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Saturday, August 26, 2017

Elegant Love

Hey all, it's Christi here today with a romantic, any occasion card.  Honestly, at my age most of my friends and family are already married, but I still get the desire to make some sweet romantic type cards. I've been obsessed with doilies and all things lacy lately and this is certainly reflected in my card.

What I Used to Make my Card:
White Card Base, 5 1/2" X 5 1/2", Handmade Gate Fold Style
Vanilla Card
Shimmery Textured Off White Card (this is SO old - I've had it for years!)
Gold Card, Heavy
Cheery Lynn Designs, Border Dies, Heart Chain Border, #B115
Creative Expressions by Sue WilsonJewelled Heart, #CED21005
White Pearls, 5 cm, by The Paper Studio, #549543

As I said, I have had this card idea rolling around in my head for a while now.  I splurged on a bunch of goodies from the Dies R Us store and the dies used here are part of that haul.  I made my own gate fold card (for the very first time!) out of sturdy white card and then cut the main heart die out of vanilla card.

There are 7 dies in the Jewelled Heart set, so I used another of the dies to cut out a textured, shimmery, off white heart and placed that in the center heart of the main die cut.  I then cut the love die out of subtle gold.  I glued the sentiment onto the textured heart and set the main die cut aside.



I cut two of the heart chain border out of the same gold card and attached them to the sides of the card.  Since the card was already folded, I came up with an idea on how to keep the "doors" closed and stable while I attached the chains.  Using 2 small bulldog clips (with waxed paper between the clip and the card - I've ruined SO many cards by not taking that type of precaution!) I clipped the doors closed.  That trick helped make attaching the heart chain super easy!  

One of the things that drew me to this die was all the detail and little extras; I added some of my own little extras by attaching some white pearls strategically around the design (the little stitches just make this design look that much more special)!

Finally I attached the main heart die cut to just one side of the card; so the card opens up with a gate fold.
Another Look
Thank you for taking the time to join me on this little journey! I hope that those who are in the hurricane zone are all safe & sound and that YOU have a great week! Christi

Don't forget to play along at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog for your chance to win a gift voucher to the Dies R Us Store.  A new challenge begins on the first and fifteenth of every month.  
Be sure to Follow Us on FACEBOOK too. 

click below for:

I am entering my Elegant Love card in the following challenges:
Southern Girls Challenges - #164, Retro Challenge
That's Crafty! - Cards Only
Scrappy Land - #72, Anything Goes
Die Cut Divas - Anything Goes, M

Saturday, August 19, 2017

I Love You to The Moon and Back

I've been missing from social media lately - it's just been too nice out to stay cooped up inside! But, I had a blast making this card and trying something new!

I've seen so many "galaxy" cards on Pinterest lately, I thought that this would be a perfect time to try one.

What I Used to Make my Card:
Black Square Card Base, 5" x 5"
Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass, Mermaid Lagoon, Wilted Violet, Black Soot and Blueprint Sketch
Die-Versions Whispers Stitched Nesting Squares, DV-573 (similar squares here)
Die-Versions Whispers Mrs. Moon, DV-627
Tim Holtz Mini Blend Tool
ColorArte, Twinkling H20's in Metallic Mica Pewter, Heavenly White and Icicles
My Sentiments Exactly Quick Coloring Frame, Y602
Piccolo Silver Siam Embossing Powder
Embossing Ink
Watercolor Paper
Silver Mirror Card
Navy Blue Card

The first thing I did was make the background.  In order to make the inks look "galaxy" like you start off with the lightest ink, pounce it a few times around your paper and follow with your next darkest ink and so on.  There are many, many videos out there to help you - I actually used 3 different videos, and used what I had on hand.  I didn't take pictures of the very beginning of the galaxy (sorry!), I was so preoccupied I completely forgot.  But, here is where my watercolor paper was looking at about step 3.

And here is the galaxy at step 4.  You can see some of the inks are pounced to
make them darker.  The more variation of color the better your galaxy is going to look.  As I said, I used the ink colors I had on hand (I still don't have every single Distress Ink) and improvised.  

Instead of watered down white acrylic paint, I decided to use my Twinkling H2O's.  These paints are amazing watercolor paints; they shimmer so much! I used a toothbrush dipped in the H2O paint, and splattered the galaxy with a few different colors.
And here is my galaxy.  I also threw some water on it at random times.  I love how it came out, except (isn't there always an exception?) on the right hand side, but, that's no big deal because my die cut will cover that up.  

Setting aside the galaxy to dry, I grabbed some navy blue card and embossed my sentiment on it.  I then used my stitched square dies to cut the sentiment out.  Then it came time to cut out my moon die.  The moon die was the whole inspiration behind this card and I wanted to make sure it wasn't lost in the galaxy.  I debated a bit, cutting the moon out of silver card as well as the mirror card, but ultimately decided the mirror card looked the best.  I trimmed the galaxy down a bit, adhered it to the black square card base, glued the embossed sentiment up in the left hand corner and lastly glued on my beautiful mirror card moon.  Here is the final product.  What do you think? Here's another look:

Thanks so much for reading my post and I hope I've inspired you to try something new! Hugs, Christi 

Don't forget to play along at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog for your chance to win a gift voucher to the Dies R Us Store.  A new challenge begins on the first and fifteenth of every month.  
Be sure to Follow Us on FACEBOOK too. 

click below for:



I am pleased to enter my Love You to the Moon and Back card in the following challenges. Looking for challenges? Check out Challenges for Days!
Creative Fingers Challenges - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge - Add a Sentiment
Paperminutes - 500 Jubilee Challenge, Anything Goes
Die Cut Diva's - M, Anything Goes, August
Tuesday Throwdown - #356, Anything Goes
Scrapbook Stamp Society - #123, Anything Goes, Option of punches and/or dies
Crafting with Dragonflies - #87, M, Embossing Wet and/or Dry