Make Everything Better

The theme for Day 2 of My Favorite Things' Camp Create is "Remarkable Resist." I created this card to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids. Even though I used MFT's "Get Well Wishes" stamp set, this particular greeting could go for pretty much any time someone is going through a tough patch.

I decided to use just plain white cardstock for my card front, since I wanted to color the butterfly with colored pencils. I first stamped one of the "Elegant Butterflies" from Clearly Besotted with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, using my MISTI so I could double-stamp & get a good impression. I then masked the image, and stamped over it with MFT's "Romantic Script Background" stamp inked with Versamark. I sprinkled on Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder, removed the mask from the butterfly, and melted the powder with my heat tool.

To complete the background, I replaced the mask over the butterfly, and inked a gradient using Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, & Abandoned Coral Distress inks. I was kind of nervous about doing this on plain cardstock, and was pleasantly surprised that I got no blending foam marks, but instead, just a smooth blend! After I finished inking, I buffed off the embossing with a dry cloth, and colored the butterfly with my Prismacolor colored pencils. I created kind of a purple-to-mint gradient, to contrast with the warm hues of the background.

For the greeting, I stamped in Versamark ink on white cardstock, and clear heat embossed that. After cutting it down into a banner shape, I inked with Shaded Lilac, Broken China, & Cracked Pistachio Distress inks, working from the middle outward. I thought these colors went well with the colors I'd used in the butterfly. I adhered that to my card front with some ATG tape, coated the butterfly with clear Wink of Stella for a bit of shimmer, and mounted my finished card front to a white A2 card base.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Emboss It"
Creative Knockouts Challenge #198: "Anything Goes"