Elegant Butterfly Notecards Two Ways

These cute 3x3" notecards are easy to put together with punches.  I love using punches in my papercrafting as it allows fabulous results that you can repeat over and over again! Even better is these notecards went further as I've used both the positive and the negative punched portions. Here are some closeups:

Bitty Butterfly layered on an Elegant Butterfly inside a circle window.

And now the Bitty Butterfly inside the negative Elegant Butterfly atop a piece of patterned paper. Can you see what I did there?

Here's how I got the most out of my pieces:

• Cut pieces of Whisper White cardstock 2 3/4" x 2 3/4".  Since we're using both the positive and the negative if you cut 6 pieces, you'll be able to make 12 notecards.
• Insert these pieces as far as you can into your Elegant Butterfly punch, making sure the cardstock is centred on the left and right.  Punch out your butterfly and set aside.  Repeat with all your pieces of 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" so you have square pieces with a butterfly cut out.
• Using the 2" circle punch line up the 2 3/4" piece so the butterfly is inside the circle and punch. Set aside both the punched circle and the remaining frame (you can emboss this if desired).
• Punch patterned paper using the 2 1/2" circle punch.
• Punch Bitty Butterflies from vellum cardstock. I added a touch of ink in the centre for depth.
• Assemble using adhesive and dimensionals where required and embellish as desired.
• Stamp with a small sentiment stamp and you're done!

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Vellum cardstock

Ink: Blushing Bride, Memento Black Ink

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Punches:  Bitty Butterfly, Elegant Butterfly, 2" Circle punch, 2 1/2" Circle punch

Acc:  Brick Wall TIEF, Sweet Sorbet DSP (clearance rack), dimensionals, rhinestones

Happy Stamping,

Postage Stamp Punch Framed Art

It's been a while since I made one of these little squares of goodness.  This piece has gone to my MIL for her special birthday, and I wanted to incorporate elements that reflected her interests - and her favourite colour: BLUE! These 16 elements are mounted on dimensionals over a stamped wooden background in an 8"x 8" frame.

Background:  I stamped multiple images of our Hardwood background stamp in Crumb Cake onto Whisper White cardstock, then cut strips 1/2" wide to piece together the wood background so it extended to cover the full 8x8" background.  The grain detailing is so forgiving, and I laid the strips like floorboards so the joins weren't all in the same spot.

Punches:  I used the Postage Stamp punch (only available till June 2nd, or until sold out as it is 50% off on the retiring list) and also the 1" square punch for each square.  The heart punch is our Sweetheart punch.  I also used the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches (can you guess where?), as well as the Bird Builder punch and Petite Petals punch for the flower.  The hot air balloon and bunting were hand cut and the monogrammed "R" was cut using the Perfect Print Alphabet Bigz die (also 50% off on the retiring list until June 2nd).

Stamps L-R: Hardwood background, Collage Curios (retired NLA), By the Tide, Choose Happiness, Butterfly Basics, Postage Due (NLA), Papillon Potpourri, Groovy Love, By the Tide, Collage Curios (retired NLA), Choose Happiness, By the Tide, Collage Curios (retired NLA), Petite Petals, Alphabet rotary stamp, Postage Due (NLA), Celebrate Today

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Marina Mist, Island Indigo, Night of Navy, Vellum cardstock
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Island Indigo, Night of Navy, Real Red

Acc:  Adhesive pearls, dimensionals, linen thread, wooden embellishments (retiring), glitter, candy dot brad base, small heart punch (from Itty Bitty Accents punch pack)

All of the items used are Stampin' Up, lots are on the retiring list only available for a few more weeks, so if you see anything you like, purchase it via my online store or contact me to place an order.

Happy Stamping,

Triangle Punch Four You

This prismatic card features two retiring products: the Four You stamp set and the Large Triangle punch.  I CASED this design from Laura B who used paint chip samples for her version.  I used our beautiful Stampin' Up colours and I love the result.  Both the stamp set and punch are on the retiring list and reduced in price, so grab them while you still can!  The punch makes 1" triangles (2.5cm).

Shop online at my store (Australian customers only): http://bit.ly/1zQoW2b

Cardstock:  Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss

                   Pool Party, Marina Mist, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Night of Navy

                   Pistachio Pudding, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Mossy Meadow

                   Blushing Bride, Crisp Canteloupe, Tangerine Tango, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler

                   Whisper White

Ink:  Memento Black

Stamps:  Four You 130535

Acc:  Large Triangle Punch 133375

http://bit.ly/1IUqp9w

http://bit.ly/1EggUfh

  

Happy Stamping,

Kinda Eclectic Thank You Notes

I had fun making these customer Thank You's using the Kinda Eclectic stamp set and some of the new 2014-2016 In Colours.  The top photo shows a tag and the bottom photo is a 3x3" notecard.

By coincidence, two of the punches I used - Bitty Butterfly (was $27.95 now $20.96) and 7/8" (2.2cm) scallop circle (was $18.95 now $14.21) are on sale for the current "Weekly Deals"!  The little scallop circle punch co-ordinates with the "A Round Array" stamp set shown below.  Wood mount $32.95 and Clear mount $25.95

I also love using "Dynamic Duos" when choosing my colours.  A Dynamic Duo = Stampin' Up colours in monochromatic schemes (the light and dark of the same shade).  New In Colour "Lost Lagoon" is the dark variation of "Soft Sky", so I used the darker shade for the small punched butterfly and the lighter shade for the shadow behind it. You can read more about how the Colour Coach  works here and purchase your own here.

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Real Red

Ink:  Tangelo Twist, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon, Soft Sky

Stamps: Kinda Eclectic, A Round Array

Acc: Scallop tag topper punch, Bitty Butterfly punch, 7/8" scallop circle punch, Curly Label punch, Lost Lagoon satin stitched ribbon, dimensionals, basic rhinestones

The punches are on special until 11.50pm Tuesday 8th July 2014.  Order online by clicking the links or contact me directly.

Happy Stamping,

Hip, Hip, Hooray for Soccer Hexagons

This soccer ball card was CASED from an eye-catching design from In the Cat Cave just perfect for soccer (football) fans.  The hexagon punch is super handy for this design, and I debossed the white sections with the perfect polka dot TIEF.  Some masculine trim and then I stamped the greeting on the fun new Essentials wooden elements.  

Cardstock:  Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink:  Black StazOn

Stamps:  Hip Notes

Acc:  Hexagon punch, Perfect Polka dots TIEF, Burlap ribbon, Stitched satin ribbon, essentials wooden elements

Who would you make this card for?

Happy Stamping,

Brown Paper Bag ~ Owl Favours or Treat Bags

I made these during my school holiday craft class from gusseted paper bags and they were a hit with the kids!
I used the instructions here as inspiration, changed the ear folding a bit from the original and then let my punches and framelits do the rest.  Imagine these as Christmas owls, baby owls - anything you can think of really.........

Eyes:  1 3/4" circle punch, 1 3/8"circle punch, 3/4" circle punch

Nose:  Petite Pennants Builder punch

Feet:  Blossom punch

Tummy: Ovals Collection Framelits

All items available in my online store.

Happy Stamping,

Swallowtail Upcycled Giftbag

All of my Stampin' Up! orders come with brown paper used as a packing filler, so here's a fun way to upcycle that FREE craft material.  I folded the brown paper in half and stitched the sides together with my sewing machine to form a pouch.  I then stamped the lovely swallowtail butterfly on the front and accented it with a simple strip of core-dinations cardstock that I embossed with the alphabet press embossing folder then lightly sanded.  The "Around Array" stamp set provided a nice finishing sentiment for fast and sweet giftbags. To close i simply folded the top over to the back and closed it with a sticker.  I've put bags of licorice bullets in here, what would you put in yours?

Cardstock:  Primrose Petals Core'dinations, Whisper White
Ink:  Strawberry Slush, Bermuda Bay, Pistachio Pudding, Summer Starfruit
Stamps:  Swallowtail, Around Array
Acc:  Alphabet Press EF, 7/8" scallop circle punch, sanding block




Happy Stamping,

Pool Party Wedding in Paradise

A few weeks ago I posted about using our Stampin' Up ink refills to dye paper and fabric - I had decided to dye the white flowers for my daughter's flower girl dress.  Well the photo below shows the end result, a lovely tinted row of petals along the hem of her dress to match her sash.  The pool party colour theme continued throughout the wedding, which was fitting as the wedding took place on the beautiful island of Koh Samui, Thailand.

More Stampin' Up love was shared at the wedding with the placecards and table numbers to greet guests.  The guests' names were printed onto Very Vanilla cardstock and then I stamped the border in Pool Party ink before punching out.  The oval border is actually from a Christmas stamp set, but it was ideal for this.  I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up all of the frames around the pre-printed names.  

Have you ever wondered how to get the lovely Stampin' Up colours on your home printer?  I set my text to print as close to Island Indigo ink as possible by using the RGB colours listed here.  

The heart-patterned adorning accents folder was perfect for the bottom edge of each placecard and of course we used the matching pool party ribbon. The flower was punched from the Itty Bitty Punch pack and then a tinted pool party pearl applied to the centre.  Stay tuned for a post about tinting our pearls to match!  The table numbers were very similar, I used the (almost retired) Simple Numbers Big Shot die to cut each table number from Island Indigo cardstock.

Cardstock:  Pool Party, Very Vanilla, Island Indigo, Rose Red

Ink:  Pool Party

Stamps:  Joyous Celebrations 128066 (Holiday catalogue from Sept 1st 2012)

Acc:  Pool Party ruffled ribbon, Adorning Accents embossing folder, Extra-Large Oval punch, Simple Numbers bigz die, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Adhesive pearls

Happy Stamping,

Mixed Bunch Butterfly Inspired by Nature

The Autumn-Winter mini catalogue has 2 weeks to go and the Mixed Bunch stamp set and matching Blossom punch are so versatile and easy to use!  Here is a butterfly made from the punched out patterned stamp with two simple snips and a bit of bling for the body.  

Cardstock:  Whisper White

Ink:  Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo

Stamps:  Inspired by Nature, Mixed Bunch

Acc:  Blossom punch, markers, 2-way glue, dazzling diamonds glitter, dimensionals

Happy Stamping,

A Pocketful of Posies

Well, my pack of "Pocketful of Posies" designer series paper has sat unloved for this whole catalogue until now.  This pack has several bold, eclectic prints, but they were perfect for the card and altered tea box project I made recently.  I channelled a Japanese-style theme with the card, adding little yellow blossoms made with my often-used Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  This punch pack is three separate punches and once you have it, you'll find it very useful.  Directions for the centre step card can be found here, I changed the measurements slightly.

Cardstock:  Early Espresso

Ink:  Early Espresso

Stamps:  Apothecary Art

Acc:  Pocketful of Posies DSP, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Adhesive pearls, velvet ribbon (retired).

I found this lovely pre-painted tea caddy in a homewares shop and covered the sides and frame with DSP to match the paint colour.  To add to the rustic charm I distressed the paper with my sanding block and then glazed the whole wooden box with a craft glaze (like modpodge).  I then used my *new*  elegant bird die to create a bird from some Attic Boutique DSP (reinforced with some cardstock) and stuck it directly onto the pre-painted glass top.  The painted flowers were crying out for a little embellishment, so I stuck a pearl in the centre of each blossom.  A retired hodgepodge frame completed the look and complemented the lovely Fabulous Phrases wording.  This whole project came together easily - I love finding premade items and upcycling them!  This could be used as a tea chest as originally intended or for displaying any little treasures.

Happy Stamping,

Label Framelits Favour Bags

During Convention 2012, Carrie Cudney showed us some gorgeous favour bags using a strip of DSP and the label framelits die, so for our last team meeting I had to make them. I also used the lovely "Reason to Smile" stamp set which can be earned FREE this month with an order over $125.

Cardstock:  Pear Pizzazz, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Whisper White

Ink:  Riding Hood Red

Stamps:  Reason to Smile (free set in June only)

Acc:  Twitterpated DSP, Label Framelits, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, XL Oval punch, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle punch, clear rhinestone brads

I used a strip of DSP 4"x 12" folded in half.  To cut out the top shape, I used the label framelit as an edgelit by putting it through the framelit so only the top edge would be cut - the folded edge lay on top of the framelit.  I also cut a window using the same framelits - having a nesting set of 6 is so useful!  I used the XL oval punch to make the handles, popped a strip of the jumbo scallop trim cut with the Tasteful trim die on the front edge then adhered the handle edges only.  I stamped the flower and punched it out, cutting between each scallop to create more movement in the single layer flower, and secured the whole flower through the treat bag with one of our lovely clear rhinestones.  I filled a cello bag with chocolates and slid it into the pouch for a yummy and cute treat bag.

Happy Stamping,

Handmade Birthday Cards Make Me Smile

I celebrated my birthday recently, and here are some lovely handmade cards that I received.  

What a clever use of the designer frames embossing folder inside the label framelits!  The matching pool party ruffled ribbon adds the perfect touch.  Love it!

This card just screams fun and friendship.  Bold leaves from the Sweetheart set topped with gorgeous scallop circle flowers.  Soft sponging along the top and bottom adds to the gorgeous design.  

This was a lovely surprise in my mailbox - very clever use of punches and designer paper.  My stack of presents wasn't quite that high - but what a super way of stretching your patterned paper further.  If you would like to see how to make the cute penguin from the owl punch - read this earlier post.

Thanks for the handmade love girls. 

Happy Stamping,

Convention 2012 Delicate Doilies Swap

Stampin' Up Convention 2012 was inspiring, motivating, fun and rewarding.  I had 3 of the best roadtrip companions (my upline Lisa and two of the best customers you could hope for), highly important when you are on the road for 8 hours and room sharing!  We had so much fun that when Convention 2013 was announced for Brisbane, all four of us booked in for our next holiday together.

Part of Convention is sharing ideas with other demonstrators through "swaps".  We each make something that we can swap with others so we come back with lots of ideas and samples and new friends.  I love the perspective this gives to my creativity.

My swap was fast, easy and effective - the kind of swap where you can make 50 of them in two hours the night before you leave LOL. This swap shows how highlighting a portion of a stamp can completely change the effect.  The same stamp has been used in the corner as on the "flowers".  I stamped the flowers using night of navy ink onto pool party cardstock, punched them out with a circle punch, then cut each circle into 4 pieces.  The hardest part was selecting the right stamp for the stems - you could just hand draw stems, but since I had the Flower Fancy stamp set available I decided to use that. I have to say thank you to my wonderfully supportive husband who put dimensionals on the back of pieces and added adhesive, it was a team effort and a different way to spend time together. 

Cardstock:  Night of Navy, Pool Party, Whisper White

Ink:  Night of Navy, Pool Party

Stamps:  Delicate Doilies 124960, Short and Sweet 116410, Flower Fancy 115800

Acc:  Two Tags die 115954, 1 3/4" circle punch 119850, Basic rhinestones 119246, Dinensionals, Multipurpose liquid glue, corner rounder (non SU)

Happy Stamping,

Nursery Nest Frame

This fabulous frame is filled with sugar and spice and all things nice - including our Nursery Nest DSP and lots of co-ordinating pieces.  Having co-ordinated stamps, papers, inks and accessories made this come together easily, the fun part is working on all the little details.  The colours used throughout are Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder and Blushing Bride.

Here in the top corner the printed bird from the Nursery Nest DSP was cut out and given some dimension.  I just rubbed the reverse side with a rounded stylus tip (top of a pen would work too) on a cushioned mat (mouse mat underside) and added a wing using the Bird Builder punch.  A pearl eye, a bit of glitter and some lovely ruffled ribbon complete this square.

Acc:  Blushing Bride DSP (retired), Nursery Nest DSP, Wisteria Wonder Ruffled ribbon

Banner and pennants (shortened slightly) accented by matching twine and handmade Itty Bitty embellishments.

Cardstock:  Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz

Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, Blushing Bride

Stamps:  Just Perfect alpha, Fabulous Phrases, Itty Bitty Bits

Acc: Nursery Nest DSP, Pennant Builder punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Wisteria Wonder baker's twine, adhesive pearls, stampin' write marker

The little squares I love making - I always try to personalise this as much as possible.  How cute is the baby carriage?  I layered two pieces of cardstock for strength and stuck it to the frame outer, with about 7 dimensionals stacked under for support.  Crystal Effects and glitter added extra dimension to this square.

Cardstock:  Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Blushing Bride

Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, Poppy Parade

Stamps:  Baby Bundle, Calendar alpha, Tiny Tags, Picture This (retired)

Acc:  Scallop square punch, 1 1/4" square punch, 1" square punch, Beautiful Wings embosslit, Heart trio punch, Jewelry tag punch, DSP In Color stack, DSP Flirtatious,  Blushing bride DSP (retired), adhesive pearls, crystal effects, glitter, stampin' write markers

These lovely flowers are made from the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch.  I cut between each petal to give extra fullness.  The lovely new Twitterpated designer buttons make excellent flower centres, and I paper pieced the tiny leaves using a scrap of Nursery Nest DSP.

Stamps:  Sweet Summer (retired)

Acc:  DSP In Color stack, Twitterpated DSP, Nursery Nest DSP, Twitterpated designer buttons, Wisteria Wonder baker's twine

I added the name to the frame outer - love the 3D look of cutting the letters first in Whisper White and then offsetting them with the Wisteria Wonder.  

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder

Acc:  Timeless Type Junior Alphabet

I know this frame is going to a good home and I hope that all the little details will be enjoyed.

Now, who's up for a boy version?  The Nursery Nest DSP also has Marina Mist, Basic Grey and Pear Pizzazz, perfect for a young man.

Happy Stamping,