Autumn Leaves (and a special box...)

Metallic cardstock is so pretty - I just love the shimmer and shine.  I found some copper metallic cardstock a while ago at the Tuesday Morning store and I have been drawn to it for many of the cards I've made recently.

This paper pad from Prima has quite a few sheets that coordinate beautifully with the copper metallic cardstock.  I cut a top layer from one of the sheets and aligned the design so there would be a leafy area along the left side and bottom of my card.

I found this little stamp set from Inkadinkado  and decided to make the card a genereic sort of note card for Fall.

I stamped the words with Versamark ink and heat embossed them with dark brown embossing powder.  I had a tiny mishap with the bottom of the "N" missing but there is always a way to cover up mistakes like this.

I had some dark brown leafy ribbon that would work perfectly for the card.  The ribbon has a thin "stem" and this can be tricky to adhere to a flat surface.  I used my Precision Point Adhesive pen and drew a line of adhesive where I wanted to place the ribbon.  It is white when you first apply it but if you wait a few minutes it will turn clear.

Once the adhesive has dried to clear, it is easy to set the thin ribbon into the adhesive.  With a little pressure it will hold quite firmly.

I cut away one of the leaves on the right side before I stuck the ribbon down on the card front.  This gave me a space to add the pretty copper leaf.  The leaf is a Metal Filigree Accent from the SEI Moonrise collection and it coordinates very nicely with the copper cardstock.  I turn over the patterned paper and secured the ends of the ribbon with tape before attaching it to the dark brown mat layer.

The stem of the metal leaf tucks under the ribbon and is hidden under a leaf.  I also used a couple of small glue dots to secure the leaf to the card.

I used the leaf that was removed from the ribbon to "accent" the words.  It very conveniently hides the small error in the stamping and a gem sticker adds a third bit of shine to the card (Embossed words, copper leaf and the gem sticker).

The card even matches my copper frog that I use for some photos! 

I have a little surprise for you today.  A year or so ago I thought about keeping a small box on my craft table and adding bits and pieces to it through the month.  It can be hard to find certain supplies and I like to share the things I have. 

I finally have a box set up and so far I have added:

1.  2 sheets of the sticky paper I used for the glittered ornament card
2.  A new set of the same Inkadinkado Autumn Leaves stamps I used on the card
3.  An 18 inch piece of the brown leaf ribbon - enough for a few cards.

I'll keep adding things until the end of the month and then I will pick a random comment from all of the posts this month and send the box to one lucky reader/commentor.

You can leave a comment on every post to increase your chances but please just leave one per post and make sure that you give me enough information so I can contact you if your comment is drawn.

Thanksgiving is just one week away - how are your preparations going?  Do you cook the entire meal or join forces with other family members? 

A few people emailed me to ask where they could buy the die that I used for the ornament card.  If you can't find the Memory Box dies at a small local store they can be ordered online.  I added links to yesterday's post HERE - just scroll to the bottom and you'll see the images of the dies.

Have a wonderful day!

Subscribe to Capadia Designs if you would like to have new posts delivered directly to your email.

Doily Topped Card Mat

I like to "doodle" on the computer and create designs.  The Silhouette Studio software has several features that make it possible to produce new patterns very easily.  You can mirror, duplicate and rotate a shape to create intricate patterns quite quickly.

I welded a doily shape that I drew in the Silhouette Studio software to a rectangle and resized the layer to fit on a standard A2 card.  I eliminated some of the extra inner shapes to make a tiara effect for the top of the card mat.

Next, I cut a piece of patterned cardstock at 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches to fit on the mat with an even border on three sides and the bottom edges aligned.  The paper with the delicate floral pattern is from the English Garden stack by Making Memories.  I inked the edges just a bit with Vintage Photo distress ink.

Two Prima flowers layered and joined with a jeweled brad from Creative Charms make a pretty accent on a piece of ribbon with an extra piece tied on to imitate a knot.

The brad is pushed through all of the layers of ribbon to keep things neatly in place.  I used a pointy tool to start the hole for the dull brad ends.

I placed the embellished ribbon across the floral layer and taped the shorter side to the back of the paper.

Then I added a bit of 1/8 inch Scor-Tape to the ribbon to secure it to the layer and taped down the other end on the back.

I wanted to add a sentiment to the front and, since I was feeling a bit lazy, I quickly checked my library of files to see if I had anything appropriate.  I could have simply chosen a font and typed my words if I didn't see anything I liked.

I discovered this set of words and shapes and thought that "sweet" would suit my card nicely.  I wanted to shadow the word to make it stand out a bit more against the busy floral background.

One of my favorite feature in the Silhouette software is the ability to create a shadow or "Offset" with just a few clicks.  The shadow can be adjusted in width to suit your design preference.  On the Cricut fonts that have shadows, the width of the shadow varies proportionately with the size of the image so you can't make a very thin shadow for a large word or a thick shadow for a small word.

 I adjusted the size of the offset and cut the shadow for "sweet" from the same cardstock that I used for the doily topped mat layer.

A couple of foam dots help raise the matted word slightly above the ribbon.  I nestled it in place right beside the flowers.

The card base is cut at 11 x 4 1/4 inches and folded at the top for a tent style card.  Simple and sweet - this card could be used for a baby, birthday or thank you.

Be sure to check out the information about the Spring Training 2012 course that Ella Publishing is offering from April 23 to May 4th.  Check the post HERE to get more details and to leave a comment for a chance to win a free spot.  Only the comments left on the original post will be included in the random drawing.  There are five great instructors and access to the videos will never expire.  If the random number generator doesn't pick your number, I think the course will be well worth the price - so sign up and join in the fun!

I hope you are having a lovely weekend!

 Subscribe to Capadia Designs 

Pillow Boxes for Gift Cards and Cash

There are just a few more days until Christmas and Hanukkah begins tonight.  Everyone is trying to finish their list of things that must be done before the holiday.  I did a lot of wrapping yesterday and now I am just waiting for a few more packages to arrive.  This year most of our gifts are things that come in boxes but there are a few gifts cards too.  These usually come with some sort of folder but I think they deserve to be wrapped in style. 

A couple of years ago, I showed these little boxes that I made to hold some gift cards and cash.  There are pillow boxes on several cartridges - these happen to be from the Wedding cartridge.  You can see more details about them at THIS POST (there is also a yummy recipe for roasted vegetables in that post!)

I cut the same pillow box shape that I used for the blue boxes, however, I hid all of the lines except the curved lines at the ends that help to form the pillow box shape.  I don't like the cuts, but it is tricky to score smooth curves for folding, especially with this heavy glittered cardstock. 

I assembled the box with 1/4 inch  Scor-Tape.  This is a very aggressive adhesive and it works well even with the glittered cardstock.  When you fold in the ends of a pillow box, be sure to fold down the ends with the thumbnail cut first.  This makes it easier to open the second flap and also allows the solid flap to show when the box is closed.  You can see the white edges that are exposed by the curved cuts - you could ink these if they are too distracting.

I put together a few poinsettias from Prima and added a pearl brad from Creative Charms.  I colored the brad and pearl red with a ProMarker.  These pearl brads come in the Vintage Velvet Poppies and I often change them and add a different center brad so I have lots of extras sitting around.
 

The flowers have slits cut to insert the brad but I had to add my own slits to the leaves.

There were also some little embossed ornaments in the Prima tin so I added one of them to the flower cluster.  I tied a gold ribbon around the entire box and attached the flowers with a large glue dot.

I thought I'd like the ends of the ribbon to stay loose, however, in the end I decided to tuck them under for a rounder shape.

If you have a lot of "small, flat and folding" (as in cash) gifts to share, you could put all of the boxes on a tree and let the recipients search for the box that was personalized for them.  I put this one on the front hall Santa tree to take photos.

The traditional colors blend in nicely with the tree.  If you like the way the boxes look on a tree, you could even create a group of them to use as ornaments each year.

I had another gift box to share with you but, unfortunately, I dropped my camera while I was taking these photos and I am having trouble getting it to work properly.  The lens came off when the camera fell and now it is not consistently recognizing that the lens is on the camera.  This camera has been my constant companion for over four years and I hope I can get it sorted out to work as it normally does.

Hanukkah begins at sunset today so I want to say Happy Hanukkah to all of you who will be celebrating for the next eight days.

Subscribe to Capadia Designs