Flowers and Butterflies – SSS Blissful Card Kit

I had originally intended to share this card yesterday. I got the focal panel completed but when I tried to put the rest of the card together I hit a bit of a wall. In the end I set it aside – I was too tired to concentrate, and I felt it was best to wait until I could really think about what I was going to do. I’m glad I did!

I went into making this card with a rough plan of what I wanted to do. After a couple of false starts I created my focal panel by stamping the large flower arrangement from Simon Says Stamp’s Floral Bliss stamp set, which came in their Blissful card kit. I stamped it using the Barely Beige ink that also came in the kit onto a snippet of Canson watercolour paper. I then ink blended from the corner in which I had stamped, starting with orange through to yellow and fading out. I used a little Spiced Marmalade distress ink as well as SSS Orange Slush and Lemon Zest.

Once I was happy with the ink blending I started adding to the images using watercolour pencils which I blended out with my Wink of Stella. I stayed with reds, oranges and a little yellow for the flowers. For the leaves I lifted off some of the ink blended colour by wetting each leaf, letting the water sit for a moment, then lifting it with a tissue. I then added shading to the leaves with grey, again blending it out with Wink of Stella.

Having finished all the colouring I trimmed the panel down a little to better fit my layout. I then stamped a sentiment with black ink, adding it to the opposite corner of the focal panel. The “birthday” part of the sentiment is from Altenew’s Halftone Happy, and the scripty “happy” is a Hobbycraft stamp.

I decided to add some strips of patterned paper to the card coming from behind the image panel. I chose the black and white striped paper that came in the Echo Park Wedding Bliss paper pack that was in the card kit. After laying the elements out I felt that the lower portion of the card needed something more. I used some post-it tape to mask off, then used the Orange Slush ink to repeatedly stamp a butterfly by Knorr Prandell to give a subtle tone-on-tone look. I also cut a couple of banners, one from red card mounted on red craft foam, and another from black card.

I attached the banners to the back of the focal panel using my glue pen, and used the pen again to adhere the patterned paper strips to the card base. I then used foam tape on the back of the focal panel to attach that to the card base.

Despite all the trouble this card gave me I am pleased with how it came together. I really like the warm and sunny colours, and the light grey leaves work surprisingly well alongside it. The subtle butterflies perhaps faded out a bit too much as they are quite difficult to see now, but I still like the added texture they give to the card.

Love,

Lady Joyful

Challenges included:

AAA Cards – Birthday

Butterfly Challenge – Butterflies and Layers and/or Cream (I have layered up my different elements, and there is a hint of cream in the patterned paper as well as the uncoloured portion of the focal panel.)

Cupcake Inspirations – Colour Palette: Black, Orange, Red (edit – where it was a sweet select!)

Inspired By All The Little Things – Inspiration Photo

Mojo Monday – Sketch/Layout

The Flower Challenge – Anything Goes