September 21, 2009 
I’ve been looking through the different card swaps we have going on here at CS, and really wanted to make one for the Cheer Up/Encouragement swap (signups for this one close today). Because I’m always worried about over-extending myself, I always get the card finished before I actually sign up and commit to it – that’s just the way I am. Anyway, so I woke up this morning and realized that if I wanted to participate in this one, I’d better get something started. So off on the creative process I went.
First thing I went looking for was a sketch. There are tons of sketch challenges on the internet to sign up for, so I figured I’d check those out first. When I saw the new sketch challenge by Makesha Byl over at Inkspirations, I knew that was the one I wanted to tackle.
I think butterflies are very cheerful and uplifting, so I knew I wanted to go with a butterfly stamp. I have a few different butterfly stamps but I finally narrowed it down to the one in Great Friend (#113792). Now – normally, butterflies are done in springy type colors, but seeing as how we’re heading into Autumn, I decided I needed to stick with Fall colors. My card base is Kraft card stock which I sponged around the edge with Dusty Durango and used a texture plate for a little bit of added dimension. I needed a contrasting color so I decided to go with one of the other new In ColorsT – Bermuda Bay.
I’ve been enjoying creating my own designer paper so I decided to work up something for the main focal panel. I used the same technique that I used previously to make the cards shown here and here. I first stamped En Francais background stamp in Dusty Durango. I stamped the leaf spray from Great Friend in So Saffron ink randomly over the top. Then I sponged Dusty Durango and Bermuda Bay all over the image and around the edges. This kinda covered the So Saffron leaves, but if you look closely, you can still see it. They’re just not as prominent as I thought they’d be originally. I then matted this with Bermuda Bay and Dusty Durango card stock.
You can click on the images to enlarge them for a better view.
The three smaller squares are from the Thoroughly Modern DSP pack (#115673) which I matted using Dusty Durango card stock. I stamped the butterflies onto Very Vanilla card stock and sponged the edges with the alternating color. After cutting the butterflies out, I added a piece of Jute Twine to the center for the bodies. I frayed the ends just a bit at the top to resemble antennae.
Next, I tied a piece of Dusty Durango Grosgrain Ribbon around the main image and secured it with some Jute Twine tied into a bow through a button I had in my stash. This was then mounted to the card front using Dimensionals to pop it up just a little. I scored the bodies of butterflies so they’re wings would pop up and used the 2-way glue pen to attach their bodies to the card. The butterflies will lay flat enough so the card can be sent through the mail.
After looking through my stamps, I realized that I didn’t really have a fitting phrase. So I decided to make one on the computer and print it out for the inside. I used a sentiment from “The Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Card” by Linda LaTourelle. After I designed it in Photoshop, I printed it out on standard computer paper. I then used repositionable adhesive to adhere the Very Vanilla paper strip over the top of the printed image and ran it through the printer again. This is a great for getting something printed exactly where you want it. I added another butterfly cutout and then trimmed the edges even with the sentiment strip. I added a couple of strips of Dusty Durango card stock and piece of DSP to finish up the inside.
I hope you enjoyed my card for today. Thanks for looking and Happy Stamping!
Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: En Francais, Great Friend
Paper: Kraft, Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay, and Very Vanilla card stock, Thoroughly Modern designer series paper
Ink: Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay, So Saffron
Accessories: Dusty Durango Grosgrain Ribbon, Jute Twine, sponges, Glue Stick , Dimensionals, 2-way Glue Pen, Computer fonts Pristina and Nueva Std, button (from stash), Fiskars texture plate
Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator
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