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Showing posts with label Insects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Insects. Show all posts

July 19, 2026

CLOSE-UP ROSE


Hi friends!


Playing along with this COLOR HUES challenge (ends 7/29)



and this FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES challenge (ends 7/20)

I really love the look of a square card but almost never make them. Something about putting a square card in a rectangular envelope hurts my brain (see Monk ‘Secret Santa’ episode. You’ll thank me later 😂)

 



THE PROCESS

To start: I spritzed a piece of 6 x 6 white Neenah card stock with a water mister and ran it through the embossing machine with the rose folder. I pressed it lightly between two acrylic panels to dry as flat as possible while still retaining the deep flower embossing.

I die cut two different size nesting squares at the same time on shiny black card stock to get a narrow frame. 
I also die cut the smaller square from a large heavy weight cardstock (in a color I hate and will never use up otherwise!) to use as the template to color in the center. This was done by using a blender brush and a red ink pad. 
I mounted the frame on heavy weight card stock strips and glued it centered on the red as shown.

*TIP of the Day*
When attaching anything paper-related directly to embossed panels, I’ve found it works best to use strips of heavy weight card stock vs. foam as the dimensional - it will be less likely to conform to the ridges of embossing. It’s a pesky nuisance when the layered elements all follow the contours accidentally.

I used a black Versafine ink and clear detail embossing powder for the sentiment to refer back to the shine of the frame. Very pleasantly visually textured in person. 

To finish: I used the rub-on sheet to transfer a butterfly to white card stock, which I fussy cut and mounted as shown. Solid shiny white sequins highlight the sentiment in a demure fashion 😁



SUPPLIES

sentiment stamp - Anna Griffin
butterfly rub-on - Brea Reese Press %& Design Butterflies
square dies - Spellbinders Nestibilities Classic Squares
embossing folder - Altenew Rose Bellevue3D
red ink pad - Stampin’ Up! Ruby Red
black ink pad - Versafine Onyx Black
solid sequins - Gina K Clear Quartz
clear detail embossing powder
gold metallic, red & glossy black card stock




Thanks for stopping in today!


April 06, 2026

FAITH SEES THE WAY FLOWER.

 Hi friends!



Playing along with this SUNDAY STAMPS SKETCH CHALLENGE
(ends 4/17).



#364 (ends 4/10).
Optional “E” for…ecosystem!



First of all, love the sketch! Honeycomb was stenciled with transparent glossy texture paste and dusted with powdered Pearl Ex while wet. *TIP* (when it is thoroughly dry, it works well to use a microfiber type cloth to remove Pearl Ex powder from the card front. Though you can see in the close up a slight gold sheen will remain over the blank area)Flower was heat embossed with clear and colored in with alcohol markers. 

The bee was stamped in grey inks and filled in loosely with alcohol ink markers; wings were covered in fine glitter glue (an ancient PSX bottle of Sparkle, now chunky and mostly empty 😭). Flower and bee were fussy cut and foam mounted. The sentiment and bee were stamped in a Stampin’Up! Grey and Adirondack Slate mix to avoid the harshness of black. Mounted on matching grey textured card stock. 




SUPPLIES

bee stamp - Stampendous #A136 Spring Bee
flower stamp - Altenew Himalayan Mayapple set
sentiment stamp - Creative Worship #SNS-14-006 The Future clear set
honeycomb stencil - Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection
clear detail embossing powder
gold Pearl Ex powder
Ranger Texture Paste Transparent Gloss
random flat back pale pink faceted gems



Thanks for stopping in today!

March 19, 2026

SPRING CIRCLES.

Hi friend!



Playing along with this Freshly Made Sketches #728 challenge (3/23).


and this Little Red Wagon Challenge #850 - Signs of Spring (3/24).



I love to have a crafty session using up scraps!  I keep all the off-cut strips in a cup near my desk, and every once in awhile I dump them all out and use this simple method. I start by placing Scrapbook.com 4” double-sided adhesive on a scrap piece of white cardstock about 8” long (this combo can be too thick for some dies to cut cleanly so you may want to try copy paper first), then I peel the protective layer back a few inches at a time as I work down the strip, laying my colored scrap strips as shown. It can be tricky at first but I have the best results if the top strip is lined up exactly with the top edge straight across. Once the strips are all laid down, the panel can be embossed, die cut or stamped on - so many options! I try to include some metallic strips in each panel for added interest. 

On this card the butterflies are two layers - a base of colored card stock and an over layer of white vellum. The sentiment is gold embossed. Two circles are foam mounted, and also the tips of some leaves. 





SUPPLIES

circle dies - Crafter’s Companion Gemini Elements 

leaf dies - Sizzix Thinlits set #664164

butterflies - Sizzix Embosslits Beautiful Wings

sentiment stamp - Creative Worship Stamps Be Encouraged 2




Thanks for stopping in today!

 

August 07, 2022

CAS BUMBLE BEE

Hello!

This clean and simple card is probably pushing the technical CAS limits a bit but it fell too flat visually before adding the black gems to the flower centers :o)  


TECHNIQUES

basic stamping  (bee, crosshatch yellow lines)
preprinted  (sentiment)
foam mounting  (bee, sentiment)
alcohol markers  (bee)
dry embossing  (side panel)
handrawn  (dotted line)
flat back black gems


SUPPLIES

bee stamp  -  Ching Bumble Bee #E1262
crosshatch stamp  -  Stampin' Up! Sanded
inks  -  Versafine black, Distress
alcohol markers  -  Copics
preprinted sentiment  -  Paper Rose
embossing folder  -  Sizzix 3-D Textured #664998
flat back gems  -  Park Lane




Thanks so much for stopping in today!!

 

August 04, 2022

CAS OPENWORK BUTTERFLIES x4

Hello!

Continuing on with the CAS series.... :o)



Two cards on the right utilize two halves of the same butterfly.  I ink blended onto a white panel using brushes, then die cut that panel and glued it to the card front.

The other two cards I cut the butterfly from white card stock, glued the two halves to the cardfronts, and then inlaid the scrap pieces from the other two cards.  Sentiments are stamped directly.


SUPPLIES

butterfly die  -  Sizzix Thinlits
brave wings sentiment stamp  -  Stampers Anonymous #THMM113
lovely sentiment stamp  -  Hero Arts / Altenew collab clear set 
Bloom & Grow # PR105
together sentiment stamp  -  Stampin' Up! Heal Your Heart set
inks  -  Catherine Pooler Life of the Party minis set
preprinted white on black sentiment strip  -  Paper Rose




















Sharing these cards with the following Challenges:

#470 Butterflies  (ends 8/12)

#198 Summer  (ends 8/13)




Thanks so much for stopping by today!




 

July 28, 2022

CAS PASTEL BUTTERFLIES x2

Hello!

I have a little series of clean and simple (CAS) cards coming up in the next few days to share with you. Hope you enjoy!





TECHNIQUES

die cutting  (butterfly)
ink sponging*  (background)
preprinted  (sentiment)
foam mounting  (sentiment strip)

* I used the scraps from the die cut outline to know where to lay the color down on the  white card front, then I glued the die cut over the inked area


SUPPLIES

butterfly die  -  Sizzix Thinlits
inks  -  Catherine Pooler (applied with blending brushes)
preprinted sentiment strip  -  Paper Rose








TECHNIQUES

die cutting  (butterfly)
heat embossing  (words)
foam mounting  (words)
flat back gems

SUPPLIES

butterfly die  -  Sizzix Thinlits
word stamps  -  Altenew Mega words clear sets
inks  -  Catherine Pooler (applied with blending brushes)
preprinted sentiment strip  -  Paper Rose
flat back rhinestone gems  -  Park Lane




Sharing these cards with the following challenges:

Make it Feminine  (ends 8/25)

Weeks #553-554 (JFF)




Thanks so much for stopping by today!






June 22, 2022

STENCILED TWOFER #1

Hello!

I have a little series of stenciled background cards coming up to share with you in the next week or so.  I was on a timeline to get a bunch of interesting colorful cards done, all different.  So I grabbed some easy to work with stencils, nothing fancy priced - in fact this background is from an aluminum decorative vent-type cover.  I hope you enjoy the variety!






TECHNIQUES

basic single color stenciling with fade-out (teal background)
basic layered stamping  (butterfly)
die cutting  (Bless word)
preprinted sentiment strip
foam mounting  (sentiment, butterfly body)

SUPPLIES

butterfly stamp  -  TAC The Angel Company 
inks  -  Versa Fine Onyx Black, Hero Arts, Catherine Pooler Life of the Party minis set
Bless word die  -  Tonic Studios
stencil  -  random metal grating
sentiment strip  -  Paper Rose



Sharing with the following Challenge blogs:





TECHNIQUES

basic single color stenciling with fade-out (teal background)
basic layered stamping  (butterfly)
die cutting  (Shine word - the cardstock was covered with packing tape prior to die cutting to give it the shine)
preprinted sentiment strip
foam mounting  (butterfly body)

SUPPLIES

butterfly stamp  -  TAC The Angel Company 
inks  -  Versa Fine Onyx Black, Hero Arts, Catherine Pooler Life of the Party minis set
Shine word die  -  Altenew
stencil  -  random metal grating
sentiment strip  -  Paper Rose




Thanks so much for stopping in today!!


 

June 07, 2022

BEES x2


Hello!


Love love love insect images and this one is so sweet.




TECHNIQUES

basic stamping  (bee in wreath, sentiment)
alcohol markers  (bee, wreath)
glitter glue  (bee wings)
flat back gems
white gel pen  (ribbon, berries)
patterned paper  (green/white card front, yellow layer & pink/white cardfront, green layers)


SUPPLIES

bee and wreath stamp  -  Stampers Anonymous M2-635
sentiment stamps  -  Polkadoodles Sentimentals clear set  #PD7882
alcohol markers  -  Copics
white gel pen  -  Sakura Gelly Roll
flat back gems  -  Park Lane
glitter glue  -  Stickles Frosted Lace
patterned papers  -  stash, probably Stampin' Up! with the exception of the harlequin piece






Sharing these cards with the following Challenge:

Anything Goes  (ends 6/21).

#271  Summer Colours  (ends 6/11).

#112  At Least 2 Patterned Papers (JFF).

#644 Birthdays.




Thanks so much for visiting today!!