Big Beautiful Butterfly

I hope you've had a chance to see the new dies.  They're marvelous.  For some reason I'm especially drawn to the butterfly and nature dies.  Here's an idea for you using two dies to make a shaped card.

My sister sent me an off the rack card in the shape of a butterfly, so I had to make a stamped version using two of the new butterfly dies.  You will need to use 12x12 cardstock to make the base card - and the finished card will fit in a half fold greeting card envelope. 

Here's how it's made.   First cut out two of the Maribelle dies from black card stock.  Next cut two of the Selena dies from white glossy cardstock.  Make sure you flip the glossy cardstock over so that you have the glossy paper will be on the top of a right and left wing. 

To make the template for the card base, cut two extra of the Selena dies and glue to a piece of paper.  Scan and make the image just a bit bigger - mine was 6 inches wide by 5.79 inches.  Print and lay over the top of a piece of 12x12 cardstock cut to 6 inches by 12 inches and folded in half.  Hope that makes sense. 

 

Next just cut around the outside of the butterfly shape.  Don't worry about the fold edge yet.  Just set that aside.  Now is the time to decorate the white glossy shapes.  Choose the images you want for the wings and stamp them with VersaMark and emboss with white embossing powder.  (You won't be able to see the images very well until ink is applied.)  Choose the inks you want to use (I used three shades.) and sponge the ink onto the wings.  When you're happy with the way the wings look, attach the Maribelle shapes over top of the Selena stamped shapes.  I attached them with an Aleene's Tacky Glue pen using a really light touch and a sweeping motion.  (If the glue beads up, just dab off excess with a tissue.) 

Once the glue is dry attach the wings to your shaped card.  This is the point where I trimmed the V-shape from the center top fold.  Next attach the body.  I added a tiny piece of black cardstock to fill in the gap where the two wings met under the body so that there was a continuous black line between the two wings.  If you have any questions, I'd be glad to try to answer them for you. 

Supplies:  Maribelle butterfly die, Selena butterfly die, G1712 Vintage Record Sheet, G1720 Birch Branch Print, C1262 Parsley Sprig, D1046, Dandelion, E1711 Circle Word Background, 12x12 cardstock, Glossy Cardstock, black cardstock, VersaMark ink, Distress – Chipped Sapphire, Spiced Marmalade, Dusty Concord, White Embossing powder

There is a list of stores carrying the new dies on the Memory Box blog.  I know you'll love them as much as I did.  Have a wonderful day and thanks for looking!

Garden Thank You

There's an infinite number of ways to combine Memory Box stamps, papers and dies...sometimes I don't know where to begin!  Here's another example of how a card just takes on a life of its own once you get started.

I wanted to use the Primula Blooms Die (98149), which led to the Piestra Tile Die (98157) because the leaves and the tile match.  I love the combination of orange, brown and turquoise - and fonts - which lead to diecutting a section of Scalloped Thank You (G1762) with the Primo Labels Die (98139).

And...speaking of having so many great products and not knowing where to begin using them, the Design Team can't wait to start sharing holiday ideas with you.  New stamps, 12x12 and 6x6 papers - and more great dies - ready and waiting for your holiday cards, layout and decor projects.  See the list of retailers who have already ordered the wonderful new products here.

Theresa Laurent, Memory Box Design Editor, and I'll be sharing a day of Memory Box Holiday classes at the Impress Christmas in July event at the University Village (July 30th) and Tukwila (July 31st ) stores.  Save the date!

Jean

 

Read more...

A Mix of Old and New

 

The combination of blue/ aqua and brown is becoming one of my fav color combos. This is from some one who thought the only color worth using really was green!

This card using a mix of old and new Memory Box product. I stamped create art G1330 on a piece of paper bag with black ink. I stamped sonoma print  C1311 with white pigment ink and embossed with white powder. I stamped cocoa bean butterfly C1714 with black ink and colored with copic markers. I applied a coating of glue and glittered the whole butterfly. Click on the picture and you can really appreciate the glitter.

I layered the flower panel on brown cardstock and layered this onto thistle distressed dot paper and again layered this onto brown cardstock. I die cut the meridian border 98134 and adhered that to the card. All this was placed on the pool card.

What are some of your favorite color combos?

 

 

 

Library Card

I love the effect of the valise paper and if you cut it in just the right spot it looks like a library card tag. The beautiful Adore Peony Collage stamp is the perfect complement to the Valise papers.

The image and butterflies (Periwinkle) are stamped using black pigment ink and colored with watercolor pencils and a waterbrush.

The love stamp was added to the top as a little detail along with the twine butterfly bodies and gems.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Suzz

Animal Friends

We recently held a Memory Box workshop at Ink About It to raise money for an animal shelter in Springfield, MA.  Earlier this month, that area suffered the wrath of a few devasting tornadoes and many animals were affected.  Our generous customers paid $20 to make four fun, animal-themed cards and we are sending their entire fee directly to the Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center.  We are so grateful to Dave for helping support this cause with donations of Memory Box product.  Here is one of the cards we made:

And here's another:

The cat and dog images are from the Poppy Stamps line. There are several cute ones to choose from and they coordinate so nicely with many other Memory Box stamps such as the houses and trees.  If you don't have any of these cute little cats and dogs - it may be time to get some. They are perfect for many different occasions.

Have a great week.

Recycling CD's

Have you ever "burned" a CD and later forgot what was on it?  I have about a dozen of those mystery CDs and just found an interesting use for them---make a mini book using the Zutter Bind-It-All machine!  It punches binding holes in the CD "like butta".  Here's my shiny mini book filled with my favorite Memory Box stamps, papers and dies.

Of course, stamping on the CD itself necessitates an ink like Staz-On...which is appropriate for all surfaces but specifically for plastic, metal, glass, ceramic, laminated paper, coated paper and leather. I call it the "Superman of Inks".  A steady hand is a good idea when stamping on slippery surfaces such as CDs--you don't really need to press down on the stamp firmly, just make contact with the surface and lift straight up.  You can see that I used both black and white Staz-On inks on my book cover.

Now for the inside pages...

  Imagine the possibilities for other CD mini books...Birthdays, Graduations, travel (think Vegas), a Silver Anniversary...I could go on!  You could even resurface the shiny cover with designer paper if you don't like "put-your-eye-out" bling. I am often driven to distraction by bright shiny objects so I would never do that! 

Stamps Used:

G1720 Birch Branch Print 

E1711 Circle Word Background

B1058 Fritillary Butterfly

G1733 Journey

D1723 Eiffel Tower

E1060 Butterfly Collage

G1352 Inspire Butterfly Collage

G1719 Fern Print

D1393 Bird in Flight

D1161 Brandywine Flourish

F1328 First Flight

D1360 Budding Branch

B1765 Makes me smile

Whew!  That's a lot of stamps and I may have missed one or two...when you make your own CD mini book let me know how many stamps YOU used! It's a lot of fun and easy to add photos to your pages too.  

You can upload your art projects to the Memory Box Flickr Gallery-- We'd love to see your creations!

Happy Friday!

Thank You

The Valise papers are so beautiful and inspired my next two cards. I used the Valise papers as my background and for my card base.

The Adore Peony Collage G1433 stamp stamped on the Valise paper in a black ink. Color the flowers and branches using watercolor pencils and a waterbrush. The image really blends so beautifully with the paper.

Apply glossy accents on the flowers and the droplets.

Sponge the edges of main panel and sentiment with a light brown dye ink. The background is an embossed sheet of light green vellum with sponging of brown dye ink.

The sentiment is Thank You Combo B1751 stamped on the reverse side of the valise paper and cut into a banner shape.

The beautiful butterflies Periwinkle (B1181) are stamped on vellum and colored with watercolor pencils.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Suzz

It's A Baby Shower!

Summer time at One Little Spark means party time!  Well, maybe not exactly party time, but that's when the requests for party favors picks up, which is a fun time for me. I really enjoy making party favors! And the Memory Box papers and dies makes it even more fun!

I've found it's much easier to limit myself to 2 to 4 papers when making sets of party favors and decorations. For the baby shower set I chose to work with four colors of gingham, a few Memory Box dies and an Accucut die.

Let's start with the flowers - large yellow daisies in a square glass vase with a  4 inch strip of green gingham.  The Pearl Lace die was used to create the top border that coordinates with the votive covers.  The gingham is wrapped around the vase with a white satin ribbon for the finishing touch. 

The treat boxes were created with an Accucut treat box die and the Memory Box Woven Circle die. The boxes were embellished with buttons and Scrapper's Floss...

 

For the votive wrappers, I simply cut the edges using the Pearl Lace border die on six inch long pieces of gingham in graduating heights of 3", 4" and 5" inches.  After wrapping the gingham around the glass votives and adhering with Scor-Tape a 1/2" sheer ribbon is tied in a bow at the front. 

 
 The mini Hersheys are so easy to make! I started with pieces of gingham cut to 1 1/2" x 3" inches and then stamped the word "baby" in the center.  Wrap the mini candy bars and adhere the gingham strips at the back with Scor-Tape or whatever tape you prefer to work with. My method is to wrap one mini candy bar and eat one, wrap one, eat one, wrap one.....

 
Can't forget the cupcake toppers made with the Banner die and coordinating stamp, plus the Baby Shower sentiment stamp...

 

Now on to making strawberry treat boxes using the Memory Box Currant distressed dot paper - SO pretty and perfect for a 4th of July celebration!!

Thanks for stopping by!

 
Supplies include:

Papers: Memory Box blue, pink, green and yellow ginghams

Dies: Memory Box dies - Pearl Lace (98138), Woven Circle (98114), Scalloped Banner (98147); Accucut Treat Box die

Stamps:  Big Banner (D1708), Bold Baby Combo (C1754) and Baby Shower Combo (B1767)

Inks: Memento Cocoa Brown ink

Other: White satin ribbon; sheer white ribbon, white candy sticks; buttons, white Scrapper's Floss

 

wishing you the very BEST

For today's card I had in mind that I would create a card (or two) that would be appropriate for a young woman who is celebrating a graduation, an upcoming wedding, a new baby, a sweet sixteenth birthday, or some other special occasion. I chose to work with pinks and layers of coordinating papers, embellished with a dimensional Pearl Pen and ribbon.  With a different sentiment, this format could be used as an invitation to an event honoring a young woman such as a bridal shower or luncheon, a baby shower, or a birthday party. 

MATERIALS

Memory Box stamps:

• B1359 Very Best (bird on the side)
• C1370 Tiers of Cupcakes
• C308   Pile of Gifts
• A1707 Little Banner

Cotton Candy notecard (Memory Box)

Bubblegum Distressed Dots and Gingham 8 1/2 X 11 papers (Memory Box)

Archival Jet Black Ink

Pink/cream dotted ribbon; black twine

Viva Decor Cream Pearl Pen

 

To create Card #1

Measure, cut and adhere a piece of Bubblegum Distressed Dots paper to a Cotton Candy notecard.

Measure and cut a smaller piece of Bubblegum Gingham paper, and  using Archival Jet Black ink, stamp C1370 Tiers of Cupcakes, C308 Pile of Gifts, and five of A1707 Little Banner. Adhere this layer on top of the Distressed Dots layer.

Stamp C1370 Tiers of Cupcakes, C308 Pile of Gifts, five of A1707 Little Banner, and B1359 Very Best on scraps of the Bubblegum Distressed Dots paper using the Archival Jet Black ink. Cut out these images, using just the base of the cupcakes stand and omitting the scallops on the Little Banners.  Adhere pieces on top of the stamped images on the Gingham paper.  Layer "wishing you the very BEST" on Gingham on top of Distressed Dots and add this piece between the two stamped images.

Glue on a piece of black twine to connect the Little Banners. Use the Viva Decor Pearl Pen to add icing to the cupcakes. Tie a bow from a dotted pink ribbon and adhere with a glue dot near the corner of the sentiment.

I added an extra layered piece at the end of the banner for the recipient's name. I may also decide to write something on the banner as well before sending this card.

 

Card #2 is similar.  I eliminated the banner, moved the sentiment to the top center, and tied a ribbon around the base of the Gingham piece. 

 

Orienting these cards so that they open at the bottom allowed for a more interesting and less crowded use of the images I chose.  "Icing" the cupcakes added a nice dimension to the card.  I'll think I'll decorate some more cupcakes with Stickles or with Glossy Accents!

Happy Stamping!

Home is where the heart is

I have a several friends who are buying new homes. I wanted to come up with a cool house welcoming card.

I remembered seeing a card with a row of houses and thought yep that's it. A row of houses that folds up and can be mailed easily. I used the new Valise papers for the card. I pulled out lots of stamps and dies and just had fun.

I started with a 12x12 Valise paper "bill of sale" and cut it to 12x5 inches and scored it every 2 inches. I planned out the houses and using an x-acto knife and dies, I cut them out.

 

 

Next I pulled out my 6x6 collection of Valise papers and covered my houses and cut out windows.

 

 

The best part was decorating each home. This is the fun and creative part! 

 

I hope you enjoyed this project!