Butterfly, Purple & Die Cut

I'm popping in with another quick card for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and the Tic Tac Toe Challenge because my Simon Says Stamp November Card Kit arrived yesterday (a Sunday of all days) and I wanted to have a chance to use this purple background I made using Glossy Cardstock and Alcohol Inks.  Simon's theme for this week is anything goes and I knew it would make for a quick card to use some of the kit contents like these Cardstock Stickers by Jen Hadfield for Pebbles Inc called Heart of Home which are available separately. 

I talked about how I created these backgrounds in this post and again in my previous post found here.  I still want to do a bit more experimenting with Alcohol Inks so be sure to check back in a few days for a bit more information.  I am planning to try out regular reinkers and see if they work!

As you can see, I used the left column for my card which is butterfly, purple, and die cut.  To begin my card, I die cut the Amethyst & Gold Mixative marbled panel using Hemstitch Rectangles from Spellbinders. I love these dies and even have a ladies handkerchief that belonged to my great grandmother with this type of hem on it. I selected the sticker elements I wanted to use for my card and placed foam adhesive on the back of the 2 elements I wanted to pop up on foam tape.  Without removing the release paper yet, I dusted over the exposed areas of the stickers with some baby powder to deactivate them.  Then I could pull the release paper off and place them where I wanted on the focal panel.  For the tiny butterfly, I just stuck that directly to my focal panel.

Cards don't get much easier than this and I was glad of the chance to play with my November Card Kit.  I used Royal Velvet Cardstock from Papertrey Ink for my card base and my focal panel.  Be sure to stop over to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and check out all the gorgeous entries in the "Anything Goes" category for this week. There are more than 550 entries at this time to inspire you.

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #5

Today I am playing over on the Tic Tac Toe Challenge #5. So you select your row and then you need to incorporate everything from that row into your card. My row is upper left to bottom right and includes having an inspiration photo to base your card on. I went searching on Pinterest for some Green & Gold inspiration and settled on these cups with a very art deco feel to them. I found gorgeous photos from home decor, stationary, invitations, fine china, front doors, wedding color schemes and just about anything else you can think of right down to green and gold wedding cakes and fancy wedding shoes. It is a beautiful combination and I happen to really like gold. I always prefer it over silver.

 
I die cut the Cover Plate: Twist from gold foiled cardstock to go over the top of my Vintage Jadeite Cardstock from Papertrey Ink.  This is a "new to me" color and I love it.   One of the things I really like about Papertrey Ink's Perfect Match Cardstock is that it is available in packs of 12, 24, or 50 sheets. So if it's a color I don't use as often, I can buy a smaller pack. This is so important to me because of the smaller amount of storage space required.  I cut a piece of the Vintage Jadeite to 4 3/16ths x 5 7/16ths, ran it through my die cut machine with the same die and the embossing mat to give it that inlaid look, then attached the die cut using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.

Cover Plate Dies are a fantastic way to make gorgeous cards with a whole lot of impact in a short period of time. Papertrey Ink carries a good selection and they are very reasonably priced. Once I had that adhered, I carefully laid the whole piece back into the die and ran it through with the embossing mat again to deepen the impression and make it look even more inlaid.  Fair warning - you can mess the whole panel up by doing this.  Trust me when I tell you this because I am the voice of experience.  Ahem....




I also used a My Favorite Things Oval Stax in two sizes and the Leaf Filled Flourish Die to go with my Peony. The peony is from Papertrey Ink's Peonies on Parade and I watercolored it using Worn Lipstick Distress Marker. The sentiment is from Graceful Greetings and I used the Graceful Greetings Coordinating Dies to cut it out after I stamped and heat embossed it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.

I'll also be entering this card over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog for their "A Bit O Green" theme.

After my initial post I found "The Card Concept" Challenge #50 and this card is just the perfect thing for the Classy and Elegant Style Category. This is my first time playing over there, so I hope they like my entry. I also found another new challenge blog called Double D Challenges!  So excited to participate in more challenges.

Have a great weekend everyone and don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour.  It's time to "Spring Forward".