Love Is Like A Butterfly

It is time for my weekly attempt at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge!! This week Silke is inspiring us all with a sketch. You can join in for some fun and possibly win a Flourishes Gift Certificate to their online store. Every week they draw a winning card! You can find more details HERE on their blog.  Here is Silke's Sketch:

This is my take on the sketch. I wanted a more horizontal rectangular shape so I flipped it, if you will.

I used Flourishes "Clematis and Butterflies" stamp set. I colored it in with Distress Inks and separately stamped the butterfly, colored it in, cut it out, then popped it up on popdots. I used a Square Spellbinder to cut out my main image and a Scalloped Square die to mat it. The papers used were My Mind's Eye and Flourishes "Classic White" CS. The decorative border was created with the Spellbinders "Classic Lace" die and the silk ribbon is from Flourishes online store.

As you can see, I used popdots under every layer, to keep everything from looking too flat and uninteresting.

Yesterday, on the Flourishes blog, Beate posted a great tutorial on using Distress Inks to watercolor in images. I started out using Distress Inks, so using them wasn't new to me, but I haven't touched them in almost 3 years, since I bought my Tombows. Even though they are the same medium, you don't use the same techniques. So I took Beate's tips from the tutorial, and challenged myself to an all Distress Ink card. I love how the card turned out!! I think I will start mixing Distress Inks and Tombows, from now on, to intensify the colors on my images. It's all about learning as you go and finding out what you like and what works best for you :)

My Life Is Blessed

This is Flourishes Release Week Noon Time Challenge: Day 2. Today's challenge is: Framed! 
I think yesterday's card would have fit this challenge better, but oh well :)

I used the sentiment from Flourishes "Spring Bouquet" set with the butterflies from Flourishes "Gerbera Daisies" and "Clematis and Butterflies" sets. I colored the butterflies in with Tombows and cut them out with my craft knife. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye. I used the following Spellbinders dies: Lacy Circles, Labels #18, Fancy Tags #2, and Fancy Tags #3, all sponged in "Antique Linen" Distress Ink. The flower is from Prima and the small pearl flourish is from Zva.


This is for my Mother-In-Law's Birthday, this Sunday. Mom loves non fussy cards, but embraces strong colors and some feminine touches. So balancing all of those ideals, for her, was pretty hard to do. I think it has the strong color she loves, but not so strong it's hard to enjoy :) I threw in a small flourish of pearls in there to add some some elegance, and the flowers and butterflies represent her love of gardening :) I think this card will make her smile.  Happy Birthday, Mom :)