Beautiful Butterflies - and fixing them when they're not!

Today I have several cards made by exploring using the Beautiful Butterflies Hybrid 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.
7. At this point I set it aside.  I really didn't like it as well as I wished - mostly because I couldn't ink the embossed parts of the butterfly since it didn't have the correct embossing.  Later I came back and looked at it, realizing that I could try the butterfly detail stamp with black ink.  That made it look better, but because of the dimensionals and embossing, there were plenty of areas of missing ink.  I found that using the brush side of the Black Stampin' Write marker to fill in the missing parts worked pretty well. 

For the horizontal 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 a step card for more advanced card makers.  I'll give instructions 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 1/4".  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.  

I had intended to stamp on the large white butterfly before I added the pink one, but I forgot until the card was finished.  I tried die cutting a butterfly from scrap paper so I could use it as a mask over the pink butterfly and then stamp.  It didn't work as well as I would have liked because I first tried it with the sentiment still in place (which had been added with dimensionals, so made it more challenging with parts that didn't stamp.   By the time I removed the sentiment and tried again, I realized the stamp I tried first wouldn't work well with the masked embossed butterfly.  The dotted stamp worked better, but the damage had already been done.  None-the-less, I think it still looks better than without the stamping, though I'm not entirely sure. :D  

 I might end up adding some gems over the stamping to disguise the issue.  At any rate, this should give you some ideas for fixing things that you mess up (because we ALL do that sometimes!).

After creating these cards, I had some pieces left over.  I decided to use them to create another card:

 I think I like this one best of all!  

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.

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.

Another Dual Side Stepper

Today I made one of these Dual Side Stepper cards - calculating measurements for an A2-sized card.  Here are the measurements I used:

1. With basic A2 card open, cut sides 1" in running from 2" in the back to 3/4" in the front. 
2. Score between these cuts starting at the base of the cut lines at 2", 4", 5 1/2", 7", 7 3/4" - again between the cuts. This should give you a total of 5 score lines. 
3. On the outer sides - score as normal at 4 1/4" and fold as mountain fold.
4. Fold along the scored lines as follows: mountain, valley, mountain, valley, mountain. 

I also cut a piece of cardstock that was 3 1/2" x 3 1/2", which I used to create the back panel.  

I cut papers (Beautiful Bokeh) just a bit smaller to nearly cover the 3 1/2" square panel, the front step, and the card front.  I embossed these pieces using the Beautiful Butterflies Hybrid 3D embossing folder.  Then, I used a foam applicator to add Balmy Blue ink to the raised areas and around the edges before gluing in place.  I die cut 3 small butterflies from Basic White cardstock using some of the extra dies included with the Hybrid embossing folder.  I added these butterflies to the top of clear acetate strips - which were then attached to the front step using Mini Glue Dots.  I stamped a greeting from the Beautiful Butterflies stamp set and Balmy Blue ink - then inked the edges before adding to the front step with Mini Stampin' Dimensionals.

Hybrid Embossing

Today I have 4 sample cards, again mostly using Stampin' Up! products.  They all made use of a hybrid embossing folder called Thoughtful Moments.  In class, we will discuss several ways to use such an embossing folder, but for these cards, I used Tuxedo Black Momento ink direct to the folder before embossing/die cutting the sentiments.  Then I used Stampin' Blends (Calypso Coral, Balmy Blue, Lemon Lolly, Highland Heather) to color inside the lines, using the darker color on the lower half of the letters and the lighter on the upper:

I made 4 quick cards using the four sentiments I colored.  I chose papers in the same colors from a discontinued DSP (designer series paper) but it was similar to this.  Here's what I did.

Card #1:

I created the panel by adding strips of Highland Heather cardstock on either side of the yellow and white DSP and taping the pieces together on the back side with transparent tape.  Because the colors made the pattern difficult to see, I embossed the taped panel using the 3D embossing folder called Fern.  Then I added a diagonal piece of ribbon across the panel, taping it in the back with transparent tape.  After gluing the panel in place on the card front, I added a ribbon bow using a Mini Glue Dot.  Then I added the prepared sentiment with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals and finished with seven Iridescent Faceted Gems – one in the center of the bow. 

Card #2:  

I began by cutting thin strips of the yellow paper, making sure they were narrow enough to thread through the lace.  After threading the paper through both pieces, I trimmed the paper and set them aside.  Next, I glued the striped paper to the center of the card and trim the bottom off – even with the bottom of the card front.  I turned the trimmed piece over so the flowered side was showing and glue it in place in the center of the striped paper, adding narrow white strips of cardstock top and bottom.  Using tear and tape adhesive, I added the prepared lace borders on either side of the striped panel.  Using Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals, I added the prepared sentiment to complete the card.

Card #3:

After trimming just a bit off the right side of the paper (so it would fit the card front - saving the piece I cut off!), I wrapped the larger piece of ribbon (Cherry Cobbler & Gold ribbon - discontinued) around the lower edge - wrapping it around to the back and taping it in place before gluing all in place on the card front.  Taking the scrap of patterned paper I had cut off, I turned it over to the reverse side and used it as a mat for my sentiment – gluing it in place toward the lower right corner.  After adding the sentiment with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals, I took the small piece of ribbon, wrapped it as in the picture, and added it to the border using a Mini Glue Dot, before adding a Flirty Flamingo Dot from the Adhesive-Backed Dots for Days (discontinued).

Card #4:

For my final card, I embossed a strip of Balmy Blue cardstock using the Soft Waves 3D embossing folder - then glued it to the piece of patterned paper so the stripes were on the front side.  I trimmed the paper and cardstock so the panel fit the card front with just a bit of a border around it – then added white ribbon over the join, taping it in back of the panel and gluing the panel to the card front.  For my focal, I stamped 4 flowers from the Inspiring Imperfections stamp set using Tuxedo Black Momento ink.  After coloring them using Stampin’ Blends (Balmy Blue and Granny Apple Green), I trimmed the fourth flower so I had just the stem and leaves, then arranged it with the other three flowers to create a cluster.  I taped the cluster together from the back, then glued it in place.  I created a bow with silver 1/8" ribbon and added it to the flower cluster using a Mini Glue Dot.  I again added the sentiment with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals, and finished the card by adding 3 silver “gems” (from my stash) toward the bottom left corner of the card.

More with Kintsugi

I've liked the concept of "Love it Chop it" that I've seen from Kylie Bertucci.  Cutting into a gorgeous piece of paper can be HARD.  But I've found it REALLY works well to cut my paper into sizes that fit for front panels of cards!  I usually cut my papers into 4" x 6" panels. This gives a basic A2 panel that is 4" x 5 1/4" with an additional strip that is 3/4" x 4".  That small piece is perfect for inside the card if I don't use it elsewhere (like I did here).  Also, by cutting these into "4 x 6" panels, they can be matted and used for 5 x 7 cards if I wish.  AND, if I actually cut them into panels, I'm much more likely to actually USE them!  

For my Kintsugi Inspirations papers, of the 6 different double-sided patterned papers, I saved the one that could be die cut for focals and accents and cut the remaining 5 into panels.  I've then created "sets" of one each of the 5 panels to use for making sets of cards. 

Last post used one set of these papers, plus a few vases and flowers from the cut-out sheet, to make a set of Oriental-flavored cards.  Again this time, I started with a set of 5 of those panels.  This time, though, I experimented with chopping up the panels before I started to see what I got!  I again used Inspiring Imperfections stamps and dies, and Textured Notes dies.  However, I didn't stick to an Oriental theme this time, and only used a little bit of the gold tag board.  This gave me cards that had quite a different feel from my last set of cards.  Most products used are Stampin' Up!  Those that aren't are noted in the description.

Kintsugi Class & Club

Today I have eight makes to share with you, using the lovely Kintsugi Inspirations Suite from Stampin' Up!  I LOVE this set of papers and coordinating supplies/tools!  In addition to the papers (I used a 4" x 6" piece of each of 5 double-sided papers plus some of the patterned paper used with cutting dies and A2 sized cardstock panels in the following colors: Misty Moonlight, Old Olive, Petal Pink, Lost Lagoon, Cloud Cover, and Basic Beige), for these makes I've used the Joined Together 3D embossing folder, and the Inspiring Imperfections stamps and dies.  I've also made extensive use of the beautiful rectangular dies in the Textured Notes die set - which I mostly used with gold metallic tag board from my stash.  In addition, I used various pieces of cardstock for card bases - or basic white card bases from my stash.  NOTE: I had about 3 gold panels cut to A2 size - then added most of the cutting dies to each so I got a variety of frames from the one piece of gold card stock.  All other materials are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

Below is a look at each of the 8 cards. 

June Swap Cards

Today I have a couple of swap cards made using digi-paper and a mix of Spellbinders dies.

Card #1: 

This first card features a "porthole" looking out into the ocean.  The patterned paper was printed from a digi file.  I added blue and white cardstock from my stash. The porthole, fish, seaweed, and "wave" (used by sentiment) were created using dies from three Spellbinders sets: Coastal Escape View, Underwater Marine Life, and Underwater Tunnel.  In most cases I die cut white cardstock and then colored the pieces with ink and a foam applicator.  I made the porthole into a shaker with bits of "diamonds" leftover from diamond art I made.  The stamped sentiment was from Spellbinders' Seahorse Gardens stamp and die set.  The blue mat was what was left after die cutting the porthole.  I thought a variety of circles was a great touch with this background, so I used it as the mat for my stamped focal - which I cut with a 2" circle punch.

Card #2: 

Again, I started with a printed paper from a digi file.  This time I tore along the top to give the idea of waves on the sea and backed it with a light blue piece of cardstock from my stash.  Again, the dies were all Spellbinders dies from several sets (all from the Fair Winds Collection): Set Sail, Oh, Buoy!, and Guiding Light.  Again, most pieces were die cut from white and then colored with inks and a foam blending tool.  Some, where I wanted a shiny surface, were die cut from glossy cardstock and colored with Sharpies.