Butterflies Flutterby

Who among us doesn't like butterflies? The delicate beauty of these little creatures and their carefree spirit as they flit among the flowers leaves those of us who are firmly bound to the earth wistful and longing. However, in truth, the little beauties lead a rather difficult and short life as they are easy prey for the weather, birds and other creatures. Ah well, enough of reality, let's get back to the sheer beauty and joy of the lovely little butterfly.

Butterflies seem to be a favorite embellishment among card makers, and I am no exception, so I was totally delighted when I received this butterfly die in the set of Marianne's Craftable dies that was my latest DT assignment for Dutch Paper Crafts. This die (CR1205) is absolutely beautiful with details!

For this first card, I combined kraft brown, yellow and purple to create a stunning Easter card. Starting with a white card base, I added a layer of kraft and then a layer of a deep yellow dotty paper. On top of the yellow paper, I added a kraft die that I cut using my Spellbinder beaded oval die. The sentiment is typed and printed off onto white card. It reads, "Glad wishes wing their way to greet you on this Easter day." I cut it out using a Spellbinder plain oval die.

I cut the butterfly twice. Once from a dark lavendar and once from a lighter lavendar card. I glued the two butterflies together in the middle (body) area only, leaving their wings separate. I added some small lavendar pearls to the body, then attached the butterfly to my card at the right of the sentiment. I then gently folded the top wings upward to give the butterfly dimension. I added the lavendar ribbon and bow and some Wild Orchid Crafts flowers. Stunning little card.

One of the lovely things about butterflies is they appeal both to women and men. I decided to make a second card and try to capture a more masculine feel using the same die. This time, I used the kraft card as my base card. On top of that, I layered a darker, chocolate brown. Then on top of that, I added a layer of DP paper from a little 6"x6" pad by Bo Bunny called the et cetera collection. Using another piece from the same pad, I matted that with the dark brown.

I selected a piece from the same little pad that was a deeper golden color. The sheet had subtle brown wording on it, but I thought that added to the interest of the butterfly shape and gave it more dimension. Again, I cut two butterflies, layering them on top of each other and gluing the bodies together.

Lastly, I added ribbon, two amber colored gems and the sentiment. I think the overall look is quite nice and achieves the masculine look that I was after. I think you can see from my two samples that despite the delecate cuts and embossed details of this Marianne die, it is quite a versatile shape. I'm thrilled to have it in my collection. If you, too, would like this little die, visit Dutch Paper Crafts (link in sidebar)/