Butterfly Reflections, Ink

Butterfly season is in full swing in our neck of the woods, and I took inspiration from our hobby of raising monarchs to design this card ...  This card showcases some monarch eggs, a monarch caterpillar munching on milkweed, a newly formed chrysalis, a monarch about to emerge from its chrysalis and two adult monarchs (one boy and one girl).  How will you use nature to inspire YOUR next card?  Supplies used to create this card (all available in the Butterfly Reflections Ink store!): Lawn Fawn cardstock in mermaid Lawn Fawn vellum Lawn Fawn stitched hillside  die Lawn Fawn a bug deal stamps and coordinating  dies Copic markers foam adhesive Distress Oxide ink in vintage photo Some of my inspiration from our pollinator garden ... 

Hello!  To be honest, I think I lost a bit of my card making mojo around month 3 of this stay-at-home-all-day situation.  Maybe some of you can relate.  My go-to card when I'm lacking extra creativity is a clean-and-simple card (a card with a lot of white space).  Something about that pop of color against all that white just seems to make the message really stand out. For this card, I used a circle stencil to apply broken china Distressed Oxide ink to the center of the background panel.  I then layered mermaid lagoon Distressed Oxide ink over the first ink layer using a wave stencil (I had an older version of the Newton's Nook wave stencil on hand).  I used black ink and clear embossing powder to add the "waving hello" sentiment (from Lawn Fawn's mermaid for you stamp set ) under the ink-blended circle.  Once the background panel dried, I adhered the piece to a slightly-larger card with foam tape to add dimension. Next, I colored the ...

I have another waving hello card to share this week, because we're still just waving around here! I did something a bit different this week ... I used watercolors !  For each image in my scene, I stamped onto watercolor paper  (cold-pressed is best for holding more water!) and heat embossed with clear embossing powder ... this process created little borders for the watercolor paint.  To paint each image, I first layered on a diluted amount of watercolor, let it dry for a few moments and then went back to add additional splotches and details: I fussy cut each of my images (and, to make them look even more finished, traced around the cut edges with black Copic marker). I added more interest to the card by adding a layer of vellum to represent the water, and ... I used glossy accents to add dimension.   I also used foam tape to make certain areas (like the sand) pop. While this card is fairly simple, I think the wat...

Waving hello ... because that's the "new normal," right? For this fun card, I used several Lawn Fawn stamp sets ... The mermaid, rock, shell and sentiment are from Lawn Fawn's mermaid for you stamp set (and coordinating dies ). I used black ink and clear embossing powder to make the sentiment pop out against the background. The whale and splash are from my new favorite stamp set: get well (and coordinating dies ) ... perfect for many cards in this weird stage of life! The octopus is from the mini octopi my heart  stamp set (and coordinating dies ). The scuba diver and coral/seaweed accessories are from the you are sublime stamp set (and coordinating dies ). To make the card's background, I first went wild with distress oxide inks (in broken china and mermaid lagoon ) on Bristol smooth card stock.  I added flicks of water and acrylic paint I had on hand to add interest.  While I had my inks out (and my fingers dir...

I love this month's mood board ... the colors are so bright and springy!  This week, I created a fun hello card inspired by the mood board.   April's colors are limoncello, sherbet, taffy and sugarplum.  LOVE! I used flowers and a leaf from the Flora & Fauna summer snail stamp set to create a random background and colored the images with Copic markers  (using other blending markers  would be fun, too!).  I used a black gel pen to add detail to the center of the flowers and in the white spaces of the background.   I used the Trinity Stamps hello sentimini stamp set and dies for the sentiments (this WPlus9 hand lettered hello stamp and die would also be perfect for a card like this), stamping the smaller sentiment in VersaMark ink  on black card stock and using white embossing powder .  I also added a layer of VersaMark ink and clear embossing powder to the hello die cut for a little more dimension.  To do ...

The world is so heavy right now, and I really wanted to make a fun card to send to a friend of mine in Texas. She loves flamingos, so I decided to use the Lawn Fawn flamingo together stamp set but add a NOT to the sentiment to make it a bit more timely. :) I usually use a dotting technique for sand, and today I added it to the flamingos and the leaves of the "palm tree" (a branch and leaves from Lawn Fawn's a bug deal stamp set ) as well ... I love how it turned out! The stamp sets as well as the following products used in this project can be found in the shop (and don't forget about the 10% discount going on now!): Lawn Fawn cloudy stencil tumbled glass Distress Oxide ink Copic markers Lawn Fawn gemstone shimmery card stock Lawn Fawn black card stock Lawn Fawn simply sentiments stamp set white gel pen foam squares scissors for fussy cutting VersaMark ink clear embossing powder I hope this card brought a smile to you. Stay...

Hello.  I've been just a little obsessed with the gray-to-color transition idea lately.  I think the concept is just so fitting for this strange time ... social distancing and separations can be bleak, but I want to hang on to the hope that brighter days are ahead.  I have a few examples to share with you today.  All supplies are listed below each card and are available in the shop .  Vanessa is offering a 10% discount on all orders during this stay-at-home time! My first card is a reveal wheel card.  The wheel rotates through a gray world, to a world with some color, to a full-color world.  The fairy with the heart wand is "sending love" ... both to the world and the card recipient! SUPPLIES USED: Lawn Fawn reveal wheel Lawn Fawn reveal wheel circle add-on Lawn Fawn fairy friends stamp set and coordinating dies Lawn Fawn out of this world stamp set and coordinating dies Lawn Fawn science of love stamp set and simply sentime...

This card is *technically* a St. Patrick's Day card, but I really just wanted to create a fun, happy spring card ... we all need a little happy right now, I think. The card is a tri-fold card.  The top layer is mostly acetate, nestled between the clouds at the top and a layer of grass at the bottom.   The top layer lifts to reveal a full scene, complete with a little leprechaun, house and lucky lady bug. And, finally, the middle layer lifts to uncover a spot for a message!  This style of card is easy to make ... I simply cut two top-folding cards, flipped one upside down and adhered them together.   To make the little "leprechaun," I taped off the wings and bun of a fairy, inked the stamp, removed the tape and ... viola! ... stamped a leprechaun!  I had planned to fussy cut all of my images anyway ... I seem to be on a fussy-cutting kick! Here are a few close-ups of the card ... scroll to the bottom of this post for a list of supp...

I recently ordered the Lawn Fawn reveal wheel die from the shop . I L-O-V-E it. Making cards with little surprises is so much fun! I made the top layer of this card using the new Lawn Fawn cloud stencil and tumbled glass distress oxide ink . I want to show a picture of just this step because that stencil is magical. The clouds it creates are so light and dreamy: Next, I created my reveal wheel. I do have the handy reveal wheel templates , but I chose to trace the marks onto my wheel with pencil for this card because I knew my stamps would extend beyond the template. If I just use small images or sentiments, those templates are the way to go! Once I stamped my images, I erased my pencil marks and colored the images with Copic markers . My inspiration for this card was what's on my mind ... my family, love and ... coffee! Ha! Truth! I used the following Lawn Fawn sets on this card:  science of love ( stamps / dies ), a bug deal ( stamps / dies ), holiday party anim...

everywhere a bug, bug!  I have two cards to share today featuring the adorable new Lawn Fawn a bug deal stamp set .  Disclaimer:  I'm NOT a bug fan.  That said, my kids and I started a butterfly garden last summer, and I just fell in love with the caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly in this set!  (The butterfly "egg" on the leaf in the first card is actually a bubble from the mermaid for you stamp set .) For both cards, I used a scattered stamp technique and colored the images with  Copic markers .  I do have the  dies  to match this set, but I chose to fussy cut certain images to add dimension on these cards because the shapes are fairly simple (and  spring scissors  make all the difference in fussy cutting, in my opinion!).  I've found two ways to scatter stamp:  you can either arrange the stamps close together on an acrylic block (or, even better, a Misti tool ) and reposition the paper as you stamp that cluste...

I had planned to use the Lawn Fawn  stitched cupcake die for classroom valentines this year, but my kiddos had very specific designs in mind that didn't involve cupcakes!  So, I decided to make a SWEET birthday card for my card stash instead. For this card, I started with watercolor paper cut to 4 x 5.25."  I used the Newton's Nook  cascading stars stencil  with Nuvo glimmer paste in pink opal  to add stars to the top half of the background.  I let this background dry overnight, just to be safe! I cut the cupcake pieces from Bristol smooth card stock and used distress oxide inks to add color:   milled lavender , wilted violet , vintage photo , picked raspberry and touches of squeezed lemonade and spiced marmalade .  I used VersaMark ink and some clear glitter embossing powder to add some sparkle to the icing and candle.  I like to see how other crafters do things, so I thought I'd show my set-up:  I use some tape runner...