Serenity Sympathy cards w/Jenni Bowlin butterflies

   I have no sympathy cards in my stash, and my subconscious has been working on an idea for days.  My inspiration came from my package of Jenni Bowlin butterflies.  I used one out of the package last year, but four more remained in the package.  I decided I should try to use them all up.  Then this weekend I perused my 6x6 pads and I realized that I had never cut into my BoBunny "Serenity" papers.  I think they go well together, don't you?  I added some dry embossing below the papers (see picture above).

 Here is my set of four:

These papers are gorgeous!

The 6x6 BoBunny "Serenity" was purchased at Shop Pumpkin Spice.  My Jenni Bowlin butterflies were included in my Artful Delight kit (August 2011).  The embossing border is Cuttlebug "Winter Borders" and the sentiment is by Stampin' Up!

Happy Tuesday!

Whooooo Hello You're a Hoot Thanks!

(SUPPLIES  papers:  Echo Park 6x6 "Hello Summer",

"So Happy Together", and My Mind's Eye Fly a Kite "Soar" Fly paper;

EAD "Owl Friends" stickerz (owls and sentiments);

Fiskars cloud punches;

SU white gel pen and chocolate chip marker)

 Do you have an abundance of certain themes in your stash?  When I first started stamping I collected lots of stamps of pears, leaves, flowers, and dragonflies.  Now I also like cute birds, specifically owls.

(SUPPLIES  papers:  Echo Park 6x6 "Hello Summer",

 My Mind's Eye Fly a Kite "Spring" Stars, 

October Afternoon "The Thrift Shop";

EAD "Owl Friends" stickerz (owls);

My Mind's Eye Lush 2 Buttons Orange;

The Twinery "Cappuccino" twine;

My Pink Stamper "Punny-licious" sentiments;

Spellbinder's Nestabilities scalloped circle die;

SU  chocolate chip marker and 1 3/4" circle punch)

I have been hoarding a sheet of EAD "Owl Friends" stickerz because these owls are so darn cute!  But every week I see my blog friend, Amy T. and more recently sweet Rose use their EAD products to create lovely cards.

Truthfully, I have tried to make cards from this sticker sheet quite a few times, but then a card does not evolve.  I have had a pile of papers I chose to coordinate with the stickers on my floor for a couple of weeks.  After I saw Rose's recent post using EAD, I made up my mind to create something with my EAD owls.  I am so glad I did!  These cards turned out super cute (can I say that?)  I want to give them to my daughter's resource teacher for a back-to-school teacher gift for the first day of school.  He is fabulous; he was my daughter's teacher when she was in 2nd grade and she will have him again for fifth grade.  I am so happy for her!  She has a strong team of teachers this year.  Yay :)

Happy Friday!

Fiddlesticks butterfly card

  My basket that I store my 6x6 paper pads in is overflowing...and I just purchased three NEW 6x6 pads last week from Shop Pumpkin Spice.  How can I resist?  I can make a gazillion cards from a single 6x6 pad, and they are only $4.19 each.

  I need to get organized in my crafting.  So many times I am under the gun to create a last minute card or gift.  Time to work ahead a bit!  My mom's birthday is coming up and she loves butterflies.  I perused my newest 6x6 pads and I think this My Mind's Eye "Fiddlesticks" will work well for her.  I also pulled out all of my My Mind's Eye glazed brads from various collections to coordinate with the Fiddlesticks paper.

  I took some liberties with this July 2011

Clean & Simple Stamping sketch:

  I originally planned to put the sentiment in the bottom left, then decided I liked it on the top right and I moved the horizontal layer (crinkle ribbon) up a bit...

I am entering my card in the current challenge at Shopping Our Stash:  Sketch It!
(Use any sketch, show the sketch in your post, and explain how you used it.)

Supplies:
paper:  My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline "Fiddlesticks"
brads:  My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 2 Blush "Beautiful Girl" & Indie Chic Citron "Grow"
crinkle ribbon:  ballet slippers
butterflies:  Cricut cartridge "Wall Decor and More"
eyelet:  Making Memories

CAS Nutmeg & Wassail and blog candy WINNER!

  

 Remember this Clean & Simple stamping sketch

that I was so enamored with in my previous post?

I just had to try the circles...easy peasy!

I used My Mind's Eye Indie Chic "Nutmeg" 6x6

and My Pink Stamper "Birthday Crazy" stamp.

Then I tried to make my weekly Christmas card:

The paper are BasicGrey "Wassail"

and the sentiment stamp is by A Muse.

And now for my 1,000th post/ 5th blogoversary candy winner.....drumroll...

#11 Rose:

 Rose said...

your card is stunning!!!!
congrats on 5yrs and 1000 posts girl :)

Congratulations, Rose!  Please email me your snail mail address and I will get your goodies ready to mail.

Happy Wednesday!

CAS cards from scraps

   This week's challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to try something new or revisit an oldie.  I've been racking my brain as to what I might do.  Then I saw this week's sketch at Clean & Simple stamping:

I am so inspired by this sketch!  I can't wait to grab some of my 6x6 pads, punch some circles and create some fun cards following this sketch...but then an idea tickled my brain:  three years ago I tried a technique of embossing scrapbook paper and sanding it (click here to see my 2009 card.)

 I cut a sheet of whisper white to 8 1/2"x 8 1/2", then cut in half to create two square cards @ 4 1/4".  I cut a scrap of black card stock 2 @ 3 1/2" square.  Then I cut a scrap of SU dsp ("So Saffron" pattern paper) 2 @ 3 1/4" square.

I embossed with my SU "Elegant Bouquet" embossing folder and sanded the paper with my Making Memories sanding block.  I stamped my sentiments both by My Pink Stamper:  "Around the Corner" and "Birthday Crazy" that I purchased from Shop Pumpkin Spice.

Do you think I should use up that SU paper and make bunches of these?  I may grab some 6x6 pads and start punching circles to use that fantabulous Clean & Simple stamping sketch again.  *LOVE*

Happy Monday!

Just a little bit of sunshine!

I found some mojo!  I was at Amy Tsuruta's blog (truly one of the sweetest bloggers on the planet) and saw here recent Paper Issues post.  I clicked over to Paper Issues (I've been stalking that blog for months now) and saw the Summer Fresh 12x12 prize pack.

Paper Issues:  Summer Lovin'

If you follow my blog, you know that I am totally enamored with my 6x6 Summer Fresh pad.  I love cutting up the journaling card pages and making it the focal point of my card, then layering with other papers in the collection.  My favorite collection of the summer, hands down.

Now in search of a sketch...I found a new sketch blog!  New to me anyway...they have been around since December 2011.

Seems a Little Sketchy

All of my papers came from my Artful Delight June kit.  I just added some My Mind's Eye burlap trim and small buttons from my stash.

Happy Sunday!

Wedding Invitations/ Deconstructed Sketch

and the inside:

Whenever my mojo is waning, I go in search of inspiration.  This week I just can't seem to create anything....but then I found inspiration on Amy Sheffer's blog.  I first met Amy eight years ago when I asked her to hostess a Stampin' Up! party in my home.  We shared the same passion for CAS cards and I found a friend in Amy!  Her cards were so crisp and professional looking.  Since then both of us have evolved in our card-making styles.  Amy's cards and projects are still all works of heART.  I admire her use of all types of supplies to create her stunning cards teacher gifts, and projects.  Amy is one of the most talented bloggers, and a sweet friend.

Here is the sketch that Amy used:

Sketch 65 at deconstructing Jen

I sell my cards at a local coffee shop.  Heidi, my most loyal customer of 4+ years, asked me if I would design her wedding invitations.  At first I said I don't do wedding invites (mass producing 100+ cards does not appeal to me.)  Heidi said she only wanted 25 cards and something really unique.  Her colors will be green, fuchsia, orange, and brown.  You should see her place settings and flowers...stunning color combo!  I found the best paper collection to mimic her colors to be Indie Chic Saffron.  I emailed Heidi the links to check out which papers she liked the most from the Indie Chic Saffron papers at Shop Pumpkin Spice.

Here is the evolution of Heidi's card:

Using Echo Park "Style Essentials", SU card stock and ribbon, scraps of BasicGrey "Infuse", and some   pearlized swirl paper, I asked Heidi if she liked this style of card:

Then I made two versions using Indie Chic papers that Heidi chose:

 (this one uses the yummy textured 12x12 Indie Chic)

(this one uses the smooth texture and smaller print of the 6x6)

Heidi's final choice was the last card, but using the textured 12x12 versions of the same papers:

And this gave me an excuse to buy the Cricut "Sweethearts" cartridge to cut those hearts.  I am so good at justifying my craft spending :)

Happy Sunday!