I am so excited to be back on the blog today because I made this sweet and simple card last week, and since then I’ve already made two more after seeing how much the first was loved by the recipient, and I couldn’t wait to share it with you. Plus, I’m always, always waxing on about how I like to get the most out of my supplies, and that definitely includes using all the fun little accessories from this stamp series, giving them a voice of their own.
I’m definitely in the camp that believes it doesn’t take much to share a little joy and encouragement, but I also love that a few extra special touches can bring whimsy to simplicity, a combination that’s sure to bring smiles.
For this card, I gather a few simple supplies, some of which can be switched out as noted below:
- your new Little Lady stamp set, and matching dies
- tape or glue
- thread or twine, fishing line, etc.
- tape (clear, or closely colored to your cardstock)
- scissors
- ink (make sure it’s friendly to your coloring method of choice – I used two different ones)
My first step was to stamp and color a kaleidoscope of butterflies, and I grabbed a handful of Copic markers in my friend’s favorite colors. I used Memento ink in Tuxedo Black to stamp them out, knowing I’d be using alcohol based markers to fill them in, which means no bleeding and no re-doing all that work (spoken like a true beginning who’s had this happen too many times before).
There’s just something magical about a swarm of colorful paper butterflies cut out and waiting to be put to use.
Next, I cut two pieces of card stock, one 4.25×11, folded in half for a top flip, and one 4.25×5.5, to use as the backing piece inside. I used a circle die to cut a hole in both pieces, and to make sure I got it in just the right spot on both, I ran them through the machine together and die cut them at the same time.
Next up is a bit of thread! We’re making a card that allows the butterflies to remain suspended inside the cut out circle in the card, a technique that means you can twirl them to spin, or just leave them to float in all their colorful glory. If you’d like for them to seem more magically suspended, you can use fishing line or another crafty clear monofilament to keep these threads translucent, which is really fun. I tend to like seeing the thin threads that connect the delicate butterflies, and often grab for a pretty baker’s twine or even gold string. For this card I was out of my favorite gold, but did have a spool of this creamy white quilter’s thread that also catches the light in lovely ways, so I used that (spoiler alert: I LOVED the result – use what you have is a great way to go). I cut the strands just longer than the circle in the card, no need to be exact because you can trim later.
Now that all the pieces are ready, it’s time to assemble. We’ll be working on the flat unfolded piece of cardstock for this stage, so I put the folded piece to the side. Laying out the threads in a spacing I like, I then turn to the butterflies. I like to scatter them, one on each thread, so that they’re at different heights in the circle. Once I have everything set as I like it, I tend to lose my patience when it comes to glue, so I used my little roller tape for these. Both adhesives work well, so I’d encourage you to use what works best for you. The butterflies are just a hair different on each side because of the antenna, but I promise you it’s not enough to notice when sandwiched together, so there’s no need to do any fancy mirror stamping in this case, just put those butterflies together with the string in between and get ready to watch them flutter.
I use one single piece of tape to attach all the strings to the top of the circle for ease, and then use small pieces of tape to attach each individual string at the bottom. This gives me a little more control when making sure the strings are spaced apart well enough.
After all of the strings are attached to the page, it’s time to trim the extra string from the ends and get this cleaned up a bit. This is also the time to hold up the card and watch the butterflies dance. I love this part.
Before I attach this butterfly piece into the card base, I stamp my sentiment and add any extras on the front. I used Versafine black for the sentiment because I love the crisp, clean result, and I knew I wouldn’t be using markers with it later.
The last step is to adhere the butterfly yardstick inside the card base with the tape side facing the interior of the base so it’s completely covered, sandwiched between the two pieces of paper. Nice and clean and simple. I like to twist the butterflies on their strings as I slide the card into its envelope so that when it’s opened by my friend all the butterflies will unfurl and spin (“fly”) as she reads my message inside. The wonderful thing about this card is that spinning or not, the suspended butterflies add a touch of whimsy and fun to a simple message. Thank you so much for joining me again in this space, and I hope you’ll share if you make this card, or one similar, too!
1 Comment
Super cute!!