Butterfly and Woodgrain Birthday Card

This little card, which I made for a friends 30th birthday, was pretty quick to make but I'm really pleased with the results. The design is inspired by some Ikea wall art I have hanging in my bedroom. I started with a Hobbycraft 5x5 white notecard and layered on a peice of patterned paper from one of my favourite 6x6 paper pads, Fresh Cut by Basic Grey - I just love the vibrant lime green and pink tones in this paper! I used the scallop cartridge from my American Crafts trimmer to create a subtle decorative edge. Next I cut a piece of Neenah Solar White cardstock to size and ran it through my Cuttlebug in a Couture Creations woodgrain embossing folder. I then used the Bitty Butterfly and Elegant Butterfly punches from Stampin' Up to punch shapes from the embossed cardstock. Initially I adhered it to the patterned paper, without the butterflies, using foam tape to create dimension. Before attaching the butterflys into the punched spaces, I gently shaped them with my fingers to give them more movement. I adhered the butterflies with Dovecraft silicone glue, ensuring I allowed a sufficient amount of adhesive to sit under each wing, helping to keep the wings in a flying/fluttering position. The sentiment, from the Stampin' Up Label Love stamp set, was stamped with Versamark ink and embossing powder from American Crafts, in a colour called Powder. I then punched the shaped label using the coordinating Stampin' Up Artisan Label Punch. I again used foam tape to adhere this to my card. Finally, I used several sequins in coordinating colours to complete this pretty card. The pink and peach sequins are from the Neat & Tangled Pixie Dust sequin mix and the remainder are from a selection in my stash.

I really love it when I'm able to coordinate the inside of my cards with the design on the front. To create the sentiment below I used a blue/green ink from Stampin' Up called Pool Party and a peachy pink ink called Blushing Bride, also from Stampin' Up. I stamped 'happy' and 'birthday' directly onto the notecard using the Winnie and Walter The Big, The Bold and The Happy stamp set. The 30 was stamped using a Hobbycraft Script alphabet set.  Next I used the banner and 'celebrate in style' stamps from the Bloomsies stamp set by Mama elephant. I fussy cut the banner and adhered it to the card with foam squares. The design was completed using sequins and a Bitty Butterfly punch from the same Fresh Cut patterned paper as before.

Thanks Card

This card was very quick but also very pretty. I made it for my friend mum after she looked after my guinea pigs while I was away for the weekend. Firstly I ran a plain white notecard through my Cuttlebug and a Stampin' up embossing folder called Delicate Designs Textured Impressions - I love how it creates a lace effect. The sentiment was die cut using a Paper Smooches die and a scrap of blue cardstock. The flowers were stamped and die cut from the Wplus9 More Fresh Cuts set. I used Hero Arts shadow inks in shades Butter Bar, Passion Flower, Green Hills, Forever Green, Mint Julep and Soft Sky. I also used Pumpkin Pie and Pool Party from Stampin' Up.  I used Dovecraft silicone glue to adhere the flowers to create lots of dimension.

Floral Birthday Card

This quick but pretty card was a birthday card for a friend. The design was inspired by my 2013 Christmas cards. The base for the card was a Hobbycraft 5x5 white notecard. I used an Xcut square nesting die to emboss a border around the edge of the card. I cut a peice of patterned paper from the Fourteen collection by Crate Paper down to 4x4. I distressed the edges a little with my Stampin' Up distress tool. Next I adhered a small peice of Neenah Solar White cardstock to the centre. I stamped the sentiment from Stampin' Up's Morning Meadow stamp set, using Versafine black ink. I stamped the flower and stem images separately onto another piece of Neenah white cardstock using the Avery Elle Petals & Stems stamp set. I used Momento London fog ink for the stem and leaves and Stampin' Up Strawberry Slush ink for the flower. I then die cut the images using the coordinating dies which I ran thrugh my Cricut Cuttlebug. I adhered the die cut pieces to the card with Dovecraft silicone glue to add dimension. Before adhereing my patterned paper to the notecard, I wrapped around a piece of green bakers twine from the Dovecrafts Riverbank Revels collection. I finished the card using the My Paper World Paper Pens in yellow and moss green. I use these as a cheaper and more flexible alternative to enamel dots. The only disadvantage is that, unlike enamel dots, you have to wait for them to dry.