Thursday, January 10, 2013

Lili of the Valley Topper birthday card


Hi blogging friends From Millan.Net

Edited to add:  This  card was featured by Lydia on the Splitcoaststampers Facebook page - WOW!  That sure made my day!  Thanks Lydia!!

My husband's family have alot of birthdays at the beginning of the year so I thought I would use one of my Lili of the Valley (UK) pre-coloured toppers which I bought in December when they had free postage (along with some stamps of course because I find them quite irresistible!) as an early Christmas present to myself. 

Am I cheating by using a pre-coloured image?  Even though using a topper saves you colouring an image, you do still need to plan out the rest of the card so from where I stand, I feel very comfortable using a topper.  And I put a lot of love in my cards and try and tailor it to suit the recipient.  I think you could use this topper for so many different occasions - Mother's Day, Friendship, Thank you, Thinking of you etc. - just stamp (or handwrite) a different sentiment on teddy's envelope.


As I wanted the topper to be round, I diecut it using my Cuttlebug and one of my Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities dies.  I couldn't really find the right colour cardstock to match the image so after a bit of a search through my designer papers, I found some old Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie 'Ella' papers and on the flip side of the flowers, was a nice, soft pink that toned beautifully with my card.  I decided to add a white diecut Scalloped Circle to the image as well and popped this panel up on dimensionals. 

I recommend that you use lots of dimensionals (or doublesided tape) if you are attaching something to a dry embossed panel as there is less surface area for the panel to stick to and in my experience, is more likely to fall off - which I learnt the hard way after handing one of my relatives a Christmas card one year which he popped on the window ledge, and whilst we were sharing our Christmas meal with family, two of the panels dropped off to my horror!  As I had already posted the same card to about 8 other people, I still wonder how many other panels dropped off!  Did they open the envelope and find a jumble of panels and thought it was some sort of weird Christmas jigsaw puzzle card?!  Oh dear........From Millan.Net

I added 2 pink hearts around the image which were punched from a Martha Stewart Lace Heart edge punch and the designer paper; I used the leftover punched hearts.  Just the right size for what I needed.

As another Christmas present for myself, I bought one of the new Die-sire Embossalicious 6" x 6" square embossing folders by Crafters Companion from Joanna Sheen's website.  I was so thrilled when Crafters Companion released some square folders to suit us cardmakers who love to make square cards and I do hope they release some more, in particular, some Christmas designs.  You know, I never cease to be excited when I emboss a white card with an embossing folder and see it come out all pretty and textured - and it can really 'lift' a card and give it that 'wow' factor.  I used the Floral EF6 folder which I ran through my Big Shot.

The bottom pink border was punched using an EK Success Abstract Flower punch with the same pink designer paper along one edge of the paper which had a bit of a lacey design printed on it - and I think it turned out a bit prettier than just using the plain pink colour.  I did add a Scor-Pal line just above the punching so I had a straight line to butt the border up against the white cardstock.

I went to town with Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue around the pink circle, the hearts on the image panel, the tiny hearts printed under the butterflies, the heart on the envelope and the teddy's cheeks. Here is a wee close-up:


The envelope that the teddy is holding was blank, so I rummaged through my stash and found a tiny little stamp from my Popcorn the Bear 'Someone Special' stamp set and stamped it with Versamagic Pink Petunia chalk ink.

Lastly, I tied on some button twine after winding it twice around the card and added some Fray Stop to the twine ends so they wouldn't unravel.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

The ABC Challenge - E for Embossing - where you can use any sort of embossing such as embossing powders or folders

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - Something New - show off your crafting goodies you got for Christmas - mine is the topper and the embossing folder.  This challenge blog is an Australian one which I was very pleased to discover as I don't know of many Aussie challenges.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use it WT408 - New Year - make a card with your new toys - mine is as per above.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  'For you' sentiment from Crafter's Companion 'Popcorn the Bear' Someone Special set

Designer paper:  Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie 'Ella'

Ink:  Versamagic Pink Petunia chalk

Accessories:  Image by Lili of the Valley from Cuddly Teddies diecut sheet, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Circle + Petite Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, dimensionals, button twine - pink by May Arts, Crafters Companion Die-sire Embossalicious EF6 Floral square 6" x 6" embossing folder, Big Shot, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Scor-Pal, white cardstock

Punches:  Martha Stewart Lace Heart edge punch, EK Success Abstract Flower border

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lol, the same thing happened with some cards I made a few years back! I had made them with a huge die-cut snowflake on the front and everyone's fell off! They thought it was so funny to tell me - soooo embarrassed!

No, using toppers isn't cheating at all. Like you say, you still have to design the card and this one is stunning!! Love the embossing.
xx

chrissy xx said...

JUst GORgeous! FABulous design and I LOve your cute image...It's like you said if you put a lot of love in and they are tailor..They are perfect...JUst like this card
Chrissyxx

cotnob said...

This is such a pretty card Jocelyn, I don't think using a pre-coloured image is cheating at all - it quite often takes more effort to try and find matching papers, embellishments etc., than it does to colour an image - well it does me anyway.
When I attach anything to an embossed surface I always use some Collall Glue as well as dimensionals just to make sure.
Have a lovely weekend.
Pauline
x

Merry said...

Hi Jocelyn, just wanted to wish you and your family a Happy New Year. I have finally packed away Christmas and trying to catch up in blogland. I think this is a lovely card...especially like the embossed background. I agree I think just as much thought goes into a card with a pre-coloured topper.

Anne said...

Soooo pretty and beautifully made! I love the way you have used the topper...in fact I think it more difficult to choose a pre-coloured image and make it your own.So bravo you! We also need to focus on the fact that we make cards for others, to bless them, not to show off any talent we may have! So no, toppers certainly are not cheating....you can't cheat when making cards!

Bettina L. said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

ah Jobear just adore this card as am huge sucker for the LOTV images too.. ad also bought some toppers :D and yup my eyes lit up when saw that embossing folder too and thought wow!! that is awesome!! trying hard to restrain myself from discovering it.. maybe for birthday next month huh? love ad God bless, Shaz in Oz.x

PS posting your card for Christmas on tomorrow's post... and, yes! you made me buy it, really you did! Put the same the Sizzix folder on the bottom of the card - have made one with it already and boy! they are gorgeous too.. thanks dear friend.. xx

Liz McGuire, said...

Super cute card, and it's not cheating at all!

Liz x

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