Hello again and welcome back to the Casually Crafting blog hop! This month our theme is ‘Appreciation’ whether that be a thank-you, just because, or thinking ahead to Mother’s Day!  If you are in the UK we celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday 22nd March this year!

The Casually Crafting Design Team are a group of Independent Stampin’ Up! demonstrators that want to share our love of crafting with you all.  We will be sharing what we love every 3rd Friday of each month.  Make sure you check out the rest of the Design Team’s creative projects using the photo links at the end of this post.

Appreciation

How often, other than a cursory thank-you do we actually show someone that they are appreciated?  Whether it be the receptionist in your Doctor’s surgery, your postman or a friend just for being there?  It’s something I think we do but maybe don’t do really, really well!  Bearing in mind I make cards (Surprise!) I really don’t give enough of them.  Yes, OK, for birthdays, Christmas, if you’re lucky maybe an anniversary card, and lets face it there is nothing quite as special as getting a beautiful handmade card for no reason at all!

I can’t say that one particular stamp set jumped out at me for this theme, we have such a fabulous selection!  In the end I went back to the Annual Catalogue, which we tend to forget about once we have a nice shiny new Spring Summer Mini…. BUT there are so many fabulous sets in the main catalogue and purchases from ANY of our publications during Sale-a-Bration earns you freebies!  The set I decided on was Butterfly wishes on page 18.  This is one of DistINKtive stamp sets and the detail is amazing!  You can quite literally make a beautiful card with one piece of card, one stamp set and one ink colour and it will still look fabulous!  While you might want it all you really don’t need to have it all to make beautiful cards. 

 

My Projects

This month I made three cards using this set.  Each one is rather simple, and uses only the basic tools of paper, stamp and ink!  Hard as it was I even stepped away from my punches!

Butterfly Wishes

For this first card I literally took it back to basics.  I used our super cute whisper white notecards, pretty peacock ink and the stamps of course – and just like that you have a quick and easy thank you card!

That said I do like a little more with my cards, but again the second sample is still a really simple card.  I’ve matted the whisper white with pretty peacock to co-ordinate with the ink and popped the sentiment up on dimensionals, adding a little twine for interest.  I then fussy cut two of the flowers and overlaid them.  I finished this second card with some rhinestones and a little wash of wink of stella to the butterfly wings.

For my third and final card I created a mask using a scrap of copy paper and the 2¼” circle punch.  Next using a sponge dauber I applied ink directly to my card base, which in this case is one of our cute little notecards.  Daffodil delight is the perfect choice to create a beautiful sun.  Once I had that done I stamped the image of the branch with flowers in smoky slate so it stretched from the edge of the card towards the opposite side.  Using my stampin’  write markers I coloured the different elements.  I chose soft suede for the branches, old olive for the foliage and pumpkin pie for the flowers.  This takes a little time, I’m not going to lie but the end product is so worth it.

To finish stamped the butterfly in memento tuxedo black and coloured it with poppy parade, using soft suede for the central body, I also stamped the sentiment in Memento.

I really hope that you liked my projects for this month and they inspire you to get making, I’ve listed all the products (including links) below.  I’d love to see what you make with this amazing set!

Don’t forget to click on the photographs below to continue hopping and see what the rest of the Casually Crafting Design Team have come up with!

Thanks again for hopping by!  See you soon!

Love Me x

Casually Crafting Design Team Photo Links

Click on the photos below to continue along this month’s hop from the rest of the Casually Crafting Design Team and don’t be shy about leaving comments we would love to hear from you!

 

  Product List

Butterfly Wishes Cling Stamp Set [149346] £21.00	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes [131527] £6.50	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock [140490] £7.75	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £9.00
Pretty Peacock A4 Cardstock [150886] £8.25	Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad [150083] £7.00	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin’ Pad [147094] £7.00	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] £5.50
Brights Stampin’ Write Markers [147157] £27.50	Neutrals Stampin’ Write Markers [147158] £27.50	Regals Stampin’ Write Markers [147155] £27.50	Whisper White C6 Envelopes [106588] £7.00
Clear Block C [118486] £6.50	Clear Block D [118485] £8.00	Clear Block H [118490] £8.00	Clear Block I [118488] £11.25
Linen Thread [104199] £4.75	Rhinestone Basic Jewels [144220] £4.75	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430] £3.75	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755] £3.75
Sponge Daubers [133773] £4.75	Paper Snips [103579] £9.25	Paper Trimmer [152392] £23.00