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Writer's pictureBonnie Crane

Beautiful Butterflies featuring Simon Says Stamp

Updated: Jan 12

I have always had the need to express my creativity. The crowning glory was a garden in the making, over several years, working side by side with my husband. Before he passed way, we lived on 160 acres of beautiful wooded land with about 10 acres cleared in the middle where we built our home. Together we created flower beds, herb gardens, pathways, rock arches and walls, ponds and a vegetable patch. Initially, David would grimace as he saw me walk by with the spade, but as the garden took shape, he was as enthusiastic as I was. When I think of summers, visions of our flowers overtake me (with a pang of longing), and also the hundreds of butterflies attracted to this garden. And so with summer underway, today's card is nostalgic for me and features a gorgeous stamp set, Beautiful Butterflies by Simon Says Stamp.

Both of these slimline cards are created directly on the card base. I began with a sheet of Strathmore's Bristol Smooth card stock measuring 8" by 9 1/4". After the fold, the card's dimensions are 4" by 9 1/4". Using a T ruler, I drew a light pencil guide line the width of the ruler on the right hand side of the front of the card base. I stamped all the images on masking paper and trimmed just inside the outline as they were cut out.

The butterflies were stamped and embossed using the pencil line drawn previously to guide the position. Knowing that this border on the right would be trimmed away, I made sure the butterflies' antennas were positioned left of the line.

Before ink blending, the images were masked. Starting with the darkest ink, I worked toward the butterflies with the lighter tones. On one card I used Distress Oxide Inks Black Soot, Chipped Sapphire, Wilted Violet and Milled Lavender. The second card was inked with Black Soot, Walnut Stain, Fossilized Amber and Scattered Straw.

Before painting the butterflies with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, I used a soft, white artist's eraser to remove the pencil lines. For the card with purple ink blending, I used combinations of Ochre, Peacock Blue and Purple. The butterflies on the second card were painted with Ochre, Medium Brown and Purple. The border around the butterflies was then trimmed off.

Using Post It Tape, I masked off the inside of the card. I checked the positioning by closing the card to make sure I could not see any of the tape. I used some of the oxide ink colours used in the counterpart card. For the purple card, the border was blended with Walnut Stain and Fossilized Amber. For the other card, I used Wilted Violet and Milled Lavender.

When the ink was dry, the sentiments were stamped on the inside of the card. The secondary sentiment was stamped with black Versafine ink and the primary sentiment heat embossed twice with gold embossing powder. The border was stencilled with Gina K Glitter Gel and, when dry, gold embellishments were scattered amongst the butterflies.


For a Video Tutorial, please link to YouTube.


What I Used to Make These Cards

Simon Says Stamp: Beautiful Butterflies

Distress Oxide Inks: Black Soot, Chipped Sapphire, Wilted Violet, Milled Lavender, Walnut Stain, Fossilized Amber, Scattered Straw

Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers: Ochre, Peacock Blue, Purple, Medium Brown

Gina K Glitter Gel

WOW! Embossing Powder: Metallic Gold Rich

Stathmore Bristol Smooth Card Stock

Post It Note Tape



Thanks so much for your visit!


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