April 2018 Card Group Projects

Last Thursday we got together for our April card group meeting and a wonderful afternoon it was too!  The ladies had made me and Lesley some fabulous birthday cards, it never ceases to amaze us that all the cards turn out so different, all unique - they are a talented bunch but then I always say they've had a great teacher!  😀

A little while ago I made this card and flower in a pot for Emma at my Slimming World group.  I had such fun making it and I thought the ladies would enjoy it too (which they did!) so I designed one for card group.  I usually make three projects and place the kits and the items they need to complete each project in a basket.  The ladies work in three groups, each group take a basket and pass the basket along to another group when they've completed a project.  Because of this I was aware that there might be an issue with a crossover of products when it came to the matching card and flower pot baskets. I know it can be quite frustrating if you're needing an ink pad, for example, which is in a basket for a different project.  To minimise any frustration I borrowed a couple of ink pads from a friend, stamped and punched some pieces in advance and made sure to use two different sized flower dies - a smaller die for the card and a larger die for the flower in a pot - which worked a treat!

Here's the card and flower pot together.

Here's the card.  After embossing the Crumb Cake panel with the Brick Wall folder I stamped the 'Watercolor Wash' stamp over the top using Cajun Craze ink, making sure to stamp on the side with the raised bricks.  For the flowers I stamped the 'Marbled' stamp in Calypso Coral ink onto a panel of Crisp Cantaloupe CS and cut out the flowers using a die from the Spellbinders Shapeabilities 'Flower Play' set.  I die cut the leafy spray from the 'Petals & More' die set in Old Olive CS, snipped it into two pieces, glued the pieces down and added a Whisper White baker's twine bow.  I stamped the flower centres from the 'Daisy Delight' set onto Soft Suede CS using Early Espresso ink, cut them out with the 1/2" circle punch and layered them on larger punched circles of Cajun Craze CS, glued them to the middle of the die cut flowers and popped the flowers up.  The stamped and die cut sentiment label is also popped up.  I used the row of dots die from the 'Mini Treat Bag' die set to cut out Cajun Craze dots to embellish the label.

Just some simple stamping on the inside of the card and on the envelope.

Here's the flower in the pot.  I die cut two 'Marbled' background flowers and layered each of them onto a Calypso Coral flower cut out using the SU! 'Blossom' punch.  I used mini glue dots to help keep the baker's twine in place while I wrapped it around the pot.  I tied a separate bow and attached that with another mini glue dot.  I cut a bamboo skewer so it was about 4 1/2" long and sandwiched the skewer between the flower layers using a large glue dot and placed Dimensionals between the six petals.  I die cut two Early Espresso CS circles, stamped one with a dotty texture stamp a few times, glued the circles together and pierced a hole in the centre.  I pushed the skewer through the circle pierced hole and slid the circle up the skewer so it rested right under the petals.  I punched a couple of 1 1/2" Early Espresso CS circles, pushed one into the base of the pot, glued the second circle on top and placed a big blob of Blue Tack on top of the circles.  I then pushed the skewer into the blob of Blue Tack and slid the Early Espresso circles down the skewer until they rested on top of the pot.  I was chuffed to bits to find that one of the dies in the 'Layering Circles' die set is THE perfect size for this!  I punched out a couple of Old Olive leaf sprays and glued them to the skewer to finish off.  One of the ladies had some tiny, self adhesive, wooden ladybird embellishments and added one of those which was just adorable!  Another lady suggested a bee which got me thinking.  I'm going to try that idea next time, maybe using a strip of acetate so it looks like the bee is hovering near the flower.

Here's a picture of the pot from another angle so you can see the 'soil'.

The next project uses some sadly neglected items from my stash - the gorgeous lacy die from the Tim Holtz Sizzix 'Mixed Media #2' die set, my Distress Inks and my Inkylicious ink duster brushes.  I chose three Distress Inks - Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean and Picked Raspberry - and applied them quite lightly to pieces of Whisper White CS.  These ink colours are bright and vibrant but using only a gentle pressure on the brush and just swirling the inks lightly onto the piece of CS resulted in a soft, muted look.  Because the Distress Inks blend beautifully you end up with a range of shades even though you used just three ink colours.  I applied the inks to a larger piece of CS to act as a background for the lacy overlay and to a second, smaller piece for the butterfly. 

I stamped the sentiment at the bottom of a panel of Whisper White CS and then die cut the lace.  I adhered the inked piece of CS behind the lacy portion, glued the whole piece to a mat layer of Basic Black CS and glued that to a white A6 sized card base.  I die cut the solid butterfly from the smaller inked piece and added a Basic Black CS outline butterfly and an antenna.  I glued the butterfly body flat but popped up the wings on half Dimensionals with the backing paper left on.

Here's a closer look at the delicate inking.  The brilliant thing about this was that each card looked different, there were no identical panels or butterflies!

Here's the inside of the card and the envelope.  I used the Poppystamps 'Bellina Butterfly Ribbon' die to decorate.

Well, this was a complete and utter hit with the ladies - so much so that we're making another 'Mixed Media' die cut out card next month - I'll be using a different die though!  One of the ladies made both me and Lesley a double dutch fold birthday card which got a lot of attention so we'll be making one of those next month too!  

Supplies for flower card and flower pot:
Stamps: SU! 'Watercolor Wash' & 'Marbled' background stamps, SU! 'Petal Palette' & 'Daisy Delight' sets
CS: SU! Cajun Craze, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Old Olive, Soft Suede & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Cajun Craze, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso, Old Olive & Soft Suede
Tools: SU! 'Brick Wall' embossing folder, Spellbinders Shapeabilities 'Flower Play' die set, SU! 'Petals & More' die set, SU! 'Circle Layering' & 'Mini Treat Bag' die sets, SU! 'Blossom' punch, various circle punches, Woodware leaf punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Whisper White baker's twine, SU! glue dots, Dimensionals, mini flower pot, bamboo skewer

Supplies for lacy background butterfly card:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted 'Happy Birthday' set
CS: SU! Basic Black & Whisper White
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Black Soot, Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry & Salty Ocean Distress Inks
Tools: Sizzix Tim Holtz 'Mixed Media #2' die set, Memory Box 'Isabella' & 'Pippi' butterfly dies, Poppystamps 'Bellina Butterfly Ribbon' die, Inkylicious ink duster brushes
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals
Ruth