You Inspire Me

Hi everyone,

Do you enjoy problem-solving?

I do, especially when I make cards. So I'd like to share with you my problem-solving process this year as well as my regular cards.

Here's my card for today:

I made the card using an old (retired) set of stamps which I didn't know how to use for a long time. The set has several butterflies with different patterns. 

I love the floral pattern butterflies in the set, and I've used them many times, but I've never used the realistic ones (at the bottom of the picture). My coloring doesn't seem to be good enough to match the realistic look.

When I saw Laura's card on Pinterest, it was a lightbulb moment. I was happy to find a solution to my problem with the stamps, ie. stamping with a very light color! It's so simple but I never thought of it.

I used light gray ink to stamp, and lightly colored the butterflies in pinks with a blender pen. The wood plank background and the sentiment were stamped with Champagne Metallic ink.

I made a circle rocking card with the circle panel, but the difficult thing was to balance the weight so that the sentiment is level to the ground when the card stops rocking. The two butterflies on the right side are heavier than the one on the left. To balance the weight of the card, I glued a little piece of thick paper to the back of the left side of the white circle. 

The butterflies still have a soft realistic look, and the coloring was so easy. It was also fun to give new life to old stamps by using them with newer supplies.

Thanks for visiting me today! 😊

Stamp: Papillon Potpourri, Perfect Words (Stampin' Up!), Wood Planks (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Basic White (Stampin' Up), Pale Rose (Bazzill)
Ink: Smoky Slate, Strawberry Slush, Blushing Bride, Crisp Cantalope (Stampin' Up), Encore Ultimeate Metallic Ink (Champagne - Tsukineko)
Others: Dies (Circle Framelits - Stampin' Up!, Folk Edge Circle - Pinkfresh Studio), Punches (Elegant Butterfly, Bitty Butterfly - Stampin' Up!), Blender Pen (Stampin' Up!), Connect Glue (Gina K), Foam Tape (3M)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I hope you had wonderful holidays.
The weather was not good in LA for the last several days, so it was perfect for not feeling guilty about staying home and being lazy, ie. eat, watch movies & TV, sleep long hours, and repeat. 😁 I had time for making a new year card too.

I used a turnabout stamp to make an original pattern paper for the circles. The sentiment was gold heat-embossed on vellum, and the card base was dry embossed for textural interest. This is the Year of the Rabbit, so I made an origami rabbit to accomapny the card.

Thanks for visiting me today! 😊

Stamp: Let It Snow Turnabout Stamp Set (Concord & 9th), Happy New Year Wishes (Mama Elephant)

Paper: Basic White, Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!), Vellum (My Favorite Things)

Ink: Soft Sky (Stampin' Up), Grapesicle (My Favorite Things), Encore Ultimate Metallic (Gold, Silver - Tsukineko), VersaMark (Tsukineko) 

Others: Dies (Hemstitch Squares - Spellbinders, Circle Thin Framelits - Simon Says Stamp), Embossing Powder (Gold - Hero Arts), 3D Embossign Folder (Angled Mosaic - Altenew), Wink of Luna (Metallic Gold - Kuretake), Connect Glue (Gina K)