Butterfly Branches GIU Day 3

Hello Friends

Welcome to day 3 of GIU. Wow is it flying by fast! I hope you are enjoying my creations. I have really enjoyed making them. I went for some home decor for today's project some butterfly branches.   I wanted to make my butterfly branches using my favourite Unity butterfly stamp called A Friend Loveth. If you look through my blog I have used this stamp many many times it is my favourite butterfly stamp. I just love it the butterflies are just a perfect size and shape for so many projects. I asked my husband to go out to the garden and bring me in a small branch. Where we live backs out on to a little wooded area so there are lots of branches laying around.  He walked in the door a few minutes later with half a tree ha!  So I broke off a few branches and sent him back outside with the rest :)

Making this is pretty easy all I did was take an empty bottle and pour some white paint inside and let it run out. I left it to dry out over night, it cracks a little as it dries but that is ok. The next day I made the label by painting some kraft card with the same white paint then stamped the sentiment with vintage photo distress ink. I distressed it a little with the same brown ink and also broken china a lovely blue colour. I  glued the label to the bottle then wrapped the neck of the bottle with some jute.

I heat embossed the butterflies with white embossing powder on to kraft card and fussy cut them all out. I used some stickles glitter glue on the body of the butterfly that matched the same distress ink. Finally I glued each one to the branches.

I hope you enjoyed my project today it was something a wee bit different. I find I get bored making just cards and like to venture out and do new things with my rubber stamps. Remember and leave a comment for your chance to win 2 Itty Bitty stamps from Unity.

Thanks so much for stopping by I will see you all tomorrow :)

Mandi xox

Challenges
 Word Art Wednesday 
Simon Says Stamp Wed

A Friend Loveth B&W

Hello Friends

I made this quick card today for Friends With Flair. I used one of my favourite stamp sets called A Friend Loveth. I just love those butterflies this is my go to butterfly stamp and I never tire of it. I kept this card pretty simple. I just used an embossing folder to create the background. I stamped the sentiment straight on to the card. Then stamped my butterflies, cut them out and glued them to the card. Super easy :)

Thanks so much for stopping by have a great weekend

Mandi xox

Challenges
Simon Says Stamp Wed

Everything Resides In Hope

Happy Friday Friends

I hope you are all well :)  I made this quick card for Friends With Flair today.  Don't you love those butterflies?? As you know I am addicted to butterflies. This is one of my newest stamps to add to that collection. I used my watercolour paints to colour them shades of pink and purple. The stamp set is from Unity of course it is called Everything Resides In Hope. I kept the card really simple as I think those butterflies speak for themselves.

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for visiting :)

 Mandi xox

Challenges
Sister Act Card Challenge
Artistic Inspirations
Word Art Wednesday
Love to Scrap
Crafting From The Heart
Pumpkin Spice

Flag Tag

Hello Friends

I wanted to take part in the Unity red white and blue challenge on facebook. So this is what I came up with I will call it the flag tag.  As an immigrant  and a naturalized citizen. I had to do a lot of reading about the history of America for my citizenship test. I guess this is my interpretation about what America means to me.  I used the colours and the stars from the flag. The butterfly represents freedom and the sentiment represents  one nation under God.

I used distress inks to create my background on a kraft tag. I really love to get messy using these inks. I still have rainbow fingers lots of ink that won't come off  ha. I stamped them on to my craft mat and spritzed some water and let the ink do it's thing. I heat set the ink then applied some more until I was happy with the outcome.

I stamped the butterfly on to vellum I used white embossing powder and heat set it. I did the same thing with the sentiment. I did not have any star stamps so I used a my star punch. I punched some stars to create a stencil then embossed them down the side of my tag with white glitter embossing powder.  I glued the butterfly and added some rhinestones. Finally I got some crinkle ribbon and used my distress inks to colour it to match the tag.

I really love the way it turned out. Thanks so much to stopping by.

Mandi xox


Supplies
Stamps - Unity Stamp Company, Something Within & Here Today, Here Tomorrow
Ink - VersaMagic, Distress Inks Fired Brick & Faded Jeans. 
Other - Rhinestones, White Embossing Powder, Crinkle Ribbon


Challenges 
Tha Kraft Journal 
Artistic Inspirations 
Paper Sweeties 
The Craft Spot 
Cupcake Inspirations 
Friends With Flair
Word Art Wednesday
That Craft Place Challenge
Try It On Tuesday

Just Be You

Hello Friends

I hope you are all doing well. It's nearly Friday yay!!!   I have been super busy this week. I got a huge last minute order for 60 graduation cards!! I just got finished with them last night so I wanted to make something fun to celebrate :)

I made this card for the Be Inspired Challenge over at the Unity blog. These are the colours I had to work with this month. You know I always like to do the colour challenge so these were good colours for me. I love Turquoise!

I used one of my newer stamps for this card. This stamp is called YOU it is part of the Brave Girls Club collection by Melody Ross. I just love her work she is so inspiring, she speaks from her soul. I love this stamp it says it all really.

 ~ JUST BE YOU ~

So I used my watercolour paints and paint washed 3 sections of colour. Then I got out some vellum and stamped 2 of the same image with versamark ink. I sprinkled some white embossing powder and heat set it. I cut the vellum down to size just to fit over the yellow section. I did not want to glue it down so I decided to use silver glittery washi tape to hold down the vellum. Next I added a row of rhinestones on the top and bottom of the card. I then took the second image I stamped and cut out the butterfly only and attached it on top of the original butterfly then added some more rhinestones. Finally I attached it to my white card base to finish.

I really like the way it turned out. It was a really fun card to make. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for visiting xox

Challenges
Fussy & Fancy Friday - Things with Wings
Pan Pastel UK - Floral & Fauna
Simon Says Stamp - Monday Anything Goes
Sister Act Challenge
Unity Friends With Flair

Butterfly Girl

Hello Friends

I played along with this month's Be Inspired Challenge  over at the Unity blog. These are the colours for this month they are so pretty!

 So I got out my new Kennedy Girl stamp and painted her with watercolours. Next added lots of gems to her wings and two tiny punched butterflies in opposite corners. I heat embossed the sentiment with turquoise embossing powder. Finally I layered the card on to some yellow card before adhering to the blue card base. 

Thanks for visiting :) 

Challenges
Simon Says Stamp Monday - Paint
Butterfly Challenge  Gems/Butterflies/Punches

Bold Butterfly

Hello Friends

It's Friday yay!! Time for Friends with Flair over at the Unity blog. This is my card for this week more butterflies ha!

I bought this stamp last week and just had to ink it up. How pretty is this butterfly it is called Bold Butterfly designed by Donna Downey. It is so so pretty!  The sentiment is from the new Kennedy Girl stamp she is next on my list to  ink up. I used my Peacock Feathers distress ink on the butterfly it is such a lovely colour. I cut out the butterfly and glued just the body on to the card. Then stamped my sentiment and sprinkled a trail of rhinestones.

Have a wonderful weekend thanks for visiting xox

Art Journal Cover

Hello Friends

I hope you all had a great week. I sure did I was in Maine for a few days. I just love that place it was sooo relaxing. I started off making a card for this weeks Friends with Flair but it was not coming together. So I ditched the card and started work on my new art journal.  I wanted  a new  journal since the one I have now is just too small. I have lots of  composition books laying around so I decided to use one of those and just decorate the cover.

I used 3 layers of Gesso on the front cover. Then painted it in a lovely turquoise colour. The butterfly was painted using watercolour paints on watercolour paper.  I cut it out and glued  it on to the cover. I stamped the sentiment straight on the painted surface and used white embossing powder and heat set it. The stamp is from Unity called Becoming A Butterfly. I punched some white butterflies and sprinkled them around the page to finish.

I hope you like my journal :)

Thanks for stopping by xox

Art Journal ~ Frosty Tree

 Hello Friends!

 I was in the mood to craft last night but did not want to make a card. So, I got out my journal. I love writing and making a mess in my book. It really is my therapy :) I was listening to a song earlier that day on the radio by the David Crowder Band called How He Loves. It is one of my favourite songs. I heard it in church years ago and I have always loved it. Here it is if you would like to listen to it.

So on to my journal. I wanted some of the lyrics on my page. I typed them out and cut them up to later paste on. I used Peacock Feathers and Concord Distress ink to create the background.  I did not have a tree stamp, so I had to improvise and used an embossing folder instead. I stamped the raised side of the folder with ink and it made a perfect impression.  I went over it again with VersaMark ink and covered it with white glitter embossing powder. I used a lot of stamps on this one I will list them below.  I stamped the flowers around the edge with VersaMark ink then let it dry. Then went over some of the flowers again with the embossing powder.

  I was going for a frosty/snowy look. Coincidentally on my way home today I got caught in yet another snow storm. I had to pull the car over for a wee while until it stopped. So I took the opportunity to take the photos of my page in the snow. It made a perfect backdrop :)

I am linking this up to Friends with flair at the Unity Blog

~ Supplies ~

Darice embossing folder - Leafy Tree

Unity Stamp Company

Flowers - Angie girl - Dream with your Heart

Hearts -  Main Squeeze    

  Butterflies - A Friend Loveth

Tiny Butterflies -  Butterfly Kisses

Distress Inks - Peacock Feathers,  Dusty Concord & Walnut Stain 

 Embossing Powder - White Diamond

Thanks for visiting  :)

Butterfly Colour Burst

Hello my lovely friends!
I hope your week is going well. It's FREEZING here in NY and more snow is coming our way!! It is too cold to go anywhere so I am using that time to craft :)  I created this background by using acrylic paint mixed with water and splattered it with a paint brush. The butterflies were created the same way, only I painted them blue first.  I then stamped the butterflies on top of the paint with Memento ink and cut them out. I used some hot pink ribbon and rhinestones to add more colour.

The stamps I used today -  A Friend Loveth & Happy Birthday from Unity.

Challenges - Unity FWF

Thanks for Visiting :)

Wishing for Spring

Hello Friends

We got lots of snow here in upstate New York I got to stay home today yay. It's still snowing as I type I think we have about 10 inches so far.  I also have a nasty cold again :(   It has been such a long winter I am ready for it to be over. I am longing for spring. So I just had to make spring like card until it gets here :)

I love all the wee girl stamps from Phyllis Harris so I got out this one from the Unity Stamp Company it is called Every Breath.  I think it is my favourite one.  The other stamp I used is from Rubbernecker stamps it's called Dandelion Garden Border.

 I sponged the background with distress inks peacock feathers & mowed lawn. Then I heat embossed the dandelions with white glitter embossing powder. I paper pieced the girl and cut her out. Then glued her to the card along with some tiny punched butterflies. The inside of the card is stamped with the sentiment ''Sending blessings you way'' from the same kit as the girl.

Thanks for visiting I will leave you with a picture from my living room window :) 

Destiny - Wall Art

 Hello Friends

I had a crafty day today It always makes me happy to get my stamps out and make a mess. I find it very therapeutic :)  I saw these wooden frames at A.C Moore last week and thought they would make great frames for my stamping projects. They were only $1 super inexpensive and today I got to play around with one.  I painted it black with acrylic paint and left it to dry while I stamped something for the insert.

 

I got out the newly Nov 2013 KOM I bought.  I love this kit it is called Strength and Dignity you can find it here on the Unity website. The reason I bought this set was because I LOVED this quote:

 "HARDSHIPS OFTEN PREPARE 

ORDINARY PEOPLE FOR AN 

EXTRAORDINARY DESTINY."

C.S Lewis

It is a quote that really speaks to my soul. I love all of the works of Lewis.  I find his writing inspirational. He is probably most known for the Chronicles of Narnia.  However, there are so many other books he wrote that are definitely worth a read. 

So back to my project. I stamped the quote using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then stamped the butterfly from the same kit with the same ink. I then used my distress inks to create the colours on the butterfly. I used Tumbles Glass, Peacock Feathers and Stormy Sky. I blended them all together starting from light to dark from the bottom up. I glued the butterfly to the card.  Then I glued the card to the wooden frame. I replaced the twine with black ribbon and then hung it on my wall :) 

Thanks for Visiting :)

Release the past

 Hello Friends


I hope you all had a good week. I am slowly getting back into the swing of things after being gone almost a month.  Although I can't get over how cold it is here in New York. The wind chill goes right through you.  I hope it warms up a wee bit soon :)

So on to my card for today's Friends with Flair over at Unity Blog. I went with another pink and grey theme today. I got to ink up the Nov 2013 Kit of the Month for this card. I just love this kit especially the sentiments and this butterfly stamp is just amazing.  If you know me you know I LOVE to emboss. It really is addicting. I was in Michaels craft store last weekend and picked up this crazy embossing powder. It is light pink in color with large and small parts of glitter through it and I just had to have it. I wanted to try it out with this butterfly stamp.

 I started off with some white card and sponged distress ink in two different colours. I used the pink Victorian Velvet on the top and the grey Weathered Wood on the bottom. I stamped the butterfly with VersaMark ink and then covered it with this glittery embossing powder. I heated it with my heat tool and then cut it out. The butterfly looked too plain and I think it needed a little something extra so I got some rhinestones but they were not matching the way I wanted them to. So I wanted to emboss them too :) So I VersaMarked the rhinestones and covered them with the same embossing powder and heated them up. They did warp a little but they did emboss pretty well and I put them on the body of the butterfly.

I sponged the sentiment with the same two inks and stamped it straight on to the card base. I glued the body of the butterfly to the card and left the wings loose to give the illusion of it fluttering off the card :)

I have also entered this card into the following Challenges
Feeling Crafty Challenge 24 - Butterflies
Emerald Faeries Challenge 51 - Things with wings
Created with love challenges - C73 Winged things

Thanks for visiting have a blessed day :)

Unity Friends with Flair

 

Hello Friends!

I hope you have all had a wonderful week :) Here is my Friends with Flair entry for this week. I used a white, gray and turquoise colour scheme, it was based on the tag I made a few months ago you can see it HERE.  I wanted to make a card version this time and add some more detail to it.  I used feel the joy stamp for the flowers, the sentiment is from the  Every Breath stamp  set and the butterfly is from A Friend Loveth stamp set.  I embossed some of the flowers with white embossing powder and left some with just a water mark using VersaMark ink. I really like the effect it creates.  I hope you enjoy my card :)

Are you all ready for Christmas??  I wish I could say I am but I am not.  I was meant to fly to Scotland last weekend but got sick with a horrible virus. So we  had to cancel our flights and rebook we now leave this Sunday yay :)  I need to run out tomorrow and get some last minute presents and re pack everything.  Have a good Christmas when it comes around :) Thanks for visiting :) 

God's Timing

Happy Friday friends It's time for Friends with Flair over at the Unity blog :)  I got an early birthday present from my hubby new ink yay :)  I was never really a fan of distress inks  I bought them before and ended up  giving them away as I could not get into them. I decided I would  give them another try and this time around I LOVE them :) I think the trick is learning how to use them. I was using them too much like regular ink and that turned out too messy for me. I love how you can create your own backgrounds with them and the colours stay so vibrant.

 I used 3 different Unity stamps on this card. I love this sentiment God's timing is perfect it is something I need to be reminded of. It worked perfectly with the butterfly and script stamps and makes a really nice encouragement card. I love the faith stamps available at Unity they are so unique.

 I stamped the the sentiment and script stamp with versamark ink then used white embossing powder and heat set it. I created the background using the blending tool and distress inks. The ink naturally resists the embossing if there is any ink left on top of the stamped area you can wipe it with a paper towel. I spritzed the card with some water and dried it with my heat tool to set the watermarks in place. I stamped the butterfly with distress ink and watered it down with a damp brush to take some of the colour out. I then cut it out and added some rhinestones.  I punched tiny butterflies and sprinkled them around the card. I love how the colours stay really bright against the white embossing.

 

Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog :) 

~ Supplies ~

Unity Stamp Company  - God's Timing

Unity Stamp Company - Here Today, Here Tomorrow

Unity Stamp Company - Key to my Heart

Tim Holtz  Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Peacock Feathers
Martha Stewart - 3 in 1 Butterfly Punch

VersaMark Ink

White Embossing Powder

Bookmarks

I have been busy this week making lots of things for my December craft fair. I love these bookmarks I only started making them after trying to find one with a butterfly and could not find one anywhere.  I love books I feel like I am the only person on the planet that has not yet went digital with my reading. I like to have the book in my hand and flick through the pages. There is nothing I love more than a hot cup of tea and good book especially Christmas novels :)

Winter Meadow

I have been wanting to make a winter flower scene for a while so I finally got around to it. I love trying new techniques and I really enjoyed playing around with this one.  I sponged the background then used an script stamp as additional background. I stamped several different flowers from different Unity stamp sets and heat embossed them with silver and white embossing powder. I cut the card up into 6 sections but I only used 4 as I wanted to make a square card instead of the rectangle I had originally planned.   The butterflies were heat embossed and then cut out and mounted with foam to/ give a 3D effect. I punched 4 tiny butterflies from the punch and added them to finish off the card.  I really love the way it turned out hope you do too :)

~ Supplies Used ~

Hero Arts - Old letter Writing Stamp

Unity Stamp Company - Feel the Joy

Unity Stamp Company - A Friend Loveth

Unity Stamp Company - Angie Girl: Dream with your Heart

Unity Stamp Company - The Simple Things

Martha Stewart - 3 in 1 Butterfly Punch

Memento Ink Danube Blue

Colorbox Ink Aqua
Versamark Ink

Rhinestones

I am entering this card into the following challenges

  Unity Stamp Company - Friends with Flair  

Sister Act Challenge 32
Word Art Wednesday Challenge 105
Love to Scrap Challenge 17  

Sympathy

It is never really a good time when you have to make a sympathy card. We found out our neighbour lost her mother a few days ago so I wanted to make her a card. I seem to pull out the Butterfly Corner embossing folder a lot for my sympathy cards. I love the detail on it and of course I love the butterflies. I bought mine at my local craft store you can find it online at Darice amongst other places . It was one of the first cards I made when I got into card making.  Here is my original card if you want to take a look :) I have made many other cards using this embossing folder it is so versatile here is another example. You can pretty much do anything you want with it. 

I used two different Unity stamps in this  card the sentiment is from the Sympathy and Sadness stamp you can find it at Unity Stamp Company website here. The butterflies are from the A Friend Loveth stamp set you can find that here.  I embossed some lilac card with the folder then mounted it onto a white cardstock base. I stamped the butterflies onto vellum using Versamark ink then added white embossing powder and set with my heat gun. I cut them out added some white pearls and used a fabric glue that dies in clear to stick them onto the card. I used the same white embossing powder on the sentiment to make it stand out.

         

  Hope you like my card thanks for stopping by :)

I am entering this card into the CAS-ual Friday's card challenge

Friends with Flair 10/11

Happy Friday :) It's also friends with flair day over at the Unity blog :)  Today I went with a very quick and easy card using paper punches and the Happy Birthday sentiment from Unity you can find it here. I love this stamp it is my go to Birthday stamp it is only $1.79 super cheap :)
 

~ Supplies Used ~

Unity Stamp - Happy Birthday

American Crafts Dots & Stripes Paper Pad

Kraft Card

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Martha Stewart - Classic Butterfly Punch

Martha Stewart - 3 in 1 Butterfly Punch

Rhinestones

Thanks for visiting ~ Have a great weekend :)

Sequins & Chevrons

So I found this blog called CAS-ual Fridays by sheer accident this morning and thought I would take part in the challenge. Sequins & Chevrons was the challenge here is the website if you want to take part :)

~ Supplies used ~

 Stampin' Up - Thank You stamp 

Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch 

Colorbok Designer paper - Natural Expressions 

Bazzill card stock - Teal
Memento Ink - Rich Cocoa

Sequins

Rhinestones

Thanks for visiting :)