Saturday, 27 June 2026

Iridescent Wings


Hi everyone, having recently made a card featuring a Visible Image dragonfly (here), I remembered I also have a beautiful contemporary style stamp set of dragonflies and flowers, which is best part of 20 years old but has hardly ever been used! I really enjoyed painting the iridescent dragonfly wings (inspired by watching ‘Springwatch’!) so I thought it was high time for me to rectify this neglect, and I determined to use the largest dragonfly stamp in the set - here’s the result.


I die cut a stitched square frame from white card, then used a separate snippet to make a piece  that would fit behind the aperture. I applied a soft wash of iridescent watercolour paints to the small panel, then when dry stamped with a Crafty Individuals script stamp using 2nd generation Twilight VFC. I stamped the focal dragonfly onto a separate snippet of white card using Twilight VFC and heat embossed, then painted the wings with iridescent watercolour paints topped with Spectrum Noir sparkle pen, fussy cut and set aside. I stamped part of a large floral stamp from the same set across the corners and painted the flower petals as above. I stamped the sentiment then assembled the card, added some silver metallic Posca accents and faux spatters, then matted onto a teal border and a 6” square card blank.


Stamps: The Stamp Man Daisy Daydreams; Crafty Individuals script stamp; Visible Image Birthday Wishes;
Media: Versafine Clair (Twilight); Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paints (Jade Mint, Sapphire Sparkle); Luminarte watercolour paint (Bolivian Blue); Posca pen (silver); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); clear embossing powder; 
Tools: Hunkydory Moonstone Duo-Stitched Square dies.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Alphabet ChallengeE is for embossing, wet or dry
Colourful Options (June) - Tiffany Blue (2nd entry)
(Aqua, teal, turquoise, blue/green)


Girlz and the Art of Letters #30 - D is for .. - WINNER
(dragonfly)
Neglected Stuff (June) - Use Your Neglected Stash
Pick 3 #6 - Pick 3
(Frame/sparkle/sentiment) - sorry but the graphic would not download from Pick 3 challenge site
{PIN}spirational # 338 - Blue  and Green (2nd entry)


Simon Says (Wednesday)Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Snippets Playground #535Use Snippets
Try It On TuesdayIn the Garden
Word Art Wednesday #758/759Anything Goes (2nd entry)

I actually had a disaster with this card, which miraculously I somehow managed to rescue. The card was all finished, and the following day I went into town where I bought a silver Posca pen to replace the one I used on this card, as the nib had broken. Anyhow, when I got home, in a classic case of “can’t leave it alone” syndrome, I decided to add slightly more silver dots to the dragonfly wings. At some point I pressed down fractionally too hard, resulting in a huge blot of silver ink on one of the wings - WAH! Luckily I acted fast, blotting it off with a baby wipe then paper towel. This left a shimmery halo effect… at this point the saving grace was the fact that the wings were painted with shimmery metallic watercolour paints - I whipped them out speedily and applied another layer to the damaged wing, which effectively covered up the silver Posca shimmer … phew! Who knew I could move so fast in a heatwave??

Take care and thanks for visiting.
Hugs,

17 comments:

inkblocks said...

Pauline, I too have the “can’t leave it alone” syndrome, and I laughed (with you) reading as the tragedy in the craft room unfolded. Your card is lovely and kudos to you for giving fresh life to older images that warrant more time in the light! :o) Nancy J

Sarn said...

Hah! We’ve all suffered with THAT syndrome Pauline. Well done on saving the project. It’s a gorgeous dragonfly and looks like something Kay Carley would design. “The Stamp Man” is a blast from the past!

Thanks for coming to play in the Snippets Playground. See you at the paddling pool with a nice refreshing drink. xxx

Meggymay said...

A fantastic dragonfly image and card. Thank you for linking with us at Try it on Tuesdays.

Melanie Hungerford said...

Love how that color palette inspired you, and and love the embossed dragon fly. Wonderful card, thank you for joining us at the Alphabet Challenge!

Darlene said...

Oh Pauline . . . this is SO SO pretty! Thanks so much for joining in the fun at our Neglected Stuff challenge! Good Luck and we hope you’ll come back often.

Darlene
DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS
Neglected Stuff Co-Owner
NEGLECTED STUFF CHALLENGE

Deanne Saunders said...

So beautiful!!! Thanks so much for participating in our PINSPIRATIONAL challenge!!! I appreciate that you play along and I enjoy visiting your blog!! Have a happy crafty day!! Deanne at A Little Bit O’ Paper

Chris said...

This is beautiful Pauline, great use of those long neglected stamps, lovely colour choice and design. The dragonfly's shimmery wings are gorgeous, the whole card has a soft and delicate feel. Great save by the way, and yes, so many times I've gone back and added to a design only to wish, for one reason or another, that I'd left well alone!
xx

HilaryJane said...

Your card is stunning and thanks for sharing your little mistake. That is exactly the sort of thing that I do. So reassuring. Well done for saving the day xx

Gillena Cox said...

Happy Tuesday
Lovely card
I am 23 on the linkky

Much love

Ellibelle said...

Another gorgeous dragonfly card Pauline, love this one too and perfect colors for it. The card design is really wonderful too, might need to add this frame die set to my wishlist. Always love your cards made with it.

Barb Finnical said...

Pauline, this is an absolutely gorgeous card! I’m so glad you were able to use some supplies that you’ve had for so long. We are all in that same boat for sure! I love how iridescent and shiny your dragonfly looks. Much like real life. Thanks so much for playing along with us at Word Art Wednesday. We appreciate your participation!

Aquarius said...

Managed t miss this beauty when you posted it as it only arrived top of my bloglist today along with the calendar page. This is a lovely dragonfly which I'm sure deserves to be used rather than languishing in storage somewhere. Very well rescued from imminent disaster too - love it.

Jules said...

Hi Pauline
Love this card very much .. .. and could feel your pain prior to the perfect rescue! I think we are all guilty of wanting to add "just that little bit extra" and sometimes regret it. But no-one would know things had gone a little awry with this lovely creation.
Gorgeous colour choices too.
Hope you are having a lovely weekend.
Love Jules xoxo

EmmaT said...

Pretty soft card. Great rescue with the dragonfly, i would have gone down the easier route of stamping another one and adding on top I think x

My name is Erika. said...

I love these 2 colors you chose Pauline. And that is a great dragonfly image. What a lovely card, and perfect for our In the Garden challenge at Try It on Tuesday. Thanks for joining us. hugs-Erika

Claudia's kaartjes said...

Amazing card. wauw Thanks for entering you card at Girlz & The Art of Letters
Zo tof je kaartje. Wauw, Girlz & The Art of Letters
Crea lieve Groetjes Claudia ❤️🦋❤️

Claudia
🦋✨ Claudia's Kaartjes ✂️🩷

Mrs.B said...

A lovely card Pauline, I can imagine the shimmer on the dragonfly wings, beautiful. Love the stamping in the corners, a great touch.
Thanks for sharing at Try it on Tuesday. Avril x