Cards, cards, cards

Feast your eyes on all the cards made with the June kit.

Starting off with Julia's ...
A great "shabby chic" card using inks and paints to alter the flower and envelope.

Jill's card uses a few supplies from the add-on and a sweet little rub-on phrase from Melissa Frances (a great alternative to a stamped sentiment) ...

I love the Jillibean Soup cardstock as the base ...

Jill's second card also uses items from the add-on. What a great idea to cut out the banners from the patterned paper to create a sun.

With so many patterned papers featuring banners this season, it's a great way to get extra mileage from your scraps.
Edited to add ... Jill's second card had been Removed For Publication :)

I wanted to try something new with this card. Floral arrangements are always so striking when all of one variety and colour of flower is used, so I thought I'd use the same idea for the background of my card ...

I used the doily stamp from the October Afternoon Thrift Shop set with clear embossing ink and clear embossing powder on the backside of the Basic Grey patterned paper. As a nice surprise, when heat embossed, the stamped image takes on several different colours.

The sentiment is stamped on kraft cardstock and then attached to the ribbon such that only the scalloped edges show on the top and bottom. I added in some Jenni Bowlin pearl accents that have been floating around in my stash for awhile.

The problem of finding an envelope for this big, fat card is solved by using the little brown bags that come with your kit embellishments.
I used the Hero Arts Flourish Design Block stamp on the lower portion of the front of the bag. Clear embossing ink is applied to the stamp and the bag laid on top. I used my fingers to smoosh the bag onto the stamp so that the image would be slightly distressed once the clear embossing powder was applied and heat set. If you wanted a more crisp image, you would use a brayer rather than your fingers to stamp your image.

The top edge of the bag is folded over twice and a strip of Hambly transparency attached such that it slightly overhangs the fold.

Obviously, this isn't a card that would be sent through the mail, but given in person.

My second card takes advantage of the beautiful Websters patterned paper. I tried adding a few embellishments , but all it really needed was a title and a bit of a crystal flourish.

I added Diamond Glaze over the letters to bring them out a bit.

The inside is finished to hold a gift card or money.

I had a background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms that was so similar to the brown patterned paper that i just had to use it to embellish the top of the envelope.

I again used one of the brown bags as my envelope. A little more simple this time. The top is just folded over and bound with a piece of trim.

Rather than affixing the trim to the envelope, I measured to find the length that would slip on fairly easily without being sloppy and stitched the ends together. A big blob of glue on the back of the flower both attaches the flower to the trim and holds in the stray bits from the ends of the trim. Allow to dry before slipping back over the bag.

So that should give you a few new ideas for summery and wedding cards. Also, a great way to use packaging for envelopes.

I've started adding a few sneak peeks of the July kit to the website but there will be many more to follow once I've had time to play.

And I can't wait to reveal July's designers. I'm so excited to see what they do with these kits :)