Birthday Butterfly & Meeting Friends

Time for another challenge at Words 2 Craft By. Our inspiration quote for March is "Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over...she began to fly."  

Lots of possibilities & I went with a butterfly & birthday.  Melissa Phillips recent post called Watercolor Shapes really inspired me, so had to try her technique.  The Penny Black butterfly die was used to make a stencil & I sponged with Distress Inks dusty concord, worn lipstick & squeezed lemonade. I followed Melissa's tutorial adding water drops & blending with a water brush.  Penny Black's music background was stamped in the dusty concord ink with the stencil in place.  Don't think I've ever used this fun sentiment stamp or little flower from the PB set called sentiments.

I splattered the inks & sprayed the panel with Tattered Angels Iridescent Gold which gives a gorgeous shimmer.  The Memory Box butterfly cut from vellum was on my table, so I sprayed it with the same Tattered Angels & attached it with 2 little sequins.  Really a fun card to make!  Hope to see you in the W2CB gallery.  I'm also entering these challenges: Memory Box, SSS Monday, Twofers, CAS Mix Up, & Penny Black & More. 

Big treat today, as I met Linda & Colleen for lunch.  They're both sweet as can be & it felt like we'd been friends for years!  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Two Easter Cards

I don't use a lot of green--mostly for leaves & stems. However, it is a soothing color & a symbol of new life.  So I decided to use a lot of green for an Easter card.  The Ellen Hutson Bold Blossom flower dies are cut from self-adhesive fun foam which I glittered with Elizabeth Craft Cool Highlight--my favorite glitter!  The die cut strip is by Pretty Pink Posh & so are the clear dots. I used a very old sentiment by a local company no longer in business.  My layout was based on the sketch at FMS, but I left out one layer. I'm entering these challenges: Chouxchoux, EH Mix It Up, Double D, Fusion, Time Out & Die Cut Divas.

Next is my card for the MFT sketch & MFT color challenges, which I've been missing lately.

I used MFT Prima Donna Petals & Leaf-Filled Flourish dies.  An old Cuttlebug embossing folder provides more texture & the sentiment from a local company no longer in business was stamped in VersaMagic Gingerbread.  Fun to use a color combo I wouldn't have come up with on my own. I'm also entering AAA Cards & SSS Wednesday. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Happy Easter in 60 Minutes!

I worked yesterday, but fortunately the Hero Arts Flickr 90 minute Scramble gave us a 24 hr time frame. Barb's theme was to make a card with an angle. My CAS Easter card was done & uploaded in 60 minutes.  I white embossed HA Magical Background & spritzed with Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz Sparkle. The sentiment is an old Inkadinkado stamp with puppy teeth marks--luckily I grabbed it before Fritz could hurt the rubber!  Bought the cute Washi tape after Easter last year & this is my first card using it.  I'm also entering these challenges: NBUS #6, a2z Scrapbooking, The Playground (just for fun, not a prize) & SSS Wednesday. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Easter/Spring

The theme this month for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge is Easter.

I white embossed this old Penny Black stamp & then watercolored with Zig markers.  The mat was cut from another watercolored piece & I embellished with tiny gems. Easter is early this year, so why not check out the wonderful DT projects & add yours to the gallery? Be sure to add GDT after your name if you'd like to be considered for a guest design spot with us.

I also made another card with Betsy's PTI MIM technique, but this time I left the white area at the bottom, like my friend Char did for her card. Again I used the MFT stencil, but the inks are Distress Ink shabby shutters & squeezed lemonade. Thought it'd be fun to use the Penny Black balloon dies for something other than a birthday card.  

I sponged them with the green ink & covered them in Star Dust Stickles.  Had just the right shade of green floss for the strings & they're mounted them with foam tape.  The sentiment stamp is by Stampendous & some yellow gems finish it off. I'm entering these challenges: Chouxchoux, SSS Wednesday, Time Out & Die Cut Divas. Enjoy your weekend!
 

Fortunate Finds

I lost 2 small stamps over the last couple weeks. One flew off the block when I picked it up & couldn't find it anywhere.  Of course my table was a mess, as usual--haha!  The stamp set would still be perfectly usable without it, but I was unhappy with myself for being careless.  Several cards & days later, I picked up an acrylic block I'd set aside & would you believe the stamp was attached to the bottom of the block!  It actually hadn't flown very far, but was hiding.  Then when I knelt to take a picture of a card I happened to notice another little stamp on the carpet that I hadn't even missed yet!  
But the biggest find is that I saw a dermatologist to price removal of some skin lesions I knew were benign. She did a complete skin check--I have many moles. Turned out I needed 4 biopsies & 3 of them came back with "unusual features" which means they could turn to Melanoma.  I was pretty shocked & grateful they were caught.  Now I get to have 3 in-office surgeries--not fun, but worth it! I'm sharing so any of you with a lot of moles will consider seeing a dermatologist.  

Enough of that--on to my card for Betsy's wonderful PTI MIM challenge: Ombre Stenciled Backgrounds.  May be one of the best galleries ever--such beautiful cards!  

Hope you like mine done with PTI The Sweet Life & Quilled Elegance using PTI inks Limeade Ice & Lemon Tart. The stencil is by MFT & I finished off with PPP Marshmallow sequins.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday & Seize the Birthday. Thanks for stopping by.

Joyous Easter

Thought it'd be fun to "decorate" my Memory Box egg dies by stamping on them.  This beautiful lace image is from Penny Black's lace delight set which I've had about 3 years. I've barely used the set & never used this image. The  inks are VersaMagic Spring Pansy, Aloe Vera & Sea Breeze which were lightly sponged after stamping. I brushed them with WOS & added gems.  The sentiment stamp is also NBUS from Stampendous. I've had it at least 2 years & have no idea why it didn't get inked before now!  Fun to thread some ribbon through the WP9 Lattice die cut--will do that again for sure!  I'm entering these challenges:  Darnell's NBUS, Retro Rubber, The Playground, Die Cut Divas & Time Out. Thanks for stopping by.

Time to Make Easter Cards

Easter is early this year, so not much time before cards have to be in the mail. The Ellen Hutson Pin-Sights Challenge has a gorgeous inspiration board that works for Valentines or Easter in my mind.  So many options, but I ended up using the beautiful pastel leaves in panel 8 & the lace in panel 4. I began by smooshing & lightly splattering a panel of wc paper with Distress Ink victorian velvet.  The sentiment is from a local company no longer in business & it's stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate.  

The leaves from EH Bold Blossoms are cut from wc paper sponged with the victorian velvet which gives a nice variation in shades.  A Candi dot was sponged with the ink until it was a bit darker & the lace was attached to the panel. I think there's enough interest & texture that I mounted the panel flat, so this won't need extra postage.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday & Die Cut Divas. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by my blog.