Handmade Cards with Butterflies

You can never have too many butterflies in your craft stash! They’re one of those timeless elements in card making that never go out of style. With endless color possibilities, butterflies can fit into almost any project – soft and subtle cards, bold and colorful ones, or even sweet baby cards. They’re versatile, always welcome, and a wonderful starting point if you’re looking for easy cards to make.

For these projects, I used my card making printables – including card sketches, printable sentiments, and a printable butterflies collage sheet. You can check them out here. If you’d like to see these cards being made step by step, I also shared short videos on my YouTube channel.

I did pull out some extra supplies like Sizzix die cuts, clear stamps, and embossing folders for a few of the cards. But don’t worry – they’re not essential! If you’re a card making beginner, you can achieve beautiful results with just scissors, paper glue, double-sided foam tape, and printables. Decorative scissors, magazines with subtle patterns, or even doodled backgrounds work as great substitutes if you don’t have all the tools. In fact, I’ve shared some simple alternatives in my previous blog post Creative Alternatives to Traditional Card Making Material so check it out.

A quick Tip: How to Print Card Making Printables

Before you dive into the creative part, let’s talk about printing. As I always mention in my product descriptions, colors of printables may vary depending on your printer and its calibration. I tested two methods for printing my printables:

• Home printing on copy paper: The result is lighter (a bit faded) with visible paper texture. To make them sturdier, I glued them onto colored or white card stock.

• Copy shop printing on 250 gsm (about 100 lb) card stock: The result is smoother, richer in color, and slightly darker.

Both look beautiful – I switch between them depending on the style of the card I want.

Now, let’s get creative and make some easy handmade cards with butterflies!

Card No. 1 - Soft Pink Butterfly Card – Gentle and Feminine

This card is all about soft pink and white tones, perfect for when you want something subtle and delicate. The butterflies for this card were printed on cardstock, which makes them stand out beautifully against the pastel card base. The ‘Wings of Joy’ sentiment was printed on regular copy paper and then glued onto white cardstock for extra sturdiness.

Materials:

• Pink card stock (card base)

• White square with laced edges (die cut or cut by hand)

• Neutral patterned paper (background)

• Two pink butterflies and sentiment from my printable collage sheet

How to make it:

1. Cut and fold pink card stock to create your base.

2. Prepare a white laced square (either using a die cut or decorative scissors).

3. Glue a neutral patterned paper inside the square, then attach the whole piece to your card base using double sided foam tape.

4. Fussy cut two pink butterflies and a sentiment from the collage sheet.

5. Use foam tape to attach them to the background for a raised, dimensional effect.

Card No. 2 - Simple and Elegant Square Card

Sometimes less is more. This easy handmade card uses only a few layers but still looks very polished. I wanted a bigger butterfly, so before printing I set the scale to 180%. That way the design printed larger than the original. I used regular copy paper, then glued it onto white cardstock to make it stronger and easier to work with.

Materials:

• Dark blue card stock (base)

• White scalloped die cut (background)

• Clear stamp to decorate

• One enlarged blue butterfly from my collage sheet

How to make it:

1. Cut dark blue card stock into a square card base.

2. Die cut (or hand cut) a scalloped white square and glue it to the card base.

3. Stamp a simple pattern or sentiment on the white piece.

4. Print and cut a larger butterfly from the collage sheet.

5. Attach the butterfly with foam tape as the focal point in the center.

Card No. 3 - Bright and Vivid Greeting Card – Bold and Eye-Catching

This card is made to stand out! With vibrant colors and layered textures, it’s a real statement piece. Since this card is full of vivid colors, I wanted the butterflies to be just as rich and vibrant, so I had them printed on cardstock at a copy shop, where the printer produces deeper, more saturated colors.

Materials:

• White card stock (base)

• Bold patterned paper (background)

• Grass cut from Cricut, Sizzix, or scissors

• Three butterflies in different sizes from the collage sheet

• “Thank You” sentiment from my printable sentiments collection

How to make it:

1. Fold white card stock for your card base.

2. Cut a bold patterned paper and glue it on top.

3. Add a strip of green “grass” cut from a machine or by hand.

4. Cut out three butterflies in different sizes and attach them above the grass with foam tape.

5. Finish by adding a “Thank You” sentiment in the corner using foam tape for dimension.

Want to Try These Too?

If you enjoyed these easy handmade card ideas, don’t forget to explore my card making section in the shop. You’ll find a variety of printable card making kits, sentiments, card sketches, and collage sheets that can be mixed and matched to suit your own crafting style. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re a card making beginner or looking for quick card ideas to spark inspiration.

Card No. 4 - Butterfly Background Card

Who says collage sheets are just for cutting? For this project, the butterfly sheet itself becomes the background. Both the sentiment and the background were printed on regular copy paper.

Materials:

• Dark purple card stock (base)

• Printable butterflies collage sheet (background)

• Gold die cut leftovers (for contrast)

• “Born to Fly” sentiment from the same collage sheets

How to make it:

1. Cut dark purple card stock to size and fold into a base.

2. Print and trim the butterfly collage sheet to fit as a full background and glue it down.

3. Add a piece of gold die cut (or any metallic accent) for contrast.

4. Cut out the “Born to Fly” sentiment and attach it to a gold piece.

Card No. 6 - Newborn Baby Card with Butterflies

Delicate butterflies are a perfect match for welcoming a new baby! Use soft colors to match the occasion. To achieve a soft, delicate look, I printed the background, sentiment, and butterflies on regular copy paper.

Materials:

• White card stock (base)

• Textured white paper (background)

• Two baby blue corners (embossed or hand-dotted with gel pen)

• Two butterflies from my collage sheet

• Newborn sentiment from my printable sentiments for babies collection

How to make it:

1. Cut and fold a white card base.

2. Layer textured white paper on top for a soft background.

3. Add two blue corner details.

4. Fussy cut two soft butterflies and attach them with foam tape.

5. Add a newborn baby sentiment using foam tape.

Butterflies really are one of those elements you can never run out of ideas for. Whether you go soft and subtle, bold and bright, or somewhere in between, they instantly bring life to your handmade cards. The best part is that you don’t need a ton of tools – just a few basics, some creativity, and the right printables.

Happy crafting!