What
didn't I do to this card? Dry embossing, direct-to-paper, distressing, heat embossing, paper piercing...you name it, I probably did it.
I made this for my sister. Her birthday is this month and I wanted to go all out for her. It seems my cards are getting a bit more artsy these days, doesn't it? Or is it just me?
Every inch of this card has been touched by ink. Please forgive me because I refer to this a lot in my post.
For the main black base I direct-to-papered (from now on known as DTP'd) using Basic Black ink. It sounds odd to want to cover black cs with black ink, but it does add a nice touch.
I DTP'd the Real Red cs with Real Red ink and then DTP'd along the edges with Basic Black ink, going around in a swirly motion. Then I ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Traffic Jam folder. I had actually planned to have the un-cuttlebugged area under the ribbon on the bottom of the card. But I accidentally glued it on wrong and didn't realize it until it was too late. Honestly, I like it better on the side, so that was a happy accident!
I distressed the black base and the red piece and also distressed the smaller circles and the bigger mustard circle. Really enjoying the distressed look.
To distress, I ran my open scissors blade across the edges, perpendicular to the edges, in the same way I would if I was sanding them. It's very simple and yields a nifty result. I inked the edges after distressing them to hide the plain cs I had exposed.
Close-up of distressing:
Lots of paper piercing. I used my Making Memories piercer mentioned in
this post to do the holes. I used the spongy pad from my mat pack underneath. That piercer is great except that it loosens after awhile (the tip is reversible, so it comes out). So I had my hubby glue the stylus part (I don't need or use it) into the handle with
super glue (found in some hobby stores). So far it's staying put, and I used it a LOT on this card.
I paper-pierced around the edges and around the Nestabilities scalloped piece. Also went around the circles. I did the back of the card as well to keep the theme going on the inside.
I stamped the "Happy Birthday" stamp from SU Birthday Greetings and a bit of a butterfly from SU Wonderful Wings on the main circle which was white cs using Basic Black ink; then I cut it out with the Nestabilities circle die. I DTP'd the circle with More Mustard and Summer Sun and sponged a bit of Only Orange on it here and there. I DTP'd the edge with Basic Black.
I only stamped part of the butterfly to get the antennae in place for my popped up butterfly later on.
For the smaller circles I used 2 circle punches: a 1" and a 1.25". Before punching the red one out I stamped the word "Sis" in Basic Black. The alphas are from the
small Girls are Weird set from Purple Onion Designs. I DTP'd the red cs with Real Red ink. I should've stamped
after the DTPing because of the smear factor. Then I punched it out. I DTP'd the black cs with Basic Black ink before punching. Then I distressed the circles with my scissors and DTP'd the edges with their matching inks. Then I paper pierced the edges...because I must. It's a disease.
For the butterfly I...you guessed it...DTP'd some white cs with Taken with Teal ink. Then I let it dry and did the same with More Mustard, but only a little bit, just to warm it up. Then I stamped the butterfly from SU Wonderful Wings in Brilliance Graphite Black ink over it and heat embossed it using detail black embossing powder. Then I cut it out and adhered it with Dimensionals to the main circle. I like the way it floats. I used Sticky Doos to pop out the big circle/scallop part from the red background piece.
The black mini brads were a last minute decision, but I really like what they add to the overall look. The ribbons are black organdy, black plaid and the teal ribbon was actually some cream grosgrain I saturated with Taken with Teal ink so it would match the butterfly and add an extra touch of that color to the scene. I used the TWT re-inker to really saturate the ribbon. Then I blotted it as best I could and let it dry before adding it. Someday I plan to get white grosgrain ribbon so I can stain it any color I want to match my cs.
For the inside I took 2 pieces of Real Red cs and DTP'd with Real Red ink and did the same thing around the edges with the Basic Black as I did on the front, only a bit more. Then I adhered them with Sticky Doos. Lots of paper piercing around them on the black. Between the paper piercing and the distressing the cardstock was just about like cloth!
Phew! This card was a job to make and a job to describe! I hope I didn't forget anything! Hope you enjoy it.
Stamps: SU Wonderful Wings, SU Birthday Greetings, Purple Onion Designs small "Girls are Weird" alphas
CS: Black, Real Red, White
Inks: Real Red, Basic Black, Taken with Teal, More Mustard, Summer Sun, Only Orange, Brilliance Graphite Black
Other: Cuttlebug Traffic Jam embossing folder, Nestabilities scallop and plain circle dies, 1" and 1.25" circle punches, 1/16" hole punch (for mini brads), Making Memories piercing tool, Sponge mat from Mat Pack, Sticky Doos, Dimensionals, Black mini brads, Black organdy ribbon, Black plaid ribbon, Cream grosgrain ribbon, Taken with Teal re-inker, Scissors for distressing, Sponge for Only Orange ink, Detail Black EP
