all-occasion cards

I am huge fan of Leslie Miller. She has an amazing blog here, and within this incredible site is an amazing tote bag, complete with tutorial...perfect for a stack of cards & envelopes for gift giving! My mission: to create 2 sets of 'generic' cards, suitable for most all occasions, in a gift tote suitable for gift giving. Leslie's tote idea came to the rescue!!! This Lockhart butterfly is ideal for all happy occasions: birthday, thank you, thinking of you, and so forth. EASY to color - that is what I love - looks hard and time consuming, but here is my shortcut trick - color in whole image with details (like the wings) with one light color, then go over the image with darker markers in the areas that need details. I used 4 colors for the butterfly, pulled from the colors used in the patterned 7gypsies paper. Quick, simple swipes of color were applied in the lower wings - fast & finished in a jiffy. BV31 - pale lavender Copic marker outlines the whole image, making it pop. Since I needed to include sympathy cards, I cased my sympathy design with Prima flowers and brad centers. I included five of each design for a total of ten cards, plus envelopes in each tote, so I increased Leslie's bag depth from 3/4" to 1-1/4", and used 12x12 cardstock paper. Oval punches (Nestabilities) were stamped, colored, then edges distressed with a Distress pad in Antique Linen and an ink blending tool. I punched scalloped ovals too to mat each image. White cardstock (Papertrey Ink) was stamped with a Lockhart butterfly with Palette Noir, the colored in with Copic markers. Machine stitching on the top borders adds quick & easy details! Thank you for stopping by!! Lockhart Butterfly image; 7gypsies patterned paper (Masai & Asmara), SU light blue, brown, real & ruby red cardstocks; Copic markers, Distress pads in Vintage Photo (outside edges of bag) & Antique Linen; white cardstock from Papertrey Ink, eggshell cardstock from Ellen Hutson; ribbon from Martha Stewart (Michaels) SU & May Arts; large eyelets - We R Memory Keepers; inverted corner rounder - EK Success; pinwheel eyelet collar (on red flower under brad) - Bonnie's Best.