Stampin’ Up! Butterflies

Today I am W-A-Y out of my comfort zone with a) Blues and b) Bright colors! I almost never use brights unless they are paired with more neutrals than bright colors. I just find them too harsh in general. And blue, well, blue is NOT my favorite color, but it ranks way higher than Lemon Lime Twist!

That said, this past weekend I was at a retreat and had the opportunity to play with clay..polymer clay, that is. We made and painted some butterflies. One of the gals made hers a bright blue, and I remembered seeing a bright blue one somewhere. So, I Googled (what else? because I could) blue butterflies and they are gorgeous! And very vibrant in their coloring. If they were as big as, say, a cat, they would be jarring, but if they were as big as an elephant! I can’t imagine. But in a small thing like a butterfly they are simply beautiful!

Anyway, that was the basis for my brights/blues. While I was working on this card, I had a phone call informing me that a young mother in our community suffered a farm accident while helping her husband in the hay field. A large round bale fell on her and broke several ribs, her pelvis and several vertebrate. I hate having to send sympathy and get well cards, but I hope they at least bring a smile. At least the recipient will know that I care (enough to send the very best-a handmade card).

Stories aside. I began by choosing the blues closest to the images I had seen of blue butterflies, which were Pacific Point and Tempting Turquoise. White was too stark a contrast so I sponged Tempting Turquoise all over, darker in places and lighter in others. Sort of sky-like, I guess.

Now for the pretty part, the butterfly. I used the large butterfly in the Watercolor Wings stamp set, which is a three part stamp. Actually, it is a five part stamp if you count the body and antennae. I did not stamp the body, nor the antennae at this point.

Using Pacific Point I stamped the first image, the outer wings. Using the all-over stamp, I stamped off once the Tempting Turquoise before over-stamping my butterfly. The third part is the detail, which is full strength Tempting Turquoise. Die cut this with the Bold Butterfly framelit.

Using a detailed die (that pretty much matches in size the stamped butterfly) from the Butterflies thinlits, I cut three from vellum paper.

Bend the wings of all four butterflies along the edge of the body area to add dimension. But before you do that to the last vellum cutout, apply a little clear Wink of Stella for just a bit of sparkle. Liquid glue these, one on top of the other, just along the body, saving the glittery one for the top. Set aside and let dry while you stamp the sentiment.

The sentiment is from Thoughts and Prayers, stamped in Pacific Point on Whisper White card stock. I used the Triple Banner punch to cut the ends. I found a scrap of sheer ribbon, cut it at an angle and a bit longer than the sentiment banner and Snailed it to the back.

Somehow all that blue was getting to me, so I cut a doily exactly in half and liquid glued it to the sponged panel, lining up the cut edges with the outside edge of the panel. Much better. Now this is where the butterfly will be glued.

My original intent was to set it straight onto the card and square with the world, but, in playing around with placement, I decided it looked more natural to angle it just a little bit. This gives the appearance of flight, I think. Before adhering the butterfly and after deciding exactly where I wanted it, I stamped the antennae in Pacific Point directly onto the sponged panel. Then I glued down the butterfly.

With Stampin’ Dimensionals I attached the sentiment banner.

Hmmm…needs something. Pearls! I used a row of 8 of the Pearls Basic Jewels for the body and a larger one for the head. Then, because I could, I added one to the sentiment banner.

This was adhered to the Pacific Point mat and onto the Tempting Turquoise card base. Yeah, I know, it sounds like it took forever, but really, it went together quickly.

For the inside I VERY LIGHTLY sponged some Tempting Turquoise over the inside Whisper White mat and sponged a 3-step smaller butterfly in the corner. OOPS! Mistake!

Instead of Pacific Point, stamped off once Tempting Turquoise, full strength TT, I forgot to close my PP classic stampin’ pad and used it for the second step. Oh, well, it is ART! Not supposed to be perfect. It is handmade. I did use the stamped off once TT for the third part, and full strength PP for the body and antennae.

This sentiment is also from the Thoughts and Prayers set in Pacific Point. I laid the sentiment panel on the Pacific Point mat and it just needed sumpin’ sumpin’. I didn’t want anything that would cause a bump, so embellishments were out. I had this little corner punch, so I punched the corners, which I think looks sort of like the doily on the front. Then I had to do a bit more sponging and the inside is ready to adhere. First, I glued it to the Pacific Point mat, then into the card base. Whew! Another card for the ‘finished’ pile.

Except, we can’t have a naked envelope. I am really pretty lazy and didn’t want to stamp a bunch of 3-step butterflies, so I only stamped one small one on the front, doing it correctly this time, except my registration is a bit off.

Now, what to do with the flap? I didn’t use any DSP and didn’t want to stamp more butterflies. So, I used the smaller, more detailed Bold Butterfly framelit and cut three from Tempting turquoise, adhering them to the flap.

I hope you like this card, though it has a bit more detail than most.

Card Cuts: Tempting Turquoise: card base 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ scored at 4-1/4″; Pacific Point: outside and inside mat (2) 4-1/8″ x 5-3/8″; Whisper White: outside art piece and inside panel (2) 4″ x 5-1/4″, butterfly  3-1/2″ x 2-3/4″,  sentiment scrap; Vellum: 3 butterflies 3-1/2″ x 7″

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