Butterfly Basics for Pals Paper Arts (The Stampin' Schach)

It’s Thursday, and time for another Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge! This week, one of my idols of the stamping world, Linda Callahan, has a versatile sketch for us. This sketch works for clean and simple cards, as well as more “fussied up” ones like mine…as you can see from the fabulous inspiration cards created by the Design Team. In another “return to my roots” effort, I turned to one of my favorite stamps sets, Butterfly Basics. I hope you enjoy today’s card.

Always Artichoke
Blushing Bride
Pink Pirouette
Soft Suede
Very Vanilla
Whisper White

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips
This finished card measures 4-1/4″ wide by 5-1/2″ long when folded.

When I was first faced with this sketch, my immediate thought was to keep the background clean. I toyed with the idea of creating a textured background or using one of Stampin’ Up!’s gorgeous designer series papers. Yep…I thought a lot about this background. And in the end, I opted to create a collage.

I used Blender Pens with Blushing Bride and Always Artichoke inks to color the flowers and leaves. Of course, the beautiful Gold Wink of Stella accents on the flowers appear a little muddy in the photo, but in person they are shimmery. I added pearls for the center of the open blossom. The stamping off technique was used with the Always Artichoke ferns and the Soft Suede netting. The Speckles, from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set, were stamped off several times.

Two little Papillon Potpourri butterflies call attention to the sentiment, which is from the Floral Phrases set. The edges of the circle, which had been randomly stamped with the netting image, were distressed with Soft Suede ink.

Tons of texture were added with burlap, lace, satin and natural trim ribbons. For a different look, I used a simple rolled bow. The end result is a card which is softly feminine and a touch shabby.

Home Sweet Home

It’s great to be home again! During the month of July, Jackie the Boxer, Kim and I were away more than we were home. Luckily, Jackie loves to travel and meet people. We did have time for a quick photo shoot in the area behind one of the hotels…and he shared a bratwurst with one of the guests. Although I doubt it was the best menu choice for him, being a polite dog he did not refuse the gracious gesture!

Over the next few weeks, I will have more win photos to share with you. I LOVE how he looks with this blue background.

Yep…our baby boy is growing up, and so is his sister, Kia. In a scene reminiscent of another set of Boxer Twins from a few years back, they are watching the neighborhood kids.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by for a visit today. If you have any questions about the cards I create, or the techniques I use, I am only an email away. Until next time…