I’m still in denial that both the Papillon Potpourri and Gorgeous Grunge stamp sets are retiring.  They are incredible sets that I have really enjoyed using.  My Gorgeous Grunge set is very well used – just ask anyone in our stamp club 🙂

Pictured below is one of my absolute favorite cards that I made using both of these sets.  It is classic and (in my humble opinion) a real WOW factor card since it is a one-layer card that has amazing visual dimension.  Take a look –

The key to this card is masking with rubber cement.  Yup – you read correctly – rubber cement!  Here are the steps:

1. Use Staz-on Black Ink to stamp the two butterfly images onto a piece of Whisper White card stock.  The butterfly images are from the amazing Papillon Potpourri stamp set.
2. Carefully brush rubber cement over the two butterfly images to mask them.  I use a toothpick or q-tip to get the rubber cement to just go to the edge of the butterfly.  Bring the card stock under a light and take a look to make sure that you’ve covered all parts of the butterflies with the rubber cement.  Don’t worry about the antennae.  They don’t need to be masked.
3. Now, grab the Gorgeous Grunge set.  Get out the stamp that has the parallel lines, and stamp varying colors horizontally and vertically over the white card stock that has the butterfly images.  The ink from these stamps will not stamp onto the butterflies since the rubber cement acts like a mask or barrier to the ink.
4. You can also use the fun random dots stamp from the Gorgeous Grunge set to add additional interest to your background.
5. When you’ve finished your stamping, simply take off the rubber cement to reveal the butterflies.  I find starting on an edge of the rubber cement and making circular motions to put the rubber cement into a ball works best.  You’ll see beautiful white butterflies when you take off the rubber cement.  It really looks like a three dimensional image even though it’s really a one-layer card.
6. To finish the card, I used some of my favorite nested dies and cut the butterflies.  From the same set of nested dies, I used the next larger size die to cut a piece of Basic Black card stock.
7. Silver thread was added for additional bling behind the butterflies.
8. Pearls around the sentiment are the final touch.

This design is easily adapted to other stamps, greetings, die shapes.  Give it a try.  I bet you find that rubber cement is a great crafting tool at a really wonderful price.

Below are the main products that I used to make the card.  Both stamp sets are available only while supplies last or until May 31, whichever occurs first.  Click on any picture below and you’ll go to my on-line store.

Happy stamping!
Laurie