Dimensional butterflies!

Hey there! I have a fun technique to share with you today! If you know me well.....you will know that I have a "thing" for butterflies. I think almost every LO has at least one......somewhere. It is a slight obsession I have. Don't know what to put in that corner? Plop a butterfly there! LOL! This LO of my sweet 90 year old Gram uses several of these cool, embossed butterflies and the Sweet Sue kit. (only 4 left!) One is a larger version and two are somewhat tiny....so you have to kind of look for 'em!

Here is a close up! In real life they are quite shiny and sparkly!

Want to make some of your own? OF course you do! : ) I used this old set by PC where it comes with the die and embossing folders. But you don't need these to do what I did. All you need is to die cut your butterfly from ANY System and then find a cool embossing folder you want to use!

You will also need clear embossing powder and Versamark.

Be sure you have already die cut your butterflies and set them aside. Open you embossing folder and Versamark one side of it. Slip your diecut butterfly inside and crank it through your BigShot or Cuttlebug machine......whatever you have!

Open up the folder and take the butterfly out. It will have the Versamark on only the recessed areas! This will serve as a sort of "resist" when we Glimmer Mist it in a bit! You can also try it the other way where the raised parts grab the Versamark.

Dump your clear embossing powder on top and shake excess off. Heat it up.

Now the butterfly is shiny on the recessed parts of the embossing.

Ooopps! Forgot to insert the picture of my Glimmer Mist!!! OK GRAB YOUR GLIMMER MIST!!!!! (or something comparable to it!) Spray away until you reach your desired colors!

Dab excess off with a Kleenex. (Yes, we are very high tech around here!)

Once your butterfly has dried, you can shabby it up a bit by inking the edges a bit in brown.

Dress up your butterflies with buttons, gemstones, pretty stick pins and such!

Here are a couple of little wall plaques I created. You can see how different embossing folders give it a different look!

I would love to try this technique with letters for a title, or other die cut shapes!

I hope I've inspired you to try something new today! Have a fabulous week!

Banner Crazy!

Heya! So today's post is a quick tutorial on the wonder of half-banners. Or at least that's what I call them. I did them on this layout and had so many requests to show a tutorial on how to make them, so here we are! I had originally planned to post this last week (on Labor Day) but this dang satellite internet is just so not working with me! I'm getting very familiar with my local Starbucks as a result. And all hyped up on caffeine, too!

Half-Banner Tutorial from Brittny Lejeune on Vimeo.

Seriously...I love that my tank is all lopsided. And you can see my bra. Classy, very classy.

Well, I hope I didn't scare you too much! I'll show you the banner I made with this piece in a bit. Assuming of course I ever finish it!