There I just some things that I love so much, I can't get enough of them! The reason I mention this is because I once found this image at Pinterest catering to butterflies galore. It'd been a project of fluttering butterflies popping off the page as if they were going to fly away. Inspired by the image, I searched and searched for a way to re-create the same look on a layout of my very own. After a while, I finally figured out the perfect technique and today, I'm going to share it with you using Crate Paper's "Party Day" collection and a few randoms.
For this tutorial, it'd be of immense help if you happened to own a Cameo, but if you don't, no worries! If without one, you'll need a sampling of butterfly shapes, a good sharp x-acto knife and yes, a lot of patience. :)
Here's the process "in action":
I always start with a favorite photo, and a quick, very basic "sketch".
I then print the photo and select a range a patterned papers and embellishments that I think coordinate well with it's color range and "feel". In choosing these items, I know that more than likely, I won't use all of them. It's simply nice to have "options" available while scrapbooking because you never know when right "match" might present itself. For this layout, my selection includes papers from the Fourteen collection and embellishments from Party Day and Maggie Holmes.
*Also important to note; I chose white cardstock as the backdrop for the layout.
I've a Cameo available to me in my studio, so with this next step, I pulled up this butterfly file from my Cameo library.
I "ungrouped" the butterflies and rearranged them accordingly to fit on my page.
I switched the line to "dotted" and cut the design on white cardstock paper. Now this part requires some patience, so turn on your favorite tunes and enjoy the process...
With a sharp knife, trim the butterfly wings following the dotted lines, but not the actual butterfly "body". This allows you to pull the wings forward while still leaving the center portion of the butterfly intact and attached to the background.
This is the result - the appearance of butterflies adrift as though leaving the page...
To give further life to the newly created butterflies, I placed the white cardstock on different colored backgrounds before choosing just one. It's personal preference at this point, so pick what works best for your project. I opted for grey/red dotted paper as it echoed the colors of my photo.
This is when the fun really begins: I prefer the "clustered" look with lots of butterflies, stickers and rosettes. The key in working this kind of style is making sure to use "just enough" so as to not overwhelm everything else, especially the photo. I picked up my favorite butterfly punches and punched away! I chose patterned papers from Fourteen and a rosette from Party Day's Stand Outs Layered Stickers.
I positioned the butterflies and rosette on the page while managing the cluster as a whole to create a balanced design. I added random word stickers (Party Day) and other shapes to the page. They're super cute!
Upon deciding the final position of the page's elements, I glue them down. Rarely am I ever fully satisfied with the location of things, but you DO have to glue things down at some point, right?!
The finishing touches, a title and small banner sticker, are the last items added to the page.
With the layout almost done, I machine stitched some of the butterflies. I also stitched along the border of the white cardstock to create a framed design.
I went ahead and added some pink ink/paint to the cut-out butterflies with the help of a brush; lends texture and interest. This shade of pink is one I made myself from pink and white ink. I combined the two together in a small bottle.
I always end a layout with journaling and a date.
Once again, here's a look at the layout. It's appearance is soft, which works beautifully with the newborn photo.
There are numerous ways to take advantage of this technique; frames, borders, circles, etc. Be creative & enjoy!
