Anniversary Card

Hello friends!  I have an anniversary card to share today. I've used lots of fun Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts bits and bobs including butterflies, heart dangles, and wee little number plates.  I made this for my sister Lora, who also happens to be on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts education team.  I hope she doesn't take a sneak peek at my post before she receives the card!

I started with the Butterflies and Dragonflies cut.  Look how many choices are on the card!

Separate the cuts from the card -- I usually just press a blade into the board at the little stay-tabs.  Repeat on the other side if needed.

I dabbed white gesso on each piece and allowed to dry.

I positioned the heart frame top over the scene I wanted and traced it with a pencil.  I cut it inside the pencil lines so it wouldn't overlap on assembly and used brown ink on the edges.

Paint was next!  First I coated everything in creme white and quickly became bored with it.

I didn't take photos along the way, but I used these paint in roughly the left-to-right order.  The white on the end was mixed with colors to lighten them.  A little water diluted the paints so I could blend them in.

Here's the butterfly result.  Pretty!  The beaded hearts and bead trim were sponged with very diluted brown paint.  I used a brown marker to color the heart base so white didn't show through.

The Viva Pearl Pen is useful for pearls but keep in mind the dots will dry like little daggers if you don't make sure the tops are rounded when applied.  I didn't work carefully enough, I'll admit.  I ws able to push the dagger dots down a bit once dried.

The number plates are finished and don't need any treatment.  I used a straight pin to poke holes in the beaded heart where I wanted to attach the number plate.  Small vintage eye pins did the trick!

Once the card was embellished I decided to add a glassy surface in the heart using Diamond Glaze.

And here's the finished card!

Happy anniversary Lora and hubby!  I love you both dearly.  :)

Cheers,
Susan


Bead Strand Heart Dangle #D12H
Butterflies and Dragonflies #D69A
Bead Strands #D99K
Tiny Number Plates White #C8TW (coming soon!)

Other supplies used
Sewing machine
Scor Tape
Clear fabric glue
Liquitex white gesso
Diamond Glaze
Brown and ivory card stock
Pink Paislee paper
Mulberry paper flowers
Vintage tatting
Vintage crochet
Lumiere paints
Ivory acrylic paint
Viva Pearl Pen in creme

Butterfly Tag

Hello hello! I hope your day is treating you well. Like most of the US, we're suffering through another cold snap. The high temperature forecast is 21F.

Ugh.
Whine.
Whimper.

Enough of that! Here's another tag made especially for a Very Nice Lady. Perhaps it will scoop you up out of the winter doldrums and gently place you in late spring, with flowers blooming and the first few butterflys flitting about.
 

The butterflies are layered for a 3D effect, and have homemade antennae

 

And the whole tag:

Oh how I love this one!

I'm currently finishing up an Artist Trading Block Swap over on Craftster. Once it's done I'll ship to Canada and post it here after my partner receives. I can't wait to show you!

Thanks for stopping in today!

Cheers,
Susan

Painted Ladies

Hello crafty friends! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend. I spent the last few days tooling around with my sister in Washington, DC. It was crazy warm - perfect to walk around in (I won't tell you about the wind, though). We found a few old treasures, but the best part was getting together - it's been a year and a half!

Today I want to share a card featuring painted chipboard butterflies. I used Jacquard Lumiere acrylic paints, and Ranger's Liquid Pearls and Stickles. The antennae are made from craft wire.

And here's a detail from the inside:

I really love the rich colors of Prima's "Fairy Flora" paper line! The vine is from a Cheery Lynn metal die, called "Fanciful Flourish".

Thanks for visiting today!

Cheers,
Susan

Etsy Greetings Team Card Swap

Card swap favorite

Hiya crafty bloggers! Today I want to share a little fun we're having at the Etsy Greetings Team. We're a group of over 100 Etsy greeting card sellers who get together online and share advice on selling, buying and sometimes life in general. It's a great group of individuals from all over the world!

Unless we buy each other's cards, we don't get to see what's out there beyond the computer screen. A group of us got together and decided to swap cards just for the fun of it. Lucky me - I'm the swap coordinator  and everyone is sending me packages of lovely handmade goodness! It's been like Christmas over the last few weeks. Check this out:

25 Etsy shops sent cards - can you believe it?

I'm waiting for one more package to arrive and then I get to sort and send back to the participants. Each shop sent 5 or 10 cards and will receive the same amount in return, but from all different shops. I signed up for 5 so I made five and get to pick 5 from other shops. Oh, the decisions will be difficult!

Here are the five I made:

I wanted to make cards that could be sent through the mail in standard envelopes rather than my non-standard boxes. I've been sitting on the DCWV Mariposa paper stack for months, just waiting for the right project to come along. This was it.

The stack includes 2 of each sheet, so I was able to layer the butterflies for a little 3D effect. The antennae are made from black jewelry wire. The card fronts are layered and sewn, and the insides are blank. I haven't weighed them yet, but I hope they can be mailed with a single stamp.

I absolutely adore these and will be sorry to see them go. The one featured at the top of this post is my favorite. Luckily the papers are still available in stores... I just might have to get more to make my own. *grin*

If you would like to know more about our team, check out our blog. Every day a new card is featured and you'll find a list of member bloggers on the right side! If you'd like to know all of our shops and join our merry band, this page has the low down. And any time you're browsing around Etsy you can find an assortment of our offerings by typing etsygreetingsteam in the search bar.

Thanks for visiting today, and thanks to all my Etsy Greetings Team friends - your cards will be in the mail soon!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Fluttering Butterflies

Hello crafty folks! It's Monday and that means I get to share another Beary Scrap design team project with you. A new challenge starts today where we all get to play Tic-Tac-Toe and choose three in a row!

 
I've made a tag (oh how I love tags!) using the Tim Holtz Tag & Bookplate die. The beautiful paper is Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden, and my challenge row is "lace-distress-glitter". I wanted to showcase the birdcage and bird on the paper, so I built around them. There is a bit of distressed lace on the bottom (spritzed with Glimmer Mist). I age-distressed the edges of my tag with Vintage Photo ink and the flowers and butterfly spots are glittered with Stickles Star Dust.  The Prima vine is tinged with Tattered Rose Distress ink and touched with Stickles Star Dust. The butterflies are cut from one of the PP Butterfly Garden pages, and the hanger is made from apricot seam binding.

Click to make me bigger!

 Thanks for visiting today! I hope you can be inspired with all our projects this week to challenge yourself to a game of Tic-Tac-Toe. You could win a $20 voucher from The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Mischievous Fairy!

Hello hello! It's Memorial Day here in the US, and I hope with all my heart that everyone takes a moment to celebrate and remember those who fought the good fight. Thank you all.

This week Gini and I are wrapping up our current Beary Sweet "Nature" Challenge before Patricia kicks off a new sketch challenge on Wednesday. Can you believe June is almost here?!

I can't seem to break away from butterflies during my nature-themed projects, and this last one is no different. :) This time, it seems the fairy has released the butterflies from captivity!

Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden line is the name of the game on this Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix die cut tag. I've used Butterfly Garden for both the tag itself and the cut-out butterflies. The fairy was cut from the "Botanical Garden" sheet.

The Butterfly Garden wood cage (currently sold out - check back for more) was colored with Tattered Rose Distress Ink and then randomly dotted with the same color Distress Stickles. I was very inspired by Guest DT Debbie and her pink glittered cage of 2 weeks ago!

I added Star Dust Stickles to all the wings and mulberry paper flowers, and used Frosted Lace Stickles on the rose for a little glitter without all the glamour.

Card Recipe

• Paper - Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden "Butterfly Wings" and "Botanical Garden" 12x12 sheets
• Medium -Ranger Distress Ink in Tattered Rose and Vintage Photo; Ranger Stickles in Star Dust and Frosted Lace, and Distress Stickles in Tattered Rose.
• Embellishment -Sage seam binding; hand cut butterflies and fairy from the Butterfly Garden sheets; Pink Paislee wood cage; Mulberry Paper Roses; assorted pearls; decorative pins from my collection
• Adhesive -Fabri-Tac
• Tools - Tim Holtz Alterations "Tag & Bookplate Die"; Honeybee Scissors for precision cutting

Thanks for visiting today! You shave until midnight EST tomorrow to enter your Nature-inspired project into our Beary Sweet Challenge. You could win a $20 voucher to The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Nature's Flutters

Hello hello and happy Monday to you! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I had a birthday... and it was good. *wink*

So, this is Week 2 of our Beary Sweet Nature Challenge, where you can enter any project that you think conjures up "nature" in your noggin. As a bonus challenge to the design team, we have to include a charm in our project. Easy enough!

Kimm just got this fun filmstrip ribbon into the store, and I decided to use that as my jumping-off point. Here's what happened when it all landed:

Card Recipe

• Paper: Bo Bunny Gabrielle 6x6 pad; Bazzill Basics Lily Pad and Walnut
• Medium: Ranger Distress Ink in Walnut Stain; Stickles Star Dust and Patina; Ranger Glossy Accents as a top layer on the bitty butterflies; Irridescent acrylic paints on the Pink Paislee wood butterfly
• Embellishments: Tiny butterflies cut from a sheet in the Gabrielle paper pad with homemade wire antennae; Tim Holtz Idea-ology film strip ribbon (available soon in the store!); Pearls; Assorted Prima flowers; Hand made decorative stick pins; crochet lace from stash
• Adhesive: 1/4" Scor-Tape; 3D Dots - 1/8" black 
• Tools: Scor-Pal (check out the Scor-Pal Mini!); Ranger Blending Tool; sewing machine

Thanks for visiting today! Come back all week for more great design team samples of our Nature theme. I hope you can enter our Beary Sweet Nature challenge, too. You could win a $20 voucher from The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Tilda Jumps for Joy!

Hello crafty friends! It's Monday after a busy gardening weekend, which means I'm feeling achy but good after all that weeding. Phew! Who knew some weeds just don't die over the winter? I've got this wicked grassy stuff that sends out runners and .... oh my, you don't need to hear about my herb bed woes. Let's take a look at this week's Beary Scrap Design Team card, then! *So* much more fun.

We have a new sketch challenge for you, and I was inspired to color up a Magnolia stamp. I *know*! It's been a long time, but Tilda doesn't seem to be bothered - she's jumping for joy!

I layered her up and used copious amounts of Star Dust Stickles. The papers are the fun and springy Old World Cabbage Stew from Jillibean Soup. The butterflies are vintage images printed and cut out - I added wire antennae and Stickles for a little more detail. The pins are homemade.

Our Beary Sweet Sketch challenge goes on through May 14 - we'd love to see your entries based on this sketch. C'mon over and play!

Card Recipe

• Stamp - Magnolia
• Paper - Jillibean Soup Old World Cabbage Stew; Bazzill Basics in Mud Pie and Guacamole
• Medium - Copic for skin tones; Prismacolor pencils blended with OMS for the rest of Tilda; Stickles Star Dust; Distress Ink in Vintage Photo on the paper and flower edges
• Embellishments - 16mm Mulberry Paper Rose (white); Kaisercraft Pearls in snow; all others from stash
• Tools - Scor-Pal; Ranger Blending Tool; Honey Bee Scissors; trusty sewing machine
• Adhesives - Scor-Tape 1/4"; Fabri-Tac; EK Success 3D Dots 1/8"

Challenges, Please [Wow! I haven't been able to enter so many in AGES! Thanks for your consideration!]

• The Artistic Stamper (5/31) - Lovely Ladies and Gorgeous Girls
• Magnolia Down Under #94 (5/7) - Lace and ribbon
• Magnolia Stamp Lovers (5/7) - Flowers
• Totally Tilda #21 (5/7) - Paper Piecing
• Totally Gorjuss #78 (5/6) - 1-2-3 [1 - Neglected Magnolia, happy to see ink!; 2 - handmade stick pins; 3 - pretty pearls]
• If The Shoe Fits #77 (5/5) - Things with Wings 
• Stamp Something (5/5) - Things with Wings
• Fussy and Fancy (5/5) - Springtime [See how happy Tilda is for Spring flowers?]

Thanks for visiting me today! I hope you enjoyed my Tilda, too.

Cheers,
Susan