Black butterfly box frame

Finally I have all my Christmas cards in the post – well, all except one because I can’t find the lady’s address! Grrr... I know it will turn up when it’s too late. Well it already is too late but you know what I mean.

In case you think I’ve been doing nothing, here’s some proof of activity; another box frame. I won’t bore you with them all as I’ve made quite a few, but I wanted to show you another style.  I did this one in the style of those beautiful but creepy butterfly display cases which always make me wonder “if you love butterflies so much why have you killed so many of them?” You’ll be pleased to know that no butterflies were harmed in the making of this frame. Also, with the use of grid paper, it’s not that difficult to get the butterflies in straight lines.

Instead of scoring them in the traditional manner, I rested each one on a piercing mat and pressed in the centre with my bone folder – this both scored them and made the edges rise up.

You can just see on the lower butterflies that they are slightly sparkly. I did this using a mix of Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint and isopropyl alcohol, spritzed onto black cardstock. It looks especially fabulous on black.

The butterfly on the middle row is punched from Silver Glimmer Paper for extra sparkle. Down the centre I have stuck some rhinestones, which I coloured black with a Sharpie. These are a little precarious on the Glimmer Paper as the glitter makes them hard to stick, so a little extra adhesive was in order.

For the name, yes I treated myself to the alphabet dies and I don’t regret it for one moment as they are fabulous! They are the real deal – Bigz dies which will cut through chipboard – so I stuck the Designer Series Paper to that useful cardstock backing you get in DSP packs before running it through. To avoid clogging up the die with adhesive, I used Big Shot Adhesive Sheets.

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Brushed Silver

Paper: Brights DSP Stack, Silver Glimmer Paper

Accessories: Typeset Alphabet Bigz dies, Elegant Butterfly punch, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Basic Rhinestones

All products by Stampin’ Up!®