Inspired By: Hugs and Butterflies

I love both the Inspired By photo and the sketch.  So I was flipping through my stash for a wreath and saw this butterfly wreath.  The Inspired By wreath is all flowers, but these butterflies called my name.  So I was inspired by the wreath and I kind of used the colors although my green isn't as minty and there isn't as much of it. The sketch inspired me to put the sentiment in the middle although I offset mine a bit so the extra little butterfly stood out.

I also didn't use a "mother" theme - however, this is destined for my mother-in-law as I have been sending weekly cards.  She is an extreme people-person and the isolation has been tough on her.  She's out more now since she has both vaccines, but not like she used to be.  I hope this cheerful butterfly wreath brightens her day.

Thanks so Inspired By for the inspiration to pull out this wreath, for the colors and for the sketch!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Reverse Confetti Butterfly Wreath

Dies: Reverse Confetti Butterfly Wreath dies and Along the Dotted Lines Cover Panel, Paper Rose Hugs Layered

Other: Caribbean Sea Doodadz

The Color Throwdown: Adulting is Hard

I had not used the wonderful retro-look set from Stampin' Up - Nothing's Better Than.  I need something fun to send to my sons as they go into finals week and the colors at The Color Throwdown had the perfect masculine/retro look.

(Forgive me for the tiny bit of green, but it just needed a lime!)

My oldest son is almost at the end of his long college career with his focus being on things like Physics and Applied Math so his finals week is just darned hard. My youngest is a sophomore and doesn't have particularly hard classes.  But he did just have a multiple hour surgery to repair a shattered thumb on his writing hand (a lacrosse goalie injury) - so having a timed essay as a final is not going to go well.  The poor guy is also recovering from a  major reaction to his second vaccination so he definitely wants this semester to be done.

This card will go to my oldest.  He's all about the coffee or tea.  And he really prefers what he terms "girly" drinks. He and his friends laugh about the fact that they go to bars and think they have to be macho with their drinks when they really want the fruity frou-frou drinks!!  

These are such fun stamps - they are fun to work and they are so fun on cards!  

Thank you to The Color Throwdown for the inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Nothing's Better Than

Dies: Stampin' Up Love You More Than, Rectangle Stitched Framelits

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake

Ink: Stampin' Up Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Crumb Cake

Other: Stampin' Up Brick & Mortar Embossing Folder

To Email Subscribers

The standard email service used by my Google blog is being shut down.  I have transferred to a different service.  Today you may get emails from both services.  If not, check your spam to see if the new service got sent there.  The content is the same - it's just a different method of getting it to you!

This isn't something I've done before - it used to be almost automatic - so expect some fine-tuning as we go. For instance, I'm not currently thrilled with the image quality and am researching.  Just hang in there - I'll get it eventually!!

I'm sorry for any inconvenience. 

Poppystamps: Chin Up, You Goat This!

 I'm on the Poppystamps blog today using the charming Whittle Goat sending lots of words of encouragement.

This was such a fun card to make.  Those little guys have the sweetest expressions and they looked at me and made me smile the whole time I was making the card!!  I cut ten different word balloons and I spent some very happy time trying different sentiments and rearranging until I got the right flow. 

There are more pictures and many more details on the Poppystamps blog - check this card out here!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Whittle Wild Animals Sentiments and Whittle Love

Dies: Poppystamps Whittle Goat and Word Balloons

Paper: Memory Box Garden Folly 6x6 pad

Other: Poppystamps Bold Fairy Jewels

Freshly Made Sketches: Pig Time

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Amy and here’s what I did with it!

 

I'm not sure what got into me with this card.  I started with the idea of a critter instead of the leaf element. Then somehow the square became a barn! The barn is a giant die set that makes a full-size easel pop up card - it's absolutely charming.  But that didn't fit the sketch, so I just cut the top part down through the window - then I trimmed the edges so that I have a mini barn.  It's just the right size for my "Whittle Pig"!

The sentiment is actually a long sentiment.  I trimmed it very close so I could also cut it right down the middle.

I must have enjoyed making this. I very rarely make a card with no idea to whom I will send it but I have absolutely no plans for this one.  My 21- and 25-year old sons would die if they happened to open a card like this in front of their friends.  My nieces are girly teenagers - a pig really doesn't work. But I enjoyed every minute of making this - mostly because the pig made me smile every time I looked at it - so it will go in my stash and hopefully come out someday. 

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Whittle Wild Animal Sentiments

Dies: Poppystamps Whittle Pig, Whittle Sun, Little Bits of Turf and Country Barn Pop Up Easel set (just the top), Memory Box Wrapped Stitch Rectangles

Paper: Memory Box Berry Red, Lush Green and Earth Neutral Cardstock Collections

Other: Wooden heart

The Card Concept: Happy Mother's Day

There’s a new inspiration challenge at The Card Concept and the theme is Happy Mother's Day.

That tablescape is gorgeous!  Sadly, my family is lucky if we even eat at the table!!  Although we definitely do for holidays and family events.  I have seasonal placemats, salt and pepper shakers and I even have trios of wine bottles with little sparkly LED lights in them - and I trade those out for bottles with seasonal labels or colors!

My Clean and Layered card took inspiration from the flower colors but what really caught my eye was the drama of the rich blue. The blue on my card is a different blue, but without the inspiration I would never have thought to pair that blue with the softly colored flowers.  I LOVE the contrast!

The dies are Craft a Flower: Cosmos from Altenew.  Aren't they amazing?  Altenew has so many layering flower dies and I've mostly avoided going totally broke on them - but the Cosmos found their way into my stash.  I love their graceful shapes.  There are two different shaped flowers although it's a little hard to tell on my card since my layering covered up most of the difference. 

I hope to see you playing along with us at The Card Concept - I look forward to seeing how you are inspired!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Taylored Expressions Simply Stamped - Zinnias (stamp)

Dies: Altenew Craft a Flower: Cosmos Layering die

Other: Stampin' Up Brick & Mortar

Freshly Made Sketches: Lovely Birdies

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Narelle and here’s what I did with it!

 

I love those sweet little birdies from Catherine Pooler with the patterns on their chest and wings. When I saw there was a branch in the set, I knew they would work with the sketch!  The circle then turned into kind of a sun.  I knew I wanted something unique for the sentiment so I used The Ton's Easy Expressions which have unique shapes.

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Catherine Pooler Lovely Birdies, The Ton Easy Expressions

Dies: Catherine Pooler Lovely Birdies, The Ton Easy Expressions, Stampin' Up Layering Circles Framelits dies, Reverse Confetti Along the Dotted Lines

Paper: Taylored Expressions Pineapple and Sprinkles, Doodlebug Designs Gingham-Linen Rainbow Petite Prints 6x6

Ink: Taylored Expressions Salt Water Taffy, Sprinkles, Granny Apple Green

Other: Pretty Pink Posh Starry Sky Jewels Mix