This week at SU Only Challenges we are making Mother’s Day cards!  Now if the special mom in your life is anything like my mom, she saves and loves the cards that are sent.  You know what that means, of course.  You get to really pull out the stops and make a spectacular card knowing it will be truly appreciated!

I told you last week that I had been playing around with versions of the Beautiful Butterflies die combined with the Elements of Style stamp set.  This is really a stepped up version of my butterfly from that post.  I started with my gorgeous Presto Patterns DSP and ran it through my Big Shot with the Beautiful Butterflies die.  Then I stamped on the two butterflies with the flower stamp.  I watercolored in some River Rock and Early Espresso on the stamp image and then sponged on some more River Rock to bring out the pattern of the DSP.  A little extra sponging on the edges was done in Early Espresso.  I love the soft look of River Rock and how it makes for a non-standard palette so I made that the main color of this card.  The sentiment was stamped on River Rock textured card stock and comes from the All Holiday set (I just used a marker on the word I wanted).  I stamped the flower image again on the large piece of River Rock to create a toile look.

Next came the ribbon.  Sadly, there is no River Rock ribbon right now but I have an easy solution.  Make it!  It is much quicker to do than I would have ever thought.  I took Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon and colored it River Rock with a Stampin’ Write Marker.  Then I simply spritzed it with water and blended the ink to look uniform.  Let it dry and it is ready to use.  This is also a great way to get ribbon in a color that you don’t use very often!

I put a piece of Early Espresso Satin Ribbon under the River Rock ribbon to add the right balance and scrunched the River Rock onto the textured card stock layer.  All that was left was adding the final details…an Antique Brad and Basic Pearls.  I attached the butterfly together with Crystal Effects so that his wings could look like he is ready to fly.

It is fun to make a card that goes a little beyond on effort…especially for mom!  You have two weeks to show us your beautiful creations for Mother’s Day.  Convieniently enough, that should give you time to get yours made and in the mail too!  This fantastic layout comes from Stampin’ 411, by the way, and I am also entering it into Shelli Gardner’s Creative Challenge this month.  After all, April showers bring flowers and the flowers bring butterflies!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Make sure you go see the other amazing creations by the SU Only Challenges design team.  You will love them!

Stamps:  Elements of Style, All Holidays; Paper:  Early Espresso, River Rock, River Rock Textured, Presto Patterns DSP; Ink:  River Rock, Early Espresso; Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Blender Pen, Sponges, Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Antique Brad, Crystal Effects, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals

All products are Stampin’ Up!