Butterfly Tag Tutorial

I have a fascination with all kinds of techniques and I think that's why I like making cards and scrapbook pages so much!  I saw the May 2012 issue of CardMaker on the newsstand long before I ever got my subscription issue and I just couldn't wait to get my hands on it.  The front cover has a beautiful Tim Holtz distressed butterfly tag on it.  Fortunately for me, there were directions inside on how to make it!  Now, I have to tell you that I never follow directions!  So here's my version using some of my materials on hand.

1)  Cut out manilla tags from recycled file folder.  5" high and 3" wide.  I used "A Child's Year" Cricut Cartridge - tag feature.

2)  Grab some white acrylic paint and a paint dauber.  (I bought these foam pouncers in the acrylic paint section of Michael's.)

3)  Next select a large background stamp.  Since I didn't have one, I used these Inkadinkado Floral Damask stamps and covered a large block with them.

4)  Apply acrylic paint by using a light coat of paint so keep your dauber fairly dry and evenly coated.

5)  Stamp onto tag.  Do not press too hard and be sure to remove very carefully.

6)  I bought some Ink Potion #9 to help blend my inks.  I inked the fantastix with the ink pad and then swirled it into the Ink Potion # 9 on my plastic lid.  (A craft mat would be ideal!)  Also if you don't have any Ink Potion # 9 - the magazine article said to simply apply the inks with a blending tool and then take a damp paper towel and wipe across it to blend your inks.

7)  Apply the ink with light strokes to the tag in desired areas.  For this tag I used orange in the upper left and lower right and teal in the upper right and Antique Linen in the lower left.  Then I used the SU! celery to blend in areas since it is the lightest color. 

8)  I then inked the edges with the Antique Linen Distress Ink.

9)  I used Black Archival ink to stamp a butterfly (Recollections by Michaels) image.  I think Staz-On or Adirondack ink would have been better.

10)  Then for just a little more dazzle - I added some Versamark Dazzle in Champagne all over the top of the tag.  The embossing ink seemed to bring out more of the original painted stamped images.

11) Added a circle reinforcement sticker I've had forever in my stash.  Love to use my oldest supplies on a project!  And stamped a little $1 g-Studios image on the bottom of the tag.  Then I created a sentiment tag to add on top.

12)  Cut a small rectangle from brown cardstock with a height to fit my sentiment and the width at 3" like the tag.  Added a bit of the acrylic paint to the stamp and stamped it in place.  Goofed up a bit and had to remove a little paint from the inside of my "a's" with my paper piercer.  Then took a brown marker to cover up my goof - worked great!

13)  Got my Cuttlebug out and a small embossing border and embossed the sides of my cardstock tag.  Had to turn the embossing folder upside down to do the other side.

14)  Inserted a couple of brads, added a scrap piece of manilla folder to the back to secure the brads and added some pop dots to adhere it to the tag.

And once again, here's my completed tag!  I think I'll follow Tim's lead and attach it to a card and give it to my Mother-In-Law for Mother's Day!   Hope you enjoyed my tutorial!  Have a blessed day!

ClubCK Weekly Card Challenge April 15 - 21, 2012

Every week I look forward to the Card Challenge that is posted on the ClubCK website.  We have such a wonderful and creative group of ladies and we take turns posting challenges.  This week, our hostess was Patti and she presented us with some beautiful cards she had made that move.  And her challenge to us was to make a card that had movement.  Well, I decided to make a card with a kite that would fly.  I used the Cricut Craft Room to cut out the die-cuts.  The Kite and the white cloud are found on the Nate's ABC's cartridge.  I used the Christmas Cheer Cartridge to cut out the banner from the cloud paper.  Then after cutting out the die-cuts and assembling them.  I put a small brad through the center of the kite.  Then through the negative image of the banner from the front of the cloud paper.  On the back side of the cloud paper, I attached the brad to a circle of cardstock.  This allows the kite to move back and forth through the banner cut-out.  Adding a piece of twine allows you to "fly" the kite.  Definitely an interesting challenge.  I had never done anything like that before!  The patterned paper is from the Summertime Collection by Echo Park Paper.  Below is a short video showing how the kite moves.  I have never made a video before so this was a challenge too!  If you are not familiar with ClubCk, then I would encourage you to check it out at www.clubcreatingkeepsakes.com.  Have a blessed day!