Monday, May 3, 2010

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)

11 comments:

  1. So cool!!! I love this. I might have to make something similar. Very neat. They are going to love them.!!

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  2. aww they are so cuuuute
    i like muchly :)

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  3. EXcellent set!!!! You are sooo very clever!

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  4. SO very pretty!! You are ahead of the game...I haven't even THOUGHT of mother's day stuff yet! Better get on that!

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  5. I absolutely love these! I will be lifting you eventually!! So pretty!

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  6. wow! wonderful gift set for mother's day! love that you thought of the back of the butterflies and flowers, too! love it!

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  7. Absolute flamin `Gorgeous`
    I might go check out those butterfly`s!!!TFS

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  8. I am only making one mother's day gift (just for my mom) and I am not finished..or barely started...

    Good for you! We have skewers...I have not BBQ'd shrimp in a long time. Thanks for the reminder! I think I'll go to Wegman's now to buy shrimp for dinner tonight :)

    Great projects; thanks for explaining your process too.

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  9. Beautiful gifts. They will shine up in any room. Have got the set from Gina, but need to practise my digital skills in photoshop before I can make anything out of the beautiful kit. Wishing you a wonderfull sunday. Hugs.

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