Bright butterflies and an update

Quick life update: my sister and I bought our first house! It's exciting and completely nerve-racking all at once. We'll be closing and moving in about a month, which means the next few weeks are going to be crazy! I started boxing up the craft room today, so my card-making will be on hold for awhile. I do have several cards and card sets I haven't shared on my blog yet, so I'm planning to squeeze those in when I need a break from packing. :)

Speaking of a break from packing, let's get to today's cards, featuring a few bright butterflies. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Brilliant Butterflies (My favorite Things), Totally Random Sayings Vol. 3 (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo, Melon Mambo, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up!); Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Stardust Gelly Roll pen (Sakura)
Accessories: Frame in Frame 2 Cutting Plate (Taylored Expressions), orange sequins (Craft medley), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Bitty Banner punch (Stampin' Up!), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

I love the style of these butterflies, and they're perfect for clean and simple cards. I didn't get the coordinating dies, so I decided to stamp the butterflies directly on a heavyweight white card base. I chose three pairs of bold colors (pink, orange/yellow, and aqua) with a dark and light shade of each. I used the dark shade for the top pair of solid butterfly wings and the light color for the bottom. Then I stamped the bodies and detailed wing images in black.

I added accents with black card stock on each card: a strip on the bottom and tiny banner in the upper right corner on the first card and a scalloped frame on the second. Then I stamped a sentiments and added trails of sequins around the butterflies.

To add a little sparkle to the butterflies, I used a Stardust Gelly Roll pen to fill in some of the sections in the detailed wing images. It's a subtle detail, but fun when it catches the light.

This stamp set would be great for making a set of cards -- just choose one layout and then use a different butterfly color and sentiment for each card.

I realized this week that in the midst of house hunting I completely missed my 10-year blog anniversary, which was Aug. 1. Oops. I had wanted to do something to recognize the occasion, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen right now. Maybe I'll do something toward the end of the year -- I'm thinking about a post where I share my favorite card from every year I've been blogging. If you have ideas about what I could do, let me know in the Comments.

Thanks for stopping by!