Brilliant Butterflies card set

Later this spring, the school where I work is having a carnival, complete with silent auction, to raise money for different school programs. I asked if they would like a set of handmade cards for the auction, and the answer was "yes," so I got to work.

I wanted to make a set of cards that was fairly versatile, so after much debate I settled on a clean and simple layout with bright butterflies. I made ten cards total, two each of five designs. Four of the designs have sentiments ("happy birthday," "thinking of you," "thanks," and "happy thoughts"), and the fifth is blank.

I chose five butterfly images from the Brilliant Butterflies stamp set (My Favorite Things) and assigned each one a color: pink, orange, yellow, green, and teal. Then I mixed and matched the butterflies so I used each of them three times, and no two card designs have the same combination of colors/butterflies. Then I chose a sentiment for each design from the Totally Random Sayings Vol. 3 stamp set (Essentials by Ellen).

I love these images, but they do take a little time to stamp because each butterfly is actually four stamps: the top wings, the bottom wings, the detail wings, and the body/antennae. I used my MISTI and stamped each layer on a scratch paper first to make sure everything was lined up before I stamped the card bases. For the teal butterfly I used Taylored Expressions inks (Confetti Cake and Cookie Monster); the other ink colors are Color Fuse inks from Rubbernecker Stamps -- they're perfect because each set includes four shades of the same color. 

Once all the stamping was done I added a very narrow strip of glossy black card stock along the bottom of each card. (It's difficult to see it in the picture, but I think it's a nice detail.) I finished the cards with several sequins, which I tried to arrange in a pathway going up each card.

I'm happy with how these cards turned out, and I hope they do well in the silent auction. Thanks for stopping by!