Blue Bridal Butterfly

Okay, so say Blue Bridal Butterfly ten times fast! I can't do it, and I applaud you if you can. I've never been very good with tongue twisters, but my kids can rock them! What part of the gene pool is that from?!!

Last Saturday, I saw the Inspiration Challenge on SCS, and I really loved the bridal fan that Stef chose as one of the inspiration photos. The fan ribs made me think of my butterfly die and how it would look just like that fan if I layered a vellum butterfly over it.

Lovely. And it's my favourite smoky shade of blue too. *contented sigh*

This butterfly is layered over so many divine little details. First, this blue printed paper is from the Genuine 6x6" pad by Authentique. I can't say enough wonderful things about this paper. It's like Mary Poppins - positively (practically?) perfect in every way! I used white crochet trim by May Arts running the height of the card, echoing the skeletal feel of the butterfly. The butterfly is mounted on the hanging sign portion of the Tim Holtz die, Hanging Sign. The butterfly body is made of Snow White pearls from Kaiser Craft and each layer is supported by Adhesive Dimensional Squares, giving it a lot of depth.

Making 3d embellishments is one of my favourite things to do, and for this bow (made using my handy dandy Bow Easy), I've used a new line of dies that Kate is carrying at i {heart} papers from Memory Box, and this one is Scalloped Posie. I filled the middle with a Snow White pearl from Kaiser Craft.

And with all these lovely details, a perfect, simple sentiment to bring the feel of the whole card together. I'm a big Ali Edwards fan, and this sentiment is from her Ordinary Days set by Technique Tuesday, stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I have got to remember to order a refill soon! The embossed lines around the border of the card are at 1/4" done using my Scor Pal tool.

stamps; ordinary days (technique tuesday from ihp)
paper; genuine (authentique from ihp), powder blue, oxford, coconut swirl (bazzill), pearlescent vellum (paper accents)
ink; tuxedo black memento ink (tsukineko from ihp)
accessories; scallop posie die (memory box from ihp), snow white pearls (kaiser craft from ihp), bow easy (from ihp), scor pal (from ihp), adhesive dimensionals (zva from ihp), white crochet trim (may arts from ihp), butterfly die LR0114 (marianne dies), bigz butterfly die, hanging sign die (sizzix), smoky blue seam binding ribbon (really reasonable ribbon) 

IHP Trendsetters

Walking the floor of the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Trade Show is always an adventure! What could possibly be more exciting than getting to see three huge showrooms of brand new products that you can hardly wait to get your hands on? Only one thing: getting to share that experience with your girlfriends!

From the very beginning, the i {heart} papers team has had strong ties to Paper Craft Planet. Our mutual love of paper and paper-crafting was the foundation for our friendship, and CHA has given us the opportunity to meet face-to-face and translate those online friendships into real life. It's so much more fun in person than it is on screen!

As we walked the CHA floor we were drawn to certain products and projects...when we discussed them over dinner we discovered some emerging trends. That's what today's challenge is all about.

Of course, not everyone can attend CHA. We were quite sorely missing some of our team mates...and the general public is not eligible to attend. Thankfully, those of you who couldn't be there can live vicariously through the next best thing: photos! Check out these in this post from Susanna, and several posts from MoxieFab!

My project uses 4 of the current trends; Sewing, Paper Quilting Background, Butterflies, and 3-d Embellishments.

I'm a quilter on the side and I have a butterfly themed quilt hanging over my sewing desk. This year's paper crafting trends are right up my alley! While I'm not overly fond on the colours that are seen in almost every major paper and embellishment line, there is still a lot available that I like that is trendy.

This sentiment is from combined from 2 sets by Technique Tuesday; Amazing and Simply You. Isn't that tiny butterfly divine?!!! I embellished it with a tiny adhesive backed half pewter pearl from Zva - it's a perfect colour match for the Bonjour paper pad from Kaiser Craft. I stamped the sentiment using London Fog Memento ink by Tsukineko because this ink has fantastic coverage on acrylic stamps.

I cut 1" squares and adhered them to a card stock rectangle and then I trimmed off the excess paper. I sewed the paper in place using a zig zag stitch. While all my corners matched, I love the extravagant look of these white pearls from Kaiser Craft anchoring the pieces in place.

3-d embellishments are still trendy, and I've used a die to cut both butterflies and then I layered and sewed them in place. I also layered the ribbon and a mesh rosette from Trimmings ribbon by Tim Holtz with  crochet trim from Vintage Natural Lace by Kaiser Craft.

I love the depth of this butterfly and the delicate feel of the lace die cut combined with the translucent velum solid image butterflies.

There are several more trends to be showcased, so please do hop along and check out what the rest of these lovely ladies have to show you! Please use code ihp0212 when you upload to any online gallery so we can see your project and cheer your creativity.

• Carolyn
• Deb
• Gretchen
• Loretta (you are here)
• Lori
• Lynn
• Tracy
• Kate

and our guests from PCP:

• Adela Rossol
• Lisa Somerville
• Lyn Bernatovich
• Susanna Boyd
• Taylor Usry
• Wendy Price

stamps; amazing, simply you (technique tuesday from ihp)
paper; bonjour (kaiser craft from ihp), kraft (american elements), irridescent vellum (paper accents), coconut swirl, walnut creme (bazzill)
ink; london fog memento ink (tsukineko from ihp)
accessories; trimmings (tim holtz from ihp), vintage natural lace pack, snow white pearls (kaiser craft from ihp), pewter pearls (zva from ihp), lace butterfly die (marianne), labels 20 nestabilities (spellbinders from ihp), bigz beautiful butterfly die (sizzix)  

The leaves are changing colour already and we have a frost warning for tomorrow. It has been a chilly wet summer, that really hasn't felt like summer at all. Spring has been on my mind - it never left, really. It was a cold, wet spring as well. I think I'm impressed we had any foliaage this year at all!

I put the butterflies through my Xyron face down so the adhesive was on the right side. I find I need to rub the adhesive with my paper piercer just around the edges so there is no adhesive ghosting. After, I sprinkled glitter on the image as desired. I did the large butterfly first in a tidy tray. After, I used the excess glitter in the tidy tray for the smaller butterflies so there was minimal waste.

I stamped En Francais on the patterned paper and sponged around the lower edges a little. THe butterfly is heat embossed with black detail ep on light weight watercolour paper as I wanted the edges to curl a little once coloured for a more realistic effect.


Here is a close-up of the large butterfly. I like that Distress Ink colours don't change when mixed with water as it gives a very even colour gradation.


Thank you so much for stopping by today!

stamps; en francais (SU!), flutterby, butterfly (inique)
paper; lima, nutmeg, raven, brown (bazzill), renee dp (MAMBI), watercolour paper (unknown)
ink; tea dye, vintage photo, scattered straw, dried marigold (distress inks by ranger), versamark (tsukineko)
accessories; chocolate chip satin ribbon (SU!), butterfly ghost shapes (heidi swapp), nutmeg, juicy fruit glitter (art institute glitter), copper ultra fine glitter (martha stewart), men's dew drops (the robin's nest), black detail ep (ranger), xyron