A few Social Butterflies

I may have mentioned before that I'm really trying to be more thoughtful in my craft purchases since I already have so. many. stamps. I might ask myself, "Do I have something similar to this stamp set?" or "Could I (or will I) use this set in more than one way?" Even just waiting to place an order instead of rushing to get the latest new thing helps me realize I don't need all the things. (Want is sometimes another matter.)

So instead of buying new stamps, it's fun to pull out ones I have that I haven't used in a very long time (or maybe ever. Oops). It's almost like they're new again. I've seen this referred to as "shopping your stash," which is a good description. That's what I did with the Social Butterflies stamp and die set (Taylored Expressions).

The Social Butterflies set is one I received as part of Taylored Expressions' virtual Stamp Joy event in October 2020, but I hadn't used it since then. For these first two cards, I stuck with bright single-color butterflies. After stamping and die cutting all the butterflies, I combined them with coordinating card stock on otherwise neutral card bases. (I think that red color at the bottom of the cards is almost too bright. I probably should have used a different color, but I already had everything stamped and cut, so I went with it.) All the butterflies are popped up with foam tape -- I placed it just behind the body of each butterfly so the wings can be gently folded up.

For the next two cards I wanted to make the butterflies multicolored. I used the same red, orange, and yellow colors as in the cards above -- since they are next to each other on the color wheel, they work together well -- but I left out the purple. For each butterfly I stamped the "filler" image first. I applied one color to the whole stamp and then added a little bit of a second color before stamping. (Using ink cubes instead of full-size ink pads makes this easier.) Then I stamped the outline image and die cut the butterflies. On these two cards most of the butterflies are glued directly to the card bases; just the two that are meant to look like they're flying away are popped up. I finished all four of the cards with clear confetti sequins to add a little bit of bling. 

I'm going to have to do some more shopping in my craft room! Thanks for stopping by!

Festive Balloons

Balloons, especially brightly colored ones, are always great images for birthday cards. For the cards I'm sharing today, I used alcohol markers to color the image from the Festive Balloons stamp set (Simon Says Stamp) two different ways. I also used the stamps in the set to make two different backgrounds.

Card on the left: To make the background, I stamped the sentiments from the set multiple times across a white card base. Then I used a pen to doodle a border around the edges, skipping over the stamped words. For the focal image, I stamped the balloon bunch on white card stock and quickly colored it with alcohol markers. I purposely left white edges and didn't add any shading, so it's super simple. I die cut the colored image and two more pieces of blank card stock, glued them together, and added the stacked focal piece to the middle of the card front. I finished the card with a few silver sequins.

Card on the right: To make the background, I stamped the balloon image near the center of a white card base and then stamped the balloons several more times to fill in the white space around the central image. For the focal image, I made stripes of color on a separate piece of white card stock using the same color alcohol markers from the first card. Then I stamped the balloons over the color using black ink and cut them out with the coordinating die. I glued the colored image directly over the center image stamped on the card base. I used the Labelmaker Rainbows set (Waffle Flower Crafts) to add a sentiment and again finished with silver sequins.

I think the black-and-white backgrounds really let the balloons stand out on these cards. And it was fun revisiting different ways to make backgrounds, too. Thanks for stopping by!

A little Type Talk

I've had the Type Talk (Concord & 9th) stamp and die set for I-don't-even-know-how-many years, and I had never used it. I love the set, but I think I was a little intimidated and not sure what to do. So last week I pulled it out, searched online for some inspiration, and created two birthday cards.

I decided to make a masculine card and a feminine card. For the masculine card I used navy blue and gray, clean lines, and a simple background. For the feminine card I made the typewrite aqua, added pink and yellow flowers, and stamped polka dots on the background. Looking at it now I should have moved the flowers down so they didn't look like they were floating in mid air. Oh, well. And here are the cards with the messaged pulled up:

I think they both turned out pretty well, and now I have some ideas to try the next time I use this stamp set -- like maybe something without coloring or without using the dies. I need to get my creative juices flowing!

Thanks for stopping by!

Unicorns and rainbows

I know it hasn't been very long since I posted my last card set, but I've been giving a lot of them as gifts, so I need more. But today's card set is a little different (at least for me), and it makes me so happy. I hope you think so, too!

Gah! Aren't they too cute? To make the unicorns I used the Whittle Happy Unicorn die (Poppy Stamps) with shimmery white card stock for their bodies, colored card stock for manes and tails, and silver foil card stock for their horns. The card bases are Pool Party card stock with iridescent shimmer splatter and a scalloped rainbow frame (die cut with Frame in Frame 2 cutting plate, Taylored Expressions).

But definitely one of the best parts of this card set is the sentiments, which are from the Pure Magic stamp set (Essentials by Ellen). I completely adore these sentiments, and I don't have nearly enough opportunities to use them. I made this set for a teacher I worked with last year and during summer school. She has a fun personality, works with kids, and well, she just seems like the kind of person who would appreciate unicorns, rainbows, and a little humor.

I finished these cards with some sparkling clear sequins for a little extra bling. All-in-all this was a pretty easy card set to create; the most time-consuming part was die cutting and gluing all the unicorn pieces. But I think I might just have to make a few more to use myself ...

Thanks for stopping by!

Llama-palooza

Last week I was making birthday cards (because I'm always making birthday cards), and I had a crazy idea -- to make cards with all the llama-themed products I have and post them all together. A llama-palooza! Now, I've made llama cards and projects before, so these aren't anything terribly new or different. In fact, some of the cards are very similar to ones I've made before. But if I really like a design, why reinvent the wheel? (I just hope I don't give those cards to the same people.) So without further ado, bring out the llamas!

These two cards were made with the Birthday Fiesta stamps and dies (Stampin' Up!), and they may be my favorites of the bunch. I love the colors, the streamers, and the llamas' blankets. To color the blankets, I used five alcohol markers. I just made one stripe across of each color, close together, and they naturally blend together. Super easy, and it totally reminds me of colorful South American textiles.

For these next two cards I used the Llama Set 5458 (Art Impressions) along the Skinny Mini Party and Fiesta border dies (Taylored Expressions) for the streamers. These llamas definitely have some personality! I minimized my coloring by leaving the llamas white, but I think that makes them get a little lost on these cards. I should have used a different color background on the left card and added a layer of colored card stock behind the llamas on the right card. (I did add a die-cut vellum oval, which helped, but I'm not sure it was enough.) But they're still fun cards.

The llama images on these cards -- as well as the background papers -- are from the Llama Love card stock stack (Craft Smith). I fussy cut the large llamas from some of the paper designs -- and I've now used almost all the large llamas in the stack! There is still plenty of paper left, though, and I think many of the pages are small and/or tone-on-tone prints, so they shouldn't be too hard to use on other projects. For the sentiments, I used the Whole Llama Love stamp set (Taylored Expressions) to get some good llama puns.

Alright, these two cards might have to tie the first two for my favorites. I used the No Drama Llama dies and the Whole Llama Love stamps (both Taylored Expressions) and the Fiesta Forever card stock stack (Die Cuts With a View), and I love how these products work together. I used papers from the stack to cut out the llamas' accessories, so I know they'll match. And the printed pages make such fun backgrounds. I added some sparkly gel pen on the llamas' accessories for a little bling, but it doesn't really show up in the picture.

And that concludes today's llama-palooza. Did you have a favorite in the bunch?

Thanks for stopping by!