Tri-shutter cards

I wanted to make some tri-shutter cards but didn't want to cut lots of little pieces of paper. Time was an issue...once again! I simplified the process by leaving some of the areas blank. The top card is opened and you can see the 6 areas that were left blank. There are 5 green rectangles inside the card and one on the front under the scalloped oval. Leaving these areas blank cut down on cutting and assembly time which gets a "thumbs-up" from me. This summer has been very busy and I apologize for the length of time between posts. I made some "full front" tri-shutter cards and will share them soon. It is easier to decorate the "full" front of the card and there are a lot more decorating options.

Notice the woodpecker...it is one of Grandpa's carved birds. He was amazing.

This is the card display area in the Butterfly Garden. The butterflies are even of the shelves.

Back to creating cards in the Butterfly Garden.

I am fascinated with "Asian" type cards so I am in the process of creating some Asian themed cards. Stay tuned for a taste of the Orient.

Boxed Cards

Last night was our Lilac Inkers meeting. Our challenge for August was to make a card using one of the cards from the boxed cards w/envelopes that are sold at JoAnn's. I found this box of prefolded patterned cards in the clearance section. Sign me up!!! I love "pink" price tags. Now what do I do with all of these cards and how do I make them all look different? Lilac Inkers to the rescue. This is a group of talented, creative women. They are all amazing and inspire me every time they complete a "challenge". Enjoy!

Back to creating cards in the Butterfly Garden.

Mariposa continued

Here are a few more cards made with the DCWV Mariposa matstack. I really enjoyed working with the "All a Flutter" stamps from MTME. The "All a Flutter Sentiments" set has a great variety of verses and sayings. The font is very delicate on these on these stamps and I always get a clear image when I stamp. This speaks volumes to the high quality of these stamps.

In the bottom right corner of this photo is a crochet flower. I got the pattern from Nichole Heady's "capture the moment" blog. Nichole has been gracious enough to provide step by step pictures. YEAH...I learn better when I see photos. Did you ever try to decipher a crochet pattern? Ch; sl st;(sc, 3dc, sc)...hmmm...easier with pictures. The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch that has been layered onto dark green paper then cut out with scissors. Faux stitching was done with a Micron pen.

The verse was stamped on vellum and faux stitching was done with a gold metallic pen. A paper piercing tool was used to create the trail which shows the flight of the butterfly. Glue pen was used to hold glittter inside the butterfly wings.

The butterfly was stamped and then cut out with scissors. The verse was cut following the contour of the words. A few pearls added a little glitz.

The butterfly was colored with copic markers. Got copics? These aren't like Marvy markers!! Practice makes perfect and the more you practice the more you get the "feel" of how to use them. Be sure you have a heavy cardstock because they "bleed" through the paper.

This last card has the same cut out verse. A nestability die was used as the base for the butterfly. Two stamps (one for the verse, one for the butterfly), a few pearls, some glitter and "presto change-o" the card is completed.

Back to creating cards in the Butterfly Garden.

The clock in the Butterfly Garden.

Mariposa Matstack

I love the variety of Matstacks that are available at JoAnns. How many have you bought? The more important question is...How many have you actually used? Some people collect Hummels, I collect Matstacks! I saw the Mariposa matstack and so of course I had to buy it. In Spanish "Mariposa" means "butterfly". Hmmm....This matstack would be a perfect match to the "All a Flutter" stamps and "All a Flutter" sentiments from MTME. I took advantage of the beautiful paper and just added a few butterflies and sentiments and "voila" cards were completed quickly. There are a few close-up views below.

The verse was stamped on vellum and run through the Xyron machine so it was easy to attach to the card front. Paper pierced holes show the flight of the butterfly.

The center part of the wings were coated with a glue pen then dipped in fine glitter. A center opening on this card adds a little interest.

The black and white cardstock were cut with Nestability dies. The same technique(as above) was used to give the butterfly a little sparkle.

The blossom and circle Nestability dies were used to layer the circular area on this card.

This card has no stamping just layered papers, a foam mounted butterfly and a silk flower with a pearl in the middle. More "Mariposa" cards in the next post.

Back to creating cards in the butterfly garden.

BTW here is a photo of the door in the butterfly garden. This is where I create. Visitors are always welcome in the garden. Come join me!

Martha Stewart

I needed 4 Thank you notes and as luck would have it, there weren't any in my "stash". I didn't have a lot of time to make cards so I finished these in about 30 minutes.

While browsing at Big Lots I found a Martha Stewart Stamp Set for $1.00. Of course...I couldn't resist. The larger plaid circle had an inner circle attached to the same stamp, so I used scissors to cut the two circles apart. After picking out 4 patterned papers, matching cardstock and inks I was ready to stamp. I used Nestability circles and blossoms. The zigzag die is from PTI and is the smaller of the two that are available on their website. They just released a larger one and it is on my wish list. A bumblebee brad, some pearls, glitter, ribbon and a few punched hearts added the finishing touches to the cards. It took longer to "pick out" the papers and inks than the actual stamping and assembly took. Easy-peasy!!

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Circle Swap

These cards are from the July meeting of the Lilac Inkers. We meet the 2nd Wednesday of the month to make and swap cards and share ideas. The theme for July was "circles". Anyone who wished to participate made their version of a card containing "circles". After passing the cards around for show 'n tell, we swapped cards so that everyone who brought a card, went home with a different card. This is a fantastic way to CASE ideas. The cards all contain "circles", but each one is unique, no two are alike. I am constantly impressed by everyone's creativity. When I look at the cards I can't help but say..."I wish I had thought of that"! This is a great group of very talented women and it is fun to be a member of the Lilac Inkers.

Sometime in the future I'll post pictures of our "challenge" cards. Did you ever buy a stamp you just had to have and after you got it home you couldn't figure out what to do with it? The Lilac Inkers have found a solution. Each month someone brings an "impossible" stamp to the meeting. The "challenge stamp" is stamped or embossed on cardstock and each person takes a couple copies home, makes a card(s) and returns it the following month. Whoever supplies the "challenge stamp" then gets to borrow the finished cards until the next meeting so they can CASE them at home. There have been some fantastic challenge cards made by these creative women.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

I "break" for parties!

Three Birthday parties in 14 days!

My granddaughter has become quite the cake decorator. Her brother likes dragons so she created a dragon cake for his birthday, complete with treasures. The dragon body was formed with rice krispie treats and then covered with colored fondant. You can see a bit of the rice krispie on the dragons neck. Can you tell she's a graphic arts major? There is no way I could make a dragon out of rice krispies and fondant!

There was little room for the candles so we had to improvise...the large candle equals 10 yrs. and each of the little ones is 1 yr. with one for "good luck" = 13 yrs old. He loved the dragon!

The next party was for my father. My granddaughter designed a "wine, cheese and fruit" cake for him. The pears and grapes were formed with marzipan. Raspberry Jello with a little black food coloring was perfect for the red wine. The cheese was another rice krispie treat covered with fondant. The tablecloth was fondant rolled thin then painted with red food coloring. Did you ever eat a tablecloth? This one was delicious.

The next cake my granddaughter made for her friend who loves"Nightmare Before Christmas".

The swirl on the left side (in the next photo) was made by painting melted chocolate inside a wax paper covered bowl. Painting with chocolate sounds good to me. "Sally" resting against the tombstone which is made of Vienna Cookies covered with colored fondant.

"Jack" was made with fondant. The pumpkin is marzipan, the white and black drapery is rolled fondant.

Next birthday is in September....I wonder what she will design? Each cake is a work of art. My granddaughter is very talented and I am proud of her! I'll let you know if she decides to take orders for speciality cakes.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden".

Moments in "Life"

This will be the last card in the "Life" series. There are 4 floral stamps used on this card. I colored the stamps with markers, spritzed with water and stamped. The scalloped edge was done with the "big scalloped borderabilities petite". I highlighted the flowers with a Sakura stardust gel pen. Three pearls, ribbon, and a green button with embroidery floss tied into a bow added a little pizazz. I found this to be a very versatile set of stamps. If you decide to try this set, I'd love to see what you create.

"Life" on the patio

My DH and I worked 6-8 hrs everyday for the last 10 days. We're almost done! After we cut the caps on the retaining walls, glue them in place and put bricks under the grill area we're going to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labor. There are some frozen Margaritas waiting for the celebration! I hope I'm not to tired to celebrate.

"Life" goes on

Sorry for being MIA for a few days..."Life" has been hectic around here. After my daughters birthday it was my granddaughters birthday. We had a party for about 24 people Friday night(July 2). Some of the guests were from Buffalo and they stayed over till Saturday afternoon. Another party for a neighbor on Saturday (July10) and we are hosting my grandsons birthday party on July 11. In between parties my DH and I are putting a patio off of the deck that we built last year. My DH chose last week to have all the materials delivered. Our driveway which can hold 6 cars only has room for two. We are trying to get a planter, a patio and 2 walkways completed before the July 11 party. Wish me luck and some cool weather. Today it was 121.3 degrees in the area we were working on. We had to quit because it was too hot to work.

Here is another card in the "Life" series. This card was done with Colorbox Chalk Ink. The stamp was inked and then stamped twice on white cardstock without re-inking in between stamping. This gave a nice two tone effect to the flowers and leaves. An EK Success punch was used on the bottom. The argyle was done with a stamp set from MTME using black dye ink and the same chalk ink that was used on the flowers. A few green rhinestones were added for a little "bling". The flower piece and the argyle were mounted onto black cardstock after I tied a green ribbon around them.

No card creating in the Butterfly Garden for a few days.