When I saw this beautiful butterfly image in the Beautiful Day stamp set I knew that I had to try the
partial diecut technique and this card is what happened!
Project Recipe
Use permanent black ink (Basic Black or Memento Tuxedo Black) to Stamp the Beautiful Day butterfly on a white cardstock square large enough to accommodate the butterfly image.
Position the largest scalloped oval from the Layering Ovals framelits over the stamped butterfly so that the you can stamp desired sentiment at top left portion of oval and still have approx. half of the butterfly inside the oval frame. I used the "Always thinking of you" for the sentiment on the front of the card and the Happy Birthday sentiment from the same stamp set for the inside sentiment....mostly because it was easier to fit the smaller sentiment on the front. I lined up the sentiment stamp set on the cardstock and put the framelit over it to be sure the sentiment would fit and secured it in place with some random washi tape to keep it in position (see photo), While the Happy Birthday sentiment might have fit, it was a tight squeeze so I put "always thinking of you" on the outside and saved the birthday image for the inside where there was plenty of space for it.
Use washi tape ( or painters tape) to secure the scalloped oval framelit to the cardstock which prevents it from slipping around while cutting. Once it's in the desired position, put a little "tick mark" at the inside edge of the scalloped oval framelit which allows you to see where the outside edge cut line will be. After it's marked, snip away the excess cardstock below the diecut and closely trim around the portion of the butterfly image which falls at or below the cut line of the framelit. Then pull the trimmed out bottom parts of the butterfly (the portion falling outside of the framelit) up thru the oval so that it comes out on top of the metal rim which will prevent it from being cut when the die is run through the Big Shot.
**CAUTION: Be sure to use the STANDARD cutting plate and NOT than the magnetic platform for this part...the slight extra thickness of the magnetic platform puts just enough extra pressure on the framelit that the butterfly image will be cut even though it's on top of the cutting portion of the die. Don't ask me how I know, just trust me on this!
I marked the outside edge of the cutting framelit on the paper so I could tell where it would cut. Then I trimmed away the excess cardstock around the lower part of the butterfly then pulled the image up thru the framelit so it rested on top of the framelit instead of being underneath the cutting edge of the framelit. Be sure to use the standard Big Shot platform and not the magnetic platform when cutting this...there is enough difference in the thickness that the magnetic platform will cut thru the butterfly image even though it is on top of the framelit. The non-magnetic platform is the one you should use for this part. This photo shows what the butterfly and oval should look like when you are finished cutting,
After diecutting the partial butterfly piece with the scalloped circle framelit, remove the piece from the framelit and color it in as desired. I used Crushed Curry and Island Indigo inks applied with the clear Wink of Stella pen....this way I got a shimmery butterfly in one step while coloring the image instead of using a blender pen or AquaPainter first then going over it with the Wink of Stella.
Adhere the stamped white scalloped oval to a slightly larger Crushed Curry diecut oval, then layer that onto the next larger size oval cut from black cardstock. In the photo, I have the diecut piece on a red stamping mat so you can disregard what appears to be a red layer in the photo.
Attach the diecut piece to the plank embossing Island Indigo folded card.
Stamp inside of card as desired....I used the Happy Birthday sentiment and Island Indigo ink on a 4"x5.25" white cardstock panel and then stamped a portion of the butterfly wing on one of the corners. Then adhere to the inside of the card and you are all done!
If you want to add a bit of interest to the envelope you can stamp and color another butterfly wing on the corner of the envelope before you pop it in the mail. I'm sure the postman will love it, too!