Butterflies for Mother's Day...

I don't know anyone who doesn't like pretty butterflies. I think maybe motherss like them most of all, because they are indicative of transformation. Mothers see their own children transform from babies into productive adults before their eyes. I know I am always amazed at the wonderful adults my children have become and the terrific work they do every day.

Here are a couple of simple Mother's Day cards I made using some colorful butterflies:

I used scraps for the butterflies and a couple of stamped and punched sentiments that were in my stash. The borders across the bottom were some old rub-on borders that were in my stash.

What I haven't done recently--and I need to do--is to die-cut many, many more butterflies and keep them handy for other cards. I had done that more than a year ago, but I've since used almost all of them, so it's time for a refill!

The wiings of each butterfly were lifted a bit by applying a short piece of a thin foam strip beneath each one. It gives such nice dimension to the card. The sentiments were also popped up.

You can see another rub-on border at the bottom of this card front. I actually used the colors of the butterflies in this border to create the die-cut ones.

Of course, I had to add a bit of sparkle with some gems, too!

I had printed out a couple of sentiments for the inside of each card. I keep a template in my computer files so that I can print four full-panel sentiments at a time, and that really helps speed up my cardmaking.

The trees are beginning to leaf out here in Minneapolis. We live near a parkway that has many, many flowering crabapple trees along its boulevard. It is so beautiful to drive the parkway when they are in full bloom--a yearly reminder of the beauty all around us, if we just look for it.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

A spring wreath for Mother's Day...

 

I was going to use one of my wreath dies for this card, but then I saw a curved leafy frond die laying on my work desk. I thought, "I wonder if I can create a wreath with that?" 

Before getting down to the business of forming my wreath, I added a panel of DSP, matted with navy blue cardstock, to the front of the card base.

Then I cut four of the fronds from a scrap of green cardstock and joined them together in a circle toward the top of the card.

I also die-cut some small pink flowers and a white bow. I made sure to add a flower over any area where two of the fronds were joined together.

I added pink Nuvo Drops to the flower centers and a white Nuvo Drop to the bow's knot area.

The sentiment was stamped with navy blue ink and cut out. I ran a blue ink pad along each edge to give it some definition before popping it up with foam squares.

I stamped a sentiment on the inside and added a portion of a leafy frond and a single flower for embellishment.

I am making soup today--split pea with ham. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but we really like it. With some warm, crusty bread, it makes a hearty meal. 

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

A little birdie told me...

 ...to use that piece of patterned paper, rather than hoarding it!

For a long time, I had an 8" X 8" piece of DSP in my stash that was patterned with some pretty birds. Because each of the birds was quite large, I couldn't figure out how to use it for a very long time.

Finally, I decided to use a circle die and cut out as many of them as I could (four of them!) to use on cards. I came up with the card design you see above, where I have cut away a portion of the top of the card front.

I have some pastel pink, adhesive backed, polka dot fabric (yes, actual fabric) that I adhered to the front. I glued a piece of pale pink cardstock to the inside. It was important that the solid pink match the polka dot fabric because both would be visible from the front.

The die-cut circle with the bird was backed with a slightly larger circle of the same cardstock that was used to make the card base. It was then popped up with foam tape.

I added a pink vellum, two-layer, die-cut flower over one of the flowers in the paper's design, just for a bit more dimension. The flower center is a Nuvo Drop.

The sentiIment was stamped, die-cut and popped up with foam strips.

In this photo you can see how I cut the card base. I used the same circle die that I had used for the mat behind the bird image to partially die-cut the half-circle on the front.  This is called the "partial die-cutting technique," and there are many videos online showing how to do it. 

I used a ruler and a craft knife to cut to the left and right of the half-circle and then to cut along the score line up to the top of the card.

An arched rectangle die was used to cut the perfect size and shape for a stamped sentiment panel on the inside.

It was very satisfying to come up with a card design that showed off these pretty birds and to finally use up that piece of DSP. Do you ever get stuck for a while, not knowing how to use some of your supplies? I get a lot of bits and pieces from the thrift store, and I often have to leave them lay for weeks before I land on an idea for using them.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Paper-piecing fun...

 

I have a die that cuts this outline floral image from a larger piece of cardstock. I decided to make a couple of cards with it, but to paper-piece all the open areas in the flowers and leaves.

I used pink and purple cardstock for the flower pieces, along with a little bit of gold for the centers. I also used a dark green for the leaves. After seeing this color combination in the photo, I wished I had used all pastel colors.

The sentiment was stamped, punched out, matted and popped up on the card front.

I used a different die to cut a flower for the inside. I also stamped a sentiment to finish the card.

This time the colors were all pretty strong, except for the white. I didn't really like the plain white, so I added a tiny red dot to each "bud." I was much happier with it after doing that. 

Another difference with this card is that I applied the die-cut rectangle directly to the card front. If you look back at the first card, you can see that I applied it to a white rectangle first and then glued that to the card front.

I stamped and die-cut the sentiment and popped it up with a thin foam strip.

For the flower decoration on the inside of this card, I actually die-cut just a single flower portion of the entire die. I used a scissor to cut away the unnecessary parts, and then paper-pieced it the same as the flowers on the front.

I stamped the "Happy Birthday," and the card was done.

Paper-piecing is fun, but it definitely takes time and patience, especially when the pieces are tiny--like those that fill the leaves. I found it's helpful to leave the pieces in the die, add some glue to the back of each piece, lay the die over the die-cut and gently poke each piece into place.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Two rather crazy birthday cards...

Sometimes I like to go up to the edge of the deep end when making cards to donate. I like to see if a card that's just a little bit crazy will sell. I'm happy to report, these two did sell, but it took a couple of weeks for the colonoscopy card to lure a buyer. he he

Here's a look at both. They have the same layout, but one is a portrait card and the other is landscape.

The mats are actually a charcoal color, rather than black.

I cut apart a leafy die-cut that looked like the ones in the DSP and added parts of it to the sentiment panel.

I also added a few tiny turquoise gems for some sparkle.

The rest of the leafy sprig was added to the inside.

Both the front and inside sentiments  were printed with my computer.

The sentiment panels on both cards were popped up. I added the entire leafy sprig to the bottom of this one.

I saw these sentiments somewhere online--probably Pinterest--and I just had to use them. They both made me laugh, so I was pretty sure they'd make someone else laugh, too.

I liked the juxtaposition of having everything BUT the sentiment looking all dignified and respectable.

I decided to make this one a 50th birthday card, since that's the age when most people start getting colonoscopies. I know they are now suggesting folks start at 45, but I think it will take some time for that to become common practice.

These cards were fun to make. I may even make them again sometime!

Our summer is already shaping up to be a busy one. We have some graduations to attend and celebrate and a sightseeing trip planned. I hope those gas prices don't get much higher!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #230: Anything Goes or Beautiful Butterflies (use a butterfly)...

 

It's a beautiful time of year, and we've got a beautiful challenge for you at Let's Craft and Create: Beautiful Butterflies. Of course, you can also choose to enter our challenge under the "Anything Goes" theme.

I chose to create a butterfly-themed Easter card. I love making cards with butterflies and have oodles of butterfly dies. The one I've used for this card is a clear favorite, although I like them all.

I first chose some DSP that was lavendar with a subtle pattern of small yellow circles scattered across it. I decided where my circle cut-out was going to be. Then I adhered the DSP to the top-fold card front, making sure I didn't put any adhesive in the circle area. I needed to use the white circle die-cut to finish the card!

I used a slightly smaller circle die to cut a piece of yellow paper and, centering it on the circle cut from my card front, glued it down.

Then it was time to create my beautiful butterfly. I die-cut the front wings and back wings from white cardstock. I used small blending brushes to add the yellow, aqua and purple inks.

Then I cut the body and wing tips from black cardstock and assembled my butterfly.

It was added to the circle by adhering the body first and then popping the wings up a bit with some tiny foam squares.

The sentiment was stamped, die-cut and also popped up with a thin foam strip. A few gems were scattered on the card front for some sparkle.

This is how the card looks when opened: The butterfly circle is on a mechanism that pops it up and keeps it visible on the inside.

Finally, I stamped an Easter sentiment just below the circle, leaving plenty of room to sign the card.

If you'd like to watch a video tutorial on how to make this card, On Y Go Stamping has a great one here.

I hope you'll give this fun card a try! Be sure to check out what the rest of the Design Team has  made to inspire you on the Let's Craft and Create blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

If you don't think brown is an Easter color...

 ...just think chocolate Easter bunnies and eggs. I'm a bit of a choco-holic (dark chocolate only, please!), so I'm a firm believer in brown for Easter cards. Here's an example of one I made:

I started with an A2 white card base. I cut 3/4" off the right hand side of the front and then used a border punch to create the scalloped edge. When that was done, I cut a panel of brown DSP to adhere to the front.

I used my "bunny on a stool" die set, a stitched egg die and a sentiment die to create all the pieces needed to finish the card front.

If you look closely at the bunny, you'll see that I added some pink to his ears and his cheek.

The Easter eggs were cut from DSP, so no stamping or coloring needed to decorate them.

I added a 1" strip of some coordinating DSP to the right side of the inside and rounded the corners. Then I added a panel with a computer-printed sentiment on it to finish the card.

I think it's fun to use unexpected colors for cards occasionally. At Christmastime, I like to make a few cards using pastel pinks and blues.

A big "Happy Easter" to all who celebrate!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Easter cards for the grands...

I always make an Easter card for each of our five granddaughters and five grandsons. Here's what I made this year:

This is the card I made for each of our granddaughters. I die-cut the top layer with all the bunny ears inside the egg apertures. I measured to determine the size of the pieces of pastel cardstock I would need to back each egg aperture. Once I had them all cut, I taped them together (on the back side) and then tested this taped rectangle on my card to make sure it would fit correctly. This was such a good way to use up some scraps!

This method worked great, and by the fifth card, I could do it pretty quickly.

When I had all the colored pieces taped together and sized correctly, I adhered it to the front of the cardbase. Then I added thin foam strips to the back of the die-cut and positioned it over the colored cardstock piece.

I made sure I put a thin foam strip behind each ear so that it was supported. If you look closely, you'll see one of those foam strips peeking out from behind the ear in the yellow egg shape.

The sentiment was stamped, matted and glued directly to the card front.

I made one card using little pieces of DSP as backing for the egg apertures. 

I even made one card with a colorful backing made from leftover strips of pink and purple cardstock.

This photo shows how I stamped the sentiment on the inside and added two little eggs for embellishments. The eggs were always coordinated with the colors/papers I had used on the card front.

These are the cards I made for our grandsons.

Some of them had a bunny peeking around the trunk of a tree...

...and others showed the bunny peeking around a brick wall. Both the tree and the brick wall were created by using embossing folders on strips of brown or beige cardstock and inking them with a finger dauber and some brown ink.

The bunnies' ears and noses were colored pink with an alcohol marker and a little pink chalk was added to the cheeks.

The cloudy backgrounds were created with a stencil and a blending brush, and each sentiment was stamped, matted and popped up with foam squares. The image panels were matted with the same dark blue cardstock.

This was the sentiment stamped on the inside of each grandson's card.

I had lots of fun making these cards. I love using simple, but effective, die sets that help me make a memorable card.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

A pretty basket of Easter eggs...

 

I had this blue embossed piece in my card parts. It had already been inked to better show the embossed design. I am certain I did that by gently swiping an enk pad across the top of it.

I matted it with a navy blue cardstock and adhered it to the card front. 

I cut a small white rectangle with a coin-edge die and stamped it with "Happy Easter."

The basket was in my Easter box, a die-cut left over from last year. After inking it a bit for more dimension, I punched out a few pieces of greenery, die-cut some eggs and filled the basket.

I glued the basket to the white rectangle, putting one of the extra pieces of greenery under the lower right corner, as if it had fallen out of the basket.

After popping the rectangle up on the card front, I knotted a short piece of navy blue, sheer ribbon and adhered it to the basket handle.

I stamped a sentiment on the inside and added a couple of eggs with some of the punched greenery. With those ready-made card parts, this card was done in a flash!

We had a beautiful Palm Sunday here. The weather was perfect for spending some time outside--no jacket required! Some of the trees are beginning to form buds, which means that a steady stream of warmer weather is truly on the way.

 A prolific writer by the name of Anonymous wrote: "Spring: a reminder of how beautiful change can truly be."

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

A bunny border for Easter...

 

It's always fun to use this bunny border die for Easter cards. It cuts the bunnies along the edge of a piece of cardstock, but doesn't cut a bottom edge. I added a green sticker border to the bottom edge of this one for some color contrast.

The sentiment at the top was stamped, die-cut and popped up with foam tape.

The die cuts holes for the eyes and noses, so I backed the eyes with black cardstock and the noses with pink. This was a little fussy to do, especially on the smallest bunny.

I used a pink Prismacolor pencil to add some pink to the ears.

The eggs are actually the negative piece leftover when cutting an "O" from one of my alpha die sets.

I stamped another sentiment on the inside and topped it with three leftover "eggs."

I did things a little differently for this card. The bunnies, eggs, and ears were all done the same way, but the holes for the eyes and noses were filled in with Nuvo Drops.

The sentiment at the top was all in one piece, so I cut it apart and popped up the word "Happy" with thin foam strips. "Easter" was glued directly to the card front.

In this photo you can better see how the word "Happy" is popped up.

I stamped two sentiments on the inside and glued a tiny dimensional heart between them.

Both of these cards were donated, and I envisioned someone purchasing them to send to a grandchild or other loved one.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

I love mushrooms...

 ...not only to eat, but also to die-cut. 

I had my mushroom dies out on my work desk, laying next to a couple of scraps. You know how it is, you see them laying side-by-side and you just have to make use of them.

I found a striped cardbase that included the colors of my mushrooms, and this was a good chance to use it. After die-cutting a rectangle in a coordinating color, I created a little scene with the mushrooms and scatterred some gems among them. 

The sentiment was stamped, die-cut and popped up with foam tape.

I added a panel with a stamped sentiment to the inside to finish the card.

For this card I created a cardbase from some patterned, one-sided cardstock in my stash. It nicely coordinated with my mushrooms. This time I added a few sprigs of die-cut greenery to the mushrooms and used a metallic marker to add some dots for interest.

This sentiment was a computer printed one on a larger panel that was in my stash. I die-cut the rectangle, making sure that the sentiment was more-or-less centered before adding my mushroom scene. The whole panel was popped up with some thin foam tape.

This sentiment was also in my stash, paperclipped to the one on the front. I think I've had them for a couple of years--it's about time I used them!

I had one tiny mushroom left and added it to the inside of this card, along with a strip of the cardstock used to make the cardbase.

So, have you ever picked edible mushrooms and then actually eaten them? More than 30 years ago, I found some Morel mushrooms growing under my deck. I knew they were Morels because of their distinctive shape and look. I cleaned them well, sliced them up and sauteed them in some butter. They were SO delicious! For many years afterward, I would check under the deck to see if any more were growing there. I never saw another one. I don't know how the spores ended up there, but it was magical to find those mushrooms.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl