Stampin' Up Sketched Butterflies Thank You Card

 

Hi blogging friends,

Today I am sharing a Thank You Card for a nurse who works at my local GP clinic:

This is also my card for the following Challenges - click on the underlined link to take you to the Challenge:

• Allsorts Challenge Blog - #30 - I Spy Something Beginning with B or Anything Goes if you find the former too complicated

• Can You Handle the Pressure (Dry/Heat Embossing) Challenge - Anything Goes with Optional Twist of Balloons

I pulled out a recent purchase from Stampin' Up:  Sketched Butterflies - but just used the accompanying Sketched Butterflies Dies on my card.  This bundle was on the Last Chance List but is no longer available.  My Stampin' Up Demonstrator - Rachel - did a class back in March using this bundle and I just loved them and couldn't add them to my cart quick enough when I got home after class 😀  Just as well that I did because they disappeared a week or so later!

To make my card:  I watered down some Ranger Distress Inks in the colours Picked Raspberry, Squeezed Lemonade and Evergreen Bough then added some white paint from a White Posca Pen to the colours to make pastel shades - then used a paintbrush to paint them onto 300gsm/140lb Watercolour Paper.  I made sure I had plenty of variation in the tones.  I then diecut the butterflies using the 2 different butterflies - one is the base and the top is the detailed die.

I wanted to add a bit more life to the butterflies so splattered on the same ink colours but in full strength as well as some White Posca Pen, then some watered down JoSonja Pale Gold Acrylic Gouache Paint.  To add some subtle sparkle, I coloured the top butterflies with a Uniquely Creative Clear Glitter Brush - alas not picked up by the camera.  I only glued down the centre of the top detailed butterfly so I could bend up the wings for dimension.  I added some tiny matching Self-Adhesive Rhinestones to the butterfly centres.  Even though the rhinestones are self-adhesive, I added a tiny dot of Designer Dries Clear Art Glitter Glue fitted with a fine tip to make sure they didn't fall off or move.  I have learned from past experience that they just don't stay put - the glue dot just isn't strong enough especially when alot of my rhinestones are quite old and seem to have lost a bit of their stickiness over that time.

 

The dry embossing is a Stampin' Up embossing folder called Eyelet.  It is a 3D folder so I sprayed the white cardstock with water using my Ranger Mister so it wouldn't crack when I put it through my Big Shot.  Isn't this embossing folder gorgeous?!  It is still current so go grab one!

I used a 3/8" WRMK Corner Chomper to punch the two bottom corners of the embossed panel then glue the panel to a Uniquely Creative White Card Base using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.  I punched the two bottom corners of the card base using a 1/2" Corner Chomper.

I had so much trouble with the sentiment.  I seemed to spend hours messing it up.  First, the scrap of white cardstock that I stamped it on was lousy quality and when I heat-embossed it, it turned out really flat.  So I tried better quality and it turned out fine - but because I was originally using a two part sentiment, I kept stamping the 2nd one crooked despite using a Stamping Platform.  When I finally got it right, I used an oval die to diecut it and messed up the diecutting several times.  In the end, I figured I should just use a different sentiment.  I don't know why I didn't just do that before I messed up countless times - but sometimes you just don't know till you are at the point of giving up - however, I find it hard to give up on something because I am always so determined, sometimes to a fault 😏

So, I used a sentiment which is from a free stamp set that came with a UK Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine ages ago and it worked out perfectly first time around.  I stamped it using Versamark Watermark Ink and heat-embossed it with Ranger Superfine Detail Gold Embossing Powder.  I used a Powder Tool before stamping to take care of any stray embossing powder.

I diecut the sentiment using a Lifestyle Nesting Rectangle Die then cut an angle on the RHS.  I layered the sentiment onto diecut Kaisercraft Gold Foil Paper and adjusted it to the right and down which added a tiny border.  I popped the sentiment up on Kaisercraft Double-sided Foam Pads but added a little bit of Tombow Mono Multi Glue to add a bit of extra adhesion to the dry embossing.

Lastly, I bent up the wings which you can see in this photo:

I decorated the card inside later on but it was too late to photograph it as the sun was setting and it was dreary.  It's always hard to photograph cards in Winter let alone later in the day - plus I wanted to write in the card and have it sitting on my handbag for giving to the nurse first thing tomorrow so I didn't forget to take it to my appointment with her.  They have forecast a ton of rain here tomorrow so I figured that I was unlikely to be able to photograph it in the morning and was also worried that I might forget it altogether!

The great thing about the card is that you could use it for many different occasions just by changing the sentiment.

Finished size is 105mm x 148mm which is a standard A6 card in Australia - or 4-1/8" x 5-13/16" if you go by imperial measurements.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sincere Sentiments - SC Design by Simmone Clay (free with magazine)

Ink:  Ranger Distress Picked Raspberry + Squeezed Lemonade + Evergreen Bough, Versamark Watermark

Designer Paper:  Kaisercraft Foil Paper Pad FC220

Accessories:  Big Shot, Stampin' Up Eyelet Embossing Folder #163414, Ranger Mister, 300gsm/140lb Hot Pressed Watercolour Paper, Uniquely Creative Clear Glitter Brush UCE1811, Molossi Pink + Blue Rhinestones, Franceville Gold Assorted Rhinestones, White Posca Paint Pen, JoSonja Pale Gold Acrylic Gouache, Paint Brush, Powder Tool, Heat-Gun, Ranger Superfine Detail Gold Embossing Powder SFJ06961, Stamping Platform, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Designer Dries Clear Art Clear Adhesive, Uniquely Creative White Cardstock + Card Base

Punches:  We R Memory Keepers 1/2" + 3/8" Corner Chompers

Dies:  Stamping' Up! Sketched Butterflies #163491 (retired), Lifestyle Nesting Rectangles L-CC-006 (retired)

Stampin' Up Rock Star Birthday Card

 

Hi blogging friends 😀

I made another Masculine Birthday Card - this time for my husband's birthday.  My husband plays guitar in two bands so it was a no-brainer to use the very cool Stampin' Up Rock Star Stamp Set for his card:

This is also my card for the following Challenges - click on the underlined link to take you to the Challenge:

• Make My Monday - #257 - Masculine Card

• A Perfect Time to Craft - #8 August - Anything Goes

It's such a shame that Stampin' Up retired this Rock and Roll Bundle so quickly.  It only appeared in the January - April Mini Catalogue in 2024 and I thought it might carry over into the new catalogue in May - but it didn't.   I think it is so unique and I will no doubt keep it forever like The Open Sea.

I stamped one guitar onto a sheet of Stampin' Up Bright and Beautiful Designer Series Paper then fussy cut it out.   I thought the stars on the paper looked really cool for the body of the guitar.  I stamped the guitar again onto Smoky Slate Cardstock and fussy-cut the pick guard, neck and head.  I stamped another guitar onto Lost Lagoon Cardstock and fussy-cut it as well.  I went around all the cut edges using an Anko Black Brush Pen to hide any imperfections in my trimming.

Once I had all my pieces stamped out, I then layered all the various pieces together and I am so pleased with how they turned out.  I often forget that I can stamp images onto designer paper to paper-piece my projects.  I should put a reminder note on the wall in front of my craft desk.

Here is a close-up of the guitars:

The designer paper on the card base is also by Stampin' Up - Rock and Roll.  I roughed up the edges using a Uniquely Creative Edge Distressing Tool then screwed up the paper a couple of times to add some creases then ink-blended around the edges with Stampin' Up Basic Gray Ink as well as a few other places to make it all grungy.  I added a few rips to the paper and I just love how it turned out.

I glued the designer paper to Lost Lagoon Cardstock then onto Basic Black Cardstock leaving about an 1/8" border of each.  I also ink-blended around the cardstock using the same Basic Gray Ink.

I stamped the sentiment using Versamark Watermark Ink and heat-embossed it using Stampendous Detail White Embossing Powder.  I used a Powder Tool first so I could get a cleaner image.  I then diecut the sentiment using the giant pick from the Rock Star Dies.  Doesn't it look amazing!!

The LHS guitar is popped up on a scrap of white cardstock and the RHS guitar is popped up on 3 layers of scraps of white cardstock - then glued to the designer paper using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

The stars were diecut using Stampin' Up Summer Splash Glitter Cardstock which I thought matched the Lost Lagoon Cardstock really well.  The lightning bolts coming out of the bottom of the guitars were diecut from Kaisercraft Silver Glitter Cardstock.

I was so pleased with how my card turned out.  It took a while to get there because originally I had three guitars and I had paper-pieced a number of them before I was happy with what I ended up using.  Sometimes a card comes together really quickly and other times, you try various things and you are just not quite happy - then you pivot, and bam, it works out and you love what you have ended up with.  But you learn along the way and that's a good thing especially if you want to make another card with the same stamp and die set.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up Rock Star #162696 (retired)

Ink:  Stampin' Up Basic Gray, Versamark Watermark

Designer Paper:  Stampin' Up Rock and Roll 12" x 12" #162695 (retired) + Bright and Beautiful 6" x 6" #161449 (retired)

Accessories:  Stampin' Up Summer Splash Glitter Cardstock #163771 (retired), Kaisercraft Silver Glitter Cardstock, Kaisercraft Trimmer, Ink Blending Tool + Domed Pad, Heat-gun, Powder Tool, Stampendous Detail White Opaque Embossing Powder DP100, Uniquely Creative Edge Distressing Tool, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Fussy-cutting Scissors, Cardstock - Stampin' Up Lost Lagoon + Smoky Slate + Basic Black, Scraps of White Cardstock

Dies:  Stampin' Up Rock Star #162705