Backed Butterfly Layout

I found a few spare minutes and used them to play with last week's free cut file in my Happy Scrappy Place Facebook group!

Check out the process video to see how this layout came together from start-to-finish:

I started by die cutting the Butterfly from smooth white cardstock using a Silhouette Cameo 3. I left the cut on the mat and painted over it with a thick layer of gesso. Once it dried I grabbed some watercolors and painted over it mixing colors to match the Stay Colorful collection by Dear Lizzy.

Next I partially backed the butterfly with Stay Colorful patterned papers. I felt like it would have looked too busy if the entire bug was backed because I watercolored over it. Maybe if I had left it white I would have backed the whole thing - who knows?! :) Once I was satisfied with the number of sections backed I adhered it onto another piece of smooth white cardstock and cut around it.

Then I worked on the background - I chose a piece of textured lavender cardstock and used a butterfly stencil from TCW to apply Vicki Boutin Iridescent Glaze over the top right and bottom left corners. Once those dried I came back in with watercolors and white acrylic paint to splash color all over the background and create another layer of interest. I tucked the sweet photo of Jane under the right side of the butterfly. Time to embellish!

I mainly used the Stay Colorful puffy stickers, die cuts, and stickers. I added more butterflies above the photo, tucked flowers under the right, and placed a trio of sentiment banner sticker on the top right corner. I have a pile of random embellishments in a bowl within arm's reach on my desk which is where I found the two clouds - they're leftover from my Le Mont Saint Michel mini album and coordinate perfectly since I used the same technique of watercoloring and they're the same colors.

I journaled on a trimmed card and added a few more tiny puffy stickers around. To make sure the sentiment banner stickers stayed in place and to add texture I machined stitched down the right edges. That about finishes it up! I hope you are inspired to head over to my Happy Scrappy Place Facebook group and grab the free weekly cut file as well as check out the Stay Colorful collection by Dear Lizzy! See you again soon!

SUPPLIES: STAY COLORFUL: Patterned papers, stickers, puffy stickers, die cuts; Die cut machine: Silhouette Cameo 3; white cardstock; gesso; Vicki Boutin: Iridescent Glaze; watercolors; precision pen; Butterfly stencil: The Crafter's Workshop; Cut files: Butterfly and Cloud Trio by Paige Evans