Butterfly Trails

Morning, I am sure you all know by now how much I love the 3D embossing folders from Crafters Companion. They were on Hochanda on Wednesday, so if you missed the shows they will be found via Rewind, on their website. They are so detailed that I really like to keep things as simple as possible to show the amazing depth and detail. They make a very special card or project with very little added, I think they make a real statement. For this project I have used the Butterfly Trellis 3D Embossing Folder.

To help position the hole I wanted, I first embossed the design onto scrap card. The circle was cut out using a die. I then used this to position the hole in my plain card.

Once the hole had been made, I ran it through to emboss the design. Next the whole piece was painted with Antiquing Cream from Deco Art and left to dry.

I wanted to layer my design onto black and teal Centura Pearl while still allowing the base card to show through, so larger circles were cut out of both of the layering cards.

Using Pebeo Dyna paint (Iridescent Copper) I highlighted the  detail so it looked like verdigris copper. I did the same with lilies cut from Sara's Signature Collection.

I arranged and secured the pieces together, then mounted it onto a card base made from Centura Pearl Precious Golds to match. Finally adding the butterfly layered onto a verdigris base, here I use the butterflies from the 'Take Flight' Die set, allowing the precious gold to show through.

Here is the completed card. I hope you like what I have done and the step by step I have shared today. Please join me again soon. For now Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Greene Man

Morning, This is the first project I started when I first got Leonie's new collection. As soon as I saw the 'Bark Texture', 'Looking Good' and floral die sets I knew I wanted to make a mixed media Greene Man. I do hope you saw some of the shows, if not they still are available for a little while longer via the Hochanda website.

I started my project by taking two A4 boards. I placed a ribbon hanger in the centre before securing them together using Cosmic Shimmer glue. This way the hanger join is completely hidden within the piece.

I then cut out the 'Looking Good' die four times. I wanted this to really stand out so glued them together to give a thinker look. Before securing together with Cosmic Shimmer glue I embossed them all with the Textures folder 'Bark' from Crafters Companion.

I then embossed some additional card with the 'Bark' & 'Leaf Vein' Texture Embossing folders. I set this aside for later.

Next I cut out the smaller leaf from the 'Flower Bursts' die set in acetate.

I cut out a large selection of the leaves from greyboard using the 'Flower Bursts' die set. I embossed all of the smaller leaves with the Leaf Vein embossing folder.

Then I cut out 16 of the 'Bark Texture' dies and stuck them together in fours. I did the same with the 'Looking Good' die cuts.

For extra support I stamped and cut out the large Maple and Oak leaves from the Bee Crafty Leaf Collection, using the card I had embossed earlier.

Using the acetate I had cut earlier, I added texture paste through it onto my board. I coloured it here so you could see it clearer.

I moulded some Mod Rock over a basin to create a face shape that I could build on, the size I required for the head.

I secured the facial features in place using 3D glue gel and arranged and stuck the Bee Crafty leaves around the face using Cosmic Shimmer glue.

Next using all of the leaves from Leonie's new collection, I built up my design, shaping the leaves as I went and securing them with Cosmic Shimmer Glue.

Going back to the board, I added the 'Bark Texture' die cuts and painted with black gesso.

Next, I did the same with the Greene Man.

Using Pebeo Dyna paints, I coloured the background, here I used Gold and Copper. I added the green colour using 'Emerald City' from Indigo Blu.

Next I started building up the colour on the face, first I used Silver Gilding Wax from Pebeo.

When the background was dry I dry brushed with black gesso to highlight areas, distress the edges and bring out the colour even more by adding contrast.

Then I continued building up the colour in the face, first using Empire & Renaissance gold gilding wax. After this I also painted some of the leaves with the Dyna Copper and Gold paint.

Out of Mod Rock, I created a nest for the head to sit into, secured it to my board using 3D glue gel and stuck the head in place using the same.

Here is the finished piece, I hope you like what I have made and the step by step that takes you though how I created it. 

Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope that you will come back very soon to see what else I have to share. Take care xx