Sunday, August 14, 2016

Flitting Fireflies in a Field

I had an idea.

I know, you're thinking, "so what?", right?  But really, I had an idea and I decided to run with it.  Take a look:


A jar of fireflies in a field.  And I love it!

When I was a kid on the east coast, we sometimes would be allowed to stay outside WAY after dark, while the adults were enjoying a barbeque (and probably a bottle of beer).  And sometimes, we would be given a jar and told to "go catch some fireflies".  And we did!  (and just for the record, we ALWAYS let them go before going in the house - yep - no fireflies were injured in the making of this blog post!)

So when I saw Jar of Love in the new Stampin' UP! catalog, I knew I wanted to try "catching" some fireflies in a jar.

But then I had an idea...

Just what if I was able to drop that jar in the grass...

So I got out my Serene Scenery paper stack and found a meadow in the twilight (well, maybe it's a sunrise, but let's go with the evening idea, OK?)

I cut the paper with the medium-sized jar with the Everyday Jars framelits (I LOVE these!).  And I saved the cut-out jar.

Then I stamped the jar on Whisper White card stock, using Smoky Slate ink.  And cut it out.  But I  needed to get the inside cut out...what to do, what to do...

Well, happily there is a die for that...except it's for the larger jar...rats!

But what if I used the die and cut just the top half of the inside, stopping my Big Shot before getting to the end?  And then suppose I pushed the die THROUGH the cut out part and centered the bottom on the bottom of the jar and cut out the rest...do you think that would work?

Y.E.S.!

Then I backed my jar with a piece of Window Sheet and nestled it into the cut out piece of my Serene Scenery paper.

I carefully centered this on a piece of 5" x 10" Whisper White Thick cardstock, but before adhering I placed the original cut out (from Serene Scenery) under my jar. Then I added Foam Adhesive Strips around my jar to prepare it to become a shaker card.

After stamping and cutting out my fireflies (with the matching die, of course!) I colored the "light" on their bottoms and added some Wink of Stella for a subtle shimmer.  I dropped all of the flies in my jar and carefully adhered it to my card base.

Then I just finished it off with a few extra flies, a jar lid with a tag and a ribbon.

And I smiled...

This card is going to my very special daughter-in-law for her birthday.  I hope she likes it.


All supplies can be purchased here.


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