Microbead fun!

This card is actually "take two" of a card I made for my daughter who likes butteflies and ladybugs. Somehow, I managed to send her the card without photographing it. I borrowed it back from her to take a picture ... but somehow managed to lose it! So, I made this card, a different design, but with the same way of doing the ladybug, with microbeads. I had first tried stamping the ladybug image and putting black microbeads on the image, but the look was too messy. So I decided to just cover the entire ladybug, after trimming off the antenae and legs. By creating a "tail" on the cutout, I gave myself an easy way to cover the bug with versamark ink without having any uneven edges by doing it before cutting it out, and then giving myself something to hold on to while heating the sticky embossing powder. After I did that, I sprinkled some clear embossing powder over it and melted that to ensure a firm hold on the microbeads. I then stamped the image again, with black ink and powder to give texture to the antennae and legs, then glued the microbeaded ladybug on top. I couple of weeks ago I made something else with microbeads, and it suddenly occured to me that I could try gently pushing the microbeads that were just a bit over the edge, into the design for a neater look. If you do a close-up look at the bug, you can see a few clear beads overhanging the image. Now I know to just gently push in those strays for a much cleaner look!

I almost didn't post this card, because it really did not turn out as I had hoped. (I also didn't sponge my sky on dark enough to see in the photograph!) I realized in retrospect that hot, humid days are not good days for sticky embossing! But as I appreciate learning from people's mistake, I'm passing on what I learned with this! If you click on the picture for a larger image, you can see with the flower that a number of excess microbeads are layered, giving a messy look to the flower. The butteflies turned out much better, but I also had problems with them. Just too much moisture in the air! I embossed the grass and flower stem, and colored in the leaves with marker so that the stem would stand out from the grass.

All the images can be purchased seperately, or you can get the full sheets Flower Blocks and/or Dragonflies. I have made a number of cards with these adorable images!