Saturday 12 September 2020

Caterpillar to Butterfly



Hello and Welcome
Meet today's card.
It was inspired by the times we are going through now, with all the changes and restrictions in our lives during this pandemic.  
So many of us have had to 'transform' our lives and I feel these times have changed the way we live forever.  I think I have a new appreciation for the little things in life, things that were often taken for granted.  I will hug even more then I did before when hugging is possible again.  
I hope that these times have brought some positive new outlooks for you as well.  I don't think it can be all bad and hope is what we will find at the end of the tunnel.  
For me, creating has been a great source of positivity and a way to stay connected with friends and online during Covid.  Thanks so much for always encouraging me on!

So onto my card details.
  • I began with a piece of heavy white cardstock and covered it with a layer of Gesso.  I describe it as 'buttering your toast' using a pallet knife.  I like to use the Gesso as it creates a resist when adding the inks.
  • After the Gesso dried which took no time at all with the thin layer, I rubbed on Distress inks using an inking tool.  (DOX inks- Blueprint Sketch, Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, Wilted Violet)  I splattered heavily with water drops to lift the colour and add interest.
  • Next, I laid the Butterfly stencil from Visible Image to one side of my card panel and rubbed over it using some Versafine Clair black ink.  *that ink takes a few minutes to dry so be careful not to smudge it
  • Using a white Posca paint pen, I traced around the butterfly to help highlight it.
  • Leaving the mask in place, I stamped the sentiment inside of the butterfly stencil with some Veramark and then white heat embossed it.
  • After I heat set it, I placed the mask back again and splattered with more white Posca pen.
  • I stamped the sentiment from Penny Black (a really old one) and clear heat embossed it.
  • I mounted the panel onto some white card, then onto a piece of black, then onto a heavy white card base.



Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies
Stamps- ...the butterfly (PB); Wings of Change (Visible Image)
Inks- Versafine Clair, Versamark; Distress inks
Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook)
Accessories and Tools- Butterfly mask (Visible Image); white Posca pen; white and clear eb powder;
Gesso; inking tool

7 comments:

Pat said...

This looks wonderful Karen and love the background colours over the gesso, and the black partially stencilled butterfly is so dramatic in black with the white heat embossed words and a great idea to use a white pen to draw around it which really makes it pop, and some lovely added words too. x

Christine Alexander said...

wonderful effect with the gesso, and love the blue to purple tones so beautiful against the black butterfly wings :)

nancy littrell said...

Love your choice of colors over your Gesso covered cardstock. A wonderful beginning for your stamped and heat embossed butterfly and sentiment, Karen. All your water splatters along the way added wonderful depth and interest. The perfect stamped sentiment for your last step. I so appreciate your step by step details, my friend.

I agree...so many things..big and little that we took for granted we now cherish or will cherish when our lives start edging back to normal..possibly another year+...who knows, but we sure have become more flexible and use the word and thought.."Maybe" more often!

Take care, Stay safe and Be Happy...TFS your art talents with us, my dear friend. Love and Hugs...Nancy

Gery said...

Hello Karen,
You are so right about the things we all thought as normal.
Nowadays nothing is normal and even going to do some shopping isn’t normal anymore.
In 2018 my husband had a cardiac arrest for almost 7 minutes and was in a coma for 7 weeks.
Happily he survived and has completely recovered, so we are ver, very careful now to stay healthy.
As you said, we enjoy the little things, but it hurts not seeing our children and grandchildren as much as we used to.
We stay as much as possible home.
I hope we all stay healthy and that is what I hope for you too.
Your artwork still is beautiful as ever and I enjoy reading how you made it.
You are inspiring to look at.
Stay safe and keep on creating.
Love Gery

Verna Angerhofer said...

Great card design and l too miss hugs.

I Card Everyone said...

Karen your card is so wonderful ... and that sentiment? Might be old, but will always be true!
Can't wait until we're able to hug again...
=]

Mac Mable said...

Beautiful card and sentiment and I enjoyed reading your post Karen x. Yet Nothing will ever be the same but lets hope some things are for the better x. I am a hugger and will definitely hug even more....x.