Trio of cards from Blossoms and Butterflies

I managed to knock out another little project! I'm on a roll -- first the canvas clock, now this one!! I picked up a fun and pretty paper stack by DCWV called "Blossoms and Butterflies". It's nice, thick paper, and includes embossed, glittered, and foiled designs. For this project, my criteria were:

1. use papers from B&B stack
2. use stamp set I got for a good price from Hobby Lobby and haven't inked up at all
3. use some coordinating bling and brads I picked up the same time I got the paper stack
4. base cards on SCS sketch challenges

This first card is based on SCS sketch challenge 201. The sentiment layer is popped up on foam dimensionals. I made the jaggedy matting layer by stamping on and trimming the white sentiment cardstock layer down to size, then laying it on the matting cardstock and tracing around it lightly in pencil. Using my Dragonback Fiskars decorative-edged scissors, I cut the matting by carefully lining the bottom of the cutting edges with the pencil line. I've seen this kind of matting edge done elsewhere and really like the effect, so I was happy to be able to give it a shot myself!

Stamps: sentiment from clear set at Hobby Lobby -- if someone could let me know which company they're by, I'd appreciate it! I threw away the packaging.
Paper: colourful butterflies on brown, green with blue stripe and flowers, and yellow blossoms and butterflies on white patterned papers from DCWV Butterflies & Blossoms paper stack. Brown cardstock base, white cardstock.
Ink: Chestnut Roan fluid chalk ink by Clearsnap.
Other: yellow brad with white flower on it by Spare Parts, small sunshine punch to make cardstock flower, Lemon Ice Stickles.

This card is based on SCS Sketch challenge 199. I knew I just had to showcase this lovely glittered cardstock on one of the cards, and this sketch was perfect for it! The large panel is popped up on foam dimensionals here. To make that panel stand out even more, I also ran a blue inkpad around the edges of the matting layer to define that edge. I really liked the card with just the main panel and the sentiment panel, but in order to conform to the challenge sketch, I needed to include a vertical panel on the left. I got around this by using lightweight vellum stamped with yellow ink for that third panel. How sneaky!

Stamps: circle cluster and concentric dots from Circles & Dots set by Inkadinkado, mystery stamp set from Hobby Lobby.
Paper: glittery flowers, blue flower, and yellow blossoms and butterflies on white patterned papers from DCWV Butterflies & Blossoms paper stack. White cardstock, vellum.
Ink: Lime Pastel, Blue Lagoon, and Yellow Citrus fluid chalk ink from Colorbox Queue

This last card is based on SCS sketch challenge 117, and took approximately fifty billion hours to finish. The pink swirly foiled patterned paper is so fun and eyecatching, but also a little overwhelming and out of my comfort zone. I had to pull out some of my shabby chic/distressed techniques to tone down the fuschia a little bit. I did several things to the edges of the hot pink layer:

• sponged with Broken China Distress Ink
• sponged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink
• doodled a border
• stamped over the doodled border with a dotty flourish in Starry Night Palette Ink

Possibly the hardest part of this card was finding a suitable colour for the card base. I finally wound up using an ecru-coloured cardstock for the base and stamped it with a background stamp in Vintage Photo, then stippled Vintage Photo around the edges, and then finally ran the edges along my Chestnut Roan inkpad. This was just one of those cards that you spend FOREVER on and don't really get much satisfaction from finishing because you were so focused on averting disaster, you can't really like the results. Know what I mean?

Stamps: sentiment from Inkadinkado clear set, dotty flourish along border from Circles & Dots set by Inkadinkado, butterflies on focal layer by PSX, daisies on focal layer by Studio G, dotty flower background stamp by Judikins.
Paper: blue flower, and hot pink swirly foiled patterned papers from DCWV Butterflies & Blossoms paper stack. White and ecru cardstocks.
Ink: Vintage Photo and Broken China Distress Inks by Ranger. Chestnut Roan fluid chalk ink by Colorbox. Starry Night Palette hybrid ink.
Other: blue bling around edges of focal layer by Spare Parts, bling along swirl in bottom right corner from Michaels.

Pretty Priscilla from OBP

I managed to finish up that project I mentioned in my previous post! I can't wait to post it, but in the evening under compact flourescent bulbs is NOT the time to photograph something like that! Someday I'd love to replace my jury-rigged "photo tent" (a pop-up hamper or a file folder and my daylight lamp) with an actual photo tent with tungsten lamps, but that isn't in the cards (haha!) for the time being. So, seeing as I can't get a good pic of my latest completed project, I wanted to post some cards I made a few weeks back featuring Priscilla the cat from Odd Bird Planet (aka Just Johanna Stamps).

This great cat has such a fun personality, I just knew she could pull off any style or colour scheme she wanted. :) I wanted to challenge myself and use just one inkpad in my favourite pink, Worn Lipstick. The 3.5 small circles and the matted circle Priscilla is on are all popped up on foam dimensionals, and are aligned along a cheeky pink line I made the old-fashioned way with a pink pen and a ruler.

Stamps: Priscilla the cat from Odd Bird Planet, sentiment by Inkadinkado Brenda Walton sentiment set, dotty background by Judikins

Ink: Worn Lipstick Distress Ink by Ranger

Paper: white cardstock, scraps of pink and green papers from Basic Grey (sorry don't remember which packages!)

Tools: 5/8" circle punch, Coluzzle circle and companion circle templates for focal layer

Other: Prismacolor pencil crayons in chartreuse and apple green, pink Sakura gelly roll gel pen, sponge, foam dimensionals.

The design of this second card came about primarily from my desire to try making a scalloped-type edge using a series of punched circles. It's a fun enough effect, but a little too labour-intensive for me. I also wanted to try and make something interesting and fun from this generic purple cardstock I got from either Michaels or Walmart in a value pack that I've had for at least eight hundred years. I also managed to use, for the first time ever, this lovely lacy edge stamp!

Stamps: Priscilla the cat from Odd Bird Planet, circle medallion from Fontwerks medallion set, lacy border from Fontwerks border set.

Ink: Worn Lipstick Distress Ink by Ranger, Pixie Dust, Purple Hydrangea, and Spring Pansy Versamagic chalk inks

Paper: white cardstock by Domtar, purple generic value pack cardstock from my hoard, vellum for the punched circles

Other: satin ribbon by Anna Griffin, 5/8" circle punch, large corner rounder, Prismacolour pencil crayons

And finally, because I wasn't happy with the photos I posted before of my sparkly butterfly card, I tried again to take a pic that showed some of the sparkliness of it. The results still aren't stellar, but anyhoo..... if you click on the photo a bigger picture will load showing some sparkle.

So now I have two projects on my plate to finish up; the first and most time-pressing is the sour cream containers for the Hallowe'en candy we'll be giving out this year, and the second is a card kit I'm putting together for my mum. To tell the truth, my heart's not into making the sour cream containers this year, but they made such an impression on the kids last year. We will see what happens -- if I don't get them done tomorrow, then we will be handing out nekkid candy this year!