Spring Color Challenge

Check out the great Spring color challenge at Playing in Paradise.  This card was made for my DH as he recovers from surgery. Great color palette even for 'men's' cards.

The stamp is from My Hearts Stamps for You.  The hand drawn plaid on the quilt and the image were colored Copic markers.

This is the great inspirational photo that was used to create this card. Each week Playing in Paradise offers a different challenge. Last week was a sketch challenge and this week is as color challenge. They even have inspirational photo challenges. Check them out, there's something for everyone!

Wouldn't that butterfly be a great addition to my Butterfly Garden?

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Thank You

It is with a sad heart that I write this posting for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge.  This is my last Guest Designer appearance for this great challenge. How very appropriate that Mona, who is our hostess this week, has chosen a "Thank You" card or tag for the challenge. So I dedicate this card to the whole Flourishes staff and the marvelous DT's that I have had the privilege of working with for the entire month of May. "Thank You" for this wonderful experience.

This card was created with the Mix-N-Mugs set which can be seen HERE. What versatile set this is!! There is something for everyone, including some great masculine motifs. (great for by men's card basket...keep watching, you'll see them soon!) The tea cup was paper pieced then shading was added with a Copic marker. The floral bouquet was also colored with Copic markers.

Hope you will join in this challenge and if you need more inspiration here are the links for the DT members.

Amanda

Cindy

Heather

Makiko

Mona

Beate

Silke

I'm sure I'll see you around the blogosphere. Thanks for visiting.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Memorial Day Sketch

A big 'Thank You' to all servicemen and veterans on this Memorial Day.


*** This card won a Perfect Princess Award***

Freshly Made Sketches has a great sketch this week. After I made this card we had a gas emergency at our house, while the gas company was fixing our gas leak...they cut the phone line which supplies our Internet. My daughter to the rescue....I am at her home using her Internet so that I can post this card before the deadline.

The stamp is from Outlines and was colored with Copic markers.

This is the sketch that was used for this card.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Pals Thank You

Sketches are so helpful when creating a card. I found a great sketch at Pals Paper Arts so since I never met a sketch I didn't like...I decided to play along.

I am really loving the CAS look and have found that it isn't easy to achieve. I love my embellishments! The papers are from October Afternoon, stamps from Clear Dollar Stamps, ribbon, pearls and button from Michaels and  pearl pen (flower centers and tag) from Raisin Boat. Glossy accents was used over the jar area.

This is the sketch that I used to create my card. This time I didn't turn the sketch on it's side!!

Back to creating cards in  my Butterfly Garden.

Designed 2 Delight

There seems to be more and more digi images available out there in the blogosphere. The image that I used is called "Lil Birdie" from Designed2Delight.  If you want to see some fantastic coloring, shading and great lay outs on digi images.... check out Kathy's blog, she is my dear blogging friend and can color digi images that are truly remarkable...and she is Copic certified...and if you visit her blog you will see why!!

This card is for the Card Patterns Challenge and the challenge at the Shabby Tea Room.  It was colored with Copic markers.

The bottom section was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, the two top sections were scored (every third line) with a MS scorer (is that even a word?wink). A pearl pen was used to apply a little dimension to the edge of the bowl on the birdbath. Did you get a look at her adorable inquisitive face? So, so cute...that's why I had to have this digi image. The doily is from PTI and polka dot paper from DCWV. A Copic marker was used to add a bit of color to the edges of the grosgrain ribbon.

A few wisps of Curly Sparkling Ribbon (Ribbon Carousel) were added to the floral bouquet on the bottom right, pearls are from Zva and flowers from Michaels.

This is the sketch that was used to create my card. Once again, I turned it on it's side. Always laying down on the job.  lol :-)

This is the wonderful inspirational photo from the Shabby Tea Room. If you look closely behind those doors I am sure you will see a beautiful birdbath! Ha

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Men in Paradise

Still working on my men's basket of cards!!!  There is a great sketch at Playing in Paradise this week and so I decided to use this sketch to make another men's card.

The stamps are from the "It's a Guy Thing" set from Raisin Boat.  The kraft paper was stamped with Adirondack Espresso ink using different sentiments from the set. The chair was paper pieced with paper from the Paper Studio. The rug is an oval die cut that has been snipped with scissors around the edge to make fringe. HA stamp was used to give a faux wallpaper effect on the top wall section. Dye inks on pieces of Cut 'N Dry were used for the floor, lower wall and to highlight the wood grain on the cream panel behind the image. The wood grain is from a PTI embossing plate. (FYI..if you LIGHTLY mist the piece of paper with water before using the embossing plate, you get a much deeper impression...wink) A Copic marker was used to add a little distressing to the well worn, comfy chair.

This is the sketch that was used to create this card.

Back to creating cards  in my Butterfly Garden.

Spring has Sprung

Hope you are enjoying glorious weather where ever you live. I love all the wonderful colorful flowers that are in bloom this time of year. Beate is our hostess this week at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge. She has challenged us to create a card with one of Flourishes gorgeous flowers stamps. The challenge for me was to decide which stamp to choose. So many beautiful possibilities. Since it is said 'you never forget your first'...I chose to use the first Flourishes stamp set that I purchased. On with the show....

This center step card was made with the Cherry Blossoms stamp set which can be seen HERE. The sprig of Cherry Blossoms were stamped 3 times, once for main image and the others were used for individual fussy cut flowers. All were colored with Copic markers.  Foam dots were used to apply some flowers to the focal point and the others were used to adorn the die cut base at the bottom. The two side panels were embossed to add texture without taking away from the beautiful flowers. Acrylic yellow paint was applied with a toothpick for the centers of the flowers.

Are you ready to be inspired?  If so check out fantastic the cards that the DT has created.

Amanda

Cindy

Heather 

Makiko

Mona

Beate

Silke

This is my fourth week as the Guest Designer at Flourishes...I'm still dancing and singing around the May pole. What a fantastic time I'm having being associated with this top notch DT. Kinda like rubbing elbows with the elite! tee hee

A very special warm welcome to Marilyn, my newest follower. So honored that you have chosen to follow me through the blogosphere.  I'll be stopping by to visit you in a day or two.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Tuesday Morning Sketches

***Please scroll down to see Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge***.

Tuesday morning and once again it is time for another great sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. This sketch designed by Melissa and I think you're going to love it. Lots of possibilities with this sketch. Our sponsor this week is DRS Designs.

I used the 'four flower background'  stamp to create my background! I only used three of the elements. I colored each stamp with Marvy markers, huffed on the stamp, then stamped, huffed again then stamped again. The second stamping gives a much lighter image which adds more depth to the bg.

After the random stamping was completed the bg was embossed the lightly sprayed with a Perfect Peral and water mist. The rolled rosed were made with a MFT die.

This is the great sketch from Melissa. I hope you'll play along for a chance to win a wonderful prize. Be sure to check out the great creations by the super talented DT.

Back to creating cards in my butterfly Garden.

Know your ABC's

Boy oh boy is there a great challenge at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday.  This week Maki is our hostess and this is her challenge....'Pick a letter of the alphabet and use three elements/supplies that start with the letter you picked". for example, if you pick "B" you could make your creations with "B"rads, "B"uttons, "B"ows, color "B"lue, designer papers "B"asic Grey and so on. Now go Create!!! Can't wait to see what you come up with.

I chose the letter 'C'. The first 'C' is for the flower 'C'lematis, the deep blue paper is from 'C'olorbok, the flowers were 'C'olored with 'C'opic markers and I added a 'C'harm for good luck!

Some of the 'C'opic colors that were used are pale 'C'elestine, 'C'lematis, lt.grayish 'C'obalt', 'C'rystal opal, pale 'C'obalt green, 'C'adium orange and 'C'hinese orange. The butterfly portion of this stamp was stamped a second time, colored, then clear pop dots were used to mounted it over the lower butterfly.

 The top wing of this butterfly was stamped on acrylic, colored on the reverse side with 'C'olored sharpie markers, then attached near the body with red liner tape.

Hope you enjoyed my study in "C"'s...I had a lot of FUN with this challenge. Not sure my parents would have liked me getting that many "C"'s on a report card!

Please check out the super creations by the Flourishes Design Team to see what letters of the alphabet they chose! Now go put on your creativity hat and show me your letter of the alphabet.

Amamda

Beate 

Cindy

Heather

Makiko

Mona

Silke 

Back to Creating Cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Happy Mother's Day

to all my blogging friends and followers.

Wishing you all a very special day with the people you love.

A very special "Howdy" to Davi, Jill, Kristie and Anne-Elise, I am so honored that you have chosen to become one of my followers. 

To the rest of my blogging friends....sorry I haven't been around to visit. I was vacationing with Mickey Mouse at WDW,  the day after we got back we had to move our college student home, then SIL birthday was yesterday now Mother's Day. DH is having surgery on Tuesday so other than scheduled postings I won't have lots of new cards to share with you.

See you soon and hoping you have a wonderful day with your loved ones. 

Tuesday Morning Sketches #145

***Please scroll down to see the Timeless Tuesday Challenge***

Hello fellow bloggers it's Tuesday Morning Sketches time. So glad you stopped in for a visit. Wait till you see the remarkable cards the team has created for you this week. This week our ultra talented Kathy designed a 'fun' sketch for us to play with. I hope you'll join in the 'fun'.

Pretty self explanatory card, today. The stamped image is from Outlines and was colored with Copic markers. I reply to email so if you have a question just ask.  The Nesties can be purchased at Stamping Scraping who is our very wonderful sponsor this week. This is one of those one stop shopping places. Lots of different paper crafting supplies. Check them out!

Here is the great sketch that Kathy designed. Give it a try you could win a prize from Stamping Scraping because this week is the judged challenge.  The added twist is 'USE DIE CUTS'.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

FTTC #168 Week 2

Hello blogging friends, this is week 2 of being the May Guest Designer at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge. I hope you'll play along with this challenge for a chance to win a $10.00 gift code to use at the Flourishes store.  Silke is our hostess this week and she has chosen "pink as the main color" for the challenge.  Being a girly girl this is right up my alley. The hardest part was deciding which stamp set to use.

This card was made with the moth orchid stamp from the appropriately named set "Orchids". The image was stamped twice, colored with Copic markers then fussy cut. Some Copic coloring was lightly added to the backs of the fussy cut pieces, since parts of it would be visible through the acrylic. Both fussy cut pieces were run through the sticker machine. I cut two ovals one pink which was embossed and one white. Gold was applied around each opening then the piece of acrylic was sandwiched between them.  A few pearls were attached directly to the acrylic. A small bud from the second stamping was placed on the center of the bow. The stick pin was made from items purchased in the jewelry section at the local craft store.

The verse was stamped on the interior of the card so that it showed through the acrylic when the card was closed.

Grab some papers and play along. You don't have to use Flourishes stamps to enter the challenge. If you win you can buy some! Check out the great samples from the Flourishes Design Team.

Amanda

Beate

Cindy

Heather

Makiko

Mona

Silke

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Tuesday Morning Sketches #144

***Please scroll down to see my surprise at the Timeless Tuesday challenge.***

Welcome back for another fun sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches. The Ribbon Carousel is our wonderful sponsor this week. If you haven't visited their shop...you're missing some really great ribbons and fibers.

This cute fisherman is an Inky Antics stamp that I colored with Prisma colored pencils and blended with Gamsol. I don't have any fishermen in my family so finding embellishment for this adorable image was a challenge in itself! The 'fish hooks' are actually stickers that were placed on the paper then embossed with a PTI embossing plate to give them a little texture and to camouflage the sticker edges.  The fish are 'quickset eyelets'  from the Eyelet Outlet. If you have ever given up on setting eyelets, you don't know what you're missing. These little cuties are set with a ball point pen. Check them out...there's even a demo!

The netting that the fish are escaping from was made with jute from the Ribbon Carousel. As many of you know I am determined to fill a basket with men's cards, so I don't have to make one every time I need one! I'm not too crazy about ribbon on a masculine card and you can only used so many buttons, so this jute was a perfect fiber for embellishing my masculine cards. (I bought about 6 different masculine colors of jute....shhh...don't tell my DH).

Here is this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch:

Please play along for a chance to win a great prize from The Ribbon Carousel...beside the prize...show me what you can do with the sketch I designed! Still practicing these sketches!

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Merry Month of May @ Flourishes

It's the merry merry month of May and merriment at my house is at at all time high!! I'm even dancing around the Maypole...(don't try to visualize that!!) ...because I have been invited to be the May Guest Designer for the Timeless Tuesday Challenges at Flourishes. I am simply overjoyed to have this wonderful experience and to be in the company of such a talented Design Team.   Enough smiling, giggling and doing the 'happy dance'...on with the card for this week's Challenge. Cindy is the hostess for the week and has requested that we 'Add a Butterfly' Woozer imagine the excitement in my Butterfly Garden...some of these lovely creatures were about to be featured in the Timeless Tuesday Challenge.

I have to admit that this card took me longer than any other card I ever made!! Go figure...I work in my Butterfly Garden many hours every week so this should have been EASY PEASY. There were many revisions after my first try because my DH said my card looked 'MOROSE'...Yikes was it really that sad? Well I now am the proud owner of a basketful of discarded butterflies...but never fear...I'll add them to other cards. I used the Butterflies and Blossoms stamp set for this card.

The background was created by stamping the butterflies randomly with a rainbow stamp pad, (stamped off on scrap paper first) embossed with an embossing folder then sprayed with a fine mists to add some sheen. Some of the raised designs from this embossing folder resemble butterflies so I thought that it would be perfect for this card. You can see the multi colored background butterflies and the sheen from the misting in the above photo.

The larger butterflies were stamped on white cardstock and then fussy cut. The top layer butterfly was stamped on vellum.

Several half butterflies were added to the floral bouquet, each with a cardstock layer and a vellum layer. Several different dies and punches were used to create this bouquet. Gold pearls were applied to the  centers of the flowers

The Design Team has prepared some marvelous eye candy for you to enjoy. Check them out!

Amamda

Beate

Cindy

Heather

Makiko

Mona

Silke

Hope you enjoyed my first Guest Designer card. Check back next week to see my next creation.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden. Don't be surprised if you see lots of random Flourishes butterflies appearing on my cards!