Butterfly Inspiration

Yesterday's butterfly post inspired me to try something a little different from my usual colorful butterfly projects!  This time I thought I would color outside the. . . well, butterfly!

I started with a beautiful sprinkle of flowers from a Unity KOM "Hey Girl" & repeatedly stamped it with iridescent embossing on vellum for a beautiful, sparkling background.  But here I am ~ trying to think outside of the box ~ so I put the background on top of  a single stamped image (in black) of the butterfly from Unity's KOM "Summer Collapsed into Fall".  The vellum is attached over white cardstock (cut larger for a white border) with double stick tape on the outside perimeter.

I knew the tape would show through the vellum, but I didn't expect it to show up yellow! Pretty!  So I incorporated it into the color scheme with the yellow-green card base.  The dusty lavender matt helps tie in the gray/silvery iridescence of the embossing. A soft wash of pink, blue & lavender under the vellum also helped it come alive without being too loud.

Live a Life Inspired sentiment is also from Unity Stamp Company! (Honestly, they have the best sentiments!!!)

If you would like to see my other posts featuring butterflies, just type Butterfly in the "Explore "Hi!" Notes" search box on the left!! To see more posts using Unity Stamps, type Unity, etc!!

Flowers & Butterflies

What's one of your favorite things about Summer?  ~OK, I agree, ice cream is one of my favorites too!  But while I was outside trimming trees and harvesting poppy seeds I couldn't help but appreciate the splash of beauty butterflies are.  When I was a kid I dreamed of being able to catch one of the rarely seen swallow tail butterflies floating around our barnyard & have a leisurely & up close look. . . but I never did!

Maybe that's why I have ump-teen butterfly dies and stamps!  They are so beautiful and the coloring options are just endless!  Very rewarding and cost effective since I use them so often!  This particular  one is cut out of black card stock with an underlay of splashy & vibrant water colors.

The background beauty is from Unity Stamp Co. SMAK kit "Choose A Happy Heart".  I embossed it in gold on pale peach paper & then colored in just some of it with white & orange & hot pink gel pen for a pleasant "pop"!  The black card it's mounted on was another way to pop the color.  I added a rectangle of the pale peach paper inside with the birthday sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by...
Hope your Summer is going well and you have a chance to sip some ice tea and enjoy the butterflies

Again I Say Rejoice!

I am reorganizing my craft supplies and I am learning that I have quite a stash of scraps.  I'm one of those people who saves a lot of scraps because I can see that most of those bits can accommodate so very many of my star, snowflake or other dies!! They are also great for stamping small images to fussy cut, and so with the price of paper - I hoard a lot of pieces.  

But that's not all!!  I often die cut several pieces in one color or several colors in one shape be sure what I like best before I finish a project, so I have lots and lots of shapes and fussy cuts too!! (did I say lots?  There are LOTS!!)  

So I spent several afternoons with many of them - the more "Spring" looking colors - spread across the table and assembling pieces for cards.  This is one of my favorites to come out of that pile!  

The butterflies from Memory Box are cut from a water colored paper scrap, and even the beautiful white on white background was left from a different project where it wasn't used!!

I finished it off with another scallop die from Waffle Flower and some washi on the back.  

The Wonderful sentiment is from an unknown to me source. I pulled it off of its wood block and cling mounted it to make it easier to stamp in steps!

Kinda like my card, Christ's death on the cross took what was destined for the garbage heap and made it all new again!   He sees the beautiful potential inside of us and freely offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to settle the debt our inequities stack against us.  All you have to do is accept the gift! 

 So especially during this Easter season, as we celebrate Christ's ultimate victory over the grave, I wish you many blessings, peace, love, family & most of all salvation! 

It's a Girl Thing ~ TSA Blog Hop

Hello Blogging Friends!! Welcome to my project for the 

"It's A Girl Thing" Turner Syndrome Awareness Inaugural Blog Hop!

Turner Syndrome is a genetic disorder where a female is born with only one X chromosome, instead of two, leaving her with life-long medical issues and learning disabilities.  This condition occurs one in 2,500 female births worldwide, but is more common among pregnancies that do not survive to full term.  That is why Turner Syndrome Females are considered MIRACLES!

               
NINETEEN caring Sponsors and ELEVEN DT Members have partnered with us to bring Turner Syndrome Awareness to the Public.  For details on how you might win any of these fabulous prizes, please see Lori's TS home page.

Thanks for learning About Turner Syndrome.

Personally, I feel so blessed to be part of this Blog Hop for Awareness! After I read "Lori's TS Journey, {{I hope you will too!}} about this condition I had never heard of ~ I acquired a great respect for her and all she & Julie have been through.  I am thankful that God is using my blog & my love for paper crafting to help create awareness.

Through this hop, Lori's goal is to help other TS moms to have more resources than she did AND to find forums where they can share insight, successes and set backs.  You may not have TS in your life but through this hop you may be able to help direct a friend. . . or her cousin . . . or her cousin's friend! to others who have been there before or are just beginning the TS journey themselves.  

As a "THANK YOU!" for joining us I will be giving away 3 great prizes! To be eligible, all you need to do is follow my blog and leave a comment on this post.  3 WINNERS will be randomly chosen after the
blog hop concludes on February 8th, 2019!!!!!!
I will be sending each winner a collection of stamps 
featuring butterflies from Unity Stamp Co!!!

  

         

My TS related project uses colors from the TS official color board!! AND lots of butterflies, because they represent femininity, strength, and uniqueness.  The butterfly was designated by TSSUS to be the TS symbol. "Butterflies fly on their own which is our hope for our girls."  and just like a butterfly, they are considered fragile and beautiful miracles.

      

Unexpectedly the light glows through the cardstock in the dark!! I put butterfly branches on the inside of each window that don't really show without interior light on.  Some butterflies are attached to the lantern via clear plastic cut from packaging while others are attached in the same way, to the door. The pictures flatten this a little, but it has amazing dimension to it!!

I gathered all my inspiration from the TS blog, so my lantern uses translucent blue vellum for the windows ~ letting the light inside come shining out ~ illuminating the beauty that is within!  Previously locked away, the door is thrown open giving that beauty the freedom to soar!

Don't forget to visit the "It's a Girl Thing" Turner Syndrome Awareness Inaugural Blog Hop so you can enter to win the some of the HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS in prizes donated by our 

19 AMAZING & GENEROUS SPONSORS!!!

                                  If you would like to qualify for my 3 give-aways be sure to click the "follow" button on the left of my blog and leave some love in the comments!!  Although the winners will be chosen randomly, I will likely share your comments so it would be wonderful to hear your thoughts on Lori's story, Turner Syndrome or what inspired you most from this blog.  

Here are my 3 prize packages!!(stamps & stamp sets only!)

       

BONUS!   "like" my page on FB "Hi!" Notes and leave a comment there, I will enter your name for a second chance to win!!! 

Wow! This is the wordiest blog I've ever posted! Still, don't forget to share the love & visit all of the other blogs on our blog hop list. You'll find they have fun, inspiring projects AND MORE CHANCES TO WIN!!

 

Thank you for visiting!!  I hope you've enjoyed this adventure as much as I have!! Good luck with prizes and God bless your new year 2019!!!


For a quick pictorial of my process
CLICK!

Inspired? Here's a couple of challenges  I've entered this project in ~ And you can too!!

Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes # 372-373
Simon Says: Anything Goes!
Classic Design Team Challenge Blog
Jo's Scrap Shack Challenges
Crafty Friends Challenge
Score Pal Challenges
Colour Crazy Challenge

Butterfly Lantern

For my base I cut a 9x9 inch square and scored it  to maintain a 1/2inch ledge leaving the long tails to close off the bottom.  The interior scores were made to leave an opening the size of my lantern base (3x3inches).

After the vellum was placed inside the panels (& before bending and assembling the sides) the scroll green die cuts were glued to the outside center of each vellum panel.

The butterflies were die cut "skeletons" put over chalk colored crepe paper & closely trimmed.

The lantern its self was inserted into the space left in the base.  The door was trimmed 1/8th inch from the bottom so that it would be free of the base and able to swing open.

   

The final detail was the loop of ribbon simply threaded through the bead and cut flush on the bottom.  I used quite a dollop of glue on the bottom of the bead, effectively capturing the ribbon & anchoring it to the lantern.

Thanks friends!!  I so enjoy sharing my little brain storms!! If you have an idea, method or insight to share, please do so in the comments below!!

Addicted to Linear / Border Stamps!!

Ahhh! Today I am sharing some creations using my favorite background technique!! Oxide stripes with linear stamp accents. They work with just about any theme or image in the foreground and what is the most fun for me is coming up with new color combinations!!

As luck would have it - it is also PIP Challenge week # 1836 ~ Anything Goes! So don't hold back!! Give a new technique a try, post your project at the PIP Challenge Blog and you could win a $12 discount code at Di's Digi Stamps!!  You can use it on any of hundreds of great digital images!
 

CLICK PICTURES TO SEE MORE DETAIL

This time I branched out a little bit, experimenting with new colors and some new embossing powders.  The powders are from Lindy's Stamp Gang and WoW!! do they ever have a great variety of beautiful, bright, 2 tone colors!!! They're addictively fun!! They also become a nice smooth gloss which is what I prefer in an embossing powder!

Additionally the butterflies are a wonderful arena of creative excitement for me so I will be sharing a tutorial on them soon.  Follow my blog & I will come back in & create a link when I get that tutorial posted :)

Meanwhile, here are some of the Autumn Colored stripes I tried for the first time.  I am so excited to use them with leaves, owls and sunflowers. I will again link them HERE when I get them put together!!        
 




                             









For your convenience below are quick links to the oxide stripes tutorial, PIP Challenge Blog and Di's Digital Stamp shop -- have fun!

To see a quick tutorial CLICK HERE!
To Link up your creation CLICK HERE!
To shop Di's Digis CLICK HERE!!