From the Heart card

It has been a busy week here trying to catch up on work that has to be completed by the end of the month.   All this craziness has left the craft room in a state of chaos.  So, today I spent the first hour just getting things back in order so I could keep moving forward. 

I'm really inspired today by my friend Chelle and a lovely Easter card she made (more on that later).  My card today is much simpler, but uses her inspiration of of bright colors and the same stamp set.  Hope you will follow along...

Gather four items: Black Embossing Powder, Emboss It ink pad, a piece of water color paper, and a favorite stamp.  Today I am using the butterfly from the Easter Blueprint set.

To emboss, just stamp the image onto a surface (mine happens to be watercolor paper) and cover in Embossing powder.  I use a creased piece of computer paper to pour the excess powder onto once the image in coated.  The crease in the paper makes it easy to slide the powder back into the bottle.

 Use a Heat it tool to heat the image until it melts.

 Cut out the image.

Use your Distress Markers and a fine tip water brush to color the image.  If you missed how to color with the Markers you can see it here.  Today I used Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, Weathered Wood, and Stormy Sky to color the butterfly.

Before I go on, I just wanted to say a little something about watercolor paper.  First of all, I am not a professional artist so I don't really know the ins and outs of art paper.  What I do know is that all watercolor paper is not created equal.  My favorite is Fabriano Artistico 140lb hot press because it is smooth and takes the color so well.  My least favorite is the "yellow pad" (I won't name the brand) because it is so very thick and bumpy and to be quite honest, just doesn't preform as well.  One test of each and you can easily the difference.
You can buy Fabriano Artistico by the sheet at an art supply store like Dick Blick for under $5 instead of having to buy a whole pad if you order online.  I did notice that Michaels has sheets of 140lb watercolor paper in the art dept (I don't know the brand)...about $4.99 a 20 x 30" sheet (I can stamp a whole lot of butterflies with that much paper).  Well, that is my two cents...maybe you have an opinion on watercolor paper or a source.  If so, please leave a comment as I think everyone could benefit from the information.

I outlined the butterfly with Black Soot Distress Marker which might seem too dark but using the water brush to pull the black color from the edge lightens it to a dark gray which is perfect.

Almost done

I cut a shaped foundation piece using heavy Ranger manila cardstock and the Ornamental die, then colored the shaped piece with Peacock Feathers and Mustard Seed.

 I inked the edges with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.

 Then stamped the butterfly image with black Archival ink.

 I added a bit of foam tape on the back of the colored butterfly and adhered it over the stamped image.

Now I need a backdrop for the shaped piece.  I chose the new Shattered Kraft-Core cardstock from Core'dinations and inked it with Peacock Feathers to reveal the "shattered" finish.  If you lightly sand the finish you can get more variation in the color.

I cut a piece of solid cardstock 7 x 10", so folded it will be 7 x 5".  Then cut my Shattered foundation piece 1/2" smaller than the card front (6 1/2 x 4 1/2").  NOTE: Once I cut the Shattered paper to size, I sanded the corners and the edges before adding more ink.

 I stitched the Shattered piece to the card front.

 Eyelets on each end of the card centerpiece.

 and a bit of Paper String around the top flap of the card to hold it in place.

 A small sentiment in the form of a Remnant Rub in the corner.

As always, it looks better in person but I hope you can see some of the detail.  Love the way it turned out...simple and fresh for spring.  I had a standard white envelope that fit the 7 x 5" card so it is ready to pop in the mail to a friend.

Here is a snippet of my friend Chelle's fabulous Easter card using the egg stamp from the same Easter Blueprint set I used.  She also used the new Cameo die which I really like (love how she painted the edge).  How cute is that?

Cheers for a great weekend!
paula

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