Lavender and Butterflies

Hello and happy Saturday.  We have a perfect day out here and the boys ae playing a baseball tournament just a little too far away for us old folks.   We're paying attention to the play-by-play on GameChanger so we can see how they're doing.  They tied their first game this morning and are just starting the second game.  Oh, you didn't come here for game information?  Okay, we'll get back to card making instead.  On Thursday I met with four ladies, and we made the cards for the shut-ins.  Two were totally new and didn't even know how to use a tape runner.  But they jumped right in, and we all had a great time.  I had prepped for two cards that were the same layout but used different colors.  Thought you might like to see both of them.  Here's the first version.

Start with a card base of Highland Heather cardstock that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  This is scored and folded in half as usual.

There is cut a layer of the same color next that measures 5" x 3 3/4".

Next is the Perennial Lavender Designer Series Paper.  There are three strips of three different prints on each card.  The strips all measure 1" x 4".  The three strips are attached to the layer of Highland Heather.  Two of the strips are attached closer to the left side and one closer to the right side.  This makes them staggered with about a 1/2" overlap on each side as shown.

After the three strips were attached to the layer, it was embossed with the Dashing Designs 3D Embossing Folder.  This gives the whole layer a wonderful texture, even the DSP.  This layer was attached to the card base using Dimensionals to raise it up.

The sentiment for the cards comes from the Layering Leaves stamp set.  It's stamped onto Crumb Cake cardstock using Gorgeous Grape ink.  The sentiment is punched out with the Heartfelt Hexagon Punch.  This is attached to the center of the card front using Dimensionals.  

The final touches on the card really make it stand out.  The butterfly is one of the Paper Butterfly Accents that come already die-cut.  You just pop them out and add some adhesive to attach it.  Easy peasy.  For this butterfly, I used a Mini Glue Dot under the body to hold it in place.

There are also three gems added from the Tinsel Gems Three-Pack.  I used the light purple gems, but it was fun seeing the ladies choose other colors or even one of each color to add to the design.  It's funny that all three of the colors looked really pretty on this card.

Are you ready for the next version of this card?

The next batch of cards used the very same layout and stamp set, but they look so different because of the colors and the DSP used.  

I started with Old Olive for the base and layer.  I used the Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper for cards with a more masculine feel.  The DSP is retired, but this just looked like a good choice for this card design.

The whole layer is embossed with the same folder as the first card.  I just love the overall texture you get with this folder.

The sentiment from Layering Leaves was used again.  This time it is stamped on Crushed Curry cardstock using Early Espresso ink.

One of the open-work leaves from the set was stamped on Crushed Curry with Early Espresso ink then punched with the Bough Punch.  An extra leaf was punched from Mossy Meadow cardstock to accent the design.  

For embellishments on the card, this time I used the Adhesive-backed Textured Dots.  These look sort of old gold or maybe bronze, so I thought they'd be a good addition.

All in all, we put together 24 cards.  The insides were all finished and signed by all.  Then they were tucked into envelopes, stamped, and ready to go.  One of the ladies even offered to go to the Post Office to drop them off so I didn't have to.  So helpful!

I think these cards will cheer up the people that receive them.  Now it's time to start planning the cards for next month.  Yep, I'm thinking fall here.  Which way should I go here?  Pumpkins?  Spiders? Leaves?  Scary?  Sweet?  Silly?  So many choices!  You have any suggestions or ideas??

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you enjoyed these cards.  I love embossing for the added texture on designs, but I seldom think about embossing the DSP too. And this design is a terrific way to use up those beautiful DSP strips that you just can't throw away.  Bonus!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon