Beautiful Butterfly Cards With or Without Hot Foil

Do you need a Hot Foil System to make beautiful butterfly cards?

Nope! These beautiful Butterfly Cards with or without Hot Foil illustrate what Hot Foil adds, while also proving you can make gorgeous butterflies without it.

And I think that’s important.

I never want you to look at a card and think, “Well, I can’t make that because I don’t own all those supplies.”

Sometimes a new tool gives us another fun option. It doesn’t have to be the only option. That’s exactly what I love about the Butterfly Flight Bundle.

One Butterfly Design, Two Very Different Looks

The Butterfly Flight Bundle includes four decorative masks along with Hot Foil and coordinating cutting dies.

For my first card, I used the Hot Foil Die with silver foil before adding Timid Tiger and Strawberry Slush ink with the decorative masks.

That silver outline changes everything when the light hits it. It’s bright, shiny and definitely gives the butterflies a little extra WOW.

But here’s the fun part.
You can skip the Hot Foil completely.

For my second card, I used the same decorative masks with Hydrangea Hue, Fresh Freesia and Night of Navy. The fourth mask adds the butterfly bodies and antennae that the Hot Foil created on the first version.

Same butterflies. Completely different look.
And no Hot Foil System required.

Why These Color Combinations Work

I went in two completely different directions with these cards.

Timid Tiger and Strawberry Slush make the first card bright, warm and cheerful. The silver foil using Stampin’ Up!’s Hot Foil System adds a cool metallic contrast that keeps all that warm color from becoming too much. It’s definitely the bolder of the two cards.

For the second card, Hydrangea Hue and Fresh Freesia give the butterflies a softer look. Night of Navy adds the dark contrast needed to define the bodies and details without overpowering those pretty pastel colors.

I love them both, but for completely different reasons.

How to Use the Butterfly Flight Decorative Masks

If you’ve used layered decorative masks before, the process will feel familiar. Each mask adds another part of the butterfly design. I like to start with a lighter color and build the layers from there using my Blending Brushes.

Don’t worry about getting everything perfect. That’s part of what makes masks so easy to use. It’s much easier than trying to line up five butterflies at the same time!

When blending through the smaller openings, I also like to come at the mask from different directions. That helps keep the ink from building up along just one edge.

So What Does Hot Foil Actually Add?

This is the question I really wanted these two cards to answer.

Look at them side-by-side.

The silver Hot Foil adds crisp metallic outlines and details to the orange and pink butterflies. Tilt the card toward the light and that silver catches your eye immediately.

The blue and purple butterflies don’t have that shine, but they certainly aren’t boring! They’re soft, colorful and detailed all on their own.

So do you need Hot Foil? No.

Would I use it when I want that extra metallic detail? You betcha!

That’s why I like showing you both versions instead of simply telling you that you “need” another crafting tool.

If you already have ink, Blending Brushes and the decorative masks, start there.

If you own the Stampin’ Hot Foil System, you’ve got another beautiful option.

And if you’re trying to decide whether Hot Foil deserves space in your craft room, now you can see exactly what it adds. The good news is, there’s no wrong choice. Start with what you have, make the version you love, and most importantly, get that card into someone’s mailbox!

I appreciate you dropping by! My mission is to inspire you with card tutorials that are as fun to make as they are to give. If you’re curious about the specifics of crafting today’s design, just send me an email.  Want more papercrafting ideas?  Join my Facebook Community today.

Supplies Used On This Project: