Happy Birthday Butterfly Card

Hello! I've got another card in my butterfly series for you today! For this card I used the retired Butterfly Wings stamp set from Close to My Heart. They have some beautiful sets in the current catalog though, and you can check them out right HERE!

For this card I added my butterflies to the background of my card by stamping all over my patterned paper. To do this and look "natural" make sure you stamp off the edge of the paper. Then I embossed my "Happy Birthday" which is also a retired Close to My Heart set, with clear embossing powder and blinged up the edges a bit. I mounted my sentiment with Foam Adhesive to really make it pop! I also inked all of my edges with Tim Holtz Distress inks!

Make sure you check out my other beautiful butterfly cards. Watch for my post on Sunday, February 16th on the Spellbinders Blog!

Supplies Used:

Close to My Heart Stamps
Recollections Card Bases
Recollections White and Kraft Cardstock
Recollections Adhesive Cork Sheet
Recollections Bling on a Roll
Lawn Fawn Patterned Paper
Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Broken China, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo
Recollections Foam Adhesive
Scotch ATG tape

Butterfly Wings Card

Good Morning! Today I've got another Spring-y Butterfly Card for you. I love the detailsof this butterfly. It is from the Butterfly Wings set from Close to My Heart. It's now retired but you can find some other really cool sets in the current Close to My Heart catalog, just click HERE to shop!

For this card, I stamped and my image onto my white background and then again on my green patterned paper. Then I used my detail scissors to cut out the wings from the green paper and adhered them in place on the white background. I love this trick to quickly "color" images! I used ink and a makeup sponge to distress all of my edges. I used a strip of cork across the middle of the card and then decided to add a little bling to make it pop! For a list of supplies, see below:

• Close to My Heart Butterfly Wishes Stamp Set
• Recollections Bling on A Roll
• Recollections White and Kraft Cardstock
• Recollections Adhesive Cork Sheet
• Lawn Fawn Patterned Paper
• Recollections Card Bases
• Tim Holtz Broken China and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
• Sakura Quickie Glue Pen
• Scotch ATG Adhesive

For You Butterfly Card

Hello and welcome to my blog! This is the 2nd card in my recent Butterfly Card series! If you missed the first one, just hop back to the last post and check it out. I was inspired to make this card by one I saw on Pinterest so I decided to make it pretty and spring-y!

This butterfly image is from the same Close to My Heart set as the big butterfly on my last card. It is now retired but CTMH has many awesome stamps to choose from! Bugs & Hugs is a fun set that would be a great substitute and if you're interested in purchasing that or any other Close to My Heart items, click on the link that says "Mandie From Mandie's Scrappin Sent Me" when you order to let Lori know I sent you.

The "For You" sentiment is also from Close to my Heart. I punched the border with a Fiskars Threading Water Border punch. I also added a bit of May Arts Bakers Twine for texture.  The blue and green patterned papers are from Lawn Fawn. To "color" my butterfly, I simply stamped it once on the White paper and again on a scrap of my Green patterned paper. Then I "fussy cut" the wings and body from the green paper and adhered it over my image on the white paper. I distressed everything with some Tim Holtz Distress Ink to finish it off.

I hope you enjoyed today's card and I hope I'll see you again soon!

Bold Butterfly Card

Hello and welcome to my happy, scrappy blog! I've got a fun-tastic card to share with you today. With all of the cold weather here in IL I've been longing for Spring and happy things, like butterflies! So I've created a series of beautiful butterfly cards to share here on my blog! I'll be featuring all of them over the next week or so.

Today's card uses a big butterfly stamp from Close to My Heart. I stamped it using Tim Holtz Broken China Distress ink. Then I used Clear Embossing powder to emboss it and make it shine! Then I distressed all of my edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The green patterned paper is from a Lawn Fawn 6 x 6 paper pad. You know, they have adorable stamps but did you know they also have fabulous paper too?

Oh, and speaking of Close to My Heart, if you're interested in any of their awesome products, click right HERE to go shopping and find some beautiful new stamps!

I hope you enjoyed the 1st of my 5 card series! See you again real soon! 

Masculine Birthday Cards

Hello and welcome to another fun day here on my blog! Today I've got 2 different versions of a masculine birthday card for you to check out! First up, I used Graphic 45's A Perfect Gentleman to create this card. The stamped image is from Tim Holtz and I embossed it with clear embossing powder to really make it pop. I distressed everything with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Here's version 2 of the same card with a totally different color scheme. This one is from a 6 x 6 MME paper pad and I just LOVE the yellow and blue combo on this one! I inked all of the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink and the "Happy Birthday" is from Hero Arts.

I hope you enjoyed both of my cards today and I hope I inspire you to try to make a masculine card today!

Just Chillin' Layout

Hello there and welcome to my blog! Today I've got a fun layout to share with you. Sadly we recently put our beloved dog, Kobe to sleep so I decided that scrapping a few photos of her with my daughter would make me feel better. These photos were taken about 4 years ago when my daughter was about 4. She was sitting on our back stoop eating a Push Pop when Kobe decided to check out what she was eating.... 

Needless to say, Penny gladly shared her ice cream with Kobe and made Kobe's day! I used some of my FAVORITE paper for this one, Echo Park Paper's Country Drive. I love the colors in this whole collection! I also used my Cricut and cut the "Just Chillin'" title from the Create a Critter.

Make sure you stop back again soon! I've got some more great creations to share with you!

Butterfly Waterfall Card

Hello again! I've got another beautiful card to share with you today! This type of card is called a Waterfall Card and it's really fun to make and looks WAY more complicated than it is! First I took 4 white squares that are 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" and stamped 4 different butterfly images on to them. Then I mounted them on 2" x 2" Pink Squares.

Next I took a strip of 2" x 9" and scored it at 2", 2 3/4", 3 1/2" and 4 1/4" and bent each score back and forth. I glued the 1st mounted image into the 2 x 2 area at the bottom of the strip, and then adding adhesive to only the top of the back of my other squares, I butted them up to each score line. Then I cut the striped paper to 3/4" x 4" and glued the bottom of my long strip to it. Then fold the strip over so the rest of the strip is behind your striped paper. Next you adhere just the very edges of the striped paper to the floral paper that is 5 1/4" x 4". You can use a brad or eyelet to attach this if you like.

Now you adhere the floral paper to your 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card base. I punched two small holes in the bottom of the 9" x 2" strip and added a ribbon so that it makes it easier to pull. Now you can add a sentiment on the inside of the card and you have a very impressive card!

Hope you enjoyed today's card! See you again real soon!

Close to My Heart Father's Day Card

Hello again! I'm glad you've stopped by today. I've got a really quick little card to share that would be great for giving a gift card to your favorite Dad on Father's Day! It never hurts to make cards early...

I used some scraps from the Huntington Paper Packet to create this card. The over all size is 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" which is about the same size as your average gift card. I used a retired stamp set for this sentiment but a fun one to substitute would be the Perfect Fit - Dad set. I cut the tie shape free hand from a scrap of paper and inked the edges and across where the tie would be knotted. I also inked my card, background paper, and the scrap of fabric I used. If you look back to last week's card, you will see I used a similar layout for both of my cards. I got the idea from the Originals Card Confidence Program® Book which contains 100 different card sketches and ideas to create beautiful cards!

If you head over to my good friend Lori's Close To My Heart page to shop, when you check out I'd appreciate if you'd click on the link that says Mandie from Mandie's Scrappin' Sent Me! Happy Scrappin' and I'll see you again real soon!

Celebrate Close To My Heart Card

Hello again! Looks like I'm off to a good start for my weekly posting goal. Here's a quick and easy card that I created using some scraps from the Workshops on the Go® Laughing Lola Scrapbooking Kit.

The overall size is 3 1/2" x 5" and I used a retired Close to My Heart sentiment set for "Celebrate" but there are LOTS of current choices you could use for a similar effect, like the Card Chatter - Birthday set! I inked the edges of my card and the patterned paper with Black Ink for a little extra definition.

This adorable little flower comes from the Cricut® Art Philosophy Cartridge. I cut it from my cardstock at 3" and then simply started from the outer edge and coiled it into a spiral. I used a glue gun to secure the center of it and then gently bent the petals into the shape I liked. Now I've got a quick and beautiful card that is good for almost any occasion!

If you head over to my good friend Lori's Close To My Heart page to shop, when you check out I'd appreciate if you'd click on the link that says Mandie from Mandie's Scrappin' Sent Me! Happy Scrappin' and I'll see you again real soon!

The Queen's Parade CTMH Layout

Hello again! One of my resolutions for the New Year is to blog at least once per week. Today I have a layout that I created using the Workshops On The Go® Laughing Lola Scrapbooking Kit. These kits are really fantastic because they not only come with a paper assortment and cardstock, but they also include a stamp set and embellishments. There are instructions to create layouts in the kit, but I chose to go in another direction with my kit and so I set those directions aside to use with something else.

I love to use sketches to create my layouts. I have made my own sketches, however I LOVE the Close to My Heart Idea Books and the sketch for this Layout came straight from the Imagine book. I made a few minor modifications to the sketch so it's not exact, but that's the good part about sketches, they give you somewhere to start and then you make it your own!

I wanted to add a few flowers to embellish my layout so I decided to stamp them in Black Ink out onto some scraps from the patterned paper and cardstock.You get a nice crisp image if you put that foam sheet that comes with your stamp set under your paper before you stamp. This stamp set is the one that comes with the Workshops On The Go® Laughing Lola Scrapbooking Kit. You will also want to make sure you have Acrylic Blocks to use your clear stamps on. I used the 3" x 3" My Acrylix® Block here.

Next I grabbed my Close To My Heart Micro-Tip Scissors and cut out the flowers I wanted. The smaller flowers are just the inner shape of the larger design.

For my title I used the Cricut® Art Philosophy Cartridge. This cartridge is only available through Close to My Heart and it has a huge variety of shapes and a really awesome font on it. I used my black marker to go around the edges of my letters to bring them out a bit without cutting a whole extra layer. 

Finally here's one last look at the flowers on the layout, as well as my favorite photo from the parade! This colorful dress just made me smile so much. If you head over to my good friend Lori's Close To My Heart page to shop, when you check out I'd appreciate if you'd click on the link that says Mandie from Mandie's Scrappin' Sent Me! Happy Scrappin' and I'll see you again real soon!