Hello friends!  Today I am over on the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog sharing two cards that I created from the same Newton's Nook Pumpkin Latte stamp set.  While I'm not sold on a PSL, I've never met an overly nutmegged chai latte that I don't loooooooove!  And, I'll always say yes to pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup. 

I have been seeing a lot of orange and teal color combinations for fall and I've been loving it, so it inspired me to create these cards in colors that I might not usually select together. 

The base of this A2 sized card is made from teal cardstock.  I mounted a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of teal gingham paper from the Sunny Studios Classic Gingham 6" x 6" paper pack.  Using a framed die, I also cut a piece of Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper pack.  On this watercolored paper, I heat embossed the sentiment in the upper right corner in white embossing powder.  I stamped the images in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored in the images using my Copic markers.  I always add highlights to my images using a white gel pen.  (Shhh, it's my little crafty secret!)  After coloring the images, I die cut them using the coordinating Pumpkin Latte dies by Newton's Nook. I placed half of a doily at the bottom of the frame and wrapped linen thread around the frame.  I adhered the images to the card using foam adhesive for added dimension.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the images for added sparkle.

For the second card I created using the Pumpkin Latte stamp set, I made a shaker card.  I LOVE shaker cards - maybe even more than I like pumpkin!  I used the same teal cardstock base and the same teal Sunny Studio Classic Gingham paper pack.  Only this time, in the center of the teal gingham, I die cut a large circle using the Mama Elephant Basic Circle dies. I placed  a piece of Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper behind the and stamped the sentiment in teal ink.  I created the shaker frame by using Hero Arts Acetate Sheets and the Shimmering Ice Fusion Sequins by Studio Katia. I assembled the shaker portion of the card and adhered it to the card base. I again stamped all of the images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I colored in the images using Copic markers adding white gel pen highlights. I adhered the images to the card using foam adhesive creating a fall scene on top of the shaker card.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle.

I hope you have enjoyed these fall cards!  Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello friends and welcome back from a long and beautiful holiday weekend!  We spent the last four days on a mini-vacation to Burlington, Vermont.  Yes, it's peak foliage in northern New England, and yes, the crowds were wildly insane as a result, but, it is my favorite time of the year and so worth it!  Burlington is an artsy college community just an hour south of the Canadian border.  It's filled with lots of great restaurants, a vibrant nightlife (even though we're in bed by 10) and the most beautiful bike trail on Lake Champlain.  It was a perfectly relaxing weekend getaway and only about a four hour drive.

Today's card was inspired by the new October Mood Board from Butterfly Reflections, Ink.  Mood boards are used for a variety of events - home decor, wedding planning and yes, even crafting!  These boards inspire you to create using the colors, patterns or textures presented.  This card was inspired by the color palette of this month's mood board:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I also matted the cardstock back with a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I stamped all of the images from the Mama Elephant Donut Treats stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I colored the images using Copic alcohol ink markers.  I added highlights to some of the images using a white gel pen.  I die cut the photo frame from Tranquil Tide cardstock and adhered it over a scrap piece of green watercolor paper.  I adhered the picture frame to the center of the card at a titled angle.  I added the donut box, mice and donuts to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added height.  I stamped the sentiment on a strip of Neenah White Solar Smooth cardstock and notched the left end before adhering it behind the donut box.  Lastly, I added clear Wink of Stella to the card for added sparkle.

Here is the Donut Treats stamp set from Mama Elephant (available through Butterfly Reflections, Ink):

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

I don't know if I'm more excited to share today's card with you because it's a beautiful new stamp set that I'm loving, or because of the surprisingly beautiful color combination!  You might recall that last Friday I shared this Fall Foliage wreath card with you that was inspired by Davina's September Mood Board.  I was very skeptical about the crushed curry, blush pink, mint and teal colors, but pleasantly surprised with the end result!  So much so, in fact that I wanted to create another card using these same colors.

Here is the Butterfly Reflections, Ink Mood Board that inspired me:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Crumb Cake cardstock.  Using the Gina Marie Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies, I cut the largest die from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I heat embossed the sentiment in gold embossing powder on the lower left corner of this white cardstock.  On a separate sheet of white cardstock, I stamped the butterflies twice in Versamark ink and heat embossed them with gold embossing powder.  I colored in the butterflies using my Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink markers and then die cut them using the coordinating Confetti Cuts dies.  Lastly, I added the butterflies to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. 

Here is the Butterfly Blossoms stamp set and coordinating Confetti Cuts dies from Reverse Confetti (available through Butterfly Reflections, Ink):

I hope you have enjoyed today's card.  Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello readers and happy Friday!  Yay for the weekend!  Today I have a card to share with you that is WAY outside of my color comfort zone!   Each month, one of my fellow DT members creates a mood board for the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog and it is designed to help inspire you to create.  Perhaps you are inspired by the colors and textures or the patterns and the images.  A mood board is simply a starting place to build from.  This month Davina from Popsicle Creates is also so graciously offering (at her own expense) a $20 gift certificate to the Butterfly Reflections, Ink store!  All you have to do is make a card inspired by the mood board (see below) and enter your card on her website link-in.  One lucky winner will be chosen at random at the end of the month. 

At first I was very skeptical about these colors - salmon, curry, mint and teal.  Yikes!  Green and yellow together?  Meh.  I don't know about this!  But, as I got to coloring this fall wreath below, I LOVE it!  

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Crumb Cake cardstock.  Using the Gina Marie Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies, I cut a piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock for my first mat.  On a separate sheet of white cardstock, I stamped both wreaths and extra pumpkins and mushrooms from the Fall Foliage stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I colored in the images with Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers and began to arrange them into an oval patterns on the card.  Once I had the placement of the images into a layout I was content with, I adhered the colored images to the card with 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  I heat embossed the sentiment in the middle of the card with gold embossing powder.  Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the colored images for added sparkle.

Here is the beautiful new Fall Foliage stamp set (with coordinating dies) from Avery Elle:

I am still so pleasantly surprised that I ended up loving the colors of this mood board.  Now I want to create this card in ALL the colors!  Thanks, Davina, for inspiring me to step outside of the box.

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

Hello crafty friends! (I say "friends" because I really do believe in the age old adage, "strangers are friends you've yet to meet.")  Today I'm happy to be writing my first post as one of the newest Design Team members for the fall/winter 2019 term for Butterfly Reflections, Ink.  I'm very grateful to Vanessa for selecting me to join her amazing group of talented crafters and to help spread the word about her local store.  Cheers to strong and independent women business owners and to shopping local!

I chose to use the Newton's Thanksgiving by Newton's Nook to create my "debut card." Mainly because this card is all about cats and carbs, which pretty much sums up my life!  We have three rescue cats who dominate our house (we have no children!) and I'm a carb girl all the way, hello breads and pastries, so, all things created by Newton's Nook really make me happy.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  The first 5 1/4" x 4" layer is a sheet of paper from the Echo Park Fall Paper Pack (similar). I used the Stitched Circle Frames Lawn Cuts and cut a circle from a scrap piece of kraft plaid paper.  I cut off the bottom of the circle to make a half circle.  I stamped the sentiment in the upper right corner of this half circle in a dark brown ink.  I adhered this directly to the center of the card using a Tombow Adhesive Dots Runner - these are THE BEST in my opinion!
 
I stamped all of the images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink (another personal favorite of mine!) on white cardstock and used the coordinatingNewton's Thanksgiving dies to cut the images out.  I colored the images with alcohol ink markers and then I always use a White Gelly Roll pen to add highlights to my colored images.  Try it - it's a little insider's secret to adding detail and dimension!

I added a piece of burlap tape to the bottom of the half-circle and began to adhere my colored images to the card.  I often use foam adhesive when adding images to a card to add depth to my scenes.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my first card for the Design Team!  Be sure to follow along on my Instagram too!  Thanks for taking the time to visit today and for joining me on my DT journey with Vanessa and Butterfly Reflections, Ink.  I look forward to sharing more of my creations with you and I hope you leave here feeling creative and inspired! 

Hello readers and welcome back from a long, holiday weekend!  I have an exciting announcement to share with you today. . . I have been selected to join the amazing Design Team at Butterfly Reflections, Ink. for the fall/winter 2019 term.  I've known for a few short weeks now, but had to keep it quiet until the store announced it earlier today on their blog.  Butterfly Reflections, Ink. is a small woman-owned and operated craft store that opened just over a year ago in May of 2018 in Kingston, New Hampshire.  While I have yet to visit the store in person (my mom and I are planning a road trip on Black Friday!) I am delighted to be joining Vanessa's team of amazing designers and fellow artisan's.   If you live in southern Maine or New Hampshire, or Eastern Massachusetts, please consider visiting.  Butterfly Reflections, Ink. (BRI) carries SO many products online too, including the newest releases from fan favorites such as Lawn Fawn, My Favorite Things, Newton's Nook and many, many more!  But, even better, because the store is located so close to me in New England, it only takes 2 days for shipping!  No more waiting!

Now, I'll introduce you to a few other talented ladies who will be joining along on this DT journey with me for BRI: 

First up we have Tiffany Beuning. Tiffany is from Las Vegas, is a high school counselor and is married to a great guy who supports her craft habit. 

On Wednesday I will be sharing the first card I created for the Butterfly Reflections, Ink. Design Team, but I hope in the meantime you will check out the BRI store online HERE and be sure to follow Vanessa Middleton on Facebook and Instagram.  Let's help these small, independent and local stores stay in business by showing our support!