Butterfly Happiness

I had the best time this weekend. Saturday was mostly spent cooking, mowing, and cleaning the pool for Sunday. But Sunday we had “Birthday Lunch” for Amelia who turned eight years old Monday. She was so excited that she is officially done with a booster/car seat! She’s growing up so fast. She loves school, but thinks 3rd grade is too easy. I forgot to remind her that the first several weeks are review, so it will get more challenging. Her favorite things are buying lunch, the library, and the playground.

I had so much fun with family this weekend, that I forgot to work on something to blog for Monday. If I were as organized as my friends Susan and Jackie, I would have scheduled something weeks ago. I could have posted Amelia’s birthday card, which was a fabulous shaker card using the Pure Magic Stamp Set, but I don’t like to blog cards I make specifically for someone else. (It was an awesome card, though! She loved it. I did use a non-Stampin’ Up!® product for more sparkle on the dragon and mermaid however. Wink of Stella is great, but it just doesn’t sparkle enough for 8 year old girls. Or me. Oh, how I miss Dazzling Diamonds and Dazzling Details!)

When I finally made it to my craft room this morning, I found some lovely butterflies on the table. Last week, we had our “Technique Night,” which was all about Dual Color Stamping. Besides masking and stamping solid stamps in two colors, you can also use masks with detailed stamps. You can mask the die-cut and color them, or you can stamp the detail first, then mask and color. I have decided I like the “stamp then mask and color” way better.

These butterflies are from the Butterfly Brilliance Stamp Set. I cut all of them from Basic White Cardstock using the Brilliant Wings Dies, then cut them again to make masks* from retired card stock. I cut the butterfly masks in three pieces – one for each wing and one for the center. I stamped the larger one first in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, then masked one side and the center and used a Blending Brush to add Polished Pink to the unmasked side. Then I switched wing masks and added Fresh Freesia to the other side. Finally, I added both wing masks to add Granny Apple Green to the center.

For the two smaller butterflies, I used the same masking technique, but I masked and inked first, then stamped the detail. I didn’t like the results as well, since it was harder to be sure the colors were in the right places. Those two butterflies are inked with Pacific Point and Bermuda Bay, and Sweet Sorbet and Poppy Parade. I used Granny Apple Green again for the centers.

I used a Sweet Sorbet card base and a Basic Black layer under the Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper (DSP) layer. This DSP worked the best with all my butterfly colors! Plus, flowers and butterflies seemed a natural pairing. I stamped the sentiment from the Peaceful Moments Stamp Set in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink on Basic White Cardstock. Then I used the Banners Pick a Punch punch to make the banner. A Sweet Sorbet Metallic Ribbon bow almost completed the card. But then I saw my Pearlized Enamel Effects Basics sitting on my table. Oh, my! These are not just for the holidays, even though they’re in the July-December Mini (aka “Holiday” Mini Catalog). I added dots of each color to the butterflies. So pretty, don’t you think? And – fun fact – I haven’t tried this, but you can probably add a drop or two of ink refill to the white bottle for more colors! I cannot wait to play with this idea that just hit me as I was writing this. Stay tuned…

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. Have a lovely day!

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