Mr & Mrs, card

Howdy!  Holey moley is there a lot of snow outside!  I hope you are inside staying warm.  If you do need to adventure outdoors, please bundle up! be safe! and take your time!  Remember, 'arrive alive'! That use to be a DOT campaign many, many years ago.  I believe they used it, when they changed the interstate highway speed limits.  Anyways, I digress.
I have another Black, White, and Blue wedding card to share with you.   The lovely ladies over @ Word Art Wednesday have an anything goes  challenge this week.

This week's scripture is from John 15:9, and speaks about love.  The love our Lord has for each of us, and how we need to share that same love with each other.  So, I thought it was fitting to share this card.  And here is what I made:

I really wanted to make something sweet, soft, and simply pretty.  I hope the bride and groom, love this!  Anyways, lets get to the recipe:  I used soft sky card stock by Stampin' Up! to make the card base.  This card is 4 1/2" x 6 1/2".  A bit large for me, but I am really starting to embrace this larger canvas!  This card fits wonderfully into an envelope made for  5" x 7" cards.

Ok, I did a pure black card stock matt, by Paper trey ink.  I added two scrap pieces of pattern paper.  The light blue text is from the Noteworthy collection, by Carta Bella.  The blue damask pattern paper is from Melissa Frances.  I added a simple machine stitched border, to help 'adhere' it to the black matt.

For my scallop collection, I added a strip of winter white scallop trim that I think is just lovely.  I added on top of that a scallop trim piece of blue texture card stock.  And to top that, I added a piece of Raven scallop lace trim.  I really love how these three trims look together. {smile}

For my blossoms:  The two tall blossoms are painted with white paint and glittered.  I sprayed these with Aqua Net hair spray to 'seal'/'set' the glitter.  I tucked these two tall pieces behind my big blue blossom.  That blossom is from Prima.  I added some white paint to the petals, to help give it a shabby look.  I tucked in a dark grey felt rolled blossom from CTMH.  I thought the contrast really worked well.

To balance the blossoms, I tucked in a white resin frame from Melissa Frances.  I just love her frames!  I don't have many, and they can be a bear to get your hands on, so I do hoard these.  I added a small blue paper blossom inside the frame.  I painted the petal tips with white paint and added glitter.  {smile}  I also added some blue rain drops inside the frame.  While adding these little gems inside the frame, glitter was adhered, too.

The focal collage looked 'open' at the bottom, so I made a multi-loop bow with some beautifully deep blue seam binding.  So, I tucked that bow in at the bottom of that big blue blossom.  At this point I noticed that I didn't have a sentiment, so I made a tiny tag that simply reads: 'Mr. & Mrs'.  I flagged the end, to give it a little pizzazz.

I thought the card looked a little flat, so I added some rhinestone swirls here and there.  The largest of the rhinestone flourish is at the top of the card.  I didn't want it to look odd or out of place, so I added a little strip of rhinestones inside the white frame, and then two rhinestone curves at the bottom of the card.

Well, thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have been inspired to create something for yourself, or someone special.  There is joy in just making something beautiful, just for the sake of crafting {smile}.  

Well, I am off to my craft room.  I feel the need to sit and play with paper.  The snow outside is measured in feet, and its too deep for me to run errands.  So, inside I will stay inside.  Maybe later today, I'll adventure in the kitchen and make a beautiful pot roast with all the fixings for dinner.  And some home-made yeast rolls.  Ahh, this is what I need to relax, recharge, and find some inner peace and happiness.  Take care.  Stay warm.  Be safe.  See you soon!

thank you #339 & #234

Welcome.  I wanted to make a 'thank you' card for a sweet friend, and had a difficult time starting.  So, I went looking around the web, for some inspiration and direction.  I stumbled upon Mojo Monday #339 to see what their sketch looked like this week. 

I have to admit, that I don't generally make this size card.  So, why not!  Then, I wanted a little more inspiration/direction, so I headed over to the Just Us Girls Challenge.  And since March had 5 weeks in the month, this week is a wild card.  Here is their requirement.

I didn't do a lot of stamping on this card.  Just the sentiment; thank you.

I made a shabby chic style card.   My card is 3 1/2" x 5 1/2".  
I used some 'old' mother's day pattern paper from Authentique.  I used my sewing machine to adhere the green pattern paper to the Blush Blossom card stock.  I added two rows of stitching, and purposely made them 'random'.  

I also distressed the edges with ink and sponge, and the blade of a pair of scissors.

I matted my two narrow panels with Pistachio Pudding card stock.  I added some machine stitching.  I also distressed all the edges, in the same manner of the card base.  I wanted to add some height for the narrow panels, so I adhered them to the card front with foam tape.

I wrapped a light green seam binding around the decorative label piece, and tied it in a multi-loop bow.  I added a white 'flower' to the center of the bow.

The sentiment is stamped in crumb cake classic ink.  The stamp set I used, has been retired for over 5 years: Noteworthy.

I wanted to add some sparkle, but wanted something that blended in the background, so I used clear, iridescent sequins.

I added a trio of faux half pearls for the repeated circle images.  

I am pretty happy with how my card turned out.

I hope that you have an opportunity to play along in either, or both, of these great challenges.  I know that I did {smile}.