Flowerbug's Inkspot

Congrats Grad!

After I designed this card for my April Card Clubs I liked it so much I cut out 26 more for the Demo swap this week in Fiji.  I hope you like it too!

Isn't it pretty?!  I have always loved Red, White and Black and I found out that Cherry Cobbler, White and Black is also a hit.  Here I included a bit of Basic Gray to soften it.

This is the inside of the card - the Scallop Envelope die is perfect for either a gift card or $$.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Pure Gumption, Blue Ribbon
• Card stock – White, Black, Basic Gray, Real Red or Cherry Cobbler, patterned prints designer series paper
• Ink – Basic Gray, Black
• Accessories – Big Shot, Honeycomb, Square Lattice embossing folders, dimentionals, 1 ¼” & 1 3/8” circle, large oval, 2 2/3” scallop circle punches, Baker’s Twine, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, Scallop envelope Bigz die, Brads, piercing tool and ma, markers

Measurements – Basic Gray – 5 ½” X 8 ½” scored in half, Black – 4 X 5 ¼”, Gray strip – 5” X 1 ½”, Cherry or Red rectangle – 2 ½” X 3 ½”, inside White layer – 4” X 5 ¼”

Spring Banner

Here is the banner Lorisa made at our last downline shoebox swap:

So cute!  She gave us a choice of words we could spell out and had everything ready for us. All we had to do was to adhere the letters.  What a time saver!  It looks so good in my studio too!

Here's a close up:

She used Twitterpated designer series paper, the Perfect Pennants Bigz die and the Typeset Alphabet.

Thanks for a great project Lorisa!   

 

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! 

Team Swaps!

Here are a few more swap cards made by my downline for last Saturday's shoebox swap.  These gals sent theirs in to me since they do not live in Minot. 

Candy made this one.  I love all the details and the fun color combo!  She used the colors found on the Floral District dsp and don't they just pop!?  (Baja Breeze, Daffodil Delight with Rich Razzleberry). Do you see the direct to paper technique on the Daffodil Delight layer?  Just rub your ink pad directly onto your card stock in a brushing or circular motion.  Beautiful card!  

Daphne sent this one.  She used her 2 1/2" circle punch to create 4 different sizes of balloons from the Sunshine & Sprinkles designer series paper. Only one is folded and sticks up. So smart!  And the clouds background texture on the Pool Party Core'dinations card stock is perfect here.  The balloon basket is the cupcake punch!  Awesome punch art!

I'm so glad you gals joined the swap!  I have so much more yet to show you!

Bunny Bottom Punch art!

My downline and I had a shoebox swap on Saturday.  It was a lot of fun and their cards were awesome!  This is one of the cards we made:

Rhonda made this super cute punch art Easter card. Here's the inside:

Isn't it adorable!  She pre-punched our pieces for us so it was easy too - we all loved it!

Here's a picture of my pieces before I put them on the card. 

• Bunny bottom - 2 1/2" circle punch (same punch for the window)
  
• Feet and Ears - Large and Extra-large oval punches.  1/4" and 1/2" circles for the bottom of the feet.
• Head - Ornament punch
• Cheeks - 1/2" circle
• Nose - small heart
• Mouth and eyes - circle from the Itty bitty Shapes punches pack
  

I'll share more of their fabulous cards with you soon!

Gorgeous Swaps!

This weekend at my Flowerbug's Team meeting we swapped cards featuring products from the Spring and Sale-a-Bration catalogs.  Here are a few of the cards my downline made:

Jane made this one casing it from Monica Davis.  See the Honeycomb embossing folder and patterned papers, button and ribbon from the SAB Sycamore Street pack?  I belive she used the Color Spritzing tool on page 179 for that spray of color above the greeting. Cute!

Rhonda made this eye-catching Valentine using the Hearts a Flutter bundle.   Real Red with Vanilla.  I especially like the background stamping - it looks like patterned paper!

Lorisa made this unique card - don't you just love the flying butterflies in the window!  She stitched right through two layers of punched butterflies leaving a length of stitched thread long enough for the window.  So creative!!  

Here's the inside view:

You all did a fabulous job!  I'll share more swap cards soon!   

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.

Moving Forward Shadow Box Card

I made this card for a swap awhile back; thought you'd like to see it!

I love the fun colors here.  This image is one of seven in the stamp set called Moving Forward. It's this year's Ronald McDonald stamp set.  Did you know that each year SU has a stamp set dedicated to support Ronald McDonald House Charities?  It's on the very last page of the big catalog.  With each purchase of this set Stampin' Up! donates $3 to RMHC.  Through this generous program they've contributed over $1,000,000!  Yes; that's one million dollars!  Stampin' Up! is amazing!

The patterned paper is part of the 'Pinwheels on Parade' Simply Scrappin' kit on page 168.

This view shows the box style pop-up inside the card. 

Here's the inside/shadow box view.  I kept it pretty simple with lots of space for writing a message. 

To see a different version of this card and the 'how to' directions to make this pop-up box card click here. 

Patterned Occasions Latte

I made this card for one of my swap groups: 

I used the new set Patterned Occasions' from the upcoming Sale-a-Bration catalog.  It has cute images along with matching sayings.  In this case a cup of coffee. 

See that gorgeous patterned paper?!  It's called Sycamore Street and it's FREE during Sale-a-Bration from January 22nd through March 22nd.  And that matching ribbon on this card is another free choice.  You will actually get a pack of buttons and three spools of this yummy satin ribbon - colors include Pool Party, Island Indigo and Tangerine Tango. All Free with a $50 order during this amazing annual special. 

This card is 4 1/4" square and the circle punches I used for the cup image are 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" in size.

More new projects coming soon! 

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Oh; and a heads up on the stamp sets I'm planning for my Classes to Go in the next few months:

• January is 'Hearts a Flutter' bundle - posting it soon!
  
• February - Oh, Hello
• March - 'Cross my Heart' or 'Oh Whale'
• April - Secret Garden bundle

New - Rain or Shine?!

Here is one card I made for a Spring Catalog group swap I was in: 

I used the new Rain or Shine stamp set - so cute with different umbrellas and greetings that go with them.  There is also a designer paper that matches it called Sunshine & Sprinkles. 

See that adorable embossing folder on the white card stock?  It's called Cloudy Day.  Love it!!! 

Supplies:

• Stamps - Rain or Shine, Itty Bitty Banners
• Card stock - Pacific Point, Lucky Limeade, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
• Ink - Pacific Point
• Accessories - Large Scallop Edgelit, Bitty Banners Framelits, Cloudy Day embossing folder, Simply Scored Borders Scoring Plate, Melon Mambo striped organdy ribbon, 2 2/3" scallop circle punch, 2 1/2" circle punch, paper piercing tool & mat, dimensionals, mini glue dots

Chris' Punch Art Snowman

And here is the card Chris made at our last downline meeting:

Isn't he adorable?!  I just love the soft sponging she did.  And his face without features has your imagination soaring doesn't it? 

She used the 1 1/4", 1 3/8" and 1 3/4" circle punches for his body. 

Did you notice her greeting tag shape?  She used the Labels Framelits to create a whole new shape.  She cut the top or bottom first and then ran it through again moving the framelits so it cut a smaller shape than normal.  Smart! 

Come on back on the Tuesday the 20th for our monthly Control Freaks blog tour - the theme is Christmas of course! 

More Christmas Swaps

And here are more of our downline Christmas card swaps:

Kari's card features a single stamp called Frosty Friendsfrom the Holiday catalog.  Love her light blue shading which makes the white snowmen really pop.

And this is Mary's swap.  She cased the cute card in the Holiday catalog on page 16 but added a few extra little details. 

This one is made by Nancy and it's her first time swapping!  She feels it's a bit simple but wanted the design to be her ownwhich is quite admirable.  Love the Cherry Dazzling Details on the tree. By the way this tree from the Christmas Lodge stamp set is now available as a single stamp!  It's just $7.95 now! See them all here. She also overstamped the tree with our new Illumimate ink pad but it's hard to see the shimmer here in the photo. 

Rhonda made this one using the triple-time stamping technique.  It's where you arrange and stamp all of the neutral layers at the same time then separate them and layer them onto other colors of card stock.  Love this technique - it's great for many types of stamp sets.

And last is Natalie's adorable snowman card.  She did a beautiful job coloring the snowman.  And the softness of Vanilla and Crumb Cake colors really sets off the Cherry Cobbler cardstock here. 

I have one more left to share with you but I'm saving that for next week's Punch Art Wednesday!

3-d Ornament

We made this at last month's Downline meeting. 

I got the basic idea from my friend Susie Wood.  She's so creative, talented and is a very special friend I am lucky to have.

Here are the steps to make it:

You'll need to cut out 20 of these Ornaments using the Holiday Ornaments Framelit dies.  Each point or section has four die-cuts - one flat on the bottom and three that are textured with the Lacy Brocade embossing folder.  We scored each of these textured pieces in half so they could fold easier to secure back to back for the 3d look. These are adhered around a 1 3/4" circle punched piece with Tombo multipurpose glue.

Next we added a length of our Organza white ribbon between each point.  I used hot glue for this.

Before you add the next layers you may want to add a stack of buttons for lift before adding the next layer.  This isn't necessary as you could just use a lot more hot glue instead.

Here's a view of the back side. 

We cut out one large snowflake (Snow Flurry Bigz die) from our Silver Glimmer cardstock.  (I did clip off one of the points on this snowflake to make it a 5 tipped snowflake instead of 6.  I actually clipped off two and moved them so it's more centered.)

You will need 20 small white ornaments adhered together the same as the main layers shown above.  Adhere these to a small white punched circle and then to the snowflake.  Add the Vintage Faceted button to the punched 1" Silver Glimmer circle and then adhere with hot glue. Finish with a large pearl inside the button.  Add a length of white bakers twine or ribbon to hang.

Oh and I also added Silver Dazzling Details on the upper edges of the ornament pieces.  Because these were textured they didn't adhere together perfectly at the outer edges so I covered up the discrepancy with the glitter glue.  I love the glittery shine it gives!  Then we wanted even more shimmer so we sprayed the whole thing with my favorite alcohol shimmer mixture.  Combine in a mini spray bottle 1 3/4 oz of cheap rubbing alcohol and 1/2 - 1 tsp. Champagne Mist Shimmer paint. 

If you have the Holiday catalog I'm sure you noticed the beautiful ornament on the front cover.  Well I actually received one at a Convention swap I was in from Glenda Travelstad!  We could not believe she did this for all of us - I believe she regretted it after made a few since they are quite time-consuming! 

As you can see this one has stamped ornaments instead of textured like mine.  It also has our Cherry Cobbler scalloped tulle ribbon between the layers and a rosette under the button.  Lots of details here make this a very special ornament!  Thank you for making this Glenda! 

Thanks for stopping in today! 

Christmas Swaps

Last weekend at my downline meeting we has a Christmas Card swap.  Their cards are just wonderful! Look!

Brandy made this one.  I never would have thought to use these two stamp sets together or that they'd work so well!  Ornament Keepsakes and Merry Mini's - both in the Holiday catalog.  

Candy's card using the beautiful Snowflake Soiree stamp set. 

Jane's fun fold card using the Be of Good Cheer dsp and new Snowflake Flurry Bigz die - both in the Holiday catalog. 

I love that you can add a gift card inside the pocket here! She cased it from Kelly Gettelfinger. 

I'll share a tutorial on how to make this card soon. 

Karen made this beauty.  The greeting is from Perfect Punches stamp set. 

Didn't they make some beautiful cards?  I'll share more of them in a few days. 

Frosty Friends

At my downline meeting last Saturday this is the card I made for our swap: 

This stamp is so adorable.  It's called Frosty Friends and it's a single stamp available on page 9 of the Holiday catalog. 

There are lots of little details on this card. 

1. I stamped and colored it on our Whisper White card stock.  I added just a bit of Bashful Blue shading with my blender pen on the right sides of each snowman to add shadow and dimension.  Click on it to see it close up. 
2. This piece and the Red layer were then die-cut with our Window Frames Framelit dies.  I wanted a rectangular shape for this piece so I cut off the top and bottom part.  I used the Festive paper piercing pack on the round curves and the straight edges of the Essentials piercing pack for the top and bottom edges. 
3. The Black scalloped trim is from the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die cut in half.  I added a bit of Silver Dazzling Details on this also.
4. After I textured the Pool Party background layer with the Argyle embossing folder I rubbed my Illuminate Glimmer stampin' pad over the raised surface.