Freshly Made Sketches: Nordic Hello

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

 

I know the sketch said "any shape" but I was really drawn to the oval. Twenty some years ago, we used ovals on every other card but not so much these days with all of the other fun options. From there I had to figure out what to do in the oval but I quickly landed on a couple of dies from my favorite Nordic line of dies at Poppystamps. 

This is kind of an unusual card for me because I don't generally use pink. I have nothing against pink but there just aren't any people in my life to whom I would send a pink card. I was flipping through my cardstock looking for some bold oranges and yellows for the butterfly but the deep pink just jumped right out at me. I actually think it's due to my first week of retirement. I know that sounds odd, but hear me out.  I'm very much a Type A personality - the right tasks get done at the right time and nothing gets missed. I add things to my to-do lists even if they are already done just to give me the satisfaction of crossing them off! This even applies to my cards - each one has a purpose or someone in mind. But in my first week of retirement, I have very intentionally tried to immediately set a habit of slowing down and doing things for the sheer pleasure of it. When the pink jumped out at me, I was ignoring it but then my next thought was that I liked pink so why not do something different for the sheer pleasure of it! 

NOTE: I used the Delicate Details embossing folder from The Stamp Market. It gives a nice, crisp and dimensional image. However, my clean and simple eye saw all the detail in the leaf and butterfly and, while I liked the look of the folder, I wanted it to be more subtle so I ran it back through the machine with just two plates to squish the pattern a bit so it was clearly in the background. 

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Poppystamps Nordic Belle Butterfly, Nordic Sweeping Branch and Hello Poe Script, Taylored Epxressions Stitched Stacklets Oval and Petite Scallop Oval

Cardstock: Taylored Expressions Guava, Pink Champagne, Cupcake, Cilantro, Peapod and Granny Smith

Other: The Stamp Market Delicate Details embossing folder (run back through to squish the pattern a bit)

Freshly Made Sketches: Nordic Fanfare Butterfly

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 loving the Poppystamps Nordic series of products. Maybe it's just the "Nordic" that's getting me given that's a chunk of my background. I have flowers and pots and small butterflies and this is the big Nordic Fanfare Butterfly. I've used him before on this card, but I wanted to make him warmer colors. 

Poppystamps is also doing a series of banner sentiments and it was in my head that I wanted that curvy look on this card, but it turns out that at least so far, they don't have a birthday sentiment which is what I needed. With the banner idea strongly in my head, I flipped through my stash and found this birthday die from Mama Elephant.

I made the background with the idea of a fence and the flowers beyond that fence. I'm not sure that's as obvious as I had hoped it would be, but I do like the look. I pulled all my colors from the floral pattern (by Stampin' Up but retired). 

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Poppystamps Nordic Fanfare Butterfly, Mama Elephant Banner Greetings

Paper: Stampin' Up Garden Walk dsp, cardstock in Calypso Coral, Groovy Guava, Petal Pink, Wild Wheat 

Other: Stampin' Up Pinewood Planks embossing folder, Petal Pink & Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems

Freshly Made Sketches: Nordic Fanfare Butterfly

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

 

The butterfly is from Poppystamps - the Nordic Fanfare Butterfly. It's a recent release and it was one of those purchases that I didn't think about too long.  I saw it - it was stunning - and I ordered it. The only real "challenge" was choosing colors for it. I think I was impacted by the absolutely freezing temperatures outside my craft room window when I used blue tones - although the blues do connect with its "Nordic" name. I already have it cut in soft spring colors and I'll definitely use it again with brilliant summer or even autumn colors.

I thought this was the perfect sketch for it.  Just a hint of scallops to frame it - and a bit of gingham paper down the side. All the focus is on the butterfly just as it should be!!

I've heard that all 50 states in this country were under some kind of weather warning this weekend.  Ours was dangerously cold temperatures.  I handled it by staying inside the entire weekend, crafting, knitting and reading, and there was perhaps some alcohol involved (there's nothing more warming on the inside than an Old Fashioned with a good bourbon!)  If you are in the States, I hope you comfortably survived whatever weather was thrown your way!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Memory Box/Open Studio Whittle Sayings

Dies: Poppystamps Nordic Fanfare Butterfly

Paper: Stampin' Up Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Pool Party

Other: Stampin' Up Glossy Dots Assortment

The Card Concept: Wishes Come True

We're back!!  Our summer break is over and it is time for more inspiration at The Card Concept!!  This challenge is Change of Seasons and includes a fabulous bold butterfly.

Although I did not follow the theme - I was totally inspired by the inspiration photo. I'm just not sure it's obvious (other than I used butterflies). First, I was drawn to the beautiful detailed butterfly. Then as I was searching my patterned papers for something with the indicated colors, I saw this scrap that had the same misty and muted look as the photo. In the photo, I love the contrast between the crisp, clean butterfly and that subtle background so I went that direction. Then I needed a little more accent on each butterfly and as I looked at the photo, I saw there were just pops of color in what otherwise would be a fairly basically colored butterfly - so I added some pops of color matching my background!!  I really was inspired by the photo!

So now what we're back, play along with us!  Inspiration can come in many forms (as you could tell by my long description of my card). You can use the photo, the colors, the theme - or any combination of the above. No matter what you use, there is inspiration here - enjoy it!!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Diamond Sentiments

Dies: Poppystamps Stained Glass Butterfly Collage

Paper: unknown scraps, Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight

Other: Various Gumdrops from Your Next Stamp

Color Throwdown: A Happy Hello

I'm playing along with the Color Throwdown. The graphic caught my eye and the colors are gorgeous! I decided on butterflies because I felt like the colors were rich and summery and a nice change from the bright spring-like colors that I typically use on butterflies. 

I recently stumbled on these butterflies - new from Alexandra Renke - and was instantly in love with their unique shapes and layers. There are 8 of them (I only got 3) and a dragonfly (which I also got). I found them at starlitstudio.net. I've been shopping there for years. I found the shop when I was looking for some older Memory Box dies - which they had (and usually do) - and I keep going back because I always find fun surprises like these butterflies!

Thank you to the Color Throwdown for the inspiration for the first outing of my gorgeous new butterflies!!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Papertrey Ink Just Sentiments: Happy Hello

Dies: Alexandra Renke Layered Butterfly 1, Layered Butterfly 6 and Layered Butterfly 8

Paper: Stampin' Up Night of Navy (the OLD dsp) and cardstock in Night of Navy, Tranquil Tide and Crushed Curry

Other: Pretty Pink Posh Marigold gems

TGIF: Woo Hoo!

My long-time Stampin' Up demonstrator's birthday is tomorrow and I needed some inspiration quickly.  I like to use current products and my current SU stash is a little short on birthdays.  Luckily, the TGIF Challenge had a nice sketch that inspired me - and one of their fabulous design team even used this butterfly!  It turns out I do have current products that work for birthdays!

I love the funky chunky look of these butterflies. I have so many graceful butterflies - this was a nice change. Then I realized that the stamp set I got with sale-a-bration could work for birthday - maybe it's a stretch but at least it's an excited sentiment and talks about another year!  I pulled some older paper out - Playing with Patterns. I got it just for the sheer uniqueness of the color combo. I haven't really embraced it, but it does seem to work with my fun little butterfly and bold sentiment.

Thank you to the TGIF challenge for the inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Amazing Phrasing (sale-a-bration)

Dies: Stampin' Up Build a Butterfly, Rectangle Stitched

Paper: Stampin' Up Night of Navy and Calypso Coral CS, Playing with Patterns dsp (retired)

Ink: Stampin' Up Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral

Other: blue gems

Freshly Made Sketches: Well Hello There

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

 

I have more birds in my stash that any one person should ever need - but I keep getting newer, cuter, prettier, quirker birds - just about any excuse will do.  I love the new Sweetie Bird by Spellbinders - so many fun layers! There's also a Little Chickadee which I haven't found in stock anywhere yet, and a Tweet Cardinal which will show up on one of my cards soon.  

The same is true of flowers. I really liked the Be Bold set from Spellbinders but I didn't get it on the first day and then it was out of stock forever. Long enough that I realized that the last thing I needed was another set of flowers - even though this set is huge and gorgeous - so I took it off my wishlist.  Then I was wandering Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago and the dies were on sale and look what they had! This set clearly needed a home in my craft room.

Given I had the Sweet Birdie on my desk, the circle on the sketch was very obviously a little hole for his house. I pulled out all of my favorite fresh colors and decided to do him in the warmer colors and a little bouquet at his entrance in cooler colors. The sentiment is a pre-done strip from Simon Says and felt exactly right for him!

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Spellbinder Be Bold Bloom, Sweet Birdie

Paper: Stampin' Up Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green, Parakeet Party, Doodlebug Petite Prints Stone Gray Wood Grain

Other: Simon Says Stamp Sentiment Strips 2, Pretty Pink Posh Marigold gems

Freshly Made Sketches: Happy Days and Butterflies

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

As I was flipping through my stash hoping for inspiration, I hit upon these butterflies fairly quickly.  Then I decided to give them three fields of flowers and I had these gorgeous patterns from The Rabbit Hole. 

The sentiment was a bit more of a struggle. I thought this was coming together perfectly for a retirement card I need in the next few months. The future retiree is all about her garden. But I needed a vertical sentiment and the word "retirement" is a long horizontal word. When I found this sentiment, I thought I was on to something - after all, retirement should be happy and joyful. I figured I could put a retirement sentiment on the inside. I'm having second thoughts now that I'm typing this - the sentiment feels wedding-ish. What do you think??

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Memory Box Joyful Moments

Dies: Memory Box Drifting Side Butterfly (the larger one) and Flitter Side Butterfly (the smaller one)

Paper: The Rabbit Hole Designs Spring Floral #2, Stampin' Up Mossy Meadow, Sweet Sorbet, Grapefruit Grove

Ink: Stampin' Up Mossy Meadow

Poppystamps: You Can Do It

 I'm on the Poppystamps blog today with this quick and easy card using one of the fabulous new butterflies!

This is the Large Stained Glass  Butterfly and Background (although I didn't use the background because I wanted the stripes to show through).  I added a rainbow of 1/2" stripes and framed it all with the largest frame from the Double Scalloped Stitched Frames. The sentiment seemed just right for the bold butterfly and cheerful stripes - it's from the Art Deco Inspiration stamp set.

There are many more pictures and details on the Poppystamps blog - check it out!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Art Deco Inspiration clear stamp set

Dies: Poppystamps Large Stained Glass Butterfly and Background craft die, Double Scalloped Stitched Frames

Paper: Memory Box 6x6 cardstock packs in Berry Red, Sunny Orange and Fresh Aqua, Memory Box Polished Foil Pad

Hand Stamped Sentiments: Here for You

The current challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments includes the new Stampin' Up In Colors which I really like so I just had to play along!

I really do like these colors.  I already used all five of them on this card. But I think I might be even more excited looking forward to winter and Christmas.  Orchid Oasis and Starry Sky are going to make fabulous winter cards.  And a softer red makes me giddy.  My eye sees most reds as harsh - I truly struggle with red and green Christmas cards. I think this softer red is going to show up on most of my Christmas cards!

Thank you to Hand Stamped Sentiments for the challenge!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up And Many More

Dies: Stampin' Up Build a Butterfly

Paper: Stampin' Up Cardstock in Orchid Oasis, Starry Sky and Tahitian Tide, In-Color dsp in Orchid Oasis, Sweet Sorbet and Parakeet Party

Other: Kat Scrappiness Majestic Blue pearls

Poppystamps: Stained Glass Butterflies

 I'm on the Poppystamps blog today with the gorgeous new Stained Glass Butterfly Collage!

The "thoughts and prayers" card also uses the new Small Stained Glass Butterfly and Background which coordinates perfectly. I used the background collage die offset in two different ways and then tucked in two different sentiments from Diamond Sentiments.

There are many more pictures and details on adding the glitter paper on the Poppystamps blog. 

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Diamond Sentiments

Dies: Poppystamps Stained Glass Butterfly Collage, Small Stained Glass Buttery and Background

Paper: Memory Box Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad and Stormy Blue 6x6 pack for the blue body

Other: Winter Fantasy Fairy Gemstones, Fairy Drops

Freshly Made Sketches: Birthday Butterflies

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

  

 

As I was thinking about this card and looking at my calendar of birthdays, I knew that I had to use Stampin' Up products because my long-time Stampin' Up demonstrator (and friend) has a birthday coming up!  I thought about using Stampin' Up pastels because that was her last class but I just hadn't practiced enough to be comfortable. A few classes before that was about the Blending Brushes and those made sense for the oval part of the sketch!

I used the biggest oval in Stitched Shape Framelits to create a mask and then brushed on Balmy Blue leaving the area where the sentiment was going very light (I didn't want to change the mango color of the sentiment by having blue behind it). I did end up straying a bit from the sketch at this point. I had intended to use a small strip sentiment in the upper left as the sketch shows then surround it with the smaller butterflies but it just wasn't working and my eyes kept going to how nice the big butterfly would be. I know my teammates made the two strips work with lovely results, but I really needed to love this card before sending it off and I loved the butterfly! (Apologies to Jen!)

I love those cheerful butterflies!  And I love that sentiment set!!  So I will happily be sending this to my Stampin' Up demo - probably about the time she'll be bringing me my stuff from the new catalog.  Happy day!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Butterfly Gala, Biggest Wish

Dies and Punches: Stampin' Up Butterfly Duet punch, Stitched Shapes Framelits

Ink: Balmy Blue, Mango Melody

Cardstock: Balmy Blue

Other: Stampin' Up Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems

Freshly Made Sketches: Hello Butterflies

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

 

I didn't have anything specific in mind so I flipped through my not-yet-used stash and pulled out a number of dies with graceful curves that would fit the flower in the sketch.  I cut out a window then I went looking for paper and I found that I actually had a paper with butterflies (I tend toward subtle stripes or gingham, etc. Not that this is particularly bold but it's still a pattern and you'll not see many patterned papers on my cards!!)  Butterfly paper and a butterfly die - it worked!

I originally just backed the butterfly with plain cardstock but it seemed too bland for a beautiful butterfly.  (I'm also not a fan of this particular color, but it matched the dsp!!)  So I sponged on some matching ink toward the body and some white ink toward the tips.  Then I used Fun Stampers Journey silk in black and sparkle to splatter on some dots. 

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Avery Elle Simple Sentiments

Dies: Memory Box Drifting Side Butterfly, My Favorite Things Peek-a-Boo Window (square)

Paper: Stampin' Up Pretty Petals dsp (retired), Calypso Coral, Pacific Point

Other: Fun Stampers Journey Sparkle Silk and Black Licorice Silk

Freshly Made Sketches: Celebrating You

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

 

I've had this masking stencil and the diagonal stitch square that fit inside in my not-yet-used stash for a while.  I recently got the butterflies. (All from Taylored Expressions.) I was thrilled when I realized all of them could come out to play with this sketch!

I love the "rough" look of the butterflies - the outline stamp is deliberately missing chunks, the filler stamp doesn't quite line up and they are kind of chunky looking.  It's such a different look from many other butterfly stamps. There are many other butterflies in the set -you can see some of them from the die cuts I used to decorate my photo. I already had way too many butterfly stamps/dies (along with leaf and snowflake stamps/dies) but these cuties managed to find a home in my stash!

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Taylored Expressions Social Butterflies and coordinating dies

Dies: Taylored Expressions Diagonal Stitch Square Stacklets

Ink: Taylored Expressions Candy Corn, Lemon Meringue, Confetti Cake

Other: Taylored Expressions Scalloped Squares Masking Stencils

Color Throwdown and As You See It: Butterfly Birthday

 I just picked up Stampin' Up's Butterfly Beauty dies - they are retiring and on sale.  I don't know why I waited so long.  The main die that I'm using on this card is stunning and there are many, many other smaller butterflies.  It's a great set.

The colors at The Color Throwdown were definitely butterfly-ish!  Not so much the colors in their graphic, but they list the colors as red, orange, yellow and kraft so perfect for my classic butterfly. I brushed red ink, a few oranges and yellows in a circular pattern, then cut the background butterflies.  I topped it with white. I knew I was going to put it on kraft, but needed a little something extra.  I was looking for inspiration - browsing my stash and browsing various challenges. When I saw the sketch at As You See It, inspiration struck and I used an embossing folder to give me a border.  Thanks to both challenges for the inspiration!!

Because the butterfly was two layers, I thought it was sturdy enough to pop with dimensional adhesive around the edges and middle.  I like the way butterflies kind of float! The sentiment is popped with a bit thicker adhesive so lots of dimension on this card!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Four You (sentiment)

Dies: Stampin' Up Butterfly Beauty, The Greetery Sentiment Suite: Basics

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Mango Melody, Crumb Cake

Ink: Stampin' Up Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight

Other: Taylroed Expressions Garden Party Embossing Folder, Pretty Pink Posh Glossy Black gems

Freshly Made Sketches: Celebrating You

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

I have two different posts up today and in both posts I had a problem with my cards and solved it the same way.  The problem - my idea for the card just didn't fit on a standard card front. In this case, I cut the rainbow of butterflies but they just got lost on a standard-sized card.  So I changed it to a mini-slim!  It's 3 1/2 by 6.  The slightly narrower card meant my butterflies didn't get lost.  I just had to fill in the vertical size so I picked a pretty floral and added borders!

I was thrilled to find a die in my stash with multiple different butterflies of the same approximate size.  Some of them had pierced detail so I was equally thrilled to find a banner for my sentiment with pierced.  So when I decided I needed something instead of plain white in the background - but it couldn't have much detail - lo and behold, I just got the Altenew Cross Stitch background which gave me the same pierced look.  It was a happy day!

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: The Greetery Sentiment Suite Birthdays

Dies: Penny Black Flights of Fancy, Altenew Cross Stitch, The Greetery Sentiment Suites Basics 

Poppystamps: A Butterfly Hello

I am on the Poppystamps blog today with this clean & simple card made extra special with the beautiful background, the fun font of the sentiment and the detail on those butterflies!

I love background dies that give detail but still look clean and simple.  These Pinpoint Half Rings can work for so many types of cards - they could be fun (think fish), sweet (think rainbows), or elegant as it is a classic design.

I was inspired by the "cardmaker's postage stamps". (Did you know there's a US postage stamp specifically for square or for lumpy, bumpy cards!)  The first one included a butterfly and now there's a new one with a different butterfly. So I pulled out the Postage Square die and sponged a little bit of blue in the center so the butterfly popped!

Check out the Poppystamps for more pictures and more details.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Poppystamps Pinpoint Half Ring Plate, Intricate Cut Butterflies and Hello Poe Script, Memory Box (Open Studio) Postage Square Layers

Paper: Memory Box Sunny Orange Collection

The Card Concept: Brilliant Butterfly Birthday

There’s a new inspiration challenge at The Card Concept and the theme is Butterfly Brilliance.

I was inspired by the big, brilliantly-colored butterfly on the background of green. I definitely went big and I definitely went bright green!  This is a "Classy and Elegant" card as it is full of  rich colors, it's dramatic and it has many textures. 

I tend toward white-based cards - not black. I did try a white butterfly but the papers in his wings just didn't look as brilliant so I stuck with black. Because of my tendencies toward white, it seemed very dark so I used bright green in the background then I added a white sentiment.  The white for the sentiment didn't "connect" to the card so I pulled out twine and a splattering of white sequins.  (What I should have done is added white splatters to the green background and I actually started down that path after I had the card put together.  I even cut a butterfly out of scraps to mask it. And then I realized how likely it would be to ruin the card given I'm not even comfortable splattering on a plain background!)

I hope to see you playing along with us at The Card Concept!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Waffle Flower Essential Sentiments (and matching dies)

Dies: L'il Inkers Cover Up Die Butterfly

Paper: Craft Consortium Ink Drops - Vivid 6x6 pad, Taylored Expressions Plum Punch and Lime Zest

Other: Taylored Expressions Leafy Vine Embossing Folder

Freshly Made Sketches: The Resurrection

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

 

I was definitely planning on three bright stripes - like a rainbow - but as I was flipping through my dies, I saw the Pinkfresh Curvy Leaves die and realized the biggest die would fit perfectly. From there, this card came together very quickly. For the "any shape" component, a butterfly on the leaves seemed just right.  And butterflies are a beautiful symbol of resurrection so I have an Easter card!

The rays of sunshine were done with the Pinkfresh Layered Sunburst stencil set.  I am a very late adopter of stencils but now that I've started, I can't stop.  Last week, I did a post on repositionable stencil adhesives and couldn't believe I waited so long to use them!!  LOVE it - so now when I'm layering three stencils like in this sunburst - it's easy-peasy!!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Taylored Expressions He Is Risen

Dies: Pinkfresh Curvy Leaves, Memory Box Kaleidoscope Butterfly (top layer) and Moonlight Butterfly (bottom layer)

Paper: Memory Box Graceful Garden Glitter pad

Other: Pinkfresh Layered Sunburst Stencil set

CAS(E) this Sketch: God Bless Your Day

I'm playing along with this week's sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch. I had recently purchased the Flight of Fancy Sizzix set which includes a variety of "scribbled" butterflies and birds.  The sketch gave me the same feeling as the butterfly.

The glittery butterfly is actually from a peacock feather printed glitter paper. I didn't need the pattern but I wanted the rich color variations.  It was a gloomy day yesterday so the photo game me some headache. This card is so much nicer IRL. My butterfly is actually a richer color and the sentiment is a softer color. I'm trying very hard to not to obsess over my card photos.  Sometimes it feels like it takes longer than making the card and I'm not a fast cardmaker.  So I let this one go and I moved on.

Thank you to CAS(E) this Sketch for the inspiration.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words Faith

Dies: Sizzix Flight of Fancy Thinlits, Simon Says Stamps A2 Thin Frames

Paper: Glitter paper purchased at Michaels, cardstock is Taylored Expressions Poblano Pepper and Eggplant

Other: Taylored Expressions Garden Party Embossing Folder, Pretty Pink Posh Sugar Plum Jewels