So...I have gotten my creative juices running for Mother's Day. I was getting out of my car in the lot at work and making my drowsy way up the flight of stairs to begin the much dreaded gathering of my quarterly statistics, when I noticed a butterfly on one of the tree branches. It was weird because I rarely see butterflies this time of the year.
I love butterflies (probably as much as Mariah Carey) and have used a butterfly motif in many of the cards that I have given friends. In the past, I have tried to add dimension to the butterflies and they have turned out fine (my friends like them).....but I wanted a little something different. Something fresh. Then I remembered my mom's Spring Wreath. She has made wreaths for every season. Her Spring Wreath had these fabric butterflies that added a lot of dimension and flight. I knew I wanted to start my etsy store and what a perfect time with Mother's Day just around the corner. So...off to Beverley's Fabrics I went (of course after putting in a long day of crunching numbers).
I came across these pink and orange butterflies that I knew would be perfect for the cards I had in mind. I also wanted the butterfly to sit on a branch. I was thinking using a real tree branch (of course smaller in scale) but was concerned that it wouldn't hold up in the mail. Thank the Gods for Cricut. One of my better purchases. I had used the Cricut Winter Woodland cartridge while making my Christmas cards this past year. The cartridge has a great tree branch image that would be perfect for the card (cardstock is a little sturdier than actual tree parts.)
I have been doing a lot of heat embossing lately and can't seem to stop myself from purchasing a new stamp every couple of weeks. Of course I had to get a new mother's day stamp. The stamp (pictured above) is from inkadinado. It's the perfect size for making a tag and the perfect image for heat embossing. As you heat embossers know, the more detail the stamp has can sometimes lead to a messy looking image.
The first of the two butterfly cards I made was the one with the orange butterfly. At first I was happy with the card, but after sitting on it for a while...I thought it needed a little more pop. I love adding beads to my cards (which initially I had added some on the the tree branch and the flowered paper) because I really like the detail that it adds to the cards.
I decided that the "Happy Mother's Day" tag needed a little more dimension. I decided to add some more beads to the tag. I think 
the flower shapes I created with the beads gives the entire card a better look. I am much happier with the final product (second card pictured).
Just a little bit about the card: The front of the card is double layered with Brazzill Basics Cream Paper and a very pretty orange flower paper I picked up at Beverley's. I added the branch cut out from the Cricut cartridge Winter Woodlands using a heavy gold paper and added pink beads to the the leaves section of the branch and orange beads to the centers of the flowers on the orange flower paper. The final tag is layered on the same flowered paper and cream paper used to make the card.
I accented the cream paper used for the tag with orange paint that I lightly brushed on to give it an antique feel. The tag is attached using cooper grommets. I added a piece of orange ribbon to the top of the card and used Martha Stewart's blade to fray the edges of the card and Martha Stewart Hibiscus stamp pad to add some color to the frayed edges.
I left the card
black inside but like to add a little personal touch with coordinating paper and/or themes. As you can see in the third picture, the inside of the card turned out pretty cute. I love the orange ribbon accents.
Materials Used:
Acid Free White Card Stock
Bazzill Basics Paper: cream
Orange Flower Paper
Orange Craft Butterfly
Gold Tree Branch Image from Cricut Winter Woodland Cartridge
"Happy Mother's Day" stamp from inkandinado
Pirate Gold Stampendous Embossing Powder
Orange Ribbon & Pink and Orange Beads
My second card turned out great. I really like the pink and brown together. Just a little bit about the card: The front of the card is double layered with Brazzill Basics Tan Paper and a brown and pink stripe paper from the Jolie Paper Pad Chocolat collection. Using a heavy gold paper, I added the branch cut out from the Cricut cartridge Winter Woodlands and added pink beads to the the leaves section of the branch. The tag is layered on the same brown and pink stripe paper and Brazzill Basics Pink paper. I used Martha Stewart's Hibiscus stamp pad to add some color to the tag. The tag is accented with pink beads with a gold center making the decorations look like flowers. I topped the card off with a bow made with gold and pink ribbon.
Just like the orange butterfly card, I left the card black inside but like to add a little personal touch with coordinating paper and/or themes.
Materials Used
Acid Free White Card Stock
Bazzill Basics Paper: tan
Jolie Paper Pad Chocolat: brown and pink stripe
Pink Craft Butterfly
Gold Tree Branch Image from Cricut Winter Woodland Cartridge
"Happy Mother's Day" stamp from inkandinado
Pirate Gold Stampendous Embossing Powder
Tan & Pink Ribbon
Pink & Gold Beads
Did I tell you how much I love my Cricut. Ok...I love my Cricut.
The card is layered in Vintage Pink and brown (sorry, didn't write down the the exact color name) for the brown cardstock from Bazzill Basics and this cool decorative geometrical design cardstock from Jolie's Chocolat. The pad is awesome and have created a bunch of cards using the decorative paper. I highly recommend purchasing it if you get a chance. I machine stitched the decorative paper to the card using brown thread. I purposely created the stitching with a few waves to add a little dimension to the overall feel of the card. The inside of the card is also layered in browns and pink. 
Now for the purse and accessories....I used a different sheet from the Chocolat pad for the outside of the purse and layered the same decorative sheet used for the main frame of the card for the lining of the purse. I added some beads to the purse for a decorative feel. Of course no purse is complete without accessories. I cut out gloves, lipstick, and a mirror using pink, brown and gold cardstock. For the mirror, I used silver cardstock for the mirror and gold cardstock for the handle. I also embellshed each accesory with beads and added some gold and brown stamping ink to the edges. I cut out several layers for each of the accessories to give them some thickness. All the accessories have been attached to the purse with glue dots. The purse is attached to the card with glue dots. 
I can't tell you how much I love TV. My favorite show is Lost but I'm up for anything (except for reality tv). After watching some old episodes of the Brady Bunch, I wanted to do something creative with flowers and windows. So this is what I came up with.
For the middle of the card, I broke out the cricut and cut multiple flowers in various shades from the Walk in My Garden cartridge. I attached the two outer flowers with a gold brad and the two center flowers were attached with glue on a strip of yellow based flower decorative paper. I added some decorative beads in the center of the two flower for some added effect.
So...I have gotten my creative juices running for Mother's Day. I was getting out of my car in the lot at work and making my drowsy way up the flight of stairs to begin the much dreaded gathering of my quarterly statistics, when I noticed a butterfly on one of the tree branches. It was weird because I rarely see butterflies this time of the year. 
the flower shapes I created with the beads gives the entire card a better look. I am much happier with the final product (second card pictured).
black inside but like to add a little personal touch with coordinating paper and/or themes. As you can see in the third picture, the inside of the card turned out pretty cute. I love the orange ribbon accents.
My second card turned out great. I really like the pink and brown together. Just a little bit about the card: The front of the card is double layered with Brazzill Basics Tan Paper and a brown and pink stripe paper from the Jolie Paper Pad Chocolat collection. Using a heavy gold paper, I added the branch cut out from the Cricut cartridge Winter Woodlands and added pink beads to the the leaves section of the branch. The tag is layered on the same brown and pink stripe paper and Brazzill Basics Pink paper. I used Martha Stewart's Hibiscus stamp pad to add some color to the tag. The tag is accented with pink beads with a gold center making the decorations look like flowers. I topped the card off with a bow made with gold and pink ribbon.
Just like the orange butterfly card, I left the card black inside but like to add a little personal touch with coordinating paper and/or themes.
