Flowerbug's Inkspot

Vellum & Secret Garden

I love these flowers stamped and embossed on our Vellum!  It's such a soft and pretty look.  This is one of the cards we made at my Card Clubs this month!

Aren't they gorgeous!  We inked the flower stamps from Secret Garden in Versamark ink and stamped them on our Vellum card stock.  Love this paper!!  We then heat embossed them in White embossing powder.  Next we sponged the back side of these flowers with Calypso Coral, Baja Breeze and Daffodil Delight ink.  Ink takes a long time to dry on Vellum so we used the heat gun to help dry it quicker.  Then we used the coordinating Secret Garden framelits to cut out the flowers with the Big Shot.

The leaves and greeting images are stamped before we ran the card stock through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka dot embossing folder.  The flowers are popped up with half dimensionals.  If you're wondering how the center of the Calypso Coral flower is darker I added more color with my sponge in the center.  

The rhinestones are colored with Sharpie markers but the color is hard to see here.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Rain or Shine

I've seen cards like this one and thought it was a very clever illusion. 

Isn't it neat?  It looks like a full circle but it's not.  How I did it was to cut a strip of Rich Razzleberry card stock 2 3/8" X 4" and ran it through the Big Shot using the Cloudy Day embossing folder.  Then I used my 2 1/2" circle punch to punch out the center of it.  I adhered it to my 4" X 5 1/4" Whisper White card stock and then stamped my umbrella image. 

Add a Daffodil Delight 1/8" grosgrain ribbon bow and a greeting (Rain or Shine - Spring Catalog) and adhere it to the full Daffodil Delight card.  You could jazz this up a lot more but sometimes simple is best!

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Are you ready??

The Retired Lists are coming out this Wednesday!  Stop back in to check them out. I've heard that there will be steep discounts on many products too.  Remember many of these items will be 'while supplies last' only and product will run out fast!

The Freaks Birthday Bash

It's another Control Freaks blog hop - this time featuring Birthdays!

Whether you've just arrived or traveled from Dannie's blog you can continue on to see tons of birthday ideas!  Just click on the icon at the bottom of this page to see them all.

We made this card at my friend Clarisse's workshop last week.  Her favorite technique is embossing and everyone loved the card.  I worried it was a bit much for the beginners but they were wow'd by their first time of heat embossing!  It's great to have newbies fall in love with this hobby!

The gorgeous Swallowtail stamp was inked with Versamark & heat embossed using clear embossing powder on the large Soft Suede card stock. Don't you love the Soft Suede and Pool Party combination?!  

Supplies:

• Stamps - Swallowtail (Spring catalog), Papaya Collage, Papillon Potpourri, Friendly Phrases
• Ink- Versmark
• Card stock - Pool Party, Soft Suede
• Accessories - embossing buddy, heat gun, Clear embossing powder, Pool Party seam binding ribbon, dimensionals, Pearls jewels

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Next - I always have an excess of cards and non-stampers love to get them too! It's the perfect gift for those who have everything.  I'm always looking for a cute bag or container to put them in and found this homemade card box!

I made it from one sheet of Island Indigo card stock and a few extras to pretty it up a bit like our 5/8" crochet trim, Natural Composition Specialty paper and wood buttons.  *I am going to add a magnetic closure I found at a hobby store when I can find my stash of them! 

It can fit at least 10 cards and envelopes inside.  Love this nice, deep box!  Here's the template I used:

Start out with a 11" square of card stock.  You will need to use the SU Diagonal Simply Scored plate to complete this.  On two sides score at 3 1/2 & 5 1/2".  On the other two sides score at 4 1/2" & 6 1/2".  Cut off the little side triangles as shown here and cut into and up to the middle most score line to form your flaps.  Easy!

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And lastly is a card we're making for Melissa's workshop tonight!

I saw a similar card on Pinterest and knew it would work for Melissa.  She loves bright, happy cards.

First punch out a Blossom from your White card stock, then texture the large piece with the Perfect Polka dots embossing folder.  Adhere it with dimensionals to a slightly larger piece (4" X 5 1/4") of Summer Smooches designer series paper.  I added one of the new Designer Builder Brads on page 12 of your Spring catalog. They are fun!

Here's the inside view:

I had that leftover Blossom punch from the card front sitting on my desk and decided to use it inside the card.  And I also had these 3/4" strips of dsp left over from the card front too.  I love finding new ways to use up my leftovers.  I embellished the white Blossom with the new Spring Surprise products - the 7/8" scallop circle punch and coordinating 'A Round Array' stamp set. 

Supplies:

• Stamps - Bring on the Cake, Itty Bitty Bits, A Round Array
• Ink - Real Red, Tempting Turquoise
• Card stock - Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Whisper White, Summer Smooches dsp
• Accessories - Blossom punch, 7/8" and  1/4" scallop circle, 1" circle, Boho Blossoms punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, Designer Builder brads, dimensionals,
  

Now you're off to see what Justin has to share with you.  Enjoy the tour!

It's back! Petite Curly Punch!

Stampin' Up! just announced...

The Petite Curly Label Punch that you saw in the Sale-A-Bration brochure is now available for purchase! You can buy it through May 31, and it will also be available in the new 2013-2014 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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More News!  Watercolor Pencils and Crayons are Discontinued!

Due to unforeseen problems with our supplier for Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Watercolor Pencils, we have decided to discontinue these two products.

Watercolor Pencils (item 101879) and Watercolor Wonder Crayons Brights Collection (item 119804), which have been on the Backorder Report for about a week, will no longer be available, effective immediately.

Now for the good news! We still have the remaining collections of the Watercolor Wonder Crayons available to order. The Subtles (item 119802), Neutrals (item 119805), Regals (item 119803) Collections are only available while supplies last. Get 'em before they're gone!  Go here to order them now or call me to place the order for you. 

~~~~~~~Coming soon!  The Retired List!~~~~~~~

Stampin' Up says the retired list will be out on April 24th this year!  I'll post it on my blog here so you can see what is going away this year.  I am assuming this list will include stamp sets and accessories.  Although in past years' they posted these on separate dates.  Watch for it in just a few weeks! 

Double-Time Embossing

I promised you I'd post a tutorial for this technique last week and I totally forgot!  So sorry!!

So here goes!

First you will need to create your card board shims.  I used thin card board like the White board included in the back of our Designer Series Paper packages.  I adhered to layers together.  They measure 2" X 4" and 1" X 4".  *In hindsight I would probably make them 4 1/2" across to accomodate our new, wider embossing folders.

Insert your card stock inside the embossing folder you're using.  I started with the Perfect Polka dots folder.  Then lay the card board shim on top of the embossing folder where you want the embossing to show.  Tip: I added a bit of adhesive to keep the shim in place.

***You can see that I am using all tabs on my Multipurpose Platform but no acryllic plate underneath the folder.  I did add one acryllic plate over this before rolling it thru my Big Shot.

This is what you'll get after that step.  The shim you added is the only place there was enough contact to emboss as it was run through. 

Next you'll use a different embossing folder.  I chose the Framed Tulips folder.  (Our Delicate Designs or Adorning Accents folders would work here.)

Place your card stock inside the Tulips folder so the line of tulips starts just where the polka dots stop.  Close the folder and place it on your Multipurpose Platform with all tabs down as before.  Lay the 1" card board shim over the tulips area.  Add a clear acryllic plate and run it through the Big Shot.

This is what you'll get - a fantastic embossed border! 

Now, do the same thing on the other side of the polka dot embossing.

This is your last step!  After you run this one through you'll have a tulip border framing your polka dots in the middle. 

Thanks for stopping in.  I hope you'll try this technique!  I am excited to try this with lots of different embossing folders. 

Dress Up Pop 'n Cuts

Today's the last day of the discount to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator!  Remember you can join Stampin' Up! for just $99 and get $156 in product!  Even the shipping is free - just pay tax.  If you have a long wish list, I honestly think it's the best deal for your money!  It's up to you whether you run a business or just get a discount for awhile!  

We made this card at last week's Big Shot class: 

I saw a similar card online and knew it would be the perfect thing for my class.  I used Raspberry Ripple, White and Sahara Sand card stock. 

Lots of details here!  Here they are, step by step with the items from the Spring Catalog marked in Red:

1. Run the Sahara Sand layer (4 X 5 1/2") through the Big Shot using the Framed Tulips folder.
2. Run a small piece of Raspberry Ripple card stock through the Big Shot using the Dress Up Framelits. 
3. Use the Delicate Designs embossing folder to add the scalloped embossed trim on the bottom of the dress.  Make sure you get a full scallop in the center of the dress! Now do the same on a small piece of White card stock. 
4. Then use the Large Scallop Edgelit to create the coordinating scallop cut on the bottom of your embossed area. 
5. Adhere the Raspberry dress over your White embossed piece and use a scissors to trim it to match the outer curve. 
6. Wrap a piece of White taffeta ribbon around the waist and secure in the back.
7. Sponge a flower trim rose with ink and adhere to the dress with a glue dot.
8. Create the purse by embossing a piece of White card stock with the Delicate Designed folder and then punch a 1 1/4" circle from it, straightening the sides if desired.  For the clasp add a 3/4" partial circle from Raspberry Ripple card stock.  Rhinestone accent.

Here's the inside!

I used the Card Base and Dress Form Pop 'n Cuts die on a 4 1/4" X 11" piece of White card stock and my Big Shot. This creates the pop-up window. I LOVE the shape of the curved card here!  

I cut off the top of the dress form and added a layered greeting instead.  I used the Feel Goods stamp set on a 2 1/2" circle punch.  It's layered on the scallop circle cut from the Perfect Pennants Bigz die. 

Need for Speed?

Do you need card ideas for your special men?  We made this card at my Card Clubs this month:

It was a big hit with my gals; especially the embossed faux metal technique.  You may think it's aluminum foil but it's not!  I used sticky back tape commonly used on forced air metal duct work.  It's found on a roll at your hardware store for less than $10. 

As I've said before you could use aluminum foil but you'd best adhere it to a piece of card stock very well before embossing it.  The problem with foil is that is loses it's texture very easily.  Each time you touch it, or press it to adhere it loses the texture. 

Here we heat embossed the car from the Need for Speed stamp set with Silver embossing powder.  The greeting could be a little tease or play on words for some men who can only 'wish' for a sports car or fun 4 wheeler like these! 

Here's another version with the 4 wheeler included in this stamp set. And here is the simple way we stamped the inside of the card.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Need for Speed, Bring on the Cake, Delightful Dozen   
• Card stock – Black, Pacific Point 
• Ink – Black Stazon, Versamark,
• Accessories – Chevron embossing folder, Big Shot, Paper piercing tool, mat and Essentials piercing pack, silver metal duct tape, silver brads, dimensionals

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Remember today is the last day of Sale-a-Bration!  Be sure to order any product you need (or want!) before the end of the day. 

Contact me or go here to order!

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!

Hello, Hello

Just a quick post today showing you a card I whipped up just playing around.  It's been soooo long that I just made a card for no main purpose!  I am usually making cards for classes or events and I've forgotten how fun it is to just play!

I had an extra piece of my technique 'Glitz & Spritz' from February's technique class laying around so I used the single stamp 'Hello, Hello' on it.  Did you know that the single stamps are a lot larger than on the Flyer.

I'll give you a hint on how to make the background here:  I used our little Stampin' Spritzers (pg 179 and just $2.95 for 2!!) filling them with rubbing alcohol, 6-10 drops of Classic ink refills and a few drops of Champagne Shimmer paint.  Shake it up and mist over regular card stock - White in my case. 

I used Old Olive and Not Quite Navy here.  A very fun technique! 

Control Freaks Spring Blog Hop

Yay!  It's another amazing Freaks blog hop, this time showcasing products from the Spring Catalog!

If you've just arrived or if you've come from the talented Wendy's blog, just keep clicking on the icon at the bottom of each post to see all 12 of the Control Freaks awesomeness! 

Even though there are sooo many neat products I could show today 'Spring' makes me think of flowers and gardening; hence my moniker 'Flowerbug'.  And I haven't played with any flower stamps lately!  So on to my projects .....

I love yellow and orange!  Guess what my bedroom colors were as a teen!?

This is a one layer card but it doens't look like it does it?  The colors just pop!

Here's the 'how to': I masked off the middle of the Whisper White card front with post-it notes and embossed a few of the flowers from the Secret Garden stamp set using white embossing powder.  Then I sponged (burnished) both Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie ink all over it. 

Next I stamped more flowers using Pumpkin Pie ink and then removed the post-its. Then I stamped one more flower on the upper left. I colored in a few flower centers with a black marker and added the greeting from Blooming with Kindness in Black ink.

Can you see the scored lines above and below the masked area?  I like that extra little detail. I hope you like this simple yet WOW card! 

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Another easy to reproduce card for you.  Are you wondering where I got the chevron patterned paper behind the punched White butterflies.  It's actually a stamped image from the OH, Hello stamp set.  I inked it in Tempting Turquoise and stamped onto White card stock and then punched out three 1 3/8" circle punched pieces. 

To get those White butterfly circles, first punch out a butterfly from a scrap of White card stock.  Then punch a 1 1/4" circle around it.  Add pieces of dimensionals to pop it up.

Did you see the matching envelope? 

I wanted to have a coordinating envelope for this card and thought our new Simply Scored Borders Scoring Plate would be perfect.  I scored it twice using one of the zig-zag patterns on it; just move the envelope slightly over 1/4" from the first scored line.  Then I added two of the extra punched butterflies above it.

Thank you for stopping in today.  Now you're off to see what Connie Babbert has to share with you!

 

Stamping Cookies!

Yes, in the Stampin' Up! world we even stamp our cookies! 

My talented downline Lorisa brought these to the Speedy Scrappin' class on Saturday.  They were sooo good!  She used pre-made refrigerated sugar cookie dough in a tub, rolled them into balls and dipped them in sugar.  Then she stamped them with our Special Events cookie stamps before baking.  Quick and easy! 

And instead of just leaving them plain she sandwiched two cookies between lemon cream filling.  Oh my gosh we gobbled them up! 

They're on page 161 of the big catalog.  Or go here to purchase your own - cookie stamps

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

Origami Christmas Tree

I've had some people ask how to make this fun origami tree card:

I made this version using one of the papers in the Festival of Prints paper pack in the Holiday catalog.  One sheet is the perfect amount for a tree!  

You'll need to cut four pieces of patterned paper squares - one at 3", one at 2 1/2", one at 2" and the smallest at 1 1/2".  See the step by step directions here on a previous post. 

I added a bit of Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details to the patterned paper for a bit of bling.  The star is punched from Champagne glimmer paper using our Merry Mini's star punch from the Holiday catalog - one of three punches in a pack. 

Casing Shelly

Remember that today is the first ever, across the board, 15% off stamp sale!  SU has never done this before!!! 

Get those stamps you've been wanting at a great discount. Details here. 

Go here to order or contact me to order for you.

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Now; onto the cards I'm sharing today.....

She's a creative master!  Who am I talking about?  Shelly Gardener, the CEO of Stampin' Up!  Her style is quite distinctive and vintage which sure isn't my normal style.  But when I saw this card on her blog I knew I would be making it for my card clubs. 

I changed up very little; just a few details here and there.  I especially love the colors and the fabulous fun-fold. 

This photo is the inside of the card before I stamped it. 

Above is how I stamped the Thank you card.  And below is how the back looks before I hid the ribbon ends with the second layer of Crumb Cake card stock.

I didn't cut complete 'window' framelit pieces since the two sides were scored and overlapped the back anyway, as shown above. 

Above is my birthday version of her card. 

Supplies:

• Stamps – Friendship Preserved, Forever with You, Blue Ribbon, Alhambra jumbo wheel, 
• Card stock – Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Very Vanilla
• Ink – Versamark, Crumb Cake, So Saffron
• Accessories – Window Frames Collection framelits die, Big Shot, Pool Party seam binding ribbon, Dimensionals, Simply Scored, jumbo wheel handle, Festive Paper Piercing template, piercing tool and mat, Ticket corner punch

Measurements – Crumb Cake layers X 2 – 4” X 5 1/2”, the rest are framelit die-cuts