Simple Butterfly Card

The Less is More challenge site is challenging us to use "butterflies" I personally have too many butterfly stamps if there is such a thing and my first card which was stamped I actually threw in the bin. So here's a non-stamped butterfly. though there is a bit of scripty stuff going on if peek through the vellum layer.

I looked in my SCRAPS of watercoloured card stock and liked this reddish-purple one. I stamped on top with a Script background stamp (IndigoBlu) with Crumb Cake ink and then die cut out with a very old SU! die called butterflies thinlits and then die cut out of vellum card the overlay with it's matching die from Bold Butterfly framelits. I'm not sure what SU! were doing back then as both die seem to be one part of the butterfly and one part for another sized butterfly.

Supply List:

Stamps: Butterfly Gala (SU! - sentiment)

Ink: Versafine black, Crumb Cake (SU!)

Dies: Bold Butterfly and Butterflies (both SU! and both well and truly retired), Peek a boo square window (MFT), A2 nested rectangles (Waffle Flower)
Paper: Neenah White, watercolour, Vellum Card

Other: Clear EP, Champagne rhinestone jewels (SU!), mini stampin' dimensionals

Challenges: LIM #470

Now my second go at the challenge was much easier then the first go, which according to the guidelines on the site is a good thing so I'm glad I didn't like the first card. The colours weren't grabbing me and then I double stamped the middle bit of the butterfly so time to start again.

FYI: Less is More is a Clean and Simple challenge, but what does clean and simple (CAS) mean and what are we looking for in your cards.

• One main focal point
• Lots of clean / open / non-patterned / non-textured space (often called 'white space' although not necessarily white) 
• Space with NO PATTERN and NO TEXTURE on it
• Minimal or NO layers
• Minimal embellishments
• Quick and easy to recreate

Thanks for fluttering by and the challenge doesn't finish till August 12th 7pm in New Zealand  so plenty of time to join in too.
✿ Karen ✿

Christmas in August has commenced

For those that have followed me for awhile way back when I was a SU! demo my team and I ran our Christmas events "CIA" in August mainly because originally it was when we could get stamps, DSP as we used to be behind the States by a month. 

I am still trying to do at least 2 card challenges a week but I'm especially making sure I do any Christmas ones I find. I'm hoping come Christmas with stamping classes and extravaganza and online events I have signed up for I will have enough cards in my swag to send out. I have to admit I don't like bulk producing cards and it kind of sucks the pleasure when you do the same thing over and over.

Anyhow I found a new site and it's linked on the RHS of my blog with the Challenge sites called 52 Christmas Card Throwdown they may do a challenge every week all year so I'll be well and truly set up in 2023. 

This week's challenge is their 28th of the year and is a technique challenge - watercolouring.

I knew exactly the set I wanted to use as it's a set I have had in my stash a very long time and never been used! It was SSS monthly kit in December 2016 which is all honesty meant it turned up in NZ at Christmas or in the new year of 2017. So too late for me to use but I have always loved it as it's so adorable. I'm also going to play along with a couple of Simon Says Stamp challenges. 

I do easy watercolouring smooshing my mini distress ink pads on my stencil mat and then using a no. 2 round paint brush I fill in each section I want to paint with water then the smooshed ink colour. It's actually very quick and easy the hardest thing was fussy cutting them out as watercolour paper is quite thick.

I also managed to incorporate my new Whimsical Woodland 3D embossing folder from SU! in the background. I have swiped over the top of the embossed images with my white pigment ink pad.

Supply List:

Stamps: Merry and Bright (SSS monthly kit Dec 2016)

Ink: Versamark, Unicorn White pigment (HA)
Distress inks: Brushed Corduroy, Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber, Gathered Twigs, Kitsch Flamingo, Lucky Clover, Peacock Feathers, Salvaged Patina, Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemonade, Tattered Rose, Twisted Citron

Paper: Granny Apple Green (SU!), silver glitter, watercolour (RNG)
Other: Alabaster White EP (Brutus Monroe), no. 2 round Silver Velvet watercolour brush, Waffle Flower stencil mat, Honey Bees gem stickers : Hugs & Kisses, Whimsical Woodland 3D EF (SU!), single stitch line rounded square frame (MFT), mini stampin' dimensionals
Challenges: 52 Christmas Card Throwdown #22-28, SSS Instagram Challenge (layers), SSS Wednesday Challenges (anything goes)

My lovely card got an honourable mention at Christmas Card Throwdown.

✿ Karen ✿

Jumbo-licious cards

I feel like I should be asking "would you like fries with that" as this is a BIG JUMBO card. I don't normally make 5x7" cards but can see that these would be great for work cards when you have a lot of people to sign one card. I've been slowly getting bits to Altenew's Magnolia Butterfly set (it might have been originally a Craft Your Life project set but I managed to get the embossing folder and the stencils ages ago and finally managed to get the stamp set and dies the other day so it needed inking up and it seemed like the Color Throwdown challenge of  powder blue, cream and kraft were the perfect match for it.

I gold embossed the flower using my MISTI so I could stamp it twice with Versamark I think there maybe one small piece that still needed a bit more stamping to get but with use this problem should go away. 

I then blended with my inks through the corresponding stencil heaviest in the middle. Die cut out the image and added it to 3 other die cuts to add a bit of dimension but when I went to lay it up I felt like it was too bland as is. I then I spied a recent embossing folder I got called Tufted (Spellbinders) which is also HUGE. It says it is perfect for slimline cards and 5" x 7" cards and it was just perfect. A few gold embellishments from Trinity Stamps finished it all off.

Supply List:
Stamps: Magnolia Butterfly (and matching dies & stencils- Altenew), Easy Expressions Sympathy (The Ton)
Inks: Versamark, Sky Blue (PF), Doe (PF)
Paper: Strathmore Bristol Smooth, Very Vanilla (SU!)
Other: Tufted 3D EF (SP), Rose Gold EP (ALT), Gold Eclipse embellishment mix (Trinity Stamps), blending brushes (TE)
Challenges: Color Throwdown #703

Well they were dreamy and soft colours to work with and I  loved how delicate the image looked with these soft  colours.

EDITED: My card was chosen as a favourite at CTD which is always a lovely surprise.

Thanks for popping in.

✿ Karen ✿