Flowerbug's Inkspot

Mojo Monday

It's Mojo Monday & another great sketch we can use for inspiration.

I used new In colors - Bermuda Bay & Melon Mambo with Black & White.  Pretty huh?
The background on the white Top Note is done with the background stamp 'Pretty Petals'.  I used markers to color it in.

If you're wondering how I got the square Top Note shape, here's how.

Run a piece of white card stock using your Top Note through your Big Shot or Cuttlebug once.  Remove the top note piece & place it back onto your Top Note die cross-ways - so the curved ends stick off of the side edges. Run it through again.   This will make it square with curves.  Very, very cool!

The main flower image is from a new Level 3 hostess set called 'Kind & Caring Thoughts'.  It is a beautiful set - with flower images, leaves & berries & 8 sayings too!

Can you tell the Bermuda Bay card stock is textured?  I love the fact that we can get textured 8 1/2 X 11" card stock now in the In Colors! 

Pink Flamingo

I waited waaaaay too long to get my hands on this stunning Designer Series Paper!  It's gorgeous!  If you love bright colors or long to be on (or remember) a tropical island, this paper is for you!
I made this in early June to showcase the Pink Flamingo paper & the corduroy buttons.  It's cased from one done by Julie Davison here.  Check out her blog - she has lots of amazing projects you can see.  

I matted the punched pieces on Black card stock which really shows off the bright papers.  The only image that is stamped is the top middle one.  I used the Say it With Scallops that is retiring in a few days.  It's the Ronald McDonald set in this catalog.
The 'hi' was stamped & punched out with the 1/2" circle punch & Crystal Effects was applied to give it punch.  The other 5 pieces were punched from the Pink Flamingo DSP with our scallop square punch.  I added the Summer Sun corduroy button & a bit of wide Red grosgrain ribbon.  The bottom was done with our scallop edge punch on the Black card stock. 

What an easy, easy way to use designer papers!  And a quick, attractive card too.  Try one - you'll see for yourself.

Butterfly Box - another version with template!

Here is my latest Butterfly Box with new Designer Series Paper & new In Colors! 
Check out my first Butterfly Box here. 

We made this one at my Down-line meeting on Saturday.  It's such an fun project to do. 
And the best part is that the template has been released for all to view now!  Originally it was part of a demonstrator challenge & the creator (Qbee) of this awesome butterfly box has now given permission to share it with everyone.

The box template was traced & cut out of white board (thinner than chipboard).  I like to use the backing from a pack of patterned paper.  Then the template was traced again onto patterned paper & cut out.  These two layers are adhered together. 

Score heavily where it needs to be folded according to the template, fold the sides up & adhere with either sticky strip or Tombo Mono-Multi glue. 
We added two butterflies from SU's Beautiful Butterfly die on the front.  The edges are sponged & both are adhered together with rhinestone brads & then held onto the box with mini glue dots. 
The daisies have 6 layers.  The final back layer is 2 pieces - one is the same thick white board the box is made from and the other is a piece of card stock.  This back daisy piece gives the flowers more substance & body.  So there are two of each size daisy (3 sizes are included in the die) to make up one flower.  After you cut the daisy layers out, sponge the edges with the same color of ink as the card stock & curl them up with your fingers.  This curling really gives the flowers life.  The flowers are held onto the thin dowels with mini glue dots.  We did sponge the dowels with Old Olive ink to color them green.  The Little Leaves die cuts are adhered with Tombo Mono-Multi glue.  

Can't you just imagine these flowers as mums in the fall? 

You can also find this template on my blog header bar under 'Documents & Templates'. 

Supplies:
Card stock - Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP
Ink - Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Crushed Curry, Old Olive
Accessories - Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies die, Daisies die, rhinestone brads, sponges, Little Leaves sizzlet, mini glue dots, buttons, white chip board

New Catalog Open House

The new catalogs will be here next week in time for my Open House on Wednesday, July 1st.
Everyone is welcome to come anytime between 3 & 7 pm.

There is so much to see & do.  Here's some of the run-down:

Rubber Rummage - I am selling many stamp sets (over 60 of them!!). 
These will be marked down considerably.  For those who live elsewhere, I will post what does not sell to my local customers here on my blog. 

Free Make & Takes - make 2 project using brand new stamp sets and the new In Colors!

Free Card fronts - For each $25 you order that day, pick out 5 free cards or card fronts from my many boxes.

Food, Food, Food! - I'll have my Chocolate Fountain going along with lots of other goodies to snack on.

Pick up your Catalog!  If you are a club member, you get one free.  If not they cost $5 or are free with a $50 order that day. 

Door Prizes - I'll be giving away all of these:
Level 1 Hostess set of your choice from the New Catalog
$15 in Free merchandise from the New Catalog
Free Stamp set - Dream a Little Level 3 hostess set
Free Stamp set - Serene Spring Level 2 hostess set
Prints Pattern Pack - Level 1 hostess choice

Sign Up - get tickets for the door prize drawing for any of the following:
Placing an order, signing up for Big Shot Club, Ribbon Club, Booking a workshop, & for signing up for my card or scrapbook clubs etc.

*************************************   *****************************************
Open House In Color Bundle Special offer - save $17!!!!!
I am offering a fantastic deal on the new In Colors at my Open House.
If you order all 6 new In Color ink pads & 1 pack of each of the new 8 1/2 X 11" In Colors card stock I will give you all 6 In Color ink refills free!  That's a savings of over $17!

For you long distance customers, I will offer the same special deal on that day only but will have to add shipping costs on.  

I can take orders now, but cannot order them until July 1st.

Total cost with shipping - $85.00.

  I am also hosting a New In Color ribbon share.

Get 3 yards of each new In Color polka dot ribbon for $15.00.  That's 18 yards! This price includes shipping. 

You can pre-order this now, but I cannot place the order until July 1st.  I will keep this ribbon share open as long as I continue to get orders. 

All in the Family - Punch Art day!

This is one I've never posted, but made quite awhile ago. 

To make the crib, I started with a white piece of card stock measuring 2 3/8 X 4 1/8".  It took a few tries to get the placements of these 4 word window punches right.  Once I did, I saved it for a template to use to make more. 
I drew a line horizontally on the back side of my white card stock to mark the center.  Then make a mark in the back/center of your word window punch.  Push it all the way in from both ends lining up the marks & punch.  Do this on each short end to make the two inside holes.  Then back up a bit & punch another one on each side again lining up the center marks.  Hint - adhere your first 2 punched pieces where you want to punch the second outer holes & then punch right over them - perfect placement!  
Again, it might take awhile to get everything even - save the perfect one as a template! 

The side railings are just two more word window punches coming from underneath the main piece (use your punched pieces for these).

Once all these are adhered together, I inked a background stamp (Weathered - now retired) in Pretty in Pink ink to add texture.
The Baby's face is made with the large Oval punch. 
Ears - 1/4" circle punch
Curl of hair is done by first punching a 1/4" circle punch, then punching a 1/2" circle punch around that.  Cut off part of the circle with a scissors to form the curl.
Hands - 1/2 of a flower punch.
The teddy bear is made with a stamp borrowed from a friend - I'm sorry I have no idea where she got it or who makes it!
The blanket is a piece of ribbon.

************You have to see this! It's one of the most amazing punch art creations I've seen yet.  Jackie Topa created this:  RELAX - It's Summertime!

Mojo Monday

If you haven't heard about the Mojo Monday sketches, you've been missing out! 
Each Monday a new card sketch is released & we are challenged to create a card using that sketch. 

Anyone can play!  And if you want to you can post a link to your card on the Mojo Monday blog.
Be sure to check out their past sketches.  It's a great way to find inspiration when you're challenged for ideas.



I have been wanting to try the Embossed Resist technique with the Upsy Daisy stamp set for awhile.  And I had heard that Melon Mambo is beautiful with Apricot Appeal, so that's my combo today.

Click on the image to see it clearer.

I inked my Upsy Daisy stamp in Versamark & stamped it onto Glossy white card stock.  Emboss with clear embossing powder & let dry a minute.

I used sponge daubers to add Melon Mambo right over the embossing on the bottom of the card & Apricot Appeal on the top.  Then I added just a bit of Pretty in Pink to the middle to blend the colors. 

Supplies:

Stamps - Upsy Daisy, Asian Artistry

Card stock - Melon Mambo textured, Black,  Glossy white, Apricot Appeal

Ink - Versamark, Stazon black, Melon Mambo, Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink

Accessories - sponge daubers, Clear EP, heat gun, Melon Mambo polka dot ribbon, flower brads, scallop edge punch, Scallop squar epunch, dimensionals

June's Card Club projects

I thought I would show you what we did at my card clubs this month.

I just love monocromatic cards!  I think they invoke a calm feeling & are pleasing to the eye.
The colors are Vanilla & Kraft.
The damask stamp is from the set called Friends 24-7.  We do not carry Kraft colored ink & I found the best match was Sahara Sand - stamped off once for the damask image & not at all for the 'together Forever' image.
Creamy Caramel is another ink that can work well with Kraft card stock.

We used the scalloped edge punch on the right side, Kraft taffeta ribbon knotted above the verse, Bella Bleu DSP behind the main image & a half-backed pearl as the finishing touch.

Here's the second card:
We used the same stamp set for this card - Friends 24-7. 
The DSP is from the Occasions Mini catalog & soon to be retired - Walk in the Park - such a wonderful pack of papers!
We used the 1 3/4" circle punch to punch out a hole between the front of the card (through both the DSP & the Not Quite Navy card front).  I added a bit of sponging around the hole & paper piercing too.

Added touches:
Kraft Vanilla ribbon, Filigre brads with a NQN center brad, & a Little Leaves die cut in Baja Breeze.
The top note trim was done by running a strip of Not Quite Navy card stock through the Top Note die with the Big Shot.  Then we placed it over the bottom edge of the Walk in the Park DSP & either traced the curvy edge or cut it out free-hand.  Then move up the NQN piece about 1/4" so you have a double Top Note border trim.  

Love that bird! 
Notice he is shaded - darker on top?  We inked the image in Baja Breeze ink first, then picked up some Not Quite Navy ink with a sponge dauber & added ink just to the top of the bird with the dauber.  An easy way to highlight!

Animal Stories

There's a new cute animal stamp set coming out in July called Animal Stories.  It's a set of 4 solid animal stamps that are very, very adorable!  At first I didn't think there would be much you could do with a solid animal stamp, but hey, what was I thinking?  Solid stamps are just a blank canvas!  You can turn that flat surface into anything you want to.

I inked the giraffe with Apricot Appeal classic ink & then used one of the new Circle Circus (yes I love this set too!) stamps & inked that with the new Dusty Durango ink & stamped it all over the Apricot inked giraffe stamp.  Gave it a huff (to re-moisten the ink) & stamped it onto my Whisper White card stock. 
See?  Aren't his spots awesome? 
I suppose you're wondering how his mane & tail are sparkling so wonderfully..... huh?

I added a bit of my favorite glue - Tombow Mono-Multi & then sprinked Orange micro-beads onto it.  Instant pop! 
Of course then I added a larger orange bead for his eye.

Stamps - On Your birthday, Animal Stories, Circle Circus
Ink - Apricot Appeal, Dusty Durango
Card stock - Dusty Durango, Apricot Appeal, Chocolate Chip & Bermuda Bay
Accessories - Bermuda Bay & Dusty Durango markers, white gel pen, SS brads, mat pack, new Modern Label punch, new Movers & Shapers die (layers the Modern Label punch), Dusty Durango & Bermuda Bay grosgrain ribbon, 1" circle punch, Tombow mono-multi glue, Orange beads duo

No snoozing!

I had such a great response (16 hostesses!!) to my 'Everyone's a Hostess' special earlier this month I thought I would give you 'snoozers' who didn't take advantage of it one more chance! 

Here's how it works:

With the awesome SU June special of an extra $40 free with a $400 order, I need 8 people (just 6 more) to place orders of at least $50 each to get a $400 order.  Each one of you will get something FREE!  And if you place a $100 order you will get 2 of these:

• 2 people will receive their choice of Level 1 or Level 2 hostess choices

• 6 people will get $15 in Free merchandise! 

What a deal!  Since when can you get hostess bennies for a $50 order??  I want to place the order by June 26th at the very latest or as soon as I fill the 8 spots. 

And I'm going to give the first responders their choice of free stuff - first one's with an order get to pick whether they want a Hostess choice or $15 in Free merchandise.

The $50 orders must be combined together to get the deal, so if you're a long distance customer, there will be a small shipping charge for me to ship to you.

Remember that you can order from the Last Chance lists - the stamp sets & Decor Elements will be available through June.  But the Last Chance Accessories are only available while supplies last.  There are still some awesome deals available - all the items in the photo are discounted! 

Check the Last Chance & special discounts lists here: