3x3 THURSDAY, Dazzling Butterfly Thanks...

Today I have some little thank you notes I've been making to include with my orders.  I had such fun with the little "dazzling" butterflies I used on my Dazzling Kindness Matters Card, so I wanted to use them again for my 3" x 3" cards.  I just love the jewel tones!  I played around with several different color combos and ended up liking these two the best.  Enjoy!

I embossed the images with Basic Black Craft and Clear Embossing Powder.  Then I colored them with markers and added Dazzling Details to the wings.  Here are some of the colors I tried out during the design process:

3x3 DAZZLING BUTTERFLY THANKS SUPPLIES:

• Stamp Sets – Kindness Matters (W#122900 $11.95, C#122902 $8.95)  FREE with $50 purchase through Mar. 31
• Card Stock – Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Rich Razzleberry, Island Indigo
• Ink – Basic Black Craft, VersaMark, Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral, Island Indigo
• Punches – Scallop Edge Border (#119882, $15.95)
• Accessories – Dazzling Details (#124117, $2.95), Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder
• Tools – Blender Pens (#102845, $9.95), Heat Tool

ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT TO GET YOUR FREE SALE-A-BRATION PRODUCTS!  Earn FREE products starting with a product order of $50 or more.  OR  Join My Team for only $125! for only $125!  Don't miss out...   CLICK HERE for Sale-A-Bration Details!

LOYALTY REWARDS - When you purchase $50 or more, you qualify for my Loyalty Rewards program!  This Frequent Stamper program is my way of saying "thank you" to my returning customers in appreciation of their business and is in addition to other Stampin' Rewards.  Earn FREE stamps with MarieStamps.com!

3x3 THURSDAY, Vintage Gently Falling Leaf...

There is a light at the end of the tunnel!  Our construction is almost finished and I can finally sneak a little studio time in to get some stamping done.  Yippee!  I needed a little faith to get me through the last few months, so it seemed to be an appropriate inclusion for my card.

This is another of the 3" x 3" cards I have been obsessed with lately.  I love the fall, so I had to make a 3x3 reflecting my favorite season!  For the technique on this card I used a combination of Two-Step Stamping and Rock & Roll.  Rock & Roll is one of my favorite techniques for leaves.  They just turn out so pretty!

VINTAGE FALLING LEAF SUPPLIES:

• Stamp Sets – Gently Falling (W#123802 $39.95, C#123804 $28.95), French Foliage (W#120845 $19.95, C#121166 $14.95), Faith in Nature (Hostess)
• Card Stock –  Soft Suede Textured, More Mustard, Very Vanilla
• Ink – More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso Classic, Tea Stain
• Punches – Jewelry Tag (#117190, $10.95)
• Ribbon – Chantilly 1/2" Crochet Trim (#118480, $6.95), Linen Thread (#104199, $4.50)
• Accessories – Antique Brads (#117273, $5.95), Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430, $3.95)
• Tools – Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder (#120175, $7.95), Distressing Essentials (#118762, $19.95), Sponge Daubers, Paper Piercer & Mat, Cutter Kit, Color Spritzer

3x3 THURSDAY, Awash with Pool Party Flowers...

Today, I am introducing a new occasional feature on my blog - 3x3 Thursdays!  I have become addicted to 3" x 3" cards (AKA Love Notes) lately and become obsessed with making them.  They are so adorable.  Because of their small size, they are excellent for focusing all the attention on a WOW technique.  They are the perfect size for gift enclosures, to tuck into a lunch box or briefcase, leave on a co-worker's desk, to include with a tip for a waitress, etc., or to have on hand for any occasion.  Lately, I have been using them to tuck in with customer orders. 

Today's card was designed by Jenni.  She is queen of the CAS cards!  She made a dozen of these to hand out to her customers at Starbucks where she is a manager.  She is quite enamored with the new Pool Party In-Color and Two-Step Stampin', so she really wanted to use that color and the Awash with Flowers stamp set, but otherwise keep it simple.  Isn't it adorable? 

This card was actually one of her "mistake" cards.  I wanted to show this one, to show you that there are not mistakes--only room for embellishment!  She stamped the thanks sentiment directly on the white card front under the flower for all the cards.  On this one, the sentiment was crooked.  So, she restamped it on scrap paper and punched it out and put in on dimensionals over the crooked one.  And it I hadn't told you, you would never know it was a "mistake"!  :o)

SIMPLY AWASH WITH POOL PARTY SUPPLIES:

• Stamp Sets – Awash with Flowers (W#117062 $39.95, C#120549 $27.95), Fabulous Phrases (W#117002 $37.95, C#120501 $26.95)
• Card Stock – Whisper White, Pool Party
• Ink – Basic Black, Pool Party Classic
• Punches – Scallop Edge Border (#119882, $15.95), Small Oval 
• (#120908, $10.95)
• Tools – Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder (#117335, $7.95), Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430, $3.95)

Another great aspect of 3x3 cards is that when using 12x12 card stock, you can get eight card bases from one sheet!  Here is a FREE cutting guide tutorial for you to follow to get the most out of your card stock:

HOW TO CUT 12x12 CARD STOCK FOR 3x3 CARD BASES:
1.  Cut your 12x12 card stock in half (6").
2.  With your card stock in the landscape position, cut one of the halves into four 3" strips (3" x 6" pieces).  Repeat with the other half.  You will now have eight 3"x 6" pieces of card stock.
3.  With your 3" x 6" card stock in the landscape position, score at 3".  Fold on the scored lines.  You now have eight 3x3 card bases.

SNOW BUDDIES 3x3 CONVENTION SWAPS...

I love the Snow More Fun stamp set from the new catalog and HAD to use it for my convention swaps.  Another new catty favorite of mine is the Perfect Pennants die, so I wanted to work that one in as well.  Yesterday, I shared with you the versions of my Snow Buddies convention swaps that did NOT make the cut with my family.  Although one of my color selections yesterday had the new In Color, Lucky Limeade, (and was my personal favorite) I ended up going with the more muted shades since the brood liked them better.  They are more unusual colors for Christmas and it's fun to show that you don't always have to go super "Christmasy".  And this card could easily be used all winter long.

Today's versions use a different image from the stamp set that the family preferred.  They are basically the same card, but with two different techniques to finish it off.  The first one pictured is the version that my family voted as the winner and the one I ended up using for my convention swaps.  With this one I just used the 2-Way Glue Pen to add dots of snow and highlights on the snowman face and then sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.

The second version uses the Dazzling Diamond Dust technique.  However, everyone like the "snow" better.  I thought you might like to see another option though.  Enjoy!

 
SNOW BUDDIES SUPPLIES:

• Stamp Sets – Snow Much Fun (W#122560  $27.95, C#122562 $19.95) see images below
• Card Stock – Whisper White, More Mustard, Night of Navy, Riding Hood Red
• Ink – Basic Black Classic, Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard Stampin Write Markers
• Punches – 1-3/4" Circle (#119850, #16.95)
• Accessories – 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (#102023, $4.50), Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430, $3.95)
• Tools – Big Shot, Perfect Pennants (#123126, $32.95), Circles #2 (#114526, $15.95), Sponge Daubers