Butterfly purse & notecards set for a 'Black, White, & Colour' challenge!

ETA: Templates are in PDFs here

These note-cards (and the little purse to tuck them in) were inspired by Sharon's versatile black white & colour challenge & the text on Janine's gorgeous blue bird card. I really love the idea of black & white with colour. I've been using green and white a lot, but never thought to add the black--Thanks for the inspiration ladies! Being broke has been another kind of inspiration that's been really good for me. ;0) (We're post-university job hunting...) Budgeting has helped me appreciate sets & supplies that I've been too lazy to use. I stamped with these two sets (Stem Silhouettes & Merci) for the first time this week. :0)

The butterflies are...

• ...embossed in black on Naturals cardstock (on which I had printed a photocopy of an Oscar Wilde text, but you could print out any etext you like)
  

• ...cut out (antennae are cut off & stamped on separately later)
  

• ...distressed around the edges with a Certain Celery marker

• ...glittered using Stampin' Up!s new glitter on Crystal Effects

• (I also added Crystal Effects allover the wings of the butterfly for the purse, since I wanted it sturdy, so I could use it as the closure):

The purse in the set above may look like it's one of those pre-made ones from SU, but it isn't. It's made using a sneaky trick that you might find handy: You can extend the life of your templates (or your friend's templates, hehehe!) by using the negative of them (or even saving one of the positives) to trace:

The only real trick would be to remember where the score lines go, and you're all set. (You could mark them onto the template, so you won't forget where to score.)

This is not only a cheap trick (I really lurve saving money); it also has some snifty benefits:

• It lets you reproduce your favourite precut 3D projects even after they're discontinued--like this SU product which is no longer available.
  

• It lets you choose your favourite colours (instead of the limited ones that the projects are sold in.)
  

• It gives you access to free templates that are 12x12" size (all of the templates I share on the net have to fit on a standard sheet of paper because of my scanner bed size, where this one is 12x12")
  

• It lets you alter the templates, if you're so inclined (For instance, you could draw a square or pointed flap on this kind of purse instead of a scalloped flap.)

• You can also use templates as a basis for your own custom ones (assuming they are not sold.) I hope to adapt this one by takin' off the sides and altering the front so I can share several templates with you:
  

ETA: Templates are in PDFs here

Other purse/ note-card details:

• The notecards are 3x3 inch square (I can't get enough of that size & now I cut them from 12x12 cardstock--so there's no waste at all!) This c.s. is Certain Celery, Black & Confetti.
  
• The stems are stamped in Silver Encore ink and embossed in clear embossing powder
• Then Green Galore Stamp'n'Write marker dots are added to the stems for some colour
• The little 3x3 envelopes (from SU) are stamped with Certain Celery to match
  

The purse handle is attached on the back of the purse (or it wouldn't open properly.) I struggled with how to attach it, and finally came up with double-sided tape & brads. I pushed the brads through from the inside & put little black flowers over them at the back. (You don't see the mess that way.) :0) Adhering a strip of paper to ribbon handles makes them sturdy and shapeable (is that a word?):

You can match the colour of your cardstock strip to add to the back of your ribbon handle. (It seems a lot more shapely & sturdy that way)

Hope that was useful to you & Hope you have a glorious day! :0)


P.S. Need a purse template right now? There are 103 of them linked here.