The Card Concept "Fresh Flutters"

Hello everyone! Today is my first post as a member of the Design Team over at The Card Concept and we have this beautiful inspiration image for Challenge #71, Fresh Flutters. Nearly every card I make is for a female and pretty much any of them could have a butterfly on it and be okay for anyone. Whatever our age, we seem to find them magical.

For my card today, I started by inking up some Stamper's Select Vellum with Tropical Teal Ink and then dried it with my heat tool.  Then I stamped 3 of the butterflies from an older Stampin' Up set I have using Versamark and heat set them with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  I punched them with the coordinating punch, also from Stampin' Up. Normally, I would use a larger butterfly, but I like the dreamy delicate quality of the butterflies and Baby's Breath in the inspiration image so I wanted to have a few smaller butterflies for my card today.

Next I cut a Stitched Rectangle using the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die in the largest size from this scrap of the blue and white paper.  Then I cut the Basic Bookmark #3 from the wide stripe patterned paper. Both pieces of this paper are from American Crafts and were literally scraps a bit larger than the size of a card front.  I had just enough for the background panel and the bookmark (aka banner) which is one of my favorite ways to use this die. With the pierced and eyelet looking details, it makes a beautiful banner.

Next I die cut 3 of the Penny Black "dream" die cuts so I could glue them one on top of the other for a thicker embellishment and also die cut one of the Simon Says Stamp Calliope Flourish.  I have a lot of brads around from before and I never got to actually use them much before since they don't lay flat in a scrapbook.  I have these small little brads with the glittered tops and I used them for my flower centers to help define where the flowers are in the flourish.

The rest was simply a matter of assembly.  I made a Top Folding A2 Card Base from Stamper's Select White Cardstock. You can't see it in the photos, but the card front has been given a few mists of Tsukineko Sheer Sparkle Shimmer Spritz to aid in creating that dreamy look.  I finished this card off with a few Sparkling Clear Mix Sequins.  This particular package has a mix of 4 sizes in the pack.

This card has a different feel to it than what I normally do, but it feels so fresh and "crisp" that I just love how it turned out.  In fact, I loved it so much that even though I already had another card made and the blog post written, I wrote this new one for today's post.

I'm also entering this into the Sunday Stamps Challenge with their theme of Banner Love - Take Two.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  Be sure to check all of the Design Team's Inspiration over at The Card Concept Blog and be sure to share your project with us in the gallery.  

Inspired By All The Little Things #38

Inspired By All the Little Things is starting the new year with a beautiful challenge inspiration photo. Isn't this just the most elegant setting?  It uses Pink and Mauve with Metallic Gold so you know that I love this look. Roses are always a classic look although I didn't use them today. You all might get sick of seeing me use this set!

I love the color of the drapes on the chairs so that was my starting point for today's card. I also love the sheer elegance of the entire image. I've been playing for the last few days with a gorgeous new stamp and die from Papertrey Ink called Fresh Bouquet with the Fresh Bouquet Die.  I am so enamored with this set.  As a girl who loves to heat emboss, this set is right up my ally.  The entire outline can be stamped with Versamark and heat embossed all at once (no masking required) and then you can stamp the individual layers in the various colors. You could also stamp the outline in the color of your choosing (such as Black), it's just that I really love gold heat embossing! That is what I did here using Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder on Stamper's Select White Cardstock.  Next I stamped the floral layers with Papertrey Ink Lavender Moon, Altenew Puffy Heart and Purple Wine Inks. I used Altenew's Forest Glades for the greenery.  I'm still trying to familiarize myself with the Altenew Inks and the colors vs. the names. I have the stuff to make a swatch book, I just haven't done it yet.  I'm thinking that might need to happen sooner rather than later.

I cut the card base from Lavender Moon Cardstock using the Noted: Scalloped A2 Vertical Dies. While the name would make you think this is a shade of lavender, it actually works better with most blue based pinks like Lovely Lady, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, etc. Autumn Rose looks particularly nice!  I haven't mentioned it for a while but Papertrey Cardstocks are heavyweight, 110# super smooth cardstock. The quality simply can't be beat and the price is also fantastic. Colored cardstock is $5.00 for 24 sheets.  Stamper's Select White Cardstock is $6.00 for 40 sheets.

I wanted to make several of these cards to send to some of my girlfriends.  I don't live near any of my long time girlfriends and it is often hard to stay connected with so many miles and activities between us.  Everyone is busy with their own families and we just kind of drift away from each other. Sending cards is a great way to stay connected to them and remind them that I'm only a phone call away.

On this particular card (although I made several) I used foam tape on the white background panel and the floral bouquet. I adhered the sentiment and the little hearts directly to the background panel using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.

If you get a chance, be sure to stop by the Inspired By All the Little Things Blog to check out all of the Design Team's Projects. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today. If you'd like to leave a comment, I really enjoy reading them. Have a great weekend, everyone!