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I hope you enjoy reading my posts, and please leave me a comment. I always enjoy reading them, and will try to visit you in return.

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You are welcome to copy any of my designs, as long as you do not take credit for them yourself. I am very happy for you to sell them. If I have used anyone else's design, I always try to give credit where it is due. If I have missed anything, please let me know and I will put things right.


This is intended to be mainly about my crafting stories, as a personal record of what I do. However, I interpret crafting quite widely, not just paper crafting but other things too. I have a butterfly mind and like to change from one thing to another depending on what I feel like on a given day - knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, cards, baking and several others, including my favourite right now, parchment, both traditional skills and Groovi, very relaxing and calming to do.

I have decided to put some structure into my blog so that each day will have something of a theme.
Monday- for Mindfulness; Tuesday - Tidy Up Day; Wednesday - What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday; Thursday - Technique and Tips; Friday - Finish Off Day; Saturday - Start Something New; Sunday - Anything Goes
These themes are not hard and fast and will be changed if I feel the need.

Friday, 1 February 2013

Pixie's Snippets challenge - 57

This is my entry for Pixie's Snippets Challenge for this week.  If you saw my WOYWW desk this week, you would have seen some of this card in its component bits.  So now you can see the finished card - please excuse the rather twisted image but due to the decoupage it will not go on the scanner successfully either.  I wasn't drunk, honest, and have only had water so far today.

This started off way back when I first started paper crafting.  I went down to Hayley West's shop (Hayley is more often seen on Create and Craft TV these days, demonstrating anything from the Silhouette Cameo to teaching knitting) in Redditch to find some more bits to add to my meagre collection.  She had some lovely samples scattered round the shop, including one featuring these peel off decoupage sheets.  The base sheet has all five butterflies joined together, and the other layers lose butterflies as you go down the four layers.  

The picture on the right shows the first two layers in place, with the next two waiting on the desk.  To get to that position, I peeled all the separate layers and stuck them to acetate, shiny side up (the acetate, that is).  Then I coloured each layer in turn, matching the colours on each layer which gives the intensity of colour.  The best pens that I have found are the Sakura glitter pens, and I usually do two layers at least of colour, allowing about a day in between to dry properly.  You may find other pens work well too, but I would test them on a spare bit of the acetate first.  Once everything is dry, then each layer needs to be cut out as close to the peel off as possible, and then mounted using Pinflair Glue Gel in tiny spots. I mounted them on a piece of Clarity Silk Art Card, which is a very pure white.

I found it needed something else to finish the card
so I had a ferret amongst my border peel offs, and chose the chain design.  I had thought of colouring in the space between the links, but after I had stuck it on, I decided that extra colour was not necessary.  

I did think these peel offs would be discontinued by now, but I have had a trawl on the internet today and found them at Monoco Direct in the UK at the price of 50p, in three colours - gold, silver and multi.  I might even get some for myself even though I said I was getting rid of peel offs. 

I hope you can understand this lengthy explanation.  It is not hard to do, just a little time consuming, and they look better than the photos show.  I am going to start doing mini videos to show sparkly and shiny things.  I am off now to link up and book my place on the swings this week in Pixie's playground






6 comments:

Jacqui's little piece of England said...

This is lovely Maggie what beautiful butterflies
jacqui x

Di said...

Absolutely beautiful Maggie! Gorgous butterflies - and total proof that peel offs can be used so stunningly.

Oddly enough, I dug my Sakura pens out yesterday and had a play - used the plain ones but the glitter ones are absolutely perfect for these lovely butterflies. Great idea!

Hugs, Di xx

Alison Scott said...

How lovely.
Thanks for sharing your finished article.
So simple but lovely.

Mrs A. said...

They look just like stained glass, which is what I thought you had done to start with. Very pretty.
Hugs Mrs A.

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

ah Maggie am so with you and peel offs think that they are the poor man in some crafters eyes - but I think when they are done well as you have done them they are truly superber!! great work!! Shaz in oz.x

scrappymo! said...

Your technique really does look like stained glass. I love butterflies and your colours turned out so pretty.