Meghan's Bridal Shower Gift

My son Matthew is getting married in seven days.  SEVEN.  Oh my goodness!  His sweet fiance Meghan had a bridal shower last night hosted by my sister-in-law Aubrie.  It was a lovely evening. Last week, I made this gift for her and now that she's received it, I can post the pictures.  I've been dying to share it!

This is the gift box.  I used her wedding colors, of course!  I had so much fun making the box even though it took me a while to design it initially.  I used a nugget box pattern I had saved from Splitcoaststampers about ten years ago.  It was the perfect size and depth for jewelry.

I cut two pieces of Lilac Grace cardstock according to the pattern instructions and stamped the wrap-style cover in silver ink with a heart border from the Simple Valentine stamp set by Papertrey Ink.  I did it on an angle to draw the eye to the focal butterfly.

I absolutely love how the butterfly turned out.  I used two different die sets by Stampin' Up - Butterflies and Bold Butterfly.  I also used the Bitty Butterfly punch by Stampin' Up.  For the large detailed butterfly on the bottom, I cut it from Pink Pirouette cardstock and covered the entire thing with glitter.  Hopefully you can see the sparkle in the pictures.

The second butterfly layer, also detailed, is cut from silver glitter paper.  Love that sparkle too!  On a smaller solid butterfly die cut from Lilac Grace cardstock, I stamped a butterfly from Butterfly Basics by Stampin' Up in Lilac Grace ink and added a detailed vellum butterfly on top for the third layer. The smallest and final butterfly layer is from silver glitter paper using the Bitty Butterfly punch.  I tried several different combinations before settling on this one and I love the result.  It is absolutely gorgeous in person!

I die cut a circle from Kraft cardstock and stamped it with Background Basics: Text Style by Papertrey Ink using Classic Kraft ink.  I also used the same inkpad to distress the edges.  I glued my layered butterfly directly to the circle.  I used foam tape to adhere the whole piece to the box to give it some dimension, adding some sheer light pink ribbon underneath.

I cut a piece of Kraft cardstock with the Building Blocks die by Papertrey Ink and stamped a sentiment from Custom Tee by Stampin' Up.  It's embossed with white powder.  I couldn't have found a better sentiment!  It's perfect for a bridal shower gift.  I mounted the piece with foam tape directly over the ribbon.

The wrap-style box cover slides off and inside is the necklace and earrings that I made for Meghan.  I cut a piece of batting to fit the box so the jewelry would be protected and stay in place inside.

Like I said previously, the old nugget box patterns work perfectly for jewelry gifts.  I think this one is sized for fourteen chocolate Hershey Nuggets.

The necklace itself is a fairly simple design.  I played with several combinations of beads before choosing this one.  I added an initial charm to the center and created four different dangles so there would be two on each side.

One charm is a tiny silver flower, one is a rhinestone ball, one is a butterfly, and one is a silver ball with a faceted crystal underneath.

It's simple, but very pretty.  I used the butterfly charms and faceted crystals to create matching earrings.

I spent two days making this gift and a similar one for my nephew's fiance.  (Her bridal shower is on Saturday so I will post it sometime this weekend.)  I really enjoyed the whole process.  I love being creative!  I was thrilled with the final product.  Still am.  The gift box turned out so beautiful and really is a gift in and of itself.

I hope Meghan will enjoy the jewelry and remember how much she is loved every time she wears it.  I chose the butterfly as a symbol of growth into her new life as a married woman.  Change isn't always easy, but the caterpillar would tell us that is worth it.  The butterfly's wings give it the ability to fly!

Stamps:  Butterfly Basics, Custom Tee (Stampin' Up); Simple Valentine, Background Basics: Text Style (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  VersaMark; Classic Kraft, Lilac Grace (Papertrey Ink); Silver Ultimate Metallic (Encore)
Paper:  Lilac Grace, vellum (Papertrey Ink); Pink Pirouette, Silver Glimmer (Stampin' Up)
Dies:  Butterflies dies, Bold Butterfly dies (Stampin' Up); Building Blocks die (Papertrey Ink); Standard Circles Large die (Spellbinders)
Misc:  Bitty Butterfly punch (Stampin' Up); Sugar Cube glitter (Martha Stewart); Opaque Vanilla White embossing powder (Wow); ribbon; glue pen; foam tape