A Fond Farewell

Recently I held a Technique Class to show how to make the gorgeous pansies that are everywhere on the internet at the moment.  We made 3 cards during the class and a 6 x6″ scrapbook page, but I also gave the instructions and materials  to make a Holder for the cards and matching envelopes.  Most of  the cardstock we used for this class  will be retiring at the end of the month.

This is the front of the Holder.  I experimented before the class with several different ways of colouring my pansies and was happiest with the result when I used my Stampin’ Write Markers.  So how do you make the pansies?  Well you punch two butterflies from Whisper White card using the Butterfly Punch.  You take two makers (in the case of the Holder I used Barely Banana and Summer Sun) and using the lightest first you colour from the centre of the butterfly out towards the edge of the wings and then you take the darker marker and colour just on the edges of the wings.  The next thing you have to do is spritz the butterflies with water and then you scrunch the butterflies up into the smallest ball you can, and then very carefully open them up.  You do have to be very careful at this stage as you can quite easily tear the butterfly in half (speaking from experience here).   You do not flatten the butterflies but leave them slightly scrunched and let them dry.  I use my heat gun to hurry this up a bit.  Once the butterflies are dry you punch a hole in the centre of each butterfly and attach them together with a brad.   Very simple but very effective.  I love the way each one turns out quite different to the last.

While my butterflies were drying I stamped the right hand side of the holder using my En Francaise background stamp and ink to match the cardstock (in this case Barely Banana) and sponged the edges using the same ink.  I rolled a piece of Whisper White card using my Very Vintage Wheel and Always Artichoke ink.  I sponged the edges with the same ink and attached it to the left hand side of the Holder cover.   Before attaching the pansy to the front right hand side, I ran some Always Artichoke card through the Big Shot using the Little Leaves Sizzlet twice.  I attached the leaves and then added the pansy over the top using Mini Glue Dots.

This shows the inside of the Holder.  The two pockets have panels which have also been rolled with the Very Vintage Wheel and Always Artichoke ink for decoration.  One pocket holds the cards and one holds the envelopes.  I rolled the envelopes using the Very Vintage Wheel and green ink to match the one used for each card.

The colour combinations for the cards were taken from the Colour Coach.  I have used Barely Banana/Summer Sun/Always Artichoke, Apricot Appeal/Pumpkin Pie/Mellow Moss, Cameo Coral/Ruby Red/Old Olive and Pale Plum/Perfect Plum/Mellow Moss.   I absolutely love the way this set has turned out and I will be donating it as a raffle prize at the next  monthly meeting for a group to which my husband belongs.

The only colours out of all of these that will be in the new catalogue are Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie and Perfect Plum, the others will be retired as part of the new colour renovation.  I will be sad to see these colours go, particularly Mellow Moss, but I am sure that it will not be long before I am absolutely in love with all the fabulous new core colours that are coming.

Hope you like this little Holder.  I am particularly proud of it because I designed it myself. 

Bye for now, Kris.