Imagine a Butterfly Cage

Hello, everyone!  These two new stamp sets have really inspired me, and they're right up my alley, too!  I love the old fashionedness of the dressform shown here - it reminds me of the old hoopskirts from, as they say here in the USA, "back in the day."  Originally, I had thought, and did, put a little yellow bird in the cage, but then I happened to find some printed butterfly images that were 3-D, and I thought it looked better than the birdie.  I love to sew, and I love birds, so this was so apropos. 

The original with a yellow bird.

My husband has told me many times that I should have been born in the Victorian era, because I love the jewelry and clothing from that era.  I've never actually used a dressform to make a dress, but maybe I should. 

I've put the directions on how to make this card below.  I've used Chocolate Baroque's newest stamp sets, Haberdashery and Lace Fragments.  I also added the word 'Imagine' from the Chocolate Baroque stamp set Artistic Expressions, which is what you have to do on this card! :)  The background was stamped with the large lace flower in the Lace Fragments set, and colored in with Prismacolor pencils, and I love the way they came out, subtly in the background.  The flowers were made from scraps from different punches, and I used Flower Soft in the center of the yellow ones.  Two dressmaker pins, a green button, and some eyelash trim finished off the embellishments.  The complete directions are below.

Silver embossing powder was used on the scissors stamped with Versamark ink.

Dress Form Birdcage

Supplies –

Stamps from Chocolate Baroque Haberdashery, Baroque Lace, and Artistic Expressions

     Coloring medium of choice (I used Prismacolor Pencils)
     Versafine Onyx and Versamark inkpads, gray and peach inkpads
     Silver embossing powder and heat gun
     Hobby knife
     Printed butterflies from purchased sheet
     White, Silver, yellow, peach and green cardstock
     Dry embossing strip, your choice
     One green button

With butterfly instead of yellow bird

     Eyelash string
     2 dressmaker straight pins
     Fiskars 'Stitch' border punch
     1/8” high pop-up dots
     3-D flowers of choice

     Directions –

Cut white cardstock to 6” high by 9” wide, then score in half to make base card 6” high by 4 ½” wide.  Dry emboss decorative strip on right side of front of card (opening from the right).  Stamp the lacy flower from the Baroque Lace stamp set in various places on front of card, but not over embossing, using the gray inkpad.  Color images in with pencils, using peach, yellow and green.

Stamp the word “Imagine,” from the Artistic Expressions set onto white cardstock, using the black inkpad.  Cut word out leaving a 1 ½” border all around, then use the stitch border punch to make border.  Using a small sponge dauber, dab or rub peach ink onto word piece below the word and on the edges.  Glue to card as shown.  Thread the eyelash string through the holes in the green button and tie into a small bow, then glue to the bottom left corner of the sentiment piece.  While glue is still tacky, push two dressmaker pins, crossed, under the button with ball tips on top.

Scissors – Stamp scissors from the Haberdashery stamp set, using Versamark inkpad onto silver cardstock, and sprinkle with silver embossing powder.  Heat set.  Fussy-cut around outline of scissors, and apply pop-up dots to back.  Set aside.

Dress form birdcage – Using the dress form stamp from the Haberdashery stamp set, stamp it twice on white cardstock using the Versafine Onyx inkpad.  Cut one out on just the very outside lines, and adhere in the center on lacy flower stamped area.  Shade the second one with gray pencil, and fussy-cut out completely, including between the bars of the cage, using hobby knife.  Apply small pieces of pop-up dots to the back.

Cut printed butterflies from sheet, and arrange a larger one along with some flowers to the center of the “birdcage” part of the first image that was adhered to the card.  Apply scissors horizontally on top of card, having points towards the left, to make it appear that the cage is hanging from the shears.  Place the second birdcage over the first, matching all edges, and the scissors should appear to come out of the armholes of the dress form.  The butterfly should “appear” to be hovering in the center of the birdcage.  Apply flowers with glue, and the small butterflies with pop dots.