Butterfly Mobile

At long last – here is the project I had planned for my Earth Day Challenge…more than a month later! I had a busy and fun month – I hosted my book club and then had a friend from Hong Kong visiting. So I spent a lot of time cleaning, traveling, and obsessing about Artisan Award results until I finally got around to getting started on this project. That is when I saw the Embellish Butterflies Color Challenge and my idea fit perfectly for the challenge they put forth…projects using butterflies and the colors olive, black and Kraft.

Starting at the top, the mobile is held up with some black braided cord that I got at my local craft store in the jewelry section. The top of the mobile is made from five cat food cans that I dressed up with paper. I stamped the butterfly from Dreams du Jour in Basic Black on strips of Old Olive cardstock cut to cover the outside of the cans. I dressed these up with a strip of Kraft (soon to be Crumb Cake) punched with the Scallop Trim Border  punch that will be available in the new 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog. I also added a thin strip of Basic Black cardstock for an added touch.

The butterflies were cut using the Beautiful Butterflies die. The large butterflies were cut from Kraft and the smaller butterflies from 5 retiring colors (Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal, Lavender Lace, Brocade Blue, Blush Blossom). All were run through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder. I used a Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker to add color to the polka dots on the big butterflies. Crystal Effects and Dazzling diamonds were used on the small butterflies to add some sparkle. I then stapled the butterflies together and then used Crystal Effects and the black glitter from Chunky Essentials to make the body of the butterfly and to cover the staple.The butterflies are hung with a hemp cord that is very similar to Stampin’ Up!’s linen thread.

I used the Crop-a-dile to punch holes in the sides of the cans so that I could attach them to each other with brads and hang the butterflies. I used a small awl to punch the holes in the top of the cans so that they could be hung.

Supplies

• 5 used and cleaned cat food cans
• Stamps: Dreams Du Jour
• Paper: Kraft (Crumb Cake), Old Olive, Basic Black, Barely Banana, Lavender Lace, Apricot Appeal, Blush Blossom, Brocade Blue
• Ink: Basic Black Classic Ink, Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker
• Embellishments: Black cord, hemp cord, brads, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, Chunky Essentials, staples
• Tools: Beautiful Butterflies die, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder, Crop-o-dile, Scallop Trim Border Punch, 1/16″ circle punch

Color Inspiration

Going to Trader Joe’s is always trouble for me. It is impossible for me to walk out of there without buying some delicious treat for myself. A couple months ago it was chocolate covered sunflower seed, which may just be the sweet treat of the angels they are so wonderful. As I was pondering the wonderfulness of the sunflower seeds I notice how fantastic the color combo was:

I’m pretty new to Stampin’ Up!, and make fun of my upline Jess when she starts seeing SU! colors everywhere. All of a sudden, looking at this container I started doing it as well. Chcolate Chip? Garden Green? Old Olive? Summer Sun? Is that Pink Passion? What about that other yellow? Hmmm…doesn’t seem to match any of ours.

I used this color palette as the inspiration a card that I sent to Jess with a little present I was sending to her. It is a bit heavier on the green than was in the container, but I liked how the pink and yellow help make the card “pop”.

This was a nice and easy card to make. Using the Dreams du Jour set, I stamped the butterfly all over the Garden Green cardstock in Chocolate Chip Ink.

I then stamped the “Dreams” stamp in Stazon on Whisper white, and colored it using ink pads and blender pens.

Finally, I stamped the butterfly again on Summer Sun paper, cut it out, and glued it on the card using Tombow Multi and Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Recipe:

• Stamps: Dreams du Jour
• Paper: Garden Green, Whisper White, Summer Sun
• Ink/Coloring: Chocolate Chip, Black StazOn, Pink Passion, Old Olive, Summer Sun
• Accessories/Tools: Blender Pens, Paper Snips, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Tombow Multi

Belated Valentine’s Day Post

Here are some of the things I made for Valentine’s Day:

This cute little box fits several Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares. It was so simple to make – you can find the tutorial here. This box features Bella Rose DSP and three punches: Scallop Square, Scallop Edge,  and Heart to Heart.

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