A is for Apricot & Aperture Butterfly Challenge

Hello & welcome on a lovely sunny Wednesday. I hope that all who celebrated this past weekend as a holiday, had a safe & wonderful time.  DH has been visiting in New England with our best buddy, and is on his way home. They got many projects done & had some fun visiting estate sales, and the famous Brimfield Flea Market. Since someone had to be here to wait on worker folks, I stayed put. For all that's gotten accomplished, I could just as well have gone along. Oh well.

Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge this time around has the theme of A is for Apricot & Aperture. Since I was a lucky winner of a pretty butterfly die recently, I wanted to be sure to join in with this one. I really struggled with Apricot though! I'd think I had an apricot color and then when I'd really look at it in different lights, was either too orangey or too pinky. Finally decided to try my hand at creating apricot. Did some sponging with some Distress Inks using Iced Lemonade, Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade. Looked ok at first, then it appeared too orange the next time I looked at it. Bought some small Prima paper packs (on sale of course!) that had what looked 'apricot' to my eyes- at first. My final try was to use Koi watercolors and do a wash with a pale orange, with lots of water.

Now my first card was going pretty good...I was pleased with the aperture effect, had the butterfly ready to go, had used Mrs. A's butterfly die cut. Then when the right edge needed to be trimmed just a smidge, disaster struck.

 

 

where the tiny butterflies are placed - the narrow edge of the card tore as I was even-ing up that edge. There's a good amount of adhesive in the layers (the base card, the image in the aperture, the gold frame and the top frame- and it was quite a narrow edge between the cutout & card edge. Yikes, as the rotary blade was cutting, it was shredding & tearing. (Blade had a build up of adhesive from other cuts, which I cleaned after this happened). What to do? Still had all the little bits of the butterflies from the bottom trim, so started adding them at strategic places. Well, it looks sort of dumb, and this card will probably never see an envelope, but there you have it.

 

Striped border is a Simon Says clear stamp, meant for Christmas candy cane stripes. Inked with Delicata Gold, heat embossed with a Silver Pearl, and I think that looks quite nice as a gold striped border! The underlayer of the larger butterflies was the one I'd created trying for apricot. Yeah, it looks way too orange-y when it dried. As I was doing it, my eyes were seeing a nice apricot. Hmph! The overlayer was from a brusho background - and up against the card front, oh my, definitely looks orange!!! The border cut out is from my recent Butterfly win...Thanks Mrs. A.

 

OK...needed to try again, so here's the final card, and I screwed up the first attempt at stamping the flowers...AND was using the mini Misti. Was beginning to think I was not meant to do an Apricot and Aperture card!

 



A created background, with a watercolor wash using Koi w/colors. While still wet, sprinkled Paper Artsy Golden Sands Infusion crystals (much like Brusho crystals). Spritzed some water, and let the piece dry.

- Avery Elle Sweet Scallops oval die cut for the aperture. SU What I Love set to create the layered flowers using Memento inks. (this was my 2nd try...first time the blues I selected were much too dark & also didn't have them placed as well as could be). Tucked in some previously punched Martha Stewart branches.

- MBox butterflies created from the earlier apricot sponging attempt. The overlay was cut with a gold holographic glitter paper. This paper has a plastic backing, which cut nicely with the new metal plate. In fact, I had 2 layers of the paper without realizing, and both layers cut very well.

Was going to leave the sentiment off, but a Brushstroke Hello die (Julie Ebersole, Essentials by Ellen) was waiting to be put in storage. Used that to diecut the greeting from the 1st messup attempt at stamping the flowers. After it was adhered, wondered if this was 'too busy'....but it is what it is, as they say!

I'm off to link up with Challenge #55 Butterflies + A is for Apricot and/or Aperture! Dang! I just realized: didn't have to do BOTH apricot and aperture! Well, I had some adventures anyway!

Thanks for joining me today, and hope that your afternoon goes great. Hugs

Butterfly Challenge = R is for Red

Good morning. Up very early on a rainy morning after many days of lovely sunshine. Oh yes, the demolition crew showed up to start taking down the bathroom walls this morning, so of course it would rain today. The window sashes were removed and as they were taking it out of the casing, and the rain was pouring down, I said "I do hope you know how to put that back in when you get all the material out". A little scary! The wall debris was tossed into a through the window into the bed of a dump truck pulled up next to the house, and will be disposed of.

Anyway, Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge (R is for Recycle or Red) is still ongoing, and I decided to use the Yupo paper butterfly I had made earlier - which was too big for the card previously entered.

 

 

Two different papers were created using DI inks and a Crafters Companion plastic flower stencil. On the solid piece, embossed the stencil using this Ellen Hutson video**; just removed the stencil and started sponging Barn Red, Scattered Straw. Added just a bit of Art gold 'wax' paste . Found this little pot of colored waxy product in Hobby Lobby/A C Moore. I've looked at gilding wax, but the USA sources (Amazon) are so expensive to ship. This stuff doesn't have the odor of the tube product I've used. Burnished the surface with dried baby wipe after applying. On the lighter stenciling, left the stencil in place after embossing, then sponged with the same colors of DI. What a different look this creates. Cut from the yellow portion, as the red wings of the butterfly showed better on the yellow portion.  After die cutting the fold edge piece, used an offcut of the same sponged c/s to add on the interior right edge.

 

 **Since viewing this video, been looking at all my plastic stencils with an eye to using in this fashion.

 

- Penny Black Swirling Wings butterfly die cut from alcohol inks dropped on Yupo paper. This looks very shiny. Probably should have placed the butterfly lower down the card so that it was all on the gold sections...think the red colors would show more effectively. Always 2nd guess myself!

 

- S/B Borderabilities A2 Bracket 2 dies to create the edges on each side.

 

- PB sentiment die, cut from the solid sponged piece, and added a white fun foam layer under the colored piece for some dimension. Some gold pearls on the butterfly, and call this one done.

 

Off to link to Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge #54...

 

Ya'll have a nice day. My workmen have finished this part of the effort, waiting on someone else to show up and measure the space for marble. Floors need vaccuuming, although the fellas did a great job of cleaning after themselves. Just complimented them to their boss, who came by to remove the dump truck with all the debris.  I think an afternoon nap will be in my agenda - I hope! Hugs

 

Butterfly Challenge = R + Ruby

Happy Saturday! Here the sun is shining, it's fairly warm, and I finally got a card ready in time for the 54th Butterfly Challenge (where the theme is Butterfly +R for Recycle and/or Ruby Red! Last time I missed the deadline.

Here's the card and then will explain where the recycle effort comes into play (and you must promise not to laugh!!! - well, ok, you can laugh a little bit).

- SU Rose die cut from white and a created background, that looks pink, even though red sprays and other products were used (brusho, mica sprays, mica powders...it just would NOT turn red!) Decided to exaggerate the offset for this more so it would be more than just a shadow effect.

- MBox Pippi Butterfly overlay created with alcohol inks over Yupo paper...Liked this red, and die cut with my new metal plate, cut like a dream. All little bits just fell right out. This Yupo paper is such fun to play with using alcohol inks.

- MB Isabella Butterfly for the underlayer using some of the spray created background, and decided to hunt up a snippet of red for one of these...I was getting very discouraged at having some red. Now it looks more burgundy than red when I see the photo.

Now for the recycle - which is the background: Used a piece of very lightweight cardboard that came from a package of men's jockey shorts! (ahem...a new package was required at our house, and when I was gathering up the wrappings to toss, thought the white cardboard had a rather nice finish on it. Wondered how that might take to alterations. Remember, now: I don't DO altered stuff! So perhaps this is my 1st foray into that arena!! LOL). Ok, first I sponged on about 4 shades of DI red inks. Didn't want to really dry well, so heat set between applications of succeedingly darker reds. Still looked quite 'pink'. Then advanced to sprinkling brusho Osto Red, Scarlet and Crimson dry powders, spritzed very lightly.Now - - yes, getting some red. Puddled each layer of the brusho color around with the Ranger Spritzer tool, let it dry slightly, dropping another color of the red crystals over. Then dropped on some Ken Oliver Metallic Platinum, puddled that around. Still not as red as I wanted. Finally got Dylusions Post Box red, a Lindy's Stamp Gang spray that looked red, spritzed, spritzed, and finally said "that's as red as this is gonna get". Left it to dry. The pink rose and the butterfly underlays came from smooshing up the over sprays of the different sprays...and really created quite a pretty pink.

Added on some sequins..(and there's more than I would have used normally; the package spilled and it was easier to pick 'em up with the sticky pickup tool, adhere on the card front, than try to put back in the package. These are Pretty Pink Posh, so they were not going in the trash!!!

Hope you've gotten a chuckle from my adventures, (and psst...don't mention the recycle item!). Do join in over at Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge and you can have some fun too!

Have added 2 new pretties to the Cards by Friends tab, that you'll be able to enjoy along with me. It's lovely to have such talented and generous friends!

Have a wonderful afternoon, thanks for coming by to visit, and Blessings and Hugs.

Edit: Forgot to say that the sentiment is 2 layers of vellum, colored with copic reds, because I want to keep a light effect in that corner. Used a glue that didn't show to adhere the layers together, since the vellum was colored.

M is for Margins & Mint

Good Morning from sunny Upstate SC where Spring is bustin' out all over....(That's a song, right?)

Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge theme this time round is Butterflies, Mint and/or Margins. Haven't been able to join in the Butterfly Challenge for a while, so started this card. Worked hard using pan pastels to create a 'mint' color, hope this looks like mint to other people! While working on the card, learned that a good friend lost her DH yesterday morning. So thought this would work for a sympathy card too.

- taped off the margins, inked up an old wooden butterfly stamp(Hero Arts - 4 small stamps in a pack)  with versamark, a-stamping I did go. On the 2nd try, decided to heat emboss the butterflies with Ranger Silver Pearl before applying the pan pastels. Selected 2 shades of color that combined might yield a mint as I had nothing in the supplies that was specifically labeled 'mint'. Sprayed a mat fixative over the chalk surface when it was finished.

- applied versamark to another butterfly stamp, inked on white snippet, then heat embossed with the Ranger Silver Pearl. Used the same pan pastels, but wanted get a deeper color than the background, so tried adding a blend of Zig watercolor brush markers in light turquoise and pale green & a bit of waterbrush. This didn't look really 'mint-like', but it did give some nice splotches of color in the wings. Let this dry well, applied some more pan pastel over it. There's 2 layers of butterflies on each one, fussy cut, adhered together. Used a silver gel pen to color the edges & the body.

- Silver outline stickers to dress it up a bit; the SU sentiment was stamped with versamark, and heat embossed with Judikins Aegean Silver. Tried to use an old Brilliance Starlight pad, and found it is dry. Reinking this morning, and not sure if it's going to work as it's supposed to when one reinks a pad.

Off to join the Butterfly Challenge, and there's still time to hop in and have some fun.

Butterfly Challenge #36 + W is for Washi

Hi and thanks for stopping by. Wanted to try to play in Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge so have been working with butterfly dies lately. This month the challenge alphabet letter is W for Washi Tape. I have a good supply of this, seldom use it. The main reason is: I never know where to put it that it doesn't look clumsy. Some years ago, saw a blog post where the cardmaker had saved bits of ribbon, adhered it to chipboard and cut a pretty butterfly. Well, why not make a butterfly with washi? So that's what I did. However, in selecting the washi rolls from the box where they are stored, found that a couple of these are 'fabric tape'...hmmm. Well, it worked just like washi, except it needed more coaxing to stick. Hope the combination of washi & fabric tape on this Ellentina butterfly will qualify this guy in Mrs. A's W challenge!!!

- applied strips of tape over a lightweight c/stock (el cheapo Georgia Pacific), burnished down the tape, and used the Ellentina Butterfly Set to die cut. This set has the filigree shape and a solid shape. Used the solid to cut the tape layer, and the filigree to cut the vellum overlay. Colored the body with Copic C110.

- another masking and faux metal background (per Jennifer McGuire)**. This time had more narrow borders - used DI Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber and Persimmon, and Perfect Pearls Copper. That really created a pretty look, but don't think it looks as metallic as the blue & green of this card.  Still quite a pretty background though. Checked the EF more carefully this time to be sure the Embossing would be where I wanted :-).This time used Gina K Luxury Cardstock for the sponging. This c/s is 120# compared to the GP used on the previous card. That piece was from a stack cut to emboss samples to place with EF's before filing them to store. The GK c/s was much easier to sponge and then blend, and believe I got a much better look with this c/s. Just FYI. 

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment cut from a snippet of the washi taped c/s. Always lose the little bits that should be used over the 'i', so there's a gold pearl

- added 2 strips of some of the washi tape at the border, cut on an angle. The angle was pretty rubbish with the diagonal cut, so used a punch to add a butterfly to hide the wonky angle. That looked odd, so added one more to have a trio of butterflies.

Hope my explanations of the adventures I have while making cards does not bore you to tears. When I'm surfing, I always enjoy learning what the crafter did 'wrong' and how it was fixed. I learn a lot from that...probably more than from seeing a 'perfectly made- no problem' card. But if you get tired of reading, then hopefully just enjoy the card and don't read all the blah-blah!! (I write pretty much the way I'd speak to you if you were here with me :-).

** Several commenters have said they could get to the link but couldn't get the video to play. If you're looking on Youtube, then try Jennifer's Blog  (Aug 2 post). If it was at the blog where the problem was, try searching it out on Youtube, which is where I saw it. Hope this helps. 

Don't forget to check out all the new monthly challenges that are going on over at HLS...There is sure to be one (or two!) that you'd like to join in.

Ya'll have a grand afternoon, and come again when you can. Now I'm off to link up at the August Butterfly Challenge. Big Hugs.

Butterflies

Hello & thanks for surfing in on another afternoon. I've been trying to participate in Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge for some time, but just don't get anything finished in time for a particular theme. Purchased some Rubbernecker images at the February stamp show, which have been in a bag on the floor, by the recliner in my stamp area. What with experimenting with watercolor markers, gelatos, versamark and heat embossing, I've been playing with a few of these stamps lately. This time Mrs A's challenge is Butterflies + Talisman (the challenge is based on a letter of the alphabet each time, so this tells you how far along the challenge has come!). Just happened to have a couple butterflies from experiments. Here's the image that was used with gelatos for this card today:

 

I'll be sharing one done with markers as soon as I can decide how to best use it. LOL.

 

Here's the gelato card:

 

 

Once the image was covered in gelato colors of peach, pink, yellow and a sort of reddish color, spritzed lightly with one of the very small misters..)I seem to have better control of my spritzes with that one) Then stamped onto w/color paper. Then I didn't really know what to do with it. As I hunted for another die - came across an Ellentina butterfly die set (these are pink and came as a set with the filigree and the solid shape...were purchased at the February show also). Since the paper was thicker w/c, the Sizzix Precision mat came in mighty handy, but still did quite a few passes to be sure all the tiny places cut. Pearlized copper paper was used for the underlayer.

 

- Saw a tutorial on SCS about inkless images, and got the idea to use multiple EF's and sizes, and thought this looked CAS with the colors of the butterfly. Snipped bits off a pearl swirl shape and added for the butterfly trail.

 

Now - where to put the requisite charm needed for the T=Talisman? Found a brown toned twine, wrapped the edge of the card, added the copper butterfly charm. Didn't think a bow would look right - too fussy for the CAS I was attempting. So I hope this will qualify for Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge.

 

Have a wonderful afternoon. We're joining some family & going to Olive Garden for dinner tonight. My usual meal there is the Zuppa de Tosca (potato soup) and their specialty salad. With garlic breadsticks. Yumm! Big Hugs.

 

 

PS: Don't forget about the HLS Christmas Challenge that is still open and also July's Rudolph Day!



A Butterfly Valentine

Good afternoon and hope that so far your Saturday has been grand. We have sunshine, warmer temperature, but some howling wind now & again. Still in the throes of Valentine production around here, but managed to get one that might qualify over at Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge. Challenge #23 has a Letter Theme -  V for Valentine, but must also have a Butterfly. Hmmmm.

Here's my interpretation of this fun challenge.

- satin like texture red paper (Michael's - Speciality paper section - on sale). Embossed with C/B Geometric Rings. This was very pretty paper - but did not take embossing well. At the edges, some of the paper lifted from the core. Had embossed another piece that was much worse with the 'lifting', so on this one, placed a 2nd sheet of plain c/s on top of the embossing side, and it worked a bit better. Not sure if this happened due to the paper or that the folder embosses deeply. Just sayin'.

- Prior to embossing, die cut center heart with S/B D-Lites Swirled Hearts. Added a Fiskar Heart Punch shape from a snippet of the satin paper & larger center pearl.

- white lightweight glitter paper behind the Swirled Heart cutout.

- Ellentina Butterfly die (purchase from the Heirloom Stamp show that cut very well). Bottom layer is plain red c/s, 2nd layer is red satin paper. Top white glitter layer is placed slightly off-center & wings lifted. Red rhinestones for the head & body.

- Had already adhered tiny pearls before deciding to add the butterfly, so it looks as though the antennae have pearls...not really!

Thanks for looking in this afternoon and off we go to link over at Mrs. A's #23 Butterfly Challenge.
There's still time to jump right in and play along! Big Hugs.

Edit: Just got a heads up from Miss Pixie  that this fits the current challenge over at Cuttleburg Mania: I{heart} you, so will link up for that challenge as well. Thanks Diane!

Edit #2: Another sweet blogger reminded me that this card works for the Allsorts Challenge Blog too, the theme of which is Love is All Around. Thanks so very much, Miss Brenda for the kind shout-out! I have such lovely people who visit here...gosh, I wish I could just meet each one of you in person one day.

Another Autumn Butterfly for Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge

Hiya, back again with another Butterfly card for Mrs. A's Challenge #15 (Autumn Butterflies).

First though, let me extend a warm welcome to my newest follower, Tammy of Tammy's Spot. So  happy to have you visit here, and hope you'll like what you see! Many of you already know about Tammy's wonderful blog, but for those who might not, please pop over to say Hello.

Now onto the Butterfly card:

 

 

This card was inspired by Friend Donna of Creative Smiles after seeing how she made a recent card.  I've seen other bloggers use this die technique; had just finished this bit of color play, and decided to try the technique for this card.

 

First the mixed media paper had been watercolored using an old Stargazer watercolor set I found.

 



- dampened the w/c paper, and using a wet brush, applied swaths of autumn tone colors in stripes down the length of the paper. Let that dry. Using Distress Inks in Fired Brick, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade and Mowed Lawn and a small stencil brush, applied these inks using a MB butterfly stencil.

 

This is the stencil I've used recently for paste embossing and was not pleased with the results achieved. Worked a bit better using inks & brush to stencil - think the card photo shows the stenciled butterflies. IRL they show better.

 

Staz On Saddle Brown stamped some butterflies from a clear set purchased at a consignment/garage sale. This set was quite brittle, and in removing one from the clear sheet. it simply tore apart. Lesson learned: perhaps don't buy acrylic sets from consignment or garage sales in future. I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of money for this set. Would have been a waste, because I think this set will get trashed as being unusable.

 

Wet a tiny brush, inked with some of the purple stargazer, and did a bit of outlining while the stencil was still in place. Shows up nicely IRL but think you can see a little bit of it in the photo.

 

- die cut both sides of the dried piece with S/B curved bracket - using 2 of the dies for each cut (one is decorative, one cut the curved edge shape). Adhered to cream card base. Used the cut off waste from the bracket to adhere to the inside right of the card base - on the right side of the cream edge. Cut the card front with the same dies so that this color would show.

 

- Fern is a snippet from a past project trying to the inlay technique. Had used UTEE on the die cut positive piece, and then it didn't fit back well into the negative cut. It's been on the desk for a while. Gold butterfly is an outline sticker, applied over a snippet  of clear packaging from a S/Binder.

 

- sentiment stamped using the Saddle Brown. That's it! Hope seeing the supply pictures helped to explain the how-to's. This was a fun card to make, and was done in bits & pieces as a thought to 'try this' would occur.

 

Ya'll have a wonderful day. I'm off to link up at Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge and the Snippets Playground Week 145. Sorry I missed World Card Day yesterday, but was just too busy to participate. Hope your day was just grand. Hugs

 

Edit: Just realized this might work in the Mixed Media Challenge Card Challenge #4 (which is vintage) so I hope this could meet the requirements! It's kind of 'vintage' as some of the supplies were pretty vintage for sure!!!(the Art Quest mica paints!)

Autumn Butterflies - Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge

Good afternoon & welcome friends. Hope that you're enjoying a lovely afternoon. Today is our DD's birthday. So today has been a day of much reminiscing for DH & me....how blessed we were all these years ago, and neither of us can realize her age! (That's when you REALLY feel old, is when you know your kids are are in middle age. DD might not like to hear that term applied to her however!)

Yesterday afternoon the front porch finally got cleaned...and boy was I tired last evening. Muscles  not used for a while are protesting vigorously. When this post is finished, the back porch is next on the agenda. (thankfully it's much smaller). Next week we'll try to get out some fall decorations on the cleaned porches.

Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge has an Autumn theme for #15, so I wanted to play along. Have been making some backgrounds using Daler Rowney Pearlescent inks. One of these just needed some butterflies added to meet the requirements (autumn colored butterflies).

Here goes:

-  mixed media weight paper, Hero Arts swirl stamp inked with versamark, heat embossed with  WOW Pearl white EP. Nice resist to color with Daler Rowney Pearlescent colors.

- Pearlescent red, pearl white  were placed with a dropper dispenser in small blogs on craft mat along with another type of yellow acrylic paint since no yellow DR in the supplies as yet. With a fairly wet brush, diluted each small dab of color to dilute, then swiped over embossed resist. Randomly dabbled colors until I liked the effect. Dried, then sprayed an orange Lindy's starburst color- which created some glimmering splats. 

- After drying, a MB butterfly stencil to add texture using embossing paste. (under the 2 lower butterflies, but it's a bit hard to see after adding the dimensional butterflies). This is a pretty stencil pattern, but think it might work better with pan pastels or other inks.

-  some overspray paper (snippet) used to die cut MB butterflies. (The newspaper weight paper comes as packing in craft supply shipments. It's a bit sturdier than tissue paper, but still very thin. Saved to line the air brush desk or a box when spraying. Creates some lovely colors too). Because of the thinness, doubled the paper prior to die cutting each solid & overlay butterfly layer.  Adhered the layers with a tiny bit of Tombow glue. Tiny insect body cut from a snippet of brown c/stock.

- Silhouette cut sentiment cut from white c/s (also a snippet), colored with copic gold marker, then again with a gold gel pen.  (The snippet was a 12x12 c/s from past Silhouette efforts to cut a motif. I'm learning to place the items so that the Silhouette moves past previously cut out places. Because of the calligraphy design of the letters, which were sized down to fit the card, it was tricky removing from the sticky mat.) Still at Baby Steps at learning to use this tool.

- matted against a chocolate brown, then a rust color cardstock. The base card is cream but it looks white in the photo.

Linking to Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge 15 - Autumn Butterflies and Week 144 at the Snippets Playground.

I'm off to clean so thanks for joining me this afternoon. Do check out Mrs. A's Butterflies and the Snippet Playground. Tons of inspiration for you. Big Hugs.

Edit PS: I keep forgetting to say I've added a new Fall card to the Cards by Friends tab. It's pretty!

Summer Butterfly

Happy Monday afternoon. Hope your weekend was pleasant. Ours was quiet, but relaxing. Today's  card uses the same Sue Wilson stamp as the last post. Two images were stamped, but used 2 different products to heat emboss.

- Creative Expressions Sue Wilson Butterfly Meadow stamp used in this card. Stamped with Versamark, heat embossed with a Stampendous Pearl powder, which is quite pretty IRL. Used Derwent Colorsoft & Inktense pencils to color the design, then some of the elements were colored with a WoStella pen (has a tiny nib instead of the brush tip). Used some gamsol on the blue background to smooth out the pencil strokes.

- MB Darla Butterfly for the base - colored with alcohol inks on the silver backing of a soda can.
- MB Vivienne Butterfly overlay - done from a suede paper.
Used the dies to cover the stamped butterfly, as I didn't like the way the coloring turned out. I folded the die cut base, then folded the overlay...glued together, then glued the piece to the stamped image- which has the single butterfly wing. The stamped body, feet & antennae were left visible.

- Sue Wilson die - Spanish Collection (Valencia) used for the card shape after I realized the shape of this stamp would fit this die. The stamped image was hand cut. One piece of cardstock was die cut for the front base, and a plain piece of an appropriate size was cut longer, top portion folded to form a hinge at the top of the card.

- Impression Obsession sentiment stamped with Colorbox Fluid Chalk Azure Blue, then outlined with a Pentel gold pen. (I saw this done on a card, but don't remember which blog so that credit can be given for the inspiration).

At the Butterfly Challenge, Challenge #12 theme is summery colors/or a summer theme + butterfly. I believe this one meets those requirements, so I'm linking up with Butterfly Challenge #12.

Ya'll have a nice afternoon. I'm off to fix a good ole Southern tomato sandwich. Enjoy whatever you might be doing, and lots of hugs. Come again when you can.

Butterflies are Free - Spots and Stripes

Hey Again. Finally got a chance to join in Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge, and this week's theme is
Spots and Stripes+Butterflies.  Each Butterfly challenge I've wanted to play along, but other things just get in the way. Doing a few scheduled posts freed up a little window where a butterfly card could come together with some new Memory Box dies that arrived a few weeks back. Here's the card:

- sprayed spots & stripes background created from white cardstock, using Dylusions sprays, Tattered Angels sprays and some acrylic paint diluted mixture . (supplies in the pic below). Stamping done with Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink (creamy brown & wisteria) using Impression Obsession Cover a Card Thick & Thin (CC008)- stripes with creamy brown; overstamping with CAC CC003-Dots in wisteria. Cut the piece in 2 sections. Burlap & silk wide ribbon glued to center of a folded cream card. Each section of the spots & stripes glued over this ribbon.

- MB Floating Butterflies Background (98991) diecut from another sprayed white c/s - but this piece was stamped with Hero Arts F5584 Single Starburst using Magenta Maya Arts Gold Paint. A dollop of this rather thick paint was put on the non-stick mat and diluted with water, then the stamp inked & stamped. My first time using this process, so I need to work on getting this diluted texture done better, as it stamped out a bit goopy. Once this dried, the butterfly background was die cut.

- MB Floating Butterflies (98978 - an outline) was die cut from a lavender cardstock. First tried cutting this die with a beautiful shimmer sheetz product. Did not cut well, so will have to be fussy cut and I think it will be an 'entire piece' not just the outline. You'll see it on another project I expect! Applying glue to the skinny outline was the hardest part of this card. The thin outline piece wanted to stretch out of shape as glue was applied, my fingers got sticky and then it was a bear to try to get placed properly over the outline. I am trying to think of how I could have used the Sookwang tape to do this bit, but the lightbulb hasn't gone off yet.

_ Elizabeth Craft die sentiment from same lavender card stock.

So off I go to link with Mrs. A's Spots & Stripes Butterfly Challenge. Won't you join in???
Thanks again for your visit today. Come again when you can. Hugs.

Supplies to create card backgrounds

about 2 tablespoons of the Ivory acrylic paint mixed with water in spray bottle. Added a few drops of the Dylusions Coffee spray that had already been diluted with water in another spray bottle. Tattered Angels sprays were Crème de Cacao and Apricot. sorry...Butternut Squash! These sprays created a lovely café au lait colored background that has a lot of sparkle IRL.

PS: I totally forgot to say Winner #2, Follower 43, Sheila of  lala crafts contacted me yesterday and her little surprise package was mailed off this afternoon. Congratulations, Miss Sheila, and I hope you enjoy the goodies.

Butterfly Challenge along with Happy Easter

Hello there on a delightfully warm & sunny Monday afternoon. Our day has been spent on the telephone (not something I enjoy!) so it was pleasant to sit down to the computer to write up a post. Today's card will be going over to the Butterfly Challenge where the theme is Spring Time at Last. Entries need to have a butterfly and the color yellow. Pretty easy to do.

- image is an old stamp, Hampton Art Butterfly Banner, embossed with Ranger Queen's Gold, then colored with various Chromatix markers. (Coloring over embossing, so didn't want to ruin copic nibs).  Banner section was stamped again, embossed then colored, handcut, popped up on dimensional foam. SU sentiment heat embossed with Queen's Gold.

- lower left butterfly is from a Lost Coast Designs Butterflies Set, also heat embossed with Queen's Gold.

- pale yellow card was embossed with a Darice EF corner butterfly design.

This is another card that looks much better IRL than in the photo. Hope you will enjoy it none-the-less. Since I am in need of Easter cards soon, that's why I chose to add the sentiment on the banner.

Off I go to link up with the Butterfly's Challenge of Yellow & Butterflies. Hope you'll join in too.

Thanks for joining me today and hope that wherever you may be in the world, you have some sunshine in your day too. Hugs

More Butterflies

Hiya, Happy Sunday. First, thank you to all who sent comments about the Blogger issue. I've tried to follow some of those suggestions (right now I'm online with Firefox as my browser, still can't sign in to a blog where I'm already a follower, but not seeing myself. I give up! I've already wasted too much time on this frustrating issue).

There's a lovely challenge going on here and since there were a couple of spraying & embossing paste projects in the works, here's another butterfly card. Didn't turn out as envisioned, and hope that the faux piercing done by the die cut won't disqualify this one from the theme of A Stitch in Time. If you squint very hard, the piercing on the die _does_ look stitched! This one also has a few snippety bits too.

- base background (snippet) was smudged as a drying piece as when spraying top focal part; adding some WRMemory Keepers acrylic paint, heavily diluted with water & placed in a spray bottle. Very glimmery. Debossed with a Darice Argyll folder, . This background piece was just an extra white card stock on the table, used to blot the top w/color c/s while wet. Got some nice color, decided to experiment with the embossing folder..

- focal top piece was 140# weight w/color paper - sprayed with Dylusions (think it was Lime Green) diluted with White Linen. Let it dry, then sprayed again with the WRM diluted green - nice shimmer.  THoltz Splat stencil and some Mixed Media ?chalk? (in a pot, got at Michaels on sale...feels more like a chalky substance than ink, but is also 'wetter' than the usual chalky feel). I sponged this blue media using the TH stencil.  TCW flower stencil was used for the Viva Decor Glitter Paste embossing at top left. Let that dry. Used a Memory Box butterfly stencil with the same paste, let that dry. (For anyone just experimenting with these pastes, be sure to have some soapy water handy to clean off stencils & tool quickly. It dries fast, will be hard to remove if not removed at once when you've finished. Also, be sure to close the paste jar quickly.) MFT Die-namics pierced rectangle stax to die cut a portion of the w/c paper project.

Closeup of the butterfly

- Memory Box Darla butterfly cut from the same blue color cardstock used for matting (snippet).
Sponged with DI Tumbled Glass & Stormy Sky, then embossed with a dots EF. Black overlay is the matching MB Vivienne die from a snippet of lightweight black glitter paper.

- pearls for the butterfly body and some green rhinestones to dress him up to go flying over The Pond to visit the Butterfly Challenge and see Parsnip at the Snippet Playground for week 117. C'mon & go along.

Hope all the details didn't put you to sleep. Had fun messin' about with this one. Thanks for visiting & Sunday Hugs!

Penny Black Rose for the Butterfly Challenge

Hello there, and it's a wonderfully sunny & warm Saturday afternoon in my neighborhood. We're told temps will drop later on, and tomorrow won't be as nice. This afternoon, we filled up the bird feeder - pulled a few weeds underneath where the silly birds waste the seeds. Then sat on the back porch to just enjoy a pretty afternoon for a bit. Then I made myself go downstairs to work on today's card, which had been in progress. Had 2 nights where I just didn't feel inspired to do anything but watch tv & doze (currently I'm on Season 12 of Midsomer Murders on Netflix..hate to see the end of the series come around; I prefer the episodes with John Nettles.)

Here's the card which is going over to Mrs. A's new Butterfly Challenge, where the theme for week 3 is A Stitch in Time. There must be butterflies (of course), but also some stitching, real or faux.

- Penny Black Rose Die (51-023) which I have been seeing on some gorgeous cards. Was longing for this die, which recently arrived from Ellen Hutson when there was a 17% discount. Am pleased to say there was fast shipping. Colored vellum with copics, using shades of red at the top, green at the bottom, blending each color to the previous. If doing this technique, stamping is done on the reverse side of the colored vellum. (wanna know how I remembered this fact?). Since I wasn't stamping on this vellum, I could use either side, and chose to use the brighter, colored side of the vellum. Die cut 2 roses, and glued together with vellum glue. Provides just a tiny bit of a raised effect. Dew drops were added to the leaves because I could detect the 'glue', although I don't think anyone else could. I knew where I had placed the tiny dot of glue. Probably should have just added 1 dewdrop on a leaf.

- previously embossed pink cardstock with a dots folder - edged with DI spun Sugar and Shabby Shutters..

- more vellum colored for the Hero Arts H5426 Artistic Butterfly - stamped on the reverse of the copic shading. Used Spica Black to darken some markings, then added Sakura Silver star for some glimmer; Spica Blue for the dots in the wings, highlighted with a white pen.

- C/Lynn DL112 Exotic Butterfly Small done in vellum.

- edged white card base with DI Spun Sugar and Peeled Paint.

- Elizabeth Craft gold outline sticker sentiment.

I'm off to link up with Mrs. A's Stitch in Time Butterfly Challenge, which I hope you'll check out, and do please enjoy what's left of your Saturday afternoon. Thanks as always for dropping in to visit. So enjoy reading your comments & suggestions. Hugs.

Butterfly for 3 B's

Hello and welcome to my world on a beautiful balmy spring-like Sunday afternoon. There is a marvelous new Butterfly Challenge and it's still open for 2 more days. The theme is to have 3B's - Butterflies, Buttons & Bows. I wanted to join in, but still have a few St. Pat's cards to finish up. Took a break from St. Pat's, and broke out the Ranger alcohol inks to have a little play. Some time ago, DH had sliced open some soda cans, after seeing some nifty examples of what can be done with dies & thinner metal at a stamp show. Flattened one of the opened cans as much as possible. Collected some bottles of alcohol inks in greens - blue green shades plus the gold, and started to play, being careful of sharp edges.  Here's what resulted:
 (can you believe I'm still thinking Green?)!

New Butterfly Yankee Candle topper

 

Close up

 

 

- Memory Box Delia Butterfly (base butterfly). Alcohol inks - Meadow, Stream, Oregano, Gold & Lettuce. First drops dots of the ink applied directly to soda can metal (?snippet?) in a small area. Spread this around with the TH tool covered in felt*. Let it dry, then moved to another area, until the surface was covered. Once there was a dried base coating, applied small drops of the same inks onto the felt, sponged, pounced & twisted to get the mottled look. Die cut the dried metal into the butterfly shape. Since the metal underside was not colored, didn't lift the wings, but shaped them so they would stay flat to the card.

 

- MB Finn Butterfly die cut using navy blue textured Bazzill snippet, glued to the metal butterfly using Easy Flow glue, just dabbed in spots. Body also from navy blue.

 

- Ranger Gold stickles applied with a toothpick.

 

- S/B Grand Circle smallest die cut from yellow textured snippet; dimensional foam strips to raise up from the S/B large square of turquoise mat. Both of these shapes were embossed to add some dimension to the pieces.

 

- 6x6 card base covered with some VOS patterned paper. Liked the colors & textures with the butterfly - so that's why it was chosen. Since this butterfly is rather large, it needed a 6x6 base, rather than my usual 5.5 x 4.25 card base.

 

- Elizabeth Craft die sentiment from the tiny bit of the colored metal (does it qualify for a snippet designation? Perhaps). Wanted to use a love die, but was too large for the space, and the leftover metal bit was not big enough.

 

- MS large punch for the buttons, also from a snippet bit of the metal. Took a couple of tries to get the punch positioned to punch the shape properly, so that's why the material was not enough for the love sentiment. :-)

 

- Waxed twine bows were colored with a dark turquoise blue copic, threaded through the holes. Pearl trim added over the bow.

*Cut the felt pieces from craft felt - a heavier weight works better. The ones used on this project were of  thinner weight; didn't like their performance as well. Used a quilting rotary cutter to cut  felt strips to size, then cut the strips to fit applicator made from a dowel and block of wood. Very similar to the THoltz blending tool, but I had a bunch of these made, so I'm  not always having to change sponges & felt pads. Works great.

 

This is quite larger than my usual cards. It is going to be for a VSP (very special person) and though the sentiment says "Believe", I'll take care of the "Love" sentiment that I really wanted to use, by the inside verse. This was quite an experimental card for me, and I had fun making it. So thanks, Mrs. A for coming up with this challenge.

 

Linking to: Butterfly Challenge, 3B's

Pixie's Crafty Workshop Snippet Challenge No. 115

 

Hope you like this one, and that you'll check out these fun challenges.  Promise you'll see lovely work and meet some friendly people who play. Maybe I'll see ya there. So enjoy your afternoon, come again when you have time, and in the meantime, big Hugs.

 

 

 

 



Butterflies and Flowers - a New Challenge

Hello again. This must be a record for me, 3 posts in one day. I've had 2 of these cards in the making, just needed to get finished. The earlier Snowflakes & white was due today, but then was also working on this next card so I could join in a new Butterfly challenge set up by the lovely Mrs. A. and you can find that challenge right here. Mrs. A is one of the Snippets Playground buddies so I really wanted to play along in her first challenge.

This card was fun to make. First the white cardbase was airbrushed with copics, using light yellows (Y02 I think). I just picked a shade of yellow, sprayed and decided it was ok. After covering the base, allowing it to dry, used a TCW mini butterfly stencil; masked off areas so that only the butterfly shape desired was showing, airbrushed that space using B000, B01. Moved to another butterfly shape on the stencil, repeated this process, added in B91 to get a darker contrast. Die cut an aperture using S/B deckled edge oval after the c/s was dried.

- Inked a flower from the SU Blooming with Kindness set, using gelatos, spritzed & stamped on white snippet cardstock. Mounted the yellow piece over this stamped flower using dimensional foam.

- MBox Moonlight Butterfly cut from silver c/s. Two layers of vellum (snippets) to cut MB Kaleidescope Butterfly. Colored the layer adhered over the silver b/fly with some gelli roll pens for a bit of color. Top layer covered with Versamark, Ranger Snowflake EP, lifted the wings for some dimension. Black body die cut from a snippet of black glitter paper.

- Tried my hand at making some roses...they looked terrible - so found some paper roses for the flower part of the challenge. The yellow roses started out white, sprayed the smaller ones with copics. The larger yellow had been done on a previous Dylusions spraying session, (?snippet? )and is just a bit different in color. The blue one - well I left that one as is!

- sentiment stamped with Memento Cottage Ivy - older small wood stamp. Punched with a Fiskars oval punch.

So I'm off to link with

Butterfly Challenge  AND
Pixie's Crafty Workshop Snippets Playground Week 112

Why don't you jump right on in, and play too! Hugs & enjoy your afternoon.