Fashionable Butterflies

This is my card for Bombshell Stamp's September sketch challenge.

Here's an angled shot to show off some of the layers and dimension.

and the inside of the card. I made this card at a retreat and my friend sitting next to me had this perfectly matching Washi tape so I bummed a few strips for the inside. 

Supplies: 

Stamps: Butterfly Queen (Bombshell Stamps)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Coloring: markers (Copic)

Printed Paper: Carolina breeze (Theresa Collins)

Cardstock: So Saffron, Basic Grey (Stampin' Up), white (Hammermill)

Tools: dies (Spellbinders), corner rounder

Accessories: nail head stickers (JoAnn's); Washi tape (unknown), foam adhesvie

Bombshell Glam

This is for the July Bombshell Sketch challenge.   I tried repeating the same scalloped circle, but it just didn't do it for me, so I used an alternate shape for the center image.   

 The rose ribbon trim is dusted with a bit of Ranger Distress ink using an artist sponge. 

Her dress is cut using MTC and my KNK Zing.  I cut one of the dresses from Bombshell Stamp's Bombshell Clothing file. 

When I saw the sketch, I saw it as a perfect opportunity to do a bit of a fancy fold

And here's the inside of the card.

Supplies:

Stamps: Bombshell Stamps (Bombshell Angel)

Ink: Memento (Rich Cocoa), Ranger Distress Ink

Coloring: Copic, Spica

Printed Paper: Stampin' Up (Pocketful of Posies)

Cardstock: Stampin' Up (Night of Navy), Core'dinations Pearls (Silver Shimmer)

Tools: Spellbinders, Martha Stewart (border punch), Make the Cut software, KNK Zing e-cutter

Accents: Stampin' Up (flower trim), Rhinestones

Butterfly Bombshell

This is for the Bombshell Stamps June sketch challenge.

 I adapted the sketch a bit by elongating the primary shape so that it would be more in proportion with that tall gorgeous Bombshell.   I also flipped the sketch so the line of elements is on top.  I used butterflies for that.   Instead of just adding some bling to one corner, I decided that every corner needed a little something. 

 Here's an angled shot to show some of the dimension.   I cut two of the spell binder shape -one print and one solid.  That solid piece is then cut into four pieces and aligned behind the printed piece to create a shaddow.

And the inside of the card.   

Supplies:
Stamps: Bombshell (Butterfly Queen)
Ink: Memento (Rich Cocoa), Ranger Distress Inks
Coloring: Copic
Printed Paper: Theresa Collins (Fabrications Canvas)
Cardstock: Stampin' Up
Tools: Spellbinders
Accents: Black Pearls, Nailhead brad sticker (inside of card)

Party Animal Invites

My little girl is turning 9.  It's amazing how time flies.   We made these party invites to send to her friends.   After about 25 of these, I'm done with little funky monsters for now... though I admit, they were fun to do.

Supplies: 

Stamps: CTMH (Party Animal)

Ink: Memento

Coloring: Copic

Paper: Hammermill Coverstock for the card base, DCWV textured cardstock

Tools: Spellbinders (scalloped squares)

Spellbinder Organization - CD Binder

The struggle of organization.   It goes hand in hand with having a stash of creative supplies and tools.   I used to keep my Spellbinder and Framelit dies in these great magnetic folders.  They're great, but I started to outgrow them.   So I kept on racking my brain about other solutions.

A binder system would be great.  I even tried the xyron magnet sheets and turn them into binder pages, but those didn't have enough magnetic power.   So then the though of combining magnetic sheets with some kind of sleeve.  They're heavy though, so a standard scrapbook sleeve wouldn't be strong enough.   So I needed something built to handle a bit of weight, had a sleeve and could be a binder.   I suppose that old CD binder I had laying around was worth a try.   To top it off, the CD binder has a zipper closure.  Perfect.  That way if anything did come lose it would be trapped in the binder.

So now, after using this solution a couple of weeks, I'm very happy with it.   Here's how I made it.  I went to my local Lowes and purchased a couple packages of these Magnetic AC Vent covers.   They're perfect for cutting in your paper trimmer.

I cut the magnetic sheets to size and even rounded the corners using a Crop-A-Dile Corner Comper by We R Memory Keepers.   I then mounted one set of Spellbinder dies per square.    For larger sets, I cut longer magnetic sheets and make sure to tuck those larger sets into the bottom pocket.   

One of a Kind Birthday

My daughter loves my SU Demo, Chris Galbraith.   When I told Angeline that I made a birthday card for Chris, Angeline was begging to make one too.  It was late last night, so we collaborated.   Here's the result.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Angeline insisted that the base and main color had to be purple.  Angeline loves to color, so I stamped a background for her to color.  Though she was very particular about how I should stamp that background. She does a great job coloring and love her ideas. 

For the greeting on the outside, Angeline insisted on the One of a Kind sentiment from the same stamp set as the background stamped image citing that "after all, Chris is one of a kind". 

And for the inside, she just loved coloring that Happy Birthday.  In fact, after she gave it back to me to mount into the card, Angeline asked to please see it again 'cause she just loved looking at it.   Followed by a detailed explanation of her coloring scheme.  Love that little girl.   :-)

And here's my guest designer.... Angeline.  The picture was taken on Christmas Day.

Supplies: 

Stamps: Stampin Up (One of a Kind, Papillion Potpourri, Outlined for Fun)

Ink/Coloring:  Stampin' Up classic die ink and markers

Paper: Stampin' Up cardstock

Tools: Stampin' Up (Butterfly Punch), Spellbinders die

Accessories: misc ribbon

Little Santa Pieces

My little 8 year old girl decided that we needed this incredibly intricate Santa Claus die by Cottage Cutz.   Well, I have in.  What else is new?   She helped put the Santa together and then we made a card out of it. 

A bit of a close up to show off the dimension and detail.

And the inside of the card which is where Santa's sack landed.

Supplies: 

Stamps: Impression Obsession (background)

Ink: Stampin' Up

Tools: Cottage Cutz (Santa die), Spellbinders (scalloped rectangle), Sizzix (embossing folder on the red paper which isn't really captured by the photos. )

Paper: K&Company

Accessories: Misc. ribbon

Wicked Collaboration

Halloween is around the corner.   The kids and I just went to the pumpkin patch this afternoon and picked out a pumpkin to carve.   Here's a card my daughter and I made for her teacher last year.  

Supplies: 

Stamps: greeting and cat from Close to My Heart, pumpkin from Basic Grey, 

Ink: Stampin Up

Paper: K& Company, misc purple glitter.

Tools: Martha Stewart border punch, Spellbinder, Ribbon

Bomb Away the Blues

It's a rainy day around these parts and what better way to bomb away the blues than with an awesome Bombshell project.   I used my Bombshell Angel stamp, this months sketch challenge from Bombshell Stamps blog.  There's so much detail to this card, I just had to make the image a bit larger than I usually do.

The background is this great two sided print from Echo Park.  I thought of my Bombshell Angel stamp the moment I saw that paper in the store.  It used to be a crisp black and white.   I took a Spellbinder Embossing folder and some SU Going Grey classic ink to it.  I shaded the paper before embossing and then did another round of shading/distressing after running it through the embossing folder.    The blue paper is a print from Creative Memories that's got a few years on it, but I'm good with "vintage" paper if you will.  I love it all. The accents are some Basic Grey ribbon and a line of brads.

Now to the main image herself.   She's my Bombshell Angel from Bombshell Stamps.  I stamped her using Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa) and then colored her using my Copic markers.  I dressed her up like a paper doll using this coordinating cutting file from Bombshell Stamps. I cut the dress using Make The Cut software and my KNK Zing.  I shaded the blue dress (and the blue used for the mats) with some SU Classic ink.

And here's the inside of the card.  I ran a piece of white cardstock into the die cut machine but only an inch or less and rolled it back out.   I added some shading around the edges and a few scraps of printed paper (also shaded).  Viola... done!

Here's the card sketch used from the Bombshell Stamps forum.

Supplies: 

Stamps: Bombshell Stamps (Bombshell Angel)

Ink: Memento (Rich Cocoa), Stampin' Up (Basic Grey, Brocade Blue)

Coloring: Copic markers

Papers: Echo Park print, Creative Memories print, Nennah (for the Bombshell Angel image), Hammermill coverstock (for the inside of the card), Stampin Up (Basic Black for the card base)

Tools: Spellbinder embossing folder

Accents: Basic Grey Ribbon, Paper Studio brads, Stampin' Up Dimensionals

Product Highlights.... 

Bombshell Angel stamp set

http://www.bombshellstamps.com/catalog/item/5305856/5276722.htm

Bombshell Angel cutting file 

Friendly Monster Birthday

Here's my card using this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  I stamped and colored the little monster image some time ago using my Copic markers.   I can't color right now as my hand is still heeling from surgery, so it's a perfect time to put this little one to use.  Oh and I have to add that the colors are for my 8 year old daughter.   It's a bit busy for me, but she thinks it's wonderful.  :-)

Supplies
Stamps: Close to My Heart (Party Animal), Stampin Up (Vintage Labels)
Paper: Basic Grey (Lime Rickey), Stampin' Up card stock
Tools: Spellbinders, Stampin' Up punches, Fiskars border punch
Coloring: Copic Markers, Memento Ink, Stampin Up inks.

Boy Scout Birthday for a Boy Scout Mom

My son is in Cub Scouts and one of the moms that helped organize a camp out that took place last weekend also had her birthday last weekend.  Talk about dedication.  No pedicures, no massages, no tranquil afternoon cocktail for this mom's birthday.  Instead she was roughing it in the woods, with a tent, surrounded by hyper cub scouts ready explore the wilderness.   I found out about her birthday just before everyone left for camp and stayed up to put this card together.  I had creative block too.   Hate it when that happens. 

Here's what I cam up with.  It's an oversized 8x11 card so that all the boys could sign.

Here's the inside of the card.

 Here are some close ups of the flowers.  They were made using a Stampin' Up punches and some Sizzix dies.  The cardstock is by Stampin' Up.  All of the printed papers are from K & Company from a paper pack designed for Boy Scouts.  Some of the centers are stamped with Stampin' Up stamps and sculpted with a rub-on tool.  Some have these acrylic domes from the Stampin' Up Build-A-Brad kits adhered to them.  

 

The greeting was stamped using Stamin' Up stamps, punched with the large SU oval punch, and layered using Spellbinder oval and scalloped oval dies.  And just about all of the embellishments were inked in one way or another.

Stampin' Up stamp sets used include (listed in order of mini pictures above): Artistic Etchings, Boho Backgrounds, Mixed Bunch, and Perfect Punches.