More Blossoms & Butterflies

I'll post early today just in case I get busy . . . like I should. There's quite a bit about this first card that the photo doesn't reveal. First, three of the flowers were stamped, cut out and added to my little garden using foam mounting tape. The flower centers are sparkly, thanks to Star Dust Stickles. Finally, I used my piercing tool to make butterfly trails. As you can see, I did some masking on this one. Post-It notes are my mask of choice. I covered the chipboard bookplate with cardstock and sanded the edges before stamping my sentiment and then attaching it with mini brads. The "sky" was dry-brushed using chalk. I think that's it . . . Ask if I missed something.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Lilac Mist, and Spring Iris Stamp cardstock; Black, Garden Green, Olive, Lilac Mist, Spring Iris, Sunny Yellow, and Orange ink pads; Whipper Snapper Designs Blossoms & Butterflies and Blooming Expressions stamp sets; Dimensional Elements Bookplates; Black mini brads; Star Dust Stickles; Piercing tool; Cuttlebug w/Swiss Dots embossing folder; Dove blending pen; 3M foam mounting tape; Sanding block.

While the design of my second card is very simple, it features a couple new-to-me techniques. The first was embossing the center rectangle using Nestabilities and the Cuttlebug, and the second involved embossing around the rectangle, again using the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. Nicole shows how to emboss a card front with Nestabilities here on her Capture the Moment blog. As for embossing around the embossed shape, Lynda has a great tutorial here on her Stamp Act blog. I'm so glad there are other fine folks who do these tutorials so I don't have to try to explain what I'm doing! My only talent is in having a halfway decent memory and being able to recall where I saw all this stuff. LOL!

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Topiary, and Black cardstock; Black, Topiary, and Twilight ink pads; Whipper Snapper Designs Blossoms & Blooms and Blooming Expressions stamp sets; Black mini brads; Cuttlebug w/Large Rectangle Nestabilities and Swiss Dots embossing folder.

It's a beautiful day in Minnesota, even though I think it's time to start the air conditioner. Hot outside is OK, but if I plan on getting off my butt, I'd best cool it off in here. I hope you're having a nice day. More than likely, I'll catch you . . . later!