My Butterfly Purse Gift Box

Hi there--

I posted In the Cottage Studio today with the project above. At Hobby Lobby I found this cute paperboard purse on the clearance shelf. (I love that!) I covered it with some pretty designer papers and then stamped using Bel's stamp set Butterfly Joy. To make the butterfly nice and bright, I painted with an oil-based paint pen, and then topped that with Shimmerz paint. I know I'm on Bel's design team and everything, but honestly, this butterfly is an absolute blast to color. Just so much fun.

Have a great Monday everybody. And don't forget:

Blog Hop Tomorrow!

Visit me tomorrow for the Clear Artistic Stamps blog hop. You could win a prize!

Sunday Silliness

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Is Your Shopping Done Yet?

Only 120 days until Christmas!

OK, maybe I'm jumping the gun a little bit. But in the crafting world, we start our Chirstmas projects during the summer! (Especially me--I'm a little slow!)

I made this Christmas card using Splitcoast sketch SC243 and Belinda's stamp set A Crimson Christmas. I couldn't wait to play with the cardinal stamps--they are so awesome.





I covered the main image with 3D crystal lacquer, and the papers have lots of shine to them also. To give you an idea--I turned the card and used different lighting to show the shine:







Thanks for looking at my new card. Have a good Thursday everybody!

No Crafts Today, Just a Funny

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Brayered Butterfly Background

Good Monday morning to you.

School starts this week for us, officially signaling the end of summer. The girls are already talking about Halloween costumes--yikes! I had better dust the cobwebs off of my sewing machine and get started on them.

I made this card yesterday using the Card Positioning Systems sketch challenge CPS130 and the stamp set Garden Beauty from Clear Artistic Stamps. I did a brayered background using a circle mask, and then stamped the image positioning the butterfly in the circle.

I discovered an new palette that I really like: elegant eggplant, almost amethyst, barely banana and blush blossom. I'll have to remember this one!

Thanks for looking! I'm off to check on the tap and ballet shoes that we have in the closet. Hopefully they still fit--dance classes start tonight!

Sunday Silliness

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Fold Challenge at the Cottage Studio

At the In the Cottage Studio blog today there is a new rumble challenge: incorporate something folded into your project! Here is my entry, along with some instructions on how I made it.


My friend Jody taught me how to make this, so I'm calling it "Jody's Teabag Holder". It's a folded 3 inch square card, just the right size to hold a teabag. Here's how to do it:

Cut a 3x9 inch of cardstock, and score at 3 inches and 6 inches. Then score diagonally as shown. Fold mountain and valley folds as shown.



I then trimmed a square piece of cardstock and stamped with images from Smiles and Rainbows from Clear Artistic Stamps. I also decorated the inside of the card with cardstock and stamps.



Next, attach the front panel to the bottom right corner of the card as shown. Then, punch a photo slot into the opposite corner of the card on the left side.



Now you can glue in a wrapped teabag, or anything else that is flat and smaller than 3 inches.


All that's left to do is fold it up, tucking the front panel into the photo slot. Now it's ready to give to someone! These also make great party favors. Have fun trying it out!

My Gardening Saga Continues.....

Well, my first vegetable garden was doing well. I had surrounded it by an 8ft. mesh deer fence that several people have had success with in the past. But the lure of my veggies must have been too much. They broke in one night and ate every last tomato and corn cob. Yep, that was about 200 tomatoes and around 40 ears of corn. My heart just broke in two.

So, guess what will be in my letter to Santa Claus this Christmas? A permanent, sturdy and very high fence around my garden. I'll try again next spring.

In the meantime, here are some blooms that they haven't eaten yet.

My Easter lily bloomed twice this year:


And these sunflowers had bees all over them!


I need to give these babies a good shower with deer repellent. At least the deer won't eat my basil. I still have pesto to look forward to.

The End of Summer

Summer went by way too fast, don't you think? Here in Oxford, all of the Miami University students are starting to filter back into town, and my kids can think of nothing else but back to school supplies. I'm not ready!

I made this card using Splitcoast sketch challenge SC242. I pulled out my fall colors--I'm starting to think that they might be my favorite, but I really don't like the idea of having a favorite color scheme!

Thanks for looking--and have a great Wednesday.

Some Great Inspirational Stamps

Belinda at Clear Artistic Stamps has just released lots of new stamps sets, including two in the Inspirational Collection. They are so cheerful and heartwarming, it makes cardmaking easy!

Here is a card that I made with this week's sketch at 365 cards and the new stamp set Just a Little Faith:



And here is another card that I made with the sketch challenge CPS129 and Belinda's new set Smiles and Rainbows:


Thanks for looking, and have a good Monday.

Tri-Shutter Card and a Video

I made this card a week ago for the cottage studio blog, but I thought you still might be interested in seeing it. I used the Tri-Shutter Card tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers for the template. This was actually much easier to make than you would think, and I didn't even use a ScorPal. The stamps are from Belinda's Echos of Summer stamp set. I stayed with soft sage and plum colors and pastel chalks for a subtle look.

And now, for some silliness:

Our nephews are visiting us from California, and my husband made this spoof over the weekend.

The Lorigan version of "The Most Interesting Man in the World":

Have a great Monday everyone.

Torn!

I made this card for the "Torn" challenge that Heather has posted for all of us the cottage studio blog. She wants us to tear at least one element of our project, which is always good fun.

On this card, I tore a circle through the designer paper to reveal one of Belinda's beautiful hummingbirds underneath. Another fun touch--I stamped the sentiment on a wallpaper sample from the hardware store. I love doing stuff like that.

Stamps are from Flight of my Dreams at Clear Artistic Stamps, and the layout is based upon Splitcoast Stampers sketch challenge SC240.

Have a great weekend everybody! We have company this weekend and plan to do lots of swimming and grilling.

Three Pages--Wow!

In the last few days I've been able to finish three scrapbook pages--a huge amount for me! I'm also working on a double page layout that I will show you later.

Here's the page for my daughter's birthday:

And I'm even happier about this--I finished my pages for the Disney World trip that we took last Christmas. This layout is from a sketch at Triple the Sketch:

And this layout uses a beautiful designer paper from Heidi Swapp. To make it pop, I sponged some ink on the cardstock underneath. The frame around the photo is a pretty chipboard frame from K&Co.

Thanks for looking, and have a great Monday!

Sunday Cuteness

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Check out the Christmas Rumble!

If you haven't already checked out the Cottage Studio blog since last Friday--here's some news. I'm hosting the Cottage Rumble! And I chose the theme of Christmas (or any other winter holiday that you like). The prize is fantastic--a gorgeous cardstock collection that would be perfect for your holiday cards.

Click here for all of the info!

Here is the card that I made for the rumble:

Here is the side view as you open it:

Hey look! It exploded!

That's right--you can put your yearly Christmas letter right inside the card so it unfolds as you open it.

Check out the blog post here to get info on how I made my card and how to enter to win the cardstock. And have fun stamping!