Inspired by... Rainbow Butterflies!

Hi again :) I am enjoying the sunny west coast right now! I have a quick post for you featuring a new Inspired By... Challenge and I wanted to play along with the Retro Sketches:

This week's photo was selected by myself, a colourful array of butterflies!

I took the colours and the butterflies from this picture, and put together with the sketch, came up with this:

I love the colourful butterflies!! I can't wait to give this card away as a cheery hello :) Although I had a heck of a time with the butterflies as I broke my beautiful wings embosslits when I moved into my apartment back in February... but I managed :)

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to pop over to Charissa's blog to see how this photo inspired her!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Pursuit of Happiness (ret)
Paper: Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade (ret), Midnight Muse, Island Indigo, Concorde Crush (ret), Whisper White
Ink: Real Red
Tools: Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Eyelet Border Punch, Cloudy Day Embossing Folder
Accessories: Ribbon (ret), Dimensionals

Colourful Thank-Yous!

Hello! Long time, no see! It is nice to be back in blogger land. Here is a quick post that I was supposed to make back on June 5, before I went on my first vacation of the month *lol* Now, two days before my next vacation, I am finally getting to it. I made a group of thank-you cards for a friend of mine who graduated with her bachelor's degree last month. They were based off a card a made a while ago, shown on the left of the photo:

I love these little guys! They are just so cheery and colourful - perfect for a thank-you card in my opinion.

I have dusted off my sketch book and I am back to crafting tonight! I am making some birthday cards for my little sister (more affectionately known as my little blister) as her birthday is coming up on June 28th. Needless to say, I will be a busy bee preparing everything for my vacation (I leave on Friday! Woohoo!) and crafting. AND to top it all off... my sister requested a friendship bracelet for her birthday. You know, the kind made with embroidery floss? I used to make them all the time but my hands have definitely become rusty in the friendship bracelet making department... I have dusted the cobwebs from my OLD (let's say, 14 years old) instruction book and am going to try my hand at that again tonight! Hmmm... I wonder when I am going to find time to sleep in the next two days?? *lol* 

Thanks for stopping by! I plan to share the birthday cards created for my sister tomorrow and Friday :) 

Supplies used:

Stamps: Pursuit of Happiness (ret)

Paper: Lucky Limeade (ret), Concorde Crush (ret), Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse, Pear Pizzazz (ret), Wisteria Wonder, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Basic Black

Ink: Lucky Limeade (ret), Concorde Crush (ret), Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse

Tools: Labels Framelits, Hearts a Flutter Framelits (ret I believe), Delicate Doilies, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Cross Hatch Embossing Folder

Accessories: Linen Thread, Misc Brads (garage sale), Dimensionals

Inspired By...

Hello there! Well today is the last day of my work week, and it is just zooming by! Soon I will be on the road for a nice, long 12 hour drive to see my mom! :) yay! Before I head out, I have a few posts for you :) The first is a new Inspired By... challenge!

This week was my pick and I chose a bright, colourful make-up/fashion pallette:

Well, I really like the colours in this picture (that's why I chose it *lol*). I ended up using the colours from the top left square and came up with this card:

Now, this is definitely not my favourite card by a long shot... but it is ok and will serve its intended purpose. This was one of those cards where I just had to keep adding things because I was not satisfied with the look. It started with the embossed background and when that wasn't enough, shimmer spritz was added and when that wasn't enough, rhinestones were added and finally, when that wasn't enough either, the butterfiles came along.... then I decided to stop the madness. After all that, I decided the card is not terrible :) *lol*

I put to use this most recent sketch from Pals Paper Arts:

I was too late to enter the challenge, but I like the sketch none-the-less! Don't forget to pop over to Charissa's blog, Snippets by Design, to see how this photo inspired her! And also a reminder that we will be taking a three week break from both Inspired By... and KCRR as Charissa and I will be on holidays for the rest of the month! :)

Supplies used:
Stamps: Really Good Greetings
Paper: Raspberry Ripple, Wisteria Wonder, Regal Rose (ret), Flirtatious DSP (ret)
Tools: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Owl Builder Punch, Corner Rounder (CTMH), Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder
Accessories: Stiched Satin Ribbon, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Color Throwdown & Paper Craft Crew: Grateful

Good morning! Well, nothing new and/or exciting has happened since my post at 11:30 last night *lol*, so I'll get right to the challenges! I wanted to play along with the Color Throwdown and Paper Craft Crew:

Hmm.... I thought about these challenges long and hard and I just knew they could be combined in a beautiful (coherent) fashion :) Here's how my card ended up:

I am smitten! I just received the delicate doilies in my last order (a rather large one placed during Stampin' Up's "free shipping" promotion) and I was glad to put them to use here. I love the mixed textures of the cross-hatch & fancy fan embossing folders and the pop of yellow in the bitty butterfly makes my day, better seen here:

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to pop in tomorrow for a new KCRR challenge! :)

Supplies used:

Stamps: Pursuit of Happiness, Memorable Moments

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Midnight Muse, Daffodil Delight

Ink: Midnight Muse

Tools: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Labels Framelits, Delicate Doilies, Cross Hatch Embossing Folder, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder

Accessories: Linen Thread, Brights Brads, Dimensionals

KCRR #12: Monochromatic Butterflies

Good morning and Happy Friday to you! It is not a very happy Friday here in Northern BC, we had a late taste of old man winter with a few new inches of snow and thick ice to scrape off the windshield this morning :( I guess it's time to get the boots and coats back out of the closet one more time... Oh well, hopefully it will be gone for good soon! :) Since today is Friday, that means it is time for another edition of KCRR (we're already up to #12, I cannot believe how fast time is going...). I decided to combine KCRR with the Paper Craft Crew and Stampin' Royalty:

This week, random.org selected monochromatic and the stamp set butterfly prints. Charissa and I decided to add a third element again, which ended up being a banner. The theme for Stampin' Royalty is "Ribbons and Pearls." With that combination, I immediately thought of making a girl's birthday card :) Here's what I came up with:

I think it is perfect! Stampin' Up has so many great pinks to chose from. I ended up using primrose petals, regal rose, and rose red. The ribbon and peals are the "cherry on top" of this card. What little girl doesn't love pearls? :)

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to pop over to Charissa's blog, Snippets by Design, to see what she created with our KCRR elements!

Supplies used:
Stamps: Butterfly Prints (ret), Create a Cupcake
Paper: Primrose Petals, Whisper White, In Colour Stacks, Brights Stacks
Ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red, Primrose Petals
Tools: Butterfly Punch (ret)
Accessories: Stitched Satin Ribbon, Pearls

Simon Says "Hello!"

Post #2 for you today :) I will be playing along again with Simon Says Stamp Challenge, who theme is "anything goes" (pretty much the greatest theme ever). I wanted to make a "hello" card for Matt's aunt, who is here visiting for a while.

Butterflies, lace & peals, oh my! All these elements make the card super feminine, and perfect for an aunt! I had originally intended on putting the large tea cup from this stamp set on the card, but quickly came to realize that that stamp would pretty much take up all the white space *lol* so I snipped out one of the smaller cups instead.

I finally broke out my bitty butterfly punch! Such a cute accent :) Oh, and I really really do miss the satin ribbon. It is so easy to work with and ties into the most perfect bows :( maybe Stampin' Up will bring something similar to it back in the new catalogue (coming in June!! Eeeek!)

Thanks for looking!

Supplies used:
Stamps: Tea Shoppe, Jewelery Tags
Paper: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive
Tools: Scallop Circle & Circle Nestabilities, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch
Accessories: Satin Ribbon (ret), Victoria Lace Trim, Linen Thread, Pearls

KCRR Challenge #7: Two Stamp Sets

Good morning! It is FINALLY Friday! Woohoo!! It has been a long week with some ups and downs and I am more than looking forward to the weekend :) It's time again for...

Woot woot! This week's selections were pretty good, both of them being stamps/stamp sets: Elements of Style & French Filigree. Hmmmmmmm... interesting... I wanted to incorporate my stamp from Elements of Style in a creative way. This is what I came up with:

I like it! The butterflies are so pretty. I embossed in white the big flower from Elements of Style and used a blender pen to colour in the flowers and leaves. Then I randomly punched out butterflies from that image. I like the randomness of the butterflies and how no two of them have the same pattern (just like a butterfly :) )

Now, the French Filigree was another story... I stamped the slim strip of paper on the bottom of the card with that stamp to add some dimension to the card. Overall, I think I would like the card better if the strip was a solid colour, but it still works with the French Filigree stamp too :) Don't forget to pop over to Charissa's blog, Snippets by Design, to see what she made with these two elements!

Supplies used:
Stamps: Elements of Style, French Filigree, Butterfly Prints (ret)
Paper: Very Vanilla
Ink: Regal Rose, Lucky Limeade
Tools: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Tulip Frame Embossing Folder
Accessories: Everyday Enchantment Ribbon (SAB 2012), Pearls

Colour Q: Experimenting with Colour

Hello! Today I find myself experimenting with colour :) This is generally something I struggle with and I often tend to use no more than three colours per card. I find that once more colours are thrown into the mix, creating a coherent card is far more challenging. Today I wanted to play with Colour Q:

Naturally, putting all these colours on one card scared me! Here's what I came up with:

I have to admit, it is not my favourite card, yet I liked it enough to share :) I like the panels background. I wanted the panels to by my main focus, but thought the card was just too plain with only the sentiment and the panels. To jazz it up, I added the ribbon & butterflies.

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Vintage Verses

Paper: Summer Starfruit, Poppy Parade (ret), Brights Paper Stacks, Birds of a Feather DSP

Ink: Basic Grey

Tools: Labels Framelits

Accessories: Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Stitched Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals