Altered Butterflies

PROJECT REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION Check the August Issue of Create for the Home (Northridge Publication)

OK kids, get ready for a boatload of photos today! I'm super excited to share this project with you! This wonderful display of butterflies is a brand new release from Say it with Letters! I was so excited when I received these in the mail and couldn't wait to find the perfect paper to finish my butterflies. Once I selected my paper I realized that the great size of these butterflies was perfect for displaying some of my favorite family photos! The perfect paper for this project came from Authentique (adore this color combo!). (Have you guys seen this new paper line...delicious!) Authentique paper also comes with a boatload of coordinating accessories, such as the framed sentiment and mini postage stamps, shown on the butterfly above.

To cover the butterflies, I used Zip Dry to attach the paper and then an exact-o knife to cut out around the shape. A good file cleans up all the edges perfectly.

The only other additions I made to the butterflies, because Authentique had so many great options, were some black rhinestone swirls.

I also used foam tape for pictures that overlapped. The foam tape keeps the top photo from laying too flat on top of a second one. Foam tape is great for adding dimension...I even use two different thicknesses for a multi-dimensional look! Ohhh...

Loved the sentiments included with the Authentique paper line..."You are my sunshine" is something that I've been telling my oldest since he was born.

I'm loving the grey/yellow color combo so much that I'm toying with bringing these colors into our still unfinished master bedroom! Wouldn't this collection of butterflies look great on a grey painted wall? Oh yeah!

These last two butterflies are small so I opted to just decorate these without photos. I like the combo of ones with photos and ones without. And aren't those little postage stamps so cute!

Love the swirls! Swirls? Butterflies? What could be better!

The pop of pink is quite fabulous as well!

Want to see more? Visit the SIWL blog for the other design team projects and links to the store!

Glitter Tree by Say it with Letters

ETA: Wanted to let everyone know that I've entered this project in to the Dolce Stamps shine challenge for this week! You can check out the details here...prizes involved!!

I'm excited to be back sharing my December Say it with Letters project! (Back to the Tim tags tomorrow!!) For those of you who don't know, SIWL is a company that produces wooden letters and shapes (even custom work!) that can be easily altered with paint or paper. Check out their products, they're fabulous!

This month we're all focused on the holidays and my assisgnment this month was to alter a Christmas tree. As soon as I received this in the mail, I thought white and sparkly! (Quite a change for me as our own real tree is covered in vintage ornaments!!)

I knew that we had some great white sparkly paper in the store so I picked that up and got the tree covered. (I used Zip Dry to adhere the paper but any strong glue will work) I used white stain ribbon to cover the edges of the tree, again using Zip Dry. As I was holding ribbon, waiting for glue to dry, I spied the white rose ribbon sitting in my ribbon tray (ribbon by Tim Holtz) and thought I'd give that a try to see how it looked on the tree. Insert happy face as I attached the first piece of ribbon...love the white roses!!

Then I needed to add some bling...I toyed with all kinds of options but ended up using the rhinestone swirls from Zva. I just can't get enough flowers and rhinestones!! I then added a few icy blue single rhinestones to act as ornaments. (I actually started with red and my youngest, who was watching me, said, "Mom, you need to use blue, red doesn't look that good..." Smart boy!) The last element was this fabulous sparkly star that I picked up at my local craft store. A touch of hot glue held the star on perfectly!

Want to see what everyone else on the team created (you'll love the different designs!!), head on over to the SIWL blog!

Enjoy!

Keep it Simple Sunday

Today's Tip: Use a pre-decorated piece of chipboard, preferably with glitter, to add instant bling! "It's beginning to look a lot like....cough, sputter, ack...It can't possibility be close to Christmas, can it? I can hardly believe that September is around the corner, which puts us a mere three and a half months from Christmas! Someone slow down the clock...I am not ready to even consider cold weather and holidays...I am, however, ready (almost) to think about holiday cards thanks to a CAS (Clean and Simple) theme challenge posted on SCS. About two years ago, I purchased an adorable holiday kit from Say it with Letters. The kit included a chipboard album, lots of fun embellishments, and fantastic papers. When I set out to create today's card, I remembered those wonderful papers. I found a few left over scraps (I have managed, in two years, to cover the pages of the album...) that were a perfect accent and combination for my card. Don't they look great together? I wish I knew what company the papers are from...anyone know? The sparkly tree was also included in the SIWL kit and I actually plan on using it on the front of the album, if I ever get around to finishing it! The tree looked so great with this card that I had to go with it and then I'll reuse it on my album. :-) The cardstock and ribbon is from Stampin' Up! and the sentiment is from a MFT set. Enjoy and raise your hand if you'd like to turn back the clock to June and start the summer over again!