Frilly Butterfly Card - STAMPlorations April Sketch Challenge +Winner

Happy Monday everybody! I hope the Easter bunny was kind to you and left you lots of jellybeans and very few bunny pellets. 

Today, I'm going to share a frilly and soft card that I created for the new STAMPlorations sketch challenge. 

When I saw this sketch, I couldn't wait to get started because it was one of those VERY rare instances when all the lightning bugs in my head started flying around at the same time and all managed to go in the same direction. 

I used a die cut from my Cricut that had a great shape and had teensy holes cut into it. What could I do with the holes besides add teensy little pearls to it? And when I was done with that laborious process, I decided to be done with my whole card. 

Just kidding. But the thought did go through my head. 

As you can see, I also added a bunch of Prima flowers that matched the soft pink and sagey/turquoisey tones. I also added a sentiment from the STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies set.  

Then, as if the pearls weren't enough, I decided to get even more futsy and stamped some of the butterflies (from the same set) using Bundled Sage Distress Ink. I fussy cut around them and used some old gold cord to add little antennae-doo-dads to their bodies. 

I added some great paper from My Mind's Eye and roughed up the edges. Here's the finished look!

Speaking of teensy things, I want to take a teensy moment to tell you about why STAMPlorations is so awesome. I know I'm on the design team, but I'm honestly not saying these things for that reason. I've played in STAMPlorations challenges since I first started blogging. 

But let me just say that there are TONS of prizes and they've made it even easier to win because they have >>>5!!<<< challenges every month that each give away AT LEAST $15 in gift cards to the winner. So that's $75/month in free stamps given away. That's pretty awesome. And - you don't have to have STAMPlorations stamps to play along! (No, this is not one of those stamp companies that says you don't have to use their stamps but only ever chooses winners that do.) 

Here are the challenges if you want to go check them out:

Sketch challenge (these run for 2 weeks, so there's 2 per month)

April challenge - Stamps and Numbers (runs all month long) 

CASEplorations - CASE a DT card

Anything Goes - Ongoing gallery (this is the only one where you have to use STAMPlorations stamps to win)

Ok. I'm done now. In other news, I had a pretty stellar Easter weekend (stellar is one of those words that needs to make a comeback, don't you think?). Naturally, I had three days off. And Friday was AMAZING because I drove down to Fargo to meet the fantastic Betty Keefe from Created by BJK. 

Betty is actually from Nebraska, but her daughter lives in Fargo, ND so she comes here occasionally. It was awesome to meet up with a fellow blogger, whom I admire so much. And Betty was just as awesome as she appears to be online! We met up for coffee and then headed to a local craft shop. 

So the moral of the story is... The next time you're in North Dakota, let me know! (haha... I don't think I'll have many takers on that. 

Speaking of visiting... is anybody in or around Philadelphia? I'm taking a business trip out that-a-way in a couple of weeks and would love to know if you have any suggestions for eating or entertainment. Let me know!

I'm also going to send my card over to the following challenges:
Frilly and Funkie - Put a ribbon on it
Just Add Ink - photo inspiration 
Mod Squad - Tic Tac Toe (Flowers, Die cut, Dimension) 

 



Last but not least, I've got a winner for the STAMPlorations gift card I was giving away on the Light it Up Blue blog hop. Using the very boring random.org (sorry but I didn't have time to dream up a crazy way to do it) I got:

Sarah Gray! Congrats, Sarah! Please send me an email with your info and I'll get the gift card to you, pronto! :) 

Thank you to all the wonderful people who signed up to follow my blog! I'll be making the rounds to follow you all too!