Hello! It's my turn today and I thought I might share a quick, easy and effective idea for a last minute card! it's Mother's Day on Sunday in the UK (when did we stop calling it Mothering Sunday?!) and I know that as much as we like to be organised sometimes we just can't quite fit everything in! Anyway this idea is perfect for birthdays, inviations and even (whispers) Christmas cards!
I used a butterfly die cut but really most diecuts (prebought or cut yourself) would work! I cut my butterflies from Grunge Paper but I have used kraft card, heavyweight cardboard, cereal packets... it just needs to be a heavier weight than ordinary paper!
I painted my butterfly with Fresco Finish paints by PaperArtsy. When I say I painted I really used Cut and Dry foam and used a dabbing action - it creates a softer finish and there are no brush marks. I popped a little dab of Orchid paint on my craft mat and used the foam to coat the butterfly. Simple! Then I put a stencil or mask over the top and dabbed Moonlight paint over the top of that. I dried the butterfly with my heat gun and then sanded the butterfly to reveal the first paint layer in places and in others the underlying Grunge Paper. You may like to wipe the shape at this point with a dry cloth as it will be a little dusty!
I then cut out a sentiment printed from my computer on white card (you may have sentiments already printed or a stamp that you prefer to use!) I inked the edges of the butterfly and sentiment with a little Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Glue your sentiment in place carefully so that no glue seaps out - you don't need to be very precise here as the glue is only a temporary hold so be sparing! Using clear embossing ink, ink the whole shape, add clear embossing pwder and heat. I like to just give one layer of embossing powder because I prefer a grungy look but if you prefer a very shiny surface repeat this step two or three times. You can use UTEE here if you prefer. The simply glue the shape to the front of a card and that's it! Once you get the hang of this you can whip up cards in less than 10 minutes!
I hope that you give this a try and I'd love to see what cards you make and how you create your own versions of this idea!
Gabrielle x
A beautiful butterfly and it sounds like you had lots of fun making them. They look fab against the Kraft card.
Posted by: Victoria h | March 17, 2012 at 08:12 AM
Wow stunning , sorry i havent been on to comment been doing Mothers day shopping/visiting this weekend
Posted by: jayne | March 19, 2012 at 09:46 AM