A Box of Butterfly Cards - and the lovely Butchart Gardens

I am way behind on sharing projects and had wanted to share this little box of cards since I used it as a hostess gift in May! These little pop-up butterfly cards have been all over the internet in recent months so it's hard to know who started the trend. I will share some links where I got inspiration and a link to the step-by-step how-to for the cards. I will also share step-by-step photos of how I made the little box to hold them. First, here's what's inside:

And here's a view of the inside of the pop-up butterfly card -- great for using as a gift card since there is not too much room to write.

This project uses a few items for Stampin' Up's Big Shot die cutting system: Beautiful Butterflies Die, item #114507; the Scallop Envelope die, item #113462; the Beautiful Wings Embosslit, item #118138; and the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, item #120175. My box is Certainly Celery and my cards are Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point and Celery and uses touches of the beautiful Beyond the Garden Designer Series Paper available through Aug. 31 in our Summer Mini Catalog.

Here are a couple of links to directions, with great photos, for how to make the cards themselves. Click here for directions with U.S. measurements by Michey in Maryland.  Click here for instructions by Bronwyn Eastley in Australia. Plus looking at each set of card how-tos will give you some great ideas for different ways to embellish the cards.

Now on to the box. I saw this little box idea on the wonderful Robin Merriman's blog. From her inspiration I decided to figure out some how-to directions for the box and share those with you. It has a pretty clever way to make the sides and bottom.

Box Directions: You need to cut two Scallop Envelopes from Celery Cardstock (I find that I need to use the Crease Pad in place of the top Cutting Pad for this die so that the score lines don't cut through). You also need a strip of Celery cardstock that is 1 & 1/2" wide by 7 & 3/4" long. Score it at 2 & 1/4" from each short end.

The back flap of the envelope becomes the bottom of the box -- I just glued one flap from each envelope together with Tombow Multi Glue (the one with the green top), leaving one scallop flap straight up for the back of the box and folding one forward for the front.

Now you are going to drop that score strip down inside and the middle section gets glued to the bottom (the benefit of three layers on the bottom is that the box stands up great and does not tip over from being top-heavy!) Here's a shot of me lowering that piece in:

And here it is in place -- just glued on the bottom so far:

Now see those little side flaps on the envelopes that are about 1/2" wide? They are glued to the INSIDE of the strip to form nice box sides. So the strip is on to the inside of the box for the bottom and then is pulled to the outside of the small side envelope flaps so get a nice finished outside side edge. Here's how I hold it while the Tombow is drying -- clothespins to the rescue!

One quick note about stamping -- I did stamp flower images from the beautiful set Fabulous Florets on both the parts of the envelopes that would show and the outside of the celery strip. Again, be sure to stamp these before assembly. Here's a better view of some of that stamping before the bottom and sides are added.

I used three Dimensionals under that front flap to hold it down so it would pop up a little from the box. Embellishments are white organza ribbon and butterflies cut with the Embosslit listed before -- and those have been dressed up with our stick-on rhinestones. Here's the finished box empty:

Now butterflies and flowers seem like a perfect excuse to back track to the recent Stampin' Up Alaska cruise and show you a few pictures from our trip to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia. You can click on the garden name to see more about its fascinating history -- essentially one woman led the drive to create all this beauty in what had been an old rock quarry in her husband's business. This is a view of the main Sunken Garden -- and the raised area in the center is actually part of the quarry transformed.

Here is a sign of what that looked like when she started the transformation more than 100 years ago. (remember you can click on any photo to view it larger)

I had the pleasure of touring the amazing Buchart Gardens with wonderful fellow demonstrator Patty Bennett, who if you know Patty, LOVES flowers and gardening, so sharing a cab ride there with her was a natural. The garden docent who took this photo for us told us that 100 master gardeners work at Butchart, helped by 400 gardening assitants. I think Patty was ready to apply for a job!

We did not get to see roses in bloom in mid-May but the tulips were amazing! I can see a flower calendar ahead with My Digital Studio and I'm sure Patty has one in the works!

On my first trip to Alaska my mother-in-law had suggested we see Butchart and we did not have the chance so this time I am so glad that I took her advice and made that trip. It was truly one of the most spectacular gardens I've ever seen. Hope you've enjoyed this small taste of its beauty.

 

Comments

[Diane Simpers]

I love your project and the color choices. This is definitely one I'll be making soon.
The photos of Butchart Gardens are beautiful and just like I remember them from 2 years ago! Thanks for sharing.

[Patty Bennett]

What a great day (evening) that was to spend with you.. thank you again for arranging that AMAZING trip :)
Patty

[Bronwyn]

I'm so glad you enjoyed making these little butterfly cards that I originally designed as a UStamp project. Your project with the box is adorable. The gardens that you visited are breathtaking. I think my mum visited there on her last big overseas trip.