FWF: Some People Strengthen Others

"Some people strengthen others just by being the kind of people they are."  How amazing!  I consider myself so lucky to have (and to have had) some of these people in my life.  They probably don't even know who they are, but I do and I'll never forget them.  It's something wonderful to aspire to, isn't it?
   

      
For this week's Friends with Flair, I did a bit of overlapping stamping.  I stamped the dark sentiment and then partially overlapped the blue butterfly.  If you recognize the paper, it's from the same DCWV paper stack as my last post (with the baby carriage stamp).   I really like the blue and yellow color combination -- and not just because I'm part-Swede.
   
I hope to get some stamping in this week.  It's supposed to be over 100 degrees F here for the next fourteen days at least, so I'm going to do my very best to stay inside and stay cool.  Hope you have plenty of time for fun & stamping, too!
   
Happy Stamping!
    

FWF: A New Set of Wheels

Happy Friday, everyone!   This week has seemed to drag on and on for me, so I'm especially glad the weekend is almost here.  Hope you have something fun planned, as well as (for my American readers) some time to reflect on those who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we enjoy.
 
I don't happen to know anyone who is expecting or who just had a baby, but I thought these stamps from Unity were ADORABLE!!  I love that they can go from girly to boyish with the change of color -- or done in a neutral color if the gender isn't known yet.
 

   
For this card, I used old things as well as new.   The stamps were new, and this was the first time I tried the new Hero Arts Ombre ink pads.   The pad was pretty cool, but it wasn't as "ombre" as I thought.  When opened, it just looked like one of those three-section Kaleidoscope pads.

As for old, I've had this paper for a long time.  A friend of mine had this DCWV Café Mediterranean mat stack, but it wasn't her style.  I traded her for one that I had that didn't float my boat.  It worked out great!  I love how the embossed flowers/circles on the paper mimic the wheels of the baby carriage. 
 
For a quick accent, I selected a button that matched a lot better in real life.   The photo is throwing off the blue for some reason.  I threaded the button with thin strips of the same navy cardstock I used to frame the stamped panel.   I love threading buttons with the paper used on the project.   There's almost always a little scrap somewhere, and it always matches!
 
Hope you enjoy visiting the FWF participant blogs!    Happy Stamping!
   

Third in the Series and Fun News

This the the final "Friends with Flair" for 2012, and also the final of the series of three green/teal/yellow butterfly projects using Unity Stamp Company's new Bold Butterfly stamp designed by Donna Downey and the DCWV Café Mediterranean patterned paper stack.

Today's card is simple.  It showcases the versatility of rubber stamps, which are shown layered.  There aren't any tricks to this, as long as you're sure to let the first image dry before you stamp the second.

Although 2012 is ending, I'm excited for 2013 to begin!   I have some exciting stamping news to report:  Cuttin and Stampin is starting a new weekly challenge series and I will be joining the esteemed new Design Team.  On January 4th and 5th we will be kicking off the whole enchilada with a big Celebrate Blog Hop.


The grand prize for the blog hop is a $25 gift certificate for A Muse Studio products.   There will be more details during the hop.

Then, on January 8th, we will be starting our Weekly Challenges.  These could be anything from a sketch to a color scheme or the use of a certain tool or embellishment.  Each crafter can enter up to 3 times per challenge.  Please join us as often as you'd like... these challenges are sure to expand your creativity!   (Personally, I find that challenges also help when my mojo has been misplaced!)

Happy Stamping!

Multi-colored Butterfly

In my last post, I mentioned how much I love the Unity Stamp Company's new Bold Butterfly designed by Donna Downey.  It's SO versatile!!

Here, I inked the stamp in blue and yellow before transferring the image to paper.

TIP:  Ink the lighter color first, so the dark ink doesn't end up ruining the light ink pad.

This card was created using DCWV's Café Mediterranean patterned paper stack, chalk inks from ColorBox, Spellbinders dies, and gem stickers.

Happy Stamping!

Mediterranean Butterfly

I was lucky enough to score some fun stamping time, even though the crop I was planning to attend had been cancelled.  I made a set of three cards using Unity Stamp Company's new Bold Butterfly designed by Donna Downey (I ♥ it!!) and DCWV's Café Mediterranean patterned paper stack that I traded a friend for. The color scheme really speaks to me. The teal and yellows in the stack complement each other perfectly.

Here's what I worked on:

It turns out that this was the third card I worked on during my session.  In designing this card, I used the scrap pieces from some of the stack patterns to assemble the stripes.  Then, after stamping and allowing the ink to dry, I ran the whole panel through a BigShot with a QuicKutz chevron embossing folder.

Happy Stamping!