Sketched Butterfly Birthday

Happy Friday, peeps! BOY is it hot!  I wonder how I ever survived living in my house without A/C!!!  What a wimp I am!  Anyway, I stayed inside this morning, stamping and coloring and diecutting!  Here we go:

As You See It has a wonderful color challenge this week, and Tuesday Morning Sketches has an equally wonderful sketch:

When I first saw the colors, I had a totally different project in mind, but I also knew I wanted to play with my new Sketched Butterflies sets, so I decided to use the large butterfly as a focal point.  Now, I know there are probably NO butterflies that look like this, but that's the beauty of art--you can make anything any color you want! After watercoloring the different panels on the butterfly, I found some scraps of DSP to match the challenge colors and they formed my banners:

I didn't space my banners correctly, so my butterfly is hanging over the edge of my card, so I made a custom envelope with some retired DSP and the retired Envelope Punch Board to make sure it fit!  A pretty sentiment and some more butterflies went on the inside!

And since CAS on Sunday is looking for watercoloring, I'm entering it there as well!

Thanks so much for popping in today!  Stay cool, enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sketched Butterflies
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Watercolor Paper, DSP in Daffodil Delight, Blueberry Bushel and Granny Apple Green (all ret)
Ink	Stazon Black, Daffodil Delight, Blueberry Bushed, Granny Apple Green
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Sketched Butterflies Dies, Aquapainter

FMS643 Land That I Love

 Happy 4th of July! We have a lazy day and I'm having trouble getting started today!  The FMS sketch from Linda was a fun one to use for a patriotic theme!

I pulled out a couple of patriotic stamps and here's what I came up with:

I stamped one image from SU's retired Star-Spangled Banner in each color of Real Red and Blueberry Bushel, then did some paper piecing for my center panel.  I diecut it with a Perennial Postage die, although I did have to run it through two times to get the shape I wanted!  I added some diecut stars behind the image:

The sentiment was from a really old set from Mark's Finest, called American Made; it was diecut and I added some Bitty Banner diecuts behind it:

Another image and sentiment from Mark's Finest went on the inside:

And since the Time Out Challenge is featuring stars this week, I'm entering it there as well!

Happy Independence Day!  And here's a funny photo for you, totally not related to the 4th of July, sent to me by my sister in South Carolina:

I could use some of those pencils while doing my crossword puzzles every day!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed! 

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Star-Spangled Banner (ret), American Made (Mark's Finest)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Real Red, Blueberry Bushel
Ink	Real Red, Blueberry Bushel
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Perennial Postage Dies, Stitched Star Dies (Paper Rose), Bitty Banners Dies (ret), Banner Die (Nellie Snellen), Star Embossing Folder (ret)

Winterly Tree Tops Peace

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  I had a chance to play with the new Winterly Tree Tops set, which will be available soon!  I am entering my card in the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge, which is to color in an image, as well as the Christmas Kickstart Challenge, which is festive frames!

I began by stamping the cardinal pair on Thick Basic White with Stazon black ink, diecutting them out, and watercoloring them:

I diecut the frame from the same set of dies, and layered it on a piece of the coordinating DSP, Nests of Winter.  I just LOVE this pattern!  I then popped up the cardinals:

And I used a retired sentiment from Wrapped In Christmas, diecut with the Stylish Shapes dies:

I wish we had some white glimmer paper, because this frame would look amazing diecut from that!  

Thanks so much for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Winterly Tree Tops, Wrapped in Christmas (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Thick Basic White, Nests of Winter DSP
Ink	Stazon Black, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stylish Shapes Dies, Winterly Tree Tops Dies, Aquapainter

Copper Stenciled Roses

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  Still playing with the Layers of Beauty bundle and since the JUGS challenge this week is stenciling, I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring!

Inkspirational is also looking for stencils:

And I am also playing along with my old friends as Tic-Tac-Toe; I chose to use the elements from the left column:

I haven't done any heat embossing for a long time, so I pulled out my copper embossing powder, my Versamark ink pad and went to work:

It's fun to experiment with different colors on these roses; to go with the copper embossing, I chose Peach Pie, Copper Clay, Cajun Craze, Soft Sea Foam and Old Olive.  Even though we're in the midst of summer, I still enjoy these fall hues!  

I also heat-embossed a couple of sentiments from Unbounded Love and diecut them with the matching die, then everything got mounted on a panel of Basic White that was embossed with the Distressed Tile embossing folder and diecut with the Perennial Postage dies.  Around the edges of my Basic Beige card, since I already had my Versamark pad out, I stamped the smaller floral image from the same set; it gives a lovely tone-on-tone effect that doesn't detract from the main design.  I also added a Neutral sequin in copper as well!  You just cannot go wrong with this stamp, stencil and die bundle!    

Cassidy had a friend over last weekend and although our weather has been HOT, that particular evening it was quite chilly.  Wayne had set up a TV to watch on the patio, and the girls wanted to watch a spooky movie:

Sweatshirts, blankets, two bowls of popcorn and two DOGS to keep them warm!  Looks like fun! Thanks for popping in today--enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Layers Of Beauty, Unbounded Love
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Thick Basic White, Basic Beige
Ink	Versamark, Peach Pie, Copper Clay, Cajun Craze, Soft Sea Foam, Old Olive
Accessories	Dimensionals, Neutral Sequins, Copper Embossing Powder
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Layers of Beauty Dies & Masks, Unbounded Love Dies,, Heat Tool, Blending Brushes, Distress Tile Embossing Folder, Perennial Postage Dies

AHSC584 Thinking of You Always

Happy Monday, everyone!  Happy July!  And it's time for a new Atlantic Hearts sketch challenge!  Here we go:

I recently got the new Scenic Pumpkin Patch stamp set that will be available in a couple of days.  Honestly, I shy away from SCENES.  Yikes, they scare me! But I was determined to try out this set because I just love pumpkins! And I know we're in the middle of summer, but bear with me as I stamp some pumpkins:

I placed most of my stamping to the right of the panel to satisfy the sketch.  I did make a lot of little masks to keep in my stamp case for future use....it's really helpful when you want to layer these images! Everything is pretty straightforward stamping, although I did use a die that I can't even remember the name of, it was one of the first SU came out with, along with some retired leaf dies and some fall colors:

The sentiment is also new, from the Winterly Tree Tops set, such a nice sentiment too! The Mossy Meadow card base was embossed with the Leaf Fall EF, although it's hard to tell!

So I'll keep playing with this set and hopefully the scenery won't scare me so much, LOL!  I hope you'll play along with our sketch too!  The Atlantic Hearts blog will feature all the DT samples on Wednesday, so check them out!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Scenic Pumpkin Patch, Winterly Tree Tops
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Mossy Meadow, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry DSP (ret), Masking Paper
Ink	Balmy Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Garden Green, Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Leaf Fall Embossing Folder, Seasonal Tags Framelits (ret), Labels Dies (ret), Blending Brush, Early Espresso Marker (for birds)