Butterfly card tutorial

Well it's Friday! Hooray! The weather looks set to be not too awful!! Bonus!

Although I didn't blog yesterday I was not idle.  I have been working on my commission among other things, so I was still crafting.  Honest!  Well as I haven't got long today I thought I would post a tutorial I posted a while ago on my last blog.  Hope you like it.

Butterfly card

This card is so lovely and looks 3D but in fact it is totally flat, ideal for sending through the post nowadays with postage restrictions and prices being as ridiculous as they are!

The other bonus of this card is that it requires so little, no tape or foam mounts, no papers or extra colours, there is no worrying if this will go with that! This card only uses one colour and the pattern effects only use a couple of stamps.

First off lets see what you will need!

I used the following ~

• Set of Stampin Up stamps, you could use anything however so why not experiment!
• Ink pad ~ one that doesn't dry too instantly as you will be doing several stamps between inking.
• Sticky notes
• Card blank
• Optional extras ~ daubers. 

Step 1 - First you will need to mask off a rectangle in the centre of your card.  Mine left a 2cm gap around the outside.  Square sticky notes are fantastic as you can line up the edges to get a neat angular shape.

Step 2

Once the area is masked take your stamp and ink it up, I have used a solid butterfly shape but it doesn't really matter what you use.  The stamping you are going to be doing is to create a patten and texture to the card, you won't really notice what the image is.  You will need to stamp your stamp several times around the unmasked areas of your card.  I stamp at least three times before inking up again so that it adds texture and depth.

Here you can see how it is beginning to build up, I have stamped over  and over again in the same areas.  Finally remove the sticky notes and there you have your border.

Step 3

Next you will need those sticky notes again (don't forget to reuse the ones you took off).  You need to cover the area you have just stamped, if you leave a little gap of white under the notes that is fine as it adds to the illusion of depth.  You will also need to mask off another rectangle inside so you are left with a rectangular line on your card.

Step 4

You can choose how you do this next step.  I used a dauber but you could use a tissue or finger or if your ink pad is a small one you could just wipe it over the unmasked area.  You want this area to be a solid a colour as possible.

 Step 5

Remove the sticky notes. Here is how my card looks at this point.

Step 6

Now it is time for you to be creative!  I think simplest is best however so I just went for a couple of butterflies and some wording.  If you weren't sending this card through the post then I would be tempted to add a punched butterfly on top.  Here is my finished card.

Now all that is left to do is to write something lovely inside and send it to someone!

Why not have a go with yourself?  I would love to see what you have created!