Sweet Stampin' ~ Summer Butterflies

Hey crafty friends, I'm popping in today with a card I made quite some time ago, but never got around to blogging. We have a new challenge over on the Sweet Stampin' and our theme currently is Summer, so I hunted through my old makes I'd yet to share and found this one which I think fits perfectly! Who doesn't love Summer Butterflies?! So this card finally gets its day in the sun, hehe, pun unintended!

I made this card with a technique I learnt a while back during a class through Online Card Classes using stencils. This was one of Kristina Werner's classes and she shared a technique using a stylus to emboss the design on the reverse side of your design, for some dimension and interest on the correct side. I traced the circle shape first using a Whimsy circle die to create the focal point for my sentiment.

I chose how I wanted my butterflies to appear on the front. I reversed the stencil and inked them softly on the back, so I would have a template of where to emboss them. Then once they were embossed, added the colour to the butterflies on the front, with the stencil the correct way around. 

This is a little different to the way Kristina taught this class, but was a good hack that worked for me on this card. I used an older Whimsy Stamps Stencil to emboss these butterflies, but they have a wonderful updated version of this stencil which would work just as well. 

I inked around the central circle, masking off the circle to keep it whiter, then added a soft bit of colour in from the edges as it looked so stark in comparison to the coloured area around it. I've used Distress Oxide inks for the blending which I've linked below. Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge were the colours I used.

I added some Nuvo Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer to the butterflies, but then decided I wanted a little more shimmer all over and so used some Hero Arts Shimmer Mist to add some subtle but lovely shimmer to the whole card. I added some little details to the butterflies bodies, with a brown ink pen. I kept it loose and whimsical. 

I should have gold embossed my sentiment first, but worked out how to do it afterwards, by padding under the embossing to raise the paper slightly. Happily it worked really well. The lovely sentiment is from a retired Whimsy stamp set that I just love. I have some classic stash from Whimsy I just can't part with! I know lots of folks 'destash' regularly, but I can't part with mine. These butterfly sets in particular, I do find I come back to a lot. Do you have favourite stash like that?

I'm sorry the sets I've used are retired, but hope you enjoyed seeing my process for this card. This technique would work with many other stamp sets, so if you like the idea, give it a go! If you're making Summer themed cards, consider sharing them with us over at Sweet Stampin' Challenge and check out the Summer inspiration from my talented teamies. I highly recommend you check out the Stenciled2 classes with Online Card Classes too! I have enjoyed every class I've done with them and learnt something new or been reminded of techniques I've long forgotten. It's always been worth my while and unlike some really expensive classes which are just impossible for me on the Kiwi dollar, these classes are really reasonable. So if you've not tried them before, I do recommend them.

I will be back again soon (I hope) with another crafty adventure. Life has been way too full lately and I'm struggling to keep all the balls in the air, but hoping for a quieter week this week and will get some catch up done! Hugs to you all and happy crafting, Wends xoxo

Both Whimsy Sets Above Now Retired But Available in Resellers

Updated Flight of the Butterflies Stencil

(I share thumbnails to the elements I design with in order to make your search for them easier, in case you like something I've used. I do use affiliate links where possible and occasionally am paid a small commission. I do not earn affiliate sales from my Whimsy links. This is just for tracking data. It helps the companies I design for to improve their marketing practice and track my contributions. I am deeply grateful if you use them for these reasons. I am proud to design for the companies I do and always feel happy to share where my inspiration and where my crafty stash comes from. I am occasionally gifted products to use, but I only design for companies whose products I absolutely love and buy for myself. My opinions are always my own.)

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