So Suzy Stamps Stupendous Birthday Blog Hop

Hey everyone - enjoying all the birthday fun?? You should be arriving from Jenny's fun blog, but if you just stumbled in be sure to head on over to the So Suzy Stamps page for the full list of events, bloggers, and confetti!

It turned out that I actually had a few of the very first stamps in my collection to choose from, so I grabbed two of my favorite sentiments - "Happiness is..." and "Sending you an instant hug".

I stamped Happiness is... on a piece of 4.25"x5.5" Neenah Solar White cardstock in that luscious gold Delicata ink and then die cut three butterflies out of the panel. For some texture I ran it through an embossing folder and then made light marks on an A2 card base showing where my butterflies were. I then added some washi tape to the card base thus "coloring in" my butterflies. Some adhesive to hold it down and the second sentiment stamped inside with a little confetti heart and this pretty card was done.

All right, now I'm sending you off to Kim's blog! Be sure to join in all the birthday festivities we have going on today (psssttt...there are prizes involved!)

Scavenger Hunt on So Suzy Stamps Website - $10 Gift Certificate - 5 Winners

Blog Hop on...So Suzy Stamps Blog - $10 Gift Certificate  - Drawing (1 winner)

Instagram Photo Bomb - $10 Gift Certificate - Drawing (1 winner)

 - Be sure and use #SoSuzy1stBday

Facebook Birthday Party - $10 Gift Certificate - Drawing (1 winner)

Participate in all of the festivities - $25 Gift Certificate - Drawing (1 winner)

20% off everything in the store - No coupon required

Happy Partying!

Two Cards for the June Unity Challenges

Hi again everyone! I'm having some serious fun playing along with several challenges this week. Today I'm showing off what I came up with for both the color challenge and the card sketch challenge over at the Unity Stamp Challenge blog.

For the colors, I had some fun with several of the Unity stamps:

Yes, that might be the bird/french fry stamp...again...

I've had the idea of making a pile of notes for a bit now, like a messy desk. I stamped up several notes to self, then added on various sayings from several of the stamp sets. To tie in the gray, I made a little "don't forget" reminder and popped it up to give the card some height.

Side view

View from above

I like how it came out. The patterned papers add interest and the wood grain embossing on the chocolate brown gives a nod to the desk feeling I was going for.

For the card sketch challenge, I pulled out one of the older SotW sets - butterfly kisses.

You can never have enough butterflies

I pulled out one of my MME 6x6 paper pads and found this lovely butterfly print. The pink banner is actually the reverse of the butterflies. I love it when I can use an entire 6x6 for a card. Less waste! A little ribbon trim and some shimmery punched butterflies finished off the card. Here's a fun trick - to keep the ribbon from fraying, I squeezed some Glossy Accents onto my finger and used it to seal the edges. It works great!

Side view of the butterflies taking flight

View from above

I'm also linking the butterfly kisses up to:
CAS-ual Fridays CFC104, banners and/or flags
Simon Says Stamp Challenge, Simon Says...Transport

Happy Crafting!

Butterfly Note Cards

Finally, a chance to write up a post while the little one throws Legos at my feet...no, really, there went another one. Problem is that I've been crafting a lot lately but haven't had a chance to sit and share them. Ah that delicate balance...especially when using the laptop usually involves a very squirmy toddler wanting to use it, too. :/ Sigh.

Enough about that, let's talk about butterflies! I came across this card on Pinterest and loved the simplicity; the butterfly, the tone-on-tone writing in the background. Swoon. Of course I don't have a stamp that I could do the writing with so it got shelved but not forgotten. Then I came across this card showcasing a double stamping technique with acetate (aka transparencies). Major swoon. Still wanted my paper with writing, though...and then I walked through Michael's and found their new pads of Recollections paper. I might have squealed with glee. Just a little bit.

So what did I make? Take a look:

 Isn't it just adorable?? I really love how it came out. I made them smaller than the usual A2 size, these little cuties are 3.5"x4". Bonus there is that you can get three cards from just one piece of 8.5"x11" paper! Here's a closer look at the butterfly, acetate, and pearl accents (they needed a little bling).

So. Darn. Cute! I stamped the butterfly onto the patterned paper (look, there's the script I wanted!) then stamped it again onto acetate. I carefully cut the acetate butterfly out and used my bone folder to make the wings turn up. I just ran it along the body of the butterfly until it looked right. A little adhesive, and voila!

Of course, I couldn't stop at just one...

 

Hey, I had to try out all the colors! Besides, they would be lonely if they didn't have friends. Really.

Supplies are listed below, and they set of 3 amazing butterfly cards are listed in my shop. They'd like a good home, please!

Supplies: Queen & Co. pearls in Grass Green, Classy Red, & Sunflower yellow; Recollections Paper 'Habitat'; transparencies; Staz-on jet black ink; butterfly stamp; Versamark chalks

Happy Crafting!

Freebie Mondays Begin!

Welcome to the very first Freebie Monday! As promised, a free item awaits you.  This week is a digital scrapbooking paper designed by yours truly. Inspiration struck as I watched a butterfly dance across my yard so I couldn't resist making this paper. 

The link will take you to a dropbox to download the paper from. Included is a high-quality .jpg for your use, created at 12"x12" and compatible with any software.

Enjoy!