Blank Page Muse Blog: Zhuzhed Vellum Butterflies ~ WINGS

Sunday, May 25, 2025

Zhuzhed Vellum Butterflies ~ WINGS

Hello! Welcome back to the BPM blog. Today's project features vellum butterflies that are zhuzhed. Zhuzh is to make something stylish, lively or attractive. Bear with me for now but you will see what I mean at the end of the post.

The stamp I used is the Blank Page Butterfly Breezes clear stamp set.

I colored a heavy weight vellum with Copic markers. I overlapped the colors. Just make sure the colors that you overlap are complementary so you don't end up with a muddy color.

I dipped a paint brush on the blender fluid and tapped the brush on the colored vellum. If you don't have a blender fluid, you can use rubbing alcohol instead.

The blender fluid moved the alcohol ink creating a splatter effect. I heat set the vellum to dry it.

I inked the butterfly with a black pigment ink. After treating the vellum with an anti-static tool, I stamped the butterfly to the colored vellum. Stamping on vellum can be tricky. Because of the slick surface of the vellum, there is a chance that the stamp will shift. You can use a stamping tool if you like to prevent this.

I poured black embossing powder to the wet pigment ink. I wanted the lines to be a true black that's why I chose a black embossing powder over a clear embossing powder.

I heat set the powder to melt it. Using a heavy weight vellum is very advantageous in preventing any warping the vellum brought about by repeated heating.

I fussy cut the butterflies leaving a small border around it.

I arranged the butterflies on a woodgrain cardstock cut at 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

To keep the arrangement of the butterflies, I picked the butterflies with a Press 'NSeal wrap.

I sprayed and flicked Tim Holtz Tarnished Brass Distress Spray Stain on the woodgrain panel for a bit of interest. I heat set this to dry.

I applied glue only to the centers of the flat butterflies. Notice that the butterflies are still attached to the Press 'NSeal wrap.

I carefully flipped the wrap so the side with the glue faces the cardstock.

I gently press the butterflies to the panel. I set this aside to dry.

After I removed the Press 'NSeal, I gently lifted the wings of the butterflies off the cardstock. Except for the butterfly on its side, all the butterflies have its wings zhuzhed.