Spring – Page 2 – Stamped Smiles

Brightening A Rainy Day

Hello friends! Are you longing for that rainy Springtime showers with lots of flowers because you’re tired of snow? I know that I’ve been wanting Spring to get here very soon! I thought I’d bring some of that feeling into my blog post this morning:

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It’s my turn to post on the Sparkle N Sprinkle Blog today…so CLICK HERE to check it out if you want to see my post there or you can read details below too!

~affiliate product links used below~

I started out with my images from these gorgeous stamp sets that were released as a bundle set from Sparkle N Sprinkle this month called May Showers Spring Bundle. (They are rubber stamp sets which contain both the Showers of Tulips rubber stamp set as well as the May Showers rubber stamp set. You get a slight discount when you buy the bundle set of them. There are also digital versions with the May Showers Bundle Digi Set as well as the individual Showers of Tulips digi and the May Showers digi.)

I wanted to incoporate both of these rubber stamp sets into my design, so I heat embossed the parasol image from the Showers of Tulips set and the bows from the May Showers set with SNS White EP over some Bristol Smooth Watercolor paper. I colored them in with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers and fussy cut them out with my scissors and set them aside.

For the background panel, I took another piece of watercolor paper and spritzed it with water to get it good and wet before sprinkling on some Nuvo Blue Blitz Shimmer Powder. I spritzed it again to really get the water moving around and manipulted the panel so that I could get the water drips going down the panel. Once this dried, I cut it out with the Tonic Basics Scalloped Square Dies.

Using my cut out parasol image for placement, I heat embossed the sentiment from the May Showers stamp set with the SNS Coffee EP where I wanted it over the watercolor panel. I then took the raindrops image from the same stamp set and stamped it with VersaMark ink repeatedly over the background and heat embossed it with that SNS Magic Speckle EP. (Remember this gorgeous pearly sheen it gave to my Winter Deer card from last week? I told you that I would be bringing it back out for another project! I am loving the look it gave the raindrops here. Don’t forget that this powder is a tad bit thicker than normal embossing powder, so heat from underneath your project to help melt it so it doesn’t blow all over.) I’ve also added some Nuvo Morning Dew Crystal Drops to the center of each drop for more dimension and shine to get a nice wet water look to it! This was set aside to dry for a bit.

I took another piece of cardstock (slightly larger than the watercolor panel) and rubbed my VersaMark Ink pad along the edges to heat emboss it with the SNS Coffee EP. I attached these layers together and then glued some craft foam behind it for dimension.

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I’ve used a blue 5″ square top folding card base for my design and took a piece of white doily I had from my stash and glued it on with some SNS Dimensional Glue. I then added a strip of white cardstock covered with a piece of 1/2″ Tear-iffic Tape going diagnolly across the card base and burnished some Sunny Daze glitter over it.

Finally I added the watercolor and embossed layers over top of the card base and then took my fussy cut images and added them to the design with some foam dots.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Spring Showers card today and it’s inspired you in some way! I thank you SO MUCH for dropping in! I appreciate all of the kind comments and a big welcome to my new followers…love meeting fellow crafty friends!!

If you go shopping at Sparkle N Sprinkle using any of the affliate links above in my post, please be sure to add my special discount code below at checkout so that you can get 10% off your entire order:

Challenges I’d like to enter this card for:

Cardz 4 Galz – Weather (any condition)
Moving Along With the Times – Little Bit ‘Shabby Chic’
The Flower Challenge – Use Latest Stamp/Dies + flowers (SNS stamps)
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – (PIP1907) – Anything Goes
Try it On Tuesday – “Powder Your……..” (Shimmer powder, Embossing powder)

February 20, 2019February 19, 2019

*Vicki* from Stamped Smiles36 Comments

Fistful of Flowers From Whimsy Stamps

Hello friends! Hope that you are having a great week so far! There is plenty of ice and snow over my way for the next several days, so I thought I would bring a little ‘happy’ today with a “Fistful of Flowers” from Whimsy Stamps!

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Isn’t she the cutest?! This was originally released as a rubber stamp from Crissy Armstrong, but this month it has been released in digital format now as well! Weather you like to stamp your images or print them out, you may be able to have both options! So if you have ever wished that some of the stamps you like would come out in digital form….please be sure to check the website to see if it has been re-released as a digital!

I have to be honest and say that after I had colored in the image, I was struggling with the colors of cardstock I wanted to use and it seemed that anything I picked out wasn’t quite working. (You ever have this problem?) My hubby came in to visit me and I told him I was struggling, so he took me over to my paper and picked out these colors and I liked it, so I went with it! Did he do good? 🙂

I have cut a piece of yellow cardstock out and then took the WS Mom’s Layered Flowers clear stamp set (one of my old faves!) and white heat embossed the background with one of the daisy images. I wrapped a piece of white ribbon around the yellow embossed piece that was also mounted onto a white 4.25 x 5.5 card front piece. After wrapping the ribbon around both pieces, I added a bow and this panel was then mounted onto a white top folding A2 sized card base.

The colored image panel was layered with a blue cardstock which I’ve also cut a piece for a fishtail banner and added some daisy accent flowers to it.

This cutie has been colored up with the following Copics: (Click on affiliate links below to purchase from Whimsy Stamps)

Jeans & Bow tie on shirt – B97, B95, B93, B34
Shirt & Hair Bows – R85, R83, R81
Flower Petals & White Band on Shirt – BG000 (also around image)
Flowers – center: Y17 – Leaves/Stems: YG67, YG63, YG61
Grass – G24, G21, G20
Hair – YR30, E41, E43, E44, V95
Skin – E21, E11, E00, E000, R20

I took a glue pen and added some clear glitter over the edge of the flower petals for a bit of sparkle. You can see that the daisy accents also have some light touches of glitter on the edges as well.

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So I hope you’ve enjoyed my card today and check out all of the fun things going on and coming up with Whimsy Stamps!

Right now there is a fun challenge over in the Whimsy Stamps & Inspiration Facebook Group: The challenge is to create a love/Valentine’s card using any Whimsy Stamps image that you would NOT typically associate with love or Valentines. You can enter up to 3 times and it closes on February 28th….click on the link or badge above to go check it out!

You may have seen this on the sidebar of my blog as I’m happy to help promote this wonderful cause from Whimsy Stamps and wanted to be sure to share with you! (Click on the badge for more information about this fundraiser!)

And don’t forget to check out the Whimsy Stamps & Inspiration Facebook Group to join us in a special event starting February 14th – February 17th

There will be games, giveaways and lots of inspiration to share! So be sure to click the link above to add your name and share with your friends so they can join us too! If we reach 250 people “going” to the event, there will be a FREE DIGI to be given away too!! Hope you can join!!

Here are the Whimsy Stamp Products (affiliate links) used on my card today:

Challenges I’d like to enter this card for:

Crafting With an Attitude – Anything Goes
Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
QKR Stampede – #334 Anything Goes
Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP1906 Anything Goes
Shopping Our Stash – Make Your Mark (colored with markers)

February 12, 2019February 12, 2019

*Vicki* from Stamped Smiles22 Comments

Anything Goes at Cute Card Thursday!

**Please see my TURNER SYNDROME AWARENESS BLOG HOP post for details on how to enter for prizes and learn what it’s all about!** – ends Feb 7th! (Today is last day!)

Happy Thursday friends! 🙂 It’s Thursday and that means it’s time for a NEW Cute Card Thursday challenge this week! So this week it’s our beginning of the month “ANYTHING GOES” challenge! We can’t wait to see your creations!

Our sponsor for this challenge is Whimsy Stamps.

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Are YOU thinking Spring too?! I am, but I don’t think it’s working very well with the snow, cold and ice we’ve been getting! LOL! So I will stay warm inside and bring my thoughts of Spring to my craft room!

I am using this really sweet digital image from Whimsy Stamps called Think Spring Bunnies by Crissy Armstrong. It was previously released as a rubber stamp, but now it’s available in digital format! I have printed out this image and used the following Copic Markers for coloring:

(Click each number below to purchase from Whimsy Stamps. *Please note that if you click on a link and it’s not in stock, you can enter your e-mail address to be notified when it comes back in stock. If there’s not link, it’s not found in store.*)

Bunnies – W5, W3, W1, W0, E33, E31, E30, –C3, C1, C0 (tails)-, E44, E42, E40, Blender 0 (spotted bunny)
spotted bunny inside ears, nose face – R20, R00
Wooden sign – E25, E23, E21 (E23 used for center of yellow flowers)
flowers – Y17, Y15, Y11, V17, V12 – YG67, YG61 (leaves/stems)
grass – G24, G21, G20
butterfly – Y11, R00
sky around image – B01, B00, B000, B0000

Here’s a closer view of the colored image. I have also used a white gel pen in the bunny’s tails as well as the spotted bunny’s cheeks. I also took a Wink of Stella clear glitter brush pen to go over the butterfly and the flying bug’s wings.

It was so fun to color these furry bunny butts!! 🙂

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I’ve used some of the digital papers released last month called Oh Boy…really loving the ginghams in this set! So I’ve cut out both these papers along with some solid yellow papers (from same set) and the colored bunny strip with the Whimsy Stamps Hand Stitched Nested Rectangles dies. I also took a strip of gray colored cardstock and used an older border die from Whimsy Stamps to create the scalloped edge.

These were all layered onto a white A2 sized top folding card base. I wrapped some twine along the edge and tied it in a bow and then lastly I’ve added some yellow crystals from Pretty Pink Posh randomly over the card.

Really hop(e) you’ve enjoyed my card today and please check out the Cute Card Thursday challenge blog to see what the rest of the design team has come up with! Thanks so much for dropping in!!

Whimsy Stamps products used: (Copics see list above.)

Challenges:

Crafty Animals – Anything Goes + animal
A Bit More Time to Craft – Anything Goes
Crazy 4 Challenges (C4C469) – Ground Hog or Critter
Send a Smile 4 Kids – Anything Goes/Easter/Spring
613 Avenue Create – Anything Goes with optional: use a critter
Crafting From the Heart – Anything Goes

February 7, 2019February 6, 2019

*Vicki* from Stamped Smiles25 Comments

May Day Floral Wreath With Sparkle N Sprinkle’s February New Release!

**Please see my TURNER SYNDROME AWARENESS BLOG HOP post for details on how to enter for prizes and learn what it’s all about!** – ends Feb 7th!

Hello friends! With the cold weather and ice around my area, I thought it would be nice to turn my attention towards the month of May with my creation today:

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I have used this gorgeous new February digital stamp set from Sparkle N Sprinkle called May Day Floral Nosegay. I have printed out the pre-colored floral images and fussy cut them out for this card. The sentiment in the center of the wreath is also from this same set which I’ve printed out as well and then cut it out with the Tonic Scalloped Squares Basic die set and sponged around the edges with some blue ink.

For the wreath, I’ve used the Tonic Rococo Fern Garland die and cut it out once in green cardstock and another in white cardstock. For the white one I cut the ribbon area only and covered this piece with VersaMark ink which was heat embossed with some Sweetheart EP. (This is such a pretty EP with lots of sparkle! See below!)

I also heat embossed this same Sweetheart EP along the edges of a white cardstock that I cut out to layer behind the wreath panel. The heat embossed bow was glued over the green wreath and then the entire wreath was centered over the sentiment panel. I also then layered these panels onto a piece of black cardstock. I also put some craft foam behind this panel for some dimension on my card.

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For the tiny flowers behind a couple of the white flowers, I took my Clear Mark Embossing Pen and heat embossed the very tips with the same EP as above. All of these cut flowers were attached with the SnS Dimensional Glue onto the wreath with a couple popped up for dimension. I also took some Nuvo Honey Gold Glitter Drops for the centers of the flowers as you can see in the photo above.

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Lastly, for the base of my card, I cut a piece of A2 sized top folding card base with a light blue cardstock. I also used this same cardstock color to cut out a couple of pieces using the Tonic Elegant Columns die set…so pretty! I sponged some white ink around the edges of them and attached them to the card base. I cut off the edges that were sticking out with my scissors. (You can see the die I’ve used in the photo above.)

If you get a chance, hop on over to the Sparkle N Sprinkle website to check out the entire new Release for February! – CLICK HERE! (It’s the first 8 sets shown.) Also don’t forget if you go shopping, you can get 10% off your entire order by using my special code below:

Hope you’ve been inspired by my creation today and I thank you so much for stopping by!! See you soon!

Challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks – Anything Goes
CRAFT – Anything Goes
Moving Along With the Times – Add a Sentiment
A Perfect Time to Craft – Anything Goes
Crafty Catz – Anyting Goes + optional: Lots of Layers
Papercraft – Something New (new stamp set, dies, EP, flowers)

February 6, 2019February 5, 2019

*Vicki* from Stamped Smiles28 Comments

Whimsy Stamps New Digital Release – Willow

**Please see my TURNER SYNDROME AWARENESS BLOG HOP post for details on how to enter for prizes and learn what it’s all about!** – ends Feb 7th!

Hello friends! So are you having a Super Bowl party today? It’s always been sort of a little “thing” at our house each year since my kids were little….they were in it for the snacks of course! LOL!

Today I want to share with you a card I made with one of the brand new February digital releases from Whimsy Stamps! Check them all out by CLICKING HERE!

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I have used this darling little Willow girl on my card today! Oh my those eyes are so catching on her! (Had to make them a pretty blue!) I have colored her up with the following Copic markers: (CLICK HERE to purchase from Whimsy Stamps.)

Dress, hair bows, shoe bows – R85, R83, R81, R00
Flowers – Y17, Y15, Y11, V17, V12, YG63, YG61
Shoes, Socks – E84, E81, BG000
Hair – E27, E25, E23, E21
Skin, Eyes – E21, E11, E00, E000, R20, R00, BG49, BG45
Around image – C1 (white gel dots on cheeks and eyes)

First I took the Whimsy Stamps Notched Rectangles die set and cut out the colored image. Then I thought those yellow flowers she’s holding needed to be brought out a bit so I took the smaller flower image from the Whimsy Stamps Mom’s Layered Flowers clear stamp set and stamped it with yellow ink around the edges and die cut a scalloped rectangle layer with a suede brown cardstock to layer behind it. I sponged around the edges with the some Brushed Corduroy distress ink and ink foam blending tool. I did the same to the left edge of the white A2 sized top folding card base.

For the right side of the card base, I took some of the Oh Boy digital papers from last month’s release and attached it. Then I took the sentiment from the same floral clear stamp set as mentioned above and stamped it with some brown ink at the bottom right corner of the card.

Here’s a closer view of the coloring on my image. You can see the yellow glittered hearts and those piercing blue eyes! 🙂

I then took the layered image panel and attached it to some craft foam and added it to the center of the card design. Lastly, I stamped a couple of hearts from the same stamp set mentioned above and filled them with some yellow glitter and added pearls to the corners.

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Please be sure to stop by the Whimsy Stamps store to check out all of the brand new February release and if you haven’t yet, join us over at the Whimsy Stamps Facebook Group and please share your Whimsy Stamps creations with us! We’d love to see what you’re up to! (P.S. There’s a fun “love challenge” going on in the group too right now! Check out the details by CLICKING HERE!)

*Click on the links above in my post to purchase directly from Whimsy Stamps*

Challenges:

City Crafter – Floral Background
Addicted to Stamps & More – Anything Goes
Watercooler Wednesday – WWC206 Anything Goes
CCEE Stampers – CCEE1905 National ‘Thank You’ month
Creative Knockouts – Flower Power

February 3, 2019February 2, 2019

*Vicki* from Stamped Smiles20 Comments

Hello Cute Chicks!

Hello friends! Err…should I say “Cute Chicks”! 🙂

I have some more Whimsy Stamps inspiration to share with you today using this sweet image by Crissy Armstrong called Penguin’s Cute Chicks. Now it may look familiar to you and that’s because it was originally made as a rubber stamp, but starting with this month’s release it has been released in digital format! So it’s great to now have both options available to you!

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I am a huge penguin fan and Crissy’s penguins are so fun to color! I have colored this image with the following Copics (Click on the underlined numbers to purchase from Whimsy Stamps.)

Penguin Body, Beak, Feet, Cheeks: C8, C5, C3, C1, C0 – YR18, YR15, YR12 – R00, R000
Penguin hat & scarf: E89, E87, E84, E81
Chicks: Y38, Y17, Y15, Y11 – Cheeks: R00
Chick blue & purple ribbons: B39, B37, B34 – purple: V17, V15, V12
Egg shell and around image: BG000
Grass: YG67, YG63, YG61

(More up-close details below!)

I have also used some fun digital papers from the January digital release called “Oh Boy” digital papers collection. (You may remember the “Crateful of Kittens” card that I had previously done which was using these same papers. I’ve used both the striped and solid papers for my card here. At the top of the striped papers, I used the Whimsy Stamps Pierced Border Trio dies to cut a curvy border. I cut another piece like that in black cardstock to layer behind it.

I took the WS Painted Sayings clear stamp set and stamped the greeting in the upper left corner of the image panel and I also used the splatter images from the set and stamped some black splatters over the solid colored digital papers. Before attaching the striped panel to the solid background, I added some white ribbon with a bow and a black button with a bow twine through it. I attached this to the solid panel and then attached all layers to a white 5″ square top folding card base.

Here’s a closer view of the image with my coloring. For around the edges of the image panel, I took a glue pen and sprinkled on some clear glitter for a bit of a sparkly touch around the design. I layered this onto a black piece of cardstock and then added some craft foam behind it for a slight dimension and attached it to the card front.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my card today! Thanks for stopping by!! I’ll see you back again tomorrow for another really fun project I made!

Here’s the Whimsy Stamps products used on my card today: (For the Copic coloring list, please see the above underlined numbers to click and purchase.)

Challenges I’d like to enter this card for:

As You Like It – Pearls or Buttons? (I love to add buttons in the center of bows and with different colors it can work on any style you’re designing.)
Crafting From the Heart – #235 Anything Goes

January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

*Vicki* from Stamped Smiles23 Comments

Enjoy the Changes Life Brings

Hello friends! Back with you today to share a card I’ve made using the January release stamp set from Sparkle N Sprinkle called Early Spring Nest!

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I had so much fun playing with this pretty Spring image and playing with some new embossing powders on this one!

To get the background, I’ve taken a piece of watercolor paper and sprinkled it with some Nuvo Blue Blitz Shimmer Powder and spritzed it with water to also move it around the paper until I got the look I was wanting for it. I set it aside to work on the rest of my card until it was COMPLETELY dry. After it dried, I took my Static Free Bag to rub over the area and prep for heat embossing. I stamped the Crackle Background stamp (Really love the versatility of this image!) with VersaMark and heat set the image with the SNS Robin’s Egg embossing powder. (Sounded like the perfect product to use for my card!) I also used my corner chomper to round the corners on this panel.

For the scallop layer behind this panel as well as the layer behind the sentiment, I took my VersaMark ink pad and smeared on a layer around the edges and heat embossed them with the SNS Coffee embossing powder. I also used this for the sentiment as well as the nest image, so this also works for a nice detailed embossing powder! I made the fishtail banner layer before I did the embossing with my Tim Holtz 5″ scissors. I took some craft foam and attached the front base panel to the embossed scalloped layer which was mounted onto a white A2 sized top folding card base.

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Here’s a closer look at the stamped Crackle background with the Robin’s Egg heat embossing over the watercolor background. I just love the shimmer it has in it! You can also see the Coffee heat embossed layers. I love the pretty Copper sheen it has as well as the dark brown flecks in it! You can also see how well it embossed the fine detailed stamped images too.

There are so many different things going on with the embossing powder on this design that you really need to capture all the different angles throughout the design to see it!

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For the coloring of the image, I just used some Clean Color Real Brush markers for it. I like to heat emboss the images when I do this sort of coloring as it helps to keep the watercoloring inside the lines and acts as sort of a “well” so that the colors stay where you want them.

For the eggs inside the nest, I took a VersaMarker pen and colored them in with it. Then I took the same Robin’s Egg embossing powder and heat set the eggs with it. It really creates a fun and unique look with the blue tint and speckle flakes in it, plus it gives it a nice embossed shine for an “egg like” appearance!

After coloring in the image, I used my scissors to fussy cut it out and then added a couple of feathers from my stash and attached this image over the card front panel with some foam tape. I finished off my design by adding a few random drops with some Nuvo Dazzling Blue Glitter Drops.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed my card today and thank you so much for stopping in!

Don’t forget to use my code below at checkout when shopping:

Here’s quick list of Sparkle N Sprinkle products used today:

Stamps:

Early Spring Nest stamp set 00-932-P5
Crackle Background stamp set 00-609-P5

Embossing Powders:

Coffee embossing powder EP459
Robin’s Egg embossing powder EP468

Ink:

VersaMark Embossing Ink Pad VM001
VersaMarker Embossing Pen PV-000-001

Coloring Mediums:

Nuvo Blue Blitz Shimmer Powder 1208N

Embellishments:

Nuvo Dazzling Blue Glitter Drops 759N

Tools:

Static Free Bag 99512
Tim Holtz 5″ Mini Scissor 816E

Challenges I’d like to enter:

~~Fab ‘N’ Funky – New Beginnings~~ MISS IT!!!
Not Just Cards – Jan Anything Goes
Crafty Friends – New Beginnings
Stamps & Fun = Creativity – #338 Anything Goes
Pammies Inky Pinkies – PIP1902 Anything Goes

January 16, 2019January 16, 2019

*Vicki* from Stamped Smiles23 Comments

Cuddle Bunny at Whimsy Stamps

Hello friends! Hope you’ve had a great weekend! The last time I posted I mentioned it was so nice that we could cook out on the grill, well this week it’s snow conditions and very cold! With life in the Midwest, you never know what you’re going to get.

I thought it would be nice to turn that warm weather feeling to the inside of my craft room and create with this January released digital image from Whimsy Stamps:

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Fell in love with this darling image by Crissy Armstrong called Cuddle Bunny. This had been a previous rubber stamp that is now available in digital format! I think there are many advantages to getting a digital version: 1) It NEVER runs out of stock in the store because it’s a digital file, PLUS, you don’t have to wait for it to come in the mail! 2) You can size the image(s) whatever size you want it to be! 3) You can easily combine other images with it and arrange them as you’d like before printing it out. 4) You can color with Copic markers without worrying about anything getting smeared and lastly: 5) You can still feel like you’re “getting your hands crafty” by coloring and finishing out your creation with other products! So, if you haven’t jumped on the “digital wagon”, an image like this would be a great one to try out!

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For my card, I have colored my image with Copic markers, see the detail list below and then sponged some Tumbled Glass distress ink with an ink blending foam tool and a cloud stencil. I then cut it out with the Whimsy Stamps Notched Rectangle dies and added a yellow layer behind it that I’ve notched out by hand.

For the background I’ve taken a piece of blue watercolor paper panel and lined the top and bottom of it with a strip of flower borders from my old stash. I used a glue pen for the centers of the flowers and attached some glitter over top. I added a strip of sheer white ribbon across it and attached it to a piece of shimmer luster paper whih was mounted onto a 5″ square yellow card base.

Lastly, I used some craft foam behind the image panel and attached it over my card and then added the ribbon bow with a chipboard flower in the center.

Here’s a closer look at the image where you can see how I’ve colored it. Hard to capture in the photo, but I’ve also taken some Nuvo White Blizzard Glitter Drops and added a tiny dot in the centers of the white flowers. I have also used the Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush and went over the butterfly.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my creation today and I thank you so much for stopping in! I look forward to sharing another project with you tomorrow! See you soon!

Here’s the list of Copic colors I’ve used: (Click on the underlined numbers below to purchase these markers from Whimsy Stamps.)