Dragonfly Coaster - SUO Challenges #181

I too love this time of year when unexpected visitors come to my little garden oasis.  My son tells me that a large butterfly (the size of a bird - so he says) was fluttering above the summer phlox yesterday.  From his description I think it might have been a Monarch.

This week, the challenge at SUO is to create an art piece featuring Butterflies or Dragonflies or both. Since I am making projects for future craft shows, I chose this opportunity to make a coaster featuring a Dragonfly.

On this 4 by 4" plain coaster, I stamped and clear embossed the two images from the stamp set "Dragonfly Dreams".

The "dots" were stamped with Tranquil Tide ink; the dragonfly with Black Memento.  Both were then clear embossed.

I coloured the Dragonfly with an aqua painter filled with Alcohol rather than water and ink pads, using the following colors:  Bermuda Bay, Emerald Envy and Rich Razzelberry. 

After all the coloring was done, the entire surface of the coaster was clear embossed, then sealed, and then sprayed with a waterproofing spray.  Finally 4 felt feet were adhered to the bottom.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Dragonfly Dreams

Inks:  Tranquil Tide, Bermuda Bay, Emerald Envy, Rich Razzelberry, Black Memento, Versa Mark

Accessories:  Clear Embossing powder, Aqua Painter (with alcohol)

Colorful Dragon Fly - Fab Friday #106

The color challenge at Fab Friday #106 makes a card that is a perfect addition to my dragonfly class samples. This class is all day today.
Whenever I do a class I always have other card/3D items using a particular stamp set so the versatility of the stamp set can be demonstrated.

One of the background stamps from the "Happy Celebration" stamp set was used to stamp 3 of the colours:  Rich Razzelberry, Bermuda Bay and Peek-a-boo Peach. On top of this was stamped the "dot" stamp from "Dragonfly Dreams" in Rich Razzelberry.
On this I added a large die cut dragonfly which was stamped with Rich Razzelberry and Bermuda Bay.  Some clear Wink of Stella was brushed to the wings and body.
Pee- a-boo peach was used to stamp the sentiment.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Happy Celebration, Dragonfly Dreams
Inks: Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzlebarry, Peek-a-boo, Calypso coral
Papers:Whisper White, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Detailed Dragonfly Thinlets, Glue dots, Metal rimmed pearls, Clear Wink of Stella glitter brush

Detailed Dragonfly Thinlets on a Pop & Twist card - Stampin' Royalty #363

I love making cards with unusual folds, so making this Twist & Pop card for the Stampin' Royalty challenge this week, was right up my alley. The challenge this week was to create a project using dies. This card fold was chosen to display the Detailed Dragonfly Thinlets as well as the Dragonfly Dreams stamp set.
I have made this card before-see the blog post here.  In this earlier blog post, I provide a link to a video, which I found was very helpful.

A Pop & Twist card has a mechanism inside the card that "twists" open as it "pops" out.  When the card is closed it looks like a regular card.  I usually keep them closed with a belly band that is held together with Velcro rather than adhesive.  That way it can be opened and closed easily.
A picture of the belly band is below this picture.

This card front shows a Whisper White oval upon which a dragon fly is adhered on a stamped background. A die cut vellum dragonfly overlay is adhered to the  dragonfly giving it life and dimension. Dazzling details added to the wings give it sparkle.

The DSP is Serene Scenic DSP matted with a Whisper White cardstock. The card base is Delightful Dijon

This belly band keeps the card closed and is decorated with an embellishment and a sentiment.
The embellishment is made using various sizes of circle punches on the top of which is a gold foil small die cut dragonfly,

Opening the card reveals the pop and twist mechanism as well as more die cuts.

The top and bottom panels are covered with more of the Serene Scenery DSP.  Stitched die cut ovals are embellished with another dragonfly die cut as well as a die cut bumble bee.
Close ups of both are next.

A close up of the upper panel shows the details of the dragonfly with its vellum overlay.

A close up of the lower part of the inside features another die cut Whisper White oval- for written messages &/or signature.  Two gold foil die cut embellishments adorn this oval.

Each of the 4 panels are layered with Serene Scenery DSP and Whisper White card stock, the edges of which are sponged with Delightful Dijon ink. Along the bottom of each panel is  stamped (second and third generation stamping) with Old Olive and Delightful Dijon inks.
The main feature of this outer panel is a cut out bumble bee which was coloured with markers. Like the larger dragonfly some vellum was die cut and adhered to the wings only.
Because the sentiment was too large for the space, it was cut into separate words/phrases and then added it to the two middle panels.

The right two panels are almost a mirror image of the left panels.
The sentiment is completed on the inside one. On the outside panel, two bumblebees, one of which is die cut in gold foil, are buzzing around. The second one is a twin brother of the one on the left panel.

Dazzling Diamonds was added to all the vellum overlays




Supplies Used:
Stamps: Dragonfly Dreams, Suite Sayings, Remembering Your Birthday (retired)
Inks: Black Memento, Island Indigo, Delightful Dijon, Old Olive, Markers (Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Soft Sky).
Papers: Delightful Dijon, Serene Scenery DSP, Whisper White, Gold Foil, Vellum card stock
Accessories: Detailed Dragonfly thinlets, Stitched Shape Framelits, Dazzling Details, Scallop circle punch, 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, Accessory word punch, Velcro (non SU), Dimensionals, Glue dots, Big Shot

Bee Happy

The countdown is on for the new Occasions catalogue and the Stampin' Up sale of the year - Sale-a-bration.  Only 1 week to go.

Today I thought I would show you what can be done when you mix the "old" with the "new.  The card actually came about by accident. 
One of my clients asked me to show her how to work with the "Timeless Texture" stamp set as every time she used it the card front looked like a "black blob".
One thing about this stamp set - it doesn't matter where you stamp the images the outcome is usually gorgeous, but a word of caution - don't use really dark colours - and use two or three generation stamping if you do.

So, out came a piece of Whisper White cardstock, some Basic Gray ink, and the stamp set.  I sat down beside my client and went to work.  Numerous times I put the stamp in her hand and had her do the stamping.  The results were not perfect, but in the end it did not matter. She loved the end result, but after she left I felt the card needed something. Here is what the finished card looked like.

I needed a large sentiment, and found it in the new Occasions stamp set "Happy Celebrations" The word "Happy" was just what I needed.  It was stamped with Black Memento ink in the middle of the art piece.  Now the art piece looked pretty monochromatic- it needed a pop of colour.  The bee from "Dragonfly Dreams" was the answer.  So it was stamped with Black Memento just above the "y" and coloured with a Crushed Curry marker for the body, and Soft Sky for the wings.  The Crushed Curry marker was also used to colour in parts of the sentiment. Clear Wink of Stella glimmer was applied to the bee wings; Gold wink of Stella to the body and parts of the sentiment.

To finish the card, some 3/8" gold metallic ribbon (SAB) and bow were adhered to the card front just under the sentiment

This art piece was adhered to a Crushed Curry card front.

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Timeless Texture, Dragonfly Dreams, Happy Celebration

Inks: Black Memento, Basic Gray, Crushed Curry marker, Soft Sky marker

Papers: Crushed Curry, Whisper White

Accessories: 3/8" gold metallic ribbon, Clear Wink of Stella glimmer brush, Gold wink of Stella glimmer brush

Enjoy Your Special Day - SUO Challenge #164

This week the challenge at SUO is a theme one.  The challenge is to use circles, squares, or ovals or all three shapes in a project.

My plan initially was to use a circle matted with a scallop die cut circle. Then I added the squares and the oval.

All 3 shapes - circles, squares and an oval are present on this card.  The circle theme is also present in the Serene Scenery DSP (Bokeh effect), the embossing (large dot embossing folder) and the round enamel dots.

Art Piece: 

A small section of the "In the Lines" DSP (SAB) was die cut with the Layering circles framelit, and only the flower and its leaf were coloured with a blender pen and ink pads (Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Delightful Dijon, Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz, and Old Olive).  The circle was then matted with a Melon Mambo scallop circle. Dazzling Details was added to the flower and the leaf after the card was finished.

A bumble bee was die cut in Gold Foil Paper and adhered to the circle near the flower.

Card:

The Melon Mambo card base was layered with Whisper White embossed with the Large Dot Embossing folder. In the upper left and lower right are squares of Serene Scene DSP with a circle pattern on it (Bokeh effect).  These squares are layered with scalloped squares of Old Olive card stock and adhered to the card front.

The art piece was adhered to the card front straddling these two squares, using dimensionals.

Three (circle) melon mambo enamel dots were placed in the upper left of the card.

Sentiment:

The sentiment, from "Dragonfly Dreams" was stamped in Black Memento on Whisper White, matted with Old Olive cardstock and mounted on a 1 3/4 by 7/8" melon mambo oval.  This unit was adhered to the card front below the art piece using dimensionals.

Supplies Used:
Stamp:  Dragonfly Dreams
Inks: Black Memento, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Delightful Dijon, Pacific Point (for shading), Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive
Papers: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Serene Scenes DSP, In the Lines DSP, Old Olive , Gold Foil

Accessories: Layering circles framelits, Layering squares framelits, 13/4 by 7/8" oval punch, Detailed Dragonfly thinlets, Dazzling Details, dimensionals, Brights Enamel dots, Large dots embossing folder, Blender Pen

A Wonderful Friend Birthday - Try Stampin on Tuesday #301

It's snowing again today.  Last winter we hardly had any snow at all, and so far this year we have had a lot of snowy days - and it's not even Christmas yet.  One song we don't have to sing this season is "I'm Dreaming  of a White Christmas"

Today's card is another catalogue sneak peak - both for the Occasions and SAB.  The sketch with Try Stampin' on Tuesday was used, although I did rearrangel some of the elements.

 

Art Piece: 

The main art piece is a 3 1/2 by 5" piece of Inside the Lines DSP (SAB) on which only a few images were coloured with water colour pencils (Occasions catalogue) and an aqua painter.

This paper was cut into 3 pieces that are 1" each and equally mounted on a 4 by 5 1/4" piece of Bermuda Bay cardstock.

Some gold Wink of Stella was applied to the flower center; Clear Wink of Stella on the bee's wings and some parts of the flower

In the upper left corner a dragonfly(Occasions catalogue) die cut in gold foil was adhered with glue dots.

The  classic label punch was used to punch the sentiment, which was matted with Bermuda Bay and added to the card with dimensionals.

Card:

The main card is Whisper White card stock, layered with Bermuda Bay

Supplies Used:

Stamp: Dragonfly Dream

Inks: Black Memento, Water colour pencils

Papers: Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Inside the Lines DSP, Gold foil

Accessories: Detailed Dragonfly Thinlet dies, Classic label Punch, Gold Wink of Stella, Clear Wink of Stella, Aqua painter, Dimensionals.