Butterflies and Snowflakes and a freebie

 Hello, blogging friends! It's the beginning of a new year, and I sincerely hope 2024 is good to you.

My cards today were inspired by a card from the very talented by Shwu-Miin Tang

She created a lovely gatefold card with monochrome leanings, borders and beautiful butterflies! Having been awarded this card at the recent TSA auction, organized by Lori Kobular, I showed it to some friends in November. Gasping at the beauty, they declared they most certainly could not make anything that pretty. But they did, when they came over in December, and I did a surprise class using die cuts. Apologies that the photos are not very clear.

The cards are 5"x7". We started out with plain white-on-white (monochrome will hide any mistakes). The card base is cut 7" x 10" and scored at 2.5" and 7.5". Each card then required 2 white pieces 6.75" x 5". We used Martha Stewart punch-around-the-page punches after dry embossing them, but any appropriately sized die or punch would work. One whole embossed piece is adhered on the interior and the other cut vertically for the 2 sides in front. 

Using white glitter card stock, solid butterflies were die cut. With white card stock, the filagree butterflies were attached in the centers of the glitter pieces. Butterfly "bodies" were also die cut with glitter card stock, and adhered. 

Recycling the tin seal from the inside of Whey Protein Powder, lots of delicate snowflakes were cut. Using a Japanese Screw Punch two snowflakes were hole punched. Then the butterflies' center of the 3 layers was punched. A brad was looped into the snowflake center, and then through the butterfly center. One butterfly was adhered to each side of the gate fold.

Pale Pink Copic Markers (any alcohol markers will do) changed the white glitter to pale pink.

While it is easier to open and close the cards where the butterflies were adhered "straight", we found it more forgiving and whimsical to place the butterflies on angles. Some of the cards were inked around the edges, while others only slightly tinted the butterflies. Here are a few color options:

Lavender and Pink (inked around the edges):

Blue and Pale Gray without any other ink:

The interior has a heat set stamped sentiment embossed in silver to coordinate with the snowflakes. I made up another sentiment we printed on vellum, which is now available to you as my gift at the bottom of this post:

I am deeply, humbly, gratefully blessed by dear friends such as yourselves. Your cards, IMs and phone calls helped me through a very difficult 2023; though the sentiment seems "sappy or corny", it is the truth, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you, Shwu-Miin Tang, for the inspiration. And many thanks to dear friends such as yourselves for lifting my spirits on many a difficult day.

These are going to a few friends. Wish I could send at least 50!

My gift to you - 

For use on the inside or outside of your projects: Please do not sell these Sentiments. Use on any of your projects, including projects involving any design teams you might be on.

Click on the image to bring it to full size. Because of the changes Google Made with Blogger (June 2020), your image will appear to be solid black. Don’t panic. Right click and do a SAVE AS PNG. Once it is saved on your hard drive, you can open it and it will have a transparent background. I create PNGs instead of JPGs so they can be placed anywhere on a scene or project, and so backgrounds can be made using them. Please let me know if you have any problems. I hope you enjoy! 

Products: Dies (Die-Versions Wee Petites WP-004 Snowflakes, Memory Box Lydia Butterfly, MB Sorona Butterfly, MB Delia Butterfly, Spellbinders Labels 23-for the decorated interior-- Martha Stewart Punch-Around-the-Page Lace Flowers), Coloring (Copic Markers atop glitter cardstock, Oxide ink, Distress ink), Papers (110lb white, clear and silver glitter, recycled silver metal foil from Whey Protein Powder, white and pearl vellums, ) Embossing Folder: Couture Creations "Flamingos & Hedgehogs"

I would like to play in the following challenges please:

1. Crafty Animals AG with Animals or Insects  2/1 
2. Triple B Challenge with Mood Board 2/2  (see the pretty frosty mood board below)
3. Craft Rocket Challenges  #10 Use Embossing (background is an embossing folder and interior background is an EF. The die cut butterflies are also dry embossed. On the interior, the top sentiment is heat embossed. 1/28  2/1
4. Pammie's Inky Pinkies Anything Goes 1/18
5. Creative Inspirations #9 Anything Goes 1/25 (2-1)

Stamping Hugs,