Golden Wedding #2

Although I started this card several weeks ago it was finally completed just a couple of days before the celebration - and turned out completely different from what I'd had in mind! I wanted to make something really special for my sister and brother-in-law using some of the newer Nestability dies which are far more intricate than previous sets (also the largest dies are *much* larger). I started to copy a beautiful card seen on YouTube but in the end gave up out of sheer frustration because the dies just would not cut properly...and by making many attempts I ended up running out of the special cream-flecked-with-gold card that I wanted to use as the base card with accents of matte gold on top.  I thought it might be the gold that was causing the problems - certainly in the past I've found that mirri card has a plastic film on top which doesn't always cut cleanly - but later I found a long thread on SplitCoastStampers with many complaints about the sort of trouble I had had. Also many suggested solutions, most of which I already did such as using a metal shim and also waxed paper for easy release; actually, it isn't releasing the die cut that's difficult, it's getting it to cut in the first place! My beloved Cuttlebug is about 6 years old but shows no signs of wear, cutting other dies without any problems; unfortunately the platform is too narrow to turn those largest dies through 90* for a second cut which some have found helpful. The final suggestion, which I have yet to try, was to spritz the card lightly with water before cutting, so I'll have to try that next play time. It's such a shame, because the dies are beautiful....

Anyway, having abandoned my ambitious plans I ended up with something much more akin to my regular 'plain and simple' style. The panel is indeed one of those cut with the Nesties; words are by Britannia dies (stuck down with micro dots by Letraset: so glad I found a mention of those on a forum because I've used them for years but forgotten them for a while). I remembered when we celebrated our Ruby Wedding 6 years ago that I was told ivy stood for constancy in the Victorian language of flowers so that was easy choice of border. The ivy corner is by Joanna Sheen, also the extra ivy spray along the bottom which is rather special as it's one of a pair of mirror image sprays as requested by members on Joanna's forum. So nice that she has the personal touch and actually takes note of what her supporters say - I haven't met her but she really is a lovely lady. Oh, and the numbers are from a Cuttlebug alphabet.

I did make a birthday card before this one but have yet to transfer the picture to my laptop - it had to be photographed rather than scanned and was uploaded to DH's desktop; he'll transfer it for me via a flash drive....when he can find it....

Not my best work...

...

...and I'm only putting it here as a reminder to myself! I have had an impossibly busy month, including being away for a week which meant organising a programme to keep 40 dancers and 2 musicians happy all day, and then after we returned home the car broke down just hours before I had 3 very full days scheduled. I'm sorry to say that my friend's card was sidelined until today - I'd had the basic idea early in the month but couldn't get it to work and had to put it aside; this morning, with just an hour to spare before the final postal collection to reach him on his birthday next Monday, I cannibalised my previous efforts and by using a lot of Nesties, scissors and glue stick was able to produce something to go in an envelope. The base card is deep cream, not pink, and you can guess for yourselves what the wording inside is. The stamp is by Little Claire, sentiment is computer generated.

I have 3 birthday cards and a Golden Wedding card needed for April: I hope I don't end up making them in as much of a hurry as this one was!

Another anniversary card...

...but this time it is 'only' a mere 22 years! The wife is a crafting friend and loves purple so that was the driving force behind the design: sorry, Bob, you'll just have to put up with it!!! (But I think he's used to it). All Memory Box dies with the addition of black bendy peel offs to add definition. It's difficult to find anniversary peel off sentiments in black (my local craft shop, a national favourite, only has them to order) so I had to make do with the only ones I had - a bit small, but my anniversary die was too big.

Golden Wedding

Just a brief blog today to show the Golden Wedding card I made for friends - based, fairly obviously, on the Silver Wedding card of the previous entry. The base card is cream with a subtle gold shimmer, sentiment on a matte gold then mirri gold panel. The lovely rose in matte gold is a Marianne die I bought at a craft show last Friday - I must have seen it before but this was the first time I was really aware of it and realised how beautiful it is. There's also a companion die of a rosebud and I mounted that inside, next to the greeting. The ribbon is cream organza with a gold stripe; in retrospect I think I should have added a bow on the right, but  at the time I only thought of centring it and decided that would look too linear. Oh well, the card is in the post now so it will have to stay as it is!

Silver Weddings

Yesterday I made two Silver Wedding cards - fortunately the recipients live 4,000 miles apart and don't know each other so the cards are almost identical. I used Cuttlebug EF called 'Jules' Jewels' and a Memory Box die butterfly (silver mirri card) to compliment it; the label is a Nestie long deckel edge rectangle also cut in silver mirri card with a plain white centre. With a white organza ribbon with a silver stripe, and simple silver peel offs the card looks far plainer than the actual time taken would imply. The second version (smaller numbers, because I didn't have any more of the others) took far less time, of course, having done all my dithering already. Today what should have been a five minute job making both inserts took an hour, which included searching for a non-existent anniversary stamp, and struggling with self-adhesive labels that weren't and removable tape which also removed the surface of the paper. My next major task will be two Golden Wedding cards, but as the couples are best friends I shall have to come up with completely different designs.

Four more for February

I've been quite busy on the card making front but don't seem to have much to show for my endeavours....the stitched cards take a while to put together (and I can't show one yet because the intended recipient does occasionally read my blog!) but here's a couple of Christmas cards using the same pattern but embellished and mounted slightly differently.

The one on the left is as shown on the original pattern: I wanted to use a die cut greeting but because the flower motif intrudes on the space there wasn't room for a longer second line. A straight peel off looked too skinny and the angled version was definitely an improvement. When I did the pattern again I turned it through 180* and was able to use my Britannia Die and achieved (I think) a better relationship between space and lettering. I have another ready stitched but not mounted - I may turn it through 90* from the original and see which looks best.

Our young neighbour was 4 last Monday and this is what I made for her. Originally it was coloured with pencils but looked rather dull so I went over it with Promarkers - it doesn't have the perfect finish that other people manage to get but I'm hoping that Florence wasn't too miffed :) The pink die cut was a lucky find in my scrap box - originally it hadn't cut cleanly and I'd discarded it, but by replacing it in the die and passing it through the Cuttlebug again it came out perfectly. Even more amazing was it being the perfect size for the picture! The balloons in the corner were made with a small punch.

My sister introduced me to Pinterest recently and like every other user I'm finding it quite addictive. Yesterday I decided my next make should be based on one of the many cards I have pinned and this is it - certainly unlike my usual style, and quite different enough from the original that I doubt anyone would recognise it as a derivative. The punched flowers usefully disposed of quite a lot of scraps; it was the first time I had used this particular embossing folder, and it's rare for me to use ribbon, so quite an adventurous card overall.

The Flowers that bloom in the spring, tra-la!

...bring promise of merry sunshine according to WS Gilbert and we could certainly do with some! These two cards were made yesterday using papers from a special floral issue of Making Cards magazine published a couple of years ago. The poppies are for my niece in America who loves red; having covered the base card and made the tag with peel off sentiment (yes, I know it's not centred or straight but why change the habit of a lifetime?) I was stuck for what to do with it. I don't often use ribbon but thought this might be the right occasion, and the shaded green which I bought 3 years ago seemed just the thing. There was still something lacking.....and then I remembered that on one of my craft boards a member has been showing off several cards using the Memory Box die called 'Prim Poppies'. Eureka! I have that die too (and have actually used it a couple of times). Coloured with Promarkers and tucked under the ribbon with a couple of sticky spots to hold it in place, it finished the card off beautifully.

The second card is a bit of a cheat because I copied the design of one in the magazine, using the same papers and toppers but constructing it differently although the finished effect is very similar. The top layer of the base card is folded back on itself and the picture of the basket of flowers stuck on that side, overlapping the inside. It actually wasn't as crooked as it appears in the picture (Honest!) and is now on its way to Spain, where the need for a glimpse of spring may not be as urgently required as it is here in soggy England but may serve to remind our friend of  what she is missing in other ways.