Happy for Butterflies, Happy for You

Here is my personal favorite card that I made for the recent Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) at splitcoaststampers.com.

This challenge was to use a spring element somewhere on the card; I used a coiled wire as the body of the large butterfly.

A lot of the cards I made for this VSN were much simpler than this, and in general I've gotten away from a lot of fancy layers in much of my card making. Sometimes it just feels good to really lay it on, though! This design has six layers (including the butterflies), dry embossing, lots of sponging and both the wire embellishment and some half-back pearls. Both the butterflies and the dry embossing are courtesy of Stampin' Up!'s fabulous Big Shot die cut machine. I (well, actually DD#2) cut Marina Mist card stock with the Butterflies die, and then I used the ever-popular Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and sponging (Marina Mist ink) to add texture to both butterflies and mat.

The Always Artichoke swirl is from Baroque Motifs, and the sentiment ("I am glad there is you") is from a set of rub-ons that I've had for years. I really like the bright, crisp look of the rub-on on top of the Always Artichoke card stock.

I sent this card home with my sister at the end of her almost 6-week stay while Mom recovered from surgery. It is for her partner, who graciously made do on her own all that time. I am truly glad that there is her!

I liked this design so much that I reprised it in more Spring-like colors and with gold sponging as an Easter card. It also was a featured project at our March Stamp Club meeting.

Easy Easel!

The featured technique at Splitcoast (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/) last week was an Easel Card. I modified the design a bit and came up with a layout I've fallen in love with!



I like this layout so much that I've made three cards at home with the same pattern. Plus, on Monday our Artist Guild at church used the layout to make 25 Birthday cards. We tailored the color combinations to coordinate with the four seasons. All of the designs turned out great. We're excited to be able to provide high-quality, hand-made cards to members of our congregation who have earned a special Birthday visit. An added bonus of the cards for this year is that they stand up nicely with the help of a couple of folds and a carefully placed brad.

Here's how:

1) Cut card stock for card base (Bordering Blue) to 4 1/4 " x 11". (This is oppposite of a "normal" card base.) Score the card base at 5 1/2". Turn in over and score from the back side at 2 3/4". Fold the card in half, and then fold the extra flap back up so that the edge meets the top fold.

2) I've used a mat here of Rich Razzleberry textured card stock. This isn't necessary (and we didn't use a mat for our Artist Guild Birthday cards), but it does add a nice touch. The mat is 4" x 5 1/4", and my image panel (Naturals Ivory) is just a bit smaller at 3 3/4" x 5". (If you eliminate the mat, just make the image panel the larger size.)

3) For this card, I've used Stampin' Up!'s A Rose is a Rose stamp set. The roses are 2-step stamps: you superimpose 2 different stamps, with different inks. I used combination of yellows (Barely Banana and So Saffron) and purples (Orchid Opulence and Rich Razzleberry) for the roses, as well as Bordering Blue for some other accents. I use two tricks to help me stamp these elegant blooms. First, I always use my Stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner. Works like a charm! Second, I have written right on my wood blocks the words "light" and "dark" so that I remember which images to stamp in which inks.

4) My favorite part of this layout is the stack of squares on the right hand side. I stamped the images on one piece of card stock, punched them out with my 1 1/4" Square, and popped them up on Scallop Square punch-outs of the coordinating colors. (I snuck a Scallop Square out of the Rich Razzleberry mat before I adhered the image panel to it.)

5) One final detail: I used my new fun toy, the Color Spritzer Tool, with the Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Write Marker to make those cool little sprays of RR ink.

6) The brad placement is right in the center of the back panel of the card. I used my Grid Paper to help center it. I found that I needed to put the brad in a bit more loosely than I usually do, in order to allow it to stand up a bit more and catch the bottom edge of the image and hold it upright.

This is sure a fun card to make, and I hope my Technique Club ladies enjoy playing with this design Friday evening!

Thanks for looking, and I'd love to hear your comments.