One more Easel Butterfly....

OK, one more butterfly easel today--this one more suitable for a man.  I just love making these and can't seem to stop myself.  I hope you are not bored yet!

This card is Marina Mist with a mat of Pear Pizzazz and a layer of stripe designer paper from the Sale-a-bration Ice Cream Parlor pack.  I just love the stripes on this one.

Not too much to tell you on this one, if you've visited my blog recently.  This butterfly is made just like the last two I shared.    Here is another shot of it opened up ("fluffed out").

As you can see, the layers are Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, and Bashful Blue and all are run through a couple of embossing folders to give that butterfly texture.  And of course I sponged color around the edges to add interest.  One more close up of the butterfly, sitting up.  I sent this one to my stamping friend Holly so she could enjoy it sitting on her desk.

I did add some photo corners to two edges of this one, because I was not putting the strip or ribbon across it.  I guess you might say it's a bit drab, but I love the green and blue on this butterfly.

Thanks for stopping in today!! Smiles, Laura

More Butterflies...

Here is another buterfly card I made recently.  It's so light in the picture because I used Pink Pirquoette and Whisper White for it.  I hope you can see it!

The card and Top Note die cut-out are in the pink and I matted that with white that had been run through the Square Lattice embossing folder. 

Again, I cut out four butterflies with the Beautiful Butterflies die, one of them on the fold.  Two are white and the one on the fold and the center one are pink.  Here is a close-up of the butterflies standing up. If you are familiar with easel cards, this is an easel butterfly on the front of a card--something alittle different.

Here is the butterfly standing up and you'd sit the card when you receive it.

I put some smaller buttterflies on this one, using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die.  This one is very feminine and would make a great birthday card for a sweet lady! 

Thanks for stopping in---let me know how you like these modified easel cards!  Smiles, Laura

Triple Butterfly....

Today I want to share a card I made recently using the Beautiful Butterflies die.  Here is the card laying flat on a table---like you'd mail it.

Here is how it looks when you "fluff" it up.    I love how this butterfly turned out.  The card itself is Tangerine Tango cardstock, with a mat of Pumpkin Pie and striped Daffodil Delight from the Patterns Paper Stack on top of that. 

From the side, you can see the butterfly layers.  It, too, is Tangerine Tango, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight.  I ran all three through Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  I added dimensionals in between each of the layers, and then added 3 brads to the center.  You can see the brads in the first picture.  I smudged Tangerine onto each layer to add some color.

Here is a shot of  how the butterfly stands.  I folded some Tangerine cardstock  in half and ran it through the same butterfly die, to give me one on the fold.  Then I folded the front in half and glued my butterfly to the bottom half of that one.  The bottom part of the butterfly I put behind the long piece that goes across my card.  (Is that clear as mud?  It's hard to explain, but I hope the pictures explain it better than I am.)  If you are familiar witih an easel card, this is an easel butterfly on the front of a card.

I love how this card can lay flat for mailing, but when you lay it on the table, you can stand up the butterfly and fluff it and have a great butterfly to view.  My dad got out of the hospital recently---I'm going to make one to send to him!!  He'll like it.

Here is the Hello sentiment on the card.

Again, I sponged around the scalloped oval and run the Pumpkin oval through the embossing folder to give it some texture.  "Hello" is from the Tiny Teacup stampset.

I hope you like this one!!  Go try one yourself!! Thanks so much for visiting my blog.  Leave me comments as I love seeing what you think about my work---be kind and gentle.  ha!  You guys always are!!

Editorial note:  I first saw an easel butterfly card on Bronwyn Eastley's blog (here).  Hers was a small sized card, like a gift enclosure, just the size of the butterfly.  I added mine to a regular sized card and also made all three layers of the butterfly the same size.  So while mine is not identical to Bronwyn's design, I do want to credit her with the idea.  Thanks Bronwyn , for inspiring me.  Check out her blog for her other great work!

 

Smiles, Laura

A Woven Hello.....

I am participating in a challenge swap this week and the sideboard were that the card MUST be 4-1/4" x 4-1/4".  Here is the card I came up with.  I saw a card by Carrie Gaskin (the Artictic Avenger--12/9/10 entry) with a woven rectangle on the front and knew I had to try one.   (Here)

Mine, of course had to be square, so it's very different.  I chose So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait for the colors of my woven area.  That woven area is mounted on Poppy Parade and backed with Pear Pizzazz.

The butterfies are from the Flight of the Butterfly set.  The sentiment "Hello" is from the Tiny Teacup set. 

I punched the pear with the scallop oval punch, and layered that with the Large Oval punch from Poppy.   I ran that through the Square Lattice embossing folder to give it texture.  I punch out a Decorative Label from Saffron, turned it 90 degrees and punched one end again for the "Hello".  I love this small label it makes!!

I hope my partner getting this swaps likes it!!  Smiles, Laura

Birthday Birds....

Granddaughter Jessica wanted to make her daddy a birthday card the other day and this is the card we made. (She made one to mail and I made one for fun.)   I've made birdies using the Ornament punch before but didn't bother to hunt it up.  We just made this one from scratch.   Aren't these two cute!!

                            

The body is the Ornament Punch.  The wings are made using the wings from the Two-Step Bird Punch.  The beak is the heart in the Two-Step Owl punch.  We used the butterfly punch for the lighter parts of the body.  And the feet are a circle cut in half.  I MEANT to trim that to toes, but forgot to before mounting it.  Oh, well...

This birdie is made with Not Quite Navy and Marina Mist cardstock.

Here is the red/pink one.  She is made using the Cherry Cobbler and Pretty in Pink cardstock.

The card itself is Marina Mist and the white cut from the Top Note die is layers onto Not Quite Navy.  Jessica was very pleased with how this card turned out.  I know her dad loved it!!

The sentiment "Celebrate!" is from the Something to Celebreat Level 2 hostess set. 

Hope you like this one!! Smiles, Laura

Easter chicks....

I decided to make some of these cards to mail to family for my Easter card this year.  Aren't these little chicks the cutest!!

I made them using the Two-Step Bird Punch.  There were two of them on my collages I shared in an earlier entry.  The card itself is Wild Wasabi, matted with So Saffron and then topped with the "picture" of the grass/yard.  I used the grass stamp in the Inspired by Nature set to stamp the grass.  Then I sponged a little Wasabi ink across it to look like the ground.  I also sponged some Bashful Blue for the sky.

To make the little chicks themselves, I punched the bird using the Two-Step Bird punch and cut up from the body to take off both tails.  I sponged the edges with some Saffron ink.  The wing is punched from So Saffron, using the end of the Scallop Oval.  I trimmed it a bit to get it the correct shape.

  

For the sentiment, I punched cardstock with the Decoration Label, the 1-3/8" Circle and the Large Oval punches.  The "Easter Wishes" comes from the Something to Celeberate level 3 Hostess set.

I hope my family likes this little card! Thanks for stopping by today!! Smiles, Laura

Ed. note:  When I posted this sample, I knew I had seen these chicks somewhere but could not remember and did not have her name.  I finally found them again this week.  They were shared by Ann Fitzgerald.  See them on her blog:  http://www.annscreativemoments.com/ .  Thanks, Ann, for the idea!

 

Sunny Garden Collage....

Today I want to share with you a collage I made last week to celebrate spring.  I used the beautiful Sunny Garden designer series paper for this collage.  I'll tell you right off the bat that my friend Regina Andari made the first one of these and inspired me (mostly different rectangles).  She hasn't posted hers on her blog, or I'd give you the link to it.  Regina has made several these collages--one at Christmas, one last spring, and this one.  They are all beautiful!  So I had to give it a go!

I had so much fun working on this one and it really went together fast.  The frame itself is 8"x10" and you can purchase one locally at any store.  I removed the glass so my artwork could stand out where I used dimensionals.  The hardest thing is to decide what you want on each rectangle.  My rectangles are 2-1/2" x 3-1/8" for the cardstock and the designer paper on that is 1/8" smaller. 

OK, let's look at the rows individually.  Here is the top row.

If you are familiar with Stampin' Up! products, you will know what I used on each rectangle.  The first rectangle on the left uses the Fun Flowers die.  The center used the Two-Step Bird and the right uses the Designer Label punch, the Photo Corners punch, and the Modern Label punch.

Here is the center row:

On this one, I used the Jewelry Tag punch and my Naturally Serif die for the letters on the left rectangle.  The center one uses the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch and the Butterfly punch.  The right rectangle used the Pinking Hearts Corner punch, the Heart Punch,  and the large oval punch.

Here is the bottom row:

For this one, I used the flowers on the Blossom Party Die on the left rectangle.  The other two rectangles use the Two-Step Bird punch and the Scallop Oval punch to make the little chicks.  The punches for ENJOY are the Scallop Oval, the Large Oval, and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch.  I also used the Scallop Edge Border punch on the right rectangle.

I hope you like the collage.  I'm glad I finally made one!  I think it just LOOKS like spring.
                                              
Big thanks to Regina for inspiring me!!!  And thanks to you for visiting my blog. Come back soon!!
Smiles, Laura