Have you ever needed a lot of cards in a hurry? I have 2 friends with birthdays this week, plus it’s Mother’s Day, so it’s time to get out the Spellbinder’s™ dies. I made 4 very different cards using the dies and some materials from my stash.
Here ‘s the first one.
I love the Nestabilities™ Collection because they’re so versatile. For this card, I started with the Nestabilities™ Scalloped Ovals. I cut a 4” and a 2 ½”scalloped oval from burgundy flocked paper – so rich looking. Then I cut a 3 ½” and 1 ¾” scalloped oval from a silver pearl paper. My card is the standard ¼ sheet of cardstock, or 4 ¼” by 5 ½ ‘. For these cards I decided not to include a sentiment. I’m planning to write a special message on a nice writing paper and insert inside the card. This way the recipient can use the card to give to someone else – recycling at it’s best! I covered the front of my white card with burgundy flocked paper, and adhered a 3 ¾” by 5” sheet of pink cardstock. I used a pink tulip rub on in the center of the smallest scalloped oval. Next I adhered my nested scalloped ovals to the center of my card, using pop dots between each one for some dimension. It still needed something. Pearl stickers in each corner finished it off!
Here is the second card.
Again I started with a half sheet of cardstock, this time in a bright sunny yellow. Remembering all the layering I saw last week at the stamp show, I decided to do something similar. I used spring green glitter paper to cut the flourishes with the Flourish Accents die. Next I drew several layouts on scrap paper until I had one I liked. Using this as a guide, I began to assemble my elements. This pretty daisy paper came from an envelope from some junk mail. I cut a strip from it, and adhered it to a piece of white pearl textured cardstock. I embossed one of the flourishes I had previously cut (a great feature of the Spellbinder™™ dies – they cut AND emboss AND stencil). Another piece of the same cardstock made the perfect frame for one of the smaller flourishes. The brown rectangle is cardstock, and a piece of green ribbon is adhered on top of it. Another flourish fit perfectly in the lower right corner, and I cut a second piece of the junk mail envelope for the center. Using pop dots under some of the elements adds dimension and interest. The 3 crystal stickers add some sparkle, and the crystals and the flourishes follow the rule of 3’s. (An odd number of elements is always more pleasing to the eye. Repeating an element or color in a triangle leads the eye thru the design).
We’re back to pink again for the next card- and one of my favorite combinations of pink and purple.
For the bottom edge of this card, I used the Piercerabilities™ 5 ½” Victorian Border die. It allowed me to cut and emboss the edge, and gave me a guide for the piercing. Piercing should be done from the back of the card, so the holes show up better on the right side. I used a purple stamp pad and my finger to lightly rub over the design and the card edge. This highlighted it and gave it more importance. Next I layered a scrap of purple patterned paper with some white cardstock and centered it above my edge design. The purple stripes are a product called Flower Soft ®– tiny tiny, flowers that come in a variety of colors. I applied double stick tape to the card, and then poured the Flower Soft® over the tape. I let it sit for a little while, and gently pressed the flowers down. Then I stood the card up and let the extra flowers fall away. (Do this on a piece of waxed paper, and then you can pour the extra flowers back into the jar.) Some tiny little crystal stickers accented the pierced, embossed edge design.
This last card it totally different.
I turned things around and made a tall, thin card by starting with an 11 by 8 ½ sheet of cardstock and folding it in to 3 equal sections. I used a sheet of copper metal and the Borderabilities™ Grand 12” Daisy Border to create this impressive design. The metal embosses wonderfully and looks so elegant! This die is 12” long, but after I cut and embossed I simply cut off the length I needed and saved the other piece for another project. I laid my embossed copper on a piece of light blue cardstock and drew around the edge about 1/8” away. I cut this out, and trimmed the cardstock to fit the front of my card, leaving a ¼” border on the left side. I added a strip of the dark blue cardstock, but it still seemed too plain. So I cut a thin strip of the copper metal, and used a stylus on my embossing mat to distress it. You could antique the copper first for a more distressed look, but I love the sheen of the copper just the way it is.
Now I just have to decide who gets which card!
