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I love this triple layer stamping technique that Dionne has used on today’s cards that she is sharing for Amy and Friends.
It works really well with that fabulous Swallowtail stamp from Stampin Up! don’t you think?
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Here is the picture inspiration for the new challenge at Papercraft Star.
I LOVE birdhouses and little houses. I have whole Pinterest board full of them. When I saw this pic my first instinct was to reach for my little house stamp from Dylusions. I may still do something along those lines but instead I have created this:
I found a template over at Bird’s Cards and enlarged it to 150% for this project. I made the base from white cardstock and then cut a matching piece of green designer paper to go over the top. I cut a rectangle of pink paper and then used a Spellbinder’s die to create the patterned centre. I punched out the centre and then replaced the die cut back where it had come from. I punched out a circle of brown card to fill in the centre hole.
The branch is another Spellbinder’s die. Part of the swirl fitted over the hole a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. For the roof I cut two strips of white card and then used an lacy edge Spellbinder’s die to go over the top.
All the leaves and branches were punched out of different shades of green card. Adding paper roses, blossoms and daisies I made little arrangements amongst the leafy fronds.
I chose to use butterflies instead of birds firstly because of my month long blogiversary butterfly project in support of Amy and Friends, and secondly because I don’t (yet!) have a bird punch or die! The finishing touch was to add some little pearls.
Thanks for buzzing by.
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More lovely colouring from my friend Dionne this morning. Love that pretty blue butterfly for Amy and Friends.
Dionne seems to track down lovely digi stamps and backing papers. Check out her blog for the details.
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This week’s City Crafter Challenge theme is summer. It’s a given, at the moment, that my project will include at least one butterfly, to show my support for Amy and Friends, but it was hard to decide which element of summer to go with. As you will see, I chose a sunflower which for me symbolises summer perfectly.
Part of the beauty of this project was that I was able to use some of the fabulous Tim Coffey paper that was left over from the birthday card that I made for Charlene who is on the City Crafter Design Team. I think that’s what you call serendipity!
I’ve layered up the sunflower image onto summer yellow card, green polka dot paper and then more summer yellow.
The ribbon is seam binding that I’ve coloured with Squeezed Lemonade and Scattered Straw distress inks – colours that are highly appropriate for the summer theme.
I created a little sunflower using layers of paper flowers, also been coloured with distress inks, and popped it on top of some leaf ribbon trim.
The butterflies are my Hero Arts stamps coloured with…yep, you guessed it, distress inks and then glittered with gold.
Here in the UK we seem to have reverted back to a typical British summer – plenty of rain and not a lot of sun. Hopefully, this card will spread a little sunshine. Thanks for buzzing by.
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A chance for you to see Dionne’s fabulous colouring with her latest butterfly project in support of Amy and Friends.
Love that pretty bunting and I think that’s bunting on the backing paper too. Dionne has all the details of how she created this pretty card over on her blog.
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Today I’m sharing a little canvas I have made for this week’s Sunday Stampers challenge which has the theme of Time. 
I’m loving my texture pastes at the moment having been giving the confidence to use them at the workshop I went to that was run by Hels. The advantage of using the pastes in this weather is that they dry pretty quickly which is great for someone who is as impatient as me.
I started with a piece of chipboard and gave it a coat of black acrylic paint. Once dry, I applied gold texture paste through a Dylusions mask. The colour is stunning.
The clock faces were cut from some tissue wrapping paper I got ages ago from Paperchase and never used. I applied the to the canvas using watered down PVA, adding a coat over the top to seal. I wondered if the tissue might be a little thick for this technique but it worked brilliantly.
Next, I dabbed on some clear embossing ink at random and then brushed some green mica powder over the top. Where it was slightly too thick I rubbed it back with a bit of kitchen paper. The powder gives a sort of verdigris effect and tones down some of the gold.
The stamped butterflies were coloured using distress inks and I gave them little keys for their bodies.
The flowers were white paper coloured with more distress inks and the centre is a pearl that I coloured with a gold leaf pen.
The words, from the poem “Leisure” were printed on my computer
The song that I sang through the making of this? Time – by Culture Club, with my own version of the words.
With Amy and Friends in mind, one of the things that those suffering from Cockayne Syndrome don’t have is time on their side. Just by leaving a comment on my blog, you could help see if that can be changed. 
Thanks for buzzing by.
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Continuing with Dionne’s series of guest spots on my blog, in support of Amy and Friends, todays card showcases her talent for coming up with great layouts and also how brilliantly she can combine a stamped and coloured image with other elements.
Isn’t this pretty? I love the arrangement of die cuts down the side. Buzz on over to her blog for the full story.
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Is it really Monday already?? I can’t believe that not only has the weekend flown by, but also July. Was it because we had so much summer sunshine? It’s also hard to believe that there are only 10 days left of my Blogiversary special butterfly project in support of Amy and Friends. Be sure to leave a comment on my pinned post at the top of this page and be in with a chance of winning my blog candy. There’s a bumper collection of goodies from Create and Craft up for grabs.
So Monday it is and therefore Brag Monday time over at The Graphics Fairy. I love it when you do a project that is a) so simple it takes no time at all and b) the finished result is more than a sum of its parts. I’m so happy that today’s project is one of those:
These are bottle caps that can be turned into pendants, key rings, bag charms… whatever you like really. I picked up a bargain pack of bottle caps with hanging loops, that also came with matching domed epoxy stickers, on Ebay. The rest was “simples.”
I’ve chosen some lovely images from The Graphics Fairy, added in some extra embellishments and simply glued them all together. This one uses a vintage compass image and a blue butterfly.
I’ve used a one inch circle punch to cut out the backgrounds and then made a little collage.
This one is a beautiful cold and black clock image with a red butterfly image. Originally I made a digital collage with all the images but somehow the butterflies got a little lost. Collaging them seemed to overcome this.
Here is a section from a Graphics Fairy floral image with that beautiful blue butterfly image. The gem is under the dome sticker.
When I discovered you could also get funky coloured bottle caps I had to have them. Here’s my favourite Graphics Fairy moth on top of a vintage medallion image. The original image is black and white and I simply colourised it in Word. Here, the gem is on the outside.
The possibilities are endless. I’m already thinking that I need to do some with bees and I think they would also be fabulous with some Christmas images. Happy Monday!
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Dionne has been sharing some fabulous cards, using the iconic Swallowtail stamp from Stampin’ Up!, in support of Amy and Friends. Today’s is exceptional – take a look:
Then as if that was not awesome enough here’s a little something to go with it:
Aren’t they both stunning?
Find out all the details over on Dionne’s blog - I really want to know how she kept that acetate so clean and free of finger marks!!
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As you know, I celebrated Christmas in July just the other day which coincided perfectly with the theme of the current fortnightly challenge at Anything But A Card. As this is challenge falls during the month of my butterfly project in support of Amy and Friends I knew that would be my starting point. Here’s my Design Team piece:
This started life as an old jewellery gift box – slightly larger and more sturdy than a regular matchbox. I gave the box a coat of gesso and then a coat of Snowtex. Once dry I added a coat of PVA and the spooned snow substitutes – Crafty Notions’ Stellar Flash and Pinflair’s Snow Dust.
The hanging loop is a piece of jewellery wire threaded through the top of the box and then threaded with snowy white pearls and a faux crystal bead all topped off with a seam binding bow.
The butterfly image is, of course, from The Graphics Fairy layered up and studded with gems. Being a queen naturally she has a little crown.
Finishing touches were the tiny white rose and some silver snowflakes.
be sure to buzz over to Anything But A Card, you’ll be sure to get some festive inspiration and we’d love you to share your project with us. Thanks for buzzing by and hope to see you again soon.
