It All Started With Black & White...

I have been a Stampin'Up! independent demonstrator for more than 7 years now. I have amassed quite the collection in that time. Many demonstrators get rid of retired products when they are not longer current. As mostly a hobby demonstrator, I kept the things I liked. Truly, I only bought the things I liked!

This die set is retired, and I didn't actually buy it when it was new. I found this one and bought it from someone else when it was already retired. 

A friend asked me to make a wedding card for her to give someone.  She knew enough to give me plenty of time ahead, and gave me a colour scheme. I pulled out a pile of dies, embossing folders, and two stamp sets. I looked up some card ideas and ran with it. My card is totally my creation, inspired by several that I found.  

The first thing I did was to create the card base. The Detailed Floral dies are two sizes of floral panel cutouts and an edge band that matches both. I don't even have the stamp set, but with these dies it doesn't matter. 

I went with a half sheet of thick Basic White, cut lengthwise. I then score the 11" x 4 1/2" piece 2 1/4" from one end and 3 1/4" from the other. Thirds seemed to work well to use both cut out panels.  

I used a Basic Black quarter sheet to cut out both panels, then glued them on the white front flaps. Using the edge die, I cut both sides through both layers.

I decided I needed to have a black panel behind the flaps to make them look best. I tried a panel of my patterned paper, but that didn't look right.  Next, I took a standard black card base and glued it to the back so it would fold over the centre of the white. 

It seemed like I just kept going with this card. I ended up trying a glitter embossed floral stamp on the plain black panel, but I didn't like how it turned out. (It is still inside the card, but adding panels hides many evils!)

I added a white embossed layer, not that the embossing ended up being very visible. On top of that, I used a floral from the retired To Have & To Hold, and used white detail embossing powder. MUCH better! 

Next was ribbon. I forgot to put the ribbon in before the background patterned layer. It seems like that happens a lot with me. Assemble. Wait! Darn, ribbon isn't in yet and it definitely needs ribbon! I was able to tuck it in the sides courtesy of some glue dots. 

It looked unfinished with a strip of ribbon across the inside of the flaps. I matched up the pattern and cut pieces with the edge die to cover the inside. It worked Iike a charm.

Last of all, the inside needed finishing. At least I remembered to stamp it before I glued it in. Have you ever noticed that cardstock has two sides? It really comes in handy when you mess up the first try! Flipped it over and tried it again. I actually ended up going with the first attempt, but added a flower stamp to help it look better. 

I think, all in all, it turned out well. It was a bunch of mistakes along the way, but who is really going to know other than me? (Well, maybe more if anyone other than my kids read this blog!)

If you DID read this blog, please make my heart happy and leave a comment. Sometimes I feel like it is just me on this lonely page! 

If you have  card suggestion, let me know. I would love to take on another challenge like this one!