Edwin with Butterfly

This is one of the Edwin stamps from the Magnolia Butterfly Dreams Collection. I wanted to make a simpler card with the image - so many of the samples out there are very heavily adorned with embellishments. I colored him with Copics - colors can be seen below the card. The hardest part of the card was cutting him out. I love to cut, but some of you might find this challenging. I layered a stripe DP with some coordinating Bazzill cardstock and wrapped a May Arts ribbon around the seam for Edwin to sit on. The "hello" stamp is from a Flourishes set.

Thanks for stopping by today!
Jeannette

Lovely Violets...

This card is using the violets set from Flourishes. Of all the flower stamps by Flourishes, this set is one of my favorites. I stamped the image on white cardstock with Memento ink first, then cut it out with a circle Spellbinders die so that the image is mostly on the left side of the circle. After cutting it out, but before I popped the circle out of the die, I applied Ranger Wild Honey Distress ink around the edges of the circle - the die protects the edge so you get that nice white contrast when you remove the cardstock from the die. The violets are colored with Copics and the Happy B-Day stamp is from another Flourishes set - Mix-n-Mugs. I used an EK Success border punch to create the 2 purple layers that cover the left edge of the circle. The ribbon is from May Arts - another of my favorites!

Thanks for checking out the blog today!
Jeannette

Blue Butterflies

Sorry it has been so long since I posted - I cannot believe that a week has gone by already! This card was made with another great stamp from Flourishes. The stamp set contains the main floral image with a butterfly plus a couple additional separate butterfly images and some wonderful sayings. For this card, I stamped the main image and one of the additional butterflies on a separate piece of cardstock. Everything is colored with Copics. I cut out the additional butterfly and attached it to the card at the body of the butterfly and flexed the wings up. My favorite way to attach small things like this is with Ranger's Glossy Accents. Quick and inexpensive! I layered the 2 ribbons and tied 2 bows - putting one down first, then attaching the second bow immediately below it.

Thanks for checking out the blog today!
Jeannette

Who Does Not Love a Butterfly?

This card uses a combination of stamps - the butterfly is from Memory Box and the wording is by Flourishes. I started with a circle cut with a Spellbinders circle die - then stamped the wording on the circle. Next I added a darker shade circle and layered that to a white beaded circle cut out. Instead of using pearls on each of the circle "beads", I punched small circles out of silver metallic paper and glued them on with Ranger Glossy Accents. Couple benefits of this - nothing to get jammed in the postal machines and it is way more cost effective. The butterfly was colored with Copic markers - cut out and attached at the body of the butterfly with Glossy Accents.

Thanks for checking out the blog today!

Jeannette

Beautiful violets...

This violet image is from Flourishes - and it is one that I simply love! The flowers from Flourishes in general are some of my favorite images. They have wonderful depth and realism. For this card, I used one of the Grand Caliber dies from Spellbinders as the card base. The actual card is made by folding a piece of 12x12" cardstock in half and cutting it with the die so that the folded area is below the upper cutting edge of the die. Then we cut a piece out of the green Bazzill cardstock with the same die and attach that over the folded piece - this way the front of the card has the complete shape and the card still opens. The image is stamped on a circle cut from a Spellbinders die and colored with Copic markers. I layered it to a purple Lacey Circles cut piece and attached it to the front of the card.. Lastly I added a ribbon bow and a couple pearls. I love using the large dies to make cards in fun shapes.

Thanks for checking out the blog today!
Jeannette

Flourishes Snowman

This is a card we're going to be making in our first "Christmas Club" class at Stamped Designs. After years of trying to stuff Christmas card classes in a 2-3 month window, we're going to have a class every month - which allows me to use a lot of different images and products all year long. I LOVE this snowman from Flourishes! On this card, I colored the snowman with Copics and added some BoBunny paper and a piece of Bazzill embossed with a Tim Holtz snowflake embossing folder from Sissix. The ribbon from May Arts is not one that I would necessarily consider Christmasy, but it works well with these colors. We haven't had a lot of snow up here in New England so far this winter, but there are still 3 more months to go!

Thanks for checking out the blog today!
Jeannette

Flourishes 2011 Calendar...

I took the Flourishes "Calendar Flowers" set and came up with this calendar for 2011. Last year you could buy a calendar template on the Flourishes website, but I could not find one for 2011, so I decided to make on myself. I printed the calendar on a color laser, then stamped each month's flower above it and colored them with Copic markers. Each piece is then layered to a piece of gold cardstock, then to different colors of Bazzill. The cards rest in a gold stand like a deck of cards. I gave several for gifts and they were very well received.

Thanks for stopping by!
Jeannette

Last Minute Card #1

Where would we be without the last second crunch to make a few things? This morning I got up and had 2 cards to make and 3 little cardstock "tote bags" that look like the boat bags sold by some of the outdoor stores. I have the cards done - this is one of them. It is using the Alleluia Angel set from Flourishes and is done in ivory, gold and blues. I embossed the angel in gold and colored her with Staedtler watercolor pencils and a Dove blender. I did the wings with Twinkling H2Os. Layered to a piece of dotted swiss Bazzill, I added a strip punched with an EK Success border punch and some bone color Midori double-face satin ribbon - theirs is truly the nicest! Added a couple layers and success! This is an A-6 card, if you're wondering - which measures 4-1/2 x 6-1/4 folded. It is really a great size to work with.

Off to make those tote bags!

Jeannette

Shades of Beige...

On this card I used shades of beige and several layers of Spellbinders dies. The cut-out flower is a Flourishes stamp from their Poppy stamp set, attached with foam tape. I colored it with several beige Copic markers. The happy birthday sentiment is from Serendipity rubber stamps. The designer paper is also beige shades, layered to black cardstock - the bottom edge is cut with an EK Success edger punch. The dotted organdy ribbon is from May Arts - I used a brown around the card and tied a piece of black into the knot to add some dimension. The last touches is a little distressing with Ranger Distress ink in Brushed Corduroy and some black pearls from Queen and Company.

Have a great stamping day!

Jeannette

Pretty Flowers...

These pansies are another great image by Flourishes, stamped on a Spellbinders oval and colored with Copic markers. These are layered to another Spellbinders labels die cut out of a BoBunny Double Dot cardstock. The DP underneath is also a BoBunny paper. Add a strip of the double dot cardstock and an ivory strip punched with an EK Success border punch designed by Brenda Walton. The butterflies are a Martha Stewart Crafts punch that were distressed with some Ranger Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink that have a couple purple pearls added for accent. The green ribbon is double-face satin by Midori.

Cherry Blossoms

The Cherry Blossoms set is another great selection of stamps from Flourishes. This card is made from one of the smaller images in the set - stamped multiple times along the left edge of the cardstock. I colored these with Prismacolor pencils. The pink bow is ribbon from May Arts and I overtied a second bow with a metallic twine also from May Arts. I LOVE the metallic twine. It comes in gold, silver and a white iridescent. The right edge of the natural cardstock is punched with an EK Success border punch and layered to a light green Bazzill cardstock, then to a mauve basecard with a metallic paper from Penny Black.

I hope you're having a great Labor Day weekend! The weather here in the northeast is gorgeous!

Jeannette

Yellow Roses...

These roses are from one of the calendar florals sets from Flourishes. Mixed with teal paper and cardstock, it makes a nice all-purpose card. The words are by Impression Obsession and the flowers are colored with Prismacolor pencils. There are 2 layers of Spellbinders dies - one in black and the other in natural white. I applied Wild Honey Distress ink by Ranger around the edge of the scalloped oval. Wild Honey is quickly becoming one of my favorite colors! The teal ribbon is a double-face satin by Midori.

3 Circles of Violets

I wanted to try something different with the beautiful violets stamp from Flourishes. So, I stamped and colored it 3 times (used Prismacolor pencils for this card), the cut parts of the image out at different views with a Spellbinders circle die. Add a couple coordinating color layers and put them on a card that will fit in a standard business envelope. The border punch is a Brenda Walton design from EK Success. The butterflies are a Martha Stewart Crafts punch that have a few adhesive beads added to them.

Fun with Flourishes...

I have been enjoying mixing and matching different Spellbinders dies - and have been LOVING the floral images by Flourishes! The circle is cut out and the cardstock left in the circle die. Then I used a Distress Ink and a large dauber to apply ink onto the cardstock - the die protects the edge of the cardstock and it leaves a nice white edge to the circle. I chose to color the image with Prismacolor pencils - they cover the ink on the circle more thoroughly. Layer it up with another Spellbinders dies and attach to the card with some ribbon. A classy card that is not difficult to make.