Bi fold Butterflies.

We are onto the second letter of the Alphabet  already with the Butterfly challenge. The new challenge starting  today is

#118 Spin The Butterfly wheel with B for Bi fold.

Here are my inspiration cards for you.

On my first card I have used Bi fold/Burgundy/ Butterfly from the wheel.

I have now added a Card Shape page to the Butterfly Blog and you can see instructions/ hints/tips on how to make a Bi fold card using 3 different methods.

I have used a double sided  design paper from  a 12" square pad called  'English Moments' from The Works cut down to be 6" x 12" thus making a finished card size of 4" x 6". Butterflies have been repurposed from a previous project. The sentiment is a stamp by Julie Hickey from the ' Essential Sentiments set' which I have stamped  onto a Spellbinders (labels 4) die cut.

For My second card I have used Bluebell/Bow/ Butterfly from the wheel.
The base card is made from a digidesign paper by Pink Petticoat  Called Dandelion Clocks Blue Quartz. I cut to size and simply added the butterflies which were coloured using my Promaker Bluebell pen. The Cream bow was from my stash.  Stamp  is by Julie Hickey from the 'I Need Everyday Sentiments' set.

For last card I have used Bi fold /Banana/ Bow/ Butterfly from the wheel.
This time I have changed the sizing down to  5.5" x 10.5" to make a finished card size of  3.5" x 5.5".
Design paper is another  digipaper from The Pink Petticoat called ' Bold Daisies' from  the Isobelline papers.  The belly band uses a faux button opening detail from buttons and a piece of thin string found on my desk. Butterflies were punched using SU Butterfly punches. Sentiment is another by Julie Hickey from the same stamp set.

 Here is the card semi opened. Again  you will find the instructions on the Card Shape page on the Butterfly blog.

Hope to see you playing along. Challenge is for the usual two weeks.

Hugs

This is the latest card that I sent to our Grandson last week.  It has a tale of two stories.
The first one revolves around our Daughter, Son in Law and Grandson No2 moving recently into a new home along with their 3 cats.  Cat No1 is a black cat (called Boo)and he had adopted daughter and co. when they had moved into the house prior to the one they have just left. All was well for a few yrs until they moved again into the last house and were very quickly adopted by Cat No2 (called Piggy)  who decided a preference for living with them rather than her then owners who lived across the way. They actually had 2 cats but you very rarely saw the other cat until they moved out and left said cat to fend for itself.  My daughter then took the 3rd cat (Jinks) in and semi harmony reigned with each cat claiming a portion of the last house as their own space. When they moved to their new home The Doc and I joked that a new home meant a new cat would claim them as his own. Daughter poo poo'd this idea and said it wasn't going to happen. Na Na. They had been in their new house 2 days when a red/white 'marmalade' cat appeared at the back door demanding to be let in asap!!   Cat No 4 has now claimed the garage as his own, has a cushion in there and has been nick named Kellogg. Hence the card below.

The digi  image is 'MD Kitty Cat Love' and I have coloured using my promarkers and a silver gel pen. That's Kellogg on the left along with Cat No1 Boo.  'Hugs' stamp is by Honey Bee Stamps.  Silver edge sticker from my stash.
Entering into the following challenges:
Colour Crazy # Anything goes.
Sweet Stampin # Love your pet.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #346. Use your snippets. (silver edging was all left over offcuts)
613 Avenue Create # 218 Anything goes + use a critter.
2 Crafty Critter Crazies #23 Anything goes with a critter.
Angie's Digital Stamps #28 Anything goes /twist of love.
CCC Dig Creations #100 Valentines day /love.
Creative With Stamps #35 Love.
Sparkles #113 Include an animal.
Tales From The Craft Room # Love.


Second tale revolves around what I had enclosed for my grandson.  I had seen a wonderful video by Jennifer McQuire  (05.02.2019 You Tube) on how to make Scratch-off Valentines. She also very kindly included a free download for the backing sheets. Looked simples so off I went and collected up all the necessary items needed . I had two types of vellum card stock but very quickly realised that one was too thick and the other too thin as when I tried to peel the scratch card element away it cracked the silver paint. Ok. Quick revision of my options and then I came up with  Mark II  which involved me making a stencil circle shape up and painting the silver paint straight to the card. Worked after a fashion but the paint leaked slightly around the edges and  didn't look very neat. (I ended up giving these ones to The Doc.)

 Time was running out  as I needed the card to be in the post for the Thursday and it was now Tuesday evening.  Gulp! I'm too far down the road now to give up so I finally came up with  Mark III.  I used two downloads for each scratchcard and painted the silver  to cover up the answer. Punched out the complete circle and then adhered this onto the second card (making sure I matched the correct jokes and answers up). 

These are the finished cards that I enclosed for out grandson who btw loved them. 

I have since worked out a Mark IV version on how to make these even easier to make so will be making some more cards up to enclose in further cards. Watch this space.!

More Apertures.

Time to show you two more Aperture cards for the current Butterfly Challenge #117.

My first card shows Almond/Apple Green/ Amber/Anything/ Aperture/ Butterfly.
My anything goes choice is to use ribbon for the bow embellishment.
You will now find an extra tab on the Butterfly Blog  under the Banner heading which says Card Shapes. On this tab you will see I have added details/hints/tips on how to make 3 very simple aperture cards using an existing blank card.
Here you will see that I have cut the aperture using my Sizzix scalloped circles. I then used a Spellbinders Butterflies Circles diet set to cut the large circle of butterflies in the green card stock. I cut a matching scalloped circle in the centre and positioned this over the aperture already cut in the blank card base. I recut the butterfly die using cream and amber cardstock in order to get the coloured inlays. I cut a further scalloped circle and adhered a butterfly sticker to it and then used DS tape to attach to the inside of the card so that it would show through the aperture when the card was closed. I added a simple ribbon bow to the front of the  Card. The sentiment is by  Julie Hickey Designs.

Entering into the following challenges:

Through The Craftroom Door # Anything goes.

Creatalicious Challenges #157 Anything goes.

Cute Card Thursday #Wings

Creative Fingers #157 Anything goes.

Crafting With Friends #80 Anything goes.

A Bit More Time To Craft #86 Anything goes.

 Second card shows Almond.Apple green/ Aperture/Butterfly.
This is the card I have shown under the Card Shapes tab Version II of the Aperture cards instructions.  I used  Spellbinders Deckled Rectangles Large to cut the aperture. The sentiment is a die cut by Xcut 'Best wishes'. The ribbon roses, bow and butterfly stickers were from my stash and addedon below to finish the card.

Entering into the following challenges:
Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends #100 Anything goes.
Ally's Angels #19 Anything goes.
Crafting By Designs # Anything goes.
Crafts Galore #60 Anything goes.
Love To Craft #31 Anything goes.
The Creative Crafters #13 Anyhing goes.

The challenge is running for another week and closes next Tuesday 26th February. Hope to see you.

Brood of Robins

The Doc and I have been away for a short break and enjoyed the hotel so much we decided to stay on. Came back so relaxed that I totally forgot that I should have made my card for the Christmas card club and posted it yesterday. Oops!   Gwen chose the theme of Christmas birds.
To make amends I made 6 up last night and here they are.  I had a load of robin toppers in my stash so quickly pulled out some  papers, dies and stamps and got cracking.

1st card very CAS using a topper from My Paper Stash called 'Robin on a Perch' and a stamp from
Phil Martins 'Scribbled Christmas Sentiment Corners'. Large black gem from my stash.

2nd card  again using a topper  from My Paper Stash as above.  Design paper is a freebie from Making Cards and Papercraft magazine  Christmas edition 201. Sentiment stamp is by Inkadinkado 'Christmas Silhouttes'.  I edged the sentiment with a silver sticker edging and added 3 small red gems. 

 3rd Card is not a size I usually make but I didn't want to trim the design of the paper down so merely  trimmed it so that the border finished on the fold of the card. Added a gold edging sticker .
The sentiment stamp is by Kaiser Craft.  Robin Topper is by Craft Creations Ltd called 'Robins/Gold'

 4th card uses a freebie design paper from Making cards magazine November 2015.  Gold sticker used around the edge of the card.  The die cut is by Creative Expressions Festive collection. The gold  edged robin topper is by Craft Creations Ltd as card above.

5th card uses an aperture card base that I had already cut for another card but then found it to be the wrong size so used here instead. I have placed the topper on the inside of the card. Edged with silver stickers and the sentiment is also a silver sticker from my stash.

 I used a design paper from my stash to place behind the robin topper on the inside.

Last card uses '' Robin on a Perch background card from My Paper Stash adhered to red card stock and  then onto a white card base. The sentiment is a die cut by Sweet Dixie ' Merry Christmas'.

Herringbone Technique and Acetate.

It is the start of a new yr  of challenges over at the Butterfly Challenge  The challenge has now been going for 5yrs and is about to enter it's sixth yar.  There is a brand new Butterfly wheel and a slightly different  format.

Here are my inspiration cards for you.

On my first card I have used the herringbone technique to use up loads of the scraps of design paper that seem to multiply all by  themself if left unattended.
I have used Amber/Almond/ Butterfly from the wheel.

The Sentiment is a digi stamp by  Digi Stamp Boutique 'Birthday Mr Bear Sentiment'. The butterfly was already out on my desk left over from another project.  I think it is an SU. punch. Pearl was from my stash. I took out all the small pieces of design paper from my yellow folder and cut them into strips of different widths. I cut a piece of card to the size I required for my card front and used a sticky sheet to cover one side, then using the Herringbone Technique (there are loads of excellent videos and tutorals on You Tube)  covered the entire piece.  I still had loads of the wretched strips over so I just kept cutting and covering more pieces of card until I only had the following left.

 I now have several ready to go backing card pieces for future cards or even to be die cut.  Now there's a thought!

 For My second card I have used Aperture Card /Acetate/Apple Green/ Butterfly from the wheel.

 I have had this piece of acetate with the butterfly design on it in my stash for absolutely ages and have been itching to use it on just the right card.  Only trouble was that it was already pre cut so I had to find a die cut the right size to make the aperture with. Fortunately my Spellbinders deckled Rectangles were perfect.  The sentiment was a black sticker from my stash.

You can see from this picture that because I have attached the acetate to the front of the card that the inside is neat and tidy.  I have now added a Card Shape page to the Butterfly Blog and you can see instructions/ hints/tips on how to make a basic aperture card using 3 different designs on there. I will be adding new card shapes to this page as we progress through the alphabet on the challenges.

 Do hope you will come and join me. The  challenges last for the normal two weeks from today.

Love All

I normally only make one Valentine's card a yr but this year my Hairdresser asked me to make her some cards to sell to her customers and I managed to make her up a selection of 12 cards.  These are the first 4.


I have used a  Tonic Die Set  Called 'Hello Posey' but made  my own centre into it.  This is one time that would definitely advocate using a double sided sticky sheet to cut the die out with. Almost impossible other wise to use glue on the really thin cuts and it does need to be stuck down onto the card firmly.  Because of the large die size the card base is  non standard size so I made a matching envelope and decorated to match.  Printed the sentiment  off in word and the 3 pearls completed it

Entered this card only into the following challenges:

Cuttlebug Mania # Be My Valentine.

Tuesday Taggers # Romance.

Daisy Chain Challenges: #27 Have a heart.

Craft Rocket Challenge #56 Valentine.

Get Creative # 77 Anything goes with optional lots of red.

I chose to make this card in a pretty pastel pink using another  Tonic Die cut set called ' Thankyou Blossom'. I again used my own  centre that I printed off in word. Didn't feel this design needed anything else added to it so just made up a matching envelope to finish. 

Entering the above card into these challenges:
Aud Sentiments #220 Love or Valentine sentiment.
Creatalicious Challenges #156 Anything goes with optional Love/hearts.
Crafter's Castle #14 Anything goes / option valentines.
Creative Inspirations # With love.



Then I decided to go really bold and go black and silver.  The  Decorative heart stamp I think was a freebie from Craft Stamper magazine  a few years ago now.  I used a scalloped card base and attached  black card cut slightly smaller. Layered up with hearts die cut using Sweet Dixie Nesting Dies. SDD168.
The silver edging  and silver hear sticker  were from my stash. I made a matching envelope and again stamped with the decorative heart stamp. The sentiment was printed off in word and die cut using one of the centres from the tonic die sets used on the two cards above.

Entering the card above into the following challenges:
Double 'D' Challenge # Hearts any colour.
Lets Craft and Create #144  Anything goes + option from the heart.
Creative With Stamps #35 Love.
Pattie's Creations #155 Love,love,love.

For this last card I used a really dark red cardstock to die cut the centre piece using a Tonic Die set called 'Me To You'. Die cut a few small hearts using the Sweet Dixie Nesting Dies set.  Silver edging and silver heart stickers were from my stash.  I used a scalloped card base and decorated an evelope to match.

Entering this card into the following challenges:
Creative Moments #162 Anything goes/romance.
Brown Sugar Challenge#287 Love and or Valentines Day.
Card Mania #113 Love is in the air.
Dream Valley #195 Love and kisses.

Friends R Us.

Special post today in honour of a very special friend namely Miss Di of Pixie's Crafty Wokshop who has now been running the Snippets challenge on her blog for 7 yrs.  Darnell got the girls in the snippets playground together and organised a blog hop as a Thankyou to Di for all her hard work.
My card took a while to colour in  and then I needed to make sure it arrived before hitting the publish button.
 My first entry in the snippets playground was way back on #3 (#1 and #2 being out of the question due to me having my wrist in plaster at the time ) and how can I ever live down the incident with the Pogo Stick and the Duck pond!! (I can tell you with the utmost certainty that that darn duck pond is very deep indeedy.)
So in honour of the occasion here is the card I made for Di. Now this digi image is us to a T when we get let loose for a day at the craft shows. We have been known to demolish/dismantle metal display stands, knock boards flying and erm even do things with the soap dispenser in the ladies!!

 Digi is from Sparkle n Sprinkle called 'Old Friends' and coloured with my trusty promarker pens and a silver gel pen. Sentiment is made using my new toy,WRMK 's Punch board. Paper is a real oldie from  my stash.  This is the card lying flat for posting and below showing open  as a step fold card and also shows the sparkle from the  silver gel pen .

  Entering into the following challenges:
Crafting By Designs # Anything goes.
Crafts Galore #60 Anything goes.
Addicted To Stamps #327 Make your mark.
Penny's Paper Crafty #416 Anything goes.
I Love Promarkers #377 Anything goes +optional use a die cut or Punch. (WRMK Punch board)
Cute Card Thursday # Anything goes.
Crafty Hazlenut's Patterned Paper Challenge. # Anything goes.
Love to Craft #31 Anything goes.
The Creative Crafter #12 Anything goes.

Brolly and Kite.

Here are two more cards as inspiration for the second week of the current Butterfly challenge:
#116 Spin The Butterfly Wheel with the Letter K.

1st Card uses all 3 colours  ( Kobe, Kobi, Kelly Green) plus Knot and Butterflies.
The digi image is by Pink Gem called Milly in the Rain.  Coloured using my promarkers and a gold gel pen.  The knot element is in the tied ribbon and the butterflies on the brolly are in the image.
The design paper is a freebie from Making Cards  Jul 2015 called Busy Butterflies. The with  Love sentiment was already made up and on my desk but had not been used on another project and  matched the butterflies in the design paper perfectly so I used here instead.

Entering this card into the following challenges:
Alphabet Challenge # W is for wings.
Colour Crazy #54 Anything goes.
Crafting With Friends #79 Anything goes.



2nd Card uses all 7 elements of the challenge.
(Kobe,Kobi,, Kelly Green), Knot, Kraft Card, Kite and Butterfly.

I have been watching quite a few You Tube videos whilst laid up with my shoulder and I found this one called W Fancy Fold Card by Jan Brown. Trying not to do too much colouring so this was ideal for making as all the cutting is done on my guillotine  which is of course designed for a right handed person. (I have never seen a left handed one so have always used my right hand. In fact quite a lot of crafting items assume that you are right handed ). I changed how I made the card  slightly from in the video.

 The terrible lighting is making the pink backing card look almost orange but it isn't.  IRL it  is a pretty pink shade.  The butterflies were fussy cut from a sheet of vellum patterend paper. I made the tail for the kite from embroidery threads plaited together and then knotted at the end with extra pink thread.

 The inside of the card showing the W shape mechanisim which folds completely flat as you shut the card up.  The design paper came from my stash but I didn't have the name on the back of it. The gold stickers were from my sticker stash along with the ribbon.

Entering this card into the following challenges:
Through The Craftroom Door #Anything goes.
Pile It On #151 Pretty in pink.
Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends #99 anything goes.





Challenge runs for another week so hope to see you soon.

Angels

Beginning of a new month and time for the girls in the Christmas Card club to show our makes. Granmargaret set the theme which was Angels or Fairies.  I chose Angels as I deal with lots of fairies at christmas on my blog. I only have one Angel stamp which is by Creative Expression. It doesn't have a name just a number on the wooden block  HH1156B. It is quite a small stamp being 1.25" x 1.75" which on its own  I Thought would be quite swamped on a card but then I had a 'What If'' moment.
What if I randomly stamp the angel all over a piece of card with clear embossing ink, emboss with Wow gold powder, stamp and emboss onto a smaller piece of card,  add an embossed sentiment  and then layer it all up onto a base card. Here is the resulting card.  I simply used yellow shimmer  and plain red cardstock. I'm pleased with the result which was easy to make and no strain on my arm.

Entering into the following challenges:
Aud Sentiments #219 Anything goes + a sentiment.
Moving Along With The Times #90  Add a sentiment.
Winter Wonderland # Anything goes christmas.
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #423 Christmas/quick and easy.
Merry Little Christmas #7 Anything goes.