Handmade Gifts: Framed Beautiful Butterflies

This wall hanging was created for a very special birthday present, but it would make a wonderful holiday gift as well. And I'll let you in on a little secret ... shhhhh ... it is SO EASY to create with just a few craft supplies.

Start with a nice frame of any size. Mine measured approx. 7-1/4" x 14-1/4" overall, and the opening measured approx. 4-3/4" x 11-3/4". While some frames have one or two pieces of cardboard "inside", mine didn't, but it had a mat for two photos (and the glass). I chucked the mat and created my own backing piece using the white cardboard that comes in a package of Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper.

Now for the artwork! For the background, I chose a sheet of First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper. NOTE: While I could have chosen the butterfly page (hello!) or even the page with the flowers, I chose the "K" page because the gift was going to someone who's name starts with "K". I'm clever like that. HA!

Using an image from the Just Believe stamp set and More Mustard ink, I stamped the image in the corner. On the opposite side, I added a length of the gorgeous Victoria Crochet Trim.

To create the butterflies, I die-cut them all using the Big Shot with the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die and the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die. I added texture to a few of the "plain" ones with the Perfect Polka Dots and Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folders. All the butterflies were sponged around the edges and/or on the embossed areas. They were attached to the project using Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

HIP TIP: I used Dotto on the butterflies initially, so I could play around with the placement and move them around. Once I had the placement just right, I lifted one at a time to permanently glue it down.

See? I told you it was easy. And it was fun too! OH! And the birthday girl LOVED her custom handmade gift! She has an accent wall in a beautiful copper color and this frame looks awesome on her wall.

Okay ... let's fire up those Big Shots and start crankin' out those butterflies! You DO have a Big Shot right? If not (gasp!) give me a holler ... I happen to know where you can get one for FREE this month!

xoxo

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Today's project featured the following Stampin' Up! products:

Stamps: Just Believe (W-116948, C-120453)
Ink: More Mustard (103162), Cajun Craze (119671), Crumb Cake (121030)
Paper: More Mustard (100946), Cajun Craze (119684), Crumb Cake (120953), First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper (121878)
Tools: Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine (113439), Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die (114507), Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die (118138), Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder (117335), Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder (120175), Sponge Daubers (102892), Dotto (103305), Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755)
Accessories: Jewels-Basic Pearls (119247), Victoria 5/8" Crochet Trim (118481)

A big THANK YOU to Karen Altizer for her inspirational design.