Flutter By Wednesday #212

Time for a new challenge from the Flutter By Wednesday blog. You'll love it - this week's challenge is open. Just be sure to include your butterfly or fairy! You can find the details on the FBW blog, here.

I forgot that I was going to use a Halloween image - oops! Happy Halloween, everyone! I chose to use another Tiddlyinks digital image that I've had for a few years. I paper-pieced the flower and flower center and colored the rest with Copic markers. Of course I had to add Star Dust Stickles to her wings :) I matted with black - both layers. The bottom layer and the paper piecing are paper from a Recollections pad. The sentiment is from a Papertrey Ink set. We'd love to have you join us!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Sticker Halloween Cards

I was at JoAnn's on Wednesday and saw these stickers from K & Co for half price. I couldn't resist! I did, however, want to use them all up ... so I did. These are for our grandchildren. I woke up really early this morning and decided to work on them.

Not a lot of explanation is necessary, I believe. The goldish oval mats are made with the packaging from the stickers, cut with Nestabilities. The black is kind of a vinyl-ish cardstock. The Halloween paper is from a Recollection pad. The sentiment is from a dollar clear set. The card bases are all ivory. I think that's about it! The stickers are quite layered, which you can't really tell from the pictures.

Oh yeah, the grass on this one is a die cut that I made a couple years ago, using a friend's die. Not positive where it's from, but I'm pretty sure it's from My Favorite Things

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday #211 - A Sketch

Today's Flutter By Wednesday challenge is another sketch by Kathy. Take a look:) What a great sketch - thanks, Kathy! Also, thanks to everyone who joined us last week. I hope we'll have even more participants this week! Please visit the blog for details.

The sketch reminded me of an embossing folder that I have, so I started there. It's from Quickutz. I embossed white cardstock and matted with Pale Plum from Stampin' Up. I added the sheer ribbon before adhering the matting. The butterfly, from Hampton Art, was first stamped on Pale Plum with Perfect Plum ink and cut out. I colored the body with a black marker. Then I stamped the image again with black on white cardstock, added the sentiment, from The Paper Company, and cut them out with a Circle Nestability. I glued the plum butterfly over the black-stamped one, leaving the wings free. The scalloped matting was also cut using a Nestability, again from Pale Plum. I mounted the circle on foam squares. I really wanted to add Stickles to the butterfly, but I was worried it would make the ink bleed.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Some Answers

No pictures today, but I'll try to explain how I printed on yesterday's card. Thanks for the comments!

I use Microsoft Word for printing on the insides and occasionally outside of my cards, but any word processing program would work. For yesterday's card, I had already done the stamping when I realized I didn't have an acceptable stamp for the sentiment. So, in Word I decided on the font and alignment of my chosen sentiment. I just put it towards the middle of the document and printed it on thin white "typing" paper. I simply put my stamped piece behind the printed page, lined it up the way I wanted it to be printed, and drew around the edges - on the back of the printed page. Then I put some repositionable tape on the back of my stamped panel and stuck it on the front of the printed page using the guide lines on the back. (Holding my stamped image and the printed page up to light allowed me to see through each of them.) I used two pieces of tape on the stamped image to hold it in place and ran it through my printer. I hope that makes sense! Normally I think I would print first and then stamp, but it's nice to know there are options:) Please feel free to ask any more questions you may have. You can leave a comment, or you can email me using the link in my profile - on the right side of my blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Warm Wedding Wishes

This is the card I made for the wedding that we went to on Saturday. I made the card to match their invitations. I did this for her sister five weeks ago, and she noticed(!) so I thought I'd do that for this couple, also.

The leaves are stamps from Could 9. I inked them up with Crushed Curry ink from Stampin' Up! and then I "thumped" with a Dusty Durango marker. I used a Really Rust marker to draw the lines around the edges. I printed the sentiment on the computer. (I even dared to do it AFTER everything was stamped, and it worked out!) The leaves were punched from Crushed Curry cardstock with a Tonic punch, sponged with Really Rust ink, and mounted on foam squares. The matting is Real Red. The card base and image panel are ivory.

hanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

"Christmas Sunday"

Well, these two are the last of my Christmas cards for this year. Yippee!! I still have to stamp on the insides, but at least the outsides are all done. I have the labels ready for the envelopes, too. I'm keeping up with my plan to be ALL ready for Christmas by Thanksgiving.

Both of these cards use a Lasting Impressions brass stencil and embossing paste - different kinds of paste, though. This first one uses Glossy White paste. After spreading it through the stencil, I sprinkled it with glitter. I matted with white and mounted on foam squares. The background was embossed with a Sizzix folder.

This second one uses what is simply called "Embossing Paste." Before spreading on the paste, I stippled with Real Red. I added glitter to this one, too, and mounted on foam squares. The patterned paper is from Recollections and is matted with New Leaf from Papertrey Ink. The sentiment panel is matted with Real Red. The ribbon was laying on my table - from a package of some sort, I believe.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm linking these cards up the the Christmas Card Challenge blog once again.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday #210

A new Flutter By Wednesday challenge starts today. Today's challenge is sponsored by Susanna's Custom Art and Card Design. There is a prize this week - a $25 gift certificate to SCACD. The challenge is to use any winged creature! Have fun! Please visit the FBW blog for more details.

Danni generously supplied me with this stamp, available here. I went totally simple with my card this time! I stamped it with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink onto slightly patterned paper and matted with red cardstock. I rounded the corners on the image panel, the matting, and the card base. Even an uncolored fairy gets sparkly wings, however! (I used Star Dust Stickles - my favorite.) The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set, and I thought it went wonderfully with the image! I made this card in February using the same image, if you want to see her colored with Copics.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

SCS Technique Lover's Challenge

This card is for yesterday's SplitCoastStampers Technique Lover's Challenge - Acrylic Block Collage. You can find the challenge and technique here.

I inked up my long acrylic block with inks from Stampin' Up!: More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust, then misted and applied it to the front of my card. I used stamps from a Gina K set to stamp in the same colors, after masking off the top and bottom. Then I used Chocolate Chip to stamp an image three times (two of them were stamped off first) and also the sentiment, which is from a Hero Arts set.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

SCS Inspiration Challenge and Fall-To Layout Challenge

I started making this card Saturday morning and finally got a chance to finish it Sunday night. It's for the Inspiration Challenge from Saturday on SplitCoastStampers (My Inspiration picture is to the left) and for Fall-To-Layout #211. Fall colors are so pretty!

The leaf stamp I used is from a Cloud 9 set. I inked it up with More Mustard and then put some Really Rust on one side. My matting for the leaves is More Mustard and Really Rust. I thought it needed more, so I added a layer of Chocolate Chip underneath them. I popped up that layer, too. The side layers are Pumpkin Pie - embossed with a Cuttlebug folder brayered with Chocolate Chip, and Chocolate Chip punched with a Martha Stewart punch. The punch makes a trim strip, but I just glued it underneath the embossed piece as a border.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

"Christmas Sunday"

Here are the cards that I told you about last Sunday and promised to post today. I'm linking them up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog. The specific challenge this week is a sketch, but the main challenge is simply to make a Christmas card.

We made a quick stop at JoAnn's Saturday night (a week ago) and my purchase was three stamp sets (that were 50% off) and a package of 20 Martha Stewart stickers that I bought with my 50% off coupon. That's about the only way I shop! I used all 20 of the stickers on cards like these, and they took VERY little time at all. I like the way they turned out, though.

The stickers all had ivory in them, so my card bases are all ivory, too. I scored the double lines with my Scor-Pal. The sentiment is from a Papertrey Ink Christmas set.

I finished the last of my cards this week. I will post my last two next Sunday. I also got my calendars all done. That makes me so happy!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

SCS Free 4 All Challenge

This card is for today's SplitCoastStampers Free 4 All challenge - to use the negative image from a die or punch.

The balloon dies I used are from Quickutz/Lifestyle Crafts. The sentiment is from The Paper Company. After cutting out the balloons and stamping the sentiment, I embossed with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, added the patterned paper, and matted with black. I decided to add two of the balloons that I cut out, too, so I sponged some Rose Romance ink around the edges and mounted them on foam squares. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday #209 - Kraft

Another Wednesday has rolled around - time for a new Flutter By Wednesday challenge. Today Danni has challenged us to use Kraft on our creations. I used lots! :)

The image is a digital one from Tiddly Inks, printed on Kraft cardstock. (You can find the image here.) I won it a couple years ago from Danni, so I thought it would be great to use it on a FBW challenge. I colored her with Copic markers and added Star Dust Stickles to her wings. I matted her with Real Red cardstock. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. You'll be seeing that again soon!

Thanks for those of you who joined the challenge last week. We look forward to seeing your creations again this week. You can find the details on the FBW blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Fall Birthday

Today's SplitCoastStampers Clean and Simple challenge is to use plaid. Since I was up early enough (PLENTY early!) I thought I would make a card for the challenge.

I stamped the leaf with one of the new stamps that I got on Friday night. It's from Cloud 9 Designs. I stamped it with More Mustard ink from Stampin' Up, then stamped it again without reinking. The sentiment is from Impression Obsession and is stamped with Really Rust. The plaid background paper is from a Recollections matstack. The card base and image panel are ivory and the matting is Really Rust. I mounted the image panel on foam squares.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

"Christmas Sunday"

Another Christmas card done:) I'm linking it up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog.

The embossing was done with a Lasting Impressions stencil and my BIGkick. I colored the holly leaves and berries with Copic markers and added some red Stickles to the berries. The patterned paper is from a Recollections stack. The matting is all Real Red from Stampin' Up! I mounted the NOEL panel on foam squares.

We made a stop at JoAnn's last night, and I bought some Martha Stewart Christmas stickers with my 50% off coupon. After we got home, I made twenty cards with them! They are all about the same size and similar, but all different. (Except I think there were two that were identical.) The cards are all the same, with the different stickers. I will share them with you next week. That makes 74 done now - yippee!! Only about 5 - 10 left to make. I do still have to stamp the sentiment on on the insides, though.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

CAS Birthday

I made this card in the middle of the night Thursday night when I couldn't sleep. Always a good time for crafting! Totally Clean and Simple.

I started with my new (to me) Cuttlebug border folder from the Roman Bath set. I brayered it with Stampin' Up!'s More Mustard and then added a little bit of Really Rust before embossing a strip of white cardstock. I matted with Really Rust. The sentiment, from Stampendous, is stamped with Really Rust, as well.

My plans to do a lot of stamping yesterday didn't materialize. I did, however, make myself a "to-do" list of important things and I got them all done. Yippee! Maybe I'll have another chance to stamp again soon.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Embedded Butterflies

I have sat down several times lately in my stamping area and come up empty. Not sure what the problem is. So, last night I told myself, "Just make something quick to get you started again!" This is what I came up with.

The butterflies were "cards parts." Sorry, I don't know who makes the stamps or dies. (If you really want to know, please email me or leave me a comment and I'm sure I can find out fairly soon.) I glued them on to black cardstock and embossed the entire panel with a Cuttlebug Roman Bath folder. They appear to be part of the black cardstock with this technique. I semi-matted with a piece of the same textured turquoise paper. The card base is ivory. I don't have my grandson here today so hopefully I will get some more stamping done. I'm missing it!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday - Pixie Dust!

Wow, Wednesdays sure roll around quickly! It's time for a new challenge from the Flutter By Wednesday blog. Danni's challenge for you all this week is "Pixie Dust" - use lots of sparkle on your card, and don't forget your butterfly or fairy. I love sparkle and most often forget to use it. This week's challenge is sponsored by Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps. One lucky participant will win three digital stamps from SNSS!

The FBW Design Team was generously given digital images to work with. I chose to use Coneflowers and Butterfly. I printed the image and then cut it out with a Nestability. I sponged the image with Stampin' Up! Soft Sky ink before removing from the die. Then I colored it with Copic markers. I also added just a thin line of brown along the edge with a marker. I added Star Dust Stickles to the flowers and also the butterfly. I mounted the image panel on foam squares. The background piece is glitter paper from a Die Cuts With a View matstack. I matted it with Chocolate Chip cardstock from SU! We'd love to have you join the challenge this week! Please visit the blog for details and to link up your card.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

October Calendar Page

Gosh - I almost forgot to post my calendar page today! I seem to have misplaced the list I so carefully made of the "ingredients" of my pages, so I had to figure it out this morning. Sure hope I find the list before next month, because I used a digital image for November and I need to figure out where it came from!

If you would like to make your own calendar pages, please feel free to use my files. You can find the links at the top of my page - under the blog title. I'd love to hear from you if you choose to use them! For this page, I used The Paper Studios House Mouse stamp and colored with Prismacolor pencils and probably used Goo Gone. I need to do that more! I matted with black shimmery paper. The sentiment is Halloween Cobwebs from Repeat Impressions.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!