Butterfly Matters

Kindness Matters is a wonderful set that I will always adore, even if it is retiring :) It has a nature/botanist feel at times, soft and feminine sometimes, and then it can turn around and have a vintage feel. It all depends on how you play it up.

Pistachio Pudding and Crisp Cantaloupe make an appearance here, and they are quite lovely stamped on Crumb Cake, I must say! The doilies are wonderful, and I have already gone through one whole package of them and am working on my second. I did not think I would use them this much!

• Stamps: Kindness Matters
• Ink: Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baked Brown Sugar
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White
• Other: Big Shot with Perfect Polka Dots and Lacey Brocade embossing folders, Doily, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, Signo white gel pen, Pearls Basic Jewels, dimensionals

Again, my photography skills do not do this card justice, it is much prettier in real life....

OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop: Thank You to the Troops

http://operationwritehome.org/starsandstamps

Welcome to my stop on the OWH Memorial Day Hop!!! I want to say thank you to all of the service men and women, and their families, and remember all they do for us EVERY day.

My assignment for this hop was to create a Thank You card to send as AnyHero  mail for OWH. I have to admit, I am terrible at this as I always send a pile of cards, but never any AnyHero mail. I will change this, I swear!

OWH #142

This is the sketch I chose to use, and as you can see, I am still not over my banner/dovetail phase :)

I knew the Words of Courage set would come in handy! I used the words in that set to stamp the three banners, and the star in the background of the sentiment. After I decided on a sketch and colors, this came together quickly.

Inside, I continued the theme words. I love how this looks.

I thought you might like a little close up of the details.

• Stamps: Words of Courage, Word Play
• Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Smoky Slate
• Paper: Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Smoky Slate
• Other: Big Shot with Honeycomb embossing folder and Ovals framelit, Occasions Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, Signo white gel pen, dimensionals

I hope this hop inspires you to do some AnyHero mail and cards for the troops to use. Now, on with your happy hopping!

Leafy Father's Day

Wow, only about 10 days left before the retiring sets are gone for good! This card features a couple of sets that are retiring, including one of my favorite masculine sets, Best Dad Ever. I did not realize how much I would end up using the sentiments from this set. I use them all the time, partly because of their size/scale, and partly because of the fonts. And I bet you can't guess what set those leaves are from :)

I actually made this card before the retiring list came out. The DSP is retiring also. The leaves are from Raining Flowers, which is a 2-step stamp set. As you can see, I was not very careful about getting the green parts exactly into the outlines, and it still looks good. That is part of the charm of this set. Also, since I got the clear mount version of Best Dad Ever, I cut the words of the sentiment apart so I could stamp them in whatever configuration I wanted.

• Stamps: Best Dad Ever, Raining Flowers
• Ink: Early Espresso, Old Olive
• Paper: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Brights DSP pack
• Other: Big Shot with Apothecary Accents framelits, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, Signo white gel pen, Natural Trim ribbon, Wide Oval and Corner Rounder punches, dimensionals

Need to see the retiring sets list? Here it is. Now, you want to order some of those sets, right! Shop here now :) 

Raining Flowers to You

A little old with the new, this card has a retiring set and a sneak peek set from the new Annual Idea Book and Catalog . Raining Flowers was one of the sets I got at Convention in 2011 and it had to grow on me. I actually really like it now and it will probably stay in my keep pile after June 3rd.  I did use a Friday Mashup sketch challenge for this card.

The hardest part of this sketch was figuring out a color scheme and not being influenced by the polka dots, lol!

The sentiment image is from a sneak peek set and is embossed in Pewter on Whisper White, then sponged in the center with Calypso Coral and around the edges with Wisteria Wonder.

• Stamps: Raining Flowers, Label Love
• Ink: Calypso Coral Wisteria Wonder, Illuminate
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder
• Other: Artisan and Decorative Label punches, Embossing Buddy, Heat Gun, Pewter embossing powder, Calypso Coral Ruffled ribbon, Signo white gel pen, dimensionals

Hey, no paper piercing on this one! How did that happen?! LOL!

Click HERE to SHOP NOW

Scrap File Treasures

 While reorganizing my supplies for the Color Refresh that is starting with the New Catty (so excited for new stuff!!!), I was thinning out my scrap files. It is amazing how many scraps a person can accumulate. And I always look in the scrap file first, so it is not like I don't use my scraps. I discovered some treasures in there, by golly :) I set them on my desk determined to make something with them ASAP.

And this is the result! The embossed panel, the diecut, and the fancy cut embossed frame were the treasures I found. This card practically made itself! The sentiment is the combination of two sets, both retiring.

• Stamps: Best Dad Ever, Family Reunion
• Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso
• Paper: Naturals Ivory, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
• Other: Big Shot with Argyle and Decorative Frames embossing folders and Apothecary Accents framelits, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, Natural Trim ribbon, Signo white gel pen, dimensionals, buttons

Need to see the retiring sets list? Here it is. Now, you want to order some of those sets, right! Shop here now :)

Spring is Here!

 Yeah!!!! There is finally no snow in my yard, the grass is starting to turn green, and I can actually walk barefooted out to the outhouse! (That is a whole other story, lol) Now I feel like I am justified in creating something that looks like spring :) Although in my area, that is heralded more with the arrival of the wood ticks than butterflies... Get out the Harts Guard and Frontline! Our pets got their first application for the summer last night after I saw 2 wood ticks crawling around inside the outhouse.

This card has nothing to do with ticks! It is all about the open sky and the butterfly :) The Pool Party panel is actually a leftover from this card that I had glued to a white card base, paper pierced and outlined with a white gel pen, then set aside for the right inspiration to finish it off.
Another fun detail on this card is the butterfly. I stamped the butterfly image in Illuminate ink on Calypso Coral paper, then embossed with Pool Party embossing powder, then punched it out with the Elegant Butterfly punch. This card is much better in real life.

• Stamps: Papillon Potpourri 
• Ink: Illuminate
• Paper: Whisper White, Core'dinations Pool Party, Calypso Coral
• Other: Big Shot with Cloudy Day embossing folder and Labels framelit, Festive Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, Elegant Butterfly and 1¾" Circle punch, Natural Trim ribbon, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, dimensionals, Signo white gel pen

We have just over 2 weeks left before the Occasions Mini and the current Annual Catalog are done, and the retiring sets are gone forever. If you haven't made your retirement order yet, you are welcome to SHOP NOW in my store :)

I Dig You Pocket Cards Follow Up

Project Life has been around for a few years now, but I hadn't really been interested in it until recently. For some reason, it now seems intriguing. I will never stop scrapbooking with full sheets of paper as the base, but this looks like a great addition to my repertoire :) I made a set of four inserts for the hop last weekend and here are the rest of the details.

All of these inserts are 4"x6", but there are a few different sized pockets and several configurations in a 12"x12" page protector.  Stampin' Up! has already sold out of their retiring divided page protectors, but you can still get them online from a variety of sources. I have seen 10 packs for about $7 and 60 packs for $30 on Amazon and they fit in 12"x12" 3 Ring Binders.

This insert is kind of the title card and I know I have some pictures of my kids and my nieces and nephews playing with trucks to pair this with. The button is one I made with the Simply Pressed Molds and Clay that will be coming out with the new annual catalog that starts May 31, 2013. I colored the button with a marker after it was out of the mold and dried.

• Stamps: I Dig You, Designer Typset Photopolymer
• Ink: Midnight Muse, Gumball Green, Tangerine Tango
• Paper: Midnight Muse, Naturals White, Print Poetry DSP pack
• Other: Signo white gel pen,  Simply Pressed Molds and Clay, White Baker's Twine, Paper Piercer, needle, Corner Rounder punch, Paper Snips

I used a ruler and my Grid Paper to draw the journaling lines with a Sahara Sand marker. It only took a couple of minutes.

• Stamps: I Dig You
• Ink: Gumball Green, Early Espresso, Sahara Sand marker
• Paper: Naturals White, Brights and 2012-2014 In-Color DSP pack
• Other: 1¾" Circle, 1¼" Square, and Corner Rounder punch, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, dimensionals, ruler, Grid Paper

 This insert could be a filler or have a picture or another journaling card added to it. I wanted to get some texture on this one.

• Stamps: I Dig You
• Ink: Tangerine Tango
• Paper: Tangerine Tango, Crumb Cake, Gumball Green Core'dinations, 2012-2014 In-Color DSP pack
• Other: Big Shot with Chevrons and Honeycomb embossing folders, Signo white gel pen, Corner Rounder punch, Sanding Block

 Is there ever enough room for journaling? Here is another journaling card with some texture and fun. The photopolymer alphabet set made it a snap to make custom titles!

• Stamps: I Dig You, Designer Typeset Photopolymer
• Ink: Sahara Sand inkpad and marker, Tangerine Tango, Midnight Muse Marker (to color button)
• Paper: Gumball Green Core'dinations, Naturals White, Brights Family DSP pack
• Other: Big Shot with Honeycomb embossing folder, Sanding Block, Simply Pressed Mold and Clay, White Baker's Twine, Paper Piercer, ruler, Grid Paper, Corner Rounder and 1" Square punches

Have you tried this method of scrapbooking? Do you love it? Are you interested in seeing more ideas from me on page themes? Leave me a comment, and of course you should SHOP NOW for the all of the retiring stuff before it is gone!