Hello, Crafters.
On Monday morning, more of our lockdown restrictions were lifted and we were allowed to embrace people. My daughter came over at 11am and we hugged and cried and hugged and cried a bit more! This was the first time since 23rd March 2020 – the start of the first lockdown – that we have been allowed to hug each other! Later that afternoon, my granddaughter Molly telephoned and said Mum had told her she’d been over for a cuddle and could she come over after college for a cuddle too! As hubby was finishing work at 4.30pm I said we’d pop over to see her (she has to catch the bus – driving, we’re there in ten minutes) As soon as the front door was open, she shot out and we were hugging like we were never going to let go! Vicki came to the door and invited us in. As I was taking my boots off, Jack, my grandson appeared. What an absolute bonus! He bent down – he’s 6′ 5″ tall and I’m 5′ 4″ – and gave me a massive, long hug!! I went through to the kitchen and had my second hug of the day with Vicki. As I turned around, there was my son-in-law Leigh, so I had a wonderful big hug from him, too. What a fantastic way to start the week!!
On Monday I decided to start playing with the Pansy Patch Bundle and made a total of thirty three die-cuts. I had decided to use the colours that are listed on the pack of Pansy Petals Designer Series Paper (DSP) just in case I wanted to use any of the die-cuts with the DSP. As I was die-cutting the two layered leaves I decided to make them in the six different permutations that are possible with the three colours, i.e. Soft Sea Foam, Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen. Then I decided to adhere them all on an A4 sheet of Thick Basic White Cardstock (CS) so I would be able to see at a glance which combination I thought would work best on any project I was working on, especially if I was using DSP. To accompany these I also made three of the pansy bud flowers each with a different green stem. This was all I had time to do on Monday!
Yesterday, still feeling on a high from all the cuddles I had on Monday, I returned to the Pansy Dies. I was somewhat surprised at how big a completed pansy is, i.e. approximately 2″ x 2″ (5cm x 5cm). The first pansy I made was Fresh Freesia CS (top), Bumblebee CS (bottom) and Blackberry Bliss CS edging. This one is the one I will adhere on to my Basic White CS sheet I’d started on Monday. To create the second pansy I changed the Bumblebee CS to Basic White CS and for my third pansy – the one you see on today’s card – I changed the edging to Highland Heather CS. This isn’t one of the colours that are included in the DSP but it does fit in well. All in all, yesterday I made 109 die-cuts!! I’ve made several other pansies, pansy buds and leaves which I’ll be using for future projects!
Other cardstock I’ve used is Bumblebee CS for the centres of the pansies and Gorgeous Grape CS for the centre which surrounds the pollen centres of the pansies. The leaves are Evening Evergreen CS with Soft Sea Foam CS and the bud stems are Evening Evergreen CS. The pansy buds are Fresh Freesia CS and Basic White CS. I’m sure you’ll be able to work out which pieces you need to go where just by looking at the pansies on my card. Please let me know if you’d like detailed explanation and I’ll be happy to sort that out for you. The one area that I struggled with initially was adhering the edges onto the petals!
Eventually I found the best way to do it is to put Tombow on the back of the edging – blot it on some scrap paper if the glue is too thick – and start adhering from the middle of the die-cut. If you look at the edging around the lower part of the pansies, i.e. the white part, it is one piece that starts on the left-hand side of the Gorgeous Grape CS centre and goes all the way round to the right-hand side of the Gorgeous Grape CS centre. If you adhere the edging on the piece opposite the pansy centre first, it’s much easier to move the two sides to their correct positions.
The two Fresh Freesia CS petals are two separate petals which need the edging adhered first before adhering the two petals together. Another tip I can give deals with the Bumblebee CS centres which are die-cut with the die which produces three circles. I adhere these pieces using a small piece of a Dimensional. When I tried cutting a Mini Dimensional in half it was too big so I resorted to cutting small pieces from the outside edge of the Dimensional sheet. When you do this you will see why I use Dimensionals. That is, they need to stick to the Fresh Freesia CS but the gap in the Gorgeous Grape CS centre isn’t big enough to get the whole Bumblebee circle down far enough. The Dimensional works beautifully. An alternative to this method is to put a dab of Tombow on the base of the circle and slide it into place under the Gorgeous Grape CS centre. using The HAPPY BIRTHDAY sentiment I used is from the Timeless Tulips Stamp Set.
Please let me know if you have any questions about today’s card. That’s it from me today. I look forward to being back with Sunday’s video and in the meantime, please take care and stay safe. Happy crafting.
JanB. xx
Products used for this project: please click on any of the links to be taken to my 24/7 online Stampin’ Up! shop. The Hostess Code for MAY 2021 is XDWNBWVM Thank you. xx
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cardstock Layer Sizes: A4
Card base 8¼” x 5¾” scored and folded at 4 1/8”
Middle layer: 2 pieces 3 7/8” x 5½”
Top layer: 2 pieces 3¾” x 5 3/8”
Cardstock Layer Sizes: Letter-size
Card base 8½” x 5½” scored and folded at 4¼”
Middle layer: 2 pieces 4” x 5¼”
Top layer: 2 pieces 3 7/8” x 5 1/8”
Pansies with their sweet smiles seem to go perfectly with warm hugs! I am eager to get this set. Your arrangement of the blossoms and buds is gorgeous – as always… Thanks for the inspiration… Can’t wait to see the Sunday tutorial…
Many thanks, Billie. This year we have loads of pansies in hanging baskets! xx
Jan, the cards are beautiful, but the opening paragraph tell us about the hugs was the best part of the story. I can only imagine how wonderful you all felt after the hugs and tears. I was in tears reading what you wrote. I’m so glad you were able to physically share your love with your family! God Bless you always, and stay safe!
Many thanks, Angela. I’m sorry it brought tears but it was too lovely not to share. 💖 We have always been a kissy and cuddly family, and now, with the benefit of hindsight, I realise I took it all for granted! But NEVER again! Having gone 14 long months without, has taught me a lot! xx
Such a lovely card clean and bright and I love the colours.
Many thanks, Helen. I love the smiley faces of pansies! LOL xx
Oh Jan I teared up something bad whilst I was reading your opening paragraph. Cuddles with my kids is what I truly miss living in Australia. Anyways enough of those silly tears Mal. Beautiful card Jan and I think I must invest in the pansy bundle after getting the interactive dies. Lovely card, Jan. XXX Mal
Oh dear! I’m so sorry, Mal. 💖 The new annual catalogue is so much more tempting than the last one!! xx
Beautiful card Jan. What embossing folder did you use for the basic white piece?
Many thanks, Carrie. It’s Tasteful Textile – this will be my new favourite since Subtle has retired! xx
Hoi Jan, wow wat een een super mooie kaart heb je gemaakt. Ik moet nog even wachten tot a.s zaterdag dan krijgt mijn moeder de set van mij voor haar verjaardag . En kunnen we zondag lekker ermee knutselen.
Groetjes Manon
Veel dank, Manon. Ik hoop dat je gisteren een fijne tijd hebt gehad met het spelen met de Pansy Patch-set van je moeder. Laat je verjaardagswensen ook voor je moeder. xx