Butterflies!

I love butterflies!

I am thrilled to see that not one but TWO Bundles feature butterflies in the new Spring Occasions Catalog! These projects are made using the Butterfly Gala Photopolymer Bundle, see it on the SU website here. See the other butterfly set, the Beauty Abounds Cling Bundle here. I'm excited to work with that one too!

These are the first of my finished products for the Butterly Gala Bundle!

A card for the Avid Crafter with Highland Heather & Daffodil Delight, using all the bells & whistles!

Perfect for the Casual Crafter, a card that features Lovely Lipstick & Granny Apply Green, the Level 1 Sale-A-Bration product Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper, and sequins! I have not placed any sentiment on this card so that I may use it as a note card, or add a sentiment at a later date for a birthday or anniversary. It's frustrating to pull the "perfect card" out of my card basket only to find out it says "congratulations on your graduation" when you need an anniversary card!

Another Casual Crafter card, a Sweet 3" x 3" card using Bermuda Bay & Call Me Clover, the new Well Said cling stamp set, Classic Label Punch and a few sequins too! I love the envelopes SU has for this card size, they come in a pack of 40 Whisper White Envelopes for $9.50! Or, if you have some Designer Series Paper you want to use up, the Envelope Punch Board is a great tool to have to make coordinating envelopes!

 My Process...

I used Memento Ink to stamp four rows of butterflies onto 8 1/2 x 11 Whisper White Cardstock.
I stamped each of the four butterfly stamps included in the set, both the little and big butterflies are on the same stamp, which is awesome, because you can punch them BOTH at the same time!!!!!

Stampin' Blends were my choice of coloring method for this project. Blender Pens used with Classic Ink Pads or Watercolor Pencils would work well too! I decided to color in each column of my sheet with the same colors, thereby having one each of the four butterfly patterns for that color selection. In the image above, for the row on the right I have just finished coloring, I used Lovely Lipstick and Granny Apple Green! Using both the Light and Dark Stampin' Blends in the two colors, I had four colors to work with, and I love the results!

I then punched out my butterflies using the coordinating punch. I always hold the punch upside down when I punch so that I may see what I'm punching and make sure the image is centered. Some people find standing up to punch gives them more leverage than sitting, making it easier to punch cleanly.

 

 

After punching the bottom row, I used the Stampin' Trimmer to trim off the first row, allowing me to get to the second row with ease.

Then I trimmed off the second row...

Then the third row...

As I punched, I placed the butterflies from each of my columns together in little piles.  My colors are, going clockwise: Lovely Lipstick & Granny Apple Green, Calyspo Coral & Shaded Spruce, Pool Party & Balckberry Bliss, Daffodil Delight & Highland Heather...with a touch of Blackberry Bliss on a few, and Call Me Clover & Bermuda Bay.

To keep my butterflies organized for future projects, and to keep me from using my detective skills later in determining which ink color I used, I then placed each of my piles into Clear Medium Envelopes. They are great "bags" too for organizing punched items! I cut sticky notes in half, wrote the colors I used for each butterfly and placed the stick notes INSIDE the bag so they do not fall off as I shuffle things on my desk!

Contact me with any questions or to order any of the Stampin' Up! products you see here by email at 207colorfulcreations@gmail.com.

Now, go and create something colorful today!

~Susan Morrison

A note on Clear Envelopes:  These clear envelopes fit a standard 5-1/2" x 4-1/4"card and are sold in 50 count packages for just $5.50! Yes, you can actually mail your cards in clear envelopes!!! But you have to pay the hand cancelled rate of $.70 as the plastic renders them non-machinable according to the USPS. If your card has any bulk to it, layers with sequins, any wood elements, buttons, etc. make sure to use the correct postage, usually the $.70 2 oz./non-machinable rate!