I was inspired by the latest PTI Make-it-Monday video (mim65) where Dawn showed us how to create a pattern-paper background.

I started with just the Egg Hunt paper pack, but couldn’t get the look I was going for. I decided to pick the flower pattern and find other papers to go along with it.

When it came time for stamping, I tried Summer Sunrise and Orange Zest for the butterflies but neither were right. I pulled out the old Orange Zest and that looked better (but my pad is dry and I wasn’t getting a great impression) – so I tried off-stamping the new Orange and liked what I got.

I had a similar problem with the new Avocado ink. It was too dark for what I wanted here, but off-stamping was almost non-existent (weird…I think I need to try that again). Instead, I pulled out the old ink – and it was perfect. So the flourish is old Avocado and the sentiment is new Avocado. I think the (new) darker ink works better over that pattern.

My final touch was adding orange rhinestones to the butterflies.

Thanks for taking a peek!

This is another recently acquired stamp set. I’ve been too intimidated to give it a try (there are so many awesome cards out there already).

I sorta started with Papertrey’s Make-it-Monday inspiration, but quickly left that color palette because I wanted more of a soft feel.

To color the butterfly, I started with a second generation of Melon Berry (I am looking forward to Sweet Blush ink this month!!). Then I added Copic markers (the ones designated by PTI as Melon Berry). I do like how it turned out.

The flourish panel is done by stamping the flourish on an A2 sized panel then trimming down (partly with my cutter, partly by hand). I didn’t want to pop that panel as I felt it was too much, so instead I placed my tape in the center of the panel leaving the edges the ability to float just a bit. I do like how that looks in real life.

My final touch was a Copic-colored rhinestone – it seemed to make the butterfly more cohesive by bridging the darker bits of the wings.

Thanks for taking a peek!

I created this card for the Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge (wmsc94).

This isn’t my normal style, but I was very inspired by the design team!

I hand cut-out the frame. I embossed the cameo with vanilla powder onto Melon cardstock then mounted it behind the frame.

The tag die has a hole in the top, so I used that to thread my ribbon through. I tied the ribbon in a double bow for extra fluffiness.

Thanks for stopping by!

I recently found a sketch challenge at 2Peas. This card is based on a recent challenge (Saturday Sketch with Kimber). I simplified the sketch by not doing as many layers.

To get started, I skimmed my pinterest board and found this awesome fabric to use as my starting inspiration (image source).

I knew right away I wanted to do a yellow card base. Then I chose to use Peonies for my flower (I love what I’ve seen with it, but hadn’t had the nerve to pick it up myself). And finally I chose leaves that I thought would compliment the flower.

To color the flower – and get slightly darker spots, or shadows – I used a double inking or double impression. First I lightly inked and stamped with Hibiscus. Then I inked just a portion of the stamp with more Hibiscus and used my finger to tap off the obvious ink pad lines. I stamped that right over the first impression.

For the “flag” shown in the sketch, I chose to trim my card base so that one of the leaves was hanging off.

Thanks for taking a peek!

This week’s Make-it-Monday (mim61) is to use non-flower dies to create flowers! It was so fun to flip through my dies looking at them in a whole new light! I really wanted to re-create a pansy with a butterfly (like I’ve seen folks do with another company’s punch)…but the ones I have just weren’t shaped right — maybe if PTI came out with a Butterfly Kisses die *hint hint* 🙂

So what I did use was hearts. I made sure to add 5 hearts so it wouldn’t look too much like a four-leaf clover. I did use Dawn’s idea for a button and twine center (my button is a die-cut though).

To do the sentiment I just selectively inked the words that would fit on my pennant.

The great layout is from Clean & Simple Stamping – Fall-to-Layout #185.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday’s Clean & Simple challenge at SplitCoast is all about scallops – and I’m a guest designer!

I love this Wonky Scallop die from My Favorite Things. I pretty much designed around it for this card. I liked having it hang off the card, so I trimmed the base to 5″ and the die cut to 5.5″ so the whole thing would fit in an envelope.

Thanks for taking a peek!