Make some pretty butterflies using pretty designer paper and a punch, like these Hydrangea Hill Butterflies on this card. It’s springtime so it’s time for butterflies and Stampin’ Up! has an assortment of butterflies to choose from. Some are retiring soon and some are new. But paper and a punch help you make a pretty simple, elegant card.

The card base is Highland Heather Cardstock. I started off planning to make a white on white card, but I changed my mind! It’s allowed! The top layer has wider margins than normal. Instead of cutting the layer 5 1/4″ x 4″, I cut it at 5″ x 3 3/4″. I ran the Basic White paper through the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine embossing it with the Subtles Embossing Folder. This folder is difficult to see in a photo but it just puts a “subtle” pattern of lines on the paper so you have some texture but just barely. It’s perfect for when you want something but not a lot. This embossing folder is retiring soon so check it out if you are interested!

I added a narrow strip of Hydrangea Hill Designer Series Paper along the side of the Basic White embossed layer. I used the Butterfly Duet Punch to punch out several butterflies out of another pattern of the same paper. I chose a pattern that had the little floral pattern all over the paper so it would definitely show up inside the punch. Otherwise, you might have to be careful to get a colorful enough pattern inside the punch area. This punch punches out a small and large butterfly so it is very handy. But it is retiring by May 3, so if you don’t have it yet, you might want to see if you need it in your stash! I just drew on the little antennae on each butterfly with a fine tip black marker.

The greeting is from another retiring item, the Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set. All the “Itty Bitty” stamp sets are retiring which really makes me sad. I have used all of them a lot. On some cards, you don’t necessarily want the greeting to be the focal point or there just isn’t enough room for larger greetings, so the Itty Bitty series always came in handy! These Itty Bitty Sets are all retiring – Itty Bitty Greetings. Itty Bitty Christmas, and Itty Bitty Birthdays. Check them out. I used the Lovely You Punch for both the Highland Heather layer and the greeting.

The two large butterflies are popped up with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals and the wings are folded up a little bit to add some dimension. For a little bling, I added some Artistry Blooms Adhesive-Backed Sequins scattered around and on the greeting. These are Coastal Cabana in color but go fine with the blues in the designer paper.

This is an easy card to make and easy to change up according to what supplies and punches you have. You could also punch out flowers and make the card in the same design. Try making a card with what you have today similar to this Hydrangea Hill Butterflies card and see what you come up with!