Monday 8 September 2014

Buttergears Take Flight

Today I was gazing out the window, watching the yellowing leaves fall from the trees when a large airship landed right in front of the Guild Hall. Sighing at the interruption of my melancholy reverie, I put down my mug, threw on a cloak and, shoving a dagger in my boot for good measure, headed outside to see what this unexpected visitor wanted.
“Hail, good lady!” a woman called as she disembarked from her steaming airship. Her curly pink hair cascaded down her back from underneath a bowler hat. She held a monocle up to her eye, examining me. “Are you the Guild Master?” she inquired.
“I am.”
“Excellent!” She pulled a small clear box from a pouch on her thigh. It contained a tiny butterfly fluttering and whirring inside it’s glass prison. Upon closer inspection, it appeared the insect was comprised of tiny gears!  

This card was created for the Creative Card Crew “urban/steampunk” challenge that is happening now. Make a urban or steampunk themed project and come play along with us for your chance to win a prize from one of our sponsors!
donkerblauw.jpg  KKD.blinkie.gif
I started this card by colouring the KennyK “Inspector Em” image using Distress Markers and cutting her out. Next I stamped and clear heat embossed the gear image from the Tim Holtz “Industrial Blueprint” set. The sentiment I stamped using the Lawn Fawn “Beep Boop Birthday” set. Last thing I did was die cut that steampunk butterfly. I was super pumped about that die when I found it, and I was incredibly disappointed with it. As you can tell from the slightly mangled right side, it really did not cut very well...and this was my FIFTH attempt. I tried using shims to make it tighter, ran it through the machine back and forth numerous times, and nothing would make a nice clean cut - there was always one section (not always the same section, mind you) that would not be cut the whole way through. It was a most infuriating trial and earned me +3400 frustration XP!

On the inside I stamped the sentiment, gears, and butterfly using a bunch of different Unity stamps.

I stamped the same gears on the envelope to make everything match.

This card will gear up for the following challenges:

“What is that creature?” I exclaimed.
“We have started calling them buttergears. I was hoping you would be able to help me,” the woman replied. “These mechanical butterflies have completely taken over my city. They started appearing a fortnight ago and now there are so many it is unsafe to be outdoors. They must be powered by some sort of magic,” she explained, offering me the clear box to examine the creature closer.
“Let us go inside, Madame. I will make you a hot beverage and we can formulate a plan.” 
The strange woman and I made for the comfort of the Guild Hall while the odd buttergear whirred and clicked inside the glass cube, seemingly protesting our planning the destruction of its brethren.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

6 comments:

Shuly said...

oh this butterfly is so gorgeous!! and it perfectly matches your background paper and image! great colors, i love the vintage touch.
thank you so much for entering our "Let's fly away" challenge at Love to scrap!

Jen Leeflang said...

What a fabulous card! Thanks so much for taking up our September “Anything Goes” Challenge at Bugaboo Stamps! Good luck in the draw – and if you’re not one of the winners, please do come back and join us again tomorrow, when we start a new challenge!
Luv’n huggz
Jen Leeflang
BUGABOO DT

Vicky said...

Love this card, steampunk and a butterfly my perfect combination!

Thanks for joining us over on Kenny K Krafty Krew
Hugs Vicky

Margaret said...

What a fabulous card. Love the butterfly with the gears. I just love to visit your blog and read the little stories. What creativity. Maggie - DT Teamie

Carol said...

A fabulous creation, loving your gears and cogs. Thanks for joining us at CFAS this time. Carol DT x

NickScrapShack said...

What a fun story - love it! Great creation and perfect sentiment. I might CAS that one day.

Thank you for playing along with our challenge at Kenny K Krafty Krew.
Good luck and hope to see you back soon!
Nick
Team A(ll That)

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