Wedding Fever

I was recently asked to make a wedding card and was given free rein with both design and colours.  GULP!  Sometimes having this much freedom can be more difficult than when customers are specific about what they want, but I decided to try a few ideas and let her choose a favourite.
Which one would you choose? 
If your selection matches the actual card chosen then your name will go into a draw for a wee crafty prize. 
Deadline midnight GMT Sunday 22nd July.
Click the photos for close-up views.

Design 1
A linen effect white card base decorated with blue and white diecut hearts layered onto diecut blue and silver mirri card, embellished with a simple bow and greeting.

Inside shows diecut panels and a simple stamped message.
 
Design 2
I created an off centre gatefold from A4 white linen card, adding a panel of textured burgundy card and a matching Kanban wedding topper.  A simple bow and stamped greeting are the only decoration. 

The slim panel shows white padded hearts and satin ribbon matted onto layers of white and burgundy card.

Inside, a panel of white linen card has been corner punched and decorated with diamante gems before being matted onto burgundy card and stamped with a greeting.
I'd like to submit this card as my first entry to
Sparkles Monthly Challenges - 34 Weddings
 
Design 3
I opened an image from my flowers folder in PSP (PaintShop Pro), and typed a greeting before printing onto white linen cardstock, which gives a look almost like canvas. Both elements were then matted onto silver mirri. 

White organza ribbon was wrapped around the fold on a landscape base card and tied in a bow with pearl gems added for decoration.

The inside message was stamped onto white linen card before being matted onto silver textured card and placed inside.
I'm hoping this card is eligible for entry into
Southern Girls Challenge 48 - Pearls
Sparkles Monthly Challenges - 34 Weddings (2nd entry)

Design 4
I created an easel card base from cream cardstock and opened another beautiful rose image in PSP, adding a greeting onto the image before printing this time.

The easel card panels were then decorated with pretty paper from Papermania Confetti pack, matted onto black and gold mirri and the main image was then adhered to the front panel with foam pads.

Wide cream organza ribbon was wrapped around the back and tied in a knot and a matching bow was added to the image panel. 

The stopper was created using more layered panels of paper and card adhered to the base with foam pads before being decorated with paper flowers, pink ribbon bows and pretty iridescent fabric butterflies.
A greeting was stamped and embossed with gold powder, then diecut and matted onto black and gold card.

A matching box completes the ensemble as this card is way too bulky for an envelope.
I'm entering this card into
The Cupboard Trilogy - Colour Palette Challenge
The Cupcake Craftroom - July: Layers
Sparkles Monthly Challenges - 34 Weddings (3rd entry)

PLEASE REMEMBER...
Don't forget to leave a comment with your favourite from the selection and you may be lucky enough to win a prize.

Bah! Humbug! Challenge 24 - Santa

Friday has rolled around again all too quickly ... for me at least.  But on a good note this means it's Bah! Humbug! Challenge day and this week the topic is 

Father Christmas/Santa 

Once again the DT have all managed to come up with something to tickle your creative tastebuds and we look forward to you joining in with us with your interpretations of our challenge.
Using the Kenny K image last weekend reminded me that I have a gazillion folders on my PC filled to overflowing with wonderful PSP tubes that were originally used to make siggies and tags in the days when I dabbled with PSP.  Whilst many artists current Terms of Use don't permit hard copies to be printed, or require you to purchase a license to use, this is not the case for them all.
So I spent some time flicking through and rediscovered plenty of old favourites including this cute Santa from Tubes By Amanda. 

I opened the tube in PSP and then copied and mirrored it, floodfilling the reversed one to remove the text before printing.  He looks a little washed out in my photo but that is down to my (lack of) photographic skills and is actually much brighter in real life.
After cutting them out I drew around one onto a folded sheet of gold glitter card and then cut around the outline to make a shaped card.  

Then it was a simple case of adding some stripey paper from my scrap box and a few embellishments like the jingly bell and recycled ribbons.

Inside is the reversed image, perfect for a message, and luckily there was just enough paper left to decorate the inside back so it isn't too boring.
The Challenge Mania Blog helped me to quickly find some other challenges for which this little card may be suitable and they are ...
Fab's Big Christmas Card Challenge - Stitched Ribbon and Toppers
My Time To Craft - Yuletide in June
ABC Challenge - X-tra Dimension
Cute Card Thursday - Reuse, Renew, Recycle

Tree- mendous

My Graphico have a theme challenge and a sketch challenge every week, which effectively means they offer a challenge choice to everyone to join in with one or both, depending on your time and inclination.
I used their lovely tree freebie images to join in this week with their Challenge #41 - In Threes.
I opened the trees in PSP (Paint Shop Pro) played with the sizes and then printed them off along with a computer generated sentiment, before cutting around the lot with scalloped scissors. 

There was a small strip of spotty paper in my scrap box which provided a nice backdrop and this was matted onto yellow card.  The green card was embossed on the cuttlebug with swiss dots and then matted onto another piece of yellow.  A small yellow bow is the perfect embellishment for the scalloped oval greeting.
Once again I find myself eligible for more than one challenge ...
The fresh spring colours allow me a second entry to Rosie_D's Challenge #67 - Yellow, Green and White and also to join in at Charisma Cardz #12- Spring.
Rainbow Lady's current challenge asks "In my garden I see ..."   - trees and birds are both visible in mine, (although admittedly they don't look like these ones), but then again, she never asked for real life ones so reckon I'm pretty safe and Pixie Cottage Challenge 12 is to use circles - there are plenty of them here with the globe trees, the spotty paper and the swiss dots.
Hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend ... oh and remember we "Spring  Forward" an hour on Saturday night/Sunday morning if you're in UK!

Invitations

I received a call the other day asking if I would make some invitations for a 90th birthday celebration.  The only brief I had to follow was to "keep it simple and incorporate green". 
Hope this fits the bill ...
The perched birds silhouette image is a freebie from My Graphico so after creating a green background paper in PSP (Paint Shop Pro), adding the image and printing it onto smooth A4 paper, all that was left to do was some matting onto black card and add a band of cream ribbon to match the cream base card - simples!  

The text inside was also done in PSP, although it would've been just as easy to do it in Word and then print onto the background paper - which you'll see shows a larger, faded version of the silhouette birds.  I have blurred the personal details for privacy but you get the gist.

After using the free image, the least I could do was enter My Graphico's most recent challenge - #40 Vintage - as I think the background paper has a sort of vintagey look about it, but even if it's not suitable, it's always nice to show how you have used a company's products, (especially if they're free), don't you think?
I stumbled upon a couple more challenge blogs whose current theme is GREEN so I'm sneaking in there too. 
The Pixie Cottage Challenge Blog
For Fun Challenges

Twin Girls

My cousin and his wife are now the proud parents of beautiful twin girls and here's the card I made for them.

I used Funky Fairys free download paper, which was matted onto silver mirri card to give a narrow border.

Before printing the cute baby girl decoupage sheet, I nipped into PSP (Paint Shop Pro) and reversed the topper so I could have mirror images for my front panel.
I did actually do a wee bit of decoupage to add a little dimension, only one layer I know, but regular readers here know it isn't my favourite thing so ... my theory is that one is better than none ... isn't it.?
The names were added using silver peel off letters.

Inside I again matted the pretty paper onto silver mirri card and then added a clear adhesive sticker onto the last scrap before popping it in the bottom corner.

Challenge #34 over at Funky Fairys this week is 'Recycling' and the bonnie pink twill ribbon was removed from a t-shirt before heading off to the wardrobe in the sky, and the buttons are also recycled from a cardigan, so that keeps me in with the theme.

Fabulous At 40

A very dear and special friend celebrates this landmark birthday tomorrow so I hope she likes her card.
I used an image from my Vintage folder and adjusted the colour in PSP (Paint Shop Pro) before adding the text on a curve.
I chose these lovely soft pink and green papers from K. & Co. which have been matted onto burgundy cardstock and gold mirri card.

The base card is an A4 sheet of leather effect textured burgundy card and is very sturdy so doesn't warp or bend when you add weighty layers or embellishments.
Adhesive pearls were added as accents and a hint of ivory braid ribbon are the finishing touches.
I'm undecided whether to add a few flowers ... will I? ... won't I? ... but just in case, I have some paper roses on standby.