Sunday, May 31, 2015

Oh, Do I Have A Set For You!

Boy, oh, boy...this fabulous stamp set is going to make you happy!  It's a beauty.  But you can't get it until Tuesday, June 2!  Unless you decide to join me as a Stampin' UP! demonstrator before then...Being a demonstrator has it's perks--like getting to pre-order from the new catalog!  And that's how I got my stamps. 

This gorgeous stamp set is called Floral Wings.  Does that make you think of a butterfly with flowers on it's wings?  Yes?  Well lookie here:



Yes, it's a butterfly with flowers on it's wings!  And what a beautiful stamp it is:



My son and daughter-in-law are celebrating their 9th anniversary this week.  I wanted to make them a card, and had been perusing MANY websites for some ideas, and this card was born.  Let's break it down so you can see the details.

First, it's a matchbook-style card (the top folds over and tucks behind a little strip on the bottom).  The Whisper White cardstock is initially cut to 4-1/2" x 11".  It took me two tries to get the letters cut correctly--



I lined up the Little Letters Thinlets along the very edge of the cardstock, and using a trick I learned from demonstrator Cindy Beach, ( placing the cutting plates on the tip of the letters, so you don't cut them out completely--they can then stand up), I carefully cut them out with my Big Shot.  (And yes, I had to cut the H-A- _- P-Y and then go back and cut the first P).  Then I cut them out again, using Watermelon Wonder cardstock, and carefully glued them (with Two Way Glue) over the base letters. 

Once that was done, I inked up my butterfly, using a trick from Lydia Fiedler.  She said to first stamp the roses, and THEN the butterfly.  And this worked perfectly!  Since the photopolymer stamps have a tab to line everything up, it made it easy.  Once the butterfly is stamped, you can add in the leaves.



I was going to use the Butterfly Thinlets to cut out my butterfly and embed it in my card (see another sample here), but I didn't want the missing pieces in the beautiful stamp.  So I opted instead to use the thinlets to cut out the butterfly in my card base, and mounted the stamped image UNDER it, using Dimensionals to give it depth.

I stamped the lovely fern from Butterfly Basics using Cucumber Crush, stamping off once and then stamping a few times to have the ferns "dissolve" on my card.  There are also a few of the honeycomb images stamped in Mint Macaron (stamped off once). 



Now for the fold:  That little strip of black polka-dot Designer Series Paper is from the new Neutrals Paper Stack--great patterns, and this one mimicked the dots in the butterfly.  Then the bottom of the card was scored (just about 1-1/4").  This creates the bottom of the matchbook--I stapled the two sides and the bottom.  When the card folds over, it tucks inside the "matchbook" (behind the letters) to stay closed.  "Together" comes from Crazy About You, and is stamped in Cucumber Crush.

The card is an odd size--4-1/4" x 4-3/4", so I had to make my own envelope.  This size is not included on the Envelope Punch Board, but I found The Crafty Owl (here) and plugged in my own measurements.  Using the terrific new Envelope Paper in the 2015-17 In Colors, I created the perfect fit:
I know this beautiful stamp set will quickly become a favorite;  if you would like one for yourself, you'll have to grab some friends and have a party (or splurge and order big!)--it is one of the Host Rewards stamp sets, only available with a qualifying order.  Contact me to schedule your party today!

 I hope my perfect son and his perfect wife have a very happy anniversary!  Do you think they'll like their card?  Please leave me a comment and let me know.

All items can be purchased here, starting Tuesday, June 2. 

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