Elegant Love

Hey all, it's Christi here today with a romantic, any occasion card.  Honestly, at my age most of my friends and family are already married, but I still get the desire to make some sweet romantic type cards. I've been obsessed with doilies and all things lacy lately and this is certainly reflected in my card.

What I Used to Make my Card:
White Card Base, 5 1/2" X 5 1/2", Handmade Gate Fold Style
Vanilla Card
Shimmery Textured Off White Card (this is SO old - I've had it for years!)
Gold Card, Heavy
Cheery Lynn Designs, Border Dies, Heart Chain Border, #B115
Creative Expressions by Sue Wilson, Jewelled Heart, #CED21005
White Pearls, 5 cm, by The Paper Studio, #549543

As I said, I have had this card idea rolling around in my head for a while now.  I splurged on a bunch of goodies from the Dies R Us store and the dies used here are part of that haul.  I made my own gate fold card (for the very first time!) out of sturdy white card and then cut the main heart die out of vanilla card.

There are 7 dies in the Jewelled Heart set, so I used another of the dies to cut out a textured, shimmery, off white heart and placed that in the center heart of the main die cut.  I then cut the love die out of subtle gold.  I glued the sentiment onto the textured heart and set the main die cut aside.



I cut two of the heart chain border out of the same gold card and attached them to the sides of the card.  Since the card was already folded, I came up with an idea on how to keep the "doors" closed and stable while I attached the chains.  Using 2 small bulldog clips (with waxed paper between the clip and the card - I've ruined SO many cards by not taking that type of precaution!) I clipped the doors closed.  That trick helped make attaching the heart chain super easy!  

One of the things that drew me to this die was all the detail and little extras; I added some of my own little extras by attaching some white pearls strategically around the design (the little stitches just make this design look that much more special)!

Finally I attached the main heart die cut to just one side of the card; so the card opens up with a gate fold.

Another Look

Thank you for taking the time to join me on this little journey! I hope that those who are in the hurricane zone are all safe & sound and that YOU have a great week! Christi

Don't forget to play along at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog for your chance to win a gift voucher to the Dies R Us Store.  A new challenge begins on the first and fifteenth of every month.  

Be sure to Follow Us on FACEBOOK too. 

click below for:

STORE

CHALLENGE BLOG
FACEBOOK
INSPIRATION BLOG

FRIENDS OF DIES R US PINTEREST PAGE

I am entering my Elegant Love card in the following challenges:

Southern Girls Challenges - #164, Retro Challenge

That's Crafty! - Cards Only

Scrappy Land - #72, Anything Goes

Die Cut Divas - Anything Goes, M

Happy Little Stampers Dies Challenge - Anything Goes, M

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Sweet Silver Shaker Card

I have loved Shaker Cards ever since I saw the first one - I believe it was in a local stamp store and I ended up going home and searching like crazy for directions on how to make one.  I eventually learned, but getting all the pieces together can be an issue in itself! I was thrilled when I saw Dies R Us carried Shaker Card Kits!  I grabbed the Cheery Lynn Heart Shaker kit as soon as I could. And this is the first card I've made from the kit:

Sorry it is so dark - it's difficult to capture the sparkle!

What I Used to Make my Card:
Cheery Lynn Shaker Card Kit - Heart (you can see ALL the kits here, plus extras)
White Card Base, Square, 5 1/4" x 5 1/4"
Silver Glitter Card
Silver Card
Shaker Fill (I used sequins, punched hearts & small beads)
Lawn Fawn Celebrate Border Die, LF-1429
Sequins - Darice Crystal Cup Sequins 5mm, 10043-8 

I was impressed with the amount of items in the kit.  The contents are all laid out here AND on the same page you will find 2 videos, put out by Cheery Lynn,

explaining these cards. It just could NOT get any easier if they made them for you!  I'm already thinking about which kit I'm going to get next.  Since I like to stretch my supplies,  I'm leaning toward the birthday cake kit. I think it'd be fine as a wedding cake; all you'd have to do is lop off those candles and you could make it any kind of cake you wanted! And they are all calorie free!

I started my card with a square white card base; I knew I wanted to use silver as my other color so when I found a nice piece of silver card I attached that to break up the endless white.  That also helped me figure out where I was going to add my shaker element.

Anyway, I had reservations about the foam cutting through and exactly what sandwich combination to use with my Big Shot (I have old base plates - they rarely show up on instructions anymore, but they work fine, so why spend money on them when I can get more dies?) but I ran the foam through my machine like I normally would; I even used the Tutti metal adapter plate and the foam went through just fine.  I have to say, if you are a serious die cutter you absolutely need one of these plates!  I've seen lots of different ways to ensure your die cut will cut properly and cleanly and I haven't had to ever use anything else once I purchased my metal plate.  It's glorious! OK, back to the card.  I basically followed the directions on the package, which just explained, step by step, how to make the card.

I cut my shaker heart out of silver glitter paper, then cut the acetate (the

acetate in the kit has blue protection paper on both sides that must be removed prior to cutting; I cut a shape out of the acetate that fit the heart, then took off the paper, so I wouldn't be leaving the unused portion of the sheet open to marking.) So I had my foam, my heart shaped front and my acetate.  You decide on your card where you want the shaker portion to be and stick your foam cut out there.  Next was filling the shaker before you seal it up.  The kit comes with 2 shaker filler options called "Shaker Mini's", they are essentially teeny little die cuts that you make using special little embossing pads that come with the kit (or, there are many you can buy separately as well to make your shaker confetti).  You might have noticed I didn't use the product of the Shaker Mini in my card, basically because when I attempted to die cut the little hearts the entire thing broke apart and was useless.  Now, I have emailed the company and explained what I did, I'm sure it was something I did wrong, and I am waiting for them to reply.  My point is, be careful with those Shaker Mini's, they are somewhat fragile! I just punched some teeny hearts out using a hand punch, then added a few small beads and sequins.  

Once my heart was filled, I removed the protector from the sticky foam (both sides of the foam are sticky, by the way) and attached my acetate heart.  I glued on my glitter heart cut out paper on the very top.  I had leftover "inside" foam and glitter paper cut out, so I popped that together and added it to my card.  I die cut the sentiment from white glitter paper, placed it over the silver paper

Another Look

and trimmed the tail so the word would fix properly.  Lastly, I scattered some of the sequins I used in the shaker mix around on the left corner and at the end of the sentiment.

I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had making the card and writing about it.  I try to write my posts as if we are having a cup of coffee (or whatever) and we are face to face.  My tutorials may not be the most technical, but I write them they way I like to read them.  I'd rather feel comfortable when reading a post; that helps me feel as if I accomplish the technique as well! I hope you know you can do that and give Shaker Card kits a try! Don't forget to enter your die cut creations in the Dies R Us Challenge, which runs every two weeks.  Pop by this Inspiration Blog every day to get a new dose of die cut goodness from me or my marvelous teamies! To make things easier, here are all the Dies R Us places to be: 

Don't forget to play along at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog for your chance to win a gift voucher to the Dies R Us Store.  A new challenge begins on the first and fifteenth of every month.  
Be sure to Follow Us on Facebook too. 

click below for:

STORE
CHALLENGE BLOG
FACEBOOK
INSPIRATION BLOG
FRIENDS OF DIES R US PINTEREST PAGE

I am entering my Sweet Silver Shaker in the following challenges:
Country View Challenges M - Hearts
Scrap from your Heart M - #10, Wedding
Happy Little Stamps - Dies Challenge, Anything Goes
Alphabet Challenge - M - H is for Hearts
Fussy & Fancy Friday - #190, Punches & Dies
Time Out Challenges - #86, Celebrations (I did not use the twist)