Two tone floral wedding card

I have to confess, I did not enjoy making these 7 x 7 inch cards at all. I had five or six attempts at this card before I came up with something I was happy with.  I am glad I persevered, I think these have turned out quite well. I do hope the bride and groom will like the one they receive.

 

I had intended for these to be single layer cards. I masked off the centre strip to keep it clean, unfortunately  I stamped over the masking tape so often, the ink started to seep through and under the the tape. So I had to resort to stamping the Mr & Mrs on fresh strips of card and  place them over the inky marks.

I 've listed a lot of stamps sets used in the making of these cards, but I only used one foliage stamp from each set, apart from the two tone florals.

The card below started off as another 7 x 7 inch card, but I managed to get inky finger marks on it where they couldn't  be hidden or disguised.  

I decided I would try something different to try and save a portion of my work rather than put the whole thing in the bin.  So I cut off the bottom section, and use it on it's side.

I don't find this one quite so appealing, so I wouldn't use this for an important occasion like a wedding .

The funny thing is... I found out yesterday that the colours I chose to create these cards are very close to the brides colour scheme for the wedding.
 

Beautiful Thistle

Here are two cards I made a couple of weeks ago but never posted, due to being admitted to hospital with pneumonia. I am recovering at home now, but I'm not really up to doing much crafting as yet, so posts will be a bit thin on the ground for a while.

I fell in love with Stampin' ups  Beautiful Thistle stamp set, as soon as I saw it, probably because I have had a liking for pretty thistles since I was a child. So I knew I was going to buy it even though I 'm not sure how much use I will get out of it.

 I used Copic markers to colour the images on these cards. I used a white gel pen to highlight the leaves and petals. 

 

 To create the background, I blended a little brown ink around the edges and worked in towards the middle. Then splattered some ink over the top using a stamp and write marker pen with a diffuser gadget or the pen puffer as I like to call it.

On these cards, I used the  S.U deckled edge rectangle dies for the layers. These are a new addition to my craft stash. I really don't know how I missed these in the catalogue. I love the fact the spacing between each die is even on all sides. 

Beside me.

 

I 've been playing with this new set again. I really like these images. They are nice to colour as well as being really sweet and relatable images. 

I used Copic markers to colour these images.  

The set contains all three of these images along with the birds and seven sentiments.

DSP Bereavement cards

I have found myself needing to make a few bereavement cards this month, We've lost three family members rather suddenly and unexpectedly in the last three weeks.  For these two cards, I chose to use a pretty DSP from Stampin' up! and combined it with a suitable sentiment  from the kindness and Compassion stamp set again from Stampin up!

 

A stamp for all occasions...Maybe?

 Just a little late posting this  Halloween card. This gorgeous dog stamp is by Nellie Snellen. It's quite small but it has a lot of detail. When I first saw this stamp  I  thought, he looks a little sad and in need of a home, so I gave him one.

This Stamp would be great for several types of card.  Pet loss, missing you, I'm sorry, and thinking of you cards  all came to mind immediately. My thought process is ...if you can think of more than two occasions you can use a stamp for ... buy it.  

Once it arrived I started stamping and colouring the images in different colours to see how he looked in various colours. I masked him off and blended ink around him to give him a colourful background.

 I had some witches hats floating around my desk, left overs from the broomstick projects I'd been working on the previous week. Which gave me the idea of giving the dog a hat. He certainly has a reason for looking unhappy now. This then lead to me creating a Santa hat for him.

I cut a piece of red card into a shape that roughly resembled a Santa hat and brushed some ink over the edge of a piece of scrap paper to give the impression of creases and folds in the hat. Then cut a white sausage shaped piece of card  for the furry trim and flocked it and stuck  it on the hat with thin foam pads for a little more dimension.  I added a white pompom to the tip of the hat to complete the Santa look. The sentiment  on this card is from  last year's  Stampin up mini winter catalogue, I think.

I got a little carried away with him. Here he is without his hats in golden tones.

 Then I decided to find out what he'd look like as a chocolate spaniel.  The red background may have been a mistake with the browns on this one. The red background seems to bring out the red tone in the browns making him look quite red, more so in this photo .

For this last one I decided to leave the background white.

 Such a sad looking puppy. I thought I'd include this close up so you can see just how much detail there is on this stamp.

No Wow!! cards here.

I need  a card for a child who will be two this weekend, so I have been playing with  the Elephant Parade set.  I do struggle making children's cards, I would far rather make men's cards. 

 The card above is the one we have decided to give. If I can find some narrow ribbon in the same blue, I might add a small blue bow before gifting this, I can't help feeling it needs something more.

The peanut, flower and butterfly stamps are all included in the Elephant parade set. 

 I stuck all three of the stamps to a small acrylic block (spacing them out evenly) then stamped all three at the same time. I coloured the images with Copic markers and added the Elephant image.

The Mouse is also part of the set. On this card I stood the mouse on top of the greeting.

Maybe he is trying to grab that giant peanut. 

The background paper is a from a Sale a bration gift card pack.

 I like the design on the card,  but the cards don't have enough weight for my liking so I'll be using them as DSP.

                                  

My last Elephant parade card for today was just to experiment with stamping the peanut in Soft Sea foam ink onto Soft Sea foam card to make a simple background. It's a technique I haven't used in a very long time and I was too lazy to search for a suitable DSP to compliment with this image.

This photo doesn't do this card justice, it looks better in reality.
 

Broomstick display box.

Here's part two of my previous post...The box for the treat broom.

Materials.

4 Sheets of A4 card

Acetate 3  3/4  x 11 inches

1/4 inch wide double sided tape,  1/2 wide double sided tape and some 12 x 12  Halloween themed paper.

 Optional. cat punch

Approximately 15 inches of orange ribbon.

Take 2 sheets of A4 card  and cut 1/4 of an inch  off the long side of both pieces, it  should  measures 11 3/4  by  8inches when cut.

  Score length ways down both pieces at 4 inches 7inches and 7 1/2 inches. 

Take one sheet of the card and on the 4 inch panels, cut a window aperture. 

Cutting the window. Draw a large rectangle on one of the 4 inch wide panels. 

At the top and bottom measure and mark 1/2 inch in from the edge,   a draw a  faint line between the two marks.  Do the same on the other side... from the 4 inch score line.

At the top edge measure down 1  1/4 inches on each side and mark.  Join the marks with a  light pencil line. see photo below.

From the bottom edge measured up and mark 1 inch at both sides and draw a line to join up the  bottom line with the two side lines. You should now have drawn   a large rectangle which you can now cut out.

With the window cut out. It's time to add the acetate.

Using  the 1/4 inch wide double sided  tape, frame the aperture.

 Peel back about an inch of the backing tape, but don't take it off completely.

Don't use wet glue, you don't want any glue near the acetate. If it gets on the acetate it's not easy to remove.

Position the acetate over the aperture, making sure it covers all the strips of tape completely and keeping it flat. Anchor the corners on those exposed sections of tape. Hold the acetate firmly in place and slowly pull each piece of backing paper away and press the acetate down as you remove the backing paper.

Once all four strips of backing paper have been removed and the acetate is secure,  adhere  a strip of 1/2 inch wide double sided tape either side of the window, running from top to bottom.  Peel back 1 inch of the backing tape on each side as you did for attaching the acetate.

Cut two pieces of card 1/2 inch wide  x 11 3/4 inches long . Position one strip on top of each strip of  double sided tape. Slowly peel away the tape. 

Make sure they don't overlap the window edge. You really don't want them to show through the window.

                        These strips will neaten the inside edges and reinforce the sides of the window.

                                                      Don't worry about the top and bottom.

                      

Apply glue to the  long  1/2 inch  glue tab and  join the window sheet to the second  sheet of card  so you now have all four sides of the box in one piece.  

                     Once stuck firmly,  repeat on the other 1/2 inch glue strip to complete the box shape.

Cut a piece of  suitable Halloween themed paper 11 X 3 3/4 inches  and glue it to the  inside back panel of  the box.   A word of  Warning , Don't choose a paper that is dark or the broom blend into the background and will not be instantly visible.

For the base.

Cut a piece of card 5 x 6 inches and score at 1 inch on all sides.

The cut out the corners cutting off the score lines . This will help the base fit better.

Fold and burnish the score lines. Push the base into the bottom of the box. 

It should be a tight fit.  If it's a little too tight try tugging  the flaps over a little more and burnish at the same time. 

You could also try trimming a miniscule amount off those corners. That may be all it needs.

Push the base into the bottom of the box.

Make sure the flaps line up with the bottom edges of the box and the floor  is pretty much in line with the bottom of the  window,  flip each flap down a little  towards the middle of the box, and apply  a little glue to the flaps in turn and push it back in place. Making sure the bottom of each flap lines up with each edge. If they don't,  you could find you have a wobbly bottom. 

Use clips to hold the flaps while they dry.

In the Photo below you can see how the base forms the  platform for the broom to stand on.

Now for the top, This is a little more involved as it is really two tops although the finishing off top is optional.

 Cut two pieces of card-5 inches by 4 inches and score at 1 inch on all four sides just as you did for the base.  

It's basically exactly the same but with a small hole in the top to hold the broom handle and a ribbon handle to make removing it easier. You won't glue this piece in though.

Draw two diagonal lines across the card  to find the centre. Die cut a hole big enough for the broom handle to fit in snuggly.  Repeat on the second piece of card.

Take the piece of card without the flaps, and cut two slots. One each side of the hole, approximately 

1 1/2  inches away from the hole.  

Cut a piece of ribbon about 8  inches long  and thread the ends through each slot and secure with glue.

 I used grosgrain on mine  which is a bit more difficult to stick, so I resorted to sticking it down with duct tape. Then  I glued the whole piece of card on top of the card with the flaps, lining up the holes in the centre and sandwiching the ribbon ends between both pieces of card.

Now the following steps are optional.

I cut four piece of DSP  2 of which measured 2 x 3 inches and the other two measured 2  x 4 inches.

I scored them  all on the short side at 1 inch and folded them in half.

I applied glue to the inside of each piece and adhered them over the flaps.

The first lid is now complete.  Fit the lid into the top of the box just you did with the base. This will help keep the box rigid as you decorate the  rest of the box.

To decorate the box, cut two strips of DSP   11 1/4 inches  x 3/8ths of an inch for the sides of the window.    

Cut  1 piece 7/8ths of an inch by 4 inches for the bottom of the window.

For the top cut 1 piece   1 inch by 4 inches.

              Check everything lines up and that you have an even border before sticking in place. 

Just in case you have to trim a little bit off as I did.

I lined up the edge of the DSP with the edge of the window as I stuck the down.

Cut one piece of Halloween themed  dsp  11 1/4 inches by 4 1/2 inches  for the back.

 Cut two pieces  11 1/4 inches  by  2  3/4 inches for the sides and glue in place.

The next bit is optional. It's a cover for the top. I made this cover to prevent anyone using the ribbon as a carrying handle. As the first lid is really to secure the 

broom, so there is a danger of the box falling off if it's carried by the ribbon. 

So I chose  to make the cover lid to reduce the temptation of carrying it by the ribbon.

Cut a piece of DSP  3  7/8ths of an inch  by 2  7/8ths of an inch.

And cut a second  piece of  card  3  7/8 ths of an inch by   7/8 ths of an inch  and score at 1/2 an inch all the way round fold and burnish all score lines.

Snip into the corners or cut them off completely.

Make a single slot in the middle of the DSP,  feed both ends of a piece of ribbon approximately 4 inches long through the slot to form a loop and secure with glue. 

  

Then glue this to the top of the piece of card. 

You don't want this cover to be a tight  fit or the top will tear when the loop is pulled.

  Make a tag  and attach it to the ribbon below the cover.

Fold the sides down on the cover  and  drop it in the top. There is enough room in the top to place a few flattish sweets or lollipops before dropping in the cover.   Giving the recipient two surprises in one. 

I think I have covered everything, If I have neglected to say something or haven't explained something too well, drop me a  line and I' ll get back to you. But for now it's goodnight from me.