I’ve been looking through the different card swaps we have going on here at CS, and really wanted to make one for the Cheer Up/Encouragement swap (signups for this one close today).  Because I’m always worried about over-extending myself, I always get the card finished before I actually sign up and commit to it – that’s just the way I am.  Anyway, so I woke up this morning and realized that if I wanted to participate in this one, I’d better get something started.  So off on the creative process I went.

First thing I went looking for was a sketch.  There are tons of sketch challenges on the internet to sign up for, so I figured I’d check those out first.  When I saw the new sketch challenge by Makesha Byl over at Inkspirations, I knew that was the one I wanted to tackle. 

I think butterflies are very cheerful and uplifting, so I knew I wanted to go with a butterfly stamp.  I have a few different butterfly stamps but I finally narrowed it down to the one in Great Friend (#113792).  Now – normally, butterflies are done in springy type colors, but seeing as how we’re heading into Autumn, I decided I needed to stick with Fall colors.  My card base is Kraft card stock which I sponged around the edge with Dusty Durango and used a texture plate for a little bit of added dimension.  I needed a contrasting color so I decided to go with one of the other new In ColorsT – Bermuda Bay.

I’ve been enjoying creating my own designer paper so I decided to work up something for the main focal panel.  I used the same technique that I used previously to make the cards shown here and here.  I first stamped En Francais background stamp in Dusty Durango.  I stamped the leaf spray from Great Friend in So Saffron ink randomly over the top. Then I sponged Dusty Durango and Bermuda Bay all over the image and around the edges.  This kinda covered the So Saffron leaves, but if you look closely, you can still see it.  They’re just not as prominent as I thought they’d be originally.  I then matted this with Bermuda Bay and Dusty Durango card stock.

You can click on the images to enlarge them for a better view.

The three smaller squares are from the Thoroughly Modern DSP pack (#115673) which I matted using Dusty Durango card stock.  I stamped the butterflies onto Very Vanilla card stock and sponged the edges with the alternating color.  After cutting the butterflies out, I added a piece of Jute Twine to the center for the bodies.  I frayed the ends just a bit at the top to resemble antennae.

Next, I tied a piece of Dusty Durango Grosgrain Ribbon around the main image and secured it with some Jute Twine tied into a bow through a button I had in my stash.  This was then mounted to the card front using Dimensionals to pop it up just a little.  I scored the bodies of butterflies so they’re wings would pop up and used the 2-way glue pen to attach their bodies to the card.  The butterflies will lay flat enough so the card can be sent through the mail.

After looking through my stamps, I realized that I didn’t really have a fitting phrase.  So I decided to make one on the computer and print it out for the inside.  I used a sentiment from “The Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Card” by Linda LaTourelle.  After I designed it in Photoshop, I printed it out on standard computer paper.  I then used repositionable adhesive to adhere the Very Vanilla paper strip over the top of the printed image and ran it through the printer again.  This is a great for getting something printed exactly where you want it.  I added another butterfly cutout and then trimmed the edges even with the sentiment strip.  I added a couple of strips of Dusty Durango card stock and piece of DSP to finish up the inside.

I hope you enjoyed my card for today.  Thanks for looking and Happy Stamping!

 Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps:  En Francais, Great Friend
Paper:  Kraft, Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay, and Very Vanilla card stock, Thoroughly Modern designer series paper
Ink:  Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay, So Saffron
Accessories:  Dusty Durango Grosgrain Ribbon, Jute Twine, sponges, Glue Stick , Dimensionals, 2-way Glue Pen, Computer fonts Pristina and Nueva Std, button (from stash), Fiskars texture plate

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

Well, over the last couple of days, I’ve had a chance to play with the new Stampin’ Up!T In ColorsT and I can honestly say that I LOVE the Melon Mambo.  It’s such a beautiful vibrant pink and I’m a pink kinda gal.  The Crushed Curry is not one of my favorites but as long as you use it as an accent or tone it down somehow (look at the cover of the new catalog), it’s perfect.

I was blog hopping last night and came across an adorable card by Laura Fredrickson.  I loved the simplicity of it and knew it would be perfect for the Round and Round in Circles card swap here at CS.  So, this morning, I came up with the card shown here.  Mine is much busier than Laura’s card but that’s because I used a much more lively striped print DSP and instead of solid circles, I used the new Circle Circus stamp set and then punched them out.

I’m very pleased with the way it turned out and I really don’t think the photos do it justice at all.  It’s hard to tell from the photos but the white on the left side of the card is embossed with little polka dots.  You can see them the best in the bottom picture.  I hope whoever gets this card in the card swap enjoys it.  By the way – it’s not too late for you to join in on the card swap either.  The signups for this one don’t end until August 10th!  Plenty of time!

I tried something a little different with my butterfly this time.  I wanted to make sure the wings stood up even after it was sent through the mail without having to go to the added expense of sending it in a padded envelope. I stamped 2 butterflies on Whisper White card stock and then a 3rd one on Melon Mambo card stock.  After cutting each one out, I used my Bone Folder to “trace” the outside of the butterfly’s body on each of the 2 stamped on white.  This way I can glue the bodies together and then stack the butterflies and the wings will bend up nicely.  After I glued the finished butterfly to the card, I punched out four 1/4″ circles (standard hole punch).  I folded each one in half and then applied 2-way glue to it and slipped one in between each set of wings right up next to the body with crease facing the body.  Just the added thickness of the paper is going to keep the wings sticking up for a little while anyway. 

Anyway, I hope you can use that little trick at some point in your future card making.

Thanks for looking!

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

Supplies:
(all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps:  Circle Circus, Great Friend, Priceless
Paper:  Whisper White CS, Melon Mambo CS, Rich Razzleberry CS, Pumpkin Pie CS, Crushed Curry CS, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry
Other:  Grosgrain Ribbon, Various Circle Punches, Glue Stick, Snail Adhesive, 2-Way Glue Pen, Texture Plate (by Fiskars)

Are you ready for the new Occasions catalog available tomorrow?  My stamp sets came in the mail yesterday and you just don’t know how excited I am to be playing with these.  So, over the next few days, I’m going to be playing.a LOT!

Although when I sat down to start creating, I had intended on using another stamp set, when I saw the butterfly in the new Great Friend stamp set (Item #113792), I was inspired and just started grabbing materials to work with.  I must have still had Carla’s March Sketch Challenge in my mind because it fits perfectly with her sketch even though it wasn’t intentional (love the sketch Carla).

This one is one that has to be hand delivered as I don’t think it would go through the mail without some serious protection or getting mashed.  I made the butterflies a little too dimensional but I LOVE the way they turned out.  I actually glued the center of their bodies to the card and then put half of a Stampin’ Dimensional under each wing near the center to hold each wing up.  For the butterfly bodies, I just tied some Silver Elastic Cording (retired SU!) around the center and let the ends be the antennae.

Here’s a close-up of the other side of the card.  I have a little tip for you here.  One of my pet peeves is having the backside of brads show on the inside of the card.  This means that my cards normally have multiple layers just so I can add the brads and then glue the layers to the card front.hence, no metal will be showing on the inside of the card.  However, on this card, I really wanted silver brads around the sentiment to tie in with the silver elastic cord bodies but there was only a single layer of cardstock there.  Meaning that unless I came up with something creative, I was going to have metal brad clips showing on the inside of my card.  So, I grabbed by flush cutters (jewelry term for small wire cutters) and cut the brad clips off the backside of the brad.  Then I used Crystal Effects glue to adhere them to the card.  It worked like a charm and now my flush cutters have been added to my growing toolbox of stamping tools.

Another thing that I’ve started doing is decorating the inside of my cards as well.  I think they have a much better presentation and as we all know, it’s sometimes a challenge to write on the inside card stock.especially if it’s a darker color.  So, here’s the inside of my card.  I added a butterfly here as well although this one simply has 1 wing glued down and the other will lay flat when the card is closed.  I made sure I left plenty of room to write a personal message on the inside as well and now that it’s white on the inside, I’ll have no problem either stamping or writing my message.

Anyway, I can see the that this stamp set is going to become a favorite of mine and you’ll probably see several more projects made with it in the future.  If you love it as much as I do, you can order it starting tomorrow – April 1st from the new Occasions Mini Catalog for only $17.95.  Plus, there are some awesome Rub-ons that go with it which are perfect for springtime.

PLUS!!!! From April 1-30, when you purchase $40 in products from the new Occasions Mini Catalog log between April 1-30, or host a workshop totaling $150 or more, you’ll get one item from the “Under $10″ page (p. 208) in the Spring-Summer Idea Book & Catalog – FREE!

Thanks for looking!

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! demonstrator
Tarboro, NC

Supplies: (All Stampin’ Up!)

Stamps: Great Friend; Paper: Baja Breeze, Whisper White and Cameo Coral card stock; Holiday Happenings Designer Series Paper (Retired); Other: Baja Breeze, Cameo Coral, and Certainly Celery Classic Ink, VersaMark Ink, Silver Elastic Cord (retired), Crystal Effects, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Sponges, Glue Stick, Scallop Edge Punch, Silver Brads, Crop-a-Dile.