Simple Swallowtail Cards

Easter really threw a spanner in the works and meant that I haven't blogged for over a month! Wow! Doesn't feel that long. . .

A lot of my customers and team have purchased the Swallowtail stamp from the Making a Difference Seasonal Mini so I wanted to share some ideas with you today using a variety of materials so that you can feel confident using the big stamp as a feature or background on any paper crafting project.

First card is using the image as a background feature.  Very simple Sahara Sand ink on Sahara Sand card stock because it is such a lovely subtle colour.

I have used a piece of Tea for Two DSP along the right hand side ~ I love this vintage style paper. And to marry in the colours - a piece of Primrose Petals Stitched Satin Ribbon and three Flower Trim flowers individually cut and coloured (by pressing the flower onto a Primrose Petal ink pad).  The leaves are punched from the Bird Builder Punch in Old Olive card stock.

On the next card I heat embossed the Swallowtail image on Whisper White card stock using white embossing powder.  I then shaded around the image in Wisteria Wonder using a dauber.

The other butterflies on the card and the sentiment are stamped in Elegant Eggplant and I punched the top one with the Elegant Butterfly punch and adhered it with a glue dot to give dimension.

I love colouring so the next card was really appealing to me.  I also love to stamp directly onto designer series papers for a different effect.  This card is very simple.  I heat embossed the Swallowtail image on a piece of First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper.  The DSP is mounted on a Pumpkin Pie card base.

To add the vibrant colour I coloured with Stampin' Up!'s Watercolour Crayons using Real Red, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight.  I blended the colours with an Aqua Painter.

Fourth card was an attempt to bring together the gorgeous images on two different sheets of Tea for Two Designer Series Papers, some texture and a button! The card base is Sahara Sand (becoming a go to colour for me lately). I stamped the image in Sahara Sand as well for subtlety. It is mounted on So Saffron card stock and Bashful Blue is the card base.

I then fussy cut the hexagon shapes and circular shapes from the DSP and stuck them at varying heights on the card. The linen thread adds a bit of tactile appeal and the button is from the Seasonal Making a Difference Mini - I love how these silver buttons are so flat ~ they almost feel like a well worn coin.

The final card is meant to look a bit like an exhibit card from a museum. . . or that was the effect I was going for. . .

Very simple - Basic Black card stock for the base, lined with Whisper White inside for ease of writing.  The Swallowtail image is heat embossed with Black Embossing Powder on Vellum Card Stock.

On the reverse side of the vellum embossed image I have coloured in using Stampin' Write Markers in Marina Mist and Pacific Point.  I used the darker blue where I wanted the darker detail to be.  I then stuck the vellum to a piece of Whisper White card stock in the exact same size using snail adhesive on the coloured in areas so that it wouldn't show.

Final steps - mounted the stamped and coloured image on Pacific Point card stock as the mount and stuck it on the Basic Black base card.  Simple but dramatic!

Hope that you have some fun with your Swallowtail stamp too.
Shanni xx