Handicrafts by Kate Perry and other ramblings

Thursday, March 16, 2017

A mint green butterfly challenge

Despite my good intentions, I did not manage to enter the last Butterfly Challenge. But when I saw the new challenge I was determined to have a go. The challenge is to use a butterfly combined with E for edges, and/or the colour mint green. Well mint green is a colour I use a lot both in my clothing and in my craft, so I was happy use that.

I am currently trying to make a few items for a charity stall at a coffee morning at the end of the month, and a couple of weeks ago I saw a project on Dreaming Tree that I wanted to try. So I purchased the cutting file which was for a paper sculpture designed to fit in a 12" square shadow box frame. We cannot buy these in my area of Spain, so my sister bought four frames and posted them to me, but I chose to work with 8" frames instead. So I resized the files and cut them out using my Silhouette Cameo machine. I chose mint green card for the background and had made the first one ready to be framed when the parcel arrived. (Sorry it is hard to get a photo of something behind glass, so there is some reflection distortion on the left side).
The first layer of white is cut twice and the two parts are glued together for added strength, and mounted onto the background with foam tape. Then the decoupage layer is cut and shaped, and mounted onto the base. I added a few iridescent and pale green gems to add some sparkle. As you can see from the picture, I downsized the file a touch too much because I did it before the frames arrived. I would have preferred it if the white outer edge had met the frame with no green showing, but I intend to make this again with probably a pink background so I will do better next time!

Then I resized the files again to fit on a 6" square card. This time I only cut the lower layer once and glued it directly onto a mint base card. I added the decoupage layers and some gems as in the picture, but using pearls instead of gems on the butterflies. Then I used a Joanna Sheen signature die to cut "Happy birthday" from a snippet of the card and covered it with glossy accents to make it pop a little more. I glued it where  the background was flat. The picture is protected by the glass, but I put a little silicone glue under the butterflies' wings on the card to save it losing all its dimension in the post. So here is the card.
I was pleased with how well this smaller file cut from card. I think the new Premium blades for the cameo are a big improvement. here is a little picture of the two items together so you can see there really is quite a difference in their size.

So now I will link this up with Butterfly Challenge#74: Mint green (I can't really call a wooden frame an edge so I will just go with the colour this time),

10 comments:

Mrs A. said...

I have no concept on how these machines work but wow this does look fabulous. I love the shadow box effect and also how the cutting transfers to being on a card front too. Makes a lovely gift . Thank you for fluttering into the butterfly garden . Hugs Mrs A.

Diane said...

Beautifully created so elegant and pretty! Thank you for joining our challenge at Double D!
Diane DD DT {Nellies Nest}

Jean said...

These are really pretty Kate, I love the intricate butterflies and the mint green background.
Clever you to be able to resize the file to make the card as well.
Jean x

Barb said...

These are both very beautiful Kate. I do wish I could understand all the clever techI things. Barbxx

Liz said...

Two gorgeous creations, Kate, so beautiful in mint green and white.
Visiting your blog today with my Butterfly Challenge Guest Designer's hat on. Good luck in the challenge. xx

kiwimeskreations said...

Wow - these are amazing Kate - as is your ability with the computer and like objects :-)
Blessings
Maxine

Leslie Miller said...

Oh, my goodness, this is so very pretty! Beautiful in the frame and such a lovely birthday card. The mint green is very refreshing. I absolutely love the color. Thanks so much for sharing in our Double D challenge!

Kathy Krug said...

Such a beautiful project. Thanks for sharing it with us at double D Challenge Blog.
Kathy
DD DT

Unknown said...

Very pretty Kate, love the very clean colour scheme

scrappymo! said...

These are gorgeous. I would think that this frames picture will sell well at your group's craft stall days.

Love the cut file and the way you combined them. I am always in awe of your talent on the cameo!