Triple Play!!

This is what I call a "Card Run Amok!" I just kept going and going and going . . . not sure it turned out quite how I had planned, but I tied it into THREE different challenges!!

First of all, I did the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS last Sunday morning. FS116 - Wattle - aka Kathy! She has a LOVELY gallery and this is the card I cased:

Kathy's SFYTT Butterfly 40th

I wanted to keep the card A2-sized so that it would be cheaper to mail and take less room so I could send it to my son in Germany as card #88 in my own personal "Follow the Butterflies" challenge (there is a link and a slideshow on the sidebar to the right if you don't know WHAT I'm talking about). I think my son is going to LOVE the personalized aspect of this card!

And, last but not least, this fits Jaron Winder's very first blog challenge (way to go, Jaron!):

Color Combination Creative Challenge #1

I had meant to try to keep this all Stampin' Up products to go with Jaron's challenge, but I just couldn't help myself, and I have used up pretty much ALL my SU butterflies (since I am trying NOT to repeat the butterfly images I was using for my own challenge). So, there ya have it . . .

Now I wanna go stamp something 'cause my stamp room is really CLEAN and just waiting for me to mess it up!!

Stamps: Bella Toile, Flannel Plaid, Small Letter Set by JustRite, Pocket Silhouettes, Vintage Butterflies by Innovative Stamp Creations
Paper: Taken With Teal, Soft Sky, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Ink: Old Olive, Taken With Teal, Basic Black
Accessories: Spellbinders Standard Circle Nestabilities - Small and Large (S4-116 and S4-114) and Labels 3 (S4-189), 1 1/4" and 1" square punches, Fiskars Fluer-de-lys border punch, vanilla satin ribbon, sponge, pop-up glue dots

Grateful for Butterflies

It seems that, week after week, I am starting to get into a rut with my butterfly cards. I discovered, much to my dismay and chagrin, that I accidentally used the same butterfly stamp on two different cards! And here I have been trying SOOOO hard NOT to do that!! It was actually on two of the older cards I have done. I remember when I used it the second time going through the process in my head and actually thinking that it was NOT the same one!!! Oh well! I guess it was BOUND to happen!!

It seems I have been using butterflies as the focal image waaayyy more than I had intended, so this week I tried to sneak one in there. I know this butterfly has absolutely NOTHING to do with Thanksgiving, but I think he looks pretty darn good in here!! I cased myself on this card, too!! Remember the "Friendship Fruit Salad" card I did last April (yeaaaaahhhh . . . like y'all are gonna remember back THAT far!)? Here is a link to it:

Friendship Fruit Salad

I love the "quilted" look of this layout! I had some trouble coloring this for some reason. I used Adirondak ink, which I thought would be particularly good for coloring, but it seem to bleed into everything!! I was sorely disappointed, but much too lazy to go back and restamp everything . . . so there ya go . . .

This brings me up to butterfly card #64, by the way, for those of you who aren't keeping track!! (If you have no idea what I am talking about, see the link and/or slideshow to the right!!)

Have a lovely Tuesday!!

Stamps: Turkey Lurkey by Fiskars, Shapes & Shadows
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard
Ink: Adirondak Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Summer Sun, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" square punches, keytag punch, blender pends, chocolate polka dot satin ribbon (Paptertrey), pop-up glue dots

Ink, but No Stamps!!

Have you ever had one of THOSE weeks??? I have been having one this week, and have not had ANY time to "play" with my stamps (and they are getting lonely)!! I decided to post this little card I made for Spellbinders last month. Isn't it just the springiest???

One of the girls on our design team (that would be Michelle Klomp . . . hey, girl!!), figured out a fun little technique that NONE of us had ever tried, and I used it on this card. Before running the diecut sandwich (white embossing plate, white spacer plate, die - face up, cardstock, white embossing plate) through the Wizard, she inked up the die. You then run the sandwich through again, this time with the "embossing recipe" without removing the die. What??? The stack would then be white embossing plate, die, cardstock, tan embossing mat, white embossing plate. Basically, I used SU craft spots and "sponged" up the cutting side of the die (the one with the raised edge). You really only need to make sure the ink covers the area INSIDE the raised edges. Then, when you run the whole sandwich through, the ink transfers to the cardstock in the "positive" spaces. It totally adds a WHOLE new dimension and makes these Spellbinder dies just "POP" right off the page! I did it on the wheelbarrow with Chocolate Chip craft ink, and again on the flowers, using various colors. I LOVE the effect!! I will be doing a tutorial with photos in the next day or so (life has been really nutso this week . . . . loooonnnnggg story!). If you are anything like me, photos are a MUST (I'm totally a visual learner!!).

The card is a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of cardstock, scored at 4 1/4" and 8 1/2". I used the outside edge of CM circle cutter to trace the "flap" edge to give it a more rounded look. I also used a Fiskars texture plate to emboss the cardstock on the front of the card.

I really hope I get a chance to stamp today, but it may not be until tomorrow, as I have a very full schedule!! I HATE weeks like this!!

Stay tuned for step-by-step photos!!

Cardstock: ColorMates by WorldWin - Lt. Chocolate Malt, Lt. Pretty Pink, Dark Pretty Pink, Deep Pretty Pink, Lt. Sunshine Yellow
Accessories: Glue Dots, Creative Impressions Flowers Clip and Sparkly, Brad, Paper Glide by Inspired Crafts, American Crafts Butterfly Ribbon, Fiskars "Whimsy" texture plate, paper piercing tool, Circle Cutter by Creative Memories
Spellbinders: Wizard, Flower Creations Die (S4 072) and Wheelbarrow Die (S3 136)

What?? No Stamps???

Sorry for the two-day absence . . . I had out-of-town company and didn't get a chance to "play" as I would have liked. I DO have a fun little card to show you that I did for the gallery on Spellbinders' website (part of being on their Design Team is a monthly assignment to create fun, new projects using Spellbinders dies . . . FUN!!).

I posted a bunch of fun and funky folded cards last month. This card is a repeat of one of the folds, but definitely different in that I didn't use a single darn stamp (and here i go with some more "primary-type" colors!!). This card was really fun to make, and I can't wait to give it to someone for their birthday. It seems so bright and cheerful!! Start with a piece of cardstock that measures 4 1/4" x 11". Score at 1 1/2", 3", 5 1/2" and 8". (In this case, the black cardstock).

I used a Permapaque opaque marker to fill in the embossed areas on the cake and the "birthday" sentiment. The beauty of the Spellbinders dies is that you can leave the cardstock in the die once you have run it through your Wizard (or Cuttlebug or Sizzix or BigShot or whatever) and "stencil" the image with the ink of your choice. This includes coloring with markers (as I did here), sponging ink, airbrushing . . . any way you can get the ink to the paper works. It is one of my FAVORITE features of the Spellbinders dies! Stenciling just adds that wonderful little "extra" that makes the images "POP!"

I also sprayed a little bit of Paper Glide onto the cardstock before I ran it through my Wizard with the Fiskars texture plates to get a deeper emboss. I LOVE how it works!!

Spellbinders Dies: Birthday 1, Party Edgability
ColorMates Cardstock: Deep Sunshine Yellow, Medium Tempting Tanzanite, Light Berry Red, Deep Heritage Black, Light Heritage White (SU substitutes - YoYo Yellow, Ballet Blue, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White)
Ink: Permapaque Fine Point White Opaque Marker (you could use White craft ink and a sponge also).
Accessories: May Arts yellow organza polka dot ribbon, Fiskars texture plates (Party, Dots, and Vines)