Summer Butterflies

Good morning.
Sunday is with us once again so I have been busy in the craft room making this card for several challenges:
The Paper Shelter #18 - Punches and Dies
Totally Papercrafts #71 Die Cuts and Punches
Crafty Catz #87 - Fancy Folds
CES Challenge #41 - Lots of Sparkly Flowers
The Stamp Man #25 Butterflies and Dragonflies
Sentimental Sundays - Summery and Sparkly

So the basis for this card is a tri-fold card made from a piece of A4 dark green hammered card. The folds and top shaping were achieved using my Ultimate Pro from Crafter's Companion.

The background paper was made using a marbling technique on white card using yellows, oranges and greens - all nice summery colours.

The flowers and leaves were die cut with small flower Nesties. The flowers were cut from pale yellow thin card, edged with Dried Marigold distress ink. They were cut into towards the centre, the petals shaped with the edge of a bone folder. The leaves were shaped by hand. Sparkle was added to the edges of the petals and the veins of the leaves using Frosted Lace Stickles. A crystal gem was added to two of the flowers for extra sparkle.

The two sizes of butterflies were taken from stamps by Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque). The were stamped with black stazon onto another piece of marbled card - this time in yellows and blues. The Frosted Lace Sickles was added to the edges of the wings and to give some veins on the wings too. The antennae were cut off the butterflies when they were cut out and gold wire ones were fashioned for when they were bonded to the card.

The sentiment, another stamp by the same company, was also stamped onto the same card as the butterflies,  and cut out with the Nestie Label. I love this sentiment - They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. The dark green mat behind it was sized by drawing around the Nestie. The card was assembled with double sided tape and Pinflair glue (for the dimension on the flowers and butterflies.