Butterfly Birthday Card

Hello to all our crafting friends, Antony here. This post follows what I thought
was going to be a simple birthday card, but what turned out to be an experiment
with plenty of embossing folders and loads of cutting dies and my very first play
at using Distressing inks!
I hadn't really used dies and embossing folders before, but since my blog partner
Samantha gave me her old e-bosser die cutting machine it's got me... well hooked!
You can really let your imagination flow and the great thing about embossing folders
and dies is that they can be used for all types of crafting projects such as mixed media
canvas work, scrapbooking and even home decor. So whenever I now go out to buy a
die, I always think what I can use it for beyond my card making!  

For this card I used the following materials, Kraft card, Tim Holtz distessing
inks, embossing folders from Creative Expressions and Crafts Companion,
Pinflair Buff-it craft polish and Pearl Wand and cutting dies from Pinflair and
Crafters Companion. I also used some backing papers and some ribbon.
For glues I used Pinflair Glue it Bookbinding Glue.

Step 1 I firstly embossed a large square of kraft card using a
Crafters Companion embossing folder and went round the edge of the card
with some distressing inks using a sponge to apply it.
Once dry I used Pinflair's Gold Buff-it craft polish to add a
little shine to the very edge of the card. Again I used a sponge to apply this.

Then using an extra long decorative die from Crafters Companion I cut both
side of a rectangular piece of kraft card, stuck a length of pink ribbon
round it and stuck it towards the bottom of the card.

Step 2 Using another sheet of kraft card and a decorative arch shaped die
from Crafters Companion, I cut out the main focal point of the card, a sort of
shield shape.

Then using a butterfly die (my favourite one) also from Crafters Companion, I cut
out a solid butterfly from the middle section. Then using a Creative Expressions
swirly embossing folder, I ran the shield shape through the cutting machine.
I used some distressing ink to add a little colour to the outer edge of the shield
shape and around the area I had die cut with the butterfly die.

Behind the decorative arch and butterfly I glued in place a backing paper 
using Pinflair's Glue it glue.

Step 3 Using a "Happy Birthday" die from Crafters Companion, I cut it out using
kraft card and coloured it using some distress ink. Using Pinflair Glue it glue I stuck
the greeting over the butterfly die cut area in the centre of the shield shape.

Step 4 Once the shield shape was fully decorated, I scored a line down either
flat edge about 5mm in. This gave me a gluing flap either side of the shield shape. 
Using Pinflair's Glue it glue I firstly stuck down one flap, waited until the
glue had dried and then arched the shield shape so it stood proud of the card.
I then glued the other flap to the card .

Step 5 Using some flower shape dies from Pinflair, I cut some more kraft
card and then embossed it using the same embossing folder I used on the
shield shape.
Using distressing inks and Pinflair Buff-it craft polish I decorated the flowers.
I used a rounded pencil to roll the flower die cuts over to give them extra shape
before using Pinflair Glue it glue to finally layer them and stick them in place on the card.
I positioned the flowers so that they covered the flaps from the
shield shape that I had stuck down earlier.

Step 6 Using Pinflair Pearl Wands, I added extra detail and dimension to the centre
of all the flowers. The Pearl Wands take about 10-15 minutes to dry.

Step 7 For one of the butterflies I used what was cut out from the shield shape.
I used distress inks round the outer edge of the butterfly before sticking some
pink backing paper behind it. I used scissors to cut away the backing paper that
hung out from behind the butterfly shape. Using a round pencil, I shaped the
butterflies wings before sticking them onto the card. I positioned one at the
bottom and one at the top to balance out the card decoration.

Step 8 For a little extra detail I cut out some ivy leaves using a die and coloured
them using distress inks before glueing them into place on the card.

Well from a Birthday card to a Birthday wish.

 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I'd just like to wish my Blog partner

Samantha Thompson a very Happy Birthday and to thank her for a year
of inspiring crafting tips and her amazing generosity! 

Hope you have a wonderful day filled with lots of surprises!

Well that's it for this post, hope you enjoyed it. My next post is something big!

Well in fact I'll be showing you how I decorated this!

This creation is for a workshop I am holding in September. I have 20 ladies who
will be coming along, so with a bit of luck there will be plenty of their creations on
here too!

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

 
 Antony