Crafting a dragonfly with Crafting at Dragonflies

This fortnight at Crafting with Dragonflies we want to see your Cards with Dragonflies/Butterflies as the main focus.

I made the wings from maple keys that I picked up during a walk this week; the head & thorax piece piece is a tiny black walnut from my backyard. It was a very windy day, so these items had blown off their trees still young & green. I used a craft knife to cut the still-spongy walnut in half. I coated everything with Glossy Accents. The abdomen is made from a Starbucks stir stick that I heat-embossed with copper enamel & two green powders.

The background is one piece of cardstock; I used an SU! woodgrain embossing folder to stamp the "water" with two blue distress inks & the top with SU! Barely Banana ink. I went over the bottom portion with a lighter blue chalk ink.

The clouds were cut from plastic hummus containers with an IO die. The sentiment stamp is from Graphic45, and I used tape to stamp each section separately with black StazOn ink. I cut the sides of the base card and sandwiched some yellow mesh between the background & base. I finished the card with burlap threads I got from my stash.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Crafting with Dragonflies: Dragonflies and/or Butterflies as focus
The Paper Girls: The Great Outdoors
Stampotique Designers' Challenge #248: All Creatures Great and Small



Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at Crafting with Dragonflies,

Wonderful Dragonflies and Butterflies at Crafting with Dragonflies

This fortnight at Crafting with Dragonflies we want to see your Cards with Dragonflies/Butterflies as the main focus.

I was inspired by Mary's Split Panel Card tutorial at Cardz TV to make a card using my new Fuse Tool. I used a free printable for the dragonfly template. I printed the wings onto vellum, stamped them twice with a stained glass-patterned rubber stamp from DRS Designs, and heat-embossed it with a mix of glitter & two blue powders. I colored the backs of the wings with a blue Wink of Luna pen. The body was printed on regular white cardstock, colored with the same blue pen, and decorated with chunky glitter & Flowersoft. The ringed portion was made with a border sticker, double-sided adhesive, and more vellum. I sprinked the sticky part with the same embossing powders I used for my mix.

The pre-embossed, handmade blue paper is from my stash; I stamped the Recollections sentiment directly onto it. The top & bottom stripes are covered with my blue/glitter embossing mix. I used a cellophane bag to create the shaker portion, and filled it with butterfly sequins & blue microbeads.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Crafting with Dragonflies: Dragonflies and/or Butterflies as focus 
Lawnscaping: Off Kilter (something on an angle)
WOW! Embossing Powder Challenge: Anything goes with embossing powder



Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at Crafting with Dragonflies,

Anything but a card + Use a Dragonfly

This fortnight at Crafting with Dragonflies our theme is Anything but a Card + Use a Dragonfly.

I was partly inspired by the ribbon spool box tutorial at Mel Stampz, but the plastic spool I used opens up like a box, so it was easy to alter. The spool originally contained white silk ribbon from May Arts, and I've been saving it for a really long time!

The Crafting with Dragonflies Challenge owner, Hilde, is sponsoring this challenge and is offering this great freebie Dragonfly digi stamp if you want to use it:

I created the pink background in SCAL and cut it on my Silhouette Cameo, but the fine lines on the dragonfly didn't cut well so I printed it on the same pink paper and added some color with Copics and gel pens. I embossed the white top with a polka-dot folder and added yellow neon ribbon. The little flowers are cut with a Sweet Cuts set.

The covers were cut with a circle die, and I was able to use a slightly smaller die to cut the frames & insides. Worked almost perfectly. I wrapped the outside with more neon ribbon and a fun patterned ribbon. I added a string of gems to cover the seam.

The wood flower & leaf on the side were painted with neon orange and green Liquid Pearls.

Here's the box opened up:

I'm entering this project into the following Challenges:
All Crafts Challenge: Anything but a Card
Brown Sugar #117: Anything Goes
Stamps & Fun = Creativity: No Cards

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at Crafting with Dragonflies,

Clothespin Dragonfly

One of my favorite things about being on the Crafting with Dragonflies Design Team is that their challenges are truly creative challenges. Our theme for the next 2 weeks is Pegs (that's Clothespins to us Yankees!) -- the old-timey kind and springy ones are allowed. Use your imagination, and be sure to check out the creative projects by the Crafting with Dragonflies Design Team.

All I had were mini wooden clothespins, and after trying several ideas and even looking up some ideas online, I decided to use them to make a cute little dragonfly. I colored them with Copics and heat-embossed the pieces with a glittery powder. I used the spring from the body clothespin to make the antennae. I used Glossy Accents to adhere some tiny gemstones on the wings.

I came up with this quote myself: "O! to be as the dragonfly ... adrift with purpose." My best friend is traveling and has been reading a lot of Walt Whitman...I think his many texts with beautiful Whitman quotations inspired me too! The font is Pea Melody Shay from Fonts for Peas.

This month's Sweet Stamps Technique Challenge is Dryer Sheet Flowers, and I just had to try it. I used dies from the same set as the large shape (Shapez/Spellbinders). The used dryer sheets cut well, sandwiched between the die and a piece of cardstock. I used a brad to put the flower together, and topped it with a spiral made from a twisty-tie. The "leaves" were made with the hinges from a recently-replaced doorknob lock and an extra clothespin spring.

The background is a shiny iridescent plastic that I embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and sanded. It's much more striking in person. The corners were punched with a two-sided Fiskars punch. The card base is a shiny Recollections paper. I used the same large die to make a message section inside.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Alphabet Challenge: H for Handmade Embellishments
Polkadoodles: Things with Wings
Sisterhood of the Snarky Stampers: C is for Crap / 2nd entry (So glad I didn't trash those dryer sheets and springs)
Sweet Stamps May Technique Challenge: Dryer Sheet Flower

Update: This was the winner for Sweet Stamps' May Technique Challenge! I really enjoyed learning the dryer sheet flower technique.

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at Crafting with Dragonflies,