Butterflies are back!

Have you missed seeing butterflies here lately? I thought I'd give you a little break, but it's time for their return.

I made this card for my wonderful Mum-in-law Shirley's birthday last December & didn't realise I hadn't shown you....which I can't believe, since it was one of my absolute fave cards of last year. Shirl loves purple, so elegant eggplant & wisteria wonder were a perfect combination.

The card front was around 15x15cm, which was perfect for the large scallop square die cut. The beautiful swirl on the mat & DSP is from Elements of Style & the perfect sentiment is from the Summer Mini set, You Are Loved. I'm sure you recognise the embossed butterflies are made with the Beautiful Wings embosslit die. The largest butterflies have a white butterfly under the eggplant one. You can see the panel & layering better here:

You may recognise this colour combo from my Christmas card too. This butterfly card was the card that inspired me to use it.

I was so happy with how this turned out, that I decided to use the design for a thank you card for the Acting Principal at Cara's school, whos is a wonderful teacher, leader & supporter of our school.

For this one, I tried a different colour combo, using calypso coral & poppy parade. I don't know what I'll do when poppy parade retires in August, as I really like it with calypso coral. It is tricky to photograph though!

I decorated the inside of the card with more butterflies - you simply can't have enough :0) - & a sentiment from Curvy Verses.

I think that's all I need to say for now. Thanks very much for visiting & a special thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave comments. I really love hearing from you all.

This will probably be my last post for a week or so, as we're having a much needed family break, so until next time...

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies

wisteria/eggplant butterflies

Stamps: Elements of Style, You Are Loved, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Card: wisteria wonder, elegant eggplant, whisper white card, wisteria wonder Patterns DSP (In colours 11-13)

Ink: elegant eggplant, wisteria wonder ink pads

Accessories: basic pearls, white taffeta ribbon

Tools: Big Shot, Scallop Square die, Beautiful Wings embosslit die, large oval punch, modern label punch

coral/poppy butterflies

Stamps: Elements of Style, Thank You Kindly, Curvy Verses

Card: calypso coral, poppy parade, whisper white card, calypso coral Patterns DSP (In colours 11-13)

Ink: calypso coral, poppy parade ink pads

Accessories: basic pearls, white taffeta ribbon

Tools: Big Shot, Scallop Square die, Beautiful Wings embosslit die, large oval punch, modern label punch

Extreme teen birthday

As promised, today's card is for a fun-loving teen who celebrated his 14th birthday in March.

Teens are still a bit of a new thing for me, so teen cards are a little out of my comfort zone, but the Extreme Elements set makes it much easier. You can just create a messy collage & it seems to work well. This one turned out a bit brighter than I originally thought, but OK I think...at least the recipient seemed to like it anyway. I also went a little grungy with torn & distressed edges too, which work well for the boys. The birthday sentiments are from On Your Birthday - another super flexible set.

Extreme Elements does work for a cool girlier card  too. You can see one here. Yikes, my battery is about to die on me, so I'll say a quick thanks for visiting & bye for now. Hope to see you here again soon.

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies:

Stamps: Extreme Elements, On Your Birthday

Card:old olive, tangerine tango, pacific point, whisper white card

Ink: tangerine tango, peach parfait, pacific point, real red, pear pizzazz ink pads

Accessories: sponge dauber

Tagtastic bear for guys

Today, I have some cards to show you, that are suitable for the guys in our lives. Both include the fun bear image from the Tagtastic hostess stamp set. Some of you know that I have a bit of a bear obsession - both of the cuddly teddy & wild varieties - so when I saw this image, I HAD to get it.
Cards for guys are not generally my favourites to make & I used to find them a bit tricky. Over the years though,  I've found that simple layouts, deeper colours, some DSP & a neutral image or sentiment go a long way. Anyway, here we go with the cards.

The colour combo I used was not quite navy card & Patterns DSP, baja breeze, crumb cake, tangerine tango (for a little pop of colour on the base & bear hat) & naturals ivory. I like the effect of the cropped Top Note shape with the decorative label punch shape for the bear & mat & you know I love a matching punch.

This version has similar, but more neutral colours - baja breeze, early espresso, crumb cake, ivory & a little marina mist. I've used the decorative label to build a mat. The ribbon was folded in half & tied with some linen thread. I also coloured the bear with my crumb cake marker.

Hope these give you some ideas for this stamp. I'll be back with a card for a younger male. Until then, thanks for visiting.
Inky wishes, Di

PS: Tagtastic has lots of great flexible images & all work with our co-ordinating punches. If you haven't noticed it yet, have a look in the hostess exclusive section of our Idea Book.

Supplies
Navy/Tangerine card
Stamps: Tagtastic
Card/Paper: not quite navy, baja breeze, crumb cake, tangerine tango, naturals ivory card, Regals Patterns DSP (not quite navy)
Tools: Big Shot, square, Top Note die, decorative label punch 

Baja/crumb cake card
Stamps: Tagtastic
Card/Paper: baja breeze, crumb cake, early espresso, marina mist, naturals ivory card, Regals Patterns DSP (not quite navy)
Accessories: linen thread, early espresso striped grosgrain ribbon
Tools: Big Shot, square, square lattice embossing folder, decorative label punch

Happy Easter Picnic Basket

Firstly, I'd like to wish you all a very happy & blessed Easter Sunday. Today, I have one more Easter class project to show you - an Easter picnic basket.

I think it's perfect for holding choccy's for Easter (or anytime), small kitchen tea or baby shower gifts, or even a Mothers' Day gift.
Here it is open...

I'm sure many of you will recognise this basket from the gorgeous Tanya Bell's blog, Stamping T. Tanya created a fantastic exploding picnic basket & tutorial, so I just had to try it myself.
I originally thought I'd use Tanya's box for my class, but then decided I'd try my hand at making a closed box version. I made up my own printable template to make construction quicker & was excited it turned out as I wanted, so the card could be printed on my printer.
My box base is a little bigger than Tanya's. It's 9 x 7cm around the top & 7 x 7cm at the bottom & 7cm high. This is the biggest I could make using an A4 sheet.  I made a bigger version again using a 12x12 inch sheet, but it's not as quick to make, as there's a lot more measuring & scoring!
As my box originated from Tanya's box tutorial, I don't think it's right to offer my template here, but if you like to make your own picnic basket, you can visit Tanya's blog to purchase her tutorial & adjust it like I did.

Here's a final shot, without the tag, so you can see the basic box better. I've used my beloved pool party card with calypso coral (what did I do before these colours?). The DSP was a final fond farewell to the SAB paper pack too.
I was super happy with how it turned out & I think all the girls at the class really liked it too, even though it took more time than those made with the Big Shot. Hope you like it too.

Well that's all from me. A busy day today. Thanks very much for visiting with me. Hope you have a happy & safe Easter break & school hols for those of you with kidlets. Back soon with....I'm not sure yet ;0).
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Card/Paper: pool party, calypso coral, crumb cake card, Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB retired)
Ink: chocolate chip ink pad
Accessories: medium brads - very vanilla, basic rhinestones, calypso coral ruffled ribbon
Tools: Big Shot, Blossom Party die (flowers), square lattice embossing folder, word window punch

Quick Chick Boxes

Hi there! Just a quick post tonight to show some more little Easter boxes made at my last class.

This was a quick bonus project, so I could show the girls how to make another little choccy holder with the Petite pocket die...& so I could make these cute little chicks I saw, by US Demo Tami White. 
The eggs are punched with our extra large oval punch & some Cheerful Treat DSP. The chick is made with a scrap of textured so saffron card & the bird builder punch. I popped the chick & egg & pink egg bottom with dimensionals. You can see Tami's chicks here.
The box is made with 2 petite pocket die shapes, using the same method as I used for the Mini Scallop Box in this post. It's perfect for a large Freddo or similar sized choc. You can see the depth better in this shot of the lucky limeade box.

For this one, I turned the flap down, so the box stays open. For the pretty in pink version below, I left the flap up & closed it with some ribbon.

Well, that's it for me tonight. Hope you like these little boxes. I'll be back next time with the last project from my Easter class. If you have any questions about the boxes, just leave me a comment.

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Card/Paper: lucky limeade, pretty in pink, melon mambo, whisper white card, so saffron textured card, Cheerful Treat DSP

Ink: Chocolate chip ink pad

Accessories: basic rhinestones, daffodil delight taffeta ribbon

Tools: Big Shot, Petite Pocket die, Punches -  extra large oval, word window, bird builder

I heart bunnies box

Tonight, I have the first of my Easter class projects to show you - a heart bunny box! This is the front...

...& this is the back, after poor bunny has been nibbled.

Isn't he cute? I love that he's mostly made with heart punches - the Full Heart & Heart to Heart punches. I popped up the layers with dimensionals too, to make him stand out more. Mr Bunny is a case of one by the very clever Carol Dunstan, who showed a cute Easter card featuring him, on an SU Demo forum. Thanks so much, Carol! He's adorable.

The box he's sitting on is made with the Petite Pocket die...& is in elegant eggplant. Yes, it makes so much more than just a cute pocket. The basic box is made with 4 Petite Pocket die shapes, stuck together in much the same way as the square scallop box in this post. Simply trim off one side tab (the same side) off each shape & attach to each other at other side tab. Trim the long flap to 5cm for box bottom (bottom of pic below). The box is around 5cm wide & about 9cm tall & fits lots more than you think.

One more quick pic. I added a simple tag to the second box I made, so thought I'd show you it too!

Heart Bunny Tags
I loved these bunnies so much that I made some more for some tags on Cara's buddies Easter bags . Here they are on the largest of the Two Tags die tags, ready to be attached to the bag of goodies. I didn't pop these ones up on dimensionals, since I thought they'd survive better in the girls school bags if they were flat!

Heart Bunny Punch Shapes
Here is a list of the punch shapes I used to make my heart bunny
3 x full heart - choc chip - for body, head & ears
2 x word window - pink pirouette (cut down each side to form point on one end)
1 x small heart (heart to heart) - pink pirouette - for nose
1 x wide heart (heart to heart) - white - for tummy
1 x small heart (heart to heart) - white - for tail
2 x circles (1/2 inch circle) - white - for eyes
2 x circles (cupcake - sprinkes) - black - for eyeballs

Hope you like these little guys as much as I do. Leave me a comment if you have any questions about the box or bunny. I'll be back to show you some more Easter treat boxes soon.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Sentiments (Easter tag)
Card/paper: elegant eggplant, pretty in pink, chocolate chip, pink pirouette, whisper white, basic black card. Patterns DSP (Subtles - pink pirouette)
Ink: chocolate chip ink pad
Accessories: pretty in pink 1/4 in grosgrain ribbon, white bakers twine, pink taffeta ribbon (retired), two way glue pen, dimensionals, tombow mono adhesive
Tools: Big Shot, Petite Pocket die, Two Tags Die. Modern label punch, double scallop ribbon border punch. Other Punches as listed for bunny.

New & fabulous for Autumn

Today's the day we say hello to our all new Autumm/Winter Mini Catalogue. There are so many fantastic new tools & all exclusive to Stampin' Up!, including:

• Simply Scored - Our fabulous scoring tool, the .... now in centimetres too!
• Framelits - Super thin dies, for making nested mats, frames & more. Stamp, then cut!
• Edgelits - create beautiful decorative edges
• New embossing folders - to coordinate with your edgelits dies

We have 3 new co-ordinated product suites, with stamps, paper & lots of co-ordinating accessories, not to mention, a fabulous new large flower punch & matching stamp set.

Can't wait to see it? Follow the links below to view & download the catalogue & contact me for a free copy.

View the Mini online: Click here
Download a copy: Click here
Download the supply list for all Mini projects: Click here

Have to run now! Hope you have a great Sunday. Back soon I hope with some new projects.
Inky wishes, Di