Beautiful Butterflies!

Today I have several cards made by exploring using the Beautiful Butterflies Embossing Folder and coordinating Stamp Set.  The patterned paper used was from the Beautiful Bokeh set of 6 x 6 papers.    

Hybrid EF (embossing folder): I have two examples of using the basic Hybrid EF from this set.  They were made in a similar way, though one is vertical and the other horizontal.  I’ll first describe the vertical one – and then add any differences for the horizontal one.

 

1. Place cutting die in the embossing folder, then the patterned paper, and run the whole through the Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine using the 3D embossing folder sandwich.  In the case of this yellow card, I made two mistakes. First, I didn’t hold the EF closed well and the cutting die moved (NOT GOOD! Not only could it have hurt my embossing folder, but the cut butterfly didn’t have the correct embossing!  This is why I chose NOT to ink the raised areas.).  Second, I didn’t place the paper correctly so the yellow side was Debossed instead of embossed – not a serious problem – just a different look. 
2.  Cut the embossed (or debossed!) piece just smaller than the card front (in a vertical orientation).
3. From black cardstock, die cut the main butterfly and the large butterfly body, cut a rectangle mat for the sentiment, and use a standard hole punch to punch 3 small circles (mats for the “Dots”).
4. Glue the background in place on the card front with the black butterfly die cut glued in the “hole” on the card front.  The body was glued to the butterfly itself, the edges inked with black, then the whole was added with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals.
5. The sentiment was stamped on white cardstock.  After gluing the black mat in place, glue a smaller mat of the embossed (debossed!) yellow paper.  Add the stamped sentiment with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals.
6. The small punched circles were glued near the top of the card – then the yellow Dots on top.

For the 2^nd card, I used the reverse side of the paper – cutting it just smaller than the card front before I embossed/die cut it.  I inked the background with Calypso Coral ink and the butterfly with black.  I stamped the sentiment on a small piece of white and inked the edges with Calypso Coral.  The background was glued directly to the card, as was the sentiment.  The butterfly was added with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals.  I added 3 white embellishments to the upper left corner – if you don’t have those, you could punch them from white cardstock using a standard hole punch.

Embossed Background with Die Cut Butterfly Card:  Again, I made two versions – a basic one, and step card for those more advanced card makers.  I’ll give instruction for the basic one – picture and instructions for the more advanced one can be found here.  

 

1. Cut a panel from the patterned paper that is just smaller than the card front.  Then, using the embossing folder without the cutting die, emboss the background.
2. Ink the raised portions and edges using Balmy Blue ink, then glue it to the card front.
3. Add another embossed greeting from the Thoughtful Moments Hybrid EF (colored with Calypso Coral Stampin’ Blends) with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals and 3 die cut butterflies from white cardstock using dies included with the Beautiful Butterflies Hybrid EF.

Butterfly Shaker Card:

 

1. Cut the Berry Burst cardstock just smaller than the card front, then emboss/die cut it in a horizontal orientation.  Save the die cut butterfly for the next card.  (It might have been nice to ink the raised areas, but it's pretty as is, too.)
2. Stamp the large butterfly with Berry Burst ink and die cut it.  Carefully glue it in place so it will show behind the embossed piece when you add that.
3. Glue a piece of acetate to the back side of the embossed piece, being careful to avoid getting adhesive where the acetate will show.  Use an embossing buddy to decrease any static electricity on it.
4. Use Foam Adhesive Strips and shape them on the back of the embossed piece around the butterfly hole, making sure there are no spaces where the filling could get out.  I also added a few Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals around the edge of the panel.
5. Carefully pile the filling (Itty Bitty Bokeh Mix - discontinued) in the middle of the stamped butterfly, then add the panel to the card front, making sure the filling doesn’t escape.
6. Finally, add a sentiment near the bottom using Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals (Mine was created using the hybrid EF called Thoughtful Moments - unfortunately, discontinued).

Butterfly Shaped Card Top: There is a special shaped card die in the Beautiful Butterflies Hybrid Embossing Folder set.  If placed on a folded piece of light cardstock (there are markings on the cutting die to show where to line up the die with the fold), you can get a small shaped card approx. 3 1/2” x 4 3/4".  Today, though, I chose to make it so only the card front was shaped.  

  

1. Open the card base and carefully place the die on the card front, lining up the marks with the fold.  After running this through the machine, snip the sides of the card front to the butterfly wings to remove the excess front panel.
2. Cut a piece of patterned paper to fit the inside of the card with just a little bit of white showing all around it.  Ink the edges with black, then glue it in place. (It would look really nice if you embossed the paper before adding it!)
3. Take the embossed and die cut butterfly, and use a Black Stampin’ Write Marker to color the raised areas.  Glue this butterfly to the shaped card front (cutting the butterfly head off the shaped card front since two butterfly heads looked weird).  (You could use stamps from the Beautiful Butterflies stamp set to add texture to the edges of the card front before adding the die cut/embossed butterfly).
4. Stamp a sentiment (black ink on white cardstock using stamp from Beautiful Butterflies Stamp set), fussy cut around it, and added it to the card front using Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Christmas in July - KCC19

It's been quite awhile since I used one of Kendra's Card Challenges.   I DO like these for using 6 x 6 papers!  Today I've got Christmas cards using her KCC #19 and some 6 x 6 papers from my stash. Here's a picture of all 15 cards:

Next up is a look at each.

KCC19 #1:

This card started with a red card base.  I cut a white mat just a bit smaller than the card front and arranged the pieces on it as indicated in the KCC #1 sketch.  A 2" red circle mat serves as the backdrop for my sentiment - a Sassy's LLC greeting with sentiment stamped in red (stamp from Stampin' Up!s Greetings of the Season - discontinued).

KCC19 #2:

Though this looks like it's on a red card base, it's actually on a white one.  I took narrow scrap strips of red and glued them around the edge of the card.  As you can see, I also matted the pocket shape on white.  Mrs. Claus was made from a die set of the same name from Elizabeth Craft.  I stamped the greeting on her muff using a stamp from HOTP small stamp set called Cardinal.

KCC19 #3: 

This card was put together with no extra matting.  I stamped Happy Holidays (from Stampin' Up!s discontinued Greetings of the Season stamp set) in the upper right and lower left corners.  Then I added an ornament die cut (from Elizabeth Crafts Holiday Charms die set) hung with a bit of Dazzles stickers border.

KCC19 #4: 

Here I used another Sassy's LLC greeting, double matted with the patterned paper circle and a dark red circle.  In addition to the twine, I added 3 red Jewel Dazzles (though they look almost black in the photo!).

KCC19 #5: 

As you can see, I matted all the patterned paper pieces with red - which I also used for the focal (printout from Debbi Moore) and the sentiment (Sassy's LLC).  A baker's twine bow completed this make - easy peasy.

KCC19 #6:

This time I followed the sketch fairly well - added the Santa from my stash and the "Ho Ho Ho!" from JustRite's Christmas Labels Twenty-Two. 

KCC19 #7: 

I really like this sketch!  This focal may not be the best use of it, but it works.  It was created using a die set from Art Impressions called Christmas Placecard.

KCC19 #8: 

As you can see, I added some Poppy Parade cardstock to the sketch.  The stamped greeting was from JustRite's Christmas Vintage Labels One.  I embossed the white mat using the Fern 3D embossing folder from Stampin' Up!

KCC19 #9: 

This is a pretty card, but not the best use of the sketch since the focal covers so much of it.  The focal was die cut from an Elizabeth Crafts die set called Holiday House.  The sentiment was from a stamp set included in a discontinued Paper Pumpkin kit called Warm Wishes.

KCC19 #10: 

I embossed this card front using an old 5 x 7 embossing folder from Cuttlebug called Holly Ribbon.  In addition to the patterned paper pieces, I added a rectangle of Poppy Parade cardstock , as well as 3 dots created with a standard hole punch.  The sentiment was from a stamp and die cut set my mother had - not sure where it came from.

KCC19 #11:

The background was embossed with a Darice folder called Chevron.  Focal was compiled from miscellaneous from my stash and a bit of striped baker's twine.  The sentiment was stamped and die cut using a set my mother had - not sure who made it.

KCC19 #12:

The layout was another nice one.  To that, I added red mats, a focal floral spray from my stash, and Dazzles sentiment.

KCC19 #13:

This is another cool sketch, though I decided to add a lower border with Real Red cardstock and striped baker's twine with bow. The focal was from my stash, and the sentiment was from Sassy's LLC.  The mat for the focal was die cut with a die from Nellie Snellen called Multi-Frame Flower.

KCC19 #14: 

I double matted these patterned paper pieces on white and then Real Red cardstock.  The focal came from my stash and I matted it on on the Real Red and added it with a thin fun foam piece for dimension.  The flag had been designed to go inside the card, but I liked it, matted in white, for the outside as you can see. 

KCC19 #15:

This final card again has the pieces matted on Real Red cardstock with decorations from my stash.  The sentiment was stamped using a stamp from a JustRite set called Antique Christmas Tags One and stamped with Real Red ink from Stampin' Up!

More Scrap Cards

Today I have a couple of cards made from scraps.  The paper was wrapped around a bouquet I was given.  I had made several cards from this paper, and these tiny pieces were all that I had left.

Card #1: 

This card used 4 small paper pieces that I trimmed to the same size.  For this card, I used stamps and a die from an old Hero Arts' Kit-Tea Stamp N Cut set. I stamped the sentiment with Shaded Spruce ink, and colored the focal using Shaded Spruce Stampin' Blends, Crumb Cake Stampin Blends, and Pretty in Pink Stampin' Blends.  I also used Shaded Spruce Stampin' Blends to color borders on the white mat for the focal and for the sentiment.  

Card #2:

This time I debossed the card front using an old Cuttlebug embossing folder called Swiss Dots.  I combined three little paper scraps and glued them in place.  The sentiment was stamped with Shaded Spruce ink and a stamp from Stampin' Up!s Beautiful Butterflies stamp set.  I added 2 butterfly stickers from my stash (probably Dollar Store finds) and 3 adhesive backed sequins (discontinued Stampin' Up! product).

Leftover Card Kits

 

I had some leftover card kits that I had made for class and club.  I didn't want them just sitting around taking up space, but also didn't want to make them up the way the other kits had been.  Here's what I did with them.

Card #1:

I made two cards from the first card kit which included paper from the discontinued Take to the Skies designer series papers and Night of Navy cardstock.  This was the first.  It's pretty plain, but I wanted it to have a masculine feel and was feeling low on mojo.  I cut the patterned paper in half and die cut the sentiment from an old Hot Off the Press die set, using the remaining scrap rather than the die cut itself. I also die cut a butterfly using dies from the Beautiful Butterflies Hybrid Embossing Folder and backed it with Night of Navy scraps.

Card #2:

Here's the 2nd card from that first kit.  As you can see, I used the die cut from the last card and the remaining patterned paper and most of the remaining cardstock.  The "Celebrate" was cut from the discontinued Wanted to Say die set, and the "70" was from the Birthday Celebration die set.

Card #3:

This is what I did with the 2nd kit - which again had a patterned paper from the discontinued Take to the Skies DSP. I used the whole piece of patterned paper on the card front.  Then made multiple mats for the focal (an old sticker from my stash) by die cutting the centers of the white and Copper Clay cardstock pieces.  From the other piece of Copper Clay cardstock piece, I die cut the sentiment using the discontinued Wanted to Say die set and misc dies from my stash.

Card #4:

The card actually takes advantage of parts of two card kits.  The first had paper from the discontinued Flowering Fields DSP and Pumpkin Pie cardstock. The 2nd used "found" paper that came around a bouquet of flowers that I received.  I decided to save the Pumpkin Pie cardstock for another project and use the found paper with the DSP instead.  The daffodils were from an Elizabeth Crafts die set.  The sentiment was stamped with Shaded Spruce ink.  I used Shaded Spruce Stampin' Blends to color a piece of neutral colored twine.