For now I thought I would share a bit more about the Butterfly Collage and share one special announcement...
So, the second time I made a Butterfly Collage was as a Baby Shower gift for a life-long family friend. The first one had gone over so well that I thought I would try a variation for a baby girl with the sweetest paper I could find. I had called my mom to quiz her about the things she had seen on the registry. We determined that there was a definite prevalence of pinks, greens, and brown. I hit the craft store and was ecstatic to find a paper set that fit the criteria perfectly! It was a set called "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Girl" from My Mind's Eye and purchased at my (current) favorite craft store. I had also found a beautiful white shadowbox frame and I couldn't wait to get something inside it!
Since I had some time and the experience of one under my belt I decided I would try my hand at the How-To picture story thing I had seen on every blog in the universe. Keep in mind, this is all new to me, this is my very first Tutorial so bear with me!
I pulled out my favorite pages and got punchy!
I quickly realized that the white background butterflies wouldn't work very well on the solid white background. I hated to have to pull these out because I love the sweet colors, especially in the polka-dots.
I ended up with a good assortment of prints that all coordinated around the pink, green, and brown color scheme. For a 12" x 12" project I use 25 butterflies. Since I am punching them from cardstock no two butterflies are ever exactly the same. Which means that each and every project is one of a kind as well, even if I use the same set of paper!
The next step is folding. I always take my time on this because if I mess this up, I've wasted a butterfly. I use the edge of the scissor blades to hold the butterfly down as well as a straight edge for the fold.
It actually requires two folds, one on each side of the body. You end up with a narrow, flat piece down the center of the butterfly's body. It should balance on its own. This is where it will be glued down to the background piece.
Now the hard part: laying it out, lining it up, and getting it straight. This was taking me forever the first few times I did it. I have since created a template that I can lay over the background piece, apply the glue, remove the template and then quickly add the butterflies. Life is much easier now, but it took something like 4 hours to create the template and cut it out with my exacto-knife. After it's all said and done you have a gorgeous Butterfly Collage.
I added a personalized sticker to the back before wrapping it up for the shower. I am proud to say that this was the only gift at the shower that was passed around the room! Lots of "ohs" and "ahs" for this one!! The Mommy-to-be said the colors were perfect for her nursery and loved that it was handmade especially for her baby girl.
When I first posted this project on Facebook I had a friend from church ask if I would do one for her little girl. Of course I said "YES!!!" I recreated the original as closely as possible, but of course each one is unique. In fact, I have decided to call this design "Sweet Emma" in honor of my first satisfied customer!
Check out Emma's Mommy's Blog, My Life Thru Hello Kitty Glasses
A Made to Order version of "Sweet Emma" is now available in my Etsy shop! It is my first item for sale!! The shop still needs a banner and more listings, but at least it's up! One step forward...
