Bright and Bold Butterfly

Who doesn't love butterflies and bright flowers?  This photo and sketch from Fusion challenge was just what I need on a cold winter's day to remind me of the warmer months.

This was a fun card to make as I layered the flowers one over the next using masking technique before lightly colouring them with good old colour pencils.  The butterfly was an easy choice with the bottom layer in Bermuda Bay with the cut out layer in Basic Black.  I love how the Bold Butterfly Framlits and Butterfly Thinlits coordinate allowing some really stunning layered butterflies. You are going to be seeing way more of them in upcoming weeks.

The lovely big sentiment is from the hostess stamp set Happy Birthday Everyone, I just love the mixed font and size of this sentiment.  It is one of the Hostess sets available in the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue, which means you can earn it for free with a qualifying order or workshop total, contact me to find out more.

Happy Stamping
Monique

Vintage Birthday

I am a fan of mixing up challenges, so was excited to try this one from Runway Inspired Challenge and CAS(E) this Sketch.  I haven't seen Runway Inspired Challenge site before so that was a nice find as well, they take their inspiration images straight from the runway!  So on trend for patterns and colours which is a bit fun.  

I decided to turn the sketch on it's side as it fit the sentiment better.  I have been having some fun recently with the Gold stamp pad, here I have stamped onto Basic Black card stock with both Flower Shop and Petite Petals stamps.  I finished off the centre flower with one of the Antique Brads, I haven't used these for ages so it was nice to brush the dust off!  The sentiment is from Perfectly Penned and also seemed to fit the vintage feel of this card.

I have taken a second photo so that you can see that I have spritzed the Modern Medley DSP so that it has a shimmer to it, the flowers have also had the shimmer treatment.  I found this helped tone down the starkness of the DSP, and tied it into the Brushed Gold layer.  I was thinking about adding some colour, but decided against it and kept the monochormatic look.

I have a very special Easter project to share with you, but as I haven't given it away yet I won't post that until Sunday. I will say it is a very different feel to this one with much brighter colours, although it does use the Gold ink again!

Happy Stamping

Bright Makes Me Happy

 One of the great things about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is the inspiration I can get from other demonstrators all around the world, the Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenge is a great blog to visit, and this week has inspired me to not just look at the wonderful creations, but to join in with their colour challenge!

 I have not had chance yet to use my Hexagon Hive Thinlits Die, and decided to change that with this card. I wanted a painted wood lattice sort of feel so stamped Crushed Curry onto the same colour card stock using the Woodgrain stamp.  Then I ran it through the Big Shot with the Thinlit to create the lattice.  I decided to layer this over the stamped image, a combination of Flower Shop and Creative Elements to give the sense of looking through the lattice into the garden.  The little faux bows were an additional thought when the two layers of ribbon were not quite enough.

I sat and looked at the card for a while, not sure if I liked it or not.  I decided it needed something else to make it pop, so added some smaller flowers using Petite Petals stamp set and matching punch.  I just love how the flower makes perfect leaves as well!  Using my bone folder I gently curled the petals to give more of a 3D look and popped a couple of them up on Dimensionals.  I think this gives the card the finish it needed. I was thinking of adding Crushed Curry Candy Dots in the centres of the flowers but thought that might be taking it a bit far :)

Happy Stamping

Asymmetric

 Asymmetrical things are not usually my thing, actually they are the opposite of my thing!  So this week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches really has been a challenge, I decided to pair it with another challenge, this one from Colour Q.  The colour challenge provided a different sort of challenge, I don't have any Poppy Parade left in my stash - not to be put off by that I decided to substitute Real Red instead.

Isn't it great that we now have three different sized flower stamp sets and matching punches?  I have used all three on this card because they go so well together, and layer beautifully. I wasn't initially sure of the colour combination, but I like the bright feeling it gives this card.  It is a bit hard to see, but I have curled each of the flower's petals with my bone folder to add some dimension to the card.

Happy Stamping

Proud Parents

If you visit regularly you will know I don't often post personal photos on my blog, keeping it more for my creative endeavours.  Sometimes there is an occasion or family celebration that I just have to share.  This time it is the graduation of our beautiful daughter from school.

Doesn't she look so elegant in her formal frock, hair all done, matching bag and shoes?  I think the scariest part is how grown up she looks.  We are both so proud of our 'little' girl, school hasn't be the easiest journey for her and there were times I wondered if she would stick with it. I think the turning point came when she discovered the field of Hospitality which gave her a spark and passion strong enough to not only 'make it through' but to succeed.  She is planning on going further in this field and is working to secure a Baker's apprenticeship in 2014, and we wish her all the best.

 To celebrate this proud occasion I wanted to make a card that reflected some of the struggles she had overcome, particularly in high school years. The Feel Goods sentiment was just right for this.  I took inspiration for this card from a card made by Sharon Burkert that I found on Pinterest, though I can't find the directly link now.  I added the year in silver glimmer paper which I highlighted by carefully drawing around each number with a Stampin' Write Marker.  Finished off with stamped and punched images from Flower Shop and Papilion Potpourri.  I also made a belly band for her gift with the flowers and in these colours (you might be able to make out the watch and bracelet set on her wrist).

Happy Stamping

Matching Card

Don't you just love a challenge? One of my daughter's friends had her birthday recently and my daughter had bought a beautiful box to put the gift in.  As the resident card maker I was asked to make a card for her too.  On seeing the box I just knew I had to try and make a card to match.

I think it was the colours and the butterfly that made me think of doing a card to match.  I had such fun matching both the colours and the lay out, if you enlarge the photo you can see that I have done some additional stamping on the background to help match the two.

The birthday girl loved the card, box and treats inside so I consider that a job well done.

Happy Stamping