Spread Your Wings by There She Goes

I have slowly, yet proudly, accepted my title as "Butterfly Queen" over the past couple of years (I have been DEFINITELY called worse!!). My good friend, Jessica Knutsen, happened to be in Evanston over the July 4th holiday visiting family, and she made the "swing" down to Salt Lake City to pay me a visit. Imagine my delight when she handed me this yet-to-be-released set of WONDERFUL butterfly stamps!!! She said, "I know you are the Butterfly Queen and there is NO WAY I could have come all this way without bringing this to you!"

I was also very pleased when she asked me to make a Guest Designer "reappearance" for its release (I was on the TSG Design Team when Jessica first launched it last fall). Not want to play with butterflies??? ME!!???? NOT possible!!

This set it just brimming with gorgeous butterflies and lovely sentiments to go along with them!! And this first card is just going to HAVE to be my "Follow the Butterfles" card #101! Which puts me a little ahead of the game since I didn't actually need to make one 'til NEXT week!! HUZZAH!! (And notice the little butterflies embossed onto the ribbon??? Too-too cute!!) For more info you can see the link/slideshows on the sidebar to the right . . .)

Stamps: Spread Your Wings by There She Goes
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Cool Caribbean, Whisper White
Accessories: Spellbinders Long Rectangle - Large Nestabilities (S4-142) and Long Scalloped Rectangle - Large Nestabiliies (S4-143), Diamond Scallop edge punch by EK Success, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, white butterfly organza ribbon, pop-up glue dots

I wasn't planning on making TWO cards for this sneak peek, but I got this MUI-MUI FABULOUS-O paper yesterday and couldn't WAIT to use it!! I stamped the butterfly with black craft ink onto vellum, then used my brayer to color the vellum with my pumpkin pie ink.

So here I go again with the black/white thing (oh, I crack myself up!! "Here I go with 'There She Goes'!"). I gotta get a new color scheme . . . QUICK!!


Stamps: Spread Your Wings by There She Goes
Ink: Black Craft
Paper: Groom Speciality Paper by Stampin' Up, Whisper White, Brushed Silver
Accessories: 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch, modern label punch, large oval punch, white polka dot organza ribbon (May Arts), glue dots

Now, to see ALL the fun creations on this Sneak Peek, here is a blog roll to the other There She Goes "Trendsetters" . . . you are going to NEED this set . . . you KNOW you are!!

Jessica
Becky
Christi
Faith
Holly
Jessie
Joanne
Jodi
Julie
Maki
Silke

ME - (Guess I don't need to give you a link 'cause you're already HERE!)

WAHOO!!! 100!!!

I NEVER thought this day would EVER get here!! This is "Follow the Butterflies" card #100!! Which blows my mind on more than one level . . . I only have FOUR more to go!! Which means that just in a little over a month we will be traveling to Germany to pick my son up! Holy COWSERS!! These two years have gone so much faster than I thought they would!

This is another butterfly that "flew around the world" for my son as well. One of my daughter's friends (Hey, Merin!) recently returned from a trip with her family to Hong Kong (her mother is from there and they go there every summer to visit). She always brings funs little snacks and trinkets for my daughter and her other friends. This year, however, she remembered ME, too!! Knowing that I am doing these cards, she bought me this BEAUTIFUL red silk hand-cut butterfly. It is really even more amazing in person! I can't EVEN imagine cutting this out by hand! YOWZA!!! So now, this butterfly has traveled from Hong Kong to Salt Lake City, and will be on its way to Landshut, Germany today! That's a long journey, even for a butterfly!! I think I need to start using some new colors, too, 'cause I've been stuck in the red/black mode for a bit!

Be sure to come back again tomorrow for a sneak peek of the new AWESOME set being released at "There She Goes." Jessica (the owner of TSG) called and asked me if I would return for a special Guest Designer for this release. You are going to love it as much as I do, I am sure!!!

Stamps: Wedding Sweet, Kanji
Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Handcut silk butterfly, large and small oval punches, kraft taffeta ribbon, flower charm

Where'd I Go????

Sorry for the long delay in posting . . . I have been out of town for a church youth retreat since Monday. I had so much to do before leaving that I didn't get time to put up my blog post, so I have some catching up to do!! (The retreat was GREAT fun, btw!)

Roxie Glaza (aka Rox71 on SCS) made this drop-dead GORGEOUS card last week for WT227 last week ("Seeing Double"). Roxie hostesses the sketch challenges every Wednesday and I have long been an admirer of her work:

Roxie's "Seeing Double

I knew IMMEDIATELY I wanted to try to make something like this, and what you see here is my not-quite-as-fabulous attempt. Her card was soooo pretty, and I had envisioned this to come out SO much cooler than it did . . . guess I need to practice!! Guess it didn't help that I did it for LSC229, which was to use either our high school colors (royal blue and yellow gold - fuhgetaboutit!) or our wedding colors (and mine were black and rose reddish).

I think I may have to try this a few more times before I come up with something I REALLY like!!

Stamps: Autumn Days, Great Friend, Wonderful Watercolors
Paper: Basic Black, Rose Red, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Photo turns, black polka dot organza ribbon, diamond scallop edge punch by EK Success, Spellbinders Labels One (S4-181)

Butterfly #99 . . .

99??? Could it really be true that I have done 99 butterfly cards???? That just seems too totally unreal to me . . . WHICH MEANS . . . I only have FIVE more to go!! We leave on September 1 to go to Germany and pick up my son!!! WAHOOTIE!!! I can scarcely believe it!!!

I saw this Magenta stamp a while back and just could NOT help myself!! A butterfly "flap" stamp??? I think this is soooo cool!! Got it with a coupon, too, so THAT was happy!!! I did this for WT227 - Seeing Double. The idea was that we were supposed to include at least one element that was doubled. I used TWO brads, DOUBLE wrapped my ribbon, and used TWO of the 5-petal flowers. I am not quite sure about my coloring (getting into tight spaces can be tricky!), but I DID try to use colors that I don't normally put together . . . so there ya go!

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Magenta Butterfly Flap
Paper: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Watercolor
Ink: Black Stazon, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Garden Green, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: 5-petal flower punch, modern label punch, word window punch, 1" and 3/4" circle punches, Cuttlebug Bird Call embossing folder, single-stitched ribbon, small white brads, pop-up glue dots





I was asked to share more photos of my niece's wedding . . . soooooo . . . here is a picture I snapped of her (and edited a bit in Photoshop). I really prefer the "unposed" looking shots to the totally staged ones . . .

Exciting, Exciting, Exciting!!

Sorry for the long absence. I went out of town last Friday for my niece's wedding and haven't had a chance to post anything . . .

First, I have some TOTALLY exciting news (hence, the title of this post!)!!! I was chosen to be a Guest Designer for Our Daily Bread Designs for August!! I can't tell you how happy this makes me!! I found out at about 4:00 a.m. on Saturday while I was cruising the 'net at the hotel . . . hard to sleep with a semi-snoring mom in one bed and a 15-year-old daughter with arms and legs in every direction right beside me!!! I wanted to wait to announce the news when I actually had a card or something I could share with you! I can't wait to get my hands on some of the ODBD stamps . . . they are so lovely and uplifting . . . :)

This is Butterfly #98 . . . can you believe it??!!??? NINETY-EIGHT!! We are nearing the end, my friends. Although I am seriously contemplating continuing the challenge on a less-frequent basis. What do you think? I've been having waaaayyyy too much fun with it! Don't feel quite ready to relinquish my "Butterfly Queen" crown just yet.

I used many-o'-Spellbinders die on this baby (check supply list below). I also tried the reverse stenciling technique with the Pierceabilities border die. SHAZAM!!! I think this looks AWESOME (even if it is messy!). Here is a link I did forEVUH ago on how to do reverse stenciling:

Reverse Stenciling Tutorial

Stamps: NONE (can you believe it??)
Ink: Basic Black craft
Paper: Basic Black and Whisper White by SU; Light Berry Red and Dark Meri-Gold by WorldWin
Accessories: Spellbinders Flying Beauties (S4-123), Victorian Lace Border Pierceability (S4-167) and Antique Bookplate (S3-009), Piercing Tool/Mat, Glue Dots and Pop-Up Glue Dots





Last, but not least, I wanted to share this photo of my daughter and my niece from the wedding (Amelia was the flower girl . . . even though she is 15!). I took over 300 photos and this is my favorite one . . .

Mr. & Mrs.

I am in quite the wedding-ish mood . . . we are headed out of town this weekend for my niece's wedding. It seems soooo weird to me that she is actually getting married, since she is only 12 DAYS older than my oldest son (I am SOOO not old enough for this!)!!!! I guess I will have to start telling people that I got married when I was 9 (if only they would believe THAT)!

I made this card quite a while ago for Spellbinders and totally forgot to post it here!! I was really happy with the way that it turned out!! It has MUI-MANY layers, so it is definitely NOT one I would wish to mass produce, that's for sure!!

Stamps: Together Forever
Paper: Blush Blossom, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla
Ink: Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Spellbinders Large Inverted Scalloped Circle (S4-194), Large Classic Scalloped Square (S4-127), Large Classic Circle (S4-114) and Dahlia (S4-191) Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Floral Fantasy and Swiss Dots embossing folders, pearl sticker, pop-up glue dots

Lovely New Spellbinders Pendant/Border Dies

My socks are completely blown OFF!! These new pendant dies that Spellbinders has just released are simply GAWgeous!!! I love it when something that looks so amazingly terrific is so easy to create something with. I see these pendant dies becoming a fast favorite at my house, that's for SURE!!

I made this for TLC228 - Stand Up Card. Y'all know me and my funky-fold obsession! This is just PERFECT in that category! And it's EASY, too!! Here's a link to a photo of the template you will need (which is sooo easy you won't even need to print it out!):

Penny Wessenauer's Stand Up Card Template

Have fun, friends!

Stamps: Beautiful Blooms by Papertrey
Paper: Basic Black, Summer Sun, Barely Banana, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Summer Sun
Accessories: Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Pendant die (S4-204), Fleur de Lis Borderabiltiies die (S4-213) and Small Classic Inverted Scallop Square (S4-197), large and small oval punches, white organza polka dot ribbon, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, dimensionals

Grad Thanks

Well . . . I finally got around to making some "thank you" cards for my son to send out to all the generous friends and family who gave him gifts (mostly $$!!) for graduation. I finished these LAST weekend . . . now, if only I could actually get my son to WRITE in them!!

I used the "card" feature with the "Locker Talk" Cricut cartridge. I then cut it down (the black piece) and just used it as a card front. I wanted the extra layer on the back (the white one) to give this some more dimension. I then ran the black piece with the grad hat cutout through my Big Shot with the "Thanks" Cuttlebug embossing folder (how's that for using as many tools as possible on one card???)??

Stamps: Simple Alphabet by Papertrey
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Summer Sun
Accessories: Cricut "Locker Talk" Cartridge, Cuttlebug "Thanks" Embossing Folder, Large Oval Punch, small white brad, black/white gingham ribbon, pop-up glue dots

Have a wonderful 4th of July . . . or Canada Day . . . or just a happy, relaxing weekend!!

Two VERY Different Looks!

Hey, friends!

I feel like I have some 'splainin' to do . . . I saw that Cricut was coming out with a Spongebob Squarepants cartridge when we saw it previewed at CHA back in January. Can you say STOKED???? I realize Spongebob is a very ridiculously goofy kid's cartoon, but our family LOVES it!! For me, I guess I would have to say that the allure has to do with Patrick (this uber-dumb starfish). As most of you know, my oldest son, Devan, has been getting weekly butterfly cards from me since he left on August 29, 2007, to serve a mission for the LDS Church (he is currently in a little town in Germany called Landshut). Anyway, Devan just happens to be "off-the-charts" brilliant (says his mother!)! Honestly, we have known that he has had a very high IQ since he started identifying numbers and letters at the age of 15 months. He could also fluently speak THREE languages by the time he graduated from high school, has a photographic memory and perfect pitch . . . but I digress . . .

The reason I bring all of this up is that the very first time we were watching Spongebob and Patrick showed up on the scene I thought I was going to pee my pants I started laughing sooo hard. First thing I said about him?? "Oh my gosh!! THAT'S Devan!!!" For you see, as brilliantly intelligent as my son is, he NEVER gets the punchline to ANY joke (probably comes from over-analyzing it), and common sense things kind of escape him. I guess that's pretty common amongst bright people. That is why we all LOVE Patrick at our house. And that is ALSO why I knew I had to make him a Patrick "butterfly" card as soon as I saw that Cricut cartridge!! Here is what I came up with (given a little inspiration from SC235 over on SCS). This is a really "duhhhhmb" card, but I know Devan will love it (check out the slideshows/link to the right if you have NO idea what this whole butterfly card thing is all about!). This makes card #97, by the way . . .

Stamps: Family Phrases
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Lovely Lilac, Greean Galore, Gable Green, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Cricut Spongebob Squarepants, Life is a Beach, and Happily Ever After cartridges, large and small oval punches, black gingham ribbon, pop-up blue dots

So, after I woke up yesterday, this card was in my head. Since the Patrick card was kinda on the ridiculous side (I actually did it Tuesday night right after the Wednesday sketch challenge was posted), I decided I needed to give the sketch challenge a second try . . . with a little less silly involved . . . this is just one of the cards that popped into my head and was there when I woke up (doesn't happen very often, but I like it when it does!)!

Stamps: Polka Dot, Fancy Flexible Phrases
Paper: So Saffron, Barely Banana, Old Olive, Cameo Coral, Riding Hood Red, Ruby Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Old Olive
Accessories: 5-petal flower punch, 3/4" and 1/2" circle punches, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, jumbo pearl stickers, black/white polka dot organza ribbon (Offray), glue dots

Another Great Color Challenge Combo!

I have to admit that the color challenges over at SCS are the ones I have the hardest time with. Sometimes I just CANNOT feel the love, kwim? I just look at the color combo posted and go, "What???" Sometimes I choose to walk away (shocking, I know!). And other times, like last week and this week, I decided to jump in with both feet. I have to say that I would NEVER in a million years have put these colors together (okay, well, maybe ONCE in a million years I MIGHT have thought about it . . . if my cardstock supply had gotten low by that point!), AND I would NEVER in a million years have thought that I would like it so well!!

I also combined the swirl from Baroque Motifs (a set which, sadly enough, has been gathering waaayyyy too much dust as of late) with the bird on a swirl brach from "Wings of Friendship" (a new level two hostess set). LOVE how they look together, don't you?

I have also found myself lately going "ribbon retro" . . . I am rediscovering how much I like big ol' oversized ribbon treatments. I walked away from them for a while, but have found that I just DON'T have the willpower any more!!

Stamps: Wings of Friendship, Baroque Motifs
Paper: So Saffron, Kraft, Night of Navy
Ink: Night of Navy, So Saffron
Accessories: Modern label punch, large oval punch, paper piercing tool/mat, 5/8" navy organza ribbon, 3/8" white polka dot organza ribbon (May Arts), pop-up glue dots, stamp-a-ma-jig