• Happy Easter 2013!

    Happy Easter, and many blessings to you and your family from everyone here at my house. I hope that you are surrounded by friends and family today and having a lovely day of fellowship. I love Easter and all that it means to me as a Christian. It's the season of rebirth and renewal and a fresh start. It's exactly what I need right now and I'm grateful to see another season come!  

    Here is an Instagram I made after church service Friday night. I have this saved on my phone and computer as a prayer reminder with so many meanings.

     

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    Here is another Instagram Photo. I took this one on my iPhone in the courtyard of church – the most gorgeous Dogwood tree. It was in full splendor this weekend! I edited it to make it black and white since this flower was so vibrant white.

     

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    I do have one final Easter card to share today – I had to wait to post it until I gave it to my hubs. It's his Easter card and I tucked it in his basket this morning! Sneaky. I used my cute PTI bunny stamps and dies to show him some bunny loves him. 🙂

     

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    A clean and simple card with a cute message – perfect for Easter. The grass is a die from Taylored Expressions and the fence is too!!. Everything else is from Papertrey Ink. 

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     Thank you very much for hopping by today! HAPPY EASTER! Have a wonderful day peeps! 

    A birdie signature!

     

  • Hello There Friend!

    Hello there bloggy friends! I'm back today with a card to share with you! I have been staying up late every night stamping like crazy! I need to get some rest, because I'm starting to get a little wonky. Next week is TE release week and you're gonna love it. Got all my projects done for that, and a little something for today too. I am really loving the new style of card making that combines a bunch of different patterned papers and textures and layers. I'm gonna call it modern shabby chic. What do you think of that? I am trying my hand at picking out lots of elements, but not going toooooo far with it.

    My card for today was inspired by some papers I bought last weekend, and the color coral…which I am completely obsessed with right now. I scurried around the stamp room and found some felt, and a tag, oh, and that pretty chevron embossing folder, oh and some glitter and some brand new PTI stamps….you get the idea. Here's my card!

     

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    I started with a plain manila tag and ran it through the chevron embossing folder from Stampin' Up…then I inked it a little and dribbled blue ink splatters on it! Next I took a piece of coral paper and cut it into a heart and smothered it in glitter…

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    The sentiment and banner are all from Papertrey Ink stamp sets. The felt flowers and leaves were made with some of my Taylored Expressions dies…

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    I love twine and buttons for a flower center…

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    All the paper edges were distressed with a tool and then inked with Corduroy ink for that shabby chic feeling. I curled up the edges of my banners too…

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    So, there you have it….modern shabby chic! My new invention! LOL. I like it. Best wishes for a lovely Easter week. I'll be back with one last project for Easter on Sunday. Until then, live like you mean it! XO

    A birdie signature!

  • Spring Configurations Book!

    Hey! Okay, whew, I finally sat down and photographed my project from last Saturday's class! You might remember that I took a super amazing 'Spring Configurations Book' class from my friend Richele. That was quite the fun day and resulted in a really cool finished product! We stamped for TEN HOURS straight! I ain't foolin' either. No breaks, no chit chattin' or anything. My dear friend Caroline joined me and lots of my other stamping friends were there too. Just the perfect day of fellowship and creativity. I was totally creatively rejuvenated by it!  Richele is talented in a way that I would never dream to be talented and it was big fun to learn from her and make something so wonderful. CLICK HERE to see Richele's blog!  

    This is a very loooooooong post! I took tons of pictures to share with you from class, and of my finished book. BUT, I also made something to bring with me to class and want to share those too! I wanted to make something special for Richele and Caroline so I made us all name tags and treat bags for class. I went with the same theme of class and created some Tim Holtz Spring goodies with my Blueprint Stamps. I made each one a different color to jazz it up a bit.  I'll start by showing you my book!

    This was my favorite little box in my configuration…Truly I am blessed! The metal piece in the background was covered in three colors of paint and then sanded. The heart was distressed with brown ink and then smothered in yummy glitter…. 

     

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    Here is the finished cover of my book! I loooooove all those glittery flowers! The strips running across the front are all different tapes from Tim Holts. The "JOURNEY" and other words are rub-ons.

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    Here is my book, and also a brand new one, so you can see what we all started with. I bought this other book, and hope to one day make an ocean themed book/box! I need to rest up first though! LOL.

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    Here is the inside of my Configuration book! Each little square has a different item in it. It's so whimsical and different. This is definitely "out of my box" – pun intended. Don't you love it!?

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    Here is a close up of my cover. The bunny was stamped on watercolor paper and then we used water brushes and distress ink pads to color him in. Clever??? That grass is too fun!

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    Here is the lovely Richele holding her creation and passing it around to show everyone. We all copied her template, and yet, everyone's box came out a little differently, especially the covers. I wish I had taken photos of others' boxes!

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    It took the entire morning just to get our boxes ready for the fun stuff! Here you can see that we covered the inside of each small box with patterned papers first…

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    Next, we adhered washi tape around every edge, to hold the paper down and to finish the tops of the boxes. Oy, that seemed like it took forever!

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    OOOOOOOH…sparkly! Next, we COVERED the inside of every box with this fabulous glitter!!! Then, we let this all sit and dry and had a lunch break!

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    Here are some of my flowers, die cut and sanded, and inked….

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    Here is my panel for the front…. That ribbon started off stark white! We dyed it using water and ink pads. I am SOOOO going to do this technique! I already bought a pack of the white crinkle ribbon to have on hand. So fab.

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    Okay, let's take a little break from my book, and I'll show you the tags and bags I made for my gal pals. Here are the finished tags. I put them on the bags with twine and then we took them off and wore them as our name tags in class!

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    Here I am just starting out and planning our tags…. I'm glad my name is short! LOl.

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    I wet the tags first and then just put the ink pads directly onto the wet tags to make the background color…

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    I made some grass with a TE die and inked around the edges. The letters are a Memory Box alphabet die and I did them in black paper. I stamped one of the mini blueprints (From Tim Holtz) on each tag.

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    Here's a close up of the tags. I layered a second image on foam tape and also added some flowers and butterflies…it was a Spring class after all!

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    Another close up!

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    I frayed this pretty ribbon from Stampin' Up to make it look more vintage…

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    Here are the treat bags I made to match. Inside I put water, gum, candy and snacks for our all day stamp marathon! It was nice to bring a little treat for my friends.

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    Okay, now for the close ups! Here is the butterfly on the cover of my book…again with that wonderful glitter. It makes everything better!!

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    I learned so much in this class. Most of all, I learned that I like getting my hands all messy and doing stuff like this! I need to relax and loosen up a little… The layers and layers of things makes this type of crafting so beautiful. I never would have thought of this!!

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    Here are a couple of the boxes. That blue ribbon was dyed with ink and water because I felt that would look good in this box. The key was covered in blue paint and then rubbed off. Yes, that is a tiny bottle filled with glitter down there!!

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    Now when I dyed the ribbon I used pink and orange…and then Richele said to add some brown??? Well, of course that was the perfect thing to do! Gave it a real antique feeling.

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    I love that blue flower! Each layer is glitter coated, then the center is metal and secured with a brad. And, yes, that angel is wearing a teeny tiny pink crown!

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    This birdhouse is marvelous! It was built out of paper, and the roof is silver! Then I added some moss and some branches. And a happy blue birdie!

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    I have this chocolate bunny die and I adore it! Here I made her bow pink and glittery (are you sensing a theme with the glitter!?) and put her in some moss. Gotta love that hot glue gun too…made everything easier!

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    Whew, that was such a long post! I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed sharing it with you. I hope you find some inspiration and imagination from this project. Have an amazing week everyone. It's Easter week! XOXO

     

    A birdie signature!

  • Purple Flutter-bys…

    Hey! Happy weekend! Today is one of my days to post for Taylored Expressions and I have some BRIGHT colors in stor for you! I'm using some more of the fabulous Take Note Collection from Doodlebug, along with some of my fav new supplies from Taylored Expressions….it all works so great together! This color palette is so yummy…

     

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    Now, how's that for a POP of color!? So great, right? This card is a birthday card for one of my friends. Cheery wishes for her special day. I made a fun matching envelope too. Couldn't stop myself!

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    These are the new Flutter-bys dies from Taylored Expressions, which I LOVE. They are the perfect size and scale for card projects, and I love the way you can layer them. Butterflies are always better with bling!

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    My layering pieces are the awesome new Banner Stacklets 2 Dies – also the perfect scale for cards! I would normally never use this orchid purple color, but isn't it so fresh with the bright yellow? This is a new color scheme for me – and I like it!

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    And, because it matches this project, I thought I would share my crazy fun manicure that I'm currently sporting! SOOOO FUN! (I added the sparkle on my iPhone with the Lenslight app).

     

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    THANKS FOR FLUTTERING BY TODAY!!!

    A birdie signature!

     

  • Some CAS stamping fun with Hero Arts!

    Howdy! What’s shakin’ this week!? Yesterday was my day to host the blog over at A Blog Named Hero, and I shared some Clean and Simple (CAS) cards that I made using adorable clear stamps from Hero Arts! Today I wanted to share them with you here on my blog too.  I am always visually drawn to clean and simple cards when I see them on others’ blogs or on Pinterest. They always look fresh and cheery. I don’t really do a lot of this type of card, and I want to practice my technique, and do more! I got in my stamp stash and got out some SUPER cute images that I thought would work well…and my Copics…and just a tiny bit of glitter! Here are the results! 

     

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    Um, seriously, how cute can a stamp be? I love these donuts, and the saying just puts it straight over the top! Totally fun, right? I stamped and cut out my donuts and then colored them with my Copic Markers. Then I popped them on some foam tape and added a little bit of Prisma Glitter for an accent. One BIG tip about CAS stamping is lots of white space! This is hard for me!

     

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    This card has some breakfast cuties! This is CAS, but has a bit more to it. I embossed my white layer first for a little more interest. Also, I used a scrap of patterned paper. If you keep the shapes simple, it looks best – squares, circles, ovals, etc. I colored my items with my Copics and added glitter to these too.

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    Wouldn’t this be the most fun invitation to a brunch!?? Maybe I have to have a brunch just so I can make more of these cards! LOL!

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    Thank you for coming by my blog today! Enjoy the rest of your week, and I’ll be back with something else crafty soon! 🙂 

     
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  • Taylored Expressions March 2013 Studio Challenge!

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    It's that time again! Time for our super fun Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge! This is our monthly opportunity for the Taylored Expressions Design Team to share what makes our stamping studios run… Each month we have a crafty question so we can share our favorite tips and tricks with you!  I LOVE this every month. I really look forward to getting the challenge from Taylor and then seeing what my amazing DT friends come up with on their blogs. Are you loving it too? I sure hope so!

    Our question for March is:  "You ought to be in pictures!" We all love to share our completed projects with others on our blogs, and in various online galleries. So, when the stamping ends, the photography begins.  This is a fun step for some, and a frustrating one for others. How do you take your blog photos?

    Boy, where do I start with this topic!? LOL. I have been a photographer since I was 14 years old and I still keep in touch with my high school photography teacher! So, photography is actually my first creative love.  That being said, taking photos of card projects is a whole different ball game. It took me a long time to figure out a system that works for me. I tried a light box for a while (CLICK HERE) and that worked really well. The down side was storing it and getting it out every time I wanted to take a photo. What I have finally landed on (for now) is just taking the photos on my work desk! Here is my SUPER fancy set up!

     

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    You can see in the above photo that I have an Ott lite there for some extra pop. On the left is a stack of papers I keep handy for backgrounds for my photos. The photo below is what the picture looks like straight from the camera with no cropping. I like to shoot back a ways and then I can crop later however I like.

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    And here is the cropped version of the photo above: 

     
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    I use a Canon G11 Camera for all my photos. It's small so it fits in my purse or backpack and I always have it with me. It can be automatic or fully manual which I like a lot too. This has been my favorite camera I've ever had (and this girl has owned a lot of cameras!) I am currently in the (OCD) process of trying to choose a new camera because I've worn this poor one out!  

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    I like to take a couple of extra photos to show the side view and/or the layers in my card. Sometimes I know I want to see how a person made something, and I think this helps. It also helps me remember later!

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    Here are some card photo tricks and tips for you:  1.  For 'funky' indoor lighting: Most cameras nowadays will allow you to adjust the "white balance" on your photos. Read your manual about this! Light is measured in temperatures…from cool to warm…and that is why our photos can have a "cast" on them and look yellow inside. 2.  Try using your flash. Sometimes this is better, sometimes not, but it's worth trying. 3.  Try taking your photos from farther away and then cropping them later. This will give you some latitude with the end product. 4.   Have fun and keep trying!!  

    I edit my photos with Photoshop Elements 7, which came with my laptop many years ago. The software takes getting used to (at least it did for me). I add my watermark in Elements and also adjust the color to get my photo to match the 'real life' colors as much as possible. Many of the tips and tricks I learned about Elements came from watching Youtube videos!

    SUPPLIES: Moka Wanda Stamp Set, Labels Stacklets 3 Dies, Doodlebug Take Note Collection Papers and brads, Memento Inks and Copic Markers.

    NOTE: All the papers and supplies I used today are from Doodlebug's Take Note Collection! Squeeee! We are doing a product partnership this month with our friends at Doodlebug and so you'll be seeing lots of this awesome, colorful paper on my blog in the next couple of weeks. I love it!

    Here's your most awesome linky list for CHALLENGE DAY! 

    Carole Burrage

    Charmaine Ikach

    Jen Shults

    Kerri Mchaud

    Lynnette Kauffman

    Sankari Wegman

    Shannon White

    Shelly Mercado

    Stephanie Kraft

    Tammie Edgerton

    Taylor VanBruggen

    Wanda Guess  

    A birdie signature!

  • Happy St. Patty’s Day 2013!

    Hey friends! Happy Weekend and Happy (almost) St. Patty's Day! Are you doing anything fun for the holiday? Are you wearing green? I wore green to work yesterday and brought candy for my unit (CLICK HERE) but other than that, not too much celebrating. My green-beer-drinking days are long over! However, I would never miss an opportunity to make a card for a special occasion! LOL. So, here is my St. Patty's Day card for this year….

    I never know what to make for St. Patrick's Day… There are only so many stamps and supplies…so I usually just make something green and go with it! This year, lots of people were making shamrocks with their Epiphany Heart Tool, so I jumped on that bandwagon. Used some fun Chevron paper…and a new embossing folder from Cuttlebug…

     

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    The sentiment is stamped in snow white ink from Papertrey Ink onto a strip of vellum. I tried it first in black, but it was too dark… 

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    I decided I wanted a FOUR leaf clover instead of a shamrock…for good luck and all! The card needed another color so I tried several colors before settling on this bright sunny yellow for an accent.

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    This embossing folder is so crisp and classy!!  

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    I had THE BEST time today in class! OMG – all day stamping with my gal pals… Pure awesome with a side of awesome sauce. Lemme tell ya. I will share some things about class soon, I promise! Thanks Richele for such a great day and amazing project. 🙂 We stamped for 10 hours straight! I think this might be the coolest thing I ever made??!! Here's on sneak peek at the cover of my finished configuration book…

     

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    A birdie signature!

     

  • Here comes Peter Cottontail!

    Helllooooooo! How is your week going? Don't say I didn't warn you…but Easter is coming! And fast! Just a couple more weeks now! I got out some of my Easter stamping supplies and made a little something to share with you today. Super sweet and PINK just perfect for the holiday. I love this adorable new set and matching die from Papertrey Ink – total adorable-ness! Have you started working on Spring celebrations yet? I have, but only if you count buying peeps and Cadbury eggs at the grocery store, and then already eating them all! LOL. Have a blessed day everyone.

    Here is my cheery Easter card… 

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    The bunny stamp has a matching die, and a separate die for his tail. Too cute!  I stamped him in grey ink and then did his tail in the lightest shade of pink. The grass and flowers are also from Papertrey Ink…from the Forest Friends stamp set. They were the perfect scale for the bunny. I'm quite proud that I thought of that!  I added a couple of pink blings afterwards.

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    Everything is popped up with foam tape for dimension. I used my Versamagic inks for a softer feeling on my project.

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    Hippity Hoppity, Easter's on it's way!

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    On Saturday, I am taking THIS CLASS taught by my friend Richele. To say that I am excited would be an understatement! She is a total rock star and I get to spend all day with her and with my BFF Caroline, stamping! Is it Saturday yet? How about now? Now? I will have some stuff to share after class and I'll be sure to take pictures of our projects! See you soon! 

    A birdie signature!

  • A day to create and rejuvenate….

    Hi friends! Today was the most delightful day… A day for this old girl to relax, create and rejuvenate! The hubs has been busy all weekend with his various social commitments and that has left me with some much needed time to recharge my creative spirit in a quiet house. Since I got the flu and was so sick for so many weeks I have felt that my crafting chi hasn't been the same. This weekend, and especially today, I feel like it's coming back!

    I don't have any design team commitments due next week, and so I just sat down and played with some new products that have been on my table.  Mr. Buddy was asleep at my feet, purring away…  I am really happy with this card I'm sharing today…and it took me all day to make it! LOL. I hope that you have had a wonderful weekend too!  

     

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    This sentiment is a new one from Hero Arts, and is a favorite already! Everyone needs a happy gram now and then, right?

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    The papers are as follows: Background – Pool Party Coredinations from Stampin' Up,  Text Paper - Simple Stories, All other patterned paper is from a brand new We R Memory Keepers collection called Antique Chic. That paper pack was the inspiration for the entire card! The butterfly punches are from Martha Stewart… 

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    This new burlap ribbon is from Stampin' Up, and the button is from Webster's Pages I glued a pearl onto the center of it, to tie the design together. I had so much fun layering all of these butterflies!

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    Here is my background panel. I embossed it first and then sanded the paper to let the lighter color come through. Then I inked the edges with Corduroy Distress ink.  

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    Here's a good close up of the butterfly layers. I also inked each circle and butterfly with the corduroy distress ink. On some, I added a few pearls…. I couldn't stop myself, I just kept adding things!

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    Thanks very much for stopping by my blog to visit! I hope that you have a great week to come. Take care bloggy peeps! XOXOXO 

    A birdie signature!

     

  • Taylored Expressions March 2013 Release Spotlights – Oh Snap! and Graphic Greetings Thankful!

    Happy Friday! It's Spotlight Day for the March Taylored Expressions Release! Today's the day when each of us on the design team gets to choose some of our favorite products from this month's release and share them with you! Everyone will have something different for you today! TOO fun!

    I am featuring the "Oh Snap" stamp set again (surprise), and also the new Graphic Greetings Thankful stamp and new Flutter-bys dies. I made a masculine card with another one of those great cameras. Then I thought I would make and share a set of happy Thank You cards to keep on hand.

    First up, a cheery set of thank you cards! These would be nice to give as a set, or to keep on hand for whenever the need arises. Can't ever have enough thank you cards, right?

     

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    Here's a side view to show you these gorgeous new butterfly dies. They come as a set – an outline and a solid one. Use them alone or together! I also wanted to showcase the new Banner Dies…

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    I went back and forth several times trying to decide what colors to make the flower! I thought it might look nice in a bright lemon yellow or orange, or maybe pink? In the end, I colored it to match and kept the look crisp. What do you think??

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    Next up is my masculine camera card! I used the vintage camera from the Oh Snap! stamp set and combined it with the awesome new Film Strip Border die. I used all tones of brown for a monochromatic feeling.

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    Here's my background piece before I inked and distressed it! I just cut out several film strips and layered them on my paper.

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    This sentiment is AWESOME!!!! I will use this a lot, I already know…

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    The piece that the sentiment is mounted on is the smallest size of the new Banner Stacklets 2 dies set. I like the curve on it…nice.

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    SUPPLIES – Oh Snap card – Oh Snap! stamp set (new), Film Strip Border die (new), Banner Stacklets 2 Dies (new), Memento inks, Copics.

    SUPPLIES – Thank you card set – Graphic Greetings Thankful stamp (new), Flutter-bys dies (new), Banner Stacklets 2 dies (new), Queen and Co Blings, Copics.

    One last link list for this week! Have fun! Thank you so much for spending part of your week with me. I hope you find some cool new things to buy and play with!

    Broni Holcombe

    Carole Burrage

    Charmaine Ikach

    Jami Sibley

    Jen Shults

    Kerri Mchaud

    Regina Mangum

    Sankari Wegman

    Shannon White

    Shelly Mercado

    Stephanie Kraft

    Tammie Edgerton

    Taylor VanBruggen

    Wanda Guess 

    A birdie signature!