Blue Butterfly Birthday Card

 Happy New Year!

Rick and I wish you the very best new year yet, filled with family and friends, laughter and contentment.  Hope you will take time to stay creative in the days ahead, and not get too busy to take time for yourself.   I find my whole outlook on life is much brighter when I've been creating something.  Now I'm not saying everything I make is share-worthy, but it still brightens my day when I've been puttering in my craft room.  And if I can get someone to play with me, that's even better!  Anybody ready to make the trip south for a visit?  I'm ready for some stamp therapy with my friends.  Until you can get here, I'll just keep on keeping on.

Today I have a pair of cards that are similar and use many of the same products.  They are just put together a little differently.  They both start with a Misty Moonlight card base cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half. The first layer is Basic White cardstock cut at 5 1/4" x 4".  Cut two of these so you're all set for the inside of the card when you're ready.

When it comes to the next layers, this is where the changes come in.  For this design, the next layer of Misty Moonlight is cut at 3 1/2" square.  The Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper is cut at 3 1/4" square.  I love this print with its water-color droplets of pale Misty Moonlight through out.  The colors are perfect together, and the leafy print can be used for so many reasons.  They are attached together with adhesive, then attached to the card front with adhesive also.

TIP:  Before I layered the pieces together, I die-cut a butterfly from the Misty Moonlight layer.  This is a great way to cut a little bulk from your cards while conserving some of your cardstock.  Win-win there!

The butterfly die is part of the Brilliant Wings Dies.  If you look close, you'll see a solid butterfly underneath that's die-cut from Vellum Cardstock.  I wanted to have more of a division between the DSP and the butterfly.  (It was interesting trying to take pictures of this.  The vellum underneath had a tendency to make it look out of focus.)  The butterfly is attached to the vellum with Mini Glue Dots, then attached to the card front with Mini Dimensionals.

The sentiment is from last fall's Sale-a-bration.  I debated about using it, but it really was exactly what I wanted for this card.  Something that was more out there instead of a simple happy birthday.  So, bear with me while I use some retired stuff.  OK?  It was stamped with Misty Moonlight ink on Basic White.  The Basic White piece is 2 1/2" x 1 1/4" and is attached to a layer of Misty Moonlight cardstock that is 2 3/4" x 1 1/2".  This was attached to the card front using Dimensionals to give it a little extra lift.

Can you see the tiny little brass butterflies on the card?  They are new in the upcoming mini catalog.  They have adhesive on the back so they're just too simple to pop on your card wherever you want!  Just too cute!

Here's the other version of the card.  I had a smaller piece of the Designer Paper on hand that I decided to use.  I mean, I always need birthday cards, so why not make another one since everything is already out and ready to use.  The DSP is only 2 3/4" square and the Misty Moonlight piece is 3" square.  On this card, this layer was put on with Dimensionals too.  The butterfly was treated the same way as the first card.

The sentiment layers are also the same size as the first card.  I just moved the layers around a little to fill out the card in a pleasing way.  In that big white area near the bottom, I added 3 Rhinestone Basic Jewels to give it some balance.  The jewels were colored with a Misty Moonlight Stampin' Blends for color to match.

There you have it - the same products but still a different look.  Sometimes you just have to make adjustments to your plans depending on what you've got to work with.  And just because you start out with one idea, nothing says you can't go off in another direction to see where it takes you.  Just have FUN!

I want to wish you a very blessed new year ahead.  Each year the slate is wiped clean and you are starting out fresh again.  Set different goals for yourself - realistic goals.  Then sit down and figure out all the little steps needed to reach your new goals.  Work on those first little steps, and don't get overwhelmed by the big picture.  And yes, I'm talking to myself here!  This is what I need to do too.  Boy, I've sure spent a bunch of time pontificating today.  Guess that's what happens at the end of one year and the beginning of another.  Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now and just wish you a

Happy New Year!!!!

Blessings,

Sharon

Blessings of Home Card

Hello again!  Glad to see you stopped by.  With yesterday's card, I had one strip of the Harvest Meadow Designer Series Paper left over after I had the stack of cards finished.  And that pack of Soft Succulent cardstock was still sitting out, and the Basic White cardstock was just sitting there too.  So, since everything is out already, why not design a different card to use up those items.  I've got some friend's birthdays coming up that I'll need cards for in January and thought it would be a good place to start.

This card uses the Soft Succulent cardstock for the base with a layer of Basic White on top.  Before the white is attached though, I stamped the largest floral stamp in the new Blessings of Home stamp set as a soft, mono chromatic background.  The stamp was inked, then off-stamped for a softer, 'sketchier' look to the background.  That left-over 1" strip of the DSP was attached to the left side again to anchor the design.  Then it was all attached to the Soft Succulent card base using Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.

The next part of the design was stamping the smaller floral image onto a Basic White layer.  The Stitched So Sweetly Dies have a pretty scalloped and stitched rectangle die that looked to be the perfect size for this.  After die-cutting the white, the floral image was stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  

For coloring, I chose to use my Stampin' Blends.  I have a couple friends that love purple - any shade will do to make them happy!  So of course, this card has a mix of purple shades for the flowers:  Purple Posy L&D, Highland Heather L, Fresh Freesia L&D.  The leaves are Soft Succulent L&D.  And the flower centers are So Saffron L&D and Cinnamon Cider L.  The pictures really don't do the small flowers justice.  They are the ones colored with Fresh Freesia ink and are so cute in real life.  Much pinkier-purple than they look in the photos.

After coloring, the die-cut was attached to the card front using Dimensionals for some interest.  

The sentiment is the same one from the Inspiring Thoughts set that I shared yesterday, except today the full stamp was used.  It's stamped on Basic White with Soft Succulent ink, trimmed, then layered on a Soft Succulent cardstock piece.  This is attached with adhesive to lay flat on the left and a Dimensional on the right to keep it level.

Hopefully you can see some of the layered Stampin' Blend colors on this close-up of the image.  It was fun using so many layers of color on each flower to get the look I wanted.  Yes, I do love my Blends!!

Underneath the sentiment I added a small knot of Fresh Freesia 3/8" Open Weave Ribbon.  It's attached with a Mini Glue Dot.  

For this card, I felt I needed to add some bling.  The 2021-2023 In Color Jewels just called out to me, so I gave them a try.  I could have used the Fresh Freesia ones, but finally decided on the Soft Succulent gems.  Either color would have worked out well, but since I have more of the Soft Succulent gems I used them for this card.  I love the iridescent look of these gems!  It actually makes them blend in with so many more colors than just the In Colors they should match.  In my humble opinion, these are a must have in your "bling box".

Hope you enjoyed today's post.  I'm having a great time playing around with my newest stamps.  I might have to start branching out to other colors though.  I've been stuck on the Soft Succulent for awhile now.  What color should I play with next?

Happy stamping and creating!  It's a great way to finish out the old year. Of course, it's also the perfect way to start fresh in the new year!  Have fun...

Blessings and many hugs,

Sharon

Amazing Silhouettes Sneak Peek

Wow, the time has been really flying by this past week.  I managed to design two cards and thought I'd have them posted already.  But alas, my planning isn't quite lining up with reality.  Today I'm sharing a card that I made to enclose with all the catalogs that I put in the mail today.  Yes, that's running slower than I had planned too.  But at least there are a whole pile of catalogs that were taken to the Post Office earlier today.  Now it's up to the Post Office to see how long it's going to take to get them to all my customers.  If you don't have one in the next ten days, please give me a call and I'll see what I can do.  Anyway, back to the card... 

As a demonstrator, I signed up for the Stampin' Up! Onstage event last November. One of the many fun things I received is this Amazing Silhouettes stamp set which will be available January 4th in the new January - June 2022 Mini Catalog.  It's so much fun getting stamps early!  There are three stamps in this set and they all look like this one with just a silhouette image.  I love the look of these stamps.   And I'm amazed at the amount of detail that shows from just having the image in silhouette like this.  They are really gorgeous.  This is the largest stamp, and after using it on these cards, I'm going to have to try out the other two stamps to see what I come up with.

Because I was making a whole pile of these cards, I was looking for a simple layout that wouldn't take too much time.  I set up the stamp on my Stampa-a-ratus and just stamped away on card after card.  What did I ever do before the Stamp-a-ratus?  It makes stamping multiples so quick and easy, and you always get the image exactly where you want it.  Some of the cards I stamped with Soft Succulent and some with Mint Macaron ink for a slightly softer look.

The color for the card base is the Soft Succulent cardstock cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.  This seems to be my favorite color lately.  Out of the last three cards I've designed, all of them use Soft Succulent for the main color.  Hmmm, guess I really like it!  The next layer was Basic White cardstock cut 4"x 5 1/4".  The image was stamped over to the right side.  A 1" x 5 1/4" strip of Harvest Meadow Designer Series Paper was cut and attached to the left side on the Basic White cardstock piece using MultiPurpose Liquid Glue.  Then the Basic White layer was attached to the Soft Succulent base using the MultiPurpose Liquid Glue again.

I used the sentiment from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set that's found in the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog.  I like the way the font skips between all caps and all small letters.  Just something a little different.  I couldn't find a plain Thinking of You in the set, so I used a Soft Succulent marker and just inked the words I wanted.  This is actually a birthday sentiment, but you'd never know.  

TIP:  Make sure you really look at your sentiment stamps to see if you can use just a portion of the stamp to say what you want.  It's so easy to ink up only the words you need using a marker.

The sentiment was stamped on a Basic White strip and then backed with a slightly larger piece of Soft Succulent cardstock.  It was attached to the card front using several Dimensionals.  A tiny knot of Soft Succulent 3/8" Open Weave Ribbon was attached to the left side of the sentiment using a Mini Glue Dot.

As you can see on this last picture, I splatter-tapped some Wink of Stella on the front of this card.  Some cards I left simply plain.  After giving it a lot of thought, I decided to keep the card 'bling-less' this time around.  I really liked the nice, clean look of this card.  Hope you do too.

Well, that's it for today's installment.  Please continue to keep checking in with me.  I'll try my hardest to get more consistent with my posts.  You know, the best laid plans of mice and men oft times go astray.  And I seem to be having a lot of that 'astray' going on!  😁 

Happy creating and stamping!

Sharon

Peaceful Holly Card

Today I have a bold and bright Christmas card to share with you.  It took me awhile to get it right.   I shared the first version of this with my friend Ruth and my sister Connie.  They both agreed that it was way too busy and really needed help.  Connie and I brainstormed a bit, then I went down to my craft room, tore parts of it off, changed up parts of it and put it back together again.  Both ladies now gave it a thumbs up.  So here it is being shared with you today!

In person, it really is a bold, beautiful card with lots of layering and textures for all of you, like me, who are always 'touching' the cards that come in the mail.  I love the different textures and layers that make a card really stand out as different.

The card starts out with a base of Real Red cardstock that's cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.  There is a section of the Painted Christmas 12 x 12 DSP that is cut to 5 1/4" x 4".  This is attached to the folded Real Red card base using MultiPurpose Liquid Glue.

Over this is a section of Real Red cardstock that is 2 1/8" x 4 1/4".  This has two pieces of the 1/4" Gold Shimmer Ribbon wrapped around it and attached on the back.  Then this is attached to the front of the card, just a little lower than center.  To give this area some texture and interest without becoming overpowering, I added a layer of Real Red cut 4" x 1".  Before attaching to the card front, this was embossed with the Tasteful Textiles 3D Embossing Folder.  I think this bit of extra texture really adds so much to the finished look.  If you don't own this embossing folder yet, you need to get one for yourself!  It's such a wonderful basic look that enhances just about any card you might make.

Now on to all the 'fun stuff'!  The sentiment label was cut from Basic White with the Seasonal Labels Dies.  The sentiment was stamped with Real Red ink and is from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set.  A Blending Brush and both Shaded Spruce and Evening Evergreen inks added a little color to the edges.

The holly, berries, and pine needles are all from the Christmas Season stamp set.  The berries were stamped with Real Red, the holly leaves with Shaded Spruce, and the pine needles with Evening Evergreen inks.  Each were die-cut using the coordinating Seasonal Labels dies.  This makes it so easy to add all those wonderful pieces!

All of the stamped and die-cut pieces were added to the card front at this time.  They were either tucked under the sentiment or were attached with Dimensionals over it into a pleasing cluster.  While arranging all the pieces onto the card front, I decided to add 3 of the Gold Holly Leaves.  This brought out the shine of the bands of gold ribbon across the card.

One last picture to show the finished inside of the card.  I had a couple extra holly leaves and one little berry left over.  I couldn't neglect them, so I just had to tuck them in right next to the sentiment.  This sentiment is from the Perfectly Plaid stamp set. I love the font on this Merry Christmas and it seems to be the perfect size to use on so many cards.  For this card, it was stamped with Real Red ink.

As a finishing touch, I had a 1/2" strip of one of the smaller prints from the Painted Christmas Designer Paper.  I thought it was a cute addition to add to the bottom of the Basic White layer and ties all the colors together.

That's it for today.  I know I'm cutting it really close to Christmas for sharing these cards.  But at this point in time, I'm really not making much of anything else.  I'm trying to get all my own cards out in the mail.  Unfortunately, at last count I'm about 15 cards short of my goal.  Guess I need to get back to my craft room and make a few more.  Hope you're farther ahead than I am and have all your Christmas cards out in the mail already.  Oh well, better late than never is going to be my motto this year.  I might even get around to making a cookie batch or two during the Christmas break for the grandsons and they can have some fun helping.  I don't think they'll care too much that the cookies weren't made weeks ago!

Christmas Blessings to you and your family!

Sharon

Merriest Frames Christmas Card

 Ok, I think I'm back again.  Whew, it's really been an ugly three weeks dealing with the flu.  I'm surprised how badly it knocked me off my feet.  Rick and I are still in the recovery mode trying to get back our full energy.  It's amazing how quickly we tire out doing such little things.  But I wanted to take a minute to thank so many of you that have been keeping us in your prayers every day.  It has really made a huge difference in our lives.  We could have been so much more worse off, but instead we're on our road to full recovery.  Thank you for your prayers and thank God for touching us with His healing hand!

Today I want to share a card I had ready to go and I'm just now getting around to it.  The colors are not your everyday red and green, but I love how the colors interact.  It starts out with a base of Thick White cardstock cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", folded in half.  The first layer on the card is Pool Party cut at 5 1/4" x 4".  This was embossed with Timeworn Type 3D Embossing Folder to give it some lovely texture.  It was attached to the card base using MultiPurpose Liquid Glue.

Next layer is Just Jade cardstock.  Love that color!  I used the Merriest Frames Hybrid Die and Embossing Folder.  Doesn't it give just fantastic detail?  To make it stand out even more, I used a Blending Brush and Just Jade ink on the edges of all the die-cut details.  This was also attached to the card front using MultiPurpose Liquid Glue.

The sentiment is stamped on Basic White cardstock that was die-cut from the Merriest Frames Dies to fit right into the embossed frame.  The words are from two stamp sets, Perfectly Plaid and Heartfelt Wishes.  I thought they went together nicely.  Both Just Jade ink and Polished Pink ink were used for this. 

The accent pieces on the card were cut using the Merriest Frames Dies.  The holly leaves were cut from the retired SAB Be Dazzling Specialty Paper.  They were attached under the flowers using Mini Glue Dots. 

The small poinsettias were cut from Basic White cardstock.  The color is added using a Blending Brush and Polished Pink ink.  The flowers underneath on each of them were colored darker than the top flowers.  I love the extra contrast of the colors on the poinsettias.  Each of the poinsettias were added with a Mini Dimenisonal.  

To add the final bit of glitz, I added the smaller Garden Gems to the center of each flower.  The colors of these gems are just a perfect color touch with an iridescent sheen with the pinks and greens.

Ok, I think I remembered to add all the information on this card.   Surprisingly it's only taken about 4 hours total to get this written.  (I had to take a rest in the middle of it 'cuz I got too tired!  Gee Whiz!!)  Anyway, hope this card inspires you to try different color combos for Christmas.  And consider trying the awesome Merriest Frames Hybrid Dies and Embossing Folder combo.  These really do make up some fabulous images.

Thanks for stopping by today to see what's new.  Thank you also for your prayers and caring.  We truly appreciate all the prayers!  Keep checking in.  Hopefully I'll be back soon with another idea for you to try.  

Stay well and keep creating!

Sharon