It appears that our rural internet doesn’t like the heat and keeps cutting out. Sadly there’s not a lot we can do about it except keep our online activities short. So with that in mind I’ve changed the project for today’s blog to something quicker. This means I’ve more chance of completing my blog post and getting it to publish. I created today’s card at the end of a marathon die-cutting session when I was exploring different options for sentiments. Then I thought I should look at my punch collection…

QUICK LAYERS

I mentioned that this project came at the end of a crafting session so everything I used was already on my desk. From the Lights Aglow 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack I found one of the sheets I’d yet to use. This one has lines of dots that remind me of a colourful beaded curtain.

With the beads hanging correctly I began by cutting off a 2-1/4″ strip across the ‘curtain’. Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I fixed this piece to the flap of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope. Once it was secure I trimmed off the excess paper with Paper Snips, using the edge of the flap as a guide.

Now I needed a card base and using the colours in the ‘curtain’ as my inspiration I chose Soft Succulent Card. Using my Paper Trimmer I cut and scored the card, then folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

Next from the DSP sheet I cut a 3/4″ strip across the ‘curtain’ before trimming it down to 4″ wide. I glued this piece along the bottom edge of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer of Very Vanilla Card. Then fixed the assembled layer inside the card base.

Returning to what was left of the DSP sheet I cut a piece 2-7/8″ high x 3-3/8″ wide (the rest would be saved for another project). Then I cut a 3″ x 3-1/2″ piece of Gold Foil Sheet, followed by a 3-1/4″ x 3-3/4″ layer of Evening Evergreen Card. Finally I glued these three pieces together before attaching them to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

PICK A PUNCH

As well as the shape punches, Stampin’ Up! has several that can punch the end of a card strip. What’s even better is that on the Pick A Punches there are actually two different end shapes. Plus each style is designed to work with three different widths of card too! So each punch provides six options which is great value for money. This was exactly what I needed.

So from the Inspired Thoughts Stamp Set I chose “Thank you so much”. Then using Evening Evergreen ink I stamped it onto a 1/2″ strip of Very Vanilla Card. Next I chose the Banners Pick A Punch and slid the strip into the 1/2″ channel under the flag option and punched the end.

For the sentiment mat I cut a 3/4″ x 4″ strip of Evening Evergreen Card , slid it into the 3/4″ channel under the flag option and punched the end. Then with liquid glue I mounted the sentiment onto the mat so that the borders at the flag end and top and bottom were even. Finally I trimmed off the straight end of the layered strips so the finished piece was 2-7/8″ long. Now I was ready to bring everything together on the front of the card base.

I started by using Stampin’ Dimensionals to fix the layered sentiment onto the DSP panel. Then with more Stampin’ Dimensionals I attached the layers to the card front about 1/2″ from the top. Finally from the Classic Matte Dots I took three of the larger Very Vanilla embellishments and added them in a line below the panel. And just like that my bonus project was complete.

Thankfully it seems my internet held out long enough to get this blog finished too. So I’m off to do something else altogether less stressful. Hopefully normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

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