I recently lost a friend, a fellow board gamer and foodie. He was such a bubbly young man; my heart aches for his family. I wanted to make a card that represented his spirit. I came up with this watercolor rainbow and butterfly card that feels colorful, light, and free.
Created by Mary Dimercurio Prasad for Elizabeth Craft Designs.
Making the Card
1. Cut white card stock 7 x 10 inches. Fold in half to form a 5″ x 7″ card base. Trim a small amount off the card front’s long edge.
2. Lay out the four base butterfly dies on the card front as shown. Put a small piece of removable tape on each die to keep die in place. Run card stock through your die-cutting machine.
3. Cut two lace butterflies using Small Butterfly and Butterfly Accessories Dies from yellow and purple dot paper respectively. Cut two small solid butterflies from vellum.
4. Cut a piece of watercolor paper 5 x 7 inches. Starting from the top and working down at a diagonal, watercolor a rainbow across the paper (repeat as often as necessary to cover the entire sheet). Let paper dry. When dry, flick white and black acrylic paint (optional) across paper to create speckles. Let this dry as well.
5. Stamp the sentiment in black ink as shown.
6. Adhere rainbow paper behind the card front as shown.
7. With alcohol markers, color the vellum butterflies (top two) in colors similar to what will be behind them once they have been adhered to the card. Stamp a fancy design on the wings using a nonporous surface black ink (e.g. StazOn).
8. Adhere die cut butterfly overlays to the card as shown. Only use a small piece of adhesive to the centers of each butterfly so you can still bend the wings. Bend wings carefully.
9. (Optional) Add clear Wink of Stella to all the top butterfly wings.
Supplies
Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies
Other Supplies
- White Card Stock
- Watercolor Paper
- Watercolor Paints or Watercolor Pencils
- White and Black Acrylic Paints (Optional)
- Vellum
- Alcohol Markers
- 2 Sheets of Patterned Paper (Purple w/Dots and Yellow w/Dots used here)
- StazOn or Other Black Ink for Non-Porous Surfaces
- Sentiment Stamp, Design Stamp
- Wink of Stella, Clear (Optional)
Thanks ladies! I appreciate your comments.
Sorry for your loss Mary, I am sure this card will brighten his family’s spirit. I love the watercolor you did behind the butterfly panel.
Beautiful card!
I am so sorry for your loss, Mary. This card is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
It is so rewarding,when you can create a special card that means something to you and also to the recipient. This just lovely. I think the rainbow strip showing down the right edge is the perfect finishing touch.
Sympathy cards are just the hardest to create… Yet you created such a lovely card, love it! Xxx
Thanks Rita. I appreciate it.
I am sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. The card is beautiful, I am sure his family will greatly appreciate it. I would like to have seen a picture of the inside of the card. Thank you for sharing the card with us.
Thank you Nancy. The inside is mostly white; I just stamped a sentiment inside with black ink.
very clever