Let's Craft and Create Challenge #230: Anything Goes or Beautiful Butterflies (use a butterfly)...

 

It's a beautiful time of year, and we've got a beautiful challenge for you at Let's Craft and Create: Beautiful Butterflies. Of course, you can also choose to enter our challenge under the "Anything Goes" theme.

I chose to create a butterfly-themed Easter card. I love making cards with butterflies and have oodles of butterfly dies. The one I've used for this card is a clear favorite, although I like them all.

I first chose some DSP that was lavendar with a subtle pattern of small yellow circles scattered across it. I decided where my circle cut-out was going to be. Then I adhered the DSP to the top-fold card front, making sure I didn't put any adhesive in the circle area. I needed to use the white circle die-cut to finish the card!

I used a slightly smaller circle die to cut a piece of yellow paper and, centering it on the circle cut from my card front, glued it down.

Then it was time to create my beautiful butterfly. I die-cut the front wings and back wings from white cardstock. I used small blending brushes to add the yellow, aqua and purple inks.

Then I cut the body and wing tips from black cardstock and assembled my butterfly.

It was added to the circle by adhering the body first and then popping the wings up a bit with some tiny foam squares.

The sentiment was stamped, die-cut and also popped up with a thin foam strip. A few gems were scattered on the card front for some sparkle.

This is how the card looks when opened: The butterfly circle is on a mechanism that pops it up and keeps it visible on the inside.

Finally, I stamped an Easter sentiment just below the circle, leaving plenty of room to sign the card.

If you'd like to watch a video tutorial on how to make this card, On Y Go Stamping has a great one here.

I hope you'll give this fun card a try! Be sure to check out what the rest of the Design Team has  made to inspire you on the Let's Craft and Create blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

If you don't think brown is an Easter color...

 ...just think chocolate Easter bunnies and eggs. I'm a bit of a choco-holic (dark chocolate only, please!), so I'm a firm believer in brown for Easter cards. Here's an example of one I made:

I started with an A2 white card base. I cut 3/4" off the right hand side of the front and then used a border punch to create the scalloped edge. When that was done, I cut a panel of brown DSP to adhere to the front.

I used my "bunny on a stool" die set, a stitched egg die and a sentiment die to create all the pieces needed to finish the card front.

If you look closely at the bunny, you'll see that I added some pink to his ears and his cheek.

The Easter eggs were cut from DSP, so no stamping or coloring needed to decorate them.

I added a 1" strip of some coordinating DSP to the right side of the inside and rounded the corners. Then I added a panel with a computer-printed sentiment on it to finish the card.

I think it's fun to use unexpected colors for cards occasionally. At Christmastime, I like to make a few cards using pastel pinks and blues.

A big "Happy Easter" to all who celebrate!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Easter cards for the grands...

I always make an Easter card for each of our five granddaughters and five grandsons. Here's what I made this year:

This is the card I made for each of our granddaughters. I die-cut the top layer with all the bunny ears inside the egg apertures. I measured to determine the size of the pieces of pastel cardstock I would need to back each egg aperture. Once I had them all cut, I taped them together (on the back side) and then tested this taped rectangle on my card to make sure it would fit correctly. This was such a good way to use up some scraps!

This method worked great, and by the fifth card, I could do it pretty quickly.

When I had all the colored pieces taped together and sized correctly, I adhered it to the front of the cardbase. Then I added thin foam strips to the back of the die-cut and positioned it over the colored cardstock piece.

I made sure I put a thin foam strip behind each ear so that it was supported. If you look closely, you'll see one of those foam strips peeking out from behind the ear in the yellow egg shape.

The sentiment was stamped, matted and glued directly to the card front.

I made one card using little pieces of DSP as backing for the egg apertures. 

I even made one card with a colorful backing made from leftover strips of pink and purple cardstock.

This photo shows how I stamped the sentiment on the inside and added two little eggs for embellishments. The eggs were always coordinated with the colors/papers I had used on the card front.

These are the cards I made for our grandsons.

Some of them had a bunny peeking around the trunk of a tree...

...and others showed the bunny peeking around a brick wall. Both the tree and the brick wall were created by using embossing folders on strips of brown or beige cardstock and inking them with a finger dauber and some brown ink.

The bunnies' ears and noses were colored pink with an alcohol marker and a little pink chalk was added to the cheeks.

The cloudy backgrounds were created with a stencil and a blending brush, and each sentiment was stamped, matted and popped up with foam squares. The image panels were matted with the same dark blue cardstock.

This was the sentiment stamped on the inside of each grandson's card.

I had lots of fun making these cards. I love using simple, but effective, die sets that help me make a memorable card.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

A pretty basket of Easter eggs...

 

I had this blue embossed piece in my card parts. It had already been inked to better show the embossed design. I am certain I did that by gently swiping an enk pad across the top of it.

I matted it with a navy blue cardstock and adhered it to the card front. 

I cut a small white rectangle with a coin-edge die and stamped it with "Happy Easter."

The basket was in my Easter box, a die-cut left over from last year. After inking it a bit for more dimension, I punched out a few pieces of greenery, die-cut some eggs and filled the basket.

I glued the basket to the white rectangle, putting one of the extra pieces of greenery under the lower right corner, as if it had fallen out of the basket.

After popping the rectangle up on the card front, I knotted a short piece of navy blue, sheer ribbon and adhered it to the basket handle.

I stamped a sentiment on the inside and added a couple of eggs with some of the punched greenery. With those ready-made card parts, this card was done in a flash!

We had a beautiful Palm Sunday here. The weather was perfect for spending some time outside--no jacket required! Some of the trees are beginning to form buds, which means that a steady stream of warmer weather is truly on the way.

 A prolific writer by the name of Anonymous wrote: "Spring: a reminder of how beautiful change can truly be."

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

A bunny border for Easter...

 

It's always fun to use this bunny border die for Easter cards. It cuts the bunnies along the edge of a piece of cardstock, but doesn't cut a bottom edge. I added a green sticker border to the bottom edge of this one for some color contrast.

The sentiment at the top was stamped, die-cut and popped up with foam tape.

The die cuts holes for the eyes and noses, so I backed the eyes with black cardstock and the noses with pink. This was a little fussy to do, especially on the smallest bunny.

I used a pink Prismacolor pencil to add some pink to the ears.

The eggs are actually the negative piece leftover when cutting an "O" from one of my alpha die sets.

I stamped another sentiment on the inside and topped it with three leftover "eggs."

I did things a little differently for this card. The bunnies, eggs, and ears were all done the same way, but the holes for the eyes and noses were filled in with Nuvo Drops.

The sentiment at the top was all in one piece, so I cut it apart and popped up the word "Happy" with thin foam strips. "Easter" was glued directly to the card front.

In this photo you can better see how the word "Happy" is popped up.

I stamped two sentiments on the inside and glued a tiny dimensional heart between them.

Both of these cards were donated, and I envisioned someone purchasing them to send to a grandchild or other loved one.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

I love mushrooms...

 ...not only to eat, but also to die-cut. 

I had my mushroom dies out on my work desk, laying next to a couple of scraps. You know how it is, you see them laying side-by-side and you just have to make use of them.

I found a striped cardbase that included the colors of my mushrooms, and this was a good chance to use it. After die-cutting a rectangle in a coordinating color, I created a little scene with the mushrooms and scatterred some gems among them. 

The sentiment was stamped, die-cut and popped up with foam tape.

I added a panel with a stamped sentiment to the inside to finish the card.

For this card I created a cardbase from some patterned, one-sided cardstock in my stash. It nicely coordinated with my mushrooms. This time I added a few sprigs of die-cut greenery to the mushrooms and used a metallic marker to add some dots for interest.

This sentiment was a computer printed one on a larger panel that was in my stash. I die-cut the rectangle, making sure that the sentiment was more-or-less centered before adding my mushroom scene. The whole panel was popped up with some thin foam tape.

This sentiment was also in my stash, paperclipped to the one on the front. I think I've had them for a couple of years--it's about time I used them!

I had one tiny mushroom left and added it to the inside of this card, along with a strip of the cardstock used to make the cardbase.

So, have you ever picked edible mushrooms and then actually eaten them? More than 30 years ago, I found some Morel mushrooms growing under my deck. I knew they were Morels because of their distinctive shape and look. I cleaned them well, sliced them up and sauteed them in some butter. They were SO delicious! For many years afterward, I would check under the deck to see if any more were growing there. I never saw another one. I don't know how the spores ended up there, but it was magical to find those mushrooms.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Still using those stickers...

I was determined to use up an entire sheet of stickers, and since they were mostly images of spring flowers, I used them to make more Easter cards.

I used two identical stickers of yellow crocuses at the base of a die-cut cross. The cross was cut from kraft cardstock. All the interior pieces were cut from a dark brown cardstock with a sheen. I pieced them back into the design of the cross. 

The sentiment was stamped directly onto the DSP.

There were quite a number of small round shapes cut into the design of the cross. In the four largest circles, I glued a gold gem. The tinier round circles were filled with a metallic gold Viva Decor pen.

On the inside, I stamped a sentiment and added a small strip of the DSP.

As you can see, I added some of the same DSP to this card, only this time I matted it with some blue cardstock.

I cut another small panel from white cardstock and again, added a blue mat. This small panel was adhered with foam tape to give it some dimension.

I stamped the sentiment and used a "grass" border punch to create the border. After adhering the grass, I tucked in some blue crocus stickers at random, creating a little Spring scene.

I stamped the sentiment on a panel for the inside and added a thin strip of DSP, matted in blue. As a final touch, I adhered the last of the crocus stickers.

It was very satisfying to use up a sheet of stickers. Oftentimes, when the thrift store gives me sheets of stickers, they are only partially usable or, sometimes, not at all usable. Stickers do not always age well!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl