Sunday, May 3, 2015

Shimmery Butterfly Thanks Card

Hi There!

I recently started following a blog called Me and Minime Crafting. Marika is a wonderful artist and I've watched a video or two of her watercoloring. Oh my! Such talent. :) Anyway, she recently posted this card and I was instantly smitten. Butterflies! Squeeeee! I really liked how she heat embossed the image in white and chose to watercolor the butterflies green. I decided to try my hand at a similar look.
Since I felt a bit more successful watercoloring with pencils, I used them again. Why mess with success, right? These butterflies are from an old CTMH butterflies set (long retired, I'm sure). I forgot to note the name of the set, and I'm too lazy to go back and look for it. Let me know if you'd like the name of the set. I stamped them in Versamark and heat embossed with white. The first butterfly I made was all green. Then I started to wonder (uh oh) what it would look like with some blue. I liked the result! I set them aside to dry. Then I added some shimmer with my Wink of Stella pen. Only you can't really tell. I set this aside and left it alone until today. Should I mention I'm working hard now not to rush myself in finishing a card? 

I sat back down today and decided to fussy cut the butterflies out. Initially I planned to plop them onto white cardstock, but I got to thinking again...I wonder what it would look like if I washed a watercolor card piece with shimmery blue watercolor? I liked the result! (whooo hoooo 2 for 2)

You can see the shimmer much better in this second photo. :)

Finally, I wanted to add a sentiment and I really like the thanks Marika used. But I don't have that die. I noticed some wayyyyyyyy old Cuttlebug dies on a shelf. I mean these were released the first year the Cuttlebug was, if I remember correctly. I remember when purging before debating whether I should donate the dies as I'd not used them much at all. But I decided to keep them. Golly! Am I happy to have hoarderish tendencies when it comes to crafty supplies. :) I cut the thanks with a shimmer cardstock from Michaels. It's a recent release stack called Sophia and is part of the Recollections brand. Adds just the right touch. And to finish off the card, I added some sequins. 

Happy sigh!

Thanks so much for stopping by. 
I hope you have a happy day.

Hugs,
Jeanne



14 comments:

Alanna said...

These are gorgeous Jeanne. I love the butterflies with the water coloring. Before I finished reading the lost I was thinking how cool that thanks die looked. What a fun story and I'm glad you kept it.

Laurel said...

So soft and pretty!

Anonymous said...

As always Jeanne, I love your Thanks Card. What a beautiful blue and of course I am a butterfly lover too. You do great work and thank you so much for sharing. Love and Hugs, Tamara

Kay Miller said...

Wowza! You did a beautiful job on this! I think you may have found your niche with the watercoloring! You are really good at this! The butterflies are gorgeous and I love how you used the blue and green on them and your watercolored background is amazing! Really pretty card! Glad you had fun and didn't rush! heheh! ((Hugs))

Pop's Cards said...

Super Stunning creation as always huggles Pops x

cm said...

Jeanne, your 'got to thinking' butterfly card is absolutely splendid! Love the butterflies, the background and, of course, you're 'nearly purged but saved' thanks! Pure delight in every way! I'm sitting here with a smile allll over my face in seeing this gem!
Hugs~c

Gloria said...

I absolutely LOVE these!! I have so many people in my life that love butterflies, and never saw any card I really liked.. I will definitely be stealing this one!!

gloria in Utah :)

Sharli Schaitberger said...

Squeeze is right! These are adorable! Beautiful, soft, shimmery, lovely, delightful . . . .
I think watercoloring is addictive.
Your cards make me want to run to the studio!
Hugs!!

Kelly Latevola said...

I'm so happy you went and "met" Marika. she is amazing as are you! I'm so glad you're stepping out of your comfort zone and getting awesome results!! Beautiful butterflies Jeanne!!

Darnell said...

I love how your confidence is growing, Jeanne, and how you're learning to slow it down! You have every right to be happy sighing over this sensational card! I love Marika, too, and I think she would be very proud of how gorgeous your butterflies and washed background turned out.

And how about that old die, eh? Good for you for listening to that inner voice to hang on to it! It might be an old die but the font on it is still relevant. I love the swoop of that "a!" Enjoy your day! Hugs, Darnell

Barb said...

Absolute perfection, Jeanne! I am so happy that you've found a way to watercolor that pleases you. Your butterflies are gorgeous and your card is beautiful. So very pretty!

Hugs,
Barb:)

Marika said...

Jeanne, thank you for your incredibly kind words! I can't describe the feeling what I get when somebody is inspired by my work and makes such a beautiful card from that inspiration. It means that I am not keeping this blog of mine in vain. I also loved the look with white heat embossing with watercolour. Watercoloring with pencils really gives more control over your work. Love your background as well, it is perfect for this card. Thank you for sharing your story too how this card came together. Loved reading it.

Faye Wynn-Jones said...

Oh my gosh, Jeanne that is just gorgeous! x

Lori said...

Such a lovely card - so soft and pretty!