This card was made by using a new die that I purchased a few weeks ago at a huge scrap book Mega Meet in Novi, Mi. If you're wondering what is a Mega Meet, well it's a lot like a trade show. Every company that has anything to do with paper crafting has someone there promoting their latest products. For years I have been cutting out by hand these Lace' cut and folds using a metal template and swivel knife. I could hardly wait to get my hands on one of these cut and fold dies. I was sure that I could run it through my Wizard die cutting machine and be done in seconds. It didn't work as planned. I worked for at least two hours trying different sandwiches and shims just to get them to work. It would have been faster if I had cut them by hand. In all the years that I have been using my Wizard this is the first time that I have ever been disappointed with it.
I cut it out with a double sided green scrap book paper. I used a paper punch on the edges of brown paper and then centered that over the green background. I then attached the die cut in the center using pop dots. I layered two pink paper flowers and glued a pearl in the center of the flower. I cut another paper flower for the leaves and colored those with a green permanent marker. I placed them where I wanted them and then glued them down. I cut a piece of brown ribbon to fit. I know that it's ribbon but it looks somewhat lacy. I laced a green ribbon through it and attached it behind the card. Then I tied a tiny green bow and glued it in place.
I thought it would be great fun to join this swap. I have always loved lace. I used to do a lot of sewing. I thought that I had a ton of lace to choose from. I realized that I had a ton of ribbon but only a few scraps of lace. So I went to a fabric store to buy some. To my surprise they did not have much to choose from. I guess ladies and little girls don't wear lace anymore. I came home to my few scraps of lace.
For the background of this card I found an antique rose patterned scrap book paper. I re-sized it to fit an ATC. I dyed a strip of white lace pink using red food color and vinegar(like you would use to dye Easter eggs). I ran the ribbon through a Xyron sticker maker and attached to my card. I then sprinkled fine gold glitter on the lace while it was sticky from the sticker maker glue. I then trimmed my card to size saving a small strip with ribbon on the edge for the tag. I punched out the word Joy and ran it through my Xyron face side down. I sprinkled it with fine gold glitter and and then run it through again and attached the letters to my tag. I ran glue along the edge of the card and smeared it with my fingertip, and then I sprinkled it with fine gold glitter. I cut a piece of ivory ribbon and put it across the corner of the card. I finished it by topping it off with an ivory ribbon rose.
For this card I once again re-sized scrap book paper to fit an ATC sized card. I find that I do a lot of this. There really isn't a lot of paper that has a pattern small enough to use on an ATC. I accented the small dots with Walnut glitter glue. Then I inked the outside edge with brown and lightly blended it into the corners of the card. On a piece of white card stock I rubber stamped the flower with Sapphire embossing powder and then chalked it blue. Then I cut it out and laid it aside for later. I found a small piece of three tiered ruffled lace and took it apart, using only one layer. I put the lace into coffee grounds to stain it brown. For this theme I had to use a lot of home made natural dyes. They work. Just don't rinse them, or they will wash out. Let it air dry or if you are in a hurry use a heat gun to dry it before using. I glued the edge of the lace behind the flower and then attached it to the card with foam dots. Next I stamped a butterfly onto shrink plastic with black StazOn. I carefully colored it with a yellow permanent marker being careful not to touch the black with the yellow marker. It will smear the Stazon ink. Then I used my heat gun to shrink the plastic. I layered clear glue dots to the back of the butterfly and placed it on the card.
Take Care
Kathy
