Happy Accident

I was working on a card using this Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper. I had made my cut for a 4"x5-1/4" piece of it and then my paper cutter blade fell down on the remaining 4"x6-3/4" piece and cut it diagonally. I hate when I do that! Usually I just put that piece back in the package and hope I will use it later. But this time I challenged myself to make something with it. I like how it turned out. 

The stamped image is from the Another Great Year stamp set. I stamped once on white and cut with circle punches and then stamped a second time on Crushed Curry and fussy cut the banner to layer.  I colored the candles with Blendabilities markers. More circle punching in Tangelo Twist and Crushed Curry and a strip of the Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim and all layered on a stamped piece of Tangelo Twist. The dots were made using a stamp from the Work of Art stamp set. (You gotta get it!) After everything was layered I had a few of the Bermuda Bay sequins laying on my work surface so I added them to the card and topped them with a little rhinestone. I love when little mishaps turn into happy accidents!

TBT - Because I Care

For this week's "throw back" I used the "Because I Care" Hostess set from several years ago with retired Concord Crush cardstock, ink and ribbon. A little black matting and brad help to bring out the colors. Hydrangeas have always been one of my favorite flowers, so I really like this set. I used Pear Pizzazz for the green in the card. The Concord Crush cardstock was embossed using the Stylish Stripes Embossing Folder and Big Shot.

Butterfly Basics and Thinlits

Here are two cards made using the Butterfly Basics stamp set and the Butterfly Thinlits. I debated on whether to order the bundle or just the Thinlits. But the images in the stamp set won me over. They are just so pretty!
There are three thinlits in the pack. I've used the two larger more detailed ones on these cards. The little butterfly on the first card is punched using the Bitty Butterfly punch.
Because these two butterflies are so detailed you will want to use a layer of wax paper between the thinlit and your card stock. And even with that added layer I found I had to add a shim to get the best cut of the large butterfly. I was using the Irresistibly Yours Specialty DSP which is thicker and has that glossy layer so that only added to the difficulty of getting a good cut. But I do like the way the sponged paper looks with the butterfly cut.
All Big Shots are a little bit different so you may or may not need a shim. If you don't like to fuss with die cuts this set of framelits may not be for you; but believe me once I got my layers for my Big Shot figured out I really had fun with these butterflies.

CASE of Manufactured Card

Have you noticed that card manufacturer's are producing cards that look hand made. I think we have them worried!
Here's a CASE of a card I received recently. The manufactured card had stems that were scripted words. Honestly I like mine better because the purchased card had to be turned on its side to read the script. And it didn't have the embossed vellum like mine does. I colored the Basic Jewel Rhinestones with blendabilities markers and the vellum was colored using a sponge dauber and ink pad of the same color. The stem is actually the balloon string from Celebrate Today stamp set and the flower is from Petite Petals. I used the Petite Petals punch, too.

B.Y.O.P.

 B.Y.O.P. stamp set in the Occasions catalog is one of my favorites. It's designed to use with gift cards. There are expressions for specific occasions but a few can be used for anything. I also used the new Bow Builder Punch on this card. Originally I was just going to put the bow on the card but then there were these little strips of card stock sitting on my work surface from a previous cutting in the exact same color and that gave me the ribbon idea. Since then I've seen it on other people's blogs and Pinterest. When using the Bow Builder punch you do have to punch twice to get all the pieces you need. I put mine together using mini glue dots. I won't be sending it for a while so I'm going to see how it holds. Sticky Strip might be the better adhesive.

The inside of the card explains the expression and I added a little strip of matching card stock to the left side. I won't be sending a gift card but will be sending a check in this card; so the strip is just attached with a glue dot at each end and then I'll fold the check and hang it over the strip of card stock. I'm sure somebody else has come up with this idea, too. LOL

Sympathy Cards

 Here are two cards using the Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper, My use certainly doesn't go along with the name of this DSP, but I was in need of some more masculine looking sympathy cards. The top card was my first attempt. It uses a couple of retired stamp sets and the new White Jute Ribbon. I like it but still wasn't quite as masculine as I wanted. So I used a different patter of the paper in the card below and paired it with the retired Herringbone embossing folder. Both cards use the white embossing powder. I have finally put the powder away!

Throw Back Thursday

 I decided to apply Throw Back Thursday to my stamping. This is an old set called "In Full Bloom."  Such pretty delicate designs! Yes, I still had my embossing powder out and did white on white again and used it to make this card with the detachable book mark. There's a little slit cut into the Soft Sky card stock and hidden under the stamped band. The book mark was trimmed at the top using the new Ornate Tag Topper punch. I used my Big Shot and the retired Flower Garden embossing folder on the Soft Sky cards stock. The recipient can remove the bookmark and then use the card again if they want. The twine is from the Painted Blooms Cotton Twine pack in the Occasions catalog.