Mr. Blue Bird

Hello Stampers!

This was a quick and easy card to create. 

"How did she punch out and color in that perfect looking bird" you must be asking?!  Well, with Stampin Up it's easy!  The stamp set is Language of Friendship.  It comes with a stamp that perfectly matches the punches from the Bird Builder punch!  All you need to do is decide what color you want your bird to be, ink your stamp, stamp the image, line up the image in your Bird Builder paper punch and squeeze!  Out pops a perfectly colored & detailed bird!  (with the stamp set are also two little bird feet in case you want your bird to be standing instead of sitting on a branch)  There is also a flower set that perfectly matches the Boho Blossoms 3 flower punch as well so the flowers you punch out will have more definition and design than just the punched image.  There is also a sentiment included with this stamp set as well.

So, what else was used to create his card?:

• Framed Tulips embossing folder
• Ribbon

 I didn't want a sentiment on this card because I'm not sure what it's going to be just yet.  I have a lot of cards made up in advance, and have decided to just create the card and add the sentiment later in case I start to run out of Thank You cards, I can throw a Thank You sentiment on this baby and send off! 

Have a great day!
Blessings & Inky Hugs
~Shawnie B

Squash Fold Card - Love & Care

Hello Stampers!

Here is a really cool card technique I learned to make a few days ago.  It's called a Squash Fold Card.  Dawn Olchefske has a YouTube video showing how to make this really neat card!   This is actually one of her 10-Minute Cards for 10-Minute Tuesdays.  Be sure to subscribe to her YouTube channel so you can view all of her great technique video's!

This card was used with the following materials:

• Big Shot
• Stampin' Up!'s new Simply Scored (Score tool similar to the Scor Pal or Scor Buddy)
• Dimensionals
• Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder
• Stampin' Up! 1 1/2 inch Grosgrain Ribbon
• Stampin' Up! Designer paper
• Love & Care stamp set

 Thank you all for stopping by!

So you know, our family situation is not yet resolved, so please continue with those wonderful prayers you have been sending!

Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie B.

Vintage Fun with Strength & Hope and Embossing

Having fun playing Vintage with new paper & stamps!  ;)

These two cards were inspired by Sandi Maciver.  She is another one of my favorite paper crafting Guru's.  The lady knows her paper AND she's funny.  You should read her posts, she is constantly cracking herself up!  Just adds to her charm.  She is also an Oregonian!  Go Oregon!

So, here are the two vintage cards I created.  One is done in Cherry Cobbler & Crumb Cake (both sound yummy don't they?!) and the other one is Baja Breeze & Crumb Cake. 

I hope you enjoy!

Hope you enjoy!

Things are not yet resolved.  Please continue to pray for my family and I.  If you are not familiar with the story, please catch up here.

Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie B

Reflections of Beauty

I love how the reflection in the water kind of shimmers so it looks realistic!  (it's just the stamp - I'm not that creative!  lol).

Anyway, I burnished chalk to cover the water, land, trees, rocks, & sky. I was thinking some Crystal Effects would look really good either on the rocks or on the water, but it was already pretty the way it was, I didn't want to (over-do) it.

Supplies used for this card:

• Life is Good stamp set from Gina K Designs
• Extra Large Pewter Eyelets
• Stampin Up Designer Ribbon
• Fiscars Texture Plate - Woodgrain
• Big Shot
• Dimensionals
• Stampin' Write Markers
• Colored Staples
• Stampin' Pastels (chalks)
• Sponge Daubers
• Crop-a-Dial

Things are not yet resolved.  Please continue to pray for my family and I.  If you are not familiar with the story, please catch up here.

Thank you soo much for stopping by!

Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie B

****Prayer Request ****

As most of you know what is going on in my family, I am asking that you pray often to give us the patience to endure this episode and to give Lauren the wisdom to know this is not right and cannot continue.  To ensure there are plenty of prayers, I will include the below paragraph to every post until our family is reunited.  I'm sure it will be edited as time goes by but please remember it is very important to me. 

My oldest daughter, Lauren has been estranged from the family since May, she also took our 3 year old grandson and has ignored any contact from us and has not told us what the problem is.  (Because she is ignoring our contact attempts, we are associating this with her boyfriend, who has done many things in the past to get her to sever her relationship with us - and it looks like this time he has been successful.)  Well, he is not greater than God and I wish sometime here in the near future we all have the blessing of being able to witness the power of our Lord God and see a once broken family put back the way it needs to be.  I feel it's her boyfriend because her and I have always been close.  Last Easter, a few weeks before she pulled this, he drove right by our house and wouldn't stop so we could see Dylan and Lauren, it wasn't long after that where she started doing all this.  I will be including this on every post until our family is back together, meaning, the more prayers the better!

Thank you all and God Bless!
~Shawnie B

Love & Care Gold Framed Cards - Dawn O CASE

When I watched Dawn's video I just knew I had to CASE what she had done.  Normally I CASE Dawn's projects to a T (as long as I have the items she used), however, I made one small change, which turned out to make quite a difference I think.  She used Basic Black for her frame / border, where I used my Versamark Pen and Gold Embossing Powder.  The stamp set used for this project is the Hostess set Love & Care. 

Here are two different cards that I made with different sentiments & different embellishments. I also embellished with Gold Butterflies that were ran through my Big Shot with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit.


Thank you all and God Bless!
~Shawnie B

Thank you SOOOOOO much for stopping by!

Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie

Got Paper?! August Promotion with Stampin' Up!

Don't forget about Stampin' Up!'s current promotion going on only through the 31st of August!!!  :)

Blessings & Inky Hugs!

Thanks!
Shawnie Bartron

YOUR Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and Creative Coach

My Website http://www.CardsByShawnie.com 
My Online SU Store 24-7 Click on "Shop Now"

The new Summer Mini is available. Click here to get your free copy now!

It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.
- Helen Walton

Elegant Concord Butterfly - Dawn O CASE

Another Dawn O inspired card (can you tell I was on her website today watching her video's and help files?!  lol 

Anyway, I liked doing this card because the butterfly just flies off the front!

Card was created with:

• Punch Potpourri (sentiment)
• Butterfly Prints
• Elegant Lines embossing folder
• Butterfly Punch
• Bling gems

It's a really quick & simple card to make but makes a statement and looks like it took a lot longer to make than it did!

I'll try showing some different angles so you get a better view of the butterfly. 

Thank you so much for stopping by! 

Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie

Sympathy Cross - With Love & Caring - Dawn O CASE

Here is a Sympathy card I made that was inspired by Dawn Olchefske, otherwise known as Dawn O.  She is very creative and has a lot A WHOLE LOT of wisdom to share.  She is one of those crafters who have a lot of knowledge, but she doesn't brag about it.

She will also not hesitate to give another crafter credit that she got a technique from.  To be technical, very few projects are "new" or "just came up with".  Everyone learns from everyone else and no specific technique was originated by any specific person.  Even if it's a spin-off, that's more than likely what gave you the idea.  The thing is, all these techniques have been around since the beginning of paper, ink, scissors, and rubber stamps!  Anyway, now that I've got that off my chest I'll get off my soap box and share what I intended to share when I created this post!  ;)

This woman is amazing! She has a library set up categorizing different techniques, video's, how to use certain products, etc... And she's not afraid to give somebody else credit if she learned it from someone else, when if you actually want to be specific, nobody (very seldom I've never seen it) where someone comes up with a technique on their own.

So, with that being said, here is a card that was made where the lattice design was trimmed down to create a cross.  It was cut out using my Bigz Lattice Die.  A flower was then punched out using my Boho Blossoms Punch and a circle punch from the Itty Bitty Bits Punch Pack.  Then adorned it with a pearl halfback from the Pretties Kit (retired).  I also punched out a 1 1/2 inch circle with my Circle Punch with Baja Breeze and placed it behind the flower ensemble.  I also used the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch twice behind the cross. Sentiment was stamped using the Thanks for Caring stamp set.

Thank you SO much for stopping by!

Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie B

Brayer Fun

Yup, I was feeling restless and that I was doing the same projects the same way... so I decided to do some things with my brayer to shake things up a bit.  This card is defintely vivid with a lot of color!  I like the way the different hills & valley' turned out with the different depth. 

Colors used:  Summer Sun (retired), Ruby Red (retired), Close to Cocoa (retired), Bravo Burgundy, & Basic Black. 

It didn't really take a whole lot of work to make this card, but I like the way it's unique and eye catching!  I wander if I should get a lot more of these made up in case there are more requests like what happened with the deer card I made a while back.   The Buck card below, though was done with sponging instead of brayering.

Well, anyway, after working with this card, I realized I need to start adding the brayered technique a lot more to my bag of tricks.  ;)

I wish many blessings and Inky hugs for you & your family!
~Shawnie B

Nyssa Farmers Market

Well, it was an experience!  It was hot but we survived.  Luckily I had the support / help of Bill & Chelsey, Danny later showed up after his date with his girlfriend.  Anyway, we learned a lot of things from our first Farmers Market experience and are now so much more the wiser! 

We have decided this is something we would like to continue, not only in Nyssa, but Ontario as well. 

Here is our first set-up.  The next time I talk about our Farmers Market experience, we will have the benefit of this one to get us going in the right direction. 

I feel really blessed because Chelsey wasn't feeling too hot from heat exposure and aches & pains associated with pulling weeds the day before but she marched on like a little trooper! 

I am so blessed for having such a great kid!

Many Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie B.

Spanish Cards

Here are a bunch of Spanish cards I put together the last couple of days.  Every time Bill or I goes in for a Dr's appointment, the staff has grown accustomed to expecting a card from us.  There are a lot of Spanish speaking employees there and they became really excited when I told them I was going to start making Spanish cards also.

This opens up a LOT of possibilities for me hopefully!

Here are the cards i made:  Enjoy!

This one is Thank you so much

 This one is Happy Birthday

 The inside sentiment on this one is Happy Birthday

 For my Wonderful Mother

 Thank you so much

 Get Well Soon

 Cheers (Way to go!)

 So yeah, pretty cool, huh?!

Hope to hear your feedback and happy stamping!

Blessings & Inky Hugs;
~Shawnie B

More Cards to Share

Here are some more cards I have been working on:  The time is drawing near (the 19th of this month, just 3 more days).  What doesn't get sold at the Farmers Market will be displayed at a store down town.  The store owner said I could display my cards in his store to sell.

I look forward to your comments!

Blessings & Inky Hugs;
~Shawnie B

Masculine Birthday Card

This card was created using Autumn Days, Inspired by Nature, and Happy Moments.  The grass was stamped with So Saffron ink, and the wheat was stamped with Pumpkin Pie.  The leaves were stamp off so they wouldn't be so dark.  After inking the stamp, stamp a scratch piece of paper to use most of the excess on the stamp and then stamp the image.  Creates the same image, just isn't so dark & over bearing. 

The background is in Real Red to bring out the grass & the wheat. 

So Many Smiles.... Begin with You

This card is made using Fabulous Florets and the sentiment is Petite Pairs.  I stepped outside of my comfort zone by using loud vibrant colors this time.  The blue flowers were embossed with White embossing powder.

Many Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie B

A Merry Christmas Tree Greeting

Hi there!  Christmas is going to sneak up closer than we expect, especially for a card maker.  You can never make enough Christmas cards!

This one was made using my corner punch on some Christmas paper, word window punch for the stump, and half of the Round Tab punch for the tree stand.  I added a star shaped brad to the top of the tree.  This card was inspired by Joanne French. 

Many Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie B

Upsy Daisy Thank You

With this Thank You card I used Daffodil Delight and Baja Breeze.  I used my lacey circles die from Spellbinders and embossed with my Pacific Blue embossing powder.  The littl faux buttons up at the top was created with my Sweet Buttons Embosslits die.  It embosses AND cuts the card stock at the same time when it runs through the Big Shot. The "Thank you" sentiment is from the Because I Care stamp set.

Remember, I would appreciate any kind of feedback you may have!  That's how we learn & grow.

Many Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie B

Hello Doily with Love

Good morning!  I think I'm back!  The swelling has gone down quite a bit and I've just got to remember to remind myself to take frequent breaks and stop what I'm doing no matter what it is and stop to put my feet up for a little while.  It's taken me a bit to remind myself because when I start feeling good and productive, I don't want to stop the flow.

So, here's what I created from my productiveness.  This is the new Hello Doily background stamp and the new Field Flowers stamp set.

This elegant card was CASE'd / Inspired from a card that Mary Brown created.  Her work is so inspiring and I'm always inspired when I check out her work! 

Anyway, this is  really simple card to make.  Whisper White background with hello Doily stamped in Crumb Cake and the Field Flowers stamped in Basic Black.

Because the Field Flowers are a 2 step stampin stamp set, I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to perfectly place the flowers on the stems. Once I added the brads and the sentiment, I added Dimensionals to the back of the card and adhered it to the base of Crumb Cake.

Many Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie B

Cards are on Hold

Hey there Crafters!


I regret to inform you that there will be no more card making for a few days until the swelling goes down in my feet, ankles, and calves.  For some reason every once in a while when I am on my feet a lot (I craft standing up because it hurts my hip & back too much to sit down) I start swelling really bad and my skin turns red and I can't hardly move my foot up or down.  And everything that's swollen aches terribly.

I'm not sure what it is.  Last year when this happened, my Dr was concerned and she had me do an ultra-sound to make sure there were no blood clots in my legs that could be causing the problem.  They didn't find any and eventually the swelling went away.


So, now I'm in my rocking chair with my feet up hoping the swelling will go down so I can go play.  I've been sitting all day and there doesn't seem to be any difference.

I've never been a patient person! lol

Take care & I hope to be back to myself soon!

Blessings & Inky hugs;
~Shawnie B

Masculine Birthday Card

This card is inspired by Julie Gearinger.  I saw her card on Stampin' Connection, a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator website and was motivated to create my own version. 

I colored the pheasant with markers at the direction of Bill, my husband.  I am really glad he helped!

The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the King of the Grill stamp set.

To get all the colors to blend & jive I used an inkssentials blending block with velcro blending sponges.  I tried my wedge foam sponges, but it didn't get the desired effect I wanted.  for the sun I blended So Saffron around the whole left-side area where I knew the sun would be.  I then punched a circle out and adhered it with temporary adhesive.  I then started blending the following colors:  More Mustard, Peach Parfait, Pumpkin Pie, & Calypso Coral. On the bottom for the ground I blended River Rock, Crumb Cake, & Soft Suede. 

Instead of throwing the circle away when I was done masking for the sun, I turned it over and stamped the sentiment and a few leaves on it.  (I hate to waste anything if I can help it!)

Anyway, here it is.  hope you like it!

Blessings & Inky Hugs;
~Shawnie B

Happy Friday!

Goodness!  What a week.  I've got some really cool cards to show you that I've been working on.

The first one I want to talk about took a bit of time to make, but I really think it was worth it.  It's a double embossed project, I think that's what the call the technique.  I took a sheet of purple cardstock, inked the whole thing with versa-mark ink and then covered it with Gold Embossing powder, then took the heat gun to it and set it.

Once it cooled off, I ran it through my Big Shot using the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder.  I then took my sanding block and commensed to sanding off the raised images, which revealed the purple cardstock beneath the embossing powder. 

I really hope you can see the results in the photos I took!

Please enjoy the rest of your day!

~Blessings and Inky Hugs!
Shawnie B

Welcome Baby!

Wow!  I have just learned that a girl I worked with in Coos Bay is expecting a baby!  What a good time to bring out some "Welcome Baby" cards I need to get posted.  Congratulations Naidine!  I am so happy for you & your family!!!  God Bless you all!

Messing Around

Just dinking around seeing what different designs would look decent with colors, textures, etc...

 Your too kind: 

Upsy Daisy Birthday Wishes

Withing you many Blessings & Inky Hugs;
~Shawnie

I Love You Friend

This card was really simple to make.  I used more punches than anything to make this card:

-Round Tab Punch
- Spiral Notebook Punch
- 5-petal Flower Punch
- Boho Blossoms Punch
- Flower 2 step punch

The sentiment is from the Picture This stamp set.

Have an extra special day.

Many Blessings and Inky Hugs;
~Shawnie

To Be Believed

I am practically jumping up and down I'm so excited (I never have been one for patience).  I am expecting a huge order from Stampin' Up! that was ordered last Thursday thanks to my generous son, Danny, but with the Pre-order of a new Holiday Mini that was released, they were behind on the orders.  grrrr!  I've NEVER had to wait this long for a Stampin' Up! order in my life because I always seem to time it before when there was not really anything going on.  It would kill me to live somewhere back east, where it usually takes 6-7 days for orders to be delivered.  That's my reward for living so close to Utah where Stampin' Up! is based out of.

Anyway, while impatiently waiting for my order to arrive, I have had a really hard time trying to make anything because my Mojo is all thinking about the 12 beautiful stamp sets, 2 die's for my Big Shot, 2 punches, and 5 re-inkers for the new In Colors for this year.

Here is what I have struggled to come up with:

The rose buds were made from the wings of my Bird Builder Punch.  The outside of the bud (green part) not sure what they are called in a flower, but it's the part that connects the flower to the stem, anyway that was made from the wing and the tail of the bird punched out.

The bouquet of rose buds is in front of lattice that was rolled through my Big Shot with the lattice die.  Rolled out some butterflies with my embosslits die that embosses & cut's 5 different shaped butterflies.

Sentiment is stamped from the Just Believe stamp set and punched out from my Curly Label punch.

All of that was put on a Top Note mat.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Blessings & Inky Hugs!
~Shawnie