Butterfly Medallion in Greens and Golds

I wanted to thank my old school pal for ordering some cards from me recently, so I made her one of my favorite types of card...a medallion image!  I know many of you must think I'm nuts for these being one of my favs, but I love a challenge.  I love to stamp and emboss the images ahead of time on several different colors of cardstock, so when I have time to play I can pick and choose from what I already have stamped.  I then get out my glue pen and Magic Scraps Glitter, and have a ball! 

This card is made with the Butterfly Medallion stamp called Dancing Wings from Holly Berry House Stamps.  It was stamped on several different colors of green cardstock and heat embossed with an unknown light green embossing powder.  The bottom layer was cut out about 1/4" from the embossed edges.  The rest of the layers are cut as close as possible to the embossing without cutting into it.  If you get too close, the embossing will peel off easily from the cardstock.  Don't ask me how I know this! lol 

Next, the Magic Scraps glitter was applied with a Zig glue pen.  I know it may be easier to do with Stickles, but I have an extensive collection of glitter colors that will probably take me forever to use.  The layering is done with the help of foam adhesives.  This is one of the simplier medallions, so there are only four layers on this particular one.  The last layer is stamped on vellum for some more added interest.  Wire was used for the antennae.

The size of this image led to my using an oval mat that I cut with a Fiskars oval cutter to help it stand out better.  The green cardstock in the background has a gorgeous shimmery shine to it.  This was another ebay score.  The gold is made by DeNami and the rick rak is from some of my mom's sewing stash.  The background paper is from my stash as is the green rhinestones.  Instead of adding another layer to the card, a gold paint pen was added to the edges of the DP.  I believe the ribbon is by May Arts and the butterfly charm is from my stash. 

I got another order from Debi, so I need to finish off my cards for OWH so I can start to work on hers.  I have some new stamps and techniques to try out, so I need to get back to work!

~~~Lee~~~ 

I'm Alive & Kicking!

Yes, I am alive!

I recently reconnected with a school friend on facebook, and she ordered a bunch of cards from me.  I'm so happy to be able to get to know so many of my old friends this way especially since I live over 1,000 miles away from my hometown.  Both of my parents are gone, and all of my sibling except one live in different states, so facebook is an ideal way for me to keep up with friends from my hometown that are still there or around the world.

Back to the cards.  This one uses a stamp that I've had forever.  It's a House Mouse stamp that I can't remember the name.  I just love this stamp!  There's no question what kind of card this is! lol  I colored this with pencils and added some white flocking to the cotton and Glossy Accents to the ice.  The letters, DP and trim are all from the Clove Scrap Pad by Marcella by K.  This pad has some great masculine papers in it, so I've been hoarding it for a while. 

All of the edges were distressed with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, and the edges around the image were distressed first with a Holtz Distress Tool and finished with the Distress Ink.  The base card is a from set of kraft ones that I've also been hoarding.  Now, if I could just start using more of my scraps, I'd have it made!

Operation Write Home will be having another blog hop on March 5th that I will be taking part in again.  I will be offering some BLOG CANDY as well, so make sure you stop by my blog then for more details.  If you would like to donate your extra handmade cards (no glitter allowed) to our soldiers so they have something nice to send home to their families, just click on the OWH link at the top for more information.  The last hop we had over 150 blogs involved, so there will be lots of candy, tutorials, challenges and lots of fun throughout the whole weekend.  Don't forget to mark your calendars now for this awesome event! 

~~~Lee~~~