Sweet Spring Wishes

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a fabulous day!  This card has been in design for almost a full year - I received the STAMPlorations goodies in April of 2017!  I've used all of the products individually, but this is the first time I've used both dies together.  There is a story behind why it took me a year but, thankfully, the story isn't as long as it took me to make the card.  I'll even condense it for you!

What I Used to Make my Card:
Lilac Card Base
Watercolor Paper
Oxide Inks in Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick and Wilted Violet {set 1}
Distress Markers in Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves and Blueprint Sketch
Ken Oliver's Liquid Metal in Yellow Gold 
Distress Sprayer
STAMPlorations CUTplorations Sweet Spring Wishes Phrase Die
STAMPlorations CUTplorations Flutter Zen 2 Layering Dies
Pink Cardstock
Light Blue Glitter Cardstock

On with the story - Oxide Inks came out and I was as obsessed with everyone

Paper I Cut the Butterflies From

else who was pretty much not doing much of anything else but playing with these amazing new inks.  I had gotten the first set and was making background after background, positive I could never make a color combination with these inks that I wasn't going to like.  Until I did.  I don't recall what Oxide colors I used, but I remember strongly disliking it.  I had seen some crafters using Liquid Metals along with the Oxides, so I thought

I'd give it a try.  I ended up covering the entire thing with the Liquid Metal and I liked the color MUCH better! That's when it hit me - I had a butterfly die that was beautifully intricate and wouldn't this look nice cut from the "ruined" background? So, I proceeded to dig out the CUTplorations die and cut the "fixed" background paper.  It did look pretty!  I used a pink card to cut the underside of the butterfly and attached the top to it.  Then I set the butterflies aside and continued to play with the Oxide inks.

I played and played {remember, the Oxides were BRAND NEW!} and finally

settled on the card background.  Once the background was dry, I glued it to a matching card base which, in this case, was a lilac color.  Then I couldn't find the butterflies!  That pushed the card production back further; but I kept that background because I knew it fit the butterflies perfectly.  Eventually, I cleaned my desk off {and it stayed clean for about 15 minutes!} and found the 

wandering butterflies.  Happily, I glued them to the card and then decided to cut the sentiment out of Light Blue Glitter card.  I set the saying onto the card and the year long saga was finished!

Another Look

I hope my story didn't bore you too badly.  I recently got some more goodies from STAMPlorations; they are having a great sale and I just couldn't resist, so you will be seeing more of their stamps and dies shortly.  The card came out much prettier than I expected and I hope you like it as much as I do!  Thanks for sticking with me and, since you have made it this far, I'll let you in on a secret.  I'm getting ready for another giveaway and you'll need to be a follower to win, so you might as well follow me now and get ahead of the rush.  Thanks so much! Christi 

I'm entering my Sweet Spring Wishes Card in the following challenges:
STAMPlorations - M, Spring & Faith
Butterfly Challenges - #97, Spin the Wheel with the Letter L - I used Letters, Lavender & Layers :) 
Cuttlebug Mania - Spring
That's Crafty! - M, Spring into Action
Papercraft Business Challenges - M, Anything Goes
Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes w/ Dies
STAMPlorations Ever Ending Anything Goes Challenge

Golden Butterflies, Twofers Challenge #7

I have quite the collection of decorative papers from back in the day when I first started paper crafting.  It's not easy to take the stash from its hiding space, so when I do, I typically take pieces of a few different patterns I think I may like to work with. When I saw that my next challenge on Twofers was Things with Wings (yes, I try to work ahead, but, you know what making plans means) I decided to remake a card I had already designed. When I spied this stunning green & gold paper I knew exactly how I wanted to use it. So introducing my Golden Butterfly card:

What I Used to Make my Card:
Vanilla Card Base
Vanilla Scrap
Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Crazy Talk Set, SCMS236
Die-Namites Butterfly Wreath, #DN-1005
Quickutz Butterfly Die, KS-0799 (2 part die) (do a Google search for the part number)
Gold Cardstock
Green Cardstock
Green & Gold Designer Paper
Distress Ink in Forest Moss
SU! Corner Rounder Punch

I had actually had another card made with similar elements that I wasn't too thrilled with so I sort of CASE'd (CASE stands for Copy & Share Everything) myself.  I tore the other card apart, hoping to save some of the pieces, but no such luck. However, here is a picture of the first card:

First Card

As you can see I changed a bit, but the overall design is similar. The designer gold & green paper isn't as large, but that is because I didn't have a larger piece hanging around and I didn't want to pull the whole stash out to get more, and I actually like the vanilla card base showing through a bit more.  I cut the Butterfly Wreath and the butterfly wings out of gold card.  I set the gold wings aside and glued my wreath on a scrap of complimentary green cardstock; one of the things I didn't like about the old card was the green panel appeared so severe to me, so this time I rounded the corners of it.

I then die cut the butterfly body out of the same green card as the green square & set them aside.  I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of vanilla card using Forest Moss Distress Ink, and then edged the panel with it as well.  I positioned the sentiment panel behind some of the elements of the Butterfly Wreath and glued it on.

Lastly,  I attached the green and gold designer paper onto the card base,  centered the green square on the designer paper strip, glued it, then attached the green butterfly body to the gold wings and "fluffed" the wings up a bit to add some dimension.  Attached the butterflies onto the card and there you have it!

I would love to know which design you prefer, so if you could, just leave me a comment.  Thanks so much for popping by and I do hope you will consider playing with us at Twofers. You have 2 whole weeks to add a creation to our linky and that gives you a chance to win a $20 gift certificate to our wonderful sponsor, Alleystamps.  I would also be grateful if you'd consider becoming a follower. I am about 20 shy of reaching my goal of 100 new followers for 2015.  Fondly, Christi

I would like to enter my Golden Butterflies Card into the following challenges:

Lawnscaping Challenges - #117, Thinking of You 
Use Your Stuff - #198, Use Your Old Stash (the background paper is over 10 years old)
The Paper Girls - November - #91, Stamps
Addicted to Stamps - #112, Things with Wings
Left of Centre Challenges - #103, Things with Wings
Incy Wincy - Anything Goes

My Take on Tim's September 2015 Tag - Butterfly Card

*** If you are looking for my Stampotique Halloween Card, please click on the link or scroll down ~ Crazy me did 2 posts in one day!

For this month I went totally off the grid.  I struggled with how to duplicate the beauty of this tag immensely, until I came to the conclusion that I didn't HAVE to copy Tim's tag, but I could be inspired by it!  What a revelation!

So, here is my interpretation of Tim's September 2015 Tag :

How I made my Card:
White Card Base
Black Cardstock
Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations French Flight, #659884
FLY stamp from Redlead Paperworks (set I used is discontinued)
Ranger Glossy Paper
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Assorted Alcohol Inks (Ranger, TRIA refills, Pinata Inks)
Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool
Alcohol Blending Fluid
Silver Paper
Pop Dots
2 Black Brads

First I alcohol inked my glossy paper,  After putting on my rubber gloves, I dripped ink, added blending solution, used the ink blending tool, dripped more ink and generally had a great time.  When

I was finished I had 2 totally different sheets bursting with the vibrant colors of alcohol ink. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the sheet I used, but here are some of the butterflies I cut out using the French Flight die set.

I choose 3 butterflies and set then aside.  I took a strip of silver paper and stamped the word FLY on it to simulate the word band that Tim used on his tag.  I attached that to the black cardstock, using the black brads, that I was going to use to mount my butterflies.  I know I have Ranger's Black Mounting Foam somewhere in this mess, but I couldn't find it, so I settled for standard white pop dots.  I dotted the back of my butterflies and adhered them to the panel of black cardstock.  Lastly, I glued the black panel to my white card base.

There you have it.  While I wished I could have duplicated that background Tim made using the Texture Paste I don't have any, but no fear, that and the frosted film are on the wish list.  I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial ~ Christi

 

Ages ago I wrote a little blog post on Alcohol Inks - you can take a look at it HERE.

I am entering my Butterfly Card in the following challenges:
Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015 - September
Use Your Stuff - #193, Markers/Inks
Artistic Inspirations Challenge Blog - Anything Goes/Twist of Black
Craftin Desert Divas - Things with Wings
Addicted to Stamps - #110, Butterflies
Less is More - #243, Something Shiny 
Collage Obsession - Trio

May Reveal for the Card Chain Challenge

Some of you may remember from last month's reveal that I had messed up and used the colors for THIS month LAST month - Oh well.  So instead of following the theme of anything goes this month, I went rouge and did my own thing (except the friendship part - I made a card as I would have for a friend.  Do you know I have NO stamps that say friend? Have any suggestions of a good set or stamp I can buy, please leave it in the comments!). Anyway, without further ado, here is my card for this months challenge, that I sent to Jo in England:

And I would like to share this lovely card I received from Joy.  Please stop by her blog and give her some love and good wishes as she is taking a blogging break (but plans to continue on with the CCC). Morning Glory Card Studio is where you can find her and her wonderful cards. She is so talented and has shared her cards with so many people! 

What I Used to Make my Card:
White Cardstock Base
Colorbox Metalextra Ink in Gold Rush
Gold Mirror Cardstock
Thin Gold Paper
DCWV Mariposa Paper Stack
Stampin' Up! Sincere Salutations Stamp Set
Silhouette Cameo
Butterfly Cut File used with Silhouette
Tim Holtz Sizzix Labels #660060

OK, so I got a new paper stack from DCWV called Mariposa and I immediately

fell in love with the gold sparkle butterfly paper, so I knew that was going to be

a part of my May CCC.  I have so much decorative paper (mulberry, vellum, etc.) from my stash, and then a good friend gave me all of hers, so I decided to continue the butterfly theme with some gold mirror cardstock (I have mirrored card in just about every color - they were a MUST have way back when). I have also had the Colorbox ink for years - that is one juicy ink pad!


I looked in my stash of cut files, found one that I hoped I could cut out and

sized it. Used the mirror gold cardstock to cut the butterflies out on my beloved Silhouette Cameo.  My blade isn't the sharpest right now but the cut came out awesome.  Some of the butterflies look sort of copper colored in the picture, but I assure you, they are gold. 

Now for the sentiment.  I am sorely lacking "friendship" stamps, so I thought I'd

use a "thinking of you" stamp since that is something I'd send a friend. I have tons of Stampin' Up! sets as I was a demonstrator in the '90's and I am so glad I saved this set - I use the Sincere Salutations set a LOT. Speaking of SU! sets, I just found 2 copy paper boxes FULL of old sets - if you are looking for an old set, drop me a line, I may have it and I'd love to give it to someone who would actually use it! OK, back to the card. I stamped the sentiment on white card and cut it out using the Tim Holtz Labels set.  I put it all together and made the card.  Jo said she really liked the mirror card butterflies - that made me happy!

Thank you for stopping by - it is appreciated! I hope you consider joining the June CCC (sign up's have already begun but you have until June 6th, 2015), it really is a treat to get a cool card and to send one to someone that really appreciates the work and effort that goes into making a card. Fondly, Christi 

I am entering my "Golden Butterfly" card in the following challenges:
Artistic Inspirations - #132, Anything Goes with a Twist of Die Cuts
Daring Cardmakers - Mirror, Mirror (I used mirror cardstock)
Fairy Tale Challenge - #118, Feathers and/or Wings
Fantasy Stampers Challenge - #37, Wings 'and Things

Hello. . .butterflies?

I was so honored when my friend Julie Short asked me to be disruptive! If there is one thing I am good at, and have talent for, it's being disruptive! Joining Julie & I are the amazingly talented Di Hasthorpe and Diane May (Diane is also the owner/editor of the fantabulous Unruly PaperArts), and together we make up the Time To Create Disruptives (TTC Disruptives).  Julie has an online store, called Time To Create, as well as a blog. I am in awe, and feel SO lucky to be working with such talented ladies! So, here we go - this is my first card for TTC Disruptives!

I was inspired by all the cards I have been seeing around lately with "hello" on them - so here is my Hello card!

 Now pop over to the Time To Create Blog (when you get there, find the tabs under the Time To Create and choose the TCC Disruptives!) and read how I made this card, which I think is appropriate for a male or female (a fact of which I am quite proud - masculine cards are a tough make for me). Thank you SO Much for popping by and I do hope you will take a trip to see how I created the card - I was pretty impressed by me! Fondly, Christi

I am entering my Hello. . .butterflies card in the following challenges:
Creative Inspirations Challenge Blog - #304, Anything Goes w/ Option of Sketch 

Country View Challenges - M, Anything Goes!
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - B is for. . .In my case butterflies!
Allsorts Challenge - Spring is in The Air
Eureka Stamps - #131, Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Things that Fly
The House that Stamps Built - #311, Use Die Cuts/Punches with Stamping
Scrapy Land - Anything Goes using any brand of die that Scrappy Land sells (my brand is Sizzix)