Butterfly Birthday Card

I recently bought a new set of stamps by Tim Holtz, "Flower Garden", which I used for the background of this card for a long time friend.  Her birthday was this past weekend - now I'm able to post the card here and not worry about ruining the surprise. LOL!




I decided to try a new-to-me technique - watercolouring with distress inks. For the base, I used Stampin' Up Ivory Natural paper. It has flecks of fibre in it, and is not quite as stiff as regular cardstock, almost like a thin watercolour paper. Then I stamped some of the chrysanthemum flowers and stems in Archival Black ink.  I patted the following distress inks on my silicone mat for my "palette", spritzed with water and painted - Scattered Straw. Wild Honey, Tea Dye, Spiced Marmalade, and Crushed Olive.  I masked off the flowers and overstamped with Tim's "Papillion" large background stamp in Archival coffee ink. The last step - spritzing some random dots with a spray tool and TH walnut stain marker.

Now I started the layering....I embossed the Just Rite verse on vellum with black EP, and trimmed the edge with fancy edge scissors. At first I used brown EP; however, it didn't stand out as well as the black. I cut a piece of lattice (Spellbinders shapeabilities die) sponging over with Antique Linen ink.  Added a piece of green satin vine ribbon by May Arts.

The butterfly is a Sizzix Bigz Texture Fades TH die, which has two butterflies and the matching embossing folder. I sponged Scattered Straw, Tea Dye and Brushed Corduroy over the raised embossed areas, painting the dots on the top of the wings with white gel marker. Spritzed over the whole piece with Perfect Pearls spray "Biscotti" for a touch of sheen.The body is done with Finnibair "Pollen" micro beads. Also added antennae which I created with wire nose pliers.

Finished the card with some flowers I had in my stash, however I did sponge the edges with Spiced Marmalade ink.  All paper layers were distressed, and the outside edge of the vanilla cardstock was also sponged with Spiced Marmalade.

My friend is a horticulturalist, has her own landscaping business, and she has her own line of body creams made from local honey, "Naturally Nancy's". Here's a shout out to you Nancy. LOL


Spring is almost here in Nova Scotia. I took this pic on Saturday of a few of  my crocus poking through the snow in the garden by the back door. With the sun yesterday, they were in bloom, just in time for Easter. Lots more yet to come!


Sharon
March 28, 2016

Challenges:

Fashionable Stamping Challenge: #109 Butterflies

Butterfly Challenge: Butterfly + Margin

Allsorts Challenge:  Wings









15 comments:

  1. Gorgeous card Sharon! Beautiful background and the big blossoms are so pretty, but the butterfly steals the show for me. What an amazing shimmer on the wings and the beaded body is pure brilliance! hugs :)

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    2. Pamellia; I was "lucky" to capture the shimmer. As you know, so hard to do. Biscotti is one of my fav all time sprays to use!

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  2. Hello Sharon. I don't believe you have played before so welcome to my butterfly challenge. Your mahoosive Butterfly is just gorgeous and I love the beaded body. It has given a lovely texture to the him. I love your distress ink painting. I have been using them for stamping just lately too. Thankyouy for fluttering by and so glad you managed to link up on your second try. hugs Mrs A.

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    1. I found your blog by accident by reading one of my friend's blogs. I love butterflies so hope to stop by often. Thanks for your nice comment!

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  3. Beautiful card, Sharon! One can never go wrong with Tim Holtz products. Love how you used them here. So glad to see you back posting.

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  4. This is so pretty loving all the textures and layering on this card . Your blending of colors with the distress inks is perfect. Gotta add that butterfly to my wish list its gorgeous . Thanks for your comments on my blog .

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  5. Thanks too for your comment, Marilyn!

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  6. This is such a lovely card Sharon and everything is so beautifully co-ordinated. I really like how you've put the trellis between the stamped flowers and the butterfly as it adds depth and dimension. Now you've used the new technique of using Distress inks to water colour, I'm sure you'll become addicted as it's a great way of achieving the perfect colour tones for your cards. Your butterfly is wonderful and I really like the hint of sparkle on the edge of the wings. Thank you for joining us at Fashionable Stamping Challenges. Sandra x

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    1. Thank you Sandma for your very nice comment

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  7. Gorgeous creation, thanks for joining Allsorts challenge, good luck.
    Happy crafting
    Tracy x

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  8. A gorgeous card Sharon, love the delicate colours of the background flowers that coordinate beautifully with the butterfly.
    Thanks for sharing with us at FSC
    Avril x

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