putting the "MOTH" in mother's day

a couple of weeks ago, stef sent me a link to these adorable "butterfly bouquets" on jenni bowlin's website. i loved them immediately, and thought they would make wonderful little gifts for my mom and mother-in-law.

i decided i'd like my version to be a little more eclectic and vintage. i was thinking i'd use my 2-part quick-kutz monarch butterfly die and some smaller butterfly punches, but then gina surprised me with her butterfly looking glass mini kit--which, btw, is *FREE*...and you totally need it!--so of course i immediately decided to hand cut them, instead!

i laid out 3 sizes of butterfly in printshop and printed some on photo paper and some on inkjet transparency. i cut 3 double-sided layers of each size. (i did this by stapling the piece with the butterfly to my other papers; any paper that wasn't already double-sided i glued a scrap of vintage book paper to the reverse.) then i inked all my raw edges and bent the wings of each butterfly in the center before hot-gluing them to small wooden skewers i "liberated" from lovely husband jeff's kitchen!

i loved how the butterflies looked in their little vases... (which are filled with cheap pearls & beads from michaels to help the sticks stand up) ...but my bouquets seemed just a tiny bit sparse, so i added a few flowers to the mix. again, these are attached back-to-back on a small skewer using my trusty low-temp hot glue gun.

finally, i got lhj to trim the sticks for me using wire nips, and made little cards to accompany the bouquets. and yes, before you ask, contrary to my standard operating procedure, i actually did make TWO vases and TWO cards which are virtually identical! i think i may be getting smarter in my old age!!! :)

♥happy mother's day...very slightly in advance!♥

(materials: butterflies & pale pink paper from the butterfly looking glass free mini-kit, gina cunningham, tyggereye art; ticket from the ooh la la french ticket kit, rhonna farrer, house of three; patterned paper: ek success, k&co, prima, making memories, doodlebug + handmade paper from pearl paint + vintage dictionary, french text, sheet music & encyclopedia pages; label die: nestabilities; florals: making memories, heidi swapp, prima; fancy brads: k& co; leaf stickers: ek success; pink rhinestones: martha stewart; ribbon + miscellaneous pearls & beads: michaels; ink jet transparency: 3m; photo paper: kodak; adhesives: uhu gluestick, 3m foam tape, tombow monorunner, hot glue, gluedots; other: salt & papper shaker "vase" from the dollar store; kebab sticks from the grocery store)