Ooh I’m feeling a chill in the air that has no place in July. I’ve almost been tempted to put the heating on, but instead I’ll grab a sweater and socks. On a positive note the damp ground means the mowing will have to wait. Instead, I get to spend those hours playing in my craft studio. I’m still decluttering and reorganising so there will be a little work going on. Creating pretty projects using some new products from Stampin’ Up! will be my reward. Meanwhile for today’s simple Sunday project I have a quick and easy card. It looks more complicated than it is and uses no dies or punches.

HAND-PENNED HAND-CUT

I began today’s project with a piece from the Hand-Penned 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) Pack. I chose the sheet with the Pale Papaya polka dot design and flipped it over to the gorgeous floral pattern on the reverse.

This pattern is one of my favourites because it’s actually a series of separate floral sprays that are easy to separate and cut out by hand. I found a two different sprays, cut them out using my Paper Snips and then set them aside.

Next I cut a 2-1/4″ x 6″ piece of the same DSP and fixed it to the flap of a Basic White Medium Envelope using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow). Then with my Paper Snips I trimmed off the excess DSP using the edge of the flap as a guide.

Now I needed a card base and for this I used my Paper Trimmer to cut and score some Thick Basic White Card. I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

To line my card base I cut a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card. Then I fussy-cut two partial floral images from the edges of the waste DSP on my desk. On this occasion it didn’t matter that the floral sprays were straight on one side. Once cut I used liquid glue to attach the pieces against the top and bottom edges of the Basic White layer. Then I fixed the assembled layer inside my card base.

POSITIVE THOUGHTS

At this point I began to think about a simple layer for the middle of my card front. I wanted it to be visible but not overpower the flower pieces, and I had the perfect solution. I grabbed a pack of Paper Lattice containing ten 3-1/4″ x 5″ pieces of laser-cut Kraft paper. They’re called paper but seem to be heavier than standard paper and more similar to the weight of DSP.

The Paper Lattice would fit nicely on the card front however I opted to cut it in half at 2-1/2″. That way I’d make the pack last longer. Then with a little dot of liquid glue behind each of the solid squares I fixed it to my card front with the cut edge on the left.

Of course where I’d cut the lattice in half I was left with an ‘open’ edge that did look a bit odd. But I was fairly positive I’d be able to disguise it. The key was to use a sentiment of the appropriate shape and size.

I found exactly what I needed in the Positive Thoughts Stamp Set, “Hugs Prayers Love”. So using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped it onto a 1-5/8″ x 1-7/8″ piece of Basic White Card. Then with liquid glue I mounted the sentiment onto a 1-3/4″ x 2″ layer of Blushing Bride Card. This would coordinate with one of the colours in the flowers.

Now I was ready to finish assembling my card. Using Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals I first added the layered sentiment over the top left corner and missing left side of the lattice layer. Then I added the larger of the two fussy-cut floral sprays over the rest of the missing left edge and just touching the sentiment.

Next I glued the second smaller floral spray to the top right-hand corner of the lattice. This one wasn’t quite long enough to reach the edge of the sentiment so I went back to the remaining scraps of DSP. I was very happy to find a couple of leaf images that were quick and easy to fussy cut. So after doing that I tucked them under the second floral piece with liquid glue. With that my simple but elegant card was complete.

I absolutely love how this card turned out. It’s uncluttered but still has interest and texture. You’ll definitely be seeing more of that amazing Paper Lattice in the future.

Whatever you have planned for today, I hope you’re able to find time to do something that makes you happy. Now I’m off to make another coffee before attacking the drawers in my craft studio.

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