Creative Card Ladies ~ Learn About Butterflies Day!

 

Hi friends!

The Creative Card Ladies (formerly the Dueling Darlings)

 are back with a new theme: Learn About Butterflies Day.

You may have seen this post last week where I already

 started the butterfly celebration 

and the video is up here on my YouTube channel :)

My card today is part of the dueling teams ~

I'm on The Diamonds and our kit was sent to us from Barb.

Tracie sent the card kits to The Pearls + both themes are butterflies!

I used the gorgeous papers Barb sent in the kit 

and am eternally grateful that she precut the butterfly and sentiment!

Because of that, I colored it and popped it up for dimension.

Barb's kit was very generous and I'll have plenty to use for future cards.

I have a second blog post that will be up shortly ...

it was done (to be posted) yesterday

but we were celebrating Mother's Day and I was offline.

I hope you can come back for that card, too!

To see all the CCL cards, head over to the Splitcoaststampers Forum

and look for the Creative Card Ladies in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by :)

AAA Birthday- Patterned Paper

Hot Mess = Success ... watercolor dunking!

 

Hi friends!

Today's post is for the Hot Mess = Success card group 

and this is our 20th card of this once-a-month challenge.

The idea is to create a card with a 'messy' technique.

I'm late for the posting as it's normally on the 12th

but I just haven't been able to make cards as I usually do :)

Better late than never .... that's my motto!

What was my messy technique this month?

Watercolor dunking!

I'm pretty sure I totally made that up, but 

I'm not sure what else to call it :)

I started by filling a small plate with Altenew's watercolors

by just barely adding any water.

The super rich, concentrated colors were

almost like a dry rub on the plate.

I chose 5-6 colors and added them about 1" apart on a ceramic plate.

I stamped (Stazon) and die cut the floral image from

 Altenew's Wild Flora stamps.

For this part, I had to work superfly quick,

almost double handing the water and the stamped image!

With one hand, I poured a small amount of water (maybe 1/3 cup)

and let the watercolors start to 'pool' and mix organically but 

BEFORE 

it gets completely muddled together,

I quickly dunked the image into the watercolor mixture.

Some of the watercolors attach directly to the paper

and others are almost muted by the darker, richer colors.

I did this about 3-4 times and this was image #2 ~

I liked it the best out of all of them and just kept this one to work with.

Once that was dry, I used white acrylic paint 

and flicked it onto the image using a wide paintbrush for bigger drops.

I added it to a background die and popped it up on foam

and added a sentiment from the matching stamp set.

And that's my card!

This month's Hot Mess = A Success!

Thanks for stopping by!

Card entered to:  Word Art Wednesday

Altenew March inspiration

CCEE2110 ~ Butterflies!

 

Hi friends!

There's a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers blog this week

and we're fluttering by with a new theme.

March 14th is Learn About Butterflies Day

and the Design Team has a beautiful variety of 

butterfly cards to share with you!

When I was editing the photos, I starting laughing 

when I spotted this ...

I mean, show up with butter for me ... I won't be mad at it! :)

But here is my actual card!

I made two - one in pink/orange and one with blue tones.

Video will be up on my YouTube channel this afternoon!

I'm slow in filming/editing/adding content because it takes 

forever and a year and I've been using that time to exercise :)

For both of my cards, I've used Honey Bee stamps 

butterfly stamps and dies

and the background is from a Hello Bluebird background stamp

that I made in an online distress ink class.

The only person I'd even say this to is my husband

so I'm not really sure why I made two, LOL!

I guess I'll just add these to the donation box :)

Be sure to stop in the CCEE Stampers blog

to see the DT cards this week and link up your card if you play along!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Stamp What?! ~ Chocolate Bunny!

 Hi friends!

Today I'm sharing a card from my Stamp What?! card challenge 

that was started by my son :)

I LOVE this monthly card series because it's one that he challenged me 

to use my old wooden Stampin' Up stamps we call "Old Dusties."

He chooses the STAMPin' up stamp

and I don't know WHAT it is until he hands it to me!

For this month, he chose Chocolate Bunny!

 I always like to ask him just for kicks and giggles ...

Me:  "Ohhhhh, what made you chose this one?"

Him:  "It has a bunny and I thought it would be nice for Alice's

Easter basket."

That's SO sweet! He's the best uncle!

And here's my card ...

I'm sure Alice is going to love her Easter Basket

 and yummy chocolate bunny.  

She adores her stuffed animal bunny and even loves to hop around

 the house like a bunny, including inviting me to hop around with her :)

The sentiment is from an MFT Stamps set and I added some dots, too.

I've invited my friends Barb and Jeanette to play along in this challenge

and their cards are on their blogs.

Here's one final look at this teeny tiny stamp from Stampin' Up!

I'll be back in April as this challenge is the 10th of every month.

Thanks for stopping by!

3M: Friendship is ....

Welcome to the journey of an imperfect card that almost wasn't!

Creating this card was an 'everything is going wrong'

and taking what I thought was going to be 

unsalvageable to the salvageable!

Okay ... it's called Smoke and Mirrors ...  who am I kidding :)

Hi friends!

Today's card is for the 3M (3 Musketeers) card group

 that was invented by my good friend, Jeanette!

She invited Barb and myself to join her in this challenge

where we take turns chosing ONE image, mailing it,

and all 3 of us create a card using that same stamped image.

(I'd like to share we ONLY share images that are allowed by the company's angel policies!)

This month, Barb chose the image and it's a beauty!

Unfortunately, my card is not as I ran into a wee bit a lot of trouble.

What went wrong:

1. The first of three images was chewed up in the Scan 'n Cut.

Like 'the dog ate my homework' mangled!

2.  The second was traced way outside the scanned lines by the SNC

like a failed sobriety test - just NOWHERE close to being usable.

And that left me with one final image.

3. I used new to me alcohol based 'copic-like' markers

 and they are NO BUENO!

They leaked and feathered something awful 

and my floral colored image ended up looking like 

I watercolored it outside the lines... but I didn't!

SEE!

What went right!

1. I did my best to 'clean it up' by recoloring the image again, 

this time with copic markers

and blended/resaturated the image to move the old ink a bit.

2. I used the trusty white signo gel pen to clean up 

some of the outside feathering and add a little extra to the petals.

It's stil not perfect but it's better!

Here's the front of my completed card and it's using 

3. Pretty papers to compliment the image!

4.  A pop of pink from the rhinestones added to the flowers.

I normally don't show the inside of my cards 

so that the recipient can have a little surprise.

But for this card, here's the sweet sentiment that Barb sent.

and finally #5 ~ it fits into an A2 envelope perfectly!

I'm happy I was able to turn around this NAY to a YAY!

Perserverance :)

Thanks for reading this far if you've made it!

You can see Barb's card here and Jeanette's card here on their blogs.

Question time!

Do you have any tips on how you've salvaged a card?

I'd love to hear your ways that have worked for you.

If it were my stamp, I could have easily stamped another

but with just one image left, I'd love to hear your success stories!

I never know when I'll have another oopsie :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy International Women's Day!

 

Hi friends!

Happy Monday and Happy International Women's Day!

Although this day is celebrated today on this one date,

it's truly a celebration for all days that have led to this.

In 2021, they've asked 'what does this day continue to mean to you?'

It's a day to celebrate acheivements of ALL women.

For me specifically, it's a term that makes me proud to be 

 

 a wife, mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, friend :)

Having grown up in a military family, it's taught me:

love, family, respect, pride, resilience, fortitude, sustainability, faith.

Today's card is featuring 'a little warmth' from Unity Stamp Company.

I've recently uncovered a treasure trove 

of my USC stamps and you'll probably be seeing them more often :)

I chose this stamp because she looks like she's off to work

or a meeting or maybe enjoying a moment with friends grabbing coffee.

I'm a joyful stay-at-home mom who's raised 4 children 

to be wonderfully amazing adults

and I could not be prouder of who they are!

So raise your cuppa (or glass!) and CHEERS to all of us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Your Next Stamp - Guest Designer!

 

Hi friends!

Today I'm sharing a card over on the blog at Your Next Stamp 

 ~ woohoo! :)

I had an absolute blast making cards for the new March stamp release 

and Karen (owner) is so incredibly generous and kind

and shipping is really on point!

Make sure to stop by the blog to see if you were a lucky winner :)

Today I'm sharing the darling stamp and die set Spring Smiles

and I created a peek-a-boo card.

The idea behind these types of cards are you have 

just a little somethin' on the front

and a bigger reveal as a surprise inside!

And here's the inside!

Since this card is for my mama, I stamped Happy Mother's Day

onto the front and I Miss You to the inside.

Although I saw her all this weekend (she got her Covid shot #1!)

my military brother is stationed somewhere in Latvia so it's from "us."

I used my copic markers to color the sweet images

and added just a small piece of designer paper for the grass.

The reason for the 'grassy hills' is I was going to add the bunny

but had a chance of heart and just added the flowers and butterflies.

Here's a final look ........

You can find these items and more here in the YNS shop

as well as insprational cards all week here on the blog!

Thanks for joining me today and happy crafting :)

One Plus Twelve - March

 

Hi friends!

Today's card is for my very VERY favorite card series -

One Plus Twelve :)

The idea I take one stamp 

- and only one stamp - 

and use it creatively twelve different times!

This year, I chose my favorite flower - Magnolias -

and I'm using the Magnolia stamp and die from Altenew.

For March, I knew I wanted to use my favorite color green <3

This month always reminds me of spring

and everything turning green again with new growth, new life!

I did some stamped line watercoloring,

although it wasn't as successful as I'd hoped, I still like it :)

To create this card, it took a lot of different products and layers

so let me walk you through it!

Here's my card:

I started a base layer of cardstock and used my striped stencil

to create the subtle lines with Ranger distress ink in Shabby Shutters.

I blended the ink with the stencil using the using the new-to-me

 scrapbook.com domed blenders and they are amazing!

Once that was done, I used a small rectangle stitched die to 

die cut 3 matching panels as a backdrop.

Next up,  I used another distress ink in Peeled Paint to stamp the image 

and used a paint brush and water to pull the ink 

After that was dry, I used the matching die cut for the magnolia

and popped that up on foam, too - and added a sentiment and sequins.

And that's my March One Plus Twelve card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Your Next Stamp - March release BLOG HOP!

 Hi friends!

 Welcome to the Your Next Stamp new March release

BLOG HOP! 

I am delighted to be part of this exciting new release

with the cutest new spring stamps, dies and more :)

Today we are showcasing Happy Purrr-thday

stamps and die cuts.

Here's a reminder of the blog hop and generous coupon code :)

            Here is the blog hop order so you can hop along

and see all of the beautiful card creations:

         

And my card!

Here is my kitty floating with her party balloons <3

I added the sweet party kitty to a backdrop of 

blended inks and colored her with copic markers,

popped up to match the floating clouds :)

The inside reads:  Have a purrr-fect day!

Thanks for stopping by and hopping along!

Your next stop on the hop is:

Your Next Stamp ~ preview day #3!

 

Hi friends!

Welcome to Day #3 of the Your Next Stamp March new release preview!

Thanks so much for visiting during day #1!

If you missed day #1 and #2, please head over to the YNS blog

to see ah-dor-a-ble stamps, dies and more that have been showcased :)

Each preview day, we are giving away the stamp sets being showcased. 

Each individual set will go to a randomly selected comment left on the YNS blog, 

YNS Designer’s blogs or YNS IG. Leave all your comments by March 3, 2021

 at midnight EST, the winners will be announced on March 4th.

And be sure to stop back tomorrow 3/4/2021 for the Blog Hop!

Here is the line up for today's preview:

• Kulbir Kirkland
• Meghan Kennihan
• Sam Olden
• Karen Aicken
• Kerri Michaud
• Laura Nehring
• Kelly Santi, New Release Guest

My card today is using the new stamps and dies from Spring Smiles.

This set is just darling!

         Here are a couple of fun announcements and my card to follow

so let's take a peek at Spring Smiles!

                                       Onto my card ....

I've used a distress ink in Tumbled Glass for the background,

 blending in an ombre fashion from dark to light.

I used the new domed ink blenders and I purposedly skipped 

a few spots while 'swiping' to get a cloudy effect.

For the darling bunny and stamped images, I colored them with copic

markers and added them with a frame by using 2 dies to create it.

And finally, stamped the matching sentiment to the background

and popped it up onto a card base!

Is this the cutest set?

It has an adorable envelope of mail, the sweet bunny, 

and the gorgeous watering can of flowers!

I used the watering can and trimmed off the top for this card

to create flowers and added the happy butterfly dancing about!

To see the full hop of previews today,

 please check the blog here and the list below!

Thanks so much for stopping by!