November 14, 2012

Beach Wedding Card - Outside

As promised, here's the first post detailing the wedding card I made from my husband's friends.  This is the most complicated card I've ever done.  And I think it turned out very well.

It was a beach wedding, so I googled 'beach wedding cards' to see what other people had done.  There are some fantastic cards out there.  I loved the various sandal cards but I actually did the (much harder) inside first, so the outside had to fit what I'd already made, and that meant a shaped card was out of the question.

Then I spotted a 3 silhouette print by Cherry Graphics called Wedding Favor Clip-art.  It's free to download, so I downloaded the image and then opened it in my Silhouette's Studio program.  I learned a while back how to trace images with the software (from one of their blog tutorials), the problem being that when images (like this one) are small or low resolution, your traced image isn't well defined.  So... I spent several hours making sure the lines were defined and the holes (which didn't show up in my trace) were back and properly defined.  Given how small the cut turned out, I probably needn't have worried about it so much, but it did look fantastic.

I originally made a backing paper for this using a pattern derived from the bridesmaids' dresses (with stripes of white, black, red, purple and light blue) but thought it looked too busy with the silhouette, so just cut it out of black and glued it on the back of the gold paper I used for the inside.  My husband thought the brown looked like sand, which seemed appropriate.

Here's the front of the card:
If you look at the original picture, you'll notice that I slanted the couple a bit too much, which is why my horizon is on a slant.  I ended up adding another line there so I had a properly aligned horizon line.  You can also see the little cuts in the palm tree trunks and leaves.  Yeah, that took a LONG TIME.

Tomorrow I'll explain how I did the inside.

November 13, 2012

Punta Cana Trip

Last week I went to Punta Cana for a destination wedding.  The wedding was fantastic and the trip itself very relaxing.  If you'd like to see some photos, I've set up a small album here.  We stayed at the Now Larimar resort and the service there was impeccable.  The cleaning lady we had put flowers on our bed and dresser every day when she cleaned the room. :)

If you want to see the wedding card I made for the couple, come back over the next few days.  It's the most complicated card I've done to date and will take a few days to detail.

November 8, 2012

Thankful Kitties

This is a card I made for the friend who took care of our cats while we were in Germany this May.  We've 2 kitties, one mostly white with a tiny pink nose and the other a unique mix of black and brown. My husband and I have a joke that the kitties party while we're away, hence the balloons. :)

Supplies:
Cardstock: Recollections
Stamps: Stampendous - Fluffles the Cat, Hot off the Press - Stamp and Punch set
Ink: Memento
Markers: Crayola
Ribbon: from stash


November 7, 2012

Jane Austen Cameo

This is a card I gave a writer friend of mine for the publication of one of her books.  The cameo and ovals were cut on my Silhouette SD, with punched butterflies and a dot embossed background.  The text is from Pride & Prejudice and I printed it up myself on cream resume paper.  In the future I'd probably leave the creme oval bare, as the text makes it feel busy.  I also used some Core'dinations cardstock, sanding the edges for a softer look.


Supplies:
Cardstock: Recollections, Core'dinations, resume paper
Punch: Martha Stewart Butterfly and Stamp
Embossing Folder: Couture Creations - Swiss Dots
ribbon
pearl accents
sandpaper

November 6, 2012

Believe Peel Off Card

Another older card, this believe was my first (and failed) attempt at using peel off stickers on a card.  I didn't realize how flimsy the sticker would be, being so intricate and thin.  I pulled the entire sticker off its backing for this card, not understanding that it would buckle and not stick on properly when I tried to lay it down.  I believe you're supposed to lay the first bit of the sticker on your cardstock and pull it off while immediately letting it stick to your paper (does that explanation make sense?).

Anyway, I haven't given this one away yet, being slightly embarres by how it turned out.  Maybe if I add some glitter accents the misshapen sticker won't be as noticeable...


November 2, 2012

Believe Doily Card

As Christmas is still some time away and I don't want to run out of holiday cards to post in December, I thought I'd post some non-Christmas cards for the next little bit.

This is a card I made quite some time ago (a year or more).  I really liked how it turned out, so I should make some more of these.  The white rim with the embossed roses is from a dollar store doily.  Originally I'd left it blank underneath but decided it needed some contrast (and structure) so added the red cardstock.   I also added some clear glitter glue to the corners of the frame and to the roses (though that may have come after I took this picture)

The corners of the frame were embossed and punched using a 4-in-1 punch I got on clearance from an online store. :)  Unfortunately you can't see the detail in this photo.
Supplies:
Cardstock: Recollections
Doily
Stamp: ? I think it's a cheap stamp I got a Michaels.  I'm not sure what brand it is.
Ink: ?  This was done before I got my Memento inks, so it's probably a cheap ink pad I picked up somewhere, or maybe a marker.
Corner punch: Embossing Punch 4-in-1 Elegance
clear glitter glue

November 1, 2012

Christmas Ornament Card Revisited

When I originally did my Christmas ornament card I'd intended to add decorations to the bulbs.  But life got busy and I wanted a card done, so I called it done without any extras.  Well, people commented that they looked bare - and rightly so, so I took the card out and added some glitter glue to the bulbs.  I think it's much better now.  Do you agree?