in-flight entertainment

Tiny, huge, plain, intricate?.... it doesn't really matter when we are talking about butterflies. They are such a versatile shape and on many occasions provide the perfect finishing touch to lots of papercraft projects.

Today, I am proud to introduce a new die/embossing folder combo from that creative bottomless pit that is Mr Tim Holtz. I am sure that this will become a huge favourite for many of you as it is for me. I had the privilege to work with this die last December in preparation for our impending trade shows and the resulting projects drew quite a crowd. I have had to wait until now to finally use it again, Hurrah!!!

The sizzix products I'm going to be using today are:

• Sizzix Bigz Die w/Texture Fades - Layered Butterfly by Tim Holtz (659578)
• Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die - Confetti by Tim Holtz (659574)
• Sizzix Bigz XL Alphabet Die - Block Talk Lowercase (659442)

I also used some of my favourite Distress Inks namely Mustard Seed, Wild Honey and Walnut Stain (if I added Crushed Olive, another favourite of mine, they would make a great salad dressing!)

I started with an A6 sized Base card made from stiff ivory card stock and applied the inks with a foam applicator starting from the top down from the light colour (Mustard Seed) to the dark (Walnut Stain). I stood the card up and gently spritzed the top of the card with water allowing it to run down before drying with my heat tool.

I die-cut a strip of paper (thin copier paper is fine) just long enough for my card using the confetti die, this is another die which will prove a useful tool whether as a stencil or for the tiny circles which are so useful. Here I'm using it as a stencil through which to create the pattern using my inks.

I die-cut the butterfly from the same ivory card that I used before and placed the butterfly into the Texture Fades embossing folder which accompanies the Bigz die. As you can see from the image on the right, the detail is superb, but the magic really starts to happen when I start to apply the inks....

 I started with the Mustard Seed (yellow) ink before inking the centre using good ol' Walnut Stain (dark brown). Next, I applied Wild Honey (orange) blending from the tips of the wings inward before adding a little depth around the edges with the Walnut Stain again. If you loved the Block Talk alphabet die then you will love the lowercase version which is a perfect companion. I love the fact that it's a Bigz die which means Heavy weight materials like mount board, leather, textiles, balsa wood etc. can be cut with no fuss or bother whatsoever. I used the die to cut the word 'hello' from mount board covered with a sheet of the ivory card...easy-peasy!

 And here is the finished card, I gently curled the butterflies wings to add a little dimension and sprayed it with a dusting of silver Spray and Sparkle from Crafter's Companion which gives it a light gloss. I always feel that butterflies should be breaking free of a card/layout, they should give the impression that they have just stopped by for a fleeting moment and will be off the minute your back is turned.... or is it just me?

Before I forget, Check out the Prima Blog this week where I am featured with a couple of cards to celebrate the launch of the new range of Sizzix dies designed in conjunction with Prima Marketing Inc. Here is a sneak preview below.