Poppies

These red poppies always cheer me up. For some reason it is tricky to get this to stamp well but when it works, it is a lovely stamp. I am not sure who makes it - I have had it for about 10 years now and it is unmounted so there is no brand name on it. I have stamped it in black and then used the Twinkling H2Os to colour it. I embossed the red card with my Cuttlebug. I am not convinced that it is the right texture for this stamp but I wasn't sure which one to use instead. Next time I will try a different embossing plate.

A bird in the bush

This card was created with one of the new Cuttlebug folders for the background. The stamp is a new one from Memory Box. Birds seem to be really popular at the moment and I love the style of this one. I have stamped onto an oval (cut with my nestabilites) and then restamped it and layered on top. This has been layered onto a darker scalloped oval. The background has been embossed onto a gorgeous leaf green metallic paper and layered onto a dark purple piece. This makes another 'quick' card that can be used for any occasion.

Irises blooming

This springtime card was created for a friend. The irises (Hero Arts) were stamped onto white card with copper Brilliance Ink. This was then coloured using Twinkling H2Os.
The background flourishes were stamped on the green card with Versamark. The long purple triangle is torn from a piece of embossed paper. Isn't it a great pattern. I would love to have an embossing folder with a similar design. Unfortunately it is a piece of commercially embossed paper. The card was finished with a scalloped oval cut with my Nestabilites. Another Hero arts stamp completes the card with the saying.
As you can tell, I enjoy using the Twinkling H2Os as I find they are easy to use and very convenient. I have all mine stored in a storage box that is all divided up into compartments. I have them sorted by colour groups and I can store them there without having to put their lids on.

A 10 minute card

It is always nice to have a card design that can be used for almost any occasion and that can be created very quickly. This is one of those designs. I love the background paper and the colours that I found at my LSS. However you could use any scrapbooking paper. I stamped onto the aqua card with a circular stamp from the Inkadinkadoo Round Frames set. I used Brilliance Pearlescent Jade ink but it doesn't show well in the photo. I find the clear stamps great to use for accurate placement etc but they still don't stamp as well as rubber. I then used my circle Nestabilities to cut the pink and the cream layer. The sentiment was stamped onto the cream and then I sponged the edges with Caramel Adirondack. The layers were assembled with foam dots to add dimension. This is now in the post to a friend who is having a tough time. Hopefully it will cheer her day.

Butterfly in Blue

I have had this stamp stashed away for a wee while (like 2 years...) and hadn't got around to using it. However that all changed this last weekend.
I stamped it in black on white card. I then used twinkling H2Os to add touches of colour to the woman and to the butterfly.
I then trimmed around it including around the edge of the left hand butterfly wing. I mounted it to card with a foam dot under the wing to give a little bit of dimension. All this was mounted a card that has been used in the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dot folder.

New Cuttlebug folders

After not doing much craft work over the last few months, I have had a creative weekend where I was able to make a number of cards. it was lovely to spend the day just focussing on card making and not having to worry about cooking, kids etc. I joined a couple of friends on a quilting weekend retreat and took along my card making supplies. Today's card is one that uses a new Cuttlebug folder and die combo called Friends Forever. I have used Core'dinations card through the Cuttlebug and then lightly sanded it. The small slider was cut using the Cuttlebug from a piece of card coloured with alcohol ink. I then cut the Hi using the Olivia alphabet dies. I thought that this would make a nice masculine card for any occasion.