French Foliage & Butterflies

French Foliage (W123557 / C121166) is a very versatile stamp and one of those, essentials for both scrapbooking and card making as it softens and adds texture to your backgrounds.  Coupled with Stampin' Up!'s new butterfly punches (Elegant Butterfly 127526 & Bitty Butterfly 129406) a simple yet stunning card can be created.


On a Crumb Cake base card I've matted the Whisper White on Perfect Plum. 

I've sponged the edge of the Whisper White card very lightly with Perfect Plum and then added the French Foliage splatters in Perfect Plum over the card with a highlight of crumb cake on the Left to Right diagonal.  The Butterflies were punched out of Vellum and Perfect Plum and lightly sponged in Perfect Plum and Crumb Cake respectively.

The sponging a little closer...

The Butterflies are adhered to the card with glue dots as they lift the butterflies slightly off the card.

Vellum is a great material to use on both your cards and scrapbooking pages.   I hope this card inspires you to not only use your butterfly punches that nestle so well onto each other, but to incorporate vellum into your projects.

The next card is one I've already posted but it shows you the same layout but with Butterflies from the Embosslit Beautiful Wings. Details for this card can be viewed HERE.


This time the butterflies from Beautiful Wings trail down the centre of the card.

This is a very simple layout and has different looks with different highlights - this card employs the Beautiful Wings Embosslits 118138 in Pink Pirouette with a Doily Background and the use of the script stamp from the French Foliage set.

The new in-colour Primrose Petals is just gorgeous, and works so well with pink pirouette, soft suede and the beautiful vintage lace from Stampin' Up!

Enjoy your butterflies and happy crafting on these wonderful sunny days and warm nights.
Happy crafting, Love

Brown bag transformation

A simple brown bag can be turned into a very beautiful gift bag with the following materials; Designer Series Paper, Stamps, Ink, Ribbon, Brad and a sponge.  I have blogged before how special Sherenne is,  and this is the beautiful gift bag she gave to me for no reason but to let me know she appreciates the effort I go to with my workshops and coffee, cake, craft and chocolate club - what was inside you are asking?...Chocolate ... Lindt Passionfruit chocolate (yuuuummmy). 

The beautiful gift bag...


The bag has 6 - 10 layers in total; Gold shimmer paper, DSP, Embossed Sarah Sand, Gold Shimmer, Very Vanilla stamped with a retired SU background stamp; on which Field Flowers is embossed upon.

Field Flowers - it looks great!

The Field Flowers is not only embossed, but Sherenne has also used a technique called Rock and Roll.

Rock and Roll is a technique where you ink up your image and roll the edges in a darker ink pad.  Stunning isn't it! 

A closer look at the Rock and Roll technique and the sponging on the background stamp along with the roughing of the edges softens the edges of the bag very nicely.

The Vintage Brads are a must and this piece of layering is just gorgeous with the Chocolate Chip Ribbon (retired) picking up the piece used on the handle.

The Vintage Brad off sets the Antique Embellishment very well, and that retired ribbon picks up the gold in the DSP. 

What a fantastic use for the Tag Punch and its coordinating stamps; combined with this retired ribbon, the handle is not forgotten but incorporated into the bag. 

Again the sentiment is embossed - a lot of work went into this gorgeous bag.

This is a bag I will hold onto and treasure forever.  I think it is truly stunning and certainly my taste.
Thank you Sherenne for the time, effort and thought you have put into this bag and thank you to Rachael for taking the photos and doing such a wonderful presentation, so I could share this with you.

Got some Paper bags? Hope this inspires you to dress them up and give a gift to someone who is special in your life.

Note Pad cover

The Heartfelt SU event in Brisbane was amazing.  I loved that the event was self paced.  I have chronic fatigue and being able to choose what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it, enabled me to enjoy the function.  There were demonstrations, play tables, product tables, lectures and project work stations.   This was my favourite take home...a note pad cover in colours and design that SU chose.  I think the layout, colours and products go very very well together.  I added a little bling to mine and stamped a little more randomly and just loved the finished product.


The finished project - nice design SU

The note pad focused on several products, the score board, the Fancy Flower punch and Twine, Clockworks Stamp Set WM127290 / CM127292 and embellishments - Vintage Faceted Designer Button 127555 and Rhinestones using the new In Colours for 2012-2013.


The Vintage Faceted Designer Button 127555 and Rhinestones just added that extra bling to make the pad a little more feminine.

The flower was punched with Fancy Flower 118073 out of pool party, moistened and scrunched up - 3 layers to this flower; with a Vintage Faceted Designer Button 127555 and twine (with a Calypso Coral twist 125573) to finish the centre.

This could be a card front and I think we often forget that our cards can be used as anything from a box lid to note pad cover as per above.  Enjoy your day, the sun is shining here, hope it is at your place too.

Puff Paint

You would not believe how easy it is to make your own puff paint with simple ingredients most have at home in their kitchen pantry.  It is heaps of fun not only in making it, but colouring it to any desired colour and shade.   Apply the paste and then heat it and watching it rise (the best fun for Ben and I).  For those who do not know what it is or what it looks like, here are some finished projects I made a couple of years ago...

Melon Mambo is so bright and begged for this to be done.  The cupcakes is from the cupcake rollergraph 113121



A little closer look so you can see I've added glitter for a little bling...love glitter

Another cake from an older retired set ...


Melon Mambo, Whisper White and Black, don't get better or more striking than that!




I love the way it puffs and cracks, just like a real cake!

So how does one make Puff Paint?
Equal amounts of fresh white Self Raising Flour and Salt (that is a ratio of 1:1) with a drop or two of reinker to colour the blend and three or five drops of water - until you have a runny but thick custard consistency.  I like to make up a couple of teaspoons of the mix and add blobs around the perimeter of a plate and then colour with one drop of reinker as to minimise waste.  I mix the mixture with a toothpick and add the mixture to my stamped image with a toothpick and fine paint brush.

Once the image is coloured, simply heat your card with your heat gun, from the underside first, to cook the mixture.  Move the heat around the card and from either side (top & bottom) of the card to ensure even cooking of the mix.  Once the mixture puffs and rises, and you have the aroma of cake or bread, you know you are done.

This layout featuring Crazy for Cupcakes, was cased from my up line Lisa.  I just loved it and by adding a little puff, even better...


Colours include Whisper White, Choc Chip and Blushing Bride.

 A little close so you can lick the cakes...well I want to LOL

And again but with Pumpkin Pie as a mat.

Crazy for Cupcakes.

This is so much fun to do with children and adults alike (LOL).  I've used this on Christmas cards for that extra depth on Santa's beard, lights, leaf fond and hair, but cakes are my favourite use.  Ignite that master chief in you and start cooking on your cards.

Love

Female Card - Betsy's Blossoms

Flowers make beautiful female cards for any occasion;  Birthday, Get Well, Thank You, and much more.  Betsy's Blossoms (W126004 / C126006) is one of those sets that is gorgeous and so very versatile.  I wanted to play with Stampin' Up's new In Colours, Primrose Petal and Raspberry Ripple and of course wanted to use the cute stamp set Betsy's Blossoms.  Here is my creation....


The bird is in Midnight Muse cut out and lifted with a SU dimensional.  The branch is stamped in Gumball Green.

How cool is this photo - great work Rach :-)   The photo clearly shows the subtle layering on the card.

I am very lucky to have a talented friend, willing to share her expertise to support this blog.  Thank you Rachael and thank you for looking.  Have a great day crafting!