Flowerbug's Inkspot

Control Freaks Spring Hop

It's time again for another blog hop with the Freaks!  This month's theme is Spring or Easter. 

Finally I can start playing with flowers again!  I love stamping for Christmas  and other occasions but flowers are my first love.

You may have arrived from my friend Barb's blog.  Weren't her projects great? 

First up I have a spring-like card featuring a fun punch trick.  Gotta love those punches! 

I called this technique 'dropped circles' on a previous card.  But these strips are horizontal so that doesn't quite work here.... 

I cut 5 strips of pastel colored card stock - So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Wisteria Wonder and Bashful Blue.  I made sure these measured slightly less than 1 1/4" in width.  You'll see why next.

I inserted a piece of card stock (Marina Mist here) in the punch where you'd usually put it.  This piece helps for the next step.  Now put your 1 1/4" card stock strip (pink here) in through the back of the punch, not where you usually put it though!  See how only half of the strip will be cut in a half circle?  The blue card stock helps you insert it easily and not get caught on the inner metal parts of the punch. 

I used the Spring Sampler stamp set in the Spring catalog, stamping them in coordinating ink color on Whisper White card stock and punching them out with a 1" circle punch.

The greeting verse is from the 'Rain or Shine' stamp set and stamped onto a White die-cut from the Lots of Tags Sizzlits.

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Next is a pretty flower I saw on Pinterest:

I made a flower from our Blossom punch.  I used just 5 Raspberry Ripple Blossom punched pieces to get this beautiful flower. 

The box is one of our Kraft boxes on page 161 of the main catalog.  I covered it with pieces of our More Amore Specialty dsp and added an embossed tag from the Pop-Up Posies kit on page 18 of the Spring catalog.  The 'just for you' stamp is also from the same Posies kit. 

****I'll be posting a step-by-step tutorial to create this flower next week.  

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The next card is one we made at a recent workshop.  

This simple yet pretty card was cased from my talented friend Susie Wood.  It's so easy too!

We stamped the single 'Easter Blessings' stamp first using Lucky Limeade ink and then die-cut it with the new Oval framelits.  It's added to a Pretty in Pink labels framelit piece and then to one of our pretty doilies.  The patterned paper pennant is cut from Sunshine & Sprinkles designer paper in the Spring catalog. 

It's finished off with a little butterfly stamped with the Sale a Bration stamp set 'Bloomin' Marvelous' and then punched with the Itty Bitty Butterfly punch.  Remember, the Sale a Bration promotion is over in just a few days!

And now you're off to see the beautiful cards Yvette has to share with you.  Enjoy the tour!  

 

Dapper Dad & new techniques galore!

Here's another card we made at last Saturday's shoebox swap: 

Shana brought this 'manly' card that we all loved.  It uses quite a few new and fun techniques.  Read closely! 

The metal watch is something most of us hadn't done before - Soda Pop tops!  We flattened it in the Big Shot. So cool and easy too!

Here are the Soda Pop Tops tips:  Use  no tabs on your multipurpose platform and place the bottle caps flat (smooth) side up between two acrylic plates. Run it through. It went through so easy we didn't even feel it flatten.  And it left no marks on the plates either!

Now the watch face is another cool thing.  We stamped it on card stock using Black Stazon ink and punched it out with a 1" circle punch.  It's adhered to the flattened soda pop top and covered lightly with Crystal Effects.  It takes at least an hour to dry but it's so shiny and looks so real too!  Use mini glue dots to adhere to the card stock then. 

See her honeycomb metallic piece?  She used metal/heat duct tape adhered to a piece of card stock and then run through the Big Shot in the embossing folder.  This works so much better than aluminum foil. Why?  Even heavy duty aluminum foil loses it's texture when you touch it. Although you could adhere the foil to card stock and then texture it.

**Stay tuned for my manly club card this month for another version of embossed faux metal!

And lastly - her honeycomb patterned paper pieces. No, they aren't punched out.  She ran the Parker's Patterns dsp through the embossing folder and the little pieces just fall apart with a bit of tearing.  Easy!  

I'll share more swap projects soon!

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There's another Control Freaks Blog hop coming up on Wednesday! 

Big Shot class

I finally scheduled a Big Shot class!  It's been forever since I held one.

We're making 5 projects and this is one of them:

It uses the Secret Garden stamp set and framelits all done up in Raspberry Ripple. 

Do you see the cool embossing trick here?  I used two different embossing folders all on one piece of card stock.  Love it!  I've been playing with a few others since and will show you those soon.

I'll share the 'step-by-step tutorial/trick' for this very soon; (after the class of course)!  Stay tuned!

• Stamps - Secret Garden, Friendly Phrases
• Ink - Raspberry Ripple
• Card stock - Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple
• Accessories - Raspberry stitched ribbon, Framed Tulips and Perfect Polka dots embossing folders, Big Shots, mini glue dots, dimensionals, Pearls Jewels.

If you live locally and would like to attend the class on Saturday, March 23rd let me know by the 20th.  It's at 2 pm.  If I get more people I'll open up a 10 am class.  Cost is $12. 

Oh, Whale Class to Go

This month's class to go kit features both the Oh, Whale stamp set and matching Happy Whale Clearlit die.  So fun!

Here are a few of the cards:

Isn't this cute with the umbrella?

The little extras on the Clearlit die make it so fun to accessorize -  fish, anchor, splash, heart & star too. Cased from Tami White. 

Cute isn't it!  This would be a great anniversary or wedding card too wouldn't it?  And that paper is just perfect here - the free Sale a Bration Sycamore Street dsp.  This was cased from Jill Hilliard. 

***When you order the Oh, Whale stamp set and Clearlit die for the Class to Go in clear or wood mount you'll receive all of the pre-cut supplies needed to make 5 cards shipped directly to you. You will stamp your own images using your own new stamp set and ink pads or markersto finish them like mine. I will pre-punch and texture everything for you and send the cards kit and stamp set to you in the mail.  I will provide the card stock for you to die-cut other pieces too. Then you'll receive the photos & step by step directions sent in a pdf document via e-mail.

To me the best part of doing these Class to Go projects is that you'll have 5 great ideas for your new stamp set in the future!  Isn't that what most of us need - creative design ideas? 

***If you already have this stamp set you can substitute an item of like value.  Remember that these Class to Go offers are only available during the current month.  If you are interested be sure to let me know by the date given below.  The kit will be sent out the first week in April.  

I am sorry but at this time I do not offer the tutorial for these cards separately. 

Clear Mount

• Local cost - $33.00
• Priority shipping - $38.50 

Wood Mount

• Local cost - $42.00
• Priority Shipping - $47.50

If you'd like to order the Oh, Whale stamp set and Clearlit die from me & get the full Class to Go cards kit in the mail please contact me at lagreff@gmail dot com by Tuesday, March 26th & I'll send you a PayPal invoice. Or contact me with your credit card information.

***If you want to add to this order to get a FREE Sale a Bration choice let me know by March 22nd.  Clear mount kits need an additional $25.55 to get one free item.

Next month it will be the Secret Garden bundle!  Can't wait for that one!  

 

Pop-Up Posies Shadow Box card

Yesterday at my Team Downline meeting we had a card swap featuring the Spring and Sale-a-Bration catalog products.  Here is what I made:

I used the new Pop-Up Posies Designer kit on page 18 of the Spring catalog. It's just $12.95.

My favorite components of this kit are the stamp 'just for you', the pre-cut flowers and the embossed paper tags.  You get a ton of flowers of 2 designs, 9 of these die-cut embossed tags, 9 fabric covered brads, thick Vanilla Baker's Twine and that unique stamp.  I find the saying 'just for you' perfect for almost any occasion I need. 

Here is the inside view:

Can you tell that it's a Shadow Box 'Pop-Up' card?  Here's another picture:

You'll find the complete directions and measurements on this post.

Supplies:

Pop-Up Posies kit and stamp, White and Calypso Coral card stock, Sycamore Street (SAB) Designer Series paper and buttons, Pool Party Baker's twine, mini glue dots, bone folder to curl the flowers, Markers - Soft Suede, Calypso Coral & Pool Party, Simply Scored scoring tool, Ovals and Labels Framelits

I'll share their wonderful swaps with you soon.

Scrapping Christmas

Here are the layouts we made this month at my Scrapbook Class. 

I should have posted this before the class!  But working on the house and moving has thrown me off of my game for sure.   

This is a fun layout to make.  Using our family photos with the Ornament Keepsakes dies is too cool!  The tree is 6" wide at the base and 12" tall.  You can get three trees from one 12 X 12" Olive card stock.

Supplies:

• Card stock - real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White, Candlelight Christmas dsp (retired), Silver and Red Glimmer card stock 
• Other - Merry Minis punch pack, Ornament Keepsakes framelit dies, Big Shot, Lucky Limeade Bakers Twine, Typeset Alphabet Bigz dies

Here's the other layout we made:

I got the ideas for these pages online, but I cannot remember from where...  Darn memory!

Supplies:

• Card stock - Real Red, White, Black and Wild Wasabi plus Snow Festival dsp (retired)
• Sizzix - Stocking Bigz die, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, retired Stocking Accents Original die (candy cane and holly leaves)
• Other - 1" circle punch and 1/8" hand held punch for black buttons

Pretty Window Valentine

Here is the other card we made this month at my card clubs:

I love the color combination of Melon Mambo, Basic Gray and Vanilla.  So pretty.

We used quite a few Big Shot items here including two sets of framelits.  The pretty scalloped heart and the small outline Vanilla stamp are from the Hearts a Flutter stamp set and framelits.

See that pretty ribbon?  It's the new Striped Organdy Melon Mambo ribbon in the Spring Catalog.  And did you catch that soft pink tinged flower rose?  It's the new flower trim, also in the Spring Catalog.  Just cut off one and add ink with a sponge, as much or as little as you'd like.  We added a pearl jewel in the middle of it too.

Here is the inside view. We used the Gray heart die-cut from the card front on the inside of the card, paper piercing it using the new Occasions Paper-Piercing pack on page 27.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Hearts a Flutter, Friendly Phrases, Wacky Wishes, Delightful Dozen 
• Card stock –Vanilla, Melon Mambo, Basic Gray, Silver glimmer
• Ink – Melon Mambo, Black  
• Accessories – dimensionals, Melon striped organdy ribbon, mini glue dots, sponge, Adorning Accents embossing folder, Big Shot, Hearts Collection and Hearts a  Flutter framelits, Lacy Brocade embossing folder, small heart punch, Occasions paper piercing pack, piercing mat and tool, Vintage flowers, pearls

Measurements:  Basic Gray main card – 5 ½” X 8 ½”, Vanilla layer is 5 ¼” X 4” for the Melon die-cut pieces you need just one 4 ¼” X 5 ½”

Susie's Wedding Card

My friend Susie made this card for a swap we were in:

I just love the beautiful layout and how she used the Oval Accent Bigz die on the upper part.  So pretty in Basic Gray and Whisper White; perfect for a wedding or anniversary card. 

It doesn't open up at the top; it's just adhered like you see.  This was just a card front swap but the card would open like normal. 

See the shimmer?  I believe she spritzed the whole card with 'magic glimmer spray'.  What's this?  I've used and mentioned this before but here it is again; mix 1 1/2 - 2 oz of cheap rubbing alcohol with 1/2 - 1 tsp of Champagne Mist shimmer paint in a small spray bottle.  The shimmer paint is on page 158 of the big catalog.  Because the base is alcohol it dries fast without any water spots at all. If you love bling and shine you've got to try it! 

Supplies:

• Stamps - Flowering Flourishes, Loving Thoughts, Mr. & Mrs.
• Card stock - Basic Gray, Whisper White
• Ink - Basic Gray
• Accessories - White organdy ribbon, perals jewels, Oval Accent Bigz die, mini glue dots, Champagne Mist shimmer paint, rubbing alcohol, spritzing bottle

Brandi's Winter Wreath!

Brandi, one of my talented downline made this wreath for the Holidays:

She says she was inspired by my Autumn wreath here.  

I am guessing but I believe her colors are White, Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green and Baja Breeze.  Of course she used the Rosette Bigz XL die which gives you those gorgeous scalloped and rick-rack edges on your rosettes.  She also used the Snow Flurry die (Holiday Catalog) for some of her snowflakes plus the retired snowflake die on the clearance rack right now.  It's called Northern Frost and is only $8.79!

Thanks for sharing this Brandi!

Mrs. Claus!

I received this card in a Control Freaks Convention swap:

Annette Jensen made it.  Isn't it clever?!! 

I love everything about it.  The dress is perfect made out of the large Scallop circle die and the Polka Dot Parade designer series paper.  And those boots! - cut out and adorned with Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details glitter glue are adorable!

The boots and the sentiment are from the Bootiful Occasions stamp set.  I believe the card stock is Garden Green with Whisper White and Real Red.   

Elegant Twisted Greeting Card

This is the Twisted Greeting card we made at my card clubs this month:

We used Cherry Cobbler Coordinations card stock (from the Holiday catalog).  After we ran it through the Lacy Brocade embossing folder we sanded it lightly to bring out the texture.

The snowflakes are cut from Vanilla and Champagne Glimmer card stock using the Snow Flurry Bigz die in the Holiday catalog.  Get this die and Glimmer card stock while you can; I am not sure they''ll be available again after January 2nd when the Holiday catalog ends. 


This is the inside view; perfect for a gift card! This card does fit in a normal A2 envelope if you do not let the snowflake die-cuts stick up beyond the top of the card.

I received this card in a swap from Cindy Westerink:  Love it!

She used the Espresso Coordinations card stock on hers.  I love this color combo for Christmas!  

Here is a link to Kelly's video tutorial so you can try your hand at this fun card. 

Santa Door Hanger

Christine, one of my downline, made this adorable Santa door knob hanger:

Isn't it adorable? 

She used circle and scallop punches and the Labels Framelits to get the different beard, mustache and side hair shapes.  Tip: You can do this by first cutting out a normal framelit and then moving that same framelit over or in further to shorten the normal shape. 

Here are a few close-ups:

I believe she cut his stocking hat by hand.

He's just adorable!!  Thanks for sharing this with us Christine!

Rosette Christmas Tree Tutorial

I promised you the tutorial to  make this cool Rosette tree so here it is: 

Step 1:

Cut lots of strips of designer series paper for your rosettes.  Here are my measurements from bottom to top:

• two 2" X 12" strips for the bottom
• two 1 3/4" X 12" strips
• two sets of two -  1 1/2" X 12" strips (this will make two separate rosettes)
• two sets of two - 1 1/4" X 12" strips (for two separate rosettes, glue one tighter than the other)
• one 1 1/8" X 12" strip
• one 1" X 12" strip
• one 3/4" X 12" strip for the top

Step 2:

Glue the two strips together to form a circle.  In the top three rosettes you will just have one strip forming your rosette.

This is what it looks like when the ends are attached to form a circle.

Step 3:

I used hot glue to attach the rosette to a large punched circle.  **See photo on the above right. You may even need one circle on both sides.  I used various sized of circle punches for each layer.

Step 4:

I was trying to save a bit of time even though I wanted a taller tree.  So to avoid making more rosettes I added stacked dimensionals between the punched circles between each layer of rosettes.  If you do this make sure to add more dimensionals than I did - spread them out all over the punched circle, not just in one stack.  After my tree was together it became a leaning Dr. Seuss tree!  So do this only if you want a slightly jiggly tree! 

*****In hind sight I would add more rosettes instead of the popped up/dimensional layers. 

Step 5:

I do not have a photo of this but I just stacked the rosettes in descending size to the top.  I used hot glue to adhere them together. 

Step 6:

I made one last Chocolate Rosette from a 3/4" X 11" strip of card stock for the 'tree trunk'.  I used my silicone mat to form this strip into a rosette with hot glue and adhered it to my Red tree skirt. The stack of Olive rosettes was adhered to this 'trunk'.

You may be wondering how I got such a large 'tree skirt' from the floral framelits.  I acutally cut two using the largest Floral Framelit die from the Candlelight Specialty series paper and cut them apart to spread the skirt wider.  Because of the detailed print it this cut does not show at all. 

I punched out a few Merry Mini ornaments from Red & Champagne glimmer card stock and adhered them to the tree with glue dots.  The star is hand cut since we do not have a current star punch or star die at this time. 

Hope you like the tutorial.  I'd love to see your version of a Rosette tree if you make one! 

Freaky Christmas Blog Hop!

Yes; it's our monthly Control Freaks blog tour and this month's theme is a real favorite for us - Christmas!  I think most stampers love to create for the Holidays.

You may have arrived from my friend Barb's blog or if you've started here make sure you keep clicking on the icon at the end of each post to see all 16 of the Control Freaks holiday projects. 

First I have some easy Punch Art Snowman tags to share with you.

I think these would be just adorable on a Christmas package.  And save them for a tree ornament later!  Stamp or write the 'to & from' on the back instead.

Punches - 1" & 1 3/8" square punches for the hat, 1 3/8" circle, 1 3/4 & 2 3/8" scallop circle punches for his body, Owl Builder punch for the heart buttons & the Modern Label punch for the branches.

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 And this is a card we made at my Card Clubs in November. 

It's just lovely in Vanilla and Always Artichoke with a bit of Champagne Glimmer card stock.  We stamped soft shimmery snowflakes using our new Illuminate ink pad inside the card. 

Supplies:

Stamps – Snow Swirled, Mixed Medley, More Merry Messages  Card stock –Vanilla, Artichoke card stock, Champagne glimmer Ink – Always Artichoke, Illuminate  Accessories – dimensionals, Artichoke seam binding ribbon, mini glue dots, sponge, Holiday Frame embossing folder, Big Shot, Apothecary Accents framelits, ¾” circle and small oval punches

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And this next project may be my favorite; a Rosette Christmas tree!

I made a Christmas tree using 9 rosettes!  The rosettes are die-cut from Old Olive prints designer paper and the Rosette Bigz XL die. 

Hints: The little ornaments are from our Merry Mini's punch pack (on page 6 of the Holiday catalog) and Red & Champagne glimmer paper. The tree skirt is from the Candlight Christmas specialty designer series paper.  I hand cut the star from Silver glimmer paper.  

*****I'll be posting a free step-by-step tutorial on how to make this in a few days so stop back in!

And now you're off to see what Gretchen has to share with you.

Scentsational Seasons in Ribbon

This is one of the cards we made this month at my card clubs:

Isn't it adorable?  Can you tell that the die-cut areas are filled in with strips of ribbon?  I've seen a few made like this online and I just had to add it as a Club card.  They're loving it! 

Just stamp your three images onto the Sahara Sand card stock and then use the matching framelits to die-cut the shapes out.  You'll see later where we use those die-cuts.

Once you've got the shapes cut out you'll add adhesive around the back side of the image. 

For the tree add Snail tape runner all around the opening and then press your Gumball Green stitched ribbon over the opening at an angle.  After each strip cut the ends and keep going.  It's that easy!

Here's the inside view of the card.  You can see where we used the stamped gingergread man in the center for a pop-up!

To make this pop-up feature all you need is a folded strip of Red card stock.  Mine was about 1/2" wide and about 4" long.  Fold this strip at 3/4 -1" lengths back and forth until you have four sides and a 1/2" flap.  Adhere it together into a square.  Adhere two sides of this above and below the fold line.  Then add your little gingerbread guy.  Could it be easier??!

Here's another version with a tree pop up instead of the gingerbread man. 

And look what you could do with one of the extra die-cut shapes. Consider adding the other on your envelope. 

Add it to the back of your card with your 'hand stamped by' on it.  This one is just sponged instead of stamped but you get the idea. 

*****If you'd like to make cards like this one you should join my Cyber Card Club.  Each month you'll receive two card kits with everything cut out and ready for you to put them together.  All you need to do is commit to ordering $30 in product each month online by the 10th of each month.  Then you'll receive your cards kit in the mail and complete directions with measurements and photos e-mailed to you in a pdf so you can make your cards.  After 6 months you'll receive a hostess or other stamp set of your choice from my stash, many of which are current.  Just send me an e-mail if you're interested.  lagreff@gmail.com