Butterfly Framed Happy Birthday Card

Here is a sweet card I assembled using the elegant butterfly frame card that is in the Silhouette online store. 

Elegant Butterfly frame card

 Even without the extra butterflies, it's a really nice frame and can be made in all sorts of colour combinations! The card, frame and butterflies are all part of the cutting design and was cut with the Silhouette Cameo.

 I combined Michaels Recollections cardstock and Graphic 45 patterned paper for this card.

I used Pop Dots under the frame mat and Mini Glue Dots to hold on the butterflies.

Happy Family Days stamp set

The stamp is from Happy Family Days and was stamped with VersaMagic Malted Mauve.

 Thanks for stopping in and having a look!
Suzanne

Layered Thanks

The new issue of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine it out now!  As usual, it's loaded with good stuff!







 And then you can see a couple of my cards.....
Here is a close-up of one!

 

This card is made using the partial die cutting technique (click link for tutorial) and overlapping and layering those partial die cuts.

This card measure 6 ¾ inches x 4 ¾ inches 

MATERIALS LIST:

Dies: Quietfire Design Thanks #9500-3

Stamps: Quietfire Design Thanks Cuddlers #6276

Ink: Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts VersaMagic Perfect Plumeria

Cardstock:

Core’dinations Purple Grandeur, Rustic, Tangerine

Bazzill Peach

Die cutting machine: Spellbinders Grand Calibur

Adhesives: Tombow Stamp Runner

Other: soapstone pencil, stamp positioner

Thanks for stopping by!
Keep on creating! Suzanne

Big Fun Flower Thanks!

Little B has these very fun pull flowers that come in bright beautiful colours.  For this card, I combined one of them with Echo Park's Ombre Essentials.

If you can't get the paper, you can achieve a similar effect with sprays, but I knew I had a good thing going here with a very simple colour scheme!

Supplies: 

• Die: Quietfire Thanks 
• Flower: Little B Pull Flower 
• Cardbase: Canadian Scrapbooker 12x12 Super Stock Cardstock 
• Coloured Cardstock: Echo Park Ombre Essentials 
•  Adhesives:  Pop Dots, Be Creative Tape and Kool Tak

Instructions:

1.  Create 5.5 x7.25" side-folded card base.
2. Cut a piece of Ombre cardstock to 5x7" as shown, with enough of the lighter shade at the top to contrast well with the flower.
3. Die cut Thanks from a portion of the Ombre cardstock that is lighter in colour.
4. Cut about 1 yard of pull flower, fold in half and pull evenly on the threads until your flower is formed.  Tie the threads and cut the loose ends.  It's that simple.
5. Attach the die cut with clear Kool Tak foam and the flower with Be Creative tape to the Ombre panel.  Attach the Ombre panel to the card base with Pop Dots.

Here is a little video about creating the flowers:

This card might be a little bulky for the mail - unless it was for someone really special who deserved receiving a boxed card! I'm sure hand delivery of this sweet bit of brightness would be met with a wide open door!

Thanks for dropping by to have a look! I can't believe it's been so long since I posted on my blog....  I'll do better.  Wait till you see what I've been up to behind the scenes!

Happy creating, Suzanne

Floral Motif Card and I Wouldn't Have Missed Being Your Friend

I was pretty pleased with the Floral Motif set that is new on the Silhouette Design Store this week!  I thought it would be useful for all sorts of "stamping occasions"!

The blank space inside the card was calling to me and I couldn't ignore it.  I picked up these sweet roses the last time I was at Michaels and they were calling to me as well.

This is so simple!  Cut the elements and assemble the card as shown (stamp on the smallest circle before mounting it on the card).  Use Glue Dots to attach the roses and that's it!

Supplies:
Quietfire Foral Motif Doily Frame, Card and Accent digital cutting file
Quietfire I Wouldn't Have Missed Being Your Friend stamp
Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts VersaMagic Malted Mauve
American Crafts Smooth Cardstock - Ash
Recollections pink cardstock
Staples #110 Ivory Cardstock
Recollections paper roses
Glue Dots
Tombow Stamp Runner
Pop Dots

 Thanks for stopping by and having a look!
Happy creating, Suzanne

floral motif doily frame I wouldn't have missed VersaMagic Tombow Stamp Runner Glue Dots Pop Dots

InLinkz.com

Heavenly Distraction - Canadian Forces Snowbirds

If you follow me on Facebook (my personal profile), it's no secret that I'm an almost-drooling fangirl of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds.  When they're in Comox for spring training every year, I head to the beach with my camera and try to get that elusive photo of the Snowbirds with a resident eagle or with the moon in the background or with the BC Ferry to Powell River.  The last one is the easiest by far!

The Snowbirds left the sky very boring as they stayed in the coop today, but they posted this amazing video of the installation of their their tank cam and footage taken from it.  And they used a perfect song. It's super fun to recognize the maneuvers in the air that I watch from the ground.  I'm sure you can see me down on the beach.....

Enjoy what I get to enjoy from the ground everyday.  (If you're receiving this by email, click here to go to YouTube to watch and give them the thumbs up for me!)




Here is a screen cap from the video. All those cars in the parking lot.... One of them is bound to be me. How lucky can you get? A front row seat without the crowds!

Behind the Designs - Lily, Ginkgo and Mom meet Art Nouveau

This week's cutting files are pretty straight forward, no tricky folds or assembling.  You can find them all over at the Silhouette Design Store. The two floral cards hold fond memories of things we had in our garden before we moved and I miss dearly!

The first one is a Calla Lily Card.  Calla Lilies are so beautiful. This card is perfect for anyone who loves flowers! When assembling the flower, mist the cardstock very lightly with water after it has been cut and it will begin curling all on its own. To give your leaves texture, use a ball stylus to add veins to the surface of the leaf. You can just do a single lily as I have done here, or make a whole bouquet. Along with the flower, you get a garden lattice frame! Assemble with foam adhesive for dimension.



We’ve given you a sweet butterfly to add to these unique Ginkgo leaves. To give your leaves texture, use a ball stylus to create veins on the surface of the leaf – there are lots on a Gingko, almost like stripes! In the spring the leaves are pale green, in the fall a golden yellow. I miss my Gingko! I bought it at Mandeville Gardens in Burnaby before we moved to the Island.  It stayed in a pot for 6 years before we planted it in the ground.  And then we moved.
Along with the Ginkgo leaves and lettering, you get an interesting frame which can be used in lots of other projects. This card measures 5x7 inches.

This is the cutting version of the calligraphic rubber stamp!  (You won't be able to cut this design as small as the rubber stamp, though!)
The original Foundational lettering was done with a Mitchell Roundhand nib and Higgins Eternal Ink.  Each of these words and the crown are separate so you may re-arrange them any way you wish.  This will fit on a 5x7" card front.

And last, but not least (in fact, watch for more items coming featuring this motif), is a design that was inspired by the glass in the door to our deck.... 

I've started to look at motifs and designs in a whole new way.  This motif is now the art nouveau flower card and envelope card and matching envelope with the same motif on the flap. You may want to make a coordinating insert to go inside the card for your message.

 

Thanks for taking a look!

Happy creating, Suzanne

Winner From My Blog for Die-ing for Spring Blog Hop!

I have a winner in our Die-ing for Spring Blog Hop!

Congratulations Evelyn!

Random.org chose the very first person to comment!

Send me off a quick email with your snailmail address - although I think I can look it up!

Thanks to everyone who left such wonderful comments.  See you on the next blog hop!
Thanks for joining us.  Suzanne

The Quietfire Die-ing for Spring Blog Hop

Welcome to Day 4 of our hop!  Thanks for stopping in!

So far, I don't think any of us have done this with a Quietfire die....  I thought I'd do a partial die cut.

What that means is that when I die cut the Hello, I didn't cover the entire die with the top plate, so some of it remained uncut.  Click here to go to the tutorial for this!

Supplies needed for this card:
Quietfire: Hello die
Graphic 45:  Botanical Tea cardstock collection, 12x12 and 8x8"
Staples: Ivory 110# cardstock
Core-dinations: Aquarium cardstock
Spellbinders: Grand Calibur
Tombow: Stamp Runner and 3D Foam Tabs




Instructions:

1. Form a tentfold card base measuring 7-1/2" x 6" from blue.  
2. Cut panels 7 x 5" and 6 x 4-1/2" from ivory.  Cut a blue panel about 1/16" smaller than the smaller ivory panel.  Cut a panel of the toile wallpaper patterned paper about 1/16" smaller than the blue panel and layer them as shown in the sample photo. 
3. Cut the strip of Hello Friend from the 12x12 patterned paper and mount it on a strip of ivory cardstock measuring 6-1/4 x 5/8".  
4. Cut the striped cardstock to 6-3/4 x 4-3/4" and mount it on the larger ivory panel.
5. Make a partial die cut of Hello (see tutorial on partial die cutting) using blue cardstock.  Trim the diecut panel to approximately 5-1/4 2-3/4" with the word in the middle.
6. Use 3D Foam Tabs to layer the card as shown to the right. All other layers are attached using the Stamp Runner and are non-dimensional. You may have to trim one of the small foam tabs to very small to attach (optional) the little piece of flourish that may have been cut off.  I used tweezers!

 

I think this is a really fun technique!  I hope you try it!

Thanks for stopping by, Suzanne

Here is our Blog Hop Schedule and the dates each designer will be posting (Click on each person's name to go to their blog):

March 30 - Kathy Jo and Yogi
March 31 - Wanda
April 2 - Diana and Teresa
April 1 - Sherry and Suzanne (you're here!)
April 3 - Yvonne and Robyn

For a chance to win a Quietfire rubber stamp or die (Don’t be shy!) leave a comment below before midnight Sunday April 5th, 2015. A winner will be randomly chosen from my list of comments and the winner's name will be posted on Quietfire Creations shortly afterwards. If you haven't done so already, go back and leave comments on all the designers Die-ing for Spring blog posts!

Good Luck!

Partial Die Cutting Tutorial - Hello

Partial die cutting is when you cut with a die, part of the design remains uncut.  You can see here how the bottom of the word is still attached to the cardstock it was cut from.

1. Use removable tape to hold the Hello die cutting edge down onto the cardstock. (I used Core-dinations for this example.)

2. Position the cardstock where you can easily see the die. I used the Spellbinders Grand Calibur  with the Junior Plates for this demonstration. (And yes, technically this should be on the Spellbinders Cutting plate, not the Base Plate!  I was more worried about the photos turning out than which plate was where!  No matter, the sandwich is the same!)

3. Cover the die with the other plate, leaving the bottom edge of the die uncovered, and holding the sandwich tightly, feed it into the machine.  (For those of you who can tell which die outlines are on the top of my cutting plate, there is a special place in Spellbinders heaven for you!  The bottom side of this plate is positively embarrassing and not for public consumption!)

4. Run this sandwich through the machine. You can see how the plates are offset.  One pass and it's done!

5. Sometimes the cut is not always perfect.  You can see here the right side of the H and the bottom of the e have been cut right through.  But the other parts aren't, so it will be fine.  Weed out the counterspaces. (They'll pretty much fall out.)

 

6. Use a soapstone pencil to draw a line across the baseline of the word at either end and inside the H and the little flourish. I've marked it in red here.  Use an xacto blade to cut along that line and gently remove the cardstock from around the top of the word.  Brush off the soapstone pencil line (although if you're clever and avoid extra work, you'll have cut the pencil mark off with the cardstock you're discarding!).

7. Place your partial die cut into position and create your masterpiece! You can see this completed card HERE.

Happy partial die cutting!
Suzanne

Behind the Design: Heartfelt Creations Papers and Digital Die Cuts

I have this real love for Heartfelt Creations papers when I'm working on my samples for Silhouette America's Design Store!  It's definitely my go-to paper when I'm looking for something more interesting than plain cardstock, yet doesn't overpower the focal point of the design.  What prompted me to do this blog post was that all three designs I submitted this week used Heartfelt's Burst of Splendor Collection as well as the little lantern I did last week.

Easter Bookmark Tags

Easter Critters Votive Wrap

Pansy Card

I love their subtlety embedded images and how the colour fades to a lighter shade.  And of course how the colours within a collection coordinate.  I add in some solid cardstock (usually American Crafts smooth cardstock and Core'dinations cardstock) and I get the effect I want.

My favourite collection is Daphne and I did carry it for a while on the Quietfire site and it sold right out.  Unfortunately with the Canadian dollar doing what it is, I can't see carrying it again for a while.  *sigh*

Here is an Easter Bunny Flip card using Daphne papers.

Easter and Bunny Flip Card

Using the Posy Patch Collection and some plain cardstock:

Faux Gatefold Card

Always Card

Sometimes there is a bold design along the edges of the paper (which is perfectly normal seeing these are scrapbooking sized papers!), so I will move away from the edge to make use of the gentle designs.

From the Delicate Asters Collection:

Hello card with a bracket closure

Many of these papers work very well when you need a duplex paper (double-sided) with contrasting colours like in this card design.  I was one happy camper when I flipped it over. The Bunny Flip Card above is another example of a duplex paper that is very striking.  I've designed quite a few of those flip cards and it's a real treat to find patterned paper that works well with them. 









 All the above designs are available on the Silhouette Design store under my profile.


Here is a sample using the new Quietfire Believe metal die and quote.  This paper is from their Balmy Breeze collection and I loved that it coordinated with both American Crafts cardstock and Coredinations cardstock.

I don't have any affiliation with Heartfelt Creations other than liking what they do, but I wouldn't complain if I did!  Their papers are awesome!  And they work well with the Silhouette Cameo - but I'll think you've already guessed that!
Thanks for stopping by!
Suzanne