Wedding Card - For Krystle & Josh

I made this wedding card for my niece, Krystle and her groom, Josh, for their wedding on August 19. I got the lovely photo from their Facebook photo album which I edited into sepia color for the vintage look. The ornate heart frame is a free clip art which I traced in Silhouette Studio. For the flourish heart inside the card, you can download the free PNG file at http://lalalime.blogspot.com/p/free-png-carding-templates.html. It's a beautiful file that's easy to trace in Studio. I can't share the Studio file due to the  owner's restrictions.

I used another favorite technique, the faux chipboard, on the ornate heart frame to make it sturdy. I cut 3 pieces of the design and layered them together using designer card stock for the top layer and ordinary card stock for the bottom 2 layers.The rose flowers are store bought and the leaves are 3 cuts of  leafy_sprig C00355_23067 from the Silhouette store. I found these adorable metal heart charms in my box of trinkets which I know Krystle will love. They added a nice touch to the heart theme of the card. The sentiments were all made from Print & Cut using the Baroque Script and Scriptina fonts. The tag for the Best Wishes sentiment is a Silhouette file, Design id#14863 (Ribbon Banners-set of 4 banners), 

I made a box for the card using a design from the Silhouette store called 'adorable box' by Lori Whitlock, Design id #7388 (color grey with blue strip in the middle), which I tweaked to fit the exact size and depth of the card. I put a cut heart shape on the front and covered it with an acetate (transparency film). The fancy tag is a Spellbinders die. I used a magnetic snap for the box closure, the same kind that I used for my note/post-it holders. Other designs used on the box:

1. flower rosette lace - Design id #10706

2. flourish bold - Design id #5156

3. 2 layered ornament - Design id #14698 (design on the flap of the box)

I always insert a simple instruction for the easel cards that I make. For those of you who like the file, just send me an e-mail.

For the ornate heart frame and base of the easel card FREE file, please post your comment indicating your request. My free files are shared exclusively to my blog FOLLOWERS only. Also included in the free file are the sentiments 'Best Wishes' and 'Together Forever'.

I still read a lot of complains and frustrations on the Silhouette ratchet blade. As you can see on all the intricate designs that I use, my CB09/aluminum blade holder and blades cut efficiently. The blade that I used for this project is the same blade that I've been using on all my previous projects in the last 4 months. The issue about the Silhouette blades is still an ongoing hot topic in all the Silhouette groups. These folks should just find an alternative blade system. To read more about the CB09/aluminum blade holder: http://ligayatg.blogspot.com/2012/04/aluminum-blade-holder.html

Happy crafting!

Ligaya 

Homemade Pop-Up Dots, 3D Tape, Foam Dots, Mounting Tape

I used to be able to buy these neat 3D tape similar to pop-up dots which come in various cut sizes but they are no longer available. For several months, the store would always tell me that they will have them back in stock soon but it's been a year now and still nothing :(.

Well, it was good riddance that I eventually gave up and stopped going to the store as I discovered how to make my own which are just a fraction of the cost and are so much better.

All you need is a foam sheet and double sided tape. The foam sheets are available in any craft stores and they come in different colors. As I was cutting the strips, I came up with the idea of using my small circle puncher for the 1/4" dots. How easy is that! I can punch as tiny as 1/8 of an inch using my ribbon slot puncher for popping up those intricate flourishes and leaves. Happy dance!

Save a lot of $$$$ and start making your own!

TIP: You can color the sides with dye ink or a marker to match your cutouts.

Cheers,
Ligaya 

Foam sheets

Apply double sided tape on BOTH sides of the foam

Cut the one inch strip with your cutter - I use the Carl paper trimmer which  cuts all sorts of materials from multiple paper and cardstock, foam, leather, fabric, plastic, acetate, etc. I've been using this trimmer for 7 years now. If you don't have this kind of paper trimmer, a pair of scissors will work perfectly fine. 

I used one inch double sided tape. It's the widest I can find.

Punch or cut to your desired size and shape using a puncher or a pair of scissors. I suggest using a non-stick pair of scissors whenever you're cutting anything with adhesive.

You can stack them together for more depth/dimension. 

Sunflower Card

After the intricate piano card file, I'm lost for card ideas and so I went to my Pinterest board and was inspired by this very simple and so elegant card. I would like to give the proper acknowledgment for the card but when I clicked on the link, I couldn't get in as the site is for invitational membership only. I wanted to make a card for someone who loves sunflowers. There are tons of sunflower templates out there but I couldn't find the exact design that I want so I ended up making my own design. I couldn't settle for just a plain brown circle in the middle of the flower and I came up with the idea of using a nice photo of a real sunflower to trace in Studio. It was tough finding one with a good traceable image. I then used the print and cut function .The result is just beautiful.

As usual, I applied the manual embossing technique using my McGill stylus set for the leaves and flourish. I also challenged myself to make good use of my  embossing folders which I love to collect but keep on forgetting to use them. .I made 6 cards and used different embossing folders on each card.

TIP: To save on your good paper/card stock, I cut the base of the card into 2 pieces and create a fold on the front layer to adhere to the back layer. See photos below.

And here is the best part for my blog followers, I'm sharing the sunflower for free along with the base of the card and Birthday Greetings sentiment. The sunflower leaf is included in the file but not the other leaves and flourish which were purchased from the Silhouette store.


Other leaves:
1) Design id #7836 (3 tailed Chrysanthemum)
2) Design id #10990 (Flourish)


REMINDER: I only share my free files with my blog followers. You can sign up by clicking on 'Follow' (or sometimes indicated as 'Join This Site' depending on your browser) right below my blog archive on the right section. You can tell if your sign-up went through by checking if your name appears on my followers' or members' list. PLEASE always indicate your name and your e-mail address on your comment.

Happy crafting!

Ligaya 

Piano Card

I meant to make this card a couple of years ago but I struggled on the template and put the idea aside until I saw an adorable grand piano card on Pinterest: Once I saw the card, I fell in love with it and decided to make it for my friend, Agnes, who plays the piano so well.

 http://a-perfect-waste-of-time-loriete.blogspot.com/2011/10/template-for-piano-card.html

The blog does have a free template but I ended up creating my own but I still want to thank the blog owner, Loreta, for the inspiration. Thank you!

Although the templates for the different parts of the piano were not that difficult to make, I struggled on the technical aspect of adding legs to the piano and how to make them collapsible to end up with a flat folded card. You will see in the photos the clever idea I came up with. These are actually the third design of piano legs that I created. They are surprisingly sturdy and hold the piano very well. The piano keyboard was another challenge for me as I wanted the white keys to appear with a tiny bit of space in between to make them look authentic. I hated having to align the rectangle pieces one by one so I came up with the idea of welding a rectangle piece on the top edge of the keys to hold them together. I applied the same principle with the black keys so they are positioned perfectly on the white keys. I used mounting tape to give the 3D effect as seen in the photo. Please note that you will need a very efficient blade in your cutting machine to achieve clean cuts on the white keys otherwise the spacing between the keys will not look clean. I took a photo of the negative of the white keys to show clean the cut should be.

I distressed the music sheet to make it look vintage. The music sheet holder was made from an old corner border I got from a free site which I also used on my sofa card. I used my favorite technique of hand embossing on the filigree leaves (2 sizes) using the McGill stylus, photo shows before and after. The rose flowers were store bought. I used a wide lace sewn on one side to gather the edge.

I meant to use the music sheet layer for the inside of the card but since I used the same music sheet for the Happy Birthday sentiment on the card, I decided to put something else. I'm including the big piece music
sheet to give you the option to use it. I also distressed it for the vintage look. This can also be used as a top layer on the front of the card.

As usual, I'm sharing the file for free with my followers only. If you're not a follower yet and want to get the file, simply join my site. For my followers, you know the drill, just post a comment and indicate your request for the file. PLEASE, don't forget to include your e-mail address.

BTW, all the leaves were purchased from the Silhouette store so I can't share them. The names are:

1. leaf_filigree_C20091124050558_20387

2. leafy_flourish_C20091115202646_23067

3. leafy_sprig C00355_23067

4. fern_C00150_19547

Thanks for visiting my blog,

Ligaya