Welcome to the Stamp It Group blog hop. Please forgive me for starting out this post with a huge *giggle*!  Spring Fling!! *snicker*  I'm sure that some of you who are surfing our Stamp It Group Blog Hop today REALLY wish that Spring was just around the corner.  It's got to be a whole lot better than the 110+ inches of snow that has landed on the East Coast! This month we are excited to show you our favorite products available in the Occasions Mini Catalog.  If you are hopping in order, then you've arrived here from Tami White's blog; otherwise, if you are just starting, you can hop all the way through each blog and end up right back here.

I am so excited to share with you a fun little technique using Stampin' Up!'s Blendabilities and the Butterfly Basics stamp set and coordinating Butterflies Thinlits Dies.  The layout of this card was hugely inspired by a new friend (Bekka) I met during Stampin' Up!'s Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida a few weeks ago. 

**squeal**!!  Absolutely gorgeous, don't you think?  Let's check out the details....

• The jist of the card is a single layer with lots of background stamping using the Perpetual Birthday Calendar photopolymer stamp set.  Ink colors are Calypso Coral and Crumb Cake with the sentiment and little vintage accent stamped in Early Espresso.

• When it comes to very intricate framelit dies, you will need to prepare a very special sandwich.  Huh??? Oh no...not THAT kind of sandwich!  The term 'sandwich' is used when determining the order of product layers before running it through the Big Shot Die Cutting Machine.  The recommended order will help ensure that your die cut comes out clean and removes from the die easily.

• Sandwich order (bottom to top):  Magnetic Plate, cutting plate, used dryer sheet, cardstock, a sheet of wax paper, framelit die, and top it all off with another cutting plate and run through the Big Shot a couple of times (forward and then reverse).  You will be amazed at how easily all of those little pieces pop out!

• All that vibrant color with this butterfly is made with 6 thin sheets of aluminum foil and colored with Stampin' Up! Blendabilities!  **squeal**  I told you this was a cool technique!  I used Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana and Daffodil Delight...the Medium Blendabilities from the sets.

• And, yes, there are 3 layers of this butterfly...the bottom layer is Crumb Cake, the colorful aluminum foil layer, and topped off with the waxed paper die cut.  Have I told you that I have issues throwing anything away?  LOL  I really loved coloring on the aluminum foil, but I thought it was a bit too bold for the soft vintage look I was going for...adding the waxed paper layer to the top softened the pretty colors.

• Add some Linen Thread and a pearl and you have a beautiful butterfly that is ready to take flight.

Speaking of taking flight....you don't want to miss the next series of creations by Liz Miller.  Thank you so much for visiting me, but go ahead...hop on to the Next blog and I'll catch up with you.  I need to check out the creations, too!

May God Bless You and Your Family!!