Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Exchange cards featuring hammered botanical paper, a die cut butterfly and ribbon and bling


I created these two cards for my Card Exchange partners for this month.  I started with half sheets of hammered botanical paper which I created a while back with my Big Shot.  It is a very cool process where you place fresh botanicals - flowers, leaves, etc - between two sheets of white cardstock and pass it through your die cut machine which acts as a press and creates these cool images.  I added blue watercolour to the edges of these prints which really changed them up for me and made them look more like art.   I chose two large envelopes and made cards for them.
For my first card I created a light green card and added a decorative butterfly die cut in purple.  I adhered it using 3D foam tape and added clear glitter on the body and a few of the pieces in the wings.  I found a piece or torn green decorative paper in my stash and it coordinated perfectly so I placed it just below my butterfly which helped ground the background paper.  I added five tiny rhinestones to one of the dips to create a focal point and added the flight trail with a coordinating pen.  I glued this large element to my card front and then added purple dots to each side which nicely repeats the dots in the flight path.  I decided it did not need a greeting so I added an insert and I was done!!!
My second card was created in a very similar process.  I created a blue card for this one and added the same blue watercolour to the edges of my hammered botanical paper.  I so love the look!!  I found a torn strip of paper in my stash that coordinated so I added to the bottom of my decorative paper.  I added the butterfly using 3D foam tape and added some details using a clear glitter gel pen.  I added the same flight path using a coordinating marker and was pretty happy with it.  But it still needed "a bit of something" so I auditioned a few things and settled on this green gros grain ribbon which coordinated very nicely.  I added it to my decorative paper adhering the ends to the back using double sided tape.  I tied the remaining short end to the front using a single knot to simulate a bow.  That was better!!!!!!!!!!!  Again, I chose not to put a greeting on this card.  It holds its own without it.  Therese