A little vintage for Lea

Hi there. Today I have one more butterfly card to show you. It’s very similar to this one I showed last time, but this time I’ve tried to add some little vintage touches. As many of you know, this is not my natural style, but the card was for my lovely friend Lea, who loves vintage, so I thought she’d appreciate that I tried to go there. Anyway, this is the card.

Looking back at it, I think it still looks like me & nowhere near as vintage as some, so maybe I’d better point out some of what I tried to do. First, the colours. I used some beautiful Love Letter & Newsprint DSP, with cherry cobbler, riding hood red, black, vanilla...& a little bit of bashful blue to mix it up. I distressed all the cardstock & paper edges, sponged the edges of the DSP & butterflies with riding hood red or crumb cake ink, then added an antique brad which I sponged with a little black staz on ink. The greeting mat is the modern label punch, which I always think looks a little vintage too (despite having a modern name?)

Here’s a close up of the large butterfly, so you can hopefully see some of the sponging etc better.

And here’s the inside. Just love this sentiment from Create a Cupcake.

The neutral panel is naturals ivory card, which is a lovely colour with tiny little specks through it to add a little extra interest.
Oh & I almost forgot. Here’s one more pic of the card & pressie with matching butterfly belly band. I would have liked to use cream tissue paper, but only had white.

So what do you think? Does it look in any way or shape vintage? In any case, I had fun making it & Lea seemed to really like it & that’s most important.  I’d better finish this post quickly & not waffle any more, since I’ve already lost it once to the dreaded blue screen of death on my laptop. Back soon I hope.

Inky wishes, Di

Deal of the Week 4

It's also time for our last deal of the week. This week is Stampin' Around wheels & very cute rub-on packs. Check out my SU website here for all the details & contact me if you'd like to order anything.

Bye again!

Supplies:

Stamps: Create a Cupcake (Autumn/Winter Mini)

Card/Paper: cherry cobbler (base) riding hood red, naturals ivory, bashful blue card, Love Letter & Newsprint DSP

Ink: riding hood red, crumb cake ink pad, black staz on ink

Accessories:   5/8 in black satin ribbon, vanilla 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon

Tools: Big Shot, Dies - Beautiful Butterflies & Beautiful Wings, Elegant Lines embossing folder, Punches – word window & modern label

Sarah's birthday butterflies

Good morning! No, you’re not dreaming, I’m actually posting 2 days in a row. Today I have a matching card & box to show you, which continue the butterfly theme. I made them for my friend & fab SU team member Sarah’s (of Sarah’s Stamping Style) birthday last month. I was tempted to use Sarah’s favourite colour melon mambo, but I remembered I’d made her a melon package at Christmas (note to self – I haven’t shown this either!), so decided to try something different, which I hope she liked too. Anyhoo, here’s the finished card...

The colours are a combination of marina mist, bashful blue, certainly celery, with just a touch of razzleberry. My big shot got a work-out cutting the ‘Beautiful Butterflies’ & Beautiful Wings’ butterflies & embossing the bashful blue card with the ‘Elegant Lines’ embossing folder.  So quick & easy to do, but I get such a kick every time I do it. The layout was inspired by the Inkspirations challenge 67 sketch – I just changed a couple of details.

Here’s a closer look at the main butterfly, which I think looks sooo pretty. Just a couple of notes – the itty bitty button is backed with a little razzleberry DSP & the antennae are made with linen thread.

...& the inside (which has a punched brand new decorative label to cover up a verrrry crooked sentiment!) Oops! Don't check it S

I also got Sarah a glittery snow globe that holds photos, so I made a matching box...which I think from memory was around 9.5cm square (Sarah said yes it is, so all good!). Here it is closed...

& open!

Finally, here’s the card & box together....

Must have been taken the pic at a weird angle, as the poor card looks a little dumpy (& no-one wants that LOL). I was really please how they turned out, so hope Sarah liked them too. If you’d like more info on anything, just leave a comment or drop me a line.

Next time, I'll  have a similar card to show you - this time with a more vintage twist (well, vintage for me!) Until then, take care of one another.

Inky wishes, Di

New deal available today....on accessories!
It's Wednesday, so time for a great new deal of the week. This week is accessories, including one of my favourite ribbons & some great brads (& who doesn't love a sparkly brad! 

Check out my SU website here for all the details & contact me for more info. Enjoy!

Item	Page	Description	Regular Price	Discount Price
119750	137	Daffodil Delight 5/8'' (1.6 cm) Satin Ribbon	$16.95	$11.87
119963	137	Certainly Celery 3/8'' (1 cm) Taffeta Ribbon	$12.95	$9.07
109112	139	Square Fire Rhinestone Brads	$19.95	$13.97
109113	139	Square Ice Rhinestone Brads	$19.95	$13.97

Supplies:

Stamps: Create a Cupcake (Autumn/Winter Mini)

Card/Paper: marina mist, bashful blue, certainly celery, whisper white card, Subtles Patterns DSP

Ink: marina mist ink pad

Accessories, marina mist brad (subtles pack), itty bitty buttons, linen thread, certainly celery grosgrain ribbon, razzleberry taffeta ribbon

Tools: big shot, beautiful wings embosslit, beautiful butterflies die, elegant lines embossing folder, punches – modern label, word window, decorative label (Autumn/Winter Mini)

Lots of little Mothers Day cards

April just flew by, between renovations, school hols & an escape to the Sunshine Coast & now, May is following suit with Cara’s birthday, not to mention Stampin' Up! convention, last week. More about some of these events later though, or I’ll never get today’s post finished.

Each year the fundraising committee for Cara’s school runs a stall for Mothers Day, where kids can choose a gift for their Mum. This year, I suggested that we give each child a card to give with their gift... a handmade one of course, so that’s what we did. This idea was inspired by Nikki Stalker, who made these lovely cards last Mother’s Day for her school.

I knew the cards had to be simple & quick to do as we had to make 320 & only had limited time to complete them, and most importantly, appeal to the kids. Fortunately, our renovation schedule meant I had useful time at home to prepare the card packs. Then, with some good friends & school Mums to help put them together, we finished them in plenty of time for our stall on May 5^th. Anyway, here is a sample of the card designs. You can click on the pic for a bigger version (& yes, that is our beautiful & finally finished floor under the cards - yay!).

We made lots of some, depending on supplies, time & how much I liked them! Most are variations on a butterfly theme, with different bases & DSP. The fronts are 7cm x 7cm, which meant I could cut 6 from one A4 sheet. Here are some close-ups of some of mine & the kids faves too...

This birdie one was my favourite & Cara liked it too, as she chose one in turquoise with spotty DSP for me (shown top row, second from left).

This sparkly butterfly (which was much more glittery IRL) was the kids favourite, as I kept having to replenish supplies!

These designs were used for most of the cards, with different base & DSP combinations.

This was another popular one (especially with the girls) in a turquoise base (shown 3rd row, far left). It's also a favourite retired DSP of mine.

The Mums who helped out seemed to like making & seeing the cards & we had lots of nice comments from the teachers too. The kids mostly seemed pretty excited to pick their card too, so I think it was really worthwhile. It was very entertaining watching them choose a card too - some were really decisive & picked one straight away, some checked out them all out first, some picked the same as their buddies, & to my surprise lots of boys picked hot pink girly cards & girls picked simpler blue ones. All in all, it was a fun & rewarding experience & I hope we can do it again next year.

Anyway, I hope all the Mums, Grandmas out there had a wonderfully special day. I’ll be back next time with some butterflies. Let me know if you’d like more info on anything

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies:

Stamps: Butterfly Prints, Garden Whimsy, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Family Sentiments, Great Friend, Short & Sweet

Card/Paper: lots! (mainly retired)

Ink: lots! (mainly retired)
Accessories: dazzling diamonds glitter

Tools: butterfly punch, 2 step bird punch, word window punch

new deals

Hi there
I'm literally ready to walk out the door for my trip to the Melbourne Stampin' Up! Convention, but just wanted to remind you that a new discount deal of the week starts today - this time on selected big shot dies & the new colour kit for our great Stampin' Pastels. Check out my SU website for more info & e-mail me if you'd like to order anything. I'll be back on Sunday, but hopefully will be able to check my e-mail while I'm away.
Take care of one another.
Inky wishes
Di

Deals of the week are back!

I’m just back from holidays in time to tell you about some great discount Stampin' Up! deals available during May. Each Wednesday in May, you’ll find a new list of select products on sale for that week. This week it’s discounted stamp sets. Be sure to check my SU website each week to see what the new deals are.

Item	Page	Description	Regular Price	Sale Price
121578	37	Tag Alongs Wood-Mount Set	$31.95	$19.17
120468	59	More Monkey Accessories Clear-Mount Set	$23.95	$14.37
121550	59	More Monkey Accessories Wood-Mount Set	$29.95	$17.97
120003	75	Cottage Garden Clear-Mount Set	$24.95	$14.97
119163	75	Cottage Garden Wood-Mount Set	$32.95	$19.77
121494	98	Compliments to the Chef Wood-Mount Set	$35.95	$21.57

Click on the stamp set name to view it in the catalogue. Stocks may be limited so contact me ASAP if you’d like to place an order.

Gotta run for now. Back soon I hope.

Inky wishes, Di