Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Mother's Day (maybe) Cards for OWH

I spent most of today making cards for OWH. I spied this sketch from the Verve blog:


and decided it lent itself well to disappearing a pack of 6x6 paper. I took out my largely intact pack of Basic Grey Urban Prairie and tore out all but the solid colored pages. I cut them all to 4x5.25, then stopped. I had laid them onto a base of SU Naturals White, and it was (yawn) boring.

Now look at that sketch. You know if I matted that layer, I'd have to mat the central square, too, right? Sigh. So I did it. I had 22 pieces of paper, so I was going to end up with 22 cards. I proceeded to cut 22 pieces of 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 black. Fortunately I can get four of those out of one piece of card stock.

Here's one of the finished cards, then I'll whine some more:

Here you can see the black mat under the two pieces of patterned paper. This turned out to be a brilliant step, because when I cut the patterned papers kinda in half, but not really, and then I started pairing up the pattern tops and bottoms, I found they didn't meet in the middle. (imagine that) So I rescued some trims of the black card stock from the cutter area, and they became useful additions as seam cover-uppers.

Here's another one:

Since I matted the patterned papers, I needed to mat the white piece, too. I still didn't have a clue what I was going to stamp on the white pieces, but I dutifully cut and matted. I was thinking I'd make Mother's Day cards, but there it is again: a specific holiday. Hmmm. Then I spied the Hero Arts set with this sentiment, and I thought maybe these papers were girly enough to pass as Mother's Day cards.

Here's another one:

Oh, look, that one was stuck on crooked. ;/  To add to the girly look, I decided to use washi tape for the horizontal element in the sketch. Pink washi tape. I found this roll of what I call "lace" in the pink section, stuck it onto strips of 3/4" card stock, notched one end of each, and stuck it onto the card fronts. It looks fine even when the base papers don't have pink in them.

Next challenge, since I was flying without a net here, I needed an element to anchor that washi strip. I tried several different things before I decided a black heart would be okay, so I punched them all out and stuck them on using some Sookwang permanent tape. Not a lot sticks to washi tape, but that stuff seems to work fine.

Before I stuck the black layer to the card bases, I needed to decide what sort of bling to add to the hearts. If I went with a brad, I could add it before I attached the layer.  I was like Winnie the Pooh ... think, think, think. In the end I went with my Ice White Pearl Pen. I did try my white Liquid Pearls, but they looked awful. I think these came out pretty okay.

Last one:

This one was a stretch pattern-wise, but I was running out of choices. Sigh. And there is red (dark pink) in the bottom paper, so there's that ...

So that's it. Twenty-two Mother's Day (maybe) cards for OWH, and one largely disappeared 6x6 paper pack. I have the cut-offs of the papers I used here, and I have big plans for them. Later.

Thanks for stopping by!

Product enablement list:
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink (SSS | EH)
Sookwang 1/4" tape (SSS | EH)
Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 paper pack 
Hero Arts Tree, Birds and Messages stamp set
Viva Decor Pearl Pen - Ice White 
SU Naturals White card stock
SU Basic Black card stock
SU 3-heart punch
Misc washi tape

4 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, it was so worth the wait for your fantastic post! I am a belly laughing fool sitting here all alone in my living room! I used to read Winnie to my grade one class and that "Think, think, think " quote brought back good memories. Loved the expected small whines and most of all the beautiful cards you managed to produce. As soon as I saw the first one I said, "I love it!" Right out loud! You are amazing, Captain!

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  2. Those are good general Love cards. They could be for sisters, mothers, aunts, daughters, grams etc. Send 'em in with your next batch.

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  3. Well done! I think the black is so perfect! I have the same process as you, I cut the big pieces of paper and go from there. I'm often staring at the focal/sentiment piece wishing I had planned ahead, but I make it work too!

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  4. I think these are lovely and perfect for Mother's Day cards. I love the black edge on the layers, it makes quite a difference! You did a great job with the pearl pen, too. Mine usually come out blobby looking.

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I'd love to hear what you really think! :-)

PS: I've had to disable Anonymous comments, because the spammers were killing me. If you are unable to comment, please email me your comment and I'll get it posted for you. Sorry. (stoopid spammers)