LIM: Recipe

Fresh back from a Bank Holiday break, I see I’ve nearly missed a really good challenge over on Less is More this week.  Oh well, better late than never as they say.

This week Lady and Diva LIM have set us a recipe to combine three previous challenges so I have gone for A Touch of Red, Embossing and White on White.

Back to an old favourite, I’ve used Beautiful Wings (all in white, except the one in Cherry Cobbler) for the butterflies and Perfect Polka Dots to emboss the background.  I guess I could have picked Ribbons or buttons too, as I’ve trimmed it with Whisper White ribbon and added a  fancy bow. 

I wish I had more time to play around with this challenge….the combinations are endless, but alas I am embarking on a new challenge this week and next.  Yep…I’ve taken the week off to get the kids settled in to school….and decorate the whole of the downstairs!!  Starting with creating a craft station in my utility room!!  Watch this space :-)

BFN
Linda
x

Nice and Simple Happy Birthday…

Morning all….isn’t this weather gorgeous!  I know I always get excited by it…but you can get lots of washing dry!!  That’s so exciting for me!!  Yes…I know….I must get out more!!

So…I made a card fro my little girl’s friend last night.  She is turning four soon.  I wanted to use my Make a Monster stamp set, but Annie pointed out to me that girls don’t really like monsters.  Not even monsters with flowers in their hair *sigh*.  So we went with my good ol’ favourite……butterflies!!

I’ve cut a big ‘4’ out of Melon Mambo DSP and matted it on to Pretty in Pink CS.  I’ve 3D’d this on to a 15cm square card blank and simply decorated it with butterflies made in Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo and Tempting Turquoise using my Beautiful Wings Embosslit (available from the mini catalogue).  Annie thinks Lexi will love it .  Right, best get my washing out and off to work!

I’m entering this in the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly {Anything Goes}

Cupcake Craft Challenge {How old…?}

BFN
Linda
x

Butterflies!!!

Well, it has been a while!!  And they are my favourites!!  Beautiful Wings from Stampin’ Up:

This is one time my picture is allowed to look a bit blue….although I did have to nip put to the garden to take it this morning!

I’ve used Night of Navy, Marina Mist and Baja Breeze cardstock with DSP from the subtle colour family.  I’ve matted and layered a greeting in the centre and embellished it with one final butterfly. 

I’ve made this card for a challenge over on “Just Us Girls” and have used their sketch this week (made it in to a square card though).  But I’m also entering it in to the following challenges:

Less is More {Shades of Blue}

Flutterby Wednesdays {Open}

So a good start to the week.

BFN
Linda
X

Flutterby Monochrome!

Hmmm..not had much time for craft today.  That pesky day job keeps getting in the way.  But I’ve had a flit around the challenges today and decided on a mash up….two of my favourite challenges!  Flutterby Wednesday are looking for something with Polka Dots, and of course Less is More still have their Monochrome challenge – see, I knew I couldn’t leave it alone!!


So this is the Just Believe stamp set from Stampin’ Up (….again!!  I hope you’re not getting bored with it!!) I’ve run the bottom of the card blank through my Big Shot to give it some Polka Dots and added a scalloped border in Marina Mist.  I’ve stamped the image on to Whisper White in Pacific Blue and Marina Mist, cut it out and 3d’d it to the front of a card.  I’ve then finished it off with a “Happy Birthday” sentiment and of course the obligatory butterflies in matching DSP.
So if you need anymore information about any of my  cards, please feel free to drop me a note…..or check out the beautiful products in the catalogues (check out the links n my side bar).
Thanks for looking…I hope you come back soon.
BFN
Linda
X

LIM : Card No 5

Woohoo!  Number 5 for the Less is More challenge….done!  And who’d have thunk this would have been the hardest one for me!

I’m not entirely sure I’ve done this justice…but I have agonised over what to do for this square, and in the end I’ve just gone simple!  I love this stamp from Fun and Fast Notes and it’s perfect as we head into wedding season *claps hands excitedly*.  I have used this colour combo before…it’s Baja Breeze and Cherry Cobbler.   I’ve coloured it in using my water brush and inks…which works very well….just hope you can’t see the inky finger prints!! LOL!

Post Entry Note: So after the comments on my card, I just had to try again! I do know what Mandi means and I wasn’t entirely happy with the the card above so here’s card no5, take 2  (I’m not obsessed you understand!!):

I’ve kept the same colour scheme, but this time I have stamped the image 3 times and decoupaged it.  I’ve stood the cakes on a ribbon strip and added a bow to one side. 

 

 

 

Here’s a close-up of the image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that’s definitely it!  Here’s a recap of my other 4 cards:

 

I’ve really enjoyed this challenge and will carry on with this fantastic CAS idea of Picking a Square.  Chrissie, Mandi…it’s been absolutely fab!!  And I’ve loved looking at all the other entries!  They’ve all been sooo great.  And now I’m off to comment on the latest ones .

Thanks for reading

BFN
Linda
X

LIM: Card No 4.

Ok…this is the last one for today.  I will complete the set by the end of the Less is More challenge though!!  This is the last corner so another “up in the air thing” is needed.  Now those who read my blog will know I’m going through my butterfly stage.  Soooo…..

My sister, Sarah, lives over in Colorado and I miss her everyday.  Butterflies remind me of her…and no, not because she’s a butterfly head (that’s definitely me in this family!!) but because she’s a fan too.  So this card is for her…The Silver Butterfly, my hero and mentor since birth….so she’s recently let me know . 

Love yer, Sis!  Now get on Skype and give me a buzz!!

So 4 down 1 to go….but I have to sort my stuff for tomorrow’s Craft Fayre at the World’s End Inn, Lowdham.

Thanks for looking

BFN
Linda
X

LIM Butterflies

Now those that follow my blog will know that I have a butterfly thing going off at the moment.  So how excited was I to turn on this morning to find Chrissie and Mandi have set us a wonderful Butterflies challenge over on Less is More!!  Yay!!!!  I don’t think you can ever make too many butterfly cards! 

I’ve made this card using the very beautiful Manhattan Flowers embossing folder from Stampin’ Up! I’ve embossed it on to vellum then glammed it up by going over the embossing with a glue pen and sprinkling it with glitter.  I’ve added a whisper white fancy bow then matted it on to some vanilla coloured card -  oh…and added a sentiment from the Butterfly Prints stamp set.  Such a sweet sentiment too!

Then using my much-used Beautiful Wings embosslit, I’ve cut and embossed butterflies in white and arranged them around the flowers.  I think it looks elegant!

My four-year-old daughter has been playing along too…she’s a very pink and glittery girl….and has a very pick and glittery card to match!

Thanks for looking and for all the encouraging comments last week.  There were some fabulous entries again….I could spend all week looking!

BFN
Linda
X

An Actual CAS-ual Friday

Woohooo!  Thanks to my mum for CASually mentioning that she needed a special 80th birthday card for tomorrow I’ve actually made the CAS-ual Friday’s challenge….on a Friday!  YAY!

So today’s challenge is:     Bring the Bling

I’ve been using the very blingy Rhinestones from Stampin’ Up! and my embellishment of the moment (day, week, month, foreseeable future)… THE BUTTERFLY!!!

 

I’ve gone with pastels and used some pretty flowery paper I’ve had in my stash forever!  I’ve printed a greeting and matted, layered and 3d’d it on to the top corner of the card and die cut the birthday lady’s name on to the bottom corner.

Then I’ve arranged the butterflies, made with the Beautiful Wings embosslit from Stampin’ Up, around the greeting and the name.

Finally – I’ve added the bling!  Bling for heads, bling for bodies and bling for trails!!  Well, it is a super, special birthday afterall!

I hope Mary likes it!  But I’d love to know what all you CAS lovers think.

Thanks for stopping by

BFN
Linda
X

Flower Challenges…

Here’s a quick lesson for you all….BACK UP YOUR DATA because retrieving files from corrupted disks takes away serious crafting time!!!!  Grrrr!!!

So…gripe over…its taken a little longer than I wanted to but I’ve made a card a flowery card especially for the challenge over on Papertake Weekly.

Papertake Weekly have a Bloom and Grow challenge and want to see something floral this week, but there are lots of flower challenges out there this week so I’ve also entered this in the following :

Cupcake Challenge – In the Garden
Crafty Creations – Something with Flowers
Delightful Challenges – Flowers
Flutterby Wednesday – Open/ Sketch

I’ve used the very flowery Springtime Vintage papers from Stampin’ Up with an image from the beautiful ‘Just Believe’ stamp set.  I’ve trimmed the card using Boho Blossoms and Beautiful Wings butterflies…just for a change .

Well…I hope you like my late card!  Off to put my gear away now….but before I do…thought I’d share the state of my creativity with WOYWW on the Stamping Ground:

I sooo need a craft room!!!

BFN
Linda
X

One For The Kids

Ok, this week it’s ‘One for the kids’ over on Top Tip Tuesday and a card for a baby/child on The Tuesday ThrowDown.  As my two youngest always love stampin’ animals and colouring them in…from bugs to dinosaurs… a cute,little woodland creatures got to be a winner….right?  And I’ve combined this with a technique I’ve been wanting to try for ages .

This stamp is from the Fast and Fun Notes Stamp set.  It’s a cute image of a hedgehog with a butterfly on its nose.   I’ve stamped this image once onto Whisper White and cut the it out.  Then I’ve reversed it to give him a little mate facing him nose to nose. 
Clever, aye .

And here’s the top tip how to do it.  I’ve inked the stamp up and laid it on the table.  Then using my brayer (available from Stampin’ Up!) I’ve rolled it across the stamp, then straight away rolled the brayer on to fabulous Whisper white card, thus transferring the image. Woo hoo! It worked first time…although I do recommend you only try this with Whisper White card.  It’s sooo smooth you can’t go wrong!

I’ve used River Rock, Cherry Cobbler and Marina Mist for the butterflies made with Beautiful Wings embosslit and added a Happy Birthday greeting from one of the other stamps from the same set.

I’ve made this as a 15cm square card, but I think it might have been better as an A6.  I’ll give that a go next I think.  So I hope you like it.  Let me know what you think….
Thanks for reading
BFN
Linda
X