MUSICAL BUTTERFLIES

As you already are aware, I love to use music in my work. A portion of a musical score was the perfect backdrop for these three lovely butterflies. A fairly simple card to create, it is elegant
and refined.

To give the large central {realistic} looking butterfly even more dimension than the stamp 

alone achieves, I stamped it once again, added color, punched it out with the Butterfly Punch, 

and popped it up with Stampin' Dimensionals over the butterfly I had already stamped on the Naturals Ivory strip.

To make your own Musical Butterflies, here is how you do it:

Supplies:

Papillon Potpourri stamp set

Kindness Matters stamp set

Soft Suede card stock

Naturals Ivory card stock

Soft Suede ink

Black StazOn Ink

Music Score

Stamping Sponges

3/16" Corner Punch

Stampin' Dimensionals

Big Shot

Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder

Apothecary Accents Framelits

Elegant Butterfly Punch

Watercolor Wonder Crayons

Aqua Painter

Paper Piercing Tool

Essentials Paper Piercing Pack

Instructions:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Soft Suede card stock in half, creasing well with a bone folder.

Run a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Ivory Naturals card stock through the Big Shot inside the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. Round all the corners. Sponge all edges with Soft Suede ink.

Using the largest of the Apothecary Accents Framelits in the Big Shot, cut a frame from the music. Sponge the edges with Soft Suede ink.

With the musical piece positioned underneath the appropriate mat from the Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, pierce all along the edges. Adhere to the card front.

On a 1" x 3 1/2" strip of Naturals Ivory card stock, stamp the big butterfly in Soft Suede ink, 

as well as one of the smaller butterflies on each side of the large butterfly. Round these corners and sponge the edges.

On a scrap of Naturals Ivory, stamp the large butterfly in Black StazOn ink. With the Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an Aqua Painter, paint the butterfly in your choice of color.When the butterfly has dried completely, punch it out and adhere it over the previously-stamped large butterfly with a Stampin' Dimensional. Gently pull the wings upward to add to the 3-D effect.

Attach this completed strip to the center of the music with three Stampin' Dimensionals.

Add your sentiment of choice inside the card with either of the inks.

If you enjoy my tutorials, and would like to recreate your own cards, I would very much appreciate if you would order your supplies through me as your demonstrator. Simply click 

on the appropriate box(es) on the right side of my blog.

Smiles.

BALLERINA MOUSE

One of the {many} good things about Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio (MDS) is the fact that you can keep adding to your stash of goodies digitally, and they are always always there when you need them. And though some of the items may retire from the big (hard) catalog, they never "retire" from MDS. Once you have them stored digitally, they are available to you forever. No need to sell off space-hogging retired stock to make room for more.

I have a retired set, Under the Big Top, in my MDS stash. When it came to making a special birthday card for my granddaughter, Stella, to commemorate her fifth birthday, and I rediscovered the ballerina mouse from that set, I knew immediately that was the image I would base her card on.

You see, Stella is an avid up-and-coming ballerina. Not serious ballet mind you. Just Storybook Ballet classes geared towards preschoolers. But she loves, loves, loves it. So Ballerina Mouse it is.

I printed the her four times in actual size. The first time was simply on white card stock to form the base for my mouse. I then printed her another three times, adding a different Designer Series Paper to fill in the stamp with each printing. I knew I wanted her belly to be a pink print, her mouse body to be in a neutral print, but wasn't sure about the tutu.

When I found the perfect swirly DSP, I decided to make her tutu orange, since I love orange and pink together.  I printed only the first layer on card stock to give it stability. The other three images were printed on copy paper so it wouldn't become too thick.

I then cut out the various pieces I needed. More of my beloved paper piecing. When I placed all the pieces atop my base like a puzzle, it just seemed sort of flat and one-dimensional. Before I glued the pieces in place, I sponged the edges. This added the needed dimensionality and livened it up just right.

I added a little glitter to her tutu and mounted her onto some retired sparkly Specialty Designer Series Paper from last year cut with the Oval Accent Bigz Clear die in my Big Shot. Adding a few Basic Rhinestones and embossed paper with sponged edges was just what it needed.

Being that her birthday is actually tomorrow, Stella was given her gifts this morning before she and her family left from their Christmas visit. So I got to see her when she opened her card. She loved it. And I am thrilled that she did.

Smiles.

A BANNER CHRISTMAS

Since I own the Perfect Pennants Bigz L die for my Big Shot, I decided to make a very special Christmas banner using it. I wanted it to hang from the bottom of two picture ledges we have
in our great room, so the color scheme was important.

I decided upon two current Stampin' Up! colors and two retired ones. The current colors are Cherry Cobbler and River Rock, while the retired colors are Handsome Hunter and Pear Pizzazz.

I actually did waste quite a lot of time and paper trying to decide upon all the various combinations: the colors, the embossing folder, the dies. 

During the designing process, I tried so many things that I didn't like. For example, for the bottom points of each of the pennants, I had originally planned to adhere a tiny spiral flower 

in Cherry Cobbler. I made 17 of those teeny little things, only to lay them all in place and 

discover that they looked horrendous! So I set them aside for another project (they are still 

set aside . . . waiting), and went back to the drawing board. That's when I hit upon using 

the Sweet Buttons Embosslits to create framed circles. I then added antique ivory buttons 

to each one. I LOVED the look of that. 

Originally, I had created rosettes that would grace each of the three blank pennants. Nope. 

Too much.

The pennants themselves seemed a bit bare, so I found a (non-Stampin' Up!) Sizzix die that 

would provide an open edge trim that would echo the circles surrounding the letters and those 

at the points. It was the perfect finish. (And I apologize to Stampin' Up!, but I DID use the die 

in my Big Shot!)

The most tedious part of this project was the creation of the letters. I stamped each one on 

River Rock in Cherry Cobbler ink using one of Stampin' Up!'s retired alphabet sets. Then . . . 

I cut each one out. 

All, in all, I am delighted with the results of my three-week-long quest for a Christmas banner.

(The following picture shows four of my photographs. If you click on the photo, you should be able to see them a bit better.)

I send to you and yours wishes for a very very merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays!) and a 

safe and happy 2013. 

Smiles.

HELLO CHRISTMAS

When I created this card, I had barely begun delving into all that Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio (MDS) is capable of. Which I guess just goes to show how easy it is to use the digital program.

The circles are digital circle punches, filled in with Whisper White. I then added various brush stamps from the Jolly Bingo Bits set. The stamps are automatically black, so I used the coloring tool to make them just exactly the colors I wanted them to be. I "inserted" digital brads between all the circles to unify the composition. 

After I printed out the front of the card, I added a few finishing touches to give it a bit of sparkle. Dazzling Diamonds, a Basic Rhinestone, and a little Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine gave 

it a more dimensional look.  I then mounted the digital panel to a red card base. 

Without pulling out your stamps, punches, and all those separate colors of inks, it is easy to create a card that definitely says "Hello Christmas". And with the capability of placing four identical card fronts within a single page document, it would also be a simple matter to print 

out several pages of them to mass produce. By pairing digital work with "real" supplies such 

as glitter, bakers twine, and rhinestones, and then mounting it on a traditional card front, 

you have produced a hybrid card. 

Sending a virtual "Hello Christmas" your way.

Smiles.

WELCOME HOME

My daughter comes home today! Not such a big deal you say? Oh, but it is! You see, Sarah just arrived back in the U.S. a few weeks ago after a tour of duty in Afghanistan. She is a Combat Medic with the Army. I am so glad she made it back safely.

Anyway, we will be picking her up at the airport this evening, and it will be so good to see her! She will be with us for about two weeks over the Holidays.

A few years back, when Stampin' Up! introduced their pirate-flavored stamp set Ahoy Matey, Sarah fell in love with it. She informed me that each and every card I ever make for her in the future must be made with this set. Oh? Oh. OK.

As she was leaving for her Basic Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, I dragged out her favorite little pirate to wish her luck and safety. I used Stampin' Write Markers to make the little pirate into a camo-clad soldier.

Here is a close-up of his little Army outfit:

You may ask why I have this card in my possession. It's because Sarah isn't at all sentimental, and she didn't take it with her. That's OK. Every time I look at it, I smile, and then pray for her safety. 

Welcome Home, Sarah!

Smiles.