My regular readers will know that I’m a list-maker. I suppose I’ve always been like that, however as I get older I find having a to-do list invaluable. That’s not to say I’m not flexible. Sometimes plans need to be changed. Like today. Today I was supposed to be taking part in an international blog hop, but it’s been rescheduled to next week. That meant I needed to create an alternative project for today’s blog post. So I reached for the Abigail Rose suite and designed this pretty card instead.
ABIGAIL ROSE PAPER
Since getting the Abigail Rose 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) I’ve wanted to use the pretty pink striped pattern. Today was my chance, and it is inspired the whole card and envelope project.
I began by cutting a piece of the striped paper at 2-1/4″ high x 6″ wide and with stripes running vertically. Next, using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I fixed it to the flap of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope. Then I simply trimmed off the excess DSP with Paper Snips using the edge of the flap as a guide.
Going back to that same striped paper I next cut a piece 2″ wide x 3-1/2″ high (still keeping the stripes vertical rather than going across the piece). Finally I cut two short strips of the striped pattern, each one 1/2″ high by 4″ wide.
Going back to the Abigail Rose DSP pack I now wanted a different pattern and chose a small flower design on a Smoky Slate background. I only needed one piece of this and cut it at 3″ x 3″. However as I began to think about how my pieces would be layered I realised that this last piece was too big. So I cut a 1/2″ strip off the side, then cut a 1/2″ strip off the top. So now I had three pieces of this floral pattern; 2-1/2″ x 2-1/2″, 1/2″ x 3″ and 1/2″ x 2-1/2″. I had plans for all of them.
For my card base I used my Paper Trimmer to cut and score some Smoky Slate card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder. Now I was ready to begin the first assembly phase.
SIMPLE LAYERS
With the card base prepared I decided to start by adding a light-coloured liner to the inside. So I cut a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Very Vanilla Card. Then along the top and bottom edges I glued the 1/2″ x 4″ striped DSP pieces. Next I added the floral DSP strips, slightly overlapping the striped pieces. Finally I glued the completed layer inside the card base.
With that done I now needed to cut contrasting mat layers for the two remaining pieces of patterned paper. For this I chose Basic Gray Card and cut one piece 2-1/8″ x 3-5/8″ and the other 2-5/8″ x 2-5/8″. Then I simply mounted the DSP onto each one using liquid glue.
Next I used more liquid glue to attach the striped piece to the card front, 1/4″ from the top and folded edge. The floral piece came next, attached with Stampin’ Dimensionals 1/4″ from the bottom and right side.
Finally I was ready for my sentiment and I chose “You are positively the greatest” from the Cottage Rose Stamp Set. Using Basic Gray ink I stamped it onto a 2″ x 2-1/4″ piece of Very Vanilla Card. Then to coordinate with the other layers I cut a 2-1/8″ x 2-3/8″ piece of Basic Gray Card. After mounting the sentiment onto the darker mat with liquid glue I flipped it over and added Stampin’ Dimensionals to the back. However because I planned to layer the sentiment only partly on top of the grey layer I needed to stack some of the Stampin’ Dimensionals. So with them two high behind where the sentiment would attach to the striped layer I pressed the sentiment into place.
MORE FROM ABIGAIL ROSE
While I liked the card so far I decided that I wanted to add a little more detail so I went back to the Abigail Rose paper. I knew exactly what I was looking for… it was a sheet featuring flowers that I could cut out using a coordinating die from the Cottage Flowers Dies set.
Once I’d found the sheet and roughly cut out the section, I simply had to place the large die on top and run it through my Cut & Emboss Machine. In one pass the die cut out all the individual flowers, stalks and leaves and I was ready to go.
One of the benefits of using Stampin’ Dimensionals to attach my layers was that it would be easy to tuck in my die-cut pieces. So from the little pile I began by selecting with five of the medium-sized flowers and a couple of small leaves. Then using liquid glue I fixed a leaf and flower to the floral layer (under the bottom left corner of the sentiment). Next I glued a leaf and two flowers to the striped layer beneath the bottom left-hand corner of the sentiment.
Before adding the other two flowers I picked up the piece with three leaves. Still using liquid glue I added it to the card base in the space created by the sentiment and the striped layer. Then I glued the two remaining flowers on top.
I was almost done but thought a little flower on the sentiment would finish everything off nicely. So going back to the pile of die-cut pieces I found one of the smaller flowers and a stalk. Then I used liquid glue to fix the stalk on the bottom right-hand corner of the sentiment. Next I coloured the petals of the flower using a dark Petal Pink Stampin’ Blends alcohol marker. With one final drop of liquid glue I added the flower to the stalk and my last-minute card was finally complete. Phew!
For other projects using patterns from the Abigail Rose DSP pack see these earlier blog posts:
PRODUCT LIST
BUNDLE BONUS EXTRA! I bought the Cottage Rose Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating Cottage Flowers Dies. Buying the two products using the single ‘bundle’ item number meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying them separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle below in case you want to explore that option. As an extra bonus if you buy this bundle before October 1st Stampin’ Up! will include a pack of Iridescent Pearl Basic Jewels for free!
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