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Thursday, August 22, 2019

Coloring Vellum...Both Sides of a Butterfly

Every time I look out my kitchen window to the backyard and see a butterfly, I feel such happiness!  Butterflies (and rainbows) make my heart happy!  Do butterflies make you happy?  I have a card to share with you today made with Simon Says Stamp's Comfort and Prayers stamp/die set...
I really wanted to make a butterfly that "looked" like a Swallowtail...one of my favorite backyard butterflies.  I have seen yellow ones and blue ones, so I chose the blue color.  THEN, came the challenge.  Swallowtails are basically black with spots of bright color.  I tried black card stock and colored pencils...nope.  Then I had the thought to use vellum.  Stamping with black on vellum is not so cool, either.  I totally forgot I HAD black embossing powder.  I had gotten rid of the black years ago, and forgot I had purchased more, sometime not so long ago!!  It is Simon brand and is fine powder...PERFECT with versamark on vellum!!!  I normally color on vellum from the back of the stamped/embossed image.  That worked great for the blue color, but the black colored from the back with a black marker, looked gray from the front.  Bummer.  Then I thought....what if I color the black marker on the front of the vellum??  Only thing was, it gave the butterfly a shine I wasn't crazy about.  SO...to make the shine "okay", I used my Wink of Stella brush, to give my butterfly some glittery shine...HAPPINESS!!    THEN, there was the layout.  I know my sole, single butterfly, without anything else but a sentiment, is simple. I tried leaves of all kinds and colors...nope.  The more I looked at him, though, the more I liked the butterfly to be the only thing you see.  No enamel dots, or tonic drops, or sequins...just him.  I thought the sentiment from the Simon Spiritual Sentiments stamp set was beautiful and perfect!  I added some of my recycled paper for the top and bottom of the card...it just "fit" this card.  Here's a close up...
Cardmaking...sometimes it requires experimenting...it's fun!!!
Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

7 comments:

  1. A super wow on this one. Both the card and the message Lisa.

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  2. I love the design...love the butterfly...and love the sentiment! The butterfly is embossed with powder on vellum? It did not buckle?! Wow!♥

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    1. Yes, Simon vellum is great quality, thick, and perfect for embossing;)!

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  3. Love the simplicity & that gorgeous butterfly!!

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  4. This card is stunning, Lisa! Love your backyard friend and the sentiment ... perfect! Thanks for sharing :)

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  5. Kudos to you for persevering until you came up with what you saw in your mind for this card idea! I love how you described your first attempts and the final success. SO helpful as many readers, like me, sometimes get frustrated when it seems like our favorite bloggers and YT'ers have the golden touch with cards! I always appreciate seeing when others make mistakes, run into challenges, or find creative fixes. Quick note on the subject of butterflies (and dragonflies for that matter)... I have 2 dogs that are spoiled and get to go out for walks and hikes on our wooded property several times a day. When we see butterflies, we talk to them. They are very curious around the dogs, sometimes landing on my older one :-) They seem to know not to try that with the faster puppy! She chases anything that moves! LOL

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  6. So pretty. And such great lessons on vellum. I never have ideas. Now I do. Thank you!

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I so appreciate your comments...thank you, so much, for taking the time to write:)!! Hugs!! Lisa