The Butterfly Effect

It seems only fitting that the first post in this new endeavor be focused on the project that started it all.  I had been tooling around on Pinterest for a few weeks when I came across this great Butterfly Collage from Ali (but pinned from Amy's Blog).

If you know me for any time at all you will quickly learn that I love butterflies!  I would explain where this obsession came from, but the hubby is letting me use his new "Big Mac" and I don't think he would appreciate me "leaking" all over the keyboard!  I'll save that story for a more emotionally stable post in the future.

After dutifully pinning the great collage, it occurred to me that "I can totally do that!"  Honestly, it probably just started as an excuse to buy a Butterfly punch.  An excuse it would definitely be as I have never before pursued anything close to scrapbooking.  However, I do enjoy the occasionally crafty pursuit and lately I had been pretty down in the dumps.  Let's just say that my professional life has become rather frustrating and I was in serious need of a distraction.  So, my "I can totally do that!" turned quickly into "I'm going to show that collage who's boss!"

 The original was apparently created with a small punch, possibly the one from the Martha Stewart collection, but it was too small for what I wanted to do. After nearly two weeks of searching, I finally found a larger one at the "Lobby of Hobbies", my personal happy place.  It was perfect, for my purposes at least!

I looked around for some cardstock that I liked and found some sweet paper that coordinated with my downstairs color theme.  And away I went...

I used an old frame I had laying around unused.  It doesn't fit the 12x12 cardstock perfectly, but it is the perfect wood-grain for my living room.  I will splurge a bit later and get a mat cut to size.

The Final Product...

Being the first timer that I was, it did not occur to me to take any step-by-step photos. I was doing this just for my own entertainment and stress relief. But when I took it with me to school the next day, people really seemed to love it!  I had several people ask me, that first day, how much I would charge to make one for them!  I was blown away!

So after much prayer, thought, continued experimentation, and research...

An Etsy shop was born!

I am currently working on getting better photos for the listings, but I already have decent inventory ready to roll out.  Stay tuned for further updates!!

Next: 

The Butterfly How-To