Place cards with a difference.

 The next installment in my series of ideas for place cards involves some simple die cutting. It's far easier than you may think. 
The first example was cut using just the top half of  the Bride and Groom die from  First Edition's  wedding set of dies.
For the second I used a stitched effect circle die for the base card. I then die cut or punched smaller circles for the layers.

For the third example I used a heart shaped die to cut the base card. Then realized it didn't really look like a heart without the bottom point of the heart.









So I cut a complete heart ran it through the Xyron adhesive applicator and then flocked the heart before sticking to the base card.

The next  shot shows the back of the card.
Of course If you don't like the  look of the hole in the back you could cut the back section off completely and stick the  front panel onto another uncut base card.
You'll need a lot more card if you go down this route.



So here is how to create this type of place card.

Cut your base card to the size you require. Draw a  light pencil line across the middle of the card.

Place the die in the centre of the card and tape the die in position to prevent it slipping.                                                                            Line the edge of the top cutting up with the pencil line on the card.  feed the other end of the cutting plate into your  die cutting machine and wind the plates, die and platform through the machine.

 When it comes out the other side you will have cut a semi circle in your card. 
You can now score a line from the outer  edge to the cut line on each side and fold  each side of your card in half.

Cut a slightly smaller    circle from stamping card  stamp a design onto the card and die cut or punch out the design and adhere to the centre of the semi circle.   
Another option is to add an extra  layer around  your design as I have done in the  floral circle card above.    

  The bride and groom card at the top was created in exactly the same way.                                                                       

Handwriting Cheat and tips

Even if you have reasonably neat handwriting, most of  us think  our handwriting isn't neat enough to put on display.  

So when it wasn't possible to print the names on the cards,  I had to come up with a solution to get all the  handwriting on the wedding place cards  the same....the  height and the width of the letters.  Even spacing  of the letters is important and they all had to have the same  angle of slant. 

 Thinking of all these things at once isn't easy for me,  unless you have spent many, many  hours practicing calligraph that is.

My solution was to choose a font  that was suitable,  print off  all the names  onto copier paper.   I placed the paper onto  my light box  and positioned a card panel  over one name, making sure all the letters were touching the line I had lightly drawn across the card ( see the  TIP at the bottom of this post)

 Then it was just a matter of tracing  over the each name with a fine nib calligraphy pen.  It took a few practice attempts  to get the feel for it, but it worked well.  

 In fact it worked so well  the bride felt confident enough to write the names on the place cards herself.  

One thing I would say is don't write too slowly or your writing will look a little shaky, but don't go to fast either or you'll risk coming off the lines.   Try to keep your writing speed constant.

 Who knows , if you practice enough you 'll  soon be able to write perfectly without  having to trace......ha ha ..we live in hope.   
 If you don't have a light box, you could use a glass top table with a lamp under the table.

TIP. I am at heart a lazy crafter... I hate measuring the same thing over and over again, so measuring 48  of these little card and drawing a straight line across each and every one is my idea of a nightmare. So I will share my little cheat with you all. Once I had worked out  exactly  where I wanted to position the names.  I cut a piece plastic 3/4 of an inch wide by 4 inches long.  Now I just line up the plastic strip with the bottom of edge of the panel and use the top edge as my rule to draw a line to write on.  
All the names will be at exactly the same height and straight. 
As the names can be seen through the card positioning the names along the line is easy.

Oval Place cards

 I have never seen  an oval shaped place card before and I love ovals, so I thought I would set about designing one. If the truth be told, I was getting bored with rectangles.

This is probably a little to involved for a non crafter , but most people know somebody that crafts, and that has a die cutting machine.... so why not enlist their help. Most crafters  I know would be delighted to help.

 We're  generally a caring, sharing bunch of ladies that are willing to help.

Here is how I created the oval cards.

I folded a piece of medium weight card in half and  placed an oval die over the folded edge  and taped the die down to stop it moving it I ran it through my bigshot to create the hinge  part of the card.

I cut a single Oval  from stamping card and stamped the front.

 The oval is then stuck to the front of the hinged card. Take care and match up the edges.

 If you don't want the card to rock, cut a slither of card off the back. This will prevent the card from rocking.

On the card below I cut the  an extra oval  panel slightly smaller than the base card to create a border. I am wishing now that I had give this one an olive green base card.

You can decorate you place cards anyway you wish.

There are so many options to decorate your cards , it's endless.  I think I could make these forever and still keep coming up with more ideas.

The beauty of making your own  place cards is that you can tailor your cards to fit in with your colour scheme and theme.

Whether it be  plain and simple,  elegant,  shabby chic, vintage, or modern,  Funky,  2d or 3D  and the list goes on.

peel off corners

 Another very simple idea is to just stick a delicate, fine line corner peel off  in one corner.
I realize peel off s are a bit old hat these days , but I do believe they still have their uses and can look very elegant with the minimum of effort and money.

Christmas Dinner Menus

This Christmas I am cooking Christmas dinner for hubby's mum, brothers, sister in law and Kris
It will be fun trying to fit us all around the table. Better make sure they all use the bathroom before sitting down to eat as I'll need a can opener to get them out once seated.
Anyway I decided to make Menus to go on the table, not only will it answer the guest s questions as to what's for dinner. But it will also remind me what I am supposed to be cooking so hopefully I won't forget anything........Well, that's the plan! but we all know what happens when we make plans.
Anyway, I never thought I would buy the "compliments to chef " stamp set from stampin' up, but last week I had this crazy notion to make menu s for Christmas day.
Alan's mum always says I do a nice table and I don't want to disappoint her this year.

I have chosen the baja breeze card stock as it is the closest colour to my tableware. I stamped the cutlery in versamark ink onto whisper white card stock and embossed with silver embossing powder. I did the same with the menu stamp . The decorative border was stamped and embossed onto baja breeze card and trimmed down to make the band running across the white card. I used versamark ink again and stamped the watermark "bon apetit " background. I then typed up my menu insert on my computer.
Adding comments next to some items for a touch of humour. My footnote was a public health warning... Any complaints.... keep them to yourself. DO NOT tell the chef or she may use the carving knife on you. Good job they all have a sense of humour.

The colour of the card stock looks a lot brighter in this photo due to flash.