Sale-a-bration 2013! Patterned Occasions

Hello again!
This card showcases the new Patterned Ocassions stamp set which can be yours for FREE, courtesy of Sale-a-bration 2013, when you spend £45 from the annual catalogue or the new Spring/Summer catalogue that's out on 1st February.
For more details of this offer and other Sale-a-bration-related news, please click here . For a list of the freebies you could be earning between now and 22nd March, click here Do contact me either by phone or email, and I'd be more than happy to assist you in putting in an order, and benefiting from this excellent promotion.
Back to the card: First, I embossed it, using the beautiful Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder on the Big Shot, then I stamped the elephant image directly onto the card in Pink Passion ink (now retired, though the current Melon Mambo ink pad would do just as well). I randomly stamped a couple of small butterflies from the Papillion Potpourri stamp set in Tempting Turqouise ink, and added a much bigger, stamped and punched out butterfly from the same set, using the Elegant Butterfly punch, and positioning it on top of the card, with some 3-D Stampin' Dimensionals, as if resting on one of the design's branches. I decorated both the butterflies and the elephant image with some Rhinestone Basic Jewels, and added some tiny, blue and pink circles (punched out of paper) to the inside of the flowers, for some extra colour. What do you think?

This other card is made using the same stamp set as the one above (Patterned Occasions), but the image is different, a cupcake instead of an elephant, and a 'Happy Birthday' greeting, instead of a 'Thank You' one. As you can see, the creations you can come up with using this multi-purpose set are endless.
In the next few days, I hope to show you some more projects I've made using some other, lovely Sale-a-bration products. Thanks for stopping by, and visit me again soon!

Papillion Potpourri and the New Year!

The New Year is almost here, and what better way to celebrate it than with a couple of butterfly cards! Ah, the fragile, yet gracious butterfly - the symbol of new life, new beginning! And that’s what the New Year is all about, isn’t it?

The stamp set is one that I fell in love with the moment I opened the 2012-13 annual catalogue – Papillion Potpourri. So pretty and useful for so many different occasions, from birthdays to ‘Get Well’ and ‘Thank You’ cards.

To make the most of this set, you’ve got to have the Elegant Butterfly punch, which is what I’ve used here, having stamped the butterfly image first on to some Whisper White cardstock, then punched it out, and mounted it on to the card topper, using 3-D Dimensionals.

And if you’re anything like me, you might like to take coordination on to the next, higher level. I believe there’s another smaller, Bitty Butterfly punch coming out in February, with the new Spring-Summer 2013 Catalogue (p.13), which goes really well with the smaller butterfly stamp of the Papillion Potpourri set. Isn’t that brilliant?

To finish off the card you could add a sentiment – I went for ‘Happy Birthday Wishes’ from the Petite Pairs stamp set.

The buttons add a nice touch to the butterflies’ bodies, and Stampin’Up’s own buttons are perfect for this.

Alternatively, you could use Rhinestone Gems, which is what I’ve used on the second card. The sentiment on this is from a beautiful, unfortunately now retired, set called Vintage Vogue. “You raise kindness to an art” – how lovely to be able to say that to someone who deserves your thanks!

I don’t yet possess a Stampamajig, but if I did, I’d have horizontally stamped up the three butterfly images using this very useful tool, though the way I’ve done it (i.e. not in a straight line), doesn’t look too bad. What do you think? After all, butterflies fly where and how they please!

May your New Year be a happy, healthy and successful one! May all its joys and surprises, as well as its trials and challenges, help you grow stronger in body and spirit. Life is indeed like a butterfly. Treasure it while it lasts!