Butterflies & Foliage

It's a cold but gloriously sunny day today!

Stand in the right place in the garden & there's definitely some warmth in the sun...spring's coming!

For today's card I used images from Altenew's 'Leaf Clusters' stamp set and some really pretty, fussy-cut butterflies from Lemoncraft.

I love VersaMagic Chalk inks - such beautiful, creamy, rich colours.

A really simply design...3 sets of leaves falling from the top of the card, one left plain, the middle given some Gelly Roll pen leafy veins & on the third some glittery highlights. 

If you like butterflies then I can't recommend Lemoncraft highly enough. 

A few glass gems and this card was complete.

I hope you have a great day, stay warm but embrace those rays when they appear.

Back again soon.

Layout 'Special Friend'

Hello there!
Welcome to 2020 chez moi.
Today's project is a 12" x 12" framed gift that I made for someone for Christmas using a selection of beautiful papers from AB Studio, Lemoncraft & Fabrika Decoru.

Fussy cutting on these cold, grey, winter days has become my way fav' way of cosying up & keeping myself entertained and trust me, there was HEAPS of fussy cutting on this one.

So this project all centered around the recipient's beloved hound, Harvey.

To start, I spent about 5 years (lol) pontificating over the background sheet of paper and where on the paper to place the photo. 

Then came the easy & fun bit...

...decorating.

I started by stamping some leaves from Altenew's 'Leaf Cluster' set with 'Wheat' Versamagic ink for a subtle kinda shadowy backdrop behind the photo. I also stamped & embossed the same images with WOW's 'Mojito' glittery embossing powder, die cut them, then started piecing together the layout with my fussy cut flowers & leaves from AB Studio's 'I Love You' & Fabrika Decoru's 'Sentimental Story'.

Getting the layout just right takes slightly less time than choosing the background paper...about 4.5 years. Then it's a case of sticking it all down before adding the 3D embellishments of flowers, pearls, glass gems, art stones & thread.

The finishing touches included glittery highlights and fussycut butterflies from Lemoncraft, then the whole piece was framed. 

Ta-Da!

Pop-Up Box Card Bouquet - LemonCraft Papers

It's my mother-in-law's birthday very soon and she will be 95 years young, so I thought I'd make her an extra special card this year... a pop-up box bouquet.

Using Lawn Fawn's Scalloped Pop-Up Box die, I made up the box using papers from LemonCrafts' 'Sweet Secrets' A4 paper pad and then spent an evening fussy cutting elements from their Vintage Time 008 sheet to stick inside.

If you've not heard of LemonCraft before, they're a Polish company that make beautiful scrapbook papers & sheets of coordinating elements...PLUS the most beautiful sheets of butterflies. Google 'LemonCraft butterflies' and you'll see what I mean. 

Now because my box has been stuffed with paper elements and some wired beads it does't lay completely flat when closed, so I'll either find a chunkier envelope to put it in or make one with another sheet of coordinating papers.

Here's a side-angled image...

To make the butterflies look like they're hovering above the display, I've stuck them on very thin strips of acetate which makes them flutter about as the card is wobbled.

I also added glittery highlights and gem stones to the centres of the clocks.

This was sooooo much fun to make.

I even got a WOW from my harshest home critics...lol.