Cheery Lynn Doily Challenge

I did mention I was addicted to challenges this month, right? :D  I barely got this one done in time, though.

Most of the challenges I've found deal with stamping, but this one was for dies. Yay!  I love dies!  Specifically, Cheery Lynn's challenge this week was to use a doily in a design.  And while the doily didn't have to be Cheery Lynn, at least one die on the project had to be.

Lucky for me, I'd just recently purchased two "Christmas themed" Cheery Lynn dies from Sweet Stamps.  The Christmas is in quotes because while they're called Christmas doilies, I think they have so many more uses.

Like stained glass?



That's what I went for anyway.

I started by using a colorbox ink  (mermaid specifically) on a technique I've been wanting to try -- applying the ink to one part of an embossing folder before running it through the machine.  I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder (Madison) and was rather happy with the results.



My doily choice was the Christmas Ball Decoration, which I ended up cutting three times.  Once was in white and run through enough to actually punch the holes.  The second time was also in white, but purposely undercut so I'd have instruction lines for my coloring.  This die did come with an angel wing, but since I wanted multiple colors for the interior of the doily, I needed an undercut of the full die for best results.  The third time was in a darker blue, purely to add just a fraction more height and that barest hint of shadow.



I colored the second doily (the undercut) using Sakura Stardust glitter pens.  Wow do they sparkle. By far the best glitter pens I've used to date.




Then I added some leaves from a Sizzix die (one of the leaves from Flowers, Branches and Leaves) and drew a detail line on the leaves using a dark green Sakura glaze.



The butterflies are also Cheery Lynn, specifically the mini exotic butterflies.  Those I also cut twice, once in blue for the top layer and once in white undercut so I could use the same coloring technique on their wings.



I traced the blessing from a computer printout (my handwriting's not that good!  Also... transparent vellum isn't recognized by my printer....) onto a teal vellum, which I cut and lightly embossed using a Spellbinders die.



Finally, I added the flowers, which I'd put together from Michael's supplies several months ago for another project.  Glad I made extras. :D



My intention is for this to be part of a pair or perhaps a 3-part triptych with the other pieces also using doilies and finishing the blessing.