Happy Earth Day!

This week I held several "Recycle/Reuse" classes to celebrate Earth Day.  We had great fun reusing aluminum cans, bubble wrap envelopes, and corrugated cardboard, plus both current and retired Stampin' Up! products and other miscellaneous items from my stash, to create some wonderful cards!

Click on image for closer look.

Following are materials lists and instructions for all three cards.

Card 1 -- Recycled Aluminum Can

Aluminum Can Butterfly Card

Materials

Stamp Set
* Banners For You

Paper
* Whisper White THICK card stock (8-1/2" x 5-1/2"; about 1" x 3-1/4" for banner)
* Lemon Lime Twist card stock (5-1/4" x 4")
* White Corrugated Paper (5" x 3-3/4" - Retired SU Product)
* Fresh Florals Designer Series Paper (3" x 3")

Ink
* Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad
* Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad
* Alcohol Ink: Bright Yellow; Lime Green; Grass Green (from my stash)

Accessories and Tools
* Big Shot Die Cutting Machine
* Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die (Retired SU Product)
* Bunch of Banners Framelits Dies
* 2" Circle Punch
* 2-1/4" Circle Punch
* Linen Thread
* Stylus
* Adhesives: Glue Dots; Multipurpose Liquid Glue; SNAIL Adhesive; Stampin' Dimensionals

Miscellaneous Items
* Cotton Swab (Q-Tip)
* Paper Towels

Instructions
(SNAIL Adhesive used to assemble card unless otherwise indicated.)

1. Score 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" card stock at 4-1/4"; fold away from score line to create card base.

2. Punch a 2-1/4" circle near bottom left corner of White Corrugated card stock.  (NOTE:  This needs to be close enough to edge that you can reach the center of the circle with the 2" Circle Punch -- see next step.)

3. Adhere Corrugated card stock to Lemon Lime Twist card stock.  Draw a small "x" on the Lemon Lime Twist card stock in the center of the punched circle, and then punch a 2" circle, centering the "x" in the punch.  (See photos below.)

4. Adhere 3" x 3" DSP to back of Lemon Lime Twist card stock so it shows through the "window."

5. Adhere Lemon Lime Twist card stock to front of card.

6. Punch three small butterflies and use Glue Dot or tiny dot of Liquid Glue to adhere to front of card as shown in sample.

7. Use Old Olive ink to stamp "FABULOUS FRIEND" on scrap of Whisper White card stock; use Lemon Lime Twist ink to stamp banner around words.  Use Big Shot and banner die to cut out banner; adhere to front of card as shown with Stampin' Dimensionals.

8. To create the butterfly focal piece, cut the top and bottom from a soda can and then cut up one side of the tube to create a sheet of aluminum.  Cut aluminum into smaller, manageable pieces (it wants to stay curled in the tube shape, so cutting it into smaller pieces makes it easier to work with).  Use Big Shot and Butterflies Die to cut out shape.

9. Fold paper towel into fourths and place under butterfly.  Use Alcohol Inks to "paint" butterfly.

Here's how I did it:

Place a few drops of each of the three colors into a painting palette with wells.

• Use cotton swab to cover entire butterfly shape with yellow to create a base coat.
• Use LARGE tip of stylus to place rows of the darkest green down each side of the butterfly wings (these will spread out and start to overlap each other -- that's ok).
• Use SMALL tip of stylus to place a drop of lighter green inside each of the darker green drops.
• Use SMALL tip of stylus to place a drop of yellow inside each of the lighter green drops.
• Use LARGE tip of stylus to place a few more drops of yellow on the inside portion of each wing.
• Use SMALL tip of stylus to place a few drops of light green at center of wings.

See photos below to see what this looked like after each application.

Of course, you're encouraged to come up with your own designs, but this is the one I liked the best for my butterflies.

10.  Once you've completed your butterfly and it's completely dry (it doesn't take long to dry since the alcohol evaporates very quickly), wrap a piece of linen thread around the center of the butterfly and tie a knot at the top to create the body and antennae.  Adhere to center of circle with a couple of Glue Dots.

Click on image for closer look.

🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

Card 2 - Recycled Corrugated Cardboard

The focal point of this card was created using a piece of corrugated cardboard from the flap of a Stampin' Up! shipping box and a retired Bigz die.

Materials

Stamp Sets
* Label Me Pretty
* Painted Harvest (carried over from 2017 Holiday Catalog)

Paper
* Crumb Cake card stock (8-1/2" x 5-1/2")
* Whisper White card stock (5-1/4" x 4"; about 4-1/4" x 2-1/2" for label; about 3/4" for center of flower)
* Crushed Curry card stock (about 3-1/4" x 2-1/4" for label; about 2-1/4" x 2-1/4" for flower)
* Basic Black card stock (about 2-1/2" x 5" for daisies; about 3/4" x 3/4" for circle)
* Petal Passion Designer Series Paper ("DSP") (5" x 3-3/4")
* Crushed Curry card stock

Ink
* Basic Black Archival Stampin' Pad

Accessories and Tools
* Big Shot Die Cutting Machine
* Fun Flowers Bigz L Die (SU Retired Product)
* Lots of Labels Framelits Dies
* Daisy Punch
* 3/4" Circle Punch
* Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine (or craft embroidery floss)
* Adhesives:  Glue Dots; Multipurpose Liquid Glue; SNAIL Adhesive; Stampin' Dimensionals

Miscellaneous
* Corrugated Cardboard (about 3-1/2" x 3-1/2")

Instructions

1. Score 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" Crumb Cake card stock at 4-1/4"; fold away from score line to create card base.

2. Adhere 5-1/4" x 4" Whisper White card stock to front of card.

3. Adhere 5" x 3-3/4" DSP over Whisper White card stock.

4. Cut 3-1/4" label from Crushed Curry card stock using Big Shot and Lots of Labels die; Cut 4-1/8" label from Whisper White card stock.  Adhere Crushed Curry label to Whisper White label about 1/8" from right edge.  Stamp sentiment near right end of label and attach to front of card as shown.

5. To create the flower, cut the following pieces using Big Shot and Fun Flowers Die:

• 1 large flower from corrugated cardboard
• 1 small 5-petal flower from Crushed Curry card stock
• 1 scalloped center from Whisper White card stock

Then . . .

• Punch 2 daisies from Basic Black card stock
• Punch 1 3/4" circle from Basic Black card stock

Make a 3-loop bow about 3-1/2" wide from the Baker's Twine.
Peel one side of paper away from corrugated cardboard to expose ribbed paper.

Assemble flower starting from the BOTTOM and layering up:

• Corrugated cardboard flower
• 3-loop bow: Use Glue Dot to adhere knot to center of cardboard flower; spread out the loops.
• Use a Glue Dot or Liquid Glue in the center of the daisies to adhere one over the other, rotating slightly so all petals are showing.  Use Glue Dots or Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere daisy to cardboard over Baker's Twine.
• Use a Bone Folder (or your fingers) to slightly bend the tips of the Crushed Curry flower toward the front; use Glue Dots or Liquid Glue to adhere to center of daisies.
• Use Glue Dots or Liquid Glue to adhere 3/4" Basic Black circle to center of Crushed Curry flower.
• Use Basic Black ink to stamp dots (from Painted Harvest stamp set) in center of small scalloped circle.  Use Glue Dots or Liquid Glue to adhere to center of 3/4" Circle.
• Use Liquid Glue to adhere completed flower to front of card over label.

🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

Card 3 - Stamping with Bubble Wrap Envelopes

This card was originally made at one of my craft room classes way back in October 2015.  I updated it slightly to use current Stampin' Up! colors (see list below), but the basic instructions can be found by clicking HERE.

Materials

Paper
* Crumb Cake card stock (8-1/2" x 5-1/2"; 4-3/4" x 3-5/8"; about 3-1/2" x 3" for big leaf)
* Always Artichoke card stock (5" x 3-3/4")
* Whisper White card stock (4" x 2-3/4")
* Pear Pizzazz card stock (about 4-1/4" x 2" for long leaf)
* So Saffron card stock (about 2" x 1-1/2" for small leaf)

All other materials are as listed in the original instructions.

🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

I hope you have enjoyed these projects!  Hopefully, this will prompt you to look for new uses for lots of other items rather than simply tossing them in the trash.

Cathy  ;D