Butterfly Bookmark

Hello everyone,

I hope that you are keeping well. I have a useful little project to share with you today, using a combination of stamps from Chocolate Baroque. This project was a demonstration that I did on this month's TV shows on Create and Craft, which featured a whole host of butterfly themed stamps.

I started my project by creating a background using Distress Inks on my craft mat, which I spritzed with water. I placed a sheet of Drawing Cartridge onto the mat, dried the background, and picked up any remaining droplets of ink, before drying the background again. I repeated this proces with both green and blue ink.

I then stamped an image from Slim Word Strip 1 onto the background using teal ink. I stamped a butterfly from the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set onto smooth stamping card using Versafine Clair black ink, and coloured this with pencils. I coloured the body with a fineliner pen, and cut the image out, chopping off the head and bottom of the body.

I cut the butterfly in half and stuck it to each end of the word strip with glue. I drew a pencil line along the top and bottom of the word strip. It does not matter if a little bit of the words are going to be trimmed away. 

Using a ruler and a craft knife, I cut along the pencil lines, and then I cut around the butterfly shapes using scissors. I added some shading around the word strip using the blue Distress Ink that I used on the background previously. I also used a black pencil to run around the edges of the butterfly to ensure that there were no white edges from either the smooth stamping card or the Drawing Cartridge.

I scored along the middle of the strip and folded back the butterfly halves to create the bookmark. To make the bookmark more sturdy, and a bit more decorative, you can add some patterned paper to the back.

This was such a fun project to make, and I hope that you will try it out for yourselves! Thanks for stopping by, take care xx

It's been a while...

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. Goodness it's been a long time since I last posted. Life has been busy, and before you know it the weeks and months have rolled past. My Husband and I have both celebrated a significant birthday since I posted last, and we are starting to feel a few creaks in our bones! However, I am determined to keep fit and healthy for my granddaughter, who seems to think that I should be able to keep up with her as she runs around and expects me to join in with all of her crazy games. 

I have been keeping busy with my knitting and crochet, and managed to finish a couple of knitted jumpers for myself, as well as continuing to crochet lots of blankets and other projects, including toys and gifts for Ruby, my granddaughter. 

I have several projects to share with you today from our recent TV shows on Create and Craft, along with several older projects, which some of our more recent viewers may not have seen before.

My first project was created using the February Fairy stamp set, and several of the images from the Wild Meadow stamp set. This is such a useful stamp set for creating fields of flowers. I have used several different colours of Versafine Clair, and first and second generation stamping to create depth in the foliage. I have coloured the images with pencils, and added a tiny bit of glitter glue to the fairy dust.

Sticking with the Wild Meadow stamp set, I decided to create a journal page for my next project. This idea could easily be turned into a card. I took a small piece of polyester, and inked it up with some Distress Ink. I used Fossilized Amber first, and spritzed it with water, then randomly placed it over the journal page. I dried the page, then repeated the process with Salty Ocean Distress Ink. Using Nocturne Versafine Clair Ink, I stamped images from Wild Meadow onto the page to create a scene, and then added a sentiment from Artistic Expressions.

I created an optional panel using a stamp from the Eastern Grasses stamp set. This could be placed here on this page, or on the facing page, which could have the same background colour, and some journaling to complete your double page spread.

I created a super quick card using an oval mask and two different colours of Distress Ink for a background. I then stamped the silhouette fairy from this month's stamp set, a thistle from Wild Meadow and a sentiment from Birthday Words, all using Versafine Clair black ink. You may have seen the gift card set that I shared on the TV shows with lots of the fairy images throughout the year. They were all made the same way as this card.

I made a couple of little 4" x 4" cards using Eastern Grasses and some of the little worker stamps from Tranquility and Serenity. These stamps work so well together. I used an acrylic block to add colour very quickly to the background. I simply coloured the block with Distress Ink, spritzed it with water, and pressed it onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge. Once the Drawing Cartridge was dry, I stamped the images, and coloured them with pencils.

Coming full circle back to Wild Meadow, I made a pretty bookmark using some of the beautiful patterned papers that Lesley designed especially for February. I added some extra colour with Distress Inks, and used coloured Versafine inks once more. I added some script in the background from Words of Gratitude. The little bird from Serenity looks right at home amogst the foliage.

I have a couple of older cards to share, a card using Butterfly Dress and Floral Edges. I have cut out some of the butterflies from the dress to create a flurry of extra butterflies.

The following card was created using the lovely Birdcage Collage stamp:

Well, thanks so much for stopping by, I hope not to leave it so long befoe I post next time. Take care, xx