Butterfly Bonanza Extended! - CUTFILE New Butterfly & Border Set

Hi all!

I wanted to get this done for the early part of this week BUT I ran into snags with my new computer setup and software.  I am also very rusty!  I almost have to relearn all my tricks! LOL

Because of this - Butterfly Bonanza is still in effect!  Use code BUTTERFLY  ( through STORE cart or via email order ) to get 20% OFF your order :)   CODE EXPIRES TUESDAY JUNE 6!

Anyhoo... I made another cutting file set! ... and a mini tutorial!

Blossom Borders & DFT Butterfly CUTFILE SET:

I re-envisioned the Blossom & Three Leave Springs cutfiles into a border.  The set includes all the cards, fronts and borders you see in the preview.    The butterfly is derived from the Doodle Flower Trio sets:

Doodled Flower Trio Cardfront COL SETDoodled Flowers & Butterflies SINGLES COL SET

Doodled Flower Trio with Butterfly/Flowers

Here is a card made using the diagonal border cardfront and the butterfly. 

 I added Ranger Diamond glitter to the butterfly and cut the base of the butterfly out of pink vellum.  I experimented with watercolour dabs on the border front and then added diamond Stickles glue dabs.  oooh GLITTER!...

Here is another card using the Blossom Border:

Here is a mini tutorial on how to make and use a butterfly embossing plate :)

First THE EMBOSSING PLATE:

First this is the embossing plate.  It is made out of 2-4 butterflies cut out of 110 lb cardstock.  The cutting file is the SwallowTail CUTFILE.   I glued each butterfly down onto a rectangle of cereal box board cut to fit in my cuttlebug.  You brush matte or gel medium onto the board and glue the cardstock butterflies with brushed on matte medium... even layers of matte medium between each layer and on the very top.  Let dry... a day or two!  You want it to completely harden. The embossing plate shown above has seen many butterflies and just gets better and more distressed with age.  When I make another one I will stick to only 2  layers of butterflies.  A bit shallower emboss would probably be better.

Cut a base solid butterfly same size as the cut butterflies on your embossing plate.  Colour with any medium.  I love watercolors.  This example I tried gouache.

Once dry, align the butterfly to the embossing plate.  

RUN the plate and butterfly through your embossing/cutting machine.  Use a sandwich of base plate/C plate + B plate/embossing plate + butterfly plate and butterfly face up + silicon embossing mat + another B plate/embossing plate.  You might need a card stock shim.  I did not.  Also before I forget ( like I did with this example) ... lightly spray the backside of your butterfly with water to soften the paper a bit to avoid cracking.  I got cracks but didn't care LOL!

This part is the most satisfying!   Swipe a black inkpad over the butterfly.  The raised areas will get inked.  The look is very pretty and distressed.  To get the look on my card, I had best striking results with Versafine and Ranger Archival Inks.

 I have also had fun with distress inks... a nice subtle effect with that.  I am going to try flowers and leaves next... this embossed inked look on  watercoloured flowers and leaves... so pretty!

The sentiments on the 2 cards shown are from a new rubber stamp set coming out June 15 from Sparkle N Sprinkle!  ;)

Have a great weekend!

:)*  Fred

Stencil Rubbings

Hey all!

That fun thing you did as a youngster with a yummy smelling pack of Crayolas and paper, where you would put coins or leaves or that weathered picnic table top in the back yard under you paper and then rub over top with  crayons?  You can be all grown up and arty farty and do it with stencils!  I have been having fun making backgrounds :)

Used crayons, white prisma pencil, Four Point Star Stencil, Doodled Floral 1, Darice embossing Folders, gold cardstock, deckle scissors, and spellbinders die.

I love the dreamy smeary look.

VIDEO TIME....

Used, Whirlpool Splash Stencil cut on transparency film, and Happy Flowers Rainbow Collection flower sheets.  Eventually, I will add a sentiment in the empty space.

Here is a close up of a stencil rubbing blended with a light coloured prisma pencil.

Have a great day!
:)*  Fred

A "Spring Card" & Free Cutting Files :)

Hi All!

Taxes all done! Woohoo!  I have added some free cutting files to the STORE at THIS LINK.  One of them is a freebie down below :)

I've been stencil happy lately!  There is so much you can do with them.... including NOT using them as a stencil LOL...

For this card I used the stencil cutting file Doily Mandala 1 as a "cardfront".

Doily Mandala 1 Stencil & Mask

I created a Spring Card Template cutting file to make this card. Just click the image below to get the download :)

Spring Card Template Cutting File

 

FREE!

The cutting file has dashed score lines that help to crease in the appropriate parts of the card.  There are also mats for the base that cut out.  I embossed the mats and inked with Bundled Sage distress inks.  The mats for the spring card base are also inked and embossed.  The flowers  are from the Happy Flowers Digi Set and were coloured with  NeoColor II watercolor crayons and a water brush.   The butterfly is Ornate Butterfly Digi that was also coloured with NeoColor II's and glittered.

NOTE: To use the card template you don't need a cutting machine! The free Spring Card template also contains a PDF file that will print to your printer.  Print on the wrong side of your card stock or use as a guide. 

To fold the card, crease on the dashed fold lines.  Fold like below :)

 TIP:  You can size the card template to any size.  It is set currently for 5" wide and it would fit any round cardfront or diamond front between 5 and 5 1/2" in diameter.


Have a great day!
:)*  Fred

Zehra's Mini-Tutorial - Happy Flowers

Hi all!  Happy Sunday!  The sun is finally shining after 3 days of heavy rain and then snow... WOW what an April we are having! 

DT Zehra has made a flower making mini-tutoral using the Happy Flowers Digi Set and also used Ornate Butterflies  and just in time for a "FLOWER PICK ME UP" :)  This brightened my day... Awesome job, Zehra!  Please GO HERE to see the tutorial.

Card by DT Zehra

I'll be back earlier this week with some new cards and some new stencils and stencil freebies!

:)* Fred

Happy Flowers & Sentiments

Hey all!

..new stuff :)

I had a request for Fred's Flowers without black outlines.. I hope this will work :)  I made some Happy Flowers... in happy, bright rainbow colours! .. and some flower pots you can add your flowers to.

... and some digi flowers and pots too :)

... and some Uplifting Sentiments ( 22 in all!)

I am also working on some  digital cutting file stencils & masks.  The chevron pattern on the above card is a stencil I made that was sponged over with distress inks onto CS.  I'll be sharing the stencil soon once I get it converted to the various formats ;)  I kind of went stencil creation happy in anticipation of a Gelli Plate I ordered ( that is backordered at Curry's ack!).  I was excited for it's arrival and when it didn't come, I was sad... so I made my own out of Knox gelatin.  Just google "gelatin plate recipe" and you will find tons of resources :)  Emma and I had a blast playing with our homemade plate and acrylic paints.  They say the gelatin plate might last for a few weeks in the fridge... hopefully my Gelli Plate will arrive before it goes bad.  I'll have to fire up the camera and share some of the crazy prints we made. 

:)*  Fred

One Stop Craft Challenge

Yey!  Fred She Said is sponsoring the One Stop Craft Challenge. It starts today :)

 DT Michelle & I are playing along with their DT.  The theme is "Button It!"

When I think of buttons I think of flowers :).  Still my favourite are  Fred's Foldy Flowers - the first ones I did.  There's nothing like relaxing while colouring ( with whatever! ;) ) and cutting out a sheet of flowers.  I coloured these with watercolor pencils, blending pen, Ranger Inkssentials Black Enamel, and Black Soot Distress Inkpad. I coloured up another Daisies foldy Flower and made a sun out of it. I did something out of the ordinary and assembled and attached the flowers and leaves with a GLUE GUN... fast & fun!.. but a bit stringy LOL!  Cheerful card for a dreary day.  We are in between snow systems and we should get quite the weather today along with 70 km winds... yahoo!

Have a great weekend!

:)*  Fred

Digi of the Week - another flower card

People, I have a tip for you today - YouTube is dangerous! LOL  I have been watching video after video on making paper flowers!!! Don't believe me? - checkout my Paper Flowers PlayList to see the videos I have bookmarked LOL!  My finger tips are rainbow stained and I am neglecting getting new designs done... cuz I'm having FUN! woohoo!

Case in point:

Here is another type of ROSE you can make.  I used the Paper Roses & Leaves Set that is on sale ( 30% OFF) until August 16 midnight EDT.  ( Check back this TUESDAY to see what our next DIGI OF THE WEEK will be ;)  )

The videos that inspired me are THIS ONE ( by JadedStudios) and THIS ONE (by  Psychomoms which uses similar technique )   After watching either of these videos, please see below for instructions on how I coloured my flower.

The Flower:
-I used 2 large and 1 medium paper rose flowers cut from a thin cardstock.
- Paint the outer edges of the petals LIBERALLY with Twinkling H2O paint ( I used Hot Cinnamon). ( Twinklers are great as they have a highly pigmented watersoluble paint AND the shimmery stuff )
-Lay the petals on your craft sheet or cardboard "spritzing box" LOL and spray the heck out of them with water in a mister.   MAGIC HAPPENS, the shimmer kind of spreads around a bit BUT the pigment really moves!
- Blast the petals with heat gun until just damp.
-Spritz the petals with a shimmery spray ( mine is water, iridescent gold powder, gum arabic for binder,  and antique linen + scattered straw reinkers  - this adds a subtle shimmer while yellowing/antiquing the flower so the white is not so stark)
-Blast with heat gun again until just damp.
-Now make roses as per videos... you need needle-nose tweezers to twist your petals.
-Center is a black dew drop and a Big Sky Flake punch with stickles on top.

The REST of the card:
If you have noticed anything about my card making is I use white and cream papers/cardstock for EVERYTHING as a base to sponge ink on, colour, print on etc.  The gold frames and swirlies were painted with Gold Lumiere paint.  The rest is pretty much distress ink in one form or another ( sponged or added to my mini misters with mica powder and sprayed on).  I sponged fired brick and scattered straw on the small printed Butterfly then spritzed with shimmer.  I brayered some Gold Encore ink on the embossed backing paper for more gold.  I LOOOVE gold  heehee.

Hope you enjoyed my flower making session :)

Fred

Paper Rose Blossom Tutorial

 Here is the Paper Rose tutorial you have been waiting forever for!  Sorry, I'm so tardy. 

 "Let Us Begin"...

Materials:
-Printed sheet of Paper Roses & Leaves Template Set OR flowers and leaves cut from the SVG version on a digital cutting machine.  Printed on a thinner white Card Stock
-work surface for inking and spritzing ( non-stick craft sheet)
-scissors
-pinking decorative scissors ( optional)
-embossing/foam/mouse pad
-embossing stylus or something round and pointy LOL
-something to curl with eg a skinny end of a paint brush
-distress inks
-sponge applicators
-white or tacky glue - I used Aleenes Fast Grab Tacky Glue
-shimmer spray ( mine is a mini mister with interference gold pearlex mixed with water and a bit of gum arabic)
-a stamen punch and glitter glue to color it; or another punch or a brad/pearl/dewdrop, anything for a flower center.

For this one I hand cut 2 large and 1 medium flower and leaves with stem.

I used a proto-type... it now is a variegated leave BUT you can still use pinking scissors to get the variegated look... or not, it is easy to hand cut.

LEAVES:

Colour the unprinted side ( "right" side) by sponging Bundled Sage distess ink.  Emboss the center line and the veins using an embossing tool/mousepad on the wrong side of the paper. Flip the leaves over and skim your sponge ( with Forest Moss -darker green ink) over the vein lines.  The veins should darken.  Use stronger pressure and ink near the center line to give the leaves more dimension.  Bend/crease the leaves along center line using your fingers and then mould the  outer edges to give them gentle curve and dimension.  Sponge the stem with either a green or brown distress ink.

FLOWERS:

Sponge all over with the lightest color of your rose ( I used Spun Sugar ).

Sponge from the center out, with a darker ink ( Aged Mahogany )- use lighter and less pressure the further to the outer edge.

Cut between the petals a quarter of the way in around all the flowers BUT, on a large and medium flower, cut all the way to the center on one of the cuts.

On the embossing pad, score lines ( maybe 4 - 6 ) down the length of each petal on the wrong side.  On you work surface, do like on the leaves and ink these these veins with your darker ink on the right side.  This step is optional but it gives a rich variegated appearance to your rose.. I just like it :)

-click to enlarge and you get a better view of the veins.

One the 2 flowers you have a cut-line to the center... on that line, glue one petal over the next petal with the tack glue.  Some people use a paper clip to clamp them together until the glue sets.  My glue was fast grab so didn't need to do this.

Curl the edges of the petals around a skewer or skinny paint brush.. whatever will work for you ;)

On your embossing pad, smush the center down a bit on the 6 petalled flower, with a big embossing stylus or eraser end of a pencil.  On your work surface, spritz it all with shimmery spray ( optional)  or paint some shimmery lines on the petals or kiss them with glitter glue or chunky glitter .

Glue ( with a generous amount of tacky glue on the bottom of flower on the pointed part) in this stack from bottom to top.. Large 6 petal flower -> Large 5 petal flower - Medium 5 petal flower ( you might want to hold the pieces together for a few minutes for it to set ).  ...then add a "stamen"... mine is a Big Sky Flake punch inked with yellow ink and stickles and a gem on top.  I glued my stamen in using silicon glue so it stuck up a bit from the center.

My card was totally coloured with distress inks.  The oval has chunky glass glitter on it (Twinklets Diamond Dust ).  The background paper was done by layering several inks on my craft sheet, spritzing with water, and sweeping the CS through it.. and drying with heat tool... then used cuttlebug and embossing folder, then brayered gold encore ink on the embossed parts.  The dark green background is various greens sponged together with a bit of aged mahogany.

Here is another leaves and stem variation from the same Roses & Leaves sheet:

NOTES:

There are so many different ways you can make flowers with this set.  There are tutorials all over the internet for paper roses.  Tim Holtz is the instigator with the  Grunge Rose.  oooh I loves that Timmy!  This will give you a realistic rose center - I have done several with this set but haven't shown yet ;)

Tim uses grunge paper that is more pliable than card stock.  But here is a tip for you to make your card stock flowers more pliable.  Run the cut flowers through a crimper several times while changing the angle you run them though with.  Then, flatten the texture using something round and smooth like the bottom of a spoon on an embossing pad.  The fibres in the paper are now more pliable. Now your flowers are less likely to tear when moulding them.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and it made sense LOL!

Have a great day!

:)* Fred

Paper Roses & Leaves Templates SET

I have just uploaded a new Temple Set.

 Paper Roses & Leaves Templates SET

  This set has a gazillion different files.. don't let it scare you LOL..  here is an example of the ready-to-print outline sheet:

Those are the shapes available as outline sheets you hand-cut ( also has a leaves sheet and just flowers sheet), or as a digital stencil ( transparent shapes with a solid white background you digitally place on top of coloured or digital paper so just the patterned/coloured shape prints out - no black outline.  There are also single images available so you can resize and use to fit your needs.  I also included an SVG cutting file sheet to be used in digital cutting machines, as well as sheets and images that are solid black shapes so that you can import/trace in various cutting software and machines. 


You can use these like digital stamps but they are more like templates that you print on the wrong side of your paper/cardstock and have DP paper or hand colour the right side after you cut them out.  I am in the process of making a tutorial for this card:

 For this card, I used an outline sheet and hand cut ( the leaves are actually cut out using pinking scissors  but the variegated leaves can be easily cut around with regular scissors)  Every thing on this card was coloured with distress inks and sponges and glimmer spray.

Here is a FREEBIE I made using the stencil version of the template sheet:

 Please DOWNLOAD HERE

I used Paint Shop Pro and floodfilled the empty spaces with patterns and colours. Hope you like!

Anyway, I'll be back soon with more info and a tutorial.

:)*  Fred

CARD Butterfly

 If you are looking for the BLOG HOP it's HERE!

Here is a card I made using the Monarch Butterfly Digi and SVG cutting files set.  I cut the  Monarch Butterfly1 SVG ( it has an intricate top and a solid base to cut) and used distress inks and some homemade glimmer spray to colour.  The background is one I made a while ago by drawing and smudging randoms swirls of soft pastels then cuttlebug embossed.   The flowers are odds and sodds from my extra flower bits that I print out.  Also in the butterfly set are digi versions, which I will shows samples of soon ;)

Have a great day!
:)* Fred

"FRED FOR ALL" BLOG HOP STARTS HERE!

Woohoo Everybody!  Are you ready for another BLOG HOP!?!

This Blog Hop's theme is a "Fred for All"  ( LOL.. thanks to Deanne for the pun!)  A Fred Free for All.... the DT were asked to make ANYTHING from what I have in the store!  ...which means YES Fred is a liitle late with the new goodies! :O  ;)

Actually about this time last year the fledgling FSS DT's started OPERATION FRED SHE SAID using and reintroducing all Fred's pretties... so kind of fitting for another year of FRED!  Next month the Fred She Said Store will have our Second Anniversary!  I feel like I just started.. times flies when you are having FUN!

...Speaking of FUN let's start the festivities... ON WITH THE BLOG HOP!


OK the rules...

You need to start HERE at the Fred She Said Blog, and go visit ALL these places and leave some blog-loving comments to all the DT members.  There are special instructions at the end of your journey on how to enter to win  a $20 GC for the FSS Store :)

Here is a list of the blog hoppers in case you lose your way:

~FRED SHE SAID blog
~SHELLY
~MICHELLE 
~CAROL L.
~DARSIE B. 
~JUDY
~CAROL H.
~LORA
~SONYA
~DEANNE 
~FRED SHE SAID CHALLENGE BLOG


This blog hop will run from today, April 15th until April 22nd. On the 22nd, the winner will be announced on the "Fred She Said" blog  .

Here is my card for the HOP:

I used an orange flower from a sheet from  Polka Dotty Flowers Set   and a digital paper from The Purple Blossoms Kit .  I used Distress Inks to sponge colour on the die cuts (Spellbinder Petite Ovals, BossKut Ornamental Flourish ).  The sentiment is a "inkjet rub-on" experiment gone wrong!  LOL  I printed on acetate and rubbed it on my card stock..BUT some of the other things on the acetate smudged on my cardstock... so I grabbed a stippling brush and  splotched some black ink around the frame to hide it LOL! I added distress stickles as well and also put some on the orange bud. I made my own flower center with glitter glue, a flower center punch, some gold paint and a gold dew drop.    My new EK punch Scroll and Dots finally came in.  My new favourite border punch!

I hope you enjoyed my card.  Now please leave a comment then go to SHELLY's blog :)

Have a great day and have fun hopping!

:)*  Fred

SPOTLIGHT: Shelly Skala

 I am happy have Shelly in the spotlight today.  Her designs are so fresh and pretty and she has a wonderful project to share today :)


HERE'S  SHELLY!:
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I hope you've been following Fred She Said blog for the DT project showcases. There have been some great ones so far. Since it was my turn I decided to make a fun little project using the Polka Dotty Flowers set. I love the idea of making handmade embellishments especially when I can make an unlimited amount of them for a fraction of the cost. The Polka Dotty Flowers set contains 14 different printable sheets, with 3 flower designs on each sheet. They come in a variety of colors so you can easily find one that is best suited for your project. Please see below for a step by step guide of how I used a printable sheet to create my own flower embellishments.

I started with the Raspberry colored printable sheet as seen below:


Then I cut them out leaving an 1/8 inch white edge around each flower. I also cut out the pre-colored leaves included on the printable sheet.

I sponged around the edges with a coordinating color ink and added glitter for a more finished look:

Then I added pink buttons tied with silver cord:

And placed them in a clear window rectangle tin decorated with a tag from the All Occassion Tag printable set from The Cutting Cafe.


Here's a couple of cards I made using the handmade flowers:

And finally here's a group photo of a fun little gift idea for a fellow cardmaker:

And to think that it all started with one printable sheet of paper. It may seem like a lengthy process but really didn't take very long. I tend to do my cutting in front of the television so time goes by quickly. Of course you could add different finishing touches such as brads or pearls in place of the buttons and can leave out the sponging and/or glitter. You can also choose how many layers you want to make the flowers and can choose polka dots, non-polka dots or a mixture of the two.
Thanks for dropping by and I do hope this post has given you a little inspiration. Remember you can check out the Fred She Said blog to view the remaining printable sheets as well as many others.

**************************************

Thanks so much, Shelly!  Your flowers embellishments are awesome!  Love this.


Have a great day!
:)*  Fred