Sunday, February 6, 2011

Natural Butterfly Card (& 5 Minute Chocolate Cake!)

Card time again! :D

I made this card for Hot Spot Challenge #1!  The challenge is "natural elements" - this kinda speaks for itself, so......here's my card incorporating natural elements:
I used a natural fibre type card stock for the background, and white cotton paper on top - it's the first time I'm using cotton paper and I think it looks lovely on cards!  Here's a close up of the different papers:
I just folded the cotton paper around the papers and glued it onto the back only - it's so fine and thin that I thought glueing it to the front of the card as well would make the glued areas visible. Also, instead of cutting the cotton paper at an angle, I drew a line with a paintbrush and water and just tore along the line, to give this pretty soft torn effect.
On top of the background card stock, I added gold card stock and some colour with a flowery themed scrapbook paper - the flowers also incorporating some natural element onto the card.

For the centre feature of the card, I spray painted small pieces of interesting curly bark from a tree in our garden, and glued a butterfly on top (not only does the butterfly itself symbolize nature, but it's also made from feathers which is another element from nature):
To embellish the card further, I made cute little flowers.  I punched out 3 mini flowers out of the same flowery scrapbook paper used on the card, pinned them together with a brad, and folded the petals upwards to add some 3D-ness.  This is the first time I'm making flowers like these (got the idea somewhere in blogland) and I'm really happy with how they turned out - very cute!  :)
But before I pinned them together, I pressed the back side of the flowers onto a gold ink pad, to add some colour, so that when the petals are folded upwards, you don't see any white underneath:
Then I was going to add some beige pearls, but finally settled on brown ones, as I thought the brown colour better represents nature in the form of earth/soil.
And of course I like to add a little something to decorate the inside of the card as well, so I stamped some butterflies in gold ink just on the right corners:


And a note for Making It With Meslyn Challenge Blog ladies - this card uses my following favourite things:  Butterflies and natural elements! :)

And then, one of the best inventions of the century....the 5 minute microwave single serving chocolate cake!
It's perfect for those late night chocolatey cakey cravings...and you most likely ALWAYS have these ingredients on hand!

Here's the recipe:

4 tbs     flour
4 tbs     sugar
2 tbs     cocoa powder
1           egg
3 tbs     milk
3 tbs     oil

*   Mix dry ingredients in large coffee mug (or any other microwavable dish really)
*   Add wet ingredients and mix well! (fork works great)
*   Microwave for 3 mins on high.
*   Wait for it too cool down (very important), and EAT!

:)

LINKY PARTIES linked to:
Saturday Mornings                                       A Little Lovely Blog
Scrappy Gifts                                                Just A Girl 
Tatertots & Jello                                           C.R.A.F.T.
Sumo's Sweet Stuff                                       It's A Blog Party
Texas Monkey                                              Mom's Crazy Cooking
Sew Chatty                                                   Sew Can Do
The DIY Show Off                                        Krafty Kat
The Girl Creative                                          Rook No. 17
Today's Creative Blog                                  Trendy Treehouse 
Free Pretty Things For You                          Vintage Wanna Bee

ENTERED into:
Hot Spot Challenge (Challenge #1)           Making It With Meslyn
Papertake Weekly                                   Sew Many Challenges #42

17 comments:

Monica said...

Wow, Monique... you are plain genius... don't know what to comment on first. I will start with the cake. It looks sooooooooooo yummilicious. Can I have a bite, please? Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Now to your lovely cotton paper card. How beautiful is that. I love that gold bark and the cotton paper looks awesome. I love using cotton paper on my cards, too. And in India I found it so easy to get it. I love the feathery butterfly... so many natural elements in one card. Love it!

xxx Monica

Stef H said...

oh wow monique! the card is absolutely gorgeous! wow! and your cake is definitely yummy. i'm taking this recipe for sure!

hugs :)

Carolyn said...

thank you for posting this project to the Making it with meslyn challenge for February.

Carolyn

xxxxx

Lisa said...

Beautiful card Monique! I'm loving the cute flowers you made. Thanks for sharing with us at Papertake Weekly :)

Esther Asbury said...

MMMM - chocolate in a cup looks SO tempting!! Perfect for "chocolate craving" day!

Love that butterfly --- so soft and delicate looking!

Kathy said...

Beautiful card! And thanks for sharing the chocolate cake recipe---I am going to try it right away! :-)

Sue McMahon said...

Look at the soft and lovely natural elements you added to your beautiful card! I love all the close up shots too! Thank you so much for joining us at The Hotspot Challenge! Hugs, Sue

Maria@Crafty Cre8tions said...

Wow - awesome card! So many terrific details!!!
And yumm.........the cake in a cup looks great! I'm sure it tasted great too!
Maria

Stephenie from Decorating Addiction said...

Your card is beautiful! There are so many intricate details! Well done. Found you through Rook 17.

Kristine said...

Oh wow! This is so beautiful!! Love the softness that mulberry paper adds to your card. All the elements work so nicely together! THANKS for playing with us at the Hotspot challenge!!

Tina @ MOMS CRAZY COOKING said...

Thanks so much for linking up to This Week's Cravings!

Miz Helen said...

Hi Monique,
I love your card it is very pretty. I am very happy to find your Chocolate Cake Recipe. I could have used this yesterday afternoon with my tea. Thank you so much for sharing and you have a great week!

Jess's Crafty Things said...

thanks for joining us at Making it with Meslyn Monique. you card is so delicate. glad to see a fellow South African joining us and jou kardtjie is pragtig!

Crafty Mommy Diva said...

so pretty. Love the gold on it. Thanks for linking up to Scrappy Saturdays!

Jenn Erickson said...

Monique, what a treat! A feast for the eyes and the palette! I love the butterfly and gold accents -- you really rock with mixed media! I have a feeling that chocolate cake is going to be making an appearance in a microwave in my neighborhood soon!

Happy Valentines' Day!

Michelle Pearson said...

i love the mixture of papers and textures you have going on here....perfection! thanks for playing the studio313 hotspot challenge! :)

Sylvia N. said...

Yum yum for one tum tum! Gonna make some for myself tonight! Find your own blogging brownie recipe, hubby!