Anything but a Square

Today sees the start of a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin' and this one is all about shape - any shape, in fact, as long as it's not a square.  So we'd like to see your take on non-square card designs.

I decided to use a recently bought die and stencil set  which I thought would make a lovely easel card.  The all-in-one die cuts out the entire image in one pass, so all I had to do was colour it and make the easel base.  

I stencilled the image first using a mixture of inks in my stash, then cut it. I also cut two other layers from white cardstock and glued all 3 together to give the image panel some strength.  I used Concord and 9th Powder cardstock to create the easel (I find their cardstock to be quite a good weight for card  bases). I cut the card in half length ways and folded it in half to create an A2 card base.  I then scored and folded the front of the cardbase about halfway up.  I then glued just the lower portion of the die cut panel to the folded section.

I stamped the sentiment onto white cardstock and attached this to the inside of the card using foam squares.  The card folds flat for posting but the sentiment panel acts as a stopper to keep the die cut panel upright.  I added a few pearls for a tiny touch of bling and although I contemplated adding some tone on tone stamping to the base, I decided that less was more.

Next time I think I'll try this with acetate to get a completely see-through front panel.

We'd love you to play along with our challenge this fortnight.  The Sweeties have some fabulous inspiration over at the Sweet Stampin' challenge blog and you'll find all the challenge details over there too.

Enjoy your weekend! 

xxc

Christmas in July - Sweet Stampin'

 And we're over half-way through the year already!  I personally love the Christmas in July challenge as I love making Christmas cards at any time of year.

I went for a Concord and 9th set that I absolutely adore for my DT card

I mass produced these for my Christmas cards for this year and tried my best to avoid ultra-traditional colour schemes.  Here are a couple of examples

I found it useful to have a few small pots on my table to keep the die cuts separate. I also used adhesive sheets behind the base layer cardstock to make the placement of the trees both quick and easy.  

I hope you'll be able to play along with our Christmas in July challenge.  The details and lots of inspiration can be found on the Sweet Stampin' challenge blog.

Have a great weekend.

xxx