to have it in my collection. If you, too, would like this little die, visit Dutch Paper Crafts (link in sidebar)/

A Basket and a Parasol

Stick with me today, as this entry may be a little long. Since I've been a bit remiss about posting lately, I am going to try to give you two for one (grin). I am going to be sharing two cards that I made for Darlene at Dutch Paper Crafts using dies she released just this morning.

This first card is a little "thank you" card using CR1206 and also CR1210. CR1206 is the beautiful basket, and CR1210 is a little die that gives you five tiny flower shapes and five little leaf shapes. Both dies cut and emboss, giving lovely details. I used white card as my base and layered that with red card and a piece of blue DP. I used a Fiskar's border die and a strip of red grosgrain ribbon. Now the little basket took a bit of time and patience, but the outcome was well worth the effort. I ran the flower die through my Cuttlebug enough times to get a number of those tiny roses. This requires running the die through once for the cutting and then again for the embossing. I also ran the leaf die through a number of times. I found that using my Cuttlebug rather than my Spellbinder Grand Caliber worked better with these tiny dies. The extra pressure of the Grand Caliber caused the dies to stick into the cutting surface and made the dies hard to get out. (I almost lost one as it went flying across my table after finally releasing from the cutting surface!)

After cutting the basket, I backed the lower portion with a small piece of dotty DP and wove ribbon through the top portion of the basket. I then started layering the roses and leaves "inside" the basket. Once I used all the roses, I felt I needed a few little "filler" flowers, so I used a small Marvy hand punch to punch the tiny white flowers. I used my ball shaper to cup the little flowers and then dotted the inside with a yellow Copic marker. Lastly, I added the thank you sentiment which I stamped and matted onto red card.

The embossed details on the basket and the flowers are quite amazing considering the small size of the dies. While working with this die, my daughter and granddaughter stopped by for a visit. They both looked at the shape of the basket and "saw" different things. My daughter saw a parasol. My granddaughter saw a lamp shade and a dress. With that many different ideas, I had to use the die again, so made the card below.

For this card, I went with the parasol idea. I cut the die and then cut off the handles. I cut one side of the handle into a U shape such as one generally finds on a parasol. I then glued the handle back onto the basket in the center. I backed the entire basket shape with a pink pearl sheen paper, and added that tiny bow to the top.

Again, I started with a white card base which I layered with green card and then pink DP. I placed a strip of white lace and above that a strip of white satin ribbon and bow.  I then placed a green circle cut from Marianne die CR1201. I added small pink pearls to the right side of the die and a two-tone pink rose (from Wild Orchid Crafts) under the bow.

I used the sentiment "Wishing you Sunshine" on this card (which I layered onto the pink and then the green), but after I'd finished, I got to thinking how pretty this would be for a Wedding or Baby shower card or even for the invitations.

I hope you enjoy the cards, and I hope you will hop over to Dutch Paper Crafts (link in my side-bar) and have a look at these beautiful Marianne dies that Darlene is selling. There are four different shaped baskets in this set, and even if you don't feel you need all four, they are all so lovely that I know you are going to find at least one or two are going to "have" to find their way into your craft stash (grin).

Little Bit Irish

There is a saying, which I used on my card, that goes, "Once a year, everyone is a little bit Irish." In my case, I have Irish ancestors on both my Father's side and my Mother's side. This week's challenge at Card Crafter's Circle (http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.com/) lends itself to the upcoming Saint Patrick's Day. The theme is green and orange, and your creation can follow a St Patrick's Day theme, or it can follow the colour theme of Orange and Green. You can mix both if you wish. We are excited to introduce a new sponsor to our challenges,  KPM DOODLES.  Our randomly drawn challenge winner will receive their choice of TWO SETS of images from the KPM DOODLES collection.

For my card, I used this little girl holding a tin of lucky 4-leaf clovers. I printed her onto X-Press It card and colored her using my Copic markers. I then paper pieced her little dress, hair-bow and shoes. I used a classic oval Spellbinder die to cut out the completed image, adjusting for the pail so that it went "outside" the oval. I then used the scallop oval die and cut an orange scallop for the matting. I used a white card base and put a layer of orange patterned paper on top of it. I then cut a solid green piece and used a Fiskar's border punch along the bottom. On top of that, I placed a green dotty paper. To complete my card, I added a piece of gold ribbon, two small green buttons, some green Stickle on the Shamrocks (clover) and my sentiment (which I matted with the green).

This was a quick little card, but a fun way to celebrate the "little bit of Irish" in all of us. Hope you will join us this week at Card Crafter's Circle and share your design.

Challenges:
http://www.papercraftstar.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/challenge-87-lucky-st-patricks-day.html - Lucky St. Patrick's Day
http://doyoustackup.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/dysu-62-go-green.html - Go Green
http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.com/ - St. Patrick's Day
http://movingalongwiththetimes.blogspot.com/ - Cute as a Button
http://pixieduststudiopixiechallenge.blogspot.com/ - Show Us Your Irish

Button, Button, I Forgot the Button

Here it is half way through Friday, and I completely forgot to post my DT card for this week. Don't know where my mind is today -- sheeze!

Many of you can remember sitting at your Mother's or Grandmother's feet as they sewed and playing with their button boxes. While I do have memories of sitting on the floor playing as my Grandmother worked her wonders with her trusty Singer trundle sewing machine, I don't particularly remember playing with buttons. I tend to be a sorter and catagorizer type, so I'm sure that all the buttons would have been separated by color or style -- but as I said, I can't recall doing anything like that. Never mind, though, as I know buttons are a favorite embellishment for a lot of you card makers, and this week at Card Crafter's Circle (http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.com/), we'd like to see what you do with buttons.

Our sponsor this week is the uber-fabulous... Bugaboo Stamps!  Not only does Bugaboo have a plethera of adorable images, but they are always so very generous with their prizes. Our randomly chosen winner for the Button challenge will receive SEVEN Bugaboo images. Now how fun is that?

My little image comes from the Sun Bonnet collection and can be found at http://www.bugaboostamps.com/Sewing-SB-button_p_153.html. I figured this little charmer was perfect for the button theme. I printed her off on X-Press It card and coloured her with my Copic markers. I cut the image out using a Spellbinders circle die and backed it with another Spellbinder scalloped circle die. My card base is white card layered with blue and then yellow. On top of that, I added a smaller layer of blue with pattered paper from Daisy D. I added a strip of ecru lace and a strip of ribbon. The X-es on the ribbon reminded me of cross-stitching and kept with the sewing theme (yes, I know the theme is buttons, but that's all part of sewing, isn't it?). I adhered four tiny buttons, one in each corner, and three larger buttons under the bow. I used ecru crochet thread to tie small knots in the holes of the buttons, and I adhered them with sticky glue dots so that they would "stand up" against the bow knot rather than lie flat.

Even if you don't decide to join us this week in the challenge at Card Crafter's Circle, take a few minutes to drop by and have a look at the lovely cards the DT did this week. As our wonderfully spunky and talented DT member from the UK put it, "I'm gobsmacked at how good all our creations look." I think you will be gobsmacked, too!

Photo Inspiration

It's that time of year when the northern hemisphere is approaching an end to their winter... and those in the southerner hemisphere are seeing summer's end... So how about some vibrant colours? The challenge theme at Card Crafter's Circle this week is to take INSPIRATION FROM THIS PHOTO for your creation!

Grrr, my blog is not cooperating with me today. I had a choice of centering the inspiration photo and all subsequent text afterwards or to move the photo to the left with the text lining up correctly. I opted for the latter as I figured that would be much easier to read (grin).

 

 

Anyway, my little DT card was completed while I was on my trip to Indy. I picked the purple colour from the flower picture for my main theme. The card base is white with a purple patterned paper (from a pad of Michael's brand paper) on top. I cut the edge of the paper using a Martha Steward scallop punch. The punch leaves a hole in the center of the scallop, and I've centered a purple pearl inside each. My little image is by Saturated Canary. I believe she is called Silver Fairy, but her dress reminded me of flower petals, so in keeping with the theme, I coloured her with some of my Copic purples. Her under skirt is a soft aqua colour (another of the colours in the inspiration photo). There is another piece of patterned paper (which does not show up well in the photo) from the same pad. I cut a border using a Cheery Lynn dies which I placed over the strip cut from the second patterned paper. In the right hand corner, I punched small flowers from card in the pink/salmon colours to continue the flower theme and pick up another colour from the photo.

 

 

I have to admit that colouring my image took longer than putting the card together. It is a simple layout, but is a nice backdrop for the image, keeping it center-stage.

 

 

We would love to see what inspiration you gleen from the photo. Please share whatever you create with us over at the Card Crafter's Circle blog (http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.com/).

Our  sponsor is DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS! Do visit the store, for the sweetest images! Especially if you have a penchant for bears! Our randomly drawn challenge winner will receive a $10 store credit, equating to 4 digital images, or to be used against a larger purchase... a great prize!

When in Doubt

Doesn't this little image just make you giggle? It is one of Mo Manning's, and I just adore all of her images of little children. They are so very sweet and innocent looking (even the little imps who are really guilty of something -- probably of being too sweet -- grin).

I have some new DT assignements waiting for me, but when I went into my craft room this morning, I felt like I wanted to do something just for the fun of it with no pressure, so instead of doing something I "have" to do, I did this little card instead.

The base is very pale pink Bazzill card. Atop that is a layer of  designer paper from a little pad called Pink Petticoat Wild Blossom collection. Across that layer, I placed another piece of DP from the same pad which I first matted with the pale pink Bazzill. I adhered a strip of lace and a length of pink dotty ribbon. I cut my little image using a round Spellbinder Nestibility die and used foam 3D dots to lift it slightly. The saying which I matted on the light pink and then inked around reads: "When in doubt -- just giggle & do something adorable." Lastly, I added roses from Wild Orchid Crafts and three pink pearls of decreasing size.

That's it! Very easy and feminine little card all ready to send. The inside simply has a square of the paper that I used on the front. When I'm ready to send this card, I'll find a suitable saying/sentiment and will probably stamp or type it onto white card and cut it in a circle to mimic the basic design on the front.

Hum, wonder how long I can get away with just playing instead of working on my assignments. Naw, better not -- I have commitments, and my Daddy taught me that if I've said I'll do something then I'd darn well better keep my word. OK, no problem. The nice thing about my commitments is they are centered around my hobby and craft, so it's like playing anyway (grin). Do what you love and love what you do -- can't get any better than that, eh?

I am going to enter this little card in Mo Manning's challenge for this week at http://mosdigitalchallenge.blogspot.com/

Two View Points

Bonnie Kohane's Card

My Card

I was the last person to leave my friend's house after our crafting weekend because my flight was the latest. Bonnie wanted to enter the Challenge at Mo's Digital Pencil, so I suggested she go ahead and work on the card while I was there, and I'd just chit-chat with her while she was working (my suitcase was already packed with all my craft supplies). Bonnie had just purchased a new little 6" x 6" paper pad, and the papers were so nice and very masculine looking. We liked them so much that Bonnie insisted that I at least make the base card using the papers as it would be easy for me to just slip it into my bag or my purse for bringing home. 

The first card above is Bonnie's card. After looking at her Mo Manning images, we decided little Spike would be cute (she wanted a little boy dressed up in Daddy's clothes, but we didn't find exactly what she had in mind, so substituted Spike -- which I think turned out adorable!). After colouring her image and cutting him out, she decided she would like to use some kind of pun that emphasized the moustache; thus her saying. Finally, she asked me what I thought about her putting a moustache on Spike -- well I, of course, thought the idea was perfect, so fussy-cutting one of the little images from the background paper and using a 3D foam dot, her little card was ready for her to enter into the challenge.

I did not have an image nor sentiment in mind for my card until after I got back home. Going through my Mo Manning images, I found "Introducing Oskar." Doesn't he look like a sweet grandfather? After colouring him up, fussy cutting him out and mounting him to my card, I printed off my sentiment. It was not quite the one I wanted to use, but it works. That same sentiment would also work for birthday -- I don't know why I decided to use anniversary -- just one of those spur of the moment thoughts, I guess. I just felt that the original verse was incomplete and needed the last part to indicated the purpose of the card.

So there you have it -- two view points for the same background which is one of the fun things about creativity -- even when using the same supplies, we may see things differently -- we add our own style, personality, view point. Wouldn't this world be totally boring if we all saw things exactly the same -- well, probably not since we wouldn't know anything different -- but I'm sure glad we are free to create our own beautiful environment -- whatever that may be for each of us.