Birthday Card with Altenew Butterflies

Hello fellow crafters! I don't know how the weather is in your end of the world, but here in the south of Germany its cold and drizzly. So, naturally, I'm craving bright and cheerful colors … and butterflies.

First, I masked off the card so only the center would remain open. Then I used a Mama Elephant stamp and light grey ink to create a subtle background pattern. Once that was dry, I added the circles. Do you see the dashes around the centerpiece? I had lined up my stamp in a weird way so that there was a gap between where the pattern started and the edge of my mask. To "hide" this, I drew that border :)

The butterfly ... well. It took me a few attempts to get it right. I actually spent two evenings practicing each butterfly - bis to align the stamps, which color combinations work, how to combine dye and pigment inks. I also used a permanent marker to draw lines around the stamps that go together so it would be easier in the future to quickly pick out the pieces.

I fuzzy cut the butterfly when it was done and applies some Wink of Stella to give it some  sparkle. And of course now I can't wait to use the stamp set again :)

I hope you got inspired. Have a wonderful day!

If any of the products I used for this project are not available in the store, I'm offering alternating products for you in the product listing below.

Create a Quick and Easy Set of Cards

Have you started on your Christmas cards yet? The holidays might seem far away, but if your life is like mine, December gets pretty hectic and making cards becomes a chore between work, family and preparations for Christmas.

For that reason I'm showing you four slightly different card designs today. All of them are perfect to mass produce, either to send out yourself or to give away as a gift.

There's a video over at my blog showing you all the detailed steps, but all you really need is a mask, some white pigment ink, and silver or gold embossing powder. Since pigment ink needs some time to dry, you could sponge all the front panels first, then set them aside to dry while you either cut mats for the panel or decorate the card bases. As a greeting, I went for Mama Elephant's Merry Greetings, but really, any greeting would work here.

If you want to go all CAS and not have any more work, you could stop after putting the cards together, but I decided to use some gems and some sequins for added interest and bling. I mean, it's the holidays! When are we ever going to get away with a lot of bling again (until next year)?

I hope you enjoyed the video and the idea. Let me know which design you like best. I have to admit that the blue and black are probably my favorites :)

Supply List

• Wplus9 Stag Trio Dies
• Mama Elephant Merry Greetings – alternatively, use Jolly and Merry or Holiday Fill in the Blanks or Winter Wonderland
• Mama Elephant Basic Set Creative Cuts
• Mama Elephant On Point Borders
• Gold embossing powder
• Silver embossing powder
• Versamark
• Hero Arts Green Hills
• Hero Arts Red Royal
• Hero Arts Unicorn white pigment ink
• Sequins