Rainbow Birthday & Butterfly Thank You

I made these two cards for PaperCrafts magazine submissions but they weren't chosen so I can share them now!

Rainbow Birthday
I actually really like how this one came out. I tried about three different ideas before I ended up with this one:

To Do:
Take a square shape - I used a square nestability - and lightly pencil the square shape onto the card. You can of course use any shape you want!
Take markers (I used Memento) and roughly 'color' areas, staying more or less within the shape. It doesn't have to be precise because you want that whimsical look.
Gently rub out the pencil marks.
Stamp your chosen image and sentiment.

Dragonfly and sentiment from GinaK Designs Whimsical Wishes

Butterfly Thank You
This card is based on a sketch that was provided and I followed it quite closely.

Butterfly paper is from Echo Park
Butterfly stamp from GinaK Designs Bold and Beautiful
Sentiment from All Occasion Tags

How I made the butterfly
I didn't stamp and then colored the butterfly but first colored with Memento markers on a piece of paper very much like I did the background in the card above. I then stamped the butterfly OVER the colored areas. Then I cut it out and mounted on very small 3D dots (1/18").

I also very lightly shaded the edge of the white cardstock with Crushed Olive (Tim Holtz) and a foam applicator.