Simon Says "Flora & Fauna"

This week over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog the theme is one of my favorites, "Flora & Fauna".  I wanted to create a card with a lot of textural interest as well as visual interest for my sweet Mother-In-Law.  With all the shimmer and bling that is on this card, I know she will enjoy looking at it. She doesn't read the writing anymore so what's on the outside is far more important than what is on the inside.  I try to make it as fun as possible.

Recently, I watched a video that my scrappy friend, Yana Smakula (pronounced Sma-coo-la not Smack-u-la), had done where she showed a product that was new to me called Stampendous Boss Gloss Embossing Ink. Just the name is fun! If you ask my husband, he would tell you that I am always bossy, so this ink and I were made for each other. *Ü* If you haven't ever checked out Yana's Blog, you should.  Even though English is her 3rd language and not her 1st or even her 2nd, her videos are remarkably well done and her English is exceptionally good as well. You can click the link I provided here but I always have her linked as one of the blogs I follow in the sidebar on the right hand side of my blog.  Also, be sure to check out her YouTube Channel as she has a significant number of video tutorials there also.

So anyway, the Boss Gloss comes in a 2 oz. bottle that has a little sponge dauber top and can work on die cuts that have already been cut, stenciled, or colored somehow. You can also use it to apply embossing ink directly to your stamps for embossing or even to apply embossing ink to a die cut word.  This is going to be a handy tool in my studio and I like having a choice.  The bottle will fit in places that the ink pad will not.  I'm sure there will be other ways to use it that I haven't even thought of yet.

To begin, I stamped one of the Stampendous Pen Pattern Butterflies on a piece of Canson Bristol Watercolor Paper using Versamark and heat embossed it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  I've been using this paper since I took a Watercolor for Cardmakers Class last August.  For the type of watercolor I do, it is my absolute "go to" paper.  I just got a pad of this paper in what Canson calls "Bright White", but it is truly no whiter than the Regular Canson Bristol Watercolor Paper.  It has the same smooth surface and is nearly identical in weight, but I haven't actually used any of it yet. I'll have to report back when I actually try some of it.

I colored the butterfly using Distress Markers in Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral, Wilted Violet and Seedless Preserves with Dark Grey Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker for the the body.  I used the Coordinating Dies to cut out the butterfly.  I cut 2 of the Poppy Stamps Massa Leaf Background Dies from Vellum as well as a Memory Box Blushing Flower Die in Vellum. For the Blushing Flower Die cut, I colored the flowers using Worn Lipstick and the leaves in Mowed Lawn on the front side since I was planning to heat emboss. Next I used Versamark and Stampendous Embossing Ink all over all the pieces and then put a layer of WOW! Neutral Ultra Shimmer Embossing Powder on everything and heat set it. This powder looks the same as the Judikins Iridescent Sparkle Embossing Powder.  I have a box lid that is very shallow to set these things into while I heat emboss them so they aren't blowing all over my room.   There is so much sparkling goodness on these elements now.  I did my best to capture it in a photograph, but there is no way for the camera to capture all that the human eye and mind can see in a single glance.

I cut the Smile Circle Die in gold foil cardstock and a white background circle to go behind it which I also covered with embossing ink, embossing powder and then heat set. I can hardly wait until I begin making Christmas Cards to use this Embossing Ink and Powder for shimmer and sparkle on the snow or on any ornaments I might make.

I cut a Noted: Scalloped A2 card base from Papertrey Ink Berry Sorbet Cardstock, and I used a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle in the largest size to cut a white insert for the inside of the card.  I misted the card front with Tsukineko Sheer Sparkle Shimmer Spritz and let it dry for a few minutes.  Then I began assembling everything using Ranger Multi Medium Matte except for the butterfly which I adhered using Scor-Tape down the center of the body.  By attaching it this way, I can make it seem as if the butterfly might take flight at any moment.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this card and that you will stop by Yana's blog and check it out as well.  She makes the loveliest things. I'll be back soon with another project.

Shimmering Elegance

The Always Playing With Paper Challenge Blog gave us this gorgeous image to be inspired by this week.  The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for this week is "Emboss It" I wanted to paint another card using my favorite butterfly from the Stampendous Pen Pattern Butterflies and Coordinating Dies. There are actually 3 different butterflies in the set, but I love this large graphic one.  I wanted something a bit different looking so I tried to combine a few different methods in my card; Stamping, Heat Embossing, Dry Embossing, Watercolor, DTP, Shimmer Spray and Die Cutting.  I needed three to play over at the CAS Mix Up Challenge. 

   

I started with a 4.25 x 5.5 inch piece of Canson Bristol Watercolor Paper then stamped the butterfly in Versamark and heat embossed it using Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  I love this color because it's a warm rich gold than looks good with everything.  Using a #4 Silver Black Velvet Paint Brush, I painted the butterfly with a couple of Twinkling H20's in Ocean Wave and Egyptian Gold.  I chose that type of paint because it has a shimmer to it when dry. You could also add Perfect Pearls + Water Solution to any other coloring medium to get the same effect if you don't have Twinkling H20's. You can make it more or less shimmery by how much of the pigment powder you add to your water.

Once I had that painted, I set it aside to dry and grabbed a piece of A2 sized Stamper's Select White Cardstock. I ran that through my Cuttlebug machine using the Embossing Sandwich with a Taylored Expressions Embossing Folder called Leafy Vine.  I felt it was the perfect backdrop for the butterfly since mostly when you see butterflies they are around flowers or foliage of some kind.

To add a bit more interest to this background piece, I used Papertrey's Lemon Tart Ink and went Direct To Paper (DTP) with it.  Because the design is so close together, this worked very well at getting the color on the most raised areas.  Once I had that done, I spritzed it with some Glimmer Mist in Iridescent Gold and set it aside to dry. The spray mixes with all the color and makes it look so well blended. 

I wanted to add a bit more texture and dimension to the card front, so I cut three of the Poppy Stamps Massa Leaf Background.  I left these in the negative so that I could do some ink blending on them using a Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool.  It helps to hold the positive in place without bending it which could have been tricky since the stems are so small. Once I had these inked up, I sprayed them with the same Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist and set that aside to dry for a few minutes before I pulled the positive pieces from the negative place holder.  The butterfly in this set is so large and I knew I could only accommodate a small sized greeting so I cut the Simon Says Stamp Circle Smile Die from a scrap of gold foil cardstock.  I wanted the area behind it to be smooth so I used the ink blended negative scrap from the leafy branches to cut a positive circle to go behind the Smile die cut.  

I assembled everything to a 5.25 x 4 inch top folding note card using mostly Multi Medium Matte but I added a couple of strips of foam adhesive behind the butterfly's body and I used my ATG to adhere the background panel to the card base.  I used my Teflon Bone Folder to "curl" the top wings but I adhered the bottom wings to the card base directly with Multi Medium Matte.

My girlfriend and my daughter were both gaga over this card so I think I'll be making another one so I can send one to each of them.  Thank you so much for stopping by today.  Please feel free to leave a comment if you like.  I'm going to get busy painting another butterfly!

Beautiful Butterflies

Even though Spring has officially arrived in the US, it hasn't been very warm yet. The the mere mention of the word "Spring" conjures up all kinds of images in one's mind; flowers, blooming trees, baby birds and eventually (along with the warmer temperatures) the butterflies will come.

I love butterflies.  I captured this photo more than a decade ago at at Ranch in Kansas that some friends of ours own.  You see that background?  That's real Bokeh, folks!  And just FYI — it's pronounced bow-kuh not bow-kay. *wink*

Anyway - I love butterflies and I've been to my fair share of Butterfly Gardens & Pavilions to take photographs.  But they will never top this one experience of being in a natural environment and capturing this image.  I can still remember my delight as I knew I had captured what I intended.  I tried to show it to my husband on the little screen at the time but he didn't get it until I could download and show him at home.

I could never paint a butterfly as lifelike as this image and I don't even try although I've seen some pretty fantastic colors on butterflies at some of the pavilions I've been to.  I even have pictures of turquoise and brown ones in my collection.

When I was grade school aged, our house was next to a field or lot that was empty.  We would play all day long out there all summer long making forts in the tall grass or catching butterflies and dusk never failed to bring the fireflies with it.  Those are the childhood memories I treasure with some of my brothers. Seriously, four younger brothers is mostly a pain.  There were five of us kids all pretty close together in age and then one more came along probably just when my mom thought she was finished having babies.

For the first card, I used the Stampendous Pen Patterned Butterflies along with the coordinating die for these cards.  I started by stamping the largest image in Versamark and heat embossing it with Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder on a piece of Canson Bristol Watercolor Paper.  I stamped the Papertrey Ink Graceful Greetings "Hello" to intersect with the butterfly's antennae.  The butterfly was watercolored using Distress Markers in Weathered Wood, Victorian Velvet, Aged Mahogany, Seedless Preserves, and Abandoned Coral.  Once I had the butterfly all painted and dry, I carefully cut the butterfly from the panel using the coordinating die.  Next I used the same die to cut a piece of Fun Foam to put under the butterfly image and give it some stable dimension.  Then I started assembling everything back together. Starting with a horizontal Berry Sorbet Top Folding Note Card, I attached the negative to the card base.  I attached the fun foam to the back of the butterfly using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  I stacked several acrylic blocks and a paperweight on top to keep it flat while the glue dried.

Since some of the gold embossed outline was also on the negative as well as the positive piece, I needed to make sure that I had it lined up correctly when I adhered it to the card base.  It was easy to make it fit right in.  I also like it that the Berry Sorbet Cardstock peeks out from underneath.  Using a Quickie Glue Pen, I added a deep purple glitter to the spots on the butterfly wings.  You can't really see it in this photo, but it adds a super wow factor.  Glitter is another one of those supplies that I have that I'm trying to use.

This card uses Weathered Wood, Aged Mahogany, Mermaid Lagoon & Wilted Violet Distress Markers.  I didn't use the negative for this card because I wanted a vertical top folding card.  The background panel is made from Simon Says Stamp Surf Blue Cardstock.  The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Graceful Greetings Stamp Set.  There are coordinating dies available.  I used the same purple glitter (Recollections Brand) and Quickie Glue Pen for the spots on this butterfly.  A few sequins finished off both of these cards.

I'll be entering this card in several challenges:  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Beautiful Butterflies", the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Make It Girlie", The Paper Players Challenge "Butterflies", Stamping Royalty Challege #326 and Curtain Call "Keep it Simple".  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll come back often.

Watercolor Painted Butterflies

Not long ago I ordered this stamp set called Pen Pattern Butterflies from Simon Says Stamp that is made by Stampendous. In my constant search for things to watercolor, I like that this set has 3 different sizes and styles of butterflies.  These two cards use the largest one from the set.

Over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog this week the theme is "Ray of Sunshine" to remind us that summer and warmer temperatures will be coming again.  So when I was thinking about what I would do for this challenge and I came across this stamp set it made me think of summer when the butterflies are out and also that butterflies only come out when the sun is shining; never in the rain.  I wondered if that was true or if it was merely that I also avoid hanging out in the rain.  Of course, I had to go look it up!  I found the following question and answer from the New York Times, October 17, 2006. 

Butterflies seek the same kinds of shelter in the rain that they would seek at night, when they are also vulnerable. They quickly hide in umbrella-like foliage, in tree hollows, under rocky outcroppings or even in crevices in rocks. Raindrops are as threatening to the light-bodied butterfly as the bucket of water propped over the door in a silent comedy film would be to a human being.

As noted in ''The Butterflies of North America,'' by William H. Howe (Doubleday, 1975), a butterfly, which is cold blooded, basks in the heat of the sun ''in order to build up its body temperature to operating level,'' and it faces a severe risk of mortality in heavy downpours. It huddles with folded wings until the sun comes out again and it is able to fly once more.

 Aha!  It wasn't just my imagination, they really don't come out in the rain.  So the butterflies are perfectly in keeping with the theme of "Ray of Sunshine".

I started by heat embossing the images.  One card was heat embossed using WOW! Gold Rich Pale Embossing Powder and the other with Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder.  To watercolor the butterflies, I used Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean.  For the butterfly bodies, I used Weathered Wood.

This is all really simple and straightforward coloring.  I took another watercolor class last week and suffice it to say that I need a LOT of practice and I'm not sure the practice will help at all.  I don't seem to have the ability to freehand anything but at least I understand the mechanics of how to do it now. So until that time, I plan to continue with what I'm doing. Tim Holtz Distress Markers and Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens continue to be my favorite mediums for watercolor.  The Distress Markers are a bit more predictable for color as long as you know what happens to the color when you add a bit of water to it since they are made specifically to react with water.  For example, Seedless Preserves is one of my very favorite Distress Ink Colors.  I like to call it my little extrovert because it goes down purple but when you add the tiniest drop of water, it becomes a pink-y purple. I don't use my Distress Markers or my Zig Pens for anything other than watercolor.

Once I had the butterflies painted, I spritzed the whole panel all over with Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz. It's less expensive to buy a whole new bottle than it is to buy the refill. You have to use a really light touch and hold this at least a foot above so that there isn't enough moisture to make the color run in your carefully painted image.

To finish, I die cut each of the panels with the largest rectangle from the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles Dies.  I very carefully used my powder pouch on both of those panels so I could stamp a greeting from the Acts of Kindness Stamp Set from Hero Arts.  I mounted both on a Mint Card Base made from Simon Says Stamp 100# Mint Card Stock.  It would have been easier to heat emboss it before the water color, but I had planned to use a die cut greeting that turned out to be too large in the end.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and if you'd care to leave a comment, I really enjoy them.  Have a great rest of the week!