Flowerbug's Inkspot

Control Freaks 'Almost Gone' Blog Hop

It's that time again for a Control Freaks Blog Hop.  And this month we are featuring our favorite Retiring items.  We hope to give you great ideas for products you may already own and of course tease you a bit to get some items we love and will sorely miss when they retire in a few weeks on May 31st.

You may have just arrived from Debra's blog where you saw her beautiful, clean & simple talent.  Just keep clicking on the icon at the bottom of each post and you'll see all 12 of our chosen favorites.

***I have highlighted all of the retiring items in Rose Red so you'll catch them. 

First up I have a card using one of my go-to stamp sets, Upsy Daisy.

So what do you think of this bright, eye-catching card?  Too much for some of you?  I have a few friends that do not like yellow or orange - yes, can you believe it?  I have always loved it.  I even had my room decorated in these colors as a teen.

Details:  I inked the Upsy Daisy stamp in Daffodil Delight ink and then sponged on a bit of Pumpkin Pie ink over the tops of most of the daisies.  Huff and stamp.  Then I ran the bottom portion of the Black card stock through my Big Shot with the soon to be retired Finial Press embossing folder. After putting these together I wrapped the beautiful 5/8" Pumpkin Satin ribbon around them.  I made a loop out of another piece of ribbon and secured the ends together with a mini glue dot, then pinched that together so the prongs of the flower brad went around it.  Instant bow!

Notice the greeting has a few two-toned daisies on it too?  I just huffed that stamp one more time (without re-inking) and stamped it over my white punched greeting. 

Next up is a Photo Wallet that we made for a Relay for Life fundraiser event last weekend.

 

It uses the retiring sets Flower Fest and Baroque Motifs.  It's the perfect thing for those who want to share photos of their grandchildren or a recent vacation.  Here's what it looks like when you open it up completely:

The colors are Cherry Cobbler, Black and So Saffron.  I will be posting a complete free tutorial on Monday so stop back then!  

I made this quick card for my friend's workshop last night.  I found this idea on my friend Kay Kalthoff's blog. She's so clever!  You can make this card easily by just running a 4" X 5 1/4" piece of card stock through your Big Shot using the retiring Stars #2 die.  Yes in one cut you have an instant card front! 

I ran this piece through my Big Shot again using the Houndstooth embossing folder. Add some black brads and dimensionals along with a strip of ribbon and greeting (Tagtastic hostess set) and you're all set for those grad cards you may need. And it's easy to change the color to suit your graduate too.  Thanks for the great idea Kay!

And now you're off to see what my friend Barb Mullikin has to show you.  Check it out!

Beautiful Prom SB Layout

This is the 12 X 12" scrapbook layout we did at this month's Scrappin' Clubs.  I used the beautiful specialty designer paper called Mocha Morning along with Black and Crumb cake card stock.

My son Isaac and his friends had a wonderful time.  He is a junior in high school this year.  Just one more year left for my youngest!

Here's a close-up of the flowers.  I used a combination of the Blossom Party and Fun flowers Sizzix dies along with the 5 petal and Boho blossoms punches. I used my bone folder to curl the edges of some of the petals before adhering them together.   

Here is the title made with the Serif Essentials Alphabet. I LOVE these big letters for my scrapbooking.  So quick & easy to make any title I want.  The rhinestones on these pages really sparkle and set off the elegant event.

Supplies Used:

• Card stock - Crumb Cake, Black, Pacific Point, Mocha Morning dsp
• Accessories - Rhinestone jewels, Tasteful Trim die, Serif Essentials alphabet, Blossom Party die, Fun Flowers die, 2 1/2" circle punch, 5 petal flower punch, Boho Blossoms punch, bone folder
  

 

Large Paper Doily die

Do you have it yet?  I know you're going to want it once you see this.............

All of these beautiful die-cuts are from the Paper Doily die.  Yes; just one die!  The top left is the full die-cut but if you start trimming a few of the outside curves off you can get all sizes and shapes of doilies and flowers!

***Remember that this die is in the Occasions mini catalog and only available until April 30th.  It 'may' be included in the new catalog but no one knows for sure......

We used it to make this gorgeous card at my Card Clubs:

Here's a few user tips on this die:

• To get many of the fine die-cut pieces to pop out easily roll the die-cut around a thick pen or marker as shown below.  Lots of the pieces pop out on their own this way.  You will most likely have to use a paper piercing tool or tweezers to help push a few of the remaining pieces out.
• Cut this die out using tab A with your Big Shot.  If you do not get a clean cut add a shim starting with a piece of patterned paper in your sandwich.  If that doesn't make it cut cleanly add a thicker piece of paper.  Keep moving up in paper thickness until it cuts cleanly.  All Big Shots are slightly different and some will need a shim and others will not.    

Bordering on Romance meets the Doily die

This is one of the cards we made at April's Card Clubs. 

Isn't that black Doily die-cut gorgeous!?  It totally makes this card!

Card Details:

• Watercoloring Technique: We inked the Bordering on Romance flower image in Black Staazon ink and stamped on our watercolor paper.  Next we colored the outside of each flower petal with markers (Rose Red & Not Quite Navy). Then a blender pen was used to 'pull' color from the marker lines to the center of the petal.  So very easy to get beautiful watercoloring with this method.  But it only works on the watercolor paper!
• This colored image was punched out using the 2 1/2" circle punch and adhered to the Black large Doily die-cut.
• We added either black brads or pearls for the flower centers.
• The right side of the doily die-cut was folded to the back of the Confetti white card stock.  The black card stock strip hides any imperfections here. 
• The Black scalloped border layer is from the Tasteful Trim die-cut.
• Rose Red and Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon was used as a strip across and for the bow.
• The Confetti White card stock background layer is stamped first and then textured above with the Finial Press embossing folder leaving the greeting flat. 

Would you like to make this card and more like it?  You can if you join my Cyber Card Club.  Just place a minimum order of $25 by the 10th of each month and I'll send you the cards kit to make each of my two Club Cards along with directions and photos to make them at home.  After 6 months you'll receive a stamp set as a gift from me. 

Baby Prints Bib card

Here is an adorable idea for either a baby congrats or a baby shower invitation card using the Baby Prints stamp set from the Occasions mini catalog. 

*****Just a few days left to order from this Occasions mini catalog!

I used my Scallop Circle die - #113468, to cut out a Bashful Blue card.  I placed the fold of my card inside the cutting edge of the die so it left me with a smooth fold on top. It's hard to see but the scallop cutting edge is 'above' the fold. **Click on the photo to see it better.   

Next I used my 2 1/2" circle punch to punch a hole through that top fold, but left about 3/4" on each side for a fold.

Then I cut a 3 1/2" circle from White card stock using another circle die; #121811.  Adhere that first and then punch again with the 2 1/2" circle punch following the first Blue circle punched edge.  Or trace it first and punch before adhering.  I do not recommend trying to punch through 3 layers of card stock at a time.  Two layers is plenty for a punch!

Here's the inside view:

These hand and feet stamps are adorable to me.  Such memories..... 

Thanks for stopping in today. 

Just a reminder that tomorrow the Retired Accessories list will be out from the current catalog.  Watch for it because these items are while supplies last only.  And there is always something on the list that is gone in the first few hours!

List coming tomorrow! 

Petite Purse Square Box Tutorial

I promised you a tutorial on how to make this fun 'square' Petite Purse Box seen last week on our Freaks Blog Hop.

You will need to cut out four of the Petite Purse die-cuts, although you really do not need the full die-cut. 

You can see where I cut off the base of it here and part of the large flap on the left side (where the black line is).  I also trimmed off just a bit of the curved flap too. 

****I did add texture to my Real Red card stock die-cuts with the Perfect Polka dots embossing folder before adhering them together below.  

Here is a photo of all 4 of the die-cuts adhered together by their narrow side flaps.  I prefer using our Tombo Multipurpose adhesive for boxes.  It holds so strongly!

This is the box as it looks from the top.  You can fit quite a few goodies in this square box.  I just folded the patterned paper flaps inside and added velcro dots to the Red card stock flaps. 

I do like the added strength using card stock gives this box.  You could do it with all card stock or all patterned paper.  It's up to you but if you want a sturdy box I recommend at least half card stock as I did. 

This is the difference in size.  You get double the space inside for treats when you make it square. 

Details:

• If you look at the little curved notch on the very top of the Red square box, that is the flap that usually tucks in to hold the Petite Purse flap down and closed (it's hiding under my punched flowers on the left image).
• The die-cut includes a narrow handle for the Petite Purse.  I used these die-cut strips as accents on my square box on the bottom of each side.
• I adhered Daffodil Delight brights buttons as 'feet' on my square box using mini glue dots.
• The Summer Smooches fabric covered brads match the Summer Smooches patterned paper perfectly! 

 

Smooches with the Freaks Tour

It's that time again for another Control Freaks Blog Tour!  The theme this month is our Summer Smooches Sneak Peak. You'll see tons of projects using the fun Summer Smooches products available during April.

You may have arrived from Deb's blog.   I love her work; it's so clean, simple and artistic.  I want to case every thing she makes! .

My first project is a fun little 'square' box I created using our new Petite Purses die.

Isn't it cute?!  I cut out four of the Purse die-cuts; two each from Real Red card stock and Summer Smooches patterned paper.  Then I cut off a few flaps here & there to make it a square box instead of a purse.  Here is a photo of it beside a Petite Purse on the left made as it's meant to be.

These are made with the Summer Smooches designer series paper along with the new fabric covered brads and the gorgeous Daffodil Delight seam binding.  Love this ribbon! 

I will be sharing the free tutorial 'how to' on this Square Petite Box next week.

And here is a simple card using the Bright Blossoms stamp set:

I inked the flowers and leaves with markers and stamped on Whisper White card stock.  Then punched them out with the 1" circle punch and layered them onto Real Red Triple Bouquet Blossom punch pieces.  I jazzed the flowers up with a rhinestone that has been colored with a Red permanent marker. 

I used our Labels Framelits to cut out the curved label shapes, adding a thin layer of Real Red behind the two top pieces by cutting two Red Label die-cuts in half - one lengthwise and the other vertically.  Just move them slightly outside the top layers and adhere.

Lastly is an adorable fabric covered cards box I made for my daughter Jenilee. 

Surprise!  I am not sure when I can give this up to you though.....   She had mentioned that she loved this new fabric and wanted to get some.  I think she'll love having a cute box in her colors for the cards I give her.  

This box was on our Clearance Rack last week but it looks like they're out of stock now.  Another good reason to check this place often!  I think you could use any other type of photo box for this project instead.

I used Sticky Strip tape on all edges of the fabric to adhere it to the box.  I just laid the box on top and cut, added tape and folded.  The Turquoise piece on the front is our On Board Merry Medly chipboard.  I traced around the chipboard to get the Turquoise shape and textured it with the Perfect Polka dots embossing folder.  The metal accent came with the box.  Here's a look at the inside:

Thanks for stopping by to see my Summer Smooches projects!  Now you're off to see the remarkable Jan Tink's projects.

 

Tea Caddy Tutorial

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We made these last month at a downline meeting.  I thought some of you might like the instructions too. 

You can fit quite a few tea bags inside this box.  It's a great gift for those who might have everything but like a cup of tea now & then.  I put together a tutorial for it. 

 Download Tea Caddy tutorial

The paper I used is called Attic Boutique.  It's so pretty and perfect for those feminine touches. This paper and the Tea Shoppe stamp set are in the Occasons mini catalog and may never be available again after the 30th of April.  

******Another Control Freaks blog hop is coming this Friday!  Don't miss it! 

Punch Art Wedding card, Framed

I think you'll like this week's Punch Art.  It's quite easy.

I wanted to play with this cute wedding stamp set in the Occasions mini catalog. It's called Love & Laughter.

I made a faux frame using the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch.  It's perfect on the Oval die cut!  This is the largest oval in the Ovals die on page 220.

I punched out eight black Blossom punched pieces and adhered the top and bottom punches to the oval die-cut first and then the two sides.  Then just filled in the middle areas. 

As for the cake pedestal, I used the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch with Pool Party card stock.  I cut a strip of it in half lengthwise and covered the punched holes with our smallest pearls.  The pedestal part is not a punch but part of the Tasteful Trim die - one of my very favorite dies.  It's perfect for it!

Supplies:

• Stamps - Love & Laughter
• Ink - Black
• Card stock - Black, White, Pool Party
• Accessories - Fashionable Hearts embosslit, White 3/8" taffeta ribbon, dimensionals, Pearls, Dotted Scallop ribbon border punch, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch, Tasteful Trim die, Ovals die, Big Shot, Perfect Details Texturz plate, Standard Texturz Silicone Rubber & Impressions pad

Sweet Cake Framelit card

We also made this card at my Big Shot class last month.  I received a swap from Carol Snow like this and knew it was perfect for my class.

To make this card you will first fold a piece of card stock in half (measuring 5" X 10" or larger).  Place the fold of the card inside the framelit frame.  When it cuts, you'll keep part of the fold intact.

Supplies used:

• Stamps - Sweet Cake
• Card stock - Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Whisper White
• Ink - Pool Party, Soft Suede, Calypso Coral
• Accessories - Labels Framelits, Adorning Accents embossing folders, Dazzling Details glitter glue, dimensionals, Heart to Heart punch, Cupcake builder punch (cherry)  

 

 

Big Shot Class

Here are 4 of the 5 items we made this weekend at my Big Shot class. 

Starting from the top, right to left:

• Pleated paper card - Bigz XL Rosette die & Stripes embossing folder
• Adorning Accents card - Adorning Accents embossing folder & edgelits, Labels Framelits, Designer Frames embossing folders and the Bordering on Romance stamp set
• Easter Chick basket - Matchbox die #114890, Lace Border punch, Dotted Scallop ribbon punch. See this post for directions.
  
• Adorable Easter Bonnet treat box - large Scallop Circle die #113468, Perfect Polka dot embossing folder, 2 1/2" circle & 2 3/8" scallop circle punch and an empty Stack & Store container (available in the catalog)
  

I got the idea for these from my friends Dawn Olchefske and Kay Kalthoff. They are just adorable and perfect for Easter.

 

Punch Art Easter Bunnies!

I just had to get one more punch art in for Easter. 

Aren't they adorable?!! 

I saw one like it on our Demonstrator website, Stampin' Connection made by Judy Lynn, and knew you would want to see how it's done.  Then once I made one, I had to create a smaller version.  The supplies include quite a few punches of course!

Large Bunny:

• face - largest smooth Heart Framelit
• cheeks - 1 3/4" circle punch
• tongue - 1/2" circle
• nose - 1" circle
• eyes - 3/4" circle
• ears - Blossom petals builder
• bow - Black dotted scallop ribbon

Small Bunny:

• face - second largest smooth heart Framelit
• cheeks - 1 3/8" circle punch
• tongue - Itty Bitty punch pack circle
• nose - 3/4" circle
• eyes - 1/2" circle
• ears - Blossom punch (Occasions mini) & Blossom Petals Builder
• bow - 1/4" pink grosgrain ribbon
  

I did also use a black marker to add the whiskers and dots plus a Signo white gel pen for the eyes.  Sponges for the cheeks and nose plus dimensionals under the cheeks and nose too.

Here's how you make the baskets:

This is a die-cut using the Clear Scallop Square die.  I scored it 1" from all sides and then cut up to the 1" line to create tabs for the box.

Here is what the box looks like without the bunny on it.  I added a handle from a strip of punched Pretty in Pink card stock using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch.  Love this punch!

Small bunny close-up.

Here is how I made the basket for the larger bunny.  I started with a 7 1/4" square of Pretty in Pink card stock.  I scored it 1 3/4" from all edges and cut up to that scoreline to create the tabs.  In hindsight I might change the box size to 7 1/4" X 6" to create a rectangle box instead of a square. You could easily jazz up the edges of this basket with border punches or ribbon.

Large bunny close-up.  His face measures 4" across at his widest.

For the handle on this box I cut a narrow strip of Pink card stock and adhered a length of our 1/2" Pretty in Pink Scallop Dots ribbon to it.  The Lace Ribbon Border punch would also be fabulous for the handle. 

They're cute stacked too!  Of course this doesn't work if you want to fill the baskets, but you could just add the small bunny face above the larger one with just one basket on the bottom. 

Thanks for stopping in for today's Punch Art.

 

Spring in with the Freaks Tour

Welcome to the Control Freaks 'Spring into Spring' blog hop.

You may have just arrived from my friend Barb Mullikin's blog. Keep clicking at the end of each post to see everyone's Springtime ideas.

My first one is an Easter card I designed for this month's Card Clubs. 

 

I used an old favorite stamp set called 'Fifth Avenue Floral'.  After stamping the flower and stem with Black Stazon ink I used a sponge dauber to add either So Saffron or Wisteria Wonder ink to the flower.  Then to get the flower stamens white again I colored them in with a white gel pen. 

Can you see the texture on the background layer?  I used our new Diagonal Scoring plate. The happy easter stamp is from the Delightful Dozen stamp set.  We also turned this card into either a sympathy or get well card by changing the greeting. 

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Next up is the other card we made at my March Card Clubs - a Tri-Shutter card using the Sale a Bration Everyday Enchantment designer series paper, brads & ribbon plus the Sprinkled Expressions stamp set.  I love these colors together, don't you? 

They could choose between these two versions at Club. This card looks intimidating but it turned out quite easy to make. 

Later this week I will be posting the complete, downloadable tutorial for this fun card, including step by step directions, dimensions and photos. 

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Next up is a sweet little Easter treat:

It's a little basket to hold a chocolate covered Peep all nestled in Sweetart jelly beans. 

First I have to tell you about these candies.  If you already like peeps, you'll love this version. Dipping a peep in chocolate is genius.  And if you haven't tried these jelly beans you really should - they are the perfect balance of sweet and sour. 

Okay; I'll stop talking about the candy and get to the project.....  I used our Matchbox die to create an small open box (not the lid part of this die) and wrapped it with a strip of our Lace Border punch - all in Pretty in Pink.  Then I added a strip of Dotted Scallop ribbon border punch for the handle.  Easiest basket ever!  It's the perfect addition to your Easter Basket goodies. 

 Now you're off to see what the creative Jan Tink has to share with you. 

Sweet Shop Cards

Have you seen the Sweet Shop line in the Occasions mini catalog? Check them out on pages 32 & 33.   

I made 10 cards in just a few hours using the Sweet Shop designer series paper ($12.95) and the Designer stickers ($6.95) that coordinate with it. 

I kept the card layouts simple and let the eye-catching patterned paper and stickers be the highlight. 

Do you notice the colors here?  This product suite uses all of the 2011-2013 In Colors of Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral and Island Indigo so it was very easy to work with.  And guess what - this pack of assorted 8 1/2 X 11" card stock is one of your free choices in the Sale a Bration catalog! Or order the assorted pack in the main Idea Book & Catalog for just $6.95. 

I did use the new Labels Framelits on each card along with the Scallop Edge Border punch, a few In Color ribbons and Jelly Bean brads too.  Here are a few close-ups:

These are full 5 1/2 X 4 1/4" cards.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Scrapbook Layout with Everyday Enchantment

I saw a similar layout on our Demonstrator sharing site called Stampin' Connection and knew my gals would love this layout. 

It features the new and FREE Everyday Enchantment designer series paper.  Well you can get it free with a $50 order.  The colors in the patterned paper were my inspiration and are so pretty that the layout comes together wonderfully. 

It's Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Poppy Parade. 

Some of the fun extras I used are the Beautiful Butterflies die, Top Note, Tasteful Trim die and Beautiful Wings embosslit. 

Stamps - Word Play and the Sale a Bration set called Fresh Vintage.