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!