Greetings from St. John in the British Virgin Islands!  This island is a flora and fauna mecca with white gorgeous beaches and amazing snorkeling.   Unfortunately it is raining so hard we can’t leave the ship yet.  So I thought I would share a quick card with you today.  With the natural beauty that this island holds, I thought a card with the Swallowtail stamp would be appropriate.  It is quickly becoming my favorite background stamp to use.  .

What’s so great about the Swallowtail is that it really is such an impressive image to use as the focal point for your creative projects.  Here I chose to add a little color to my project with a blender pen and some Stampin’ Up! Markers.  I have really grown used to my clear mount Swallowtail stamp which has really surprised me.  I normally always favor wood mount stamps when it comes to background stamps.  Click here to read my first experience with this great stamp

Creative Tips:

• I embossed my image in Black Craft Ink and Crystal Clear Embossing Powder. 
• To color my image, I used a Summer Starfruit Marker for the base and a blender pen with More Mustard ink  for highlights and depth.  To add a little orange to my wings, I used my blender pen in the Tangerine Tango Ink Pad.
• To collect ink for coloring, squeeze your pad and collect ink in the lid.  Don’t worry about wiping it out, the ink will stay fresh on the plastic surface.  This is one of the benefits of Stampin’ Up! Ink Pads – you can squeeze them.

• For a lighter shade, use an Aqua Painters instead of a Blender Pen.
• To bring a little emphasis to my image, I sponged more mustard around the edge of my image before mounting it to a piece of Basic Black card stock.
• My project looked best on a base of More Mustard to pull color from the main image.
• For my greeting, I used my favorite Thanks stamp from a set that retired 10 years ago. 

The Swallowtail stamp can be used for just about any occasion.  I personally love this look and find that it works for a masculine card as well – and that’s always a good thing!

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Stamp Sets – Swallowtail (129213w, 129216c) Ink – Tangerine Tango (126946), Summer Starfruit Marker (126856), More Mustard (126964)  Paper – Whisper White (100730), More Mustard (100946), Basic Black (121045)  Cool Tools – blender pen (102845), Aqua Painters (103954)  Finishing Touch – Stampin’ Sponges (101610)