Blue Banner Card

You would not believe how long it took for me to figure out how to cut the banner shapes in Make The Cut software!  It's been so long since I've made a card that I've forgotten the difference between weld, join, and how to resize images and not distort them!

I placed a row of  five rectangles sized at 4, 3 1/2, 3, 2 1/2 and 2 inches onto the mat in MTC and joined a triangle into the bottom edge to cut the banner shape.

The layers underneath the ribbon were done with  EK Success and W R Memory Keeper border punches.  The edges of the white layers were inked with French Blue.

The card was inspired by one seen on Pinterest.

Elegant Butterfly Punch Card

The papers I used are from a 4.5" x 6.5" Paper Adventures stack that I got at the last swarm I attended.  We all took items that we no longer wanted and put them on a table for whoever wanted them.  I don't remember who brought the stack, but I've made a lot of cards with it and still have most of it left.

The stack has several sheets of different patterned papers all within one color group, making it super easy for me to use.  No guessing or searching for coordinating papers!

The butterflies were done with a Stampin' Up Elegant Butterfly punch.  The shapes underneath them are from the Cricut cartridge, Essentials.  They were resized and cut using Make The Cut software and a Cameo.

The braided border was done with an EK Success punch.

Zero Calorie Pizza Supreme Card

 Patty Bennett is a Stampin' Up demonstrator from California.  She designed this card and featured it on her blog  Patty's Stampin Spot.    It was just too cute not to make!

The pizza slice was cut with my Cameo.  The toppings were done with various sizes and shapes of EK Success punches.

Fence with Flowers Card

Jenny at Crafting in the Country designed this card.  She made hers with much smaller flowers and used it as an insert onto a card front.  I made mine as the entire card front.

The flowers were cut and sized using Design Studio and Accent Essentials cartrdige.  The flower centers were done with an EK Success punch.  The fence boards are cut from kraft paper and embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.  The leaves are a Martha Stewart punch.

I really like the way this turned out, but it's way too complicated for me to make multiples.  This card will go into my basket of cards that I keep on hand and probably be passed on to a friend who sends a lot of cards.

It's nice that Scotch glue dries clear!  You can see some of it peeking out from behind the flower centers in this photo.

Clip Art Bird Card

The bird image is free clip art I found on Google.  Adding a sentiment to it using card making software was simple to do.  Then I printed the image onto some vintage paper, added some scalloped punch shapes using an EK Success punch, and a short piece using an EK Success border punch, Liquid Pearl dots and a silk flower to finish.  There's a light Chestnut Brown ink used on the edges.

Not Too Good, But It's A Start

These were done with the 3 step EK Success butterfly punch and a Martha Stewart punch.  I inked the edges on the larger ones and used Inka-gold paints on the smaller ones. The jagged edged circle was cut using the Preserves cartridge.

They're not too good, but it's a start at getting back into my craft room!  I find it difficult to construct things while I'm still so shaky but I am so ready to get up and start doing something! LOL!

These will be the last of the butterfly cards for a while.  I've been in a butterfly rut lately and need to look for another theme to use!

Walmart Finds

I was very pleased to see that our local Walmart had EK Success punches.  These are the only ones I got today.

I certainly hope that they're the same quality as the other EKS punches I've purchased and not a cheapened version just for Walmart.

I also found these colored staples in the clearance aisle.  I like the look of staples on cards but never would spend the money to get them at Hobby Lobby.
These were fifty cents per pack and have 2000 staples in each.  So, I think I'm fixed for life now!


Stay tuned.....I'll be posting some cards with these on the fronts soon!

Using my EK success Three Step Punch

 This one has just the second layer of the punch with some Stickles on the body and some dots made with Tulip Slick Paint.

This one has all three layers of the butterfly.

Side view of the three layers.







After using the punch several times, I've decided that this three step butterfly punch isn't for me.

I find that it's difficult to use, especially on the first level that you punch. 
You have to really apply heavy pressure on it to punch the intricate cut outs all the way through. I'd say if you have any problems with arthritis in your hands, to save your money.

It won't punch cleanly unless you're using really heavy paper or card stock.  And because you're punching so deeply, the paper gets pushed down around the sharp edges and you have to rip it out of the punch to reposition it to punch additional shapes.

This is the only one of the three step punches I've tried and perhaps the reason I don't like it is because the top butterfly shape has so many tiny openings and that makes it so difficult to punch.  Once you get it punched and assembled, the butterfly looks really good on card fronts.  Lots of dimension, and I like that you can use each of the three shapes individually.

EK Success newest punches

While in Joanne's today I ran across a display of the newest EK Success punches.  They're the triple punch or layering punch type.  Each one has three different shapes it will punch out and you can layer them for a more dimensional image.

It was hard to decide which one to get.  I didn't have a coupon, and I just never pay full price for things! But, I knew it would be a long time before I was back at a J's so I chose the butterfly.  Then, when it rang up, it was on sale about 40% off!  So, it was a good deal, after all!

Here's what each of the three layers look like:

Then you can layer them to look like this:

Sorry the photo of the assembled butterfly aren't too clear, but you get the idea!  This is going to be a great way to dress up some cards since I seem to be obsessed with butterflies recently.

They had other punches that do shapes that link together to make borders.  I'm kind of wishing now that I'd gone back and picked up at least one of those to play with too!