Spring Is In The Air

Hello there! Vicki here today with a fun spring card for you.  Here in North Texas, we've had a few really nice spring days, but most of them seem to come with freezing cold winds which kind of shoots the whole Spring Day down the tubes.  I don't know about you, but I am so ready for spring to come and stay!  My Day Lily foliage is already pretty high, but we definitely haven't had warm enough weather to get them really going good and consistent.

For today's card, I wanted to use a few of the new products from the most recent release along with some favorites from last year.

Starting with a panel of Cougar Digital White Cardstock and misting it with a fine mist of water on the front and back sides, I ran it through my die cutting machine with an embossing sandwich using the Memory Box Chrysthanemum 3D Embossing Folder.  The water helps the paper to stretch enough to get a really good impression.  I did this late in the evening so I let that dry overnight and then using my ink blending brushes, I added ink blending to the entire panel in Berry Sorbet and Summer Sunrise Inks.  Then I misted it with Tattered Angels Spray in Iridescent Gold.  I set that aside and let it dry as well.

I cut a 4.25 x 5.5-inch panel of the light peach color of the Delicate Pastels Glitter Paper Pad as a mat to go behind the ink blended panel.  Next, I cut several of the Side Butterfly Circles as I wasn't sure which way or if I wanted to color it.  In the end, I liked it in plain white while I wanted to really make the butterfly stand out.

I tried some ink blending with little sponge daubers, adding Fairy Sugar to individual petals on the flowers.  In the end, I chose to keep the circle part plain white and to add a gold outline for the butterfly with some scrap orange card stock for the back layer.  Then I added some of the Goldfinch Fairy Sugar on top of all that. 

I used foam tape behind the circle by cutting a piece about 4 inches long, and then cutting a skinny strip (1/16th inch or so) two times from the half-inch width of the foam tape.  This makes it skinny enough to place it in the circle shape by going slowly, all the way around.

I have a tendency to change my mind mid-card, so I've learned to roll with the punches and go with my flow.  That's probably one of the reasons that I haven't tried to do video yet, but it's on my list of things to do by the end of this year.  I hope you enjoy this quick and easy card today and that it will warm your heart to think about Spring things for a few minutes.

Supplies

GP1001 Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad

94232 Side Butterfly Circle craft die

EF1001 Chrysanthemum Field

94392 Hello Banner Script craft die

30086 Rectangle Basics Set

CAS on Sunday & Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

I've got a card today for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with an "Anything Goes" theme for this week as well as the CAS on Sunday Challenge with a "Christmas" theme.

Sometimes, in the everyday business of creating, we forget all of the tools we have at our disposal.  I know that my embossing folders sit in a basket on the shelf in my closet (behind closed doors usually) and I tend to forget they are there. I need to remember to bring them out more often as it is a really quick way to add texture and dimension to a project without a lot of fuss or mess. Some of the newer embossing folders are 3D although I still use both kinds.

I'm making a few cards for a friend's family and I wanted to make a really special one for her parents' card.  I know her mom loves purple and I wanted to use the Spellbinders Poinsettia Dies to make their card.  I originally did some ink blending on watercolor paper using Seedless Preserves Distress Ink but when I went to add the angled band across the front, I didn't like it that the papers weren't the same, so I cut another poinsettia in this gorgeous thistle colored shimmering cardstock. This paper is some I got several years at a scrapbook store in Whitesboro, TX.  I love this particular shade of purple so I've been hoarding what I have left but it was the perfect paper for the card I was creating today. And while I tried several different colors of card bases, I didn't really like any of them except the white. I needed to add some visual interest to the card base so I reached for my neglected embossing folders.  This particular one is the We R Memory Keepers Next Level Gemstone Embossing Folder.  I love the different facets or planes this folder creates on my plain white cardstock.  These come two to a package with two different designs and are 6 x 6 so that you can run your card bases either direction which is always fantastic for me because I make so many top folding vertical cards.

I added shimmer mist to the green cardstock for the leaves so everything would be shimmery.  The poinsettia dies cut four layers so you just have to adhere one on top of the other and finish off the center with the embellishment of your choosing.  Pearls are always a classic choice for me. To give a little bit of dimension, I cut Thin 3D Foam Squares in half  and put that just under the tips of the petals on the largest layer.  I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to adhere the center of the poinsettia to the card base.  Additionally, I added one of the Thin 3D Foam Squares under each tip of the leaves and a drop of Multi Medium Matte at the center where I tucked the leaves in under the bloom.

Next I cut a piece of Gold Glitter Paper 1.5 inches wide and then another piece of the purple shimmer paper 1.25 inches wide so that just a narrow border of the gold glitter would show on each side of the band.  I stamped the sentiment from the Concord & 9th Holy Night Stamp Set.  I attached the band to the card on a diagonal using 1/4" ScorTape.

This turned out to be one of my favorite Christmas cards I've made this year. The detail of the white card base might not be very visible in this photograph, but it is definitely there when you see it in person.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I'll be back soon with another card.