Dragonfly Dreams

Hello, if you've been following my blog we've made it as far as card number five of the book box set. This time I revisited a card using Dragonfly Dreams that I'd made at Coffee and Cards with Susan at Craftyduckydoodah.

These are the cards made with Susan. I loved the colours used, however, this time I needed to use a particular colour palette for my project.

Once again my colour palette was based on the Delightful Daisy DSP, using Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Whisper White.

Calypso Coral

Old Olive

Daffodil Delight

Whisper White

I used Gorgeous Grunge to stamp the Whisper White base card using Old Olive and Calypso Coral. The stamped lines replaced the washi tape on the original card. Then I added a Stitched Shape square with a border in Calypso Coral.

The dragonfly was stamped and coloured with Watercolour pencils; I used the blender pen so that I didn't end up with any blocks of colour or harsh lines. I then fussy cut the image out. There is a slightly smaller dragonfly die you can use if you really don't like fussy cutting! The dragonfly wings were gently shaped so that it didn't lie flat against the card.I arranged the leaves - not Stampin' Up this time - and added Silver Metallic Thread that had been looped around my fingers first.

Typical me, managed to get a tiny ink mark on the inside of the card so to cover it up I decorated the left hand side for a change. In crafting there are no mistakes. I like to think of them as happy accidents.

I like to add a little image on the inside of the card and also on the envelope for a cohesive look. I don't know about you, but I always open cards with a decorated envelope before plain cards. They are just that little bit extra special.

My sentiment was stamped directly onto the base card. As I don't feel confident at stampin straight I try to use my stamping precision press. I'm really not as bad as I think I am but it really does take the worry away.

Coffee and Cards - Dragonfly Dreams

A while ago I managed to get to my favourite card group for a chat, coffee, cake, oh and to create a couple of cards in the process. I find the whole event quite relaxing as I don't have to think about the design; that isn't to say I follow slavishly. I don't, sometimes developing my own take and not completing them until I get home. The smaller of the cards showcased here is a point in case. We used the gorgeous Dragonfly Dreams for both cards.

For the first card we stamped and coloured 2 of the bees before fussy cutting them out. Those that are eagle eyed will have noticed that there is a bee die to correspond with the stamp, however, it doesn't just cut around the edge which we wanted for this design.

Now although I loved the little bees, I decided that I wanted transparent wings. I chose not to attach them to the card until I had adapted them. Once home, I stamped the bees onto vellum.. I fussy cut them out and used Wink of Stella on the wings for a touch of shimmer. I then cut the wings off the originals before mounting onto the vellum for a slightly more delicate effect. You can see the difference it makes here.

I also chose to mount my embossed card at a 45° angle for interest as well. In fact even my sentiment was positioned in a different place! Good job I didn't completely alter the second card...

For the second card we created a similar design but stepped up. This time we used the dragonfly, coloured with the water colour pencils and blending pen. I'm not sure why I don't use the pencils that often; they blend beautifully as you can see in the picture below. Again I used a Wink Of Stella on the wings, sorry it doesn't show up too well in the photo.

You may have noticed I used Washi Tape; it certainly gave Susan a bit of a surprise. I even tore it too. I actually liked the effect on this card even though I'm not known for my love washi tape or grungy effects. My only concession was that I chose to use the same design above and below the narrow tape rather than three different ones.

The finished cards

To Bee or Not to Bee...

Hello again, recently I won the gorgeous Dragonfly Dreams stamp set in a prize draw I’d been entered into. I feel so lucky, I’d been eying up this set as soon as I saw it as my daughter, Abby, loves bees!

I had also seen a quick and simple paper fold on Pinterest by Stamp and Scrap with Frenchie so thanks to Frenchie for sharing. Click on the name to go to her tutorial. Her card was quite feminine but I thought by using the Urban Underground DSP it would make a more universal card. In fact, my second card is very definitely male oriented! Check out my next blog post to see how by using a different DSP and embellishments you can alter the same design to look either ultra feminine or masculine.

Basic Gray

Delightful Dijon

Very Vanilla

I love the detail on the bee. This was created by using a two part stamp. First I stamped the yellow base after stamping off on a piece of scrap paper. Then I stamped over the top with the second stamp, using black. Once I’d found my clear Wink of Stella, I added some shimmer to the wings – sadly not shown in these photos.

Isn't the beehive cute? It's from the Shooting Star bundle