Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 63 - Sketch

This week's challenge is from Susie, and she has given us a sketch to work from. But before we get to the sketch, this week we are sponsored by One Stop Card Crafts who are offering a £10 voucher for their store

And also by Digi Doodle Shop, who have a $10 Gift Certificate for their store!!

This is the sketch that Susie has given us to work from:

I have to admit that I've never worked from a sketch before, so didn't have the bottle to put my 'interpretation' onto it as I have seen other people do with sketches. So, I decided to just follow it as it is - and this is what I came up with.

I have used the 'Butterfly & Thistle' digi stamp from Digi Doodle shop. I printed the image onto watercolour card, left it overnight and gave it a blast with my heat gun for good measure!! I then turned to my trusty watercolour tin to paint the image. I decided to go for black for the butterfly to give a better contrast against the pastel colours of the thistle - and I also wanted a colour that I could use in the matting and layering, with the purple and green.

I wanted the butterfly to be slightly outside of the oval shape, so cut round the necessary part with scissors so it would sit outside the die.  I then cut it out with a nestie. Whilst still in the die, I inked the edges with Distress Ink - the top with Dusty Concord, and the bottom with Bundled Sage. Strangely enough, the colours I had mixed for painting the thistle were pretty much the same. I must have been subconciously thinking of them while I was painting. Or more likely, just a co-incidence!! It did, however, satisfy my need for things to match!!

I mounted some Bazzil black card onto a white 8" square card. The purple card, bought from my local market, has a shimmer to it - not easy to pick up from the photos. Before mounting this onto the black, I stamped two of the corners using a large, foam-backed swirl stamp and black stazon. The white and green cardstocks are also Bazzil - while the patterned paper was a free download (not sure where I got it from - sorry!) I really love the marble effect!

The purple mats for both the sentiment and image were cut using  nesties - with the green cut from the corresponding scalloped nestie. The green band across the middle was edged with Spellbinders Classic Scallop Edgeabilities Set, and the circles through the centre cut with one of the inserts from the Classic Postage Set. This was wrapped with lilac organza ribbon and finished with a bow and two hatpins.

The sentiment is an old stamp - no idea where from - but was definately a cheapie. I cut it out with a nestie, and inked whilst still in the die. The flowers are made from circles of the patterned paper. And it's all finished off with a few flat backed pearls.

I'm very happy with the result of this - I think it looks quite striking!!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog - Happy Birthday

DYSU Challenge Blog - Things with Wings

PaperCrafting Journey - Anything Goes with Paper

Alphabet Challenge Blog - B for Busy Bugs

Crafts for Eternity - Digital  (the image and the patterned paper)

The Poodles Parlour - Birthday

Hotshot Crafts - Ribbon

Cxx