Holidays 3 & 4

As promised here are two more cards that I created with the package of stickers that I bought at Hobby Lobby. I tried to use the same Cuttlebug embossing folders and Nestabilities on most of the cards.

Here is card #3:

Card #4:

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Holidays

I noticed that the store have all of their Christmas merchandise displayed. Christmas may not be in the air but it is definitely in the stores! The displays inspired me to create some early Christmas cards. While at Hobby Lobby I bought a package of Christmas stickers, brads and 2 rolls of ribbon.

There was a definite "country/vintage" feel to these stickers so I chose to use kraft paper for most of the cards. The red on the stickers was closer to a brick color not the traditional bright red you associate with Christmas. The greens were also muted. I used cardstock colors that closely matched the hues in the stickers.

I was able to make 10 cards with the package of stickers. Here is card #1:

Here is card #2:

I will post 2 cards every day. Stop by tomorrow and see the next two cards. If you like what you see please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

An "Inky" Thanksgiving

These are cards I made with an Inky Antics clear rubber stamp set. This year I used this set for all of my Thanksgiving cards. I get bored doing the same card over and over again so I usually pick a stamp or stamp set for each holiday and make many different variations with the same stamp. I like to be able to change the appearance of my cards by using different papers and layouts. All the cards were colored with Prisma colored pencils and Gamsol. The "Inky" website has great directions for blending colored pencils with Gamsol. Check it out!

When I was growing up I was told "you never mix patterns on the clothes you are wearing". If you had a solid color skirt or pants you could wear a patterned top...but never mix plaids with stripes or flowers or paisley. I have noticed that many cards incorporate many patterns on one card. Keeping this in mind this is my attempt at mixing patterns. ENJOY!

Here are four of the cards:

A leaf shaped button, regular button, leaf punch, ribbon, twine, patterned papers and Nestabilities enabled me to get a different look on each card. I love adding embellishments ...I think that is when a card really comes to life.

Here are four different versions:

More patterned papers, ribbons buttons, twine, brads, leaf punch, embossing powder and of course Nestabilities all helped to create different layouts.

Whenever I show someone a card they always open it up to see what's inside so...here are a few insides:

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

STAMP OASIS @ SCS Flower City Gathering

Last Saturday, October 2, 2010, I participated in the Flower City Gathering in Rochester New York. It was a day full of stamping, friends, food and fun! I got this marvelous stamp in my "goodie bag". It is called "Spooky Tree" a Stamp Oasis stamp courtesy of Rubbernecker Stamps. Thanks to the wonderful people at Rubbernecker Stamps I was able to create this Halloween card.

Opalite ink pads using the direct to paper technique were applied to black cardstock. It is hard to photograph the sparkle that these ink pads add to dark cardstock. In the photo below you can see a few different shades of color on the background and a little of the sparkle.

I used Versamark and Egyptian Gold to emboss the "Spooky Tree". Isn't this the greatest Halloween tree you have ever seen! A Terra Cotta ink pad was streaked over a piece of gold stardream paper and was used for the moon which had been cut out with a craft knife. Several layers of tissue paper were used to die cut the Sizzix ghost. The bats (on the same die) were cut out of white stardream paper.

A glue stick was used only on the head of the ghost so that the layers appear to float.

Check out Rubbernecker Stamps to see the other stamps that they have. I think you will love what you see. I visited their site and have a list of stamps that I want to order.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Asian Part II

Here are a few more Asian cards using the same paper that was used in the last post.

The stamp used in the photo below is a "Kodomo" stamp. The coloring was added using Prisma colored pencils and Gamsol. The embossed areas were done with JudiKins Egyptian Gold. A fine gold thread (JoAnn's) was wrapped around the green cardstock for a little "bling".

Here is another legend about the Maneki Neko (beckoning cat) shown in the above photo :

An old woman living in Imado (eastern Tokyo) was forced to sell her cat due to extreme poverty. Soon afterwards the cat appeared to her in a dream. The cat told her to make its image in clay. She did as instructed, and soon afterward sold the statue. She then made more, and people bought them as well. They were so popular she soon became prosperous and wealthy.

More interesting info:

The Maneki Neko (招き猫^?, literally "Beckoning Cat"; also known as Welcoming Cat, Lucky Cat, Money Cat, or Fortune Cat. Sometimes incorrectly labelled Chinese Lucky Cat is a common Japanese sculpture, often made of ceramic, which is believed to bring good luck to the owner. The sculpture depicts a cat (traditionally a Japanese Bobtail) beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed—many times at the entrance—in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, and other businesses. In the design of the sculptures, a raised left paw supposedly attracts money, while a raised right paw protects it.

Pachinko (パチンコ^?) is a Japanese gaming device used for amusement and gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but with no flippers and a large number of relatively small balls. The player fires a ball up into the machine, controlling only its initial speed. The ball then cascades down through a dense forest of pins. In most cases, the ball falls to the bottom and is lost, but if it instead goes into certain pockets, more balls are released as a jackpot. Pachinko machines were originally strictly mechanical, but modern ones have incorporated extensive electronics, becoming similar to video slot machines. The machines are widespread in establishments called "pachinko parlors".

Enough knowledge for the day back to the cards.

The fan in the photo below is Washi Paper Quilting. I purchased the supplies from Hanko. The fan is actually "puffy" just like a quilt. Unfortunately the photo doesn't show this.

This last photo shows more gold thread and a small good luck charm that was purchased from Sky Blue Pink. Kodoma stamps and prisma colored pencils were used on the floral section.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.