Retiring Stamp Idea #4 – Swallowtail in Plum

By | May 13, 2016

Swallowtail 1

The large Swallowtail background stamp is retiring, and it is truly a beautiful piece of art. It is considered a background stamp because of the size, but it is usually used as the centerpiece of a card design as I did here.

Swallowtail 2

Although it’s a little hard to distinguish in these photos, I used the Shimmery White cardstock which is beautiful and perfect for watercoloring with blender pens, or with Aqua Painters as I did on this card. I used Perfect Plum refill ink in the center of the butterfly and Elegant Eggplant on the outside edges. I just put a drop of each in the lid of the corresponding ink pad and used that as a palette to dip from for watercolor painting. The Basic Black Archival ink is perfect for stamping the outline of the butterfly first because it is waterproof.

Swallowtail 3

The sentiment and stamp for the back of the card are both from the retiring A Dozen Thoughts set. Just three silver stars from the Metallics Sequin Assortment attached with Mini Glue Dots were a perfect adornment for this simple and elegant card.

If you make this card yourself, just remember to keep the half sheet of Shimmery White cardstock unscored while you stamp and watercolor the butterfly. After it is dry you can score and fold the card from the inside. You may attach an extra blank card panel inside like I’ve done here if you have used a little more water and the ink shows through from the front slightly, but it’s just a personal preference – it’s not required.

Here is the color scheme for our Just Because Swallowtail card; click on any color swatch to see what other coordinating products we have in these colors too!

And here is everything that we used; all of the stamp sets are retiring but all other tools and supplies will be available in the new Annual Catalog coming out on June 1st! Click on any picture for more information or to order:

May 31st is fast approaching; just two and half more weeks left to order the retiring stamps used on this card and on this Retiring List here.

You’ve seen me color this butterfly in purple tones and in blues/greens. Those are very peaceful colors – what other colors would you use and what mood would you choose to convey? Let me know in the comments how you would do it differently!

2 thoughts on “Retiring Stamp Idea #4 – Swallowtail in Plum

  1. valorydegree

    Thanks, Moana; I’m with you, even though this Swallowtail stamp is retiring, I will be keeping it in my collection. It is a classic!

    Reply
  2. moanaj

    Oh my goodness, I just got a moment to look at this project. I love it! How very clever to wrap the large image around the card like that. I can’t wait to try that out.

    Reply

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